[NOTE!: SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE ANIME AND CHAINSAW MAN MANGA CHAPTERS 1-38 ARE IN HERE...obviously. I'm also going to be comparing this anime to the manga A LOT because that's what I know, so sorry for that in advance.]
Well, well, well...it's been a while again, hasn't it? Yeah, sorry about that, I'm not dead or anything...yet. I've been busy with getting back into college and dealing with an even more tense family situation that will (fortunately) be resolved come July, so things will be a lot better from there on out. Anyway, now that I've FINALLY watched the CSM anime and I'm caught entirely on
...
everything until Part 2's Box Set for the Manga and the Reze-Arc film comes out, let's rev up those chainsaws and mow into this review!:
The Story:
Soooo...as someone who's fully read all of Part One in manga form before watching this anime (which I'd 100% recommend doing if you want to get more enjoyment out of this), I would say the story of Denji's rise as the Chainsaw Man and the struggles of everyone in the Beauru is adapted...nearly perfectly. This may just be me being picky, but the overall pacing is a little stop-and-go compared to how it is in the manga. The notable story beats from Chapters 1-38 are all there, but some of the extra character development being cut and the fact that the Eternity Devil arc is two whole episodes (which in a way works but also is a little bit of a detriment to this series's structure as a twelve episode anime) bogs it down a little bit. Himeno's death is well-represented and I do like how the later episodes call back on with Aki as later chapters did in the manga, but I'm sure to some people her death just didn't hit as hard unless you were REALLY into her...like I was. It's hard to really say they did a bad job on it because getting 38 chapters of a large manga like Chainsaw Man into Twelve episodes isn't bad and they DID set up the next Arc in a hype-worthy way. To me, at least, I feel that you'll soak in the story more with the manga cause they're about to flesh out the characters a little more and therefore enjoy the time you have with them and really feel for some of the character's deaths more. As an anime adaptation of the manga, it probably was done the best it could without deterring the viewer's attention. Probably the weakest part of the show, in my opinion, and even then, it's not far from terrible, it just prevents me from giving it a ten.
The Characters:
The characters are all represented EXCELLENTLY here. I have just as much love for these characters here as I do for them in the manga, they're spot on. Denji's brashness, Power's...well Powerness, Aki's cold, yet deeply rooted emotional being, Himeno's playfulness, Makima's calculative, intelligent, all-seeing mind, it's all here. It was great getting to see these characters just being themselves on screen and bantering with each other, which is exactly what I wanted out of it. Some characters get more screen time than others, especially cause the other divisions do feel a little bit forced in just so we know them at the end even though that's how they were indeed introduced in the manga originally, but they're all in all done pretty good justice and as a manga reader first and anime watcher second, I got a real kick out of them. Definitely one of the better parts of this anime.
The Animation:
Oh boy...sooo, this aspect I know is divisive, some people love it, some people hate it, and both sides have their reasons and I'm going to get into that. So, what do I think about it? I think it's...AWESOME! Honestly, I don't see the hate for it, the 2D and CGI animation (for the most part) blends REALLY well together and gives this anime that signature MAPPA style. Speaking of which, as my first MAPPA anime I've watched, I gotta say it looks SUPERB! The aesthetics, the weight of the movements of the characters, the visual characterization with how they all move and fight, the abundance of cinematic and dynamic shots...OOOH, it's all excellent and really gives this adaptation the pizzazz it RIGHTLY deserves. Don't even get me started on the intro and the TWELVE DIFFERENT ENDINGS WHICH ALL ROCK! I mean, need I say more? It's nearly perfect stuff and will no doubt age really well. The visual design and directing alone really shows a lot of care for how the story should've been presented and I have no doubt MAPPA worked their absolute BUTTS off to bring the manga to life...at the cost of their sanity, probably. Characters are consistently on-model, the environments are GORGEOUS, and again, while the CGI and 2D clash a little bit sometimes, the most of the time seen seamlessness in blending the two is absolutely incredible and fits the show very well. It's genuinely probably my favorite aspect of the show.
The Sound Design:
The impacts, the noises of the devils, weapons clashing, and visceral gore sounds, the voice-acting, the soundtrack, ooooooooooh mama...that's what dreams are made of. The sound design really helps in selling you the atmosphere of this show, from the calmer moments when nothing's going on to the absolute madness, screaming, crashing, and explosions, it's goes a long way in giving the show a grungy, yet...somehow elegant atmosphere. The soundtrack is very notable in GOING REALLY HARD, seriously, both the licensed songs and the original compositions all work EXCELLENTLY together with the visuals in giving the viewer an engrossing experience. While some songs (namely during fight scenes) get reused a few too many times and there's a really noticeable cut in early in the last episode where it goes from 'Brutal Life' before where a commercial break would be to an entirely different song, the songs themselves range from grunge to ambient to orchestral and none the tracks feel out of place and are used effectively to add more impact to every moment they're used, and it also helps when there's no music at all too like when Aki's talking with the Future Devil that add tension to scenes so perfectly. The voice-acting performances (in sub at least cause I didn't watch the Dub, though the clips I saw, it seems relatively fine) are all PERFECT! Denji's rebellious-sounding voice, Power's constantly energetic shouting, Aki's serious almost monotone voice, Makima's elegant mistress-esque voice, Kobeni's shy and anxiety-ridden voice (which is actually one of my favorite performances in the whole show), Himeno's playful yet at times serious and even emotional sounding voice, and KISHIBE, ooooh that gruff, worn-down, true monotone voice feels SO RIGHT! It's all solid stuff and I jam out to the soundtrack outside of the anime it's so good.
The Conclusion/Verdict:
While the Chainsaw Man anime has a lot of EXCELLENT qualities in its animation, sound design, and characterization, the way the story was adapted for something this large makes me wish that they would've maybe adapted more, maybe adapting each part as one larger season, but I know that's just being unrealistic. Like I said at the start of this review, I recommend reading the manga first before watching this just so you'd get a little more enjoyment out of this anime because while it adapts a lot of the first thirty-eight chapters of the story, it doesn't adapt everything and I personally feel the manga just gives the reader a little more in the amount these episodes gives to the viewer. With that said, it's still a really solid anime I enjoyed watching and I do recommend it if you're really that curious. It's a near-perfect 9/10 adaptation for me and I mean that rating out of pure respect for those who worked on this and not personal bias because I loved the manga so much (even though some of that may have definitely shown through here.) Let's just hope the Reze-Arc film does what its adapting just as much justice, if not more...though the fact that it's a film DOES worry me a bit.
Post Review Ramble [MAL Exclusive]:
So yeah, this review's a little different than some of my last ones, I know, it's been a while since I've been able to watch anything since I've been binging games and also just dealing with going back to college after not going for a year AND dealing with a really toxic family situation. Like I said before, I should be okay when July rolls around and I'll hopefully be online more again and watching more stuff. I'm debating on binging through ALL of the Fooly Cooly (FLCL), even the later stuff that isn't that great just cause I've been watching to see what all of the online ruckus is about. Maybe potentially watching Persona: Trinity Soul even if it's not canon in more ways than one due to later entries in the series. That and I'd watch it because I've been going back and binging the other games in the Persona series finally as I'd only played Persona 4 Golden back in 2020 on PC when it launched (currently finishing Persona 1 entirely with the Snow Queen route and YES I did the SEBEC route too.) I might be possibly watching through all of the Kino's Journey franchise since I heard the 2003 adaptation is ESPECIALLY good, almost psychological in the same sense as something like Serial Experiments Lain or Texhnoylze, but we'll see. Regardless, I'll be watching the Reze-Arc movie as soon as it drops with subtitles, so you'll get a review on that REAL soon after it comes out. Guess we'll just have to wait and see, I may end up doing something entirely different instead. Hopefully, the next review will be sooner rather than later. As always, thanks for taking the time to read my rambling little reviews and I'll see you all around for the next review!
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Apr 6, 2024
Chainsaw Man
(Anime)
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[NOTE!: SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE ANIME AND CHAINSAW MAN MANGA CHAPTERS 1-38 ARE IN HERE...obviously. I'm also going to be comparing this anime to the manga A LOT because that's what I know, so sorry for that in advance.]
Well, well, well...it's been a while again, hasn't it? Yeah, sorry about that, I'm not dead or anything...yet. I've been busy with getting back into college and dealing with an even more tense family situation that will (fortunately) be resolved come July, so things will be a lot better from there on out. Anyway, now that I've FINALLY watched the CSM anime and I'm caught entirely on ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 2, 2023 Recommended Spoiler
[SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THIS REVIEW! I'D RECOMMEND READING THE MANGA AND WATCHING THE SERIES (though watch the series first, of course) BEFORE READING THIS REVIEW!]
