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Aug 13, 2013
-Project Zakuro Reviews: Familiar of Zero-
Like tsunderes? Like magic? Needless to say, this anime has all of them. Familiar of Zero was an anime that despite being released in 2006 hasn't caught my attention until much recently. A lot of people seem to claim Familiar of Zero as the sister anime to Shakugan no Shana due to their similar traits or that it is a blatant ripoff of J.K. Rowling's greatest written literature of all time. Is this anime overlooked because of these aspects? Well then, let's find out.
Watching the first episode, I can immediately tell where all the inspiration came from to build the
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base of the anime. A magic academy in a fantasy world, uniforms with capes, the dinning halls, some character similarities, it can all be traced back to the ever popular Harry Potter. My first impressions were that I thought this anime was going to copy the exact same formula and become this blatant ripoff that everyone was talking about. While this anime did copy these traits to some extent, luckily not everything was ripped and everything diverged very quickly from what everyone speculated to be. The story's main character Louise (one of the four tsundere wonders) is a mediocre mage who can't seem to pull off a single spell without it resulting in an explosion. Because of this, everyone calls her "zero". Time and time again, Louise got frustrated for each failure and got ever determined, even during the familiar summoning test. To Louise's surprise, she succeeded in summoning a familiar but not in the way she turned it out to be. Her familiar was a human commoner named Saito and despite her disappointment, unfortunately Louise cannot undo the summoning so she is stuck with him. Saito however is not just any commoner, he's a Japanese boy sent from his world by Louise's spell and has a special trait within that she doesn't know. This is where the Shakugan no Shana similarities fit in. Louise: a tsundere, and Saito: a useless male protagonist with a hidden trait, are stuck living together under unusual circumstances and developing a relationship. While I will agree that Familiar of Zero is in fact the sister anime to Shakugan no Shana (considering that both were made by J.C. Staff), it is no direct ripoff of Harry Potter because each trait in Familiar of Zero is unique and doesn't copy the exact formula (yes, I do watch Harry Potter). The moment I pressed through the anime, everything turned out completely different And I was pleased with this outcome. The story is actually well-put together despite some cliches you'll find along way and it will definitely keep you engaged throughout the whole anime. One complaint I have with the story though is that the action scenes are too short and rarely lack emphasis, making them dull. The whole focus seems to mainly shift to the relationship between Louise and Saito rather than keep the balance among everything else. At least Shakugan no Shana attempted action and kept everything in check. Nevertheless, the story is still good and engaging and it will keep you wanting for more.
The character designs of Familiar of Zero by Eiji Usatsuka are very eye-pleasing to look at and each character is perfectly detailed right down to their shaded screen tones. Although the hairstyles of these characters are somewhat awkward, to me it is a bonus because they are being portrayed realistically. An example of this is Louise's hair style which is shown with natural flows rather than shown perfectly smooth like most anime. The background scenery is also very well done and as an artist myself, landscape artwork always puts a smile on my face. The combination of very good character designs and superb background art makes this anime one of the most beautifully designed anime I have ever seen. Nothing is to light or to dark, just right. The animation is also good with everything running smoothly to the frame rate. One thing I will question though are the flashy transition effects throughout each episode. Was it really necessary to use them every time during a scene break? To me, that was just overkill and I think the anime would've been better off without them in my opinion. Despite this, Familiar of Zero still has good quality animation.
The music that plays in Familiar of Zero were in my eyes somewhat reminiscent to the music of Rozen Maiden as some songs bear a striking resemblance whenever I listen to them. Although I do not know if whether or not they were done by the same composer, the music may have been influenced from Rozen Maiden as the songs gave off a similar vibe with their melodies. The music in fact gave me a nostalgia effect as I was watching and each song matches their scenarios quite well (well somewhat I guess). This was still good music nonetheless. However I wish I can say the same for the opening and ending themes. I do not think they're bad but they just didn't appeal to me that well. This may vary however for different people so you may have a different opinion of the opening and ending themes. The voice acting is yet where another similarity of Shakugan no Shana can be found as Louise is voiced by Rei Kugimiya (Shana) and Saito is voiced by Satoshi Hino (Yuji). Similarities aside, most of the characters had good voice overs with a couple of few exceptions. Although I wish the voice overs for the familiars would've been more realistic as they sound so obviously like a human imitating an animal. It could've been far more better if the familiars had realistic sounds that were edited and therefore could've improved the anime and made it better in terms of voice over quality.
Familiar of Zero has its mixed bag of likable and unlikable characters. The majority of main characters like Siesta, Henrietta, and Kirche all have very likable personalities and each one has a unique development over the course of the anime. Louise however has the most heart-warming development among anyone else as she gets closer and closer to Saito with every passing moment. Even Saito himself shows a display of development from his obliviousness to his good heart to protect. This anime does not disappoint when it comes to likable characters. Now for the unlikable kind. There are a lot of minor characters who fall under this category but I will point out the major offenders. To start off, Guiche just drives me up the wall because I can't stand pretty boy personalities. Lastly are the two main antagonists (whom I won't spoil). One antagonist is way too cliched while the other is not just unlikable but a very hate-able character at that. This has been the first in a long time that any anime has spawned such a hated character that I literally despise. So far, Familiar of Zero has managed to pull off a treasure trove of character personalities ranging from the good, the bad, and the most hated.