Alriiiight. Here we are with the review of the Ergo Proxy side-manga like I promised I would do...sorry for not finishing it sooner, been just kind of slogging along because of...Fortnite, yeah, I'm not kidding. But that's pretty much done now and I've finished this manga, so let's get to it! Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker: The Narrative: So, Centzon Hitchers and Undertaker is a side-story or rather what I'd call a companion piece to the anime since it takes place between Episodes ... 3 & 4 of the anime after Vincent and Pino escape from Romdeau and are with Hoody and everyone in the Commune and is a past tale told from Hoody to Pino about a story that happens within the past with a very special kind of Autoreiv. That's the summary I'm giving cause I'm not trying to violate the Review Guidelines any further. So, the story is fairly simple starting out, but I'd say much like the series it grows in scale as it progresses and it works pretty well in its favor. We're even given some foreshadowing to things that happen in the series itself (which you won't get if you don't watch and finish the entire anime first before reading this), which is pretty neat for someone like me who finished watching the series not that long ago. It's well-paced for a pretty short ten-chapter-long manga and I think they do a good job expanding on the lore of the universe while also giving us a glimpse into what life was like back before the series took place (which frankly isn't all THAT different, but there's certainly more people seen outside of Romdeau and the domes compared to the anime.) I think its length is pretty good and they don't waste the reader's time by padding it out with anything unnecessary the story is pretty straight to the point once you realize by the end what it's going for (an origin story things like the Commune and the Centzon Vince and everyone else rides during the anime.) A- overall, if only for things SOMETIMES seemingly just kinda...happening out of nowhere at times. The Characters: Well, the Ergo Proxy anime has some PHENOMENAL characters, both in their visual design and writing, so how does THIS manga stack up to its bigger brother anime? Well...it's...pretty good! Not as good as the anime's cast, for sure, but far from bad. The characters who AREN'T Vincent, Pino, and Hoody are all original and they all fit pretty well into the universe. Once the main characters are rounded up you've got Leon, an astronomer, Heart, a mercenary, and Dorothy, the 'special' autoreiv that is easily the most iconic thing about this manga, so it's a nice diverse cast. Once they're together they honestly work like a family much like Vincent, Re-l, and Pino did in THEIR own time together, so I guess Leon's 'Three Amigos' are in a way predecessors to them. The characters are likable, albeit a little bit more wise-cracking than anyone from the anime (there's some gags and stuff in this manga that just straight-up don't exist in the anime, and it both benefits and hurts this manga in its tone if I'm to be frank.) I enjoyed watching how they all overcame everything that was thrown at them and seeing Leon especially go from being an absolute jerk to Dorothy to genuinely caring about her almost like a child was quite sweet to see. This section's honestly probably the best part about this manga and probably where I'll have the most to say about anything here, so A-, only for some instances where the characters feel a little too cartoonish at times and it hurts the tone of the story. The Visuals: Probably the section I don't have all that much to talk about, frankly. The environments are nicely drawn and look how you'd expect an Ergo Proxy manga to look. Characters both original and from the anime also look pretty on-point and really only Dorothy I would say is the outlier because she's made to be the main character in a way, though it's only because of her outfit. The parts where they show stars were probably my favorite parts visually of the manga since they contrast so much with everything else and it's the only time where I personally feel the manga pops outside of some parts towards the end with some admittedly nice-looking pages and panels. I personally wish we could've gotten at least a glimpse at Romdeau, though I suppose they didn't want to end up having to write more stuff, especially since they'd probably have to include Raul Creed and Kristeva, which makes me wonder what they would've even done with them or Re-l here, so maybe that's why. Anywho, it's a solid A effort for a single mangaka who did BOTH the writing AND art. The Conclusion: Overall, as a companion piece to Ergo Proxy, an already obscure anime, it's no surprise that nobody's really reviewed this or anything, it's good for what it is and serves as extra material for fans to dive into if they loved Ergo Proxy and wanted a little more of it (like me.) If you can find an English Translation of it somewhere or can somehow track a physical copy of somehow out in the wild, I'd give it a read if you enjoyed the anime. That's all I've really got to say at this time, honestly. With such a straight-to-the-point manga that's small like this, I guess you can't expect me to have much to say on it, it's just a decent side-manga for a pretty peak underrated series. Post-Review Ramble (MAL Exclusive): Alright, well...I decided to keep my post-review rambles since I'm not exactly sure if people are gonna go to my profile's comments section and read what I've got planned. Anyway, with this manga done, I'm gonna be focusing back on another anime again. I've got an now of the next two anime I'm gonna watch, but for now I'm just letting you all in on the next one I'm watching. The next anime I'll be watching is Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. I'm a big fan of the Scott Pilgrim franchise and it's short, it's a no-brainer! Gonna try and also finish Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition hopefully before this year ends too, so that may be taking up some of my time for watching/reading stuff and writing reviews, but I'll try my best to keep some consistency. Living situation's fine for now, nothing bad's happened and I've been on better terms with family, so I should be fine til we all mutually plan on moving out at some point. Stay tuned for my review on Scott Pilgrim Takes Off and take care!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 14, 2023
Ergo Proxy
(Anime)
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[THIS REVIEW WILL COVER MAJOR PARTS OF THE SERIES AND THE ENDING! KEEP IN MIND OF SPOILERS!]
Aaaand, I'm back again for the Ergo Proxy review! Sorry for taking a little longer on it than I should have. No, I'm not moved yet or anything, we'll have to keep holding out for a place that works for us, but I'm in slightly better spirits about everything. Anywho, let's get onto reviewing another psychological anime banger!: The Narrative: Talking about Ergo Proxy's story and narrative structure is...interesting. It has a straightforward plot that involves all of the characters in the story. Yet, it also has twists and turns that ... are so out there and interesting that it adds layers onto it to make it more interesting (yes, even the few 'filler' episodes there like Episode 20) and even more of a wild ride to watch. We get to see the world from so many different points of view, yet it's not overwhelming at all and it all comes together to form a really thrilling, engaging plot that starts out small..but becomes SO much more by the end of it that it's hard not for me to love it. Some argue that the ending is bad because we don't see what happens to Vincent and everyone else after they escape Romdeau...I personally think its open-endedness makes it a really great anime to theorize on, kind of like Mother 3's ending (weird comparison, I know, but it's the closest I can get to a plot that's like Ergo Proxy's because this show's plot is so unique.) But yeah, going in, you'd expect it to be about a dystopian sci-fi city that controls people, and by the end everyone dies in it or something you've heard along those lines before it...but nope, instead it's a nice subversion of expectations. It's overall A++ stuff. Definitely, one of the coolest narratives I've seen in anime I've watched in a good while, not as wild as say something like Serial Experiment Lain's...but still nonetheless a really interesting, thought-provoking, VERY well-written and unique one. The Characters: Easily one of the best parts of this anime in my honest opinion. Everyone in the story serves some kind of purpose whether it be major or minor and even the side characters have a surprising amount of depth to them that makes them more human, which kind of surprised me (even if many of them met a rather predictable, yet inevitable fate.) The character dynamics between the major characters (especially when Vincent, Re-L, and Pino come together as a trio) are really something neat and we get to see these characters not only alone with their own thoughts but also with other people who completely contrast them and see how they work, even at their highs and lows. Once again, another piece of media that has its characters so well-written and put together that there isn't a single character I disliked, they're all fascinating case studies in their own right. It's hard to really complain about much with them because they're written so...humanly, down to earth, and realistic. I really enjoyed seeing what the characters' thoughts were on the things transpiring around them and while some would consider that expositionary, I personally feel like the show makes their thoughts interesting enough to listen to that it just felt like we were naturally getting to know them more by just spending more and more time with them. On the subject of time, the show also does a great job of peppering character development throughout the episodes. Re-l for instance goes from someone who just wants to bow her head down and do what she's supposed to do (with some mild annoyance harbored on her part) to someone who, like Vincent and everyone else by the end, finds her true self and realizes how compassionate, selfless, and...well, human she really is, with the exact same sentiment being applicable to Vincent as well in my opinion. You also get to see the deterioration of other characters as well (*cough* Raul Creed *cough), so not everyone gets their happy ending and it serves as a nice contrast to the positive changes most of the other people in the cast get and I think it's equally just as powerful because it's also written in a way where you can feel for them. Psychological anime in general (in my term shows like Serial Experiments Lain, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Texhnoylze) always seem to have some of the most fascinating anime characters to study and of course, this one is no exception. Solid A+ work all around. The Visuals: This section's gonna be probably my favorite to talk about given how AMAZING this show is visually. Sure, it's an anime from 2006, so it's definitely aged, but it's still fine-looking anime even nowadays. The character designs are all really nice and all stick out so you're not gonna be mistaking anyone or anything like that, and actually characterize everyone based on their colors and clothing overall (especially Vincent's and Re-l's clothing...for multiple reasons.) The show also uses a neat mix of CGI and hand-drawn animation and while the CGI in a few places has aged a little roughly, things the statues in the Administration room and the large-scale shots that blend the hand-drawn and CGI-rendered versions of the environment at times still look INCREDIBLE. I'm not an animation expert by any means but in my opinion, this show still holds up nicely for the most part. I love the drab colors of reds, purples, blacks, and more muted colors, it helps give the show the dystopian vibe, outer-world-like vibe that it's going for. Romdeau and really all of the environments both minor and major all really give off their own special vibes thanks to the coloring to differentiate everything, so the show never really looks boring to look at...especially by the end when they start livening up the colors to signal the significance of everything that happens at the end. I think I've yapped on enough about the visuals. It's a little rough in some places, both with the CGI and the hand-drawn stuff at times, but it's overall held up nicely and it has its own distinctive look that differentiates it from some of the same kinds of drab both of the mid-late 2000s and the year it came out in. A- probably, if only because of the slightly aging. The Sound: Aaah, feels nice to bring this section back again after some time, and luckily Ergo Proxy's sound design and music are really interesting, so let's get to it. Overall, the voice-acting (in the sub cause again, I don't typically watch dubs unless they're Fullmetal Alchemist, Black Lagoon, or Death Note-level good) is excellent, all really good performances throughout, and I even recognized a few VAs from some other anime I've watched, which was a nice surprise. From what I've heard of the dub...it's kind of...okay. I think Re-l's voice is a little too energetic for her character since she's more of an introspective and tentative thinker-type character in my eyes, but that's about as far as I'll go into that. As for everything else, every gunshot (seriously, Re-L's shotgun sounds AWESOME and the sound design really adds to how strong it is and helps sell how rad Re-l is in combat), every punch thrown, explosion, shatter of glass, and crash, man...all of it just engrosses you into the show even more, truly top-notch stuff. The music is AWESOME! Lots of atmospheric ambient music that fits into the vibe of the show perfectly and really adds to some of the more out-there scenes. The OP and EDs are also great. The grungy rock opening combined with the opening's visuals themselves make for an all-around great bite-sized look at what Ergo Proxy is about. It helps too that Especially we have FREAKING RADIOHEAD IN ANIME AS THE ENDING MUSIC! As a big fan of theirs who grew up on their music, gotta say I wasn't expecting THAT, but the song works well with the show and actually connects to the theming of humans and autoreivs, so it's appropriate AND a good song that fits. A++ stuff. The Conclusion: Overall, Ergo Proxy was WELL WORTH the time it took for me to get to it and it serves as yet another great psychological anime that anime buffs can theorize and discuss all these years after its creation because of how well put together it really was, especially in the writing. I literally had to stop myself from going into too much detail about it to not end up wasting your guys' time getting into it, there's plenty of good videos online talking about it in detail if you really are interested, I know I'll be getting to those just like I did with Texnhnoylze. Speaking of which, I'd say if you watched Texhnyolze and wanted another psychological, futuristically stylish anime with lots of stuff to keep your brain thinking and guessing, Ergo Proxy's right up your alley, it's truly phenomenal. I certainly enjoyed my time with it and hope that the side manga for it is also just as good. Post-Review Ramble: I actually got my Chainsaw Man Detective Buddy Stories edited by a mod on AniList because these rambles don't matter to them, so I may end up just leaving updates on my profile after this review rather than tacking these onto my actual reviews. Anyhow, as I said before, I still haven't found a place to go yet, but hopefully, in due time we'll find somewhere to go, until then I'm gonna try and patch things up that I can with family until that happens. As for the next review post-Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers & Undertaker...still thinking about what to watch but I'm debating on Boogiepop Phantom, Chainsaw Man, or Cowboy Bebop. I may just do the first two first and then do Bepbop since Bebop is a little longer episode-wise and has a movie with it, so we'll get to it when we get to it. Still working on finishing Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition as well...with the minimal time I have given I work and my bad sleeping schedule. That's pretty much all I gotta say, just trucking along trying to stay positive through all of the rough stuff that's been going on, so wish me luck. Stay tuned for that review of the Ergo Proxy: Centzon Hitchers & Undertaker, if I can finish the entirety of Chainsaw Man Part One in about two weeks (cause I TOTALLY didn't get hooked on it or anything), then this should be like a week's worth of reading at most. See you guys soon again and take care!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 9, 2023
Chainsaw Man: Buddy Stories
(Manga)
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[DISCLAIMER: GONNA BE TALKING ABOUT SPOILERS FOR THE MANGA IN THIS REVIEW. This Light Novel is *definitely* made to be read after reading the manga...at least Part One (Volumes 1-11) so I'm just gonna make this on the review that you've read the manga and are just wondering if you should read this as well or not.]
Well, well...it's been a bit again since I've done a review for something. I've been going through some stuff as of writing this that's happened very recently that's gonna be affecting my living situation so I'm gonna have to put this stuff on hold probably post Ergo Proxy since ... I have one episode of that series left. Anyways, onto the review, I'll discuss more than that later: The Narrative: Overall, the stories (cause yes, this is a collection of multiple stories featuring multiple characters) are all very well-written and have their own variety and charms. A detective parody adventure with Denji and Power on a mission with just the two of them, a younger Kishibe and Quanxi do a job together with a Devil Hunter Trainee that changes them both, Aki and Himeno get some time together doing one of their first jobs together, and Denji, Power, Aki, and Makima go on vacation to Enoshima and hijinx ensues. All of which are of decent quality to the point where I don't have any favorite of the bunch. I think that as a companion piece to the manga, it adds more character and depth to things that either weren't really touched upon in the manga or only got a small amount of time. Overall, the stories are all well-written, they all get the right amount of time and all of them are really great to read. Overall, A+ stuff. The Characters: Well, overall there's not that much to say regarding the characters since in my opinion, they're all characters from the manga for the most part minus two original characters who aren't mentioned ever again outside of this Light Novel for all I know. Everyone definitely acts how you'd expect them to if you've read the manga (and you're a fan of pretty much every character like I am) and the two original characters are good enough in their own rights to justify their existence. That's...pretty much it, honestly. A-grade stuff. The Visuals: This section is also gonna be really brief but I'd like to bring this up cause they're a thing in this Light Novel. Overall, with more peak art from Fujimoto-san, it's really great stuff and it's ALLL original to this Novel. Gives the novel a little more character and helps us visualize some of the stuff that's being described. We don't get to see Enzo (who's the original character in the first chapter with Denji and Power) but we do at least get to see Minami (the trainee I mentioned during Kishibe and Quanxi's chapter), so it's nice to at least get a visualization of her. But yeah, every chapter gets its own piece of art and it's all really nice A++ stuff as always. The Conclusion: Well, like I said before. This should definitely be read AFTER finishing the Public Safety Arc (Part 1 which compromises of Volumes 1-11), but it's a real treat if you're willing to read it and it's just more Chainsaw Man action...can you really complain about that? It's well-written, has the same energy as the manga but in novel form and it's a nice companion piece to the manga itself. I'd say if you're a big enough fan of the manga, it's DEFINITELY worth a read. I certainly enjoyed it and had no complaints about it. Post Review Ramble: So...yeah, about the next upcoming reviews. Ergo Proxy is coming, probably sometime within the next couple of days. Not sure when I'm moving but to explain the situation I'm currently in as plainly as possible, my family's splitting and I'm moving with my father to a new house sometime soon and I've already started packing. It was completely out of nowhere when I got woken up randomly early Tuesday morning (as of when this review was written) and sparked by my Mother's abusive and controlling wrath. She and I have had issues for years now and it just came to a head here. I've had enough of her and I'm sure my Dad has too so...yeah, we're finding a new place to live. This will slow down future reviews by a little bit but I'll probably at the very least be able to get my review of Ergo Proxy out before I go. I'll make sure to update you all on the situation in my profile comments section, just know for right now that I'll be okay but that it'll probably be a week or so until you see any new activity from me on here, just wish us luck. So yeah, expect a review of Ergo Proxy within the next couple of days and after I get settled into wherever we move to, I'll get started on reading the side manga that's available online in English, and we'll go from there. Still debating on what I should watch after this so I may have an idea once I finish and write my review for the Ergo Proxy side manga but we'll see. Take care for now everyone and stay tuned.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 15, 2023
Azumanga Daioh
(Manga)
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[SPOILER REVIEW! THIS IS A POST-READ REVIEW SO UHHH...YEAH, READ THE MANGA FIRST BEFORE READING THIS UNLESS YOU JUST WANT TO HEAR ME RAMBLE ABOUT THIS PEAK MANGA!}
Hai Dekimashita! It's been a while since I've been on here writing a review. I've been dealing with things (namely getting my new PC potentially fixed for good so I can finally start using it and going back to therapy for the first time in three years for...personal reasons that may be explored briefly in a future review someday), so I haven't found the time to be able to really watch or read anything until now. After about ... 3-ish months of constantly putting off reading Azumanga Daiou (yes, I'm gonna spell it like that what I meant is that frankly wasn't able to read any of it during work when I'd bring it cause Deli work doesn't really allow for it...retail sucks), I finally finished it today! Let's start this review: The Story: Overall, Azumanga Daiou at its core is a straightforward story about the coming of age for a group of high school students (namely in this case high school girls), and it's told in a comedic, yet still, heartfelt enough way to make it engaging all the way through. Seriously, for something that's a comedy manga, it goes through a lot of themes of growing up, friendships, responsibilities, and other typical high school moments. I can't really describe it beyond that, it's just a well-told and comedic tale of high schoolers growing up in the 2000s and learning what it's like to be high schoolers and by the end what it's like to become adults and become something out in the real world. I think it's got something the reader can relate to in some way or another. I liked how it was broken up into months and semesters to really get the reader into the mindset of a high-schooler, definitely gave me nostalgia going through the months with them and reflecting on my own (admittedly botched cause I was a depressed emotional recluse who didn't do much) high-school career. A- in the story department for me. The Characters: Easily my favorite of Azumanga Daiou as a whole. Every character's quirky and written in a fun way in their own right. I'm personally more of a Yomi and Tomo kind of person cause I feel like they personally represent me the most, but I have nuggets of the others in me too, I suppose. They all work so well together to create so many great bombastic moments together, part of the fun was definitely seeing the combinations of characters together and seeing what they'd do next. Easily my favorite parts are when they have literally EVERBODY together (which is...somewhat common? You get to see more of that in the last quarter or so of the manga, this is assuming you're reading the Omnibous like I did) cause total chaos ensues. I guarantee that if you're going into this blind, you'll get attached to everyone pretty quickly. Heck, I even cared about Kimura despite how much of a creep he was throughout most of the manga (which I'm still not sure if that was a localization thing or if that was what the original translation him out was cause a friend of mine who was born and raised in Japan was comparing the writing between some parts of the manga with me and claimed he saw differences with how