Familiar of Zero to me has been a fun overall experience and I think this anime deserves more credibility than it already has. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good anime experience. If you have watched Shakugan no Shana and/or just like tsundere love stories in general, than this anime is definitely for you.
Final Evaluation: Give it a try.
-Dedicated to Noboru Yamaguchi: the creator who passed away on April 2013 after his long battle with cancer. R.I.P.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 10, 2013
-Project Zakuro Reviews: OreImo Season 2-
The second season of Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (or OreImo for short) has been a long awaited hyped-up sequel to the first season which had gained much notoriety through the theme of otaku acceptance. So does this season have the potential to match that of its predecessor? Well then, let's find out.
At the start of the season, I wasn't sure if the story was going to change much throughout the course of the anime after the first season but as I continued on, It turned out that I was wrong. There were major changes to
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the whole story shortly after the beginning. The main theme of the first season was promoting otaku acceptance which it had did very well. But what I had surprisingly discovered is that the second season seems to stray away from that theme, especially halfway through to focus more on romantic relationships and the usual cliches of the slice-of-life genre. In other words, Kirino's anime and eroge obsession has been kept at a minimum to focus more on Kyousuke and his relationships with other girls. The whole change to the story was kind-of disappointing in my eyes because I was expecting much more from the success of the first season (much like anyone else). It felt like I was in a "been there, done that" territory of the entire genre. Although I do not think the story is terrible or a massive failure, I do feel that it has lost all of its potential due to the fact it was straying away from its original theme. To put it simply, the story itself had become one big cliche of slice-of-life.
The artwork and character designs hasn't changed much from the first season, only this time it has far more crisper quality. But that doesn't change the fact that the art still wasn't as appealing as other anime art designs. As I mentioned in my previous review of the first season, the artwork by Hiro Kanzaki is not bad but nothing too impressive either because it has been trying to stay as much realistic as possible. What I mean by this is that although the characters are good to look at, they're to put it simply just plain. Nothing special about them to be honest. This was fixed however with the inclusion of varied art styles in the first season but because the story strayed away from its original theme, those varied art styles were almost completely absent throughout the season. To sum this up, the art designs hasn't changed much but it is still decent for this anime's standards. The animation pretty much mimics that of the first season but everything still runs smoothly to the frame rate. There are some scenes where the frame rate was a little off but that is hardly a major problem so the overall animation is still good.
I'm not going to say much for the background music as the second season reused a majority of soundtracks from the first season. The soundtracks are basic and average which is nothing too impressive but they do fit their scenarios quite well. The new opening theme by ClariS is very impressive and I can see the effort and potential put into it but in my honesty, it paled in comparison to the first season's opening theme which was done extremely well. It seems that ClariS was trying too hard to top their previous masterpiece but the theme is still good nonetheless. The wide variety of ending themes were also a nice touch but there were way too many of them for me to keep track and critique them properly. All I can say is that they are still nice ear-catching compositions. Now for the voice acting. Again, I'm not going to say much as the second season reused all of the previous voice actors from the first. So far the quality of the characters' voices hasn't slipped and they are still very decent and good to comprehend. Needless to say, the voice actors did a very good job with their characters.
Now for the characters themselves. For the most part, some characters are likable but I've noticed some major changes with the characters along with the story and I'm not impressed with most of these changes. So now I'm going to list them specifically. I felt that the character Saori was losing her spotlight as she appeared less times in the second season and had less of an impact. Sure there was an entire episode dedicated to Saori's backstory but that didn't make much of a shift in her spotlight and to see one of the original key characters of the first season reduced to a mere background character was depressing. Speaking of spotlights, Kuroneko has gained a large leap from her original status to become part of Kyousuke's developing relationships. Since when did the producers decide to make her the leading major character of the show? That was quite of an unexpected move considering that Kuroneko is my personal favorite of the bunch. As I mentioned before in the story, Kyousuke and Kirino had swapped roles so now that Kyousuke is the main centerpiece in order to focus more on developing relationships. Kirino's otaku hobbies are still present but they have been kept to a minimum and Kirino is still the "annoying imouto" as ever. As for Kyousuke, it looked like the producers had tried way too hard to transform him into a harem king which was far beyond his original personality. I had mixed feelings about Kyousuke in the first season but now I feel sorry for Kyousuke because the producers were exploiting too many perverted opportunities with him, making him sound like a total jerk. Lastly were Manami and Ayase. Ayase was unfortunately a victim to the whole Kyousuke relationship thing and it looked like they were somewhat making her the yandere type. Again, this was an unexpected change far from her original personality. As for Manami, there were no changes but one particular episode made me thought that she was a hypocrite to Kirino. Now that my rant about the characters is done, all I can say is that the changes in their spotlights and personalities has made a major dent in their previous reputations that made them likable in the first season. I hope the producers will learn from their mistakes and make sure they don't commit the same mistake again for another anime.
Overall, although I do not think OreImo season 2 is terrible, there are some flaws with it that unfortunately doesn't make it the same level as its predecessor. To me, I would call this anime a hit-and-miss. I wouldn't recommend this anime to everyone but if you're the type that can bare with flaws and/or are a fan of the first season, then I would definitely recommend this to you. From there on, only you can decide the outcome of OreImo season 2 from your own experience.
Final Evaluation: Flawed but still watchable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 30, 2013
-Project Zakuro Reviews: OreImo-
Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai (or OreImo for short) is a rather intriguing slice-of-life anime released to date. Rather than tackle the generic tropes of the slice-of-life genre, it instead tackles the inside story of otaku culture in hopes of promoting otaku acceptance in Japan, if not, worldwide. So does this anime help to enforce the theme it is trying to convey? Well then, let's find out.
The story is mainly about Kyousuke: an average high school student, and his sister Kirino: a middle school model, who basically live their lives with little regard for one another. That is
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until Kyousuke discovers an anime left behind in the house and after some investigation, finds out that the owner of the anime is none other than his sister Kirino. The discovery prompted Kirino to enact "life counseling" and brings Kyousuke to her room to show him her stache of anime collections hidden in her closet, revealing to her brother that Kirino loves anime as well as eroge PC games. However seeing that otaku are frowned upon society, Kyousuke agrees to help keep her hobby a secret and in the process gets involved in Kirino's otaku-related errands throughout the rest of the anime. The story in terms is very basic and seems to develop ways of engaging the viewers in unexpected ways. Although nothing impressive like you would find in other genres, the story is well built and actually helps to convey the reality of otaku culture rather than stereotype it frequently to the point of humor. There's enough good content within the story to keep the viewers entertained from the beginning to the end.
I'll be bluntly honest here. The art designs of the characters didn't really appeal to me that much. Not that Hiro Kanzaki is a bad artist, in fact far from it. I actually find him a decent artist but it's just that the art style of the anime is nothing too impressive either. The art style (despite being moe in nature) seems to rely heavily on being as reality-based as it could get. Because of this, any pizzazz like you would see in other genres is almost completely absent. Luckily though, OreImo doesn't rely on one style alone. I have seen various and eye-catchy character designs for the in-anime anime such as Stardust Witch Meruru. The wide variety of art styles found in this anime is enough to make up for the lack of impression of the main style. As for animation, pretty much basic and average but everything still runs smoothly to the frame rate. The in-anime shown in the background is actually a very impressive touch done by the animators so kudos to them. My issue with the animation though is that some scenes will show background characters with hardly any movements at all, failing to portray an actual public situation. It is a problem that I find common in almost every anime I watched so far. Despite this, the art and animation are decent but still good.
The music that plays in OreImo is again nothing too impressive. I'm starting to notice a pattern of just how realistic this anime is actually trying to be. As far as background music goes, the only excitement I felt from it was during the Meruru song but that's pretty much it. Overall the background music is basic but it does fit their scenarios quite well. The opening theme by ClariS is one of the best themes I heard so far and so I was really impressed by the effort put into it. And the wide variety of ending themes is a brilliant idea to break away from the usual tropes of them having to be replayed after every episode so it's nice to see a change. The ending themes are very well done. The voice acting is also superb and each actor portrays their character personalities very well. So far, no mess ups for this category but I haven't watched the dubbed version yet so there's little I can say for the voice acting at this point.
Now for the characters. With all do respect, the majority of characters are likable but there are some instances where these characters can sometimes become annoying. I'm specifically talking about Kirino. I understand that she's supposed to be the centerpiece of otaku acceptance but some times, she shows her "annoying Imouto" trait and that's when I can't stand her sometimes. Especially when confronting her brother about eroge. Even Kyousuke himself shows a display of annoyance whenever he overreacts about something related to eroge. So far I have mixed feelings of the main protagonists but the rest of the characters are good and likable. My personal favorite is Kuroneko for her nonchalant personality. With that said, the characters are likable only with a few exceptions but that doesn't stop this anime from having a good decent cast.
OreImo may be basic but because it is trying to convey otaku culture into slice-of-life, the entertainment factor is enough to keep any viewer enjoyed all the way to the end. With its fair share of comedy, drama, and entertaining flow, this anime has done a good job trying to convey the main message it was trying to bring out. If you're an anime fan and you're proud of it, I recommend you give this a try.
Final Evaluation: Worth the watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 28, 2013
-Project Zakuro Reviews: Date A Live-
Date A Live is an anime that was released early in the spring of 2013 and has received mix criticism from viewers. Some loved it, some hated it. Many anime released prior to Date A Live have been well below decent so how does Date A Live stack up with the new releases? Well then, let's find out.
From my experience, I felt the story had a lot of potential but unfortunately some of that potential was bogged down by rather ridiculous concepts