they wrote him or something along those lines.) The point is, I really like all of the characters and the friendships they have with each other, even the minor characters get enough time to where you can care about them. Hooray for me finding yet another piece of anime/manga material that made me love the entire cast, seems to be a thing I get lucky with...looking at you NEO: The World Ends With You. Anyway, easily the best part about Azumanga and what we all remember it for...probably, I mean it's all great, but you get what I mean. A+ for the characters. The Presentation: While it was a little jarring for me to get used to starting out, the almost newspaper-like comic style is a pretty neat way to present things (though I think it was originally a part of a manga magazine publication which explains why it probably looks like that...and probably a lot of manga look like that now that I realize it so maybe this is just me thinking out loud as I type this) is a nice, simple, and effective way to telling everything. The writing at times isn't always on point and there are some things that probably should've made me laugh more (again not sure if there were localization or translation goofs or whatever, who knows) but didn't, but what DID make me laugh was great. The gags are all presented in creative ways and not everything relies on the writing, making the fusion of writing and visual jokes work really well together without getting tiring. Getting back to the art itself, it's all pretty nice and aged pretty well, with the characters all being well-designed and drawn and especially the environments when they go into full detail (namely in the Okinawa part) are especially a treat for me. A small detail I loved was the fact everyone would actually be wearing the appropriate clothes for each season and seeing the art of the different characters in neat outfits at the beginning of each transition to a new month was great. The colored pages in the Omnibus version I have are GORGEOUS and I honestly wish there was more of it...maybe we can get a full-color edition for an anniversary of the franchise or something? Maybe. But yeah, for a late nineties to early two-thousands manga, it still looks really great and I can definitely see how the artists and animators for the anime nailed adapting a lot of gags and iconic bits from the manga almost one-to-one. A- stuff here. The Conclusion: Overall, Azumanga Daiou isn't the most perfect manga in the world (nor was I expecting it to be), but for a comedy manga, it has a surprising amount of depth with a very lovable cast of characters (so much so I even bought some of the old plushes of them from eBay...god bless Japanese sellers, but DO NOT DO THAT UNLESS YOU HAVE THE MONEY CAUSE THEY ARE PRICEY!), some great memorable moments, and a pleasing art style that's sure to make most people getting into this manga very satisfied. I know I sure am...I'm planning on watching the anime at some point...we'll get into current plans in a minute. But yeah, if you (somehow) haven't heard of Azumanga Daiou through memes, 4Chan, or some other kind of means, I'd recommend giving the manga a go and then maybe watching the anime like I'm doing just so you can see all of the parts adapted from the manga. I've only seen clips and I got hyped just from seeing the clips adapted into the manga, so it was an all-around fun read for me. Definitely a must-read for comedy and slice-of-life enjoyers. It's a 9.5/10 for me overall and it's only getting the .5 off of it because of the potential botched writing and some of the gags not fully landing for me. Future Plans (as of September 15th 2023): So, like I was talking about before. I've been dealing with personal stuff, so I haven't really found the time to get into any new material and I've also been trying to finish (kinda begrudgingly cause I'm not the biggest fan of it sadly) Like a Dragon: Ishin and fortunately I'm almost done with it, which means once finish that, Ergo Proxy's getting watched next so I can take a brief game break before getting into Xenoblade Chronicles and Tsukihime (which yes, I will be going into EVERYTHING FOR, animes minus the 2003 adaptation cause I've been advised that it's pretty bad, OVAs, both the original VN and the Remake one that I'm still debating on either reading with the fan translation or waiting for the localized version to come out.) In the briefest terms (as in the new couple weeks from this review right after I turn 21 on the 24th, yay...true Illinois adulthood), Chainsaw Man's coming in the mail with the box set I pre-ordered, so expect me to be reading that and waiting to definitively review it once it's all done...whenever that is. The characters look nice and I've been told by several friends I would enjoy it, so I'm going for it...totally isn't just because of Himeno and Angel Devil existing. But yeah, at some point maybe during my gaming binge and maybe after I binge Tsukihime stuff a bit, I'll be watching the Azumanga Daiou anime, so expect that too. I'll probably end up comparing it to the manga a lot, but I'll try and find new observations with it and give my typical realest inputs like I do with all of these reviews. Well, that's pretty much all I've got for now. Until next time, I'll be finishing Ishin, praying for my new rig to finally be fixed so I can finally give this old six-year-old PC I've been using either the retirement it deserves or at the very least a nice long break...and just so I can run games better in general, namely VR and newer Emulation. Stay tuned for more! I'll try and be around again soon!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 15, 2022
Kurayami Dance
(Manga)
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[SPOILERS BEWARE! I'm gonna go a bit in-depth with this one because...well, it's a SUDA51 work, and of course, it always goes that deep and I'm also just an obsessive weirdo who loves his work too much.]
Well, well, well! It's been some time now, hasn't it? Yeah, sorry about kinda going dark for a bit. I've been still binging Yakuza games (I'm finishing 6 tonight and getting to the first Judgement game! CAN'T WAIIIT!) In other news...No More Heroes III's ports off Switch were uh...disastrous...I don't wanna really talk about that (I paid full price for that stuff)...anyways, I finished this wonderful little gem of ... a manga. So crazy to me still that THIS was what was meant to be SUDA's original vision (though it was originally just called Kurayami) instead of Shadows of the Damned...god, I hate when a company creatively limits someone's work like that. Well, let's hit 300 and see what this manga's got in store for us!: Kurayami Dance The Story [9/10] What seems like a tragic tail of someone almost dying and becoming a sort of 'chosen one' type of cliche story actually turns out to be a very heartfelt story full of action, drama, comedy, and even some psychological horror, all flared with SUDA's signature style. Kurayami's story always had me guessing because I simply couldn't imagine what SUDA was going to come up with. It's a story that goes all over the place in a good way, always keeping itself mysterious and interesting, even when its already laid out the cards like with the fact that Boss (Wataru's Boss at the Funeral home, of course) is actually [i]against[/i] Wataru this whole time and was basically just trying to get him killed for the sake of the Kurogane Kingdom because...as Kenjin said, he's a "Dog of the Kingdom." It's overall just a WILD story with Road movie (like the genre ABOUT road movies, is what I mean), drama, action, thriller, psychological horror, and art-house elements in it. Much like SUDA51's other works...it's very offbeat, but full of heart, excitement, character drama, and lots of action all presented in a nice well-written pace and written truly stylishly (especially the characters.) The Characters [10/10] While the characters of Kurayami Dance are by far my favorite aspects of this entire manga, it's actually rather hard to describe all of the characters in detail because all of them have their own layers and quirks to them that I think everyone might take away different things about them (much like a lot of things SUDA has made have definitely been.) By far my favorite character is Wataru (and Challia to that extent cause...well, he's part of him, after all), with Akari as a very close second. Every character has a very distinctive personality from each other, even the Nekoda and Baba, who are supposed to be twins, just goes to show you how well-written they are. Wataru got the most development and we can see him change from a rebellious teenager who doesn't care about much other than living for the thrill of it to someone who's grown stronger as a person and faces everything head-on with his snark and yet has reserve and values his life a lot more than he did once before, and that's just Wataru, I don't even wanna get into everyone else cause this review's gonna be long enough. SUDA certainly has a way with characters...you'd especially know that with his other work like Killer7, No More Heroes, and The Silver Case, but you'd [i]definitely[/i] get a general idea of that here...also TRAVIS TOUCHDOWN SHOWS UP IN THIS! HOW CAN YOU SAY NO TO THAT!? COME ON! The Visuals [9.5/10] Aaaahhh, definitely other favorite aspect of this manga. While I've hadn't heard of any of the other stuff Syuji Takeya's other works he's done (outside of Astral Project in passing, but I didn't pay much mind to it), I really do enjoy his style. He really knows how to make some diverse-looking designs really come to life. The chins sometimes are a little too over the top (especially in Travis's case when he shows up), but that's about the only complaint I have with the art in this manga at all. The environments, the character designs, the objects, and the usage of contrasts between lights and darks (especially during the Dancing the Dark sequence in one of the earlier chapters with Wataru and G), it's all really stylish stuff and compliments SUDA's dark but stylized writing and tone very nicely. It's all just really solid stuff that, a shame Syuji hasn't worked on anything major for quite some time it seems. I'm curious as to how he'd redraw a lot of the stuff I saw here. A+ stuff, truly. The Verdict/Conclusion [9.5/10] Overall, Kuryami Dance is a very stylish manga full of lots of style, creativity, and heart that I don't often feel when reading other manga works. In a way, this manga existing to me is me imagining SUDA finally getting to create the true vision he wanted, the game he never got to make turned into a beautifully stylized manga that's just as good as any of his games and that is truly something special to me, there's a reason he's literally one of my favorite people in the gaming world, man. So...if you're either a SUDA fan wanting to get into more of his work (like Kill The Past, for instance) or are just someone looking for something really different...go for it! It's definitely worth a read. I'm certainly glad I read it, puts me one step deeper into the SUDA brainrot, heh. Post-Review Ramble Alright, alright, I promise I'll get around to Ergo Proxy eventually. I REALLY wanna watch it since 1. It's not very long for someone like me to get through since if I get hooked to it, I can pull what I did with Texhnolyze and binge 3-4 episodes a day and get through it in about a week or so (I've got work and games to finish, so I don't have as much time to burn with anime as I did during the summer.) and 2. It's something that's definitely more up my alley, right up there with stuff exactly like Texhnoylze. As for my next manga review (whenever THAT may be...), it'll more than likely be Azumanga Daiou/Daioh (people spell it differently, so there, appeal to both crowds who spell it either way), I've had it on my shelf for MONTHS and STILL have yet to read it. So that'll probably be what I do next, again, when that comes. As for gaming...well, until No More Heroes III's PC Port gets patched a bit, I'm not "STARTING THE GAME!" until then, I know about the .ini config fixes and all of that. The modding community is already looking pretty promising. Can't wait to just play that game already man...I'm such a sucker for SUDA, hehehehe... Until next time, take care and don't die... a dumb reference to the manga. Alright, just take care, heh.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 24, 2022
NieA Under 7
(Anime)
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[YEAH UHH...SPOILERS! YE! YE! THOU HAS BEEN FOREWARNED! RAAA!]
Hey, hey! Guess who's back (briefly) for another anime review again? Me, Nyo! Yeah, sorry for kinda vanishing for a while, I'll explain why in my post-review ramble. Literally just finished watching the last episode of this one and I've got a bit to say on it so let's dig into the final nugget of the ABe Anime Tetralogy (my little umbrella name for Lain, Niea, Haibane, and Texhnoylze cause I can't think of anything actually cool to say) and close it off right!: The Story/Narrative [8/10]: A simple story about Humans and Aliens living together in harmony on ... Earth...sort of. There's some divides between higher and lower-class Aliens just like there are with humans it seems too... rather depressing, but I guess that's what ABe shows all kinda have in common. It mainly revolves around Mayuko, a stressed-out girl trying to make money and get into college while studying at a cram school at the same time while dealing with the tough world of growing up, the world changing, and just dealing with everyday problems...mostly Niea being a mischievous little bugger and Chada being a weirdo. Not much else really to the show other than that. It's a short, simple, and sweet story with some light character drama that closes off nicely, with all of the main characters all getting plenty of screen time to develop (though I DO wonder where Karna went, she vanishes after like episode 9 or something, whichever episode they had the bathhouse arcade tournament.) It's nothing spectacular, but it's nothing bad either and the explanation of the lore of aliens themselves and the concept of things like the mothership and different classes of aliens makes it a much more interesting show, it's sort of a blend of the depressiveness of what Serial Experiments Lain did was Mayuko's side of the story (at least towards the latter half of the series and whenever she's just by herself) and the lighter moments that Haibane Renmei would later do more balanced in conjunction with the serious theme, which manifests in the form of Niea's development. In a way, this show is like the in-between to both of those shows and it shows, it's still got that charm that I've loved from the rest of ABe's series and that's all I really wanted at the end of the day. I just kinda wish we could've seen what came of the bathhouse, even if yes, I still think the ending we got is fine and closes out the series nicely much like Haibane would go and do later...yeah, let's just stop comparing this to other ABe shows. The story's good for what it is, A-. The Characters [9/10] Now, you think I'd hate most of the characters given the fact they're either just one-note exaggerated character traits or blatant stereotypes of other cultures (especially since I'm not the type of person to usually enjoy comedy anime, they just never do anything for me cause [I know this is gonna sound cliche] I've got a stupidly five-headed sense of humor, so it's a little hard to impress me), but nope, I actually really like the entire cast, even Chada. There's a lot of variety in these characters and as the show goes on we get to see other sides of them (like I said earlier with Mayuko being depressed and also being a hothead on her other side) and it's all well and good. It's hard for me to complain when all of the characters are just so interesting to me and definitely form the wackiest cast of anime characters I've seen. That's honestly all I've got to say, asides from the main cast having the depth I already sort of dumped in the story section. I think everyone (again minus Karna) got enough screen time to develop themselves, by the end, I wasn't so much laughing as much as I was actually feeling pretty bad for everyone in the Enohana Bathhouse crew...and for a comedy slice of life anime...that's pretty impressive. A+ stuff. The Visuals [9/10] Well, with the same team that made Serial Experiments Lain working on this anime...is it really any surprise I really love this show's visuals? Sure, its animation and visuals look a teeny bit rough at times, but the scenery, the character designs, and the use of different types of animation even if it's only brief, it's all really vibrant, creative, and definitely in line with ABe's other anime work. It once again really feels like a neat little in-between from Lain to Haibane and yet it still has all of the charm and style from both, especially in the opening, it gives me a mixture of vibes from both shows in terms of its visuals. The visuals in this show in particular I'd say help give off certain vibes that the show wanted to convey to the viewer and never goes too overboard between sad and wacky in any scenes, it strikes a nice balance that Haibane would later tighten upon, I'm sure the experience from making this show really helped in making Haibane the emotionally robust show it was. It's cutesy, neat, creative and it's definitely wacky, perfectly fitting for a show like this, just another reason I liked it so much. A+ from there, ABe-san! The Sound Design [9/10] Aaaaahhh, ABe shows...they always have such amazing soundtracks...and this show's no different! From the melancholic opening theme to even the briefest songs used for cutaway skits, this show's got a PHENOMENAL soundtrack. I wouldn't say it's better than Lain or Texhnolyze good, but it's at least up there with Haibane Renmei's soundtrack. There's acoustic tunes, electronic tunes, and ambient music, it's just...pure ABe at its finest. What else is there to say? If I could buy a CD of every anime soundtrack for these shows, I'd do it in a heartbeat...or just pray they all get put on Spotify which sadly is...probably not gonna happen for us Western listeners...anyways, great OST! A+. Gotta love all that beautiful environmental ambiance too...that stuff ALWAYS gets me really invested. The voice-acting is great! The Japanese cast absolutely sells their roles and all sound distinct and fit the characters perfectly, which was definitely needed for a comedy show like this, it's all about that vocal range and hitting the right chords. Meanwhile, the dub is uhhh...hehe...not great...it's definitely a year 2000 anime-dub, so I guess there was still room for improvement. I'm glad I only have seen clips of the dub cause man, that dub probably would've made me not like the show. ABe Anime English Dubs have always been sort of a hit or miss type deal, Lain's dub was...off, Haibane's was fine, and Texhnoylze's is decent as well. I guess things just got better as time went on. Solid A, no + or - needed. The Verdict/Conclusion [8.5/10] I really liked this show and I'm definitely glad I FINALLY got around to watching it, it's been a long time coming and now that I'm finally finished with all of the ABe anime as far I know (...if there is any more out there like it, shoot me a message on my profile, I'd be quite curious to know), I can finally say how much of hardcore fan I am of these shows. They're truly something special, especially Niea's case cause going in, I thought I was gonna hate it (even if I'll admit yeah, there are some tasteless jokes in there, but it was Japan in the year 2000, I guess it's just something I gotta accept as part of the times, so who cares), but I turned to really like this show, just as much as the other ones I'd say. Sure, it's no masterpiece like Lain and Texhnoylze, but it wasn't trying to be, it was just simple anime comedy fun and it did give me a few laughs and chuckles, so I guess it worked on me in the end. I'd say if you want a more laid-back show, an older comedy anime to spice up your anime portfolio or laugh at some dated humor, or just a mini anime to kill some time like it was for me (I'll explain in a moment what I mean by that), or you're like me and wanted to see more Yoshitoshi ABe anime, then this show's for you! [Post Review Ramble:] So yeah...again, really sorry for vanishing on you all. I've been getting a lot more attention from my reviews recently (thankies for that!) and I had a little bit of a situation come up that gave me the time to finally get around to watching this show. So...because I guess I didn't clean my PC out regularly enough, I had my GPU Artifact on me and I thought it was a goner, but once I cleaned it the next day, it was fine and has been fine ever since. I was in the middle of my SUDA51 binge with The 25th Ward (and I was starting to get really invested into it too...), so I'd decided to take a break from that game because I thought THAT was what caused it to glitch up...which was probably part of it cause I WAS running the game at double the resolution my card's supposed to be able to support...doesn't help my monitor's 2K and my RX 580's only built for 1080p Gaming at most...gotta love how my new rig died out less than a month and my 5-year-old rig here is still going strong...it's whatever. I've been binging through the Yakuza games (I'm on Yakuza 5 as of writing this and I love it just as much as the other games) and it's been doing just fine. That's been all done and solved now and I got to watch the last ABe show I've wanted to watch for a while now and really enjoyed it. Aaaand now that I have this show done, I'll be promptly returning to The 25th Ward and my SUDA51 binge...I've still got Red, Blue, and Green (both the fangame AND Manga) along with the Kurayami Dance Manga to get through after The 25th Ward...so I've got my work cut out for me. I'll try and get through this all ASAP (especially since I want to finish these games before No More Heroes 3 launches on PC with Steam on October 11th, SUDA's been connecting the dots, so to speak, so I need as much context as I can get for THAT game.) My next anime review...I'm honestly not sure when or what it'll be. I've been REALLLLY eyeing Blood+, though, it looks really neat, but that's a lot of episodes for me to get through and my reviews for these 13-episode animes are already long, imagine me trying to review a 50-episode-long show without it looking like a college paper on your screen...makes me wish I could just have good editing and make anime reviews instead, but oh well, this is the best I can muster with my dumb brain. Anyways, we'll have to wait and see. Again, thanks for the continued support and I appreciate all of the friend requests and nice comments you all send my way. I'll start accepting friend requests a little more, maybe give out my Discord eventually if you wanna chat up about our lord and savior Yoshitosh-nah, I'm just kidding with ya (though maybe I'm not so much considering I've started trying to collect as much of his art in terms of art books, manga, and stuff, so uhh...uh oh, hehe~), but we'll see, maybe if people ask for it enough. Believe In The Niea!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 22, 2022
Megami Ibunroku: Persona
(Manga)
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Well, well, weeellll...I'm back again! Bet you didn't expect me to be doing a Manga review now, did you? Well, anyways. Since I've only seen one review of this Manga and it's from someone who hadn't even finished reading it (at least from what they have marked down on their profile, no offense to them at all), I thought I'd give the best possible review without giving away too much. So...I'll try to keep this one spoiler-free cause you people DESERVE to read this manga. On to the review!:
The Story/Narrative [10/10] So...this is probably immediately where you're going to tell that I really enjoyed the writing ... for this Manga alone with the story. While Megami Ibunroku: Persona (aka. what I'll be referring to as the 'Persona 1 Manga' or 'P1 Manga' for brevity's sakes) follows its PlayStation game's story in many of its beats, it also takes its creative liberties and combines the two endings or 'routes' (the SEBEC and Snow Queen routes, as they're called) that were once separate in the original game into one route along with adding more characterization (like giving the previously unnamed Protagonist an actual name asides from 'Boy with Earring'), adding an additional character (not naming them, you'll know when you see them cause they kinda stick out in a unique way), along with fleshing out the world, characters, and even the lore of Persona and the Arcanas (which was kinda glossed over in the game.) The story itself is pretty well-written and well-paced, I think even more so than the original game, which is impressive given how much ground is covered in only 45 chapters. It certainly is quite magical how the writers were able to put everything from the game into the manga (in a lot of cases quite faithfully, at least from what I've seen in comparison to the game's cutscenes and dialogue given that I haven't played the game in any form nor have any desire to due to the...kinda outdated gameplay, look, it's fine for its time, but it's aged and we have to admit it, yes, even the 2009 PSP Remaster) without any of it losing its charm. Overall, it's an engaging, emotionally gripping, especially dark & gritty, and all-around exciting story that kept me invested throughout. The pacing was nearly perfect, it drags in some small places, but for the most part, it's nicely paced without it ever being boring since the characters are always on the move and trying to get things going as they should be given the tension of the story. Its liberties don't affect the original story at all and (in my opinion) adds to the story, making it feel like more is going on in it. A++ stuff. This is certainly one of the better-adapted video-game mangas out there when it comes to faithfulness to the story. The Art/Visuals [10/10] Well, given it's a manga, you GOTTA have good illustrations and of course, the Persona 1 Manga delivers! Being done by Shinshu Ueda, who's done A LOT of other Megami Tensei-related Manga work absolutely STUNS the reader with the visuals, especially towards the end to the point I was just getting more and more blown away at what was on the next page, it was THAT exciting. The character and environmental designs from the game all carry over PERFECTLY into the manga format and look great. The comedy that kinda falls flat in-game because you'd only see small sprites making puffs of smoke and whatnot for the comedy is completely improved here, making the comedy that, while feels a teeny bit forced-in at times, is still excellently shown-off here. Lots of different usages of shades and lightning help give scenes their own vibes (especially when you're like me and had the OST of the game playing in the background for extra immersion) and it all looks great. The fights, while not frequent, are some of the highlights (again, the end, in particular, is MIND-BOGGLING in some of its visuals) of the manga, since they actually show the cast using their spells and they look exactly how you'd imagine them to look like they did in the game and the enemies and bosses that are shown are ones that you actually see from the game and are given buildup and suspense before you fight them (the game does this too, but the manga does this A LOT better than the game, again, in my opinion.) Point is, the visuals, especially for a manga made in the late '90s to very early 2000s (from its printing date) are STELLAR and really help in selling this manga, giving more emotion to the characters, and exciting the reader with dark, creepy, but also at times beautiful and lively art. A++ stuff yet, again, Ueda, for the win. The Characters/Cast [10/10] By far the most important and my personal favorite thing about this entire manga for me, the Persona 1 Manga manages to ENTIRELY overhaul these characters and make them MUCH more interesting and better-written than their in-game counterparts. The Protagonist (known as 'Naoya Toudou' in the Manga) in particular was given an actual personality that better defines him and makes him much more interesting to read about (no doubt also due to the fact that they gave him a proper, great written backstory.) He had some great moments that got me feeling for him, especially towards the end...ooohhh, man...that ending must've been GUTTORAL for him... The other party members and the rest of the cast are also much better too. Nanjo isn't just the anchorman of the group anymore, he's smart, but even he has his shortcomings, like his intolerance towards others being reckless (like with Inaba, who he still bickers with like he did in the game, although it's much more entertaining here due to the more exciting writing and visual gags), but also has his reasons for being how he is, he gets development and goes from being a grumpy person who puts himself above others to someone who gets genuinely concerned for the safety and wellbeing of everyone else. I won't talk too much about Maki since she's...kinda important to the story and I would start spoiling things, but she's got a lot more going on than what's initially seen of her outer flowery, sweet exterior. She's a strong-hearted fighter, determined to help everyone in any way she can. Elly (Eriko Kirishima) goes from being a girl who speaks in a bit of a strange way, always using an emphasis on the words she says when talking (which is actually shown in the text in the manga to clue the reader in on when she's doing so) to being able to talk how she REALLY wants to and also learns about how to use her Persona to save people and how she's more useful than she thinks she is (which also applies to Maki as well, but again, spoilers.) Inaba starts out thinking he's the king of the world who can force his way to victory in any situation when...he can't and through learning his Persona power, does he realize his limits and is he able to help in ways that HE KNOWS he can and will actually benefit the team in some way (very similar to how Uesugi does in the manga here too, who will get to in a second.) He's also the counter to Nanjo's unflinching strategic intellect like I briefly mentioned earlier, being the common voice of reasoning and questioning things when things seem uncertain. He learns to trust everyone's (especially Nanjo's judgment) and even once goes against him to convince him to save a certain someone's life. He and Nanjo were probably my favorites out of the cast. Hidehiko Uesugi (or 'Brown' as most people call him for short...you'll learn why he's called that and it's AMAZING...trust me) is the one who starts off the most confident (at least on the outside) but is the seemingly the weakest of the bunch at first until he learns to stop running away, being afraid, and confront things when the time comes, but also not be reckless for the sake of others. He's the rather blatant comedic relief of the group, often bickering and being the voice of questioning when Inaba's too busy fighting with Nanjo or something else. I could go on, but you get the idea, the characters here are all very well-written and have clear motives as to who and why they are who they are and why they act the ways that they do. Everyone's got some sort of problem that's realistic, not overly weird (minus maybe Brown's story.....lol), and actually feels like it matters (which is something I have a problem with some of the later Persona games past Persona 2 or the 'Neo-Persona' games that isn't an issue here.) I LOVE this cast. At least here, again, their in-game versions aren't...terrible, but they're a lot less interesting. This Manga really does justice to these characters and their stories. A++++. The Verdict/Conclusion [10/10] I...CANNOT recommend this manga enough to everyone. It's an adaptation of a game that, while is alright for what it is, definitely had some room for improvement in its writing (and gameplay, but that's a whole other can of worms we're not getting into here, this an anime & manga site, not GameFAQs) and this manga delivers! It improves A TON of the Story and Writing flaws from the game while adding its own flair that doesn't hinder the experience in any way and actually makes it more interesting, it's literally a direct upgrade if you ask me. So...if you're wanting to get into the older Persona games (or somehow start this series if you somehow haven't heard of it before at this point...god bless you if you're one of those people) and didn't and or still don't like the gameplay of Persona 1 but still want to experience the game...here's your ticket! And hey, maybe if you're just someone looking for something different in general and doesn't care about the series period, it's STILL A good read...do those people exist? I wonder. Also, something completely random I want to mention here before I go into my Post-Review Ramble, there are only 44 chapters...there's no chapter 45, I've looked everywhere for it, but it doesn't exist. I know that's random as heck to mention, but yeah, one less chapter-long than you'd think. Post-Review Ramble: Okay, okay. I know, I said I was gonna do NieA_7 next as my next MAL review period, but I've gotten all stacked up with games recently and finished my College semester back earlier this month (and now I've got a summer class starting June 6th and I'm also still working on getting my new rig that's been screwed up since late January fixed...we'll see how THAT goes...) Just finished Dead Rising 1 after putting it down back in February and I'm playing through Persona 5 Strikers and I'm at the 4th Jail in THAT game AND I'm going back to restarting The Silver Case (shoutouts to the SUDA51 fans out there) so that I can refresh my memory of the game and go through it properly along with Flower, Sun, and Rain and The 25th Ward as well. I'm still gonna do that review next along with...my next manga review: Azumanga Daioh! Yep, since I've got the freedom for it now that I'm done with this, I can get to reading it finally. It'll be nice too since I actually own Azumanga physically...kinda sucks reading a manga online, I prefer having it in my hands. Maybe Atlus could reissue and maybe release P1 in an all-in-one or at least in a bundle of a few volumes in one like the Evangelion and Death Note Mangas have done....who knows, Atlus is unpredictable as hell...sometimes. Anyways, I'll be working on knocking some more backlog stuff from my Steam library as well as getting ready for Niea_7 and Azumanga Daioh....some of you may have also noticed Blood+ is on my watchlist now...you can thank SUDA for THAT as well due him making the wacky Japanese-only Killer7-looking PS2 licensed game Blood+: One Night Kiss...weird game, for sure, but a cool one. That's not gonna be for a WHILE, though. Probably something I'll watch in chunks over the course of some months. For now...let's leave it at that. NieA_7 is more than likely gonna be next since that's something I can binge pretty easily and I have a feeling I'll REALLY like it. See ya around!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 14, 2022
Haibane Renmei
(Anime)
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[SPOILERS! WATCH THE SERIES BEFORE READING, AS ALWAYS!]
Aaaaaaaaaaaaand once again, I've just finished watching an anime and I'm reviewing it right afterward with fresh thoughts...man this was a good one. Let's begin!: The Story/Narrative [10/10]: A simple story about a girl being put in a new world....with cute angel people! It sounds simple, but the way the surprisingly vast world (especially in context to how small it really is because of the walls that surround the town), its characters, and the mythology/lore of the Haibane (said angel people) are all some of the most creative stuff I've seen from an anime and are all explored quite deeply ... given how short the series is and how much it has packed in it...definitely would've been nice to get more of this series, but I suppose you only have some much material to work with given the fact that after this anime was made, the manga was basically left unfinished, which is a shame cause they could've pulled an Evangelion and have it be its own timeline with different events that could've happened, oh well, this anime's still GOD-TIER and it still has Yoshitoshi ABe's vision still in it, so I guess we did get a conclusion to it in the end. Anyways, the chemistry between the characters, the emotions, the occasional conflict between the main characters, and the way they also deal with some of the tragedies like the Day of Flight (or rather the peaceful 'death' of the Haibane) with Kuu and Reki at the end of the series was amazing! Every character grew or at the very least experienced some life-changing stuff. I don't really have anything to complain about with it, I felt invested all the way through and really didn't find any part of the series annoying or bad in any sort of way. Overall, a simple, well-written, nicely paced (minus the end being a teeny bit abrupt, I feel like a little more time could've been put into seeing everyone off), emotionally gripping, and engaging, simply put...PERFECT! A++ The Art/Visuals [10/10]: I was originally going to give it a nine, but I'm gonna cut it some slack for obviously being something of its time and just taking a look as if I was back in Fall 2002 when this was released.....when I was barely just born and wouldn't have been able to know what was going on. Shoutouts to the September 2002 birthday peeps, out there. Anyhow, the characters, environments (which are absolutely GORGEOUS and feel like you're inside a painting), and everything else are all animated quite nicely. Sure, the far-away characters trope from older anime is still evident and it can look a little rough at times, but I see that as a bit of charm, and again, I'm willing to cut them some slack because of how much stuff looks so good otherwise. The environments really make me wish a world like this existed cause MAN...wish I could be a Haibane a pretty place like Glie. Yoshitoshi ABe's character designs from the Manga feel right at home here and while it's not animated by Madhouse like Serial Experiments Lain and later on Texhnolyze would be, Radix still did a WONDERFUL job of putting the world of Haibane Renmei into the world of animation. It all for the most part still holds up and is definitely one of the most unique-looking anime I've watched in a bit (though I guess that goes without saying if you look at the kinds of anime I DO watch, most of them are visually wild and as someone who kind is an art freak without being able to actually...make art, I'm a sucker for gorgeous and creative visuals.) Can't really argue with anything here. Also, A++ stuff. The Sound Design [10/10]: Alright, let's start with the music. It's all lots of pretty orchestral and ambiance pieces, even in the opening and ending themes. All of it is used quite effectively and appropriately for every scene of every episode and really helps in adding to the show's overall magical, whimsicalness. On top of that, there's a surprising amount of tracks on the OST given again how short the series is (especially if you were just as invested as I was even when I was trying to take it slow when watching it just so I could enjoy it more, for context I started this last week or so during Spring Break and I've only JUST NOW finished it as of tonight.) I think all of the stuff that Yoshitoshi ABe's name is attached is nearly guaranteed to have an AMAZING soundtrack, Lain & Texhnolyze sure did and this show's certainly no different! Definitely a lot of variety in each of their soundtracks, but a lot of thematic similarities that all make them uniquely...ABe. As for the voice-acting...the sub is perfect! No complaints, perfect performances that stay consistent throughout the series run time. The dub from what I've seen of it is....fine-ish. Karen Strassman that's in Persona as Aigis and Nanako (and the supply Machine from Killing Floor 2, which I wasn't aware of until...right now) as Nemu is kinda cool, along with Josh Philips (who was Hal in Texhnoylze's dub later on) as Hyouko is neat. The rest of the cast is alright too, but I'd still watch the sub for the purest, most natural experience, the dub in some places is still kinda meh. Overall, love it all. No complaints here either. A++ The Characters [10/10]: If it's not the visuals that would've won me over already, the characters certainly did. I LOVE this cast of characters, from Rakka to Sumika, all of the characters are a real treat to watch. The Main cast getting into small hijinks (which made me realize that I actually WATCHED a Slice of Life anime...I guess I could count Higurashi too since that also has Slice of Life bits in it, but this is my first full-fledged one) and exploring the town, getting to see what their lives are all like and what they do and also how they act with both other Haibane and Humans. The personal and external conflicts of all of the characters are well-explored, albeit a little expositionary at times. Like I said before, the chemistry of these characters and how they all work together so nicely to form one big happy family to me is just pure wholesomeness that...I think kinda changed me, not gonna lie. Here's a weird confession that might make this my weirdest review yet: I felt a little more...cuddly and feminine when watching this show in general, it was just enjoyable to watch and gave me a sense of comfort I hadn't seen in a show before. The side characters like Hyouko, Midori, and Sumika are all also given a nice amount of screen time, enough at least to where you can understand them and know their part in the world and how they impact the lives of the Haibane they work with, like Kana's Clock Master or Sumika with Nemu. There isn't a single character that I didn't like or thought was out of place, it all felt...perfectly crafted! ...You can tell how much I love this show already, can't you? Yeah, I think that whole wanting to be a Haibane thing is starting to go to my head....I'll save those thoughts for the after ramble. A++ for characters! Probably my favorite aspect of the show! Overall [10/10]: While Haibane Renmei is a short series, it's got A LOT going on within it and underneath it, if you're willing to deconstruct it. The story, visuals, sound design, and characters are AMAZING both for its time and now. It's just...a wonderous little masterpiece gem hidden by time. Wish more people knew about it cause it's definitely worth watching and it's definitely one of my new all-time favorites. If you liked Lain and wanted something a little more light-hearted with some of the same spirit, you're an SOL (Slice of-okay, you get the abbreviation) fan looking for a more unique show to watch, or you're like me and you're now obsessed with everything Yoshitoshi ABe puts his name on...it's ALSO right up your ally (seriously, this guy's work is legit some of my favorite stuff out there and it's taking over my headspace, please help.) Alright, alright, I don't need to convince you anymore. It's a cute series that you'll either enjoy or maybe just appreciate even if it's not your thing. After Review Ramble [ARR, and no, not the Final Fantasy XIV expansion, A Realm Reborn, I have that game and I'll probably never play it cause MMOs aren't my thing...I've tried with Shin Megami Tensei: REImagine, but after like 5 months, I dropped it.]: Yeah, this one's gonna live rent-free in my head now...I'm gonna be having dreams and beliefs that this is the kind of world we go into when we die in this world...it's a thought to ease the fact that I'll die someday, at least...and I just wanna be a Haibane Boy/Girl with cute little wings and a halo having fun and just doing simple work rather than the grueling office stuff most people do these days here. That and again, I'm really starting to become a hardcore fan of ABe's work, his stuff is just so...unique and different in a way that speaks to me. He makes the kind of stuff that I wish I had the talent to make. I guess that's the best way of putting it. I've had so many different ideas come into my head, but since I don't have a real way of expressing them, I feel like unless there was a way to upload your consciousness onto the internet and visualize everything and make it exist...those dreams are going to be lost to time and stay with me until I either find a way to do so...which I'm not sure how, drawing for me used to be an escape, but I never feel like doing it anymore, and writing is...kinda cool, but I feel like I type and write a little too convolutedly, so the stuff I make could be bogged down from that. Also, for some reason, I really wanted to start playing Mabinogi even though 1. I've NEVER really heard it before, just saw screenshots and it reminded me of the show. and 2. I just don't think I can ever get into MMOs as much as I can into infinitely replayable multiplayer stuff like Team Fortress 2 & Left 4 Dead. I dunno, maybe I just wanna cope with the fact I can't be a part of a cute world such as Haibane's. So......what are my plans for my next anime....still thinking about either Ergo Proxy or Hellsing, but I'm looking into taking a look at Yoshitoshi ABe's other anime works too, since those are ALSO look pretty intriguing to me. NieA_7 looks cool, buuut it's a comedy (granted an ADULT comedy, but still a little father than what I typically watch) rather than a psychological one which was one of the reasons why I WATCHED Haibane Renmei in the first place (cause I can't seem to get enough of THAT genre as you can tell from the stuff I've watched & read.) Still pretty cool that a lot of the same people who worked on Lain work onto THAT series, though, Triangle Staff did some good work for their time. Found out about Welcome to the N.H.K., which while the Manga is illustrated by ABe, is A LOT MORE up my ally in terms of genres: Black comedy, Psychological drama, and...another slice of life. Sounds neat, though, might take a look at it. The same goes for RErideD: Tokigoe no Derrida...but that shows has a 5.69 on here and while its genres are up to my alley...I don't really see it being something that'll hold my interest nor blow me away. I like the creme of the crop niche stuff like this. Despera's still stuck in limbo...but whenever that show DOES come to fruition...you bet your bottom Bibby I'm gonna watch it as soon as it comes out. From what I've seen of the manga, it looks WONDERFUL! Alright, alright. I'll think about it, here's what I've got in mind. If you wanna pester me about which one I should watch first, go ahead, for right now, I'm taking a break from anime again (until I maybe feel like watching one of these) and I'm strictly focusing on finishing the Persona 1 Manga so that I can play Persona 2: Innocent and Eternal Punishment: · Ergo Proxy · Hellsing · NierA_7 · Welcome to the N.H.K. · So Ra No Wo To (Sound of the Sky) · Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World (Kino's Journey) · Gunslinger Girl · Aria the Animation · Mushishi ...Goodness me, I'm gonna be stacked for months if I find time to binge through ALL of these, most of them are shorter, to be frank, but man, it'll be a wild ride. Anyways, yeah, let me know. Enough rambling for now...
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 4, 2022
Texhnolyze
(Anime)
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[SPOILER REVIEW! WATCH THE SERIES FIRST OR DON'T, UP TO YOU!]
Well...uhhh....jeez, I literally JUST finished watching this series and I'm blown the hell away. Okay, let me collect myself. I'M BACK! Yup, I FINALLY got around to watching this show and I'm gonna get to Haibane Renmei soon enough....comment on my profile stuff I should watch after that, I'm thinking about watching either Ergo Proxy and or Hellsing (the OG stuff, probably not the Reboot I heard about from a co-worker of mine.) On with the review: The Story/Narrative [10/10]: While the story is a little bit hard to follow at times, the wars between all of ... the different gangs, all weaponizing their own ideals, cultures, and liveliness is a REALLY cool concept. I liked how the story devolves from a war between gangs to the world LITERALLY FALLING APART, sure, it's not End of Evangelion-level insanity, but it's DEFINITELY up there. Every person in every group has their own roles in the story and sure, it's slow-building, but if you're patient with it, you get a story that (in my opinion) was AMAZING and definitely just as good as Serial Experiments Lain was with its story. I personally feel like this series had one of the most unique stories out there, or at least had the most interesting spin on the whole cliche 'only a select few people can save the world from its own destruction kind of plot. You'll either really like the plot by the end as I did...or you'll hate it if you want a show with more action and a faster-paced story. I'd still say it's EXCELLENT. The Art/Visuals [10/10]: Seriously, it's Yoshitoshi ABe AND Madhouse just like Lain. How can you NOT like something like that? You can definitely tell that the animators and designers upped their game when it came to the character designs, the environments, the art style itself, and the animation. It all feels like a logical but still AMAZING upgrade from Lain (not dogging on Lain's style but any means, but it's definitely late 90s and you can tell, but you can tell this anime's from the 00's just by looking at it too, I suppose, so kind of a mute argument, whatever, you get the point) and it's all consistently polished and very nice! The fights scenes are visceral, impactful, and all realistic without ever feeling too off in any way or like shounen schlock. The futuristic technology of the texchnolyzed arms, legs, and other parts are all also animated nicely and don't look all that out of place on the characters (which is definitely nice cause there's definitely anime I think that takes that stuff a liiiiittle too far, not naming any here, though.) It's a gorgeous show and I'll it looked AMAZING for 2003, seriously, this show still looks amazing even now. You could take any screenshot from the show and see all of the details, time, and effort put into it all. The CGI isn't all that distracting either, it's appropriately used and doesn't clash too much with the other 2D-animated stuff, again, as Lain did, you can tell these people knew what they were doing when working on this stuff. The editing and the shots, in particular, were really neat, for example in Episode 21 or so, you see Ichise walking around as an old man is talking to him, instead of focusing on Ichise like you'd expect the show to do since he's our main character, the camera focuses on who's talking, as Ichise's just a listener (even if everything's kinda expositional in the last few episodes.) Point is, there are A LOT of really neat visual design choices in this show that REALLY help in making it a unique-looking show, especially compared to other stuff at the time. A+++ stuff, absolutely adore it all. The Sound Design [10/10]: Well, I'll start with the music first and foremost as I think, much like Lain, it's just as memorable as the show itself. The music for Texhnolyze is in some ways similar to Lain, but in other ways completely isn't, you've got your groovy songs, you've got some AMAZING orchestral and acoustic pieces, and you also have techno-like music that's all effectively well in the show and definitely helps add to a lot of the scenes and helps in giving the show an identity of its own. Seriously, I've been listening to the OST outside of watching the show both during and now AFTER watching this show (hell, I have it on right now as of typing this review), and it's all gorgeous...I just wish it was on Spotify or something. As for the voice-acting, I watched this series through the Sub, however, I do find it quite impressive that a more obscure show such as this actually got an English Dub much like Lain did back in the day. Everyone in the sub is PERFECTLY cast for their characters, and I have absolutely no complaints with anyone sounding out of place or not in the right tone for a scene, this is seriously an AMAZING sub. As for the dub...it's...alright. I don't really watch anime in dub unless it's like Fullmetal Alchemist or Death Note where the dub is GOD-TIER, but the voices and performances I've heard from the dub cast do fine with their characters.......I'd still say watch it in sub. A++ stuff, though as well here! Characters [10/10]: I...really, REALLY like the cast of this show. Hell, even the villains had me invested in them, since everyone's more or less got their own ideals with how they want to be in the world. Some people like Ichise and Toyama just want to survive and live while others like Onishi and Shinji (and later Ichise with Ran) want to protect their people and do what they need to do both to survive and keep their people happy. I don't think there's a single character I DIDN'T LIKE, sure, I like some more than others (my top five in order are Ichise, Ran, Onishi, Shinji, and Toyama respectively) and some DEFINITELY get more screen time and development than others....poor Kimata, the characters get enough screen time for you to understand them and care for these characters. Everyone gets some kind of introduction, development, and end in some form...with pretty much everyone but Ichise getting some kind of screwed-up fate...I guess Ran saying that Ichise would be all alone in the end really was true after all....this all made me wonder what Eriko is doing and how she would've reacted to everything (though I guess she was in Ichise's arm at the end and gave him the power to fight the people who murdered Onishi, so...yeah, maybe she's excused) along with Sakimura (though I guess he's got a job to do, at least, so he's kinda excused too.) Also a bummer the walking badass meme himself Yoshii got killed off so quickly at the beginning of the series, though I suppose he was the catalyst along with Ran that sets things off into disarray. Alright, alright, I could on about this show for HOURS, especially since everything's still fresh in my mind, but yeah get the point. The cast is all likable, realistic, and well-written in their own ways. No complaints there. Solid A+ on the writers for this one. The Verdict/Conclusion [10/10!]: Well, considering how much I've basically praised this show in every aspect (though I may be biased cause 1. It was made by a lot of the same people who did Lain, which is ALREADY one of my all-time favorite shows, and 2. Psychological shows in general are like my comfort food when I'm in the mood for them...which is pretty much ALL OF THE TIME), there are some minor little flaws with it but I'd say if you either A. Loved Lain and wanted something similar but still different enough and or B. If you want to watch something a Cyberpunk series that's got a little more...let's say 'depth' to it, then THIS SHOW'S FOR YOU. It's one hell of an experience and definitely, has me going wild over Chiaki J. Konaka, Yoshitoshi ABe, and everyone who worked on Lain, this show, and Haibane Renmei....so yeah. If you're up for using your brain and gawking at some 00's Cyberpunk Psychological goodness, you'll DEFINITELY get a kick out of this show. What's next? [New section that I'm gonna be labeling from now on because I don't want to make this part of the review and besides, I don't think anyways gives a damn about what I say here anyways.]: Speaking of Haibane Renmei, yeah, that show's up next. I'm definitely now more motivated than ever to get around to FINALLY watching it and that series is a little bit shorter, so we'll see if it's just as good, though I can already imagine I'll really enjoy it. I bought Azumanga Daioh's manga recently too, so you...may or may not see me write my first manga review. Been meaning to finish the Death Note, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Evangelion mangas, but at this point, I just think that Evangelion's the only one out of the three that's gonna get finished, or at the very least reviewed. Anyways, as I said earlier if you've got any more shows like you you'd think I'd enjoy that AREN'T in the recommendations tab already, I'm all ears. See you guys...in probably like a few days once I've binged through Haibane, 13 episodes and me watching 4 episodes per day because I get addicted to every anime I watch whenever I DO watch something nowadays (definitely explains why I got through this show so fast), meh, whatever, I've got a million and one things wrong in this shell...
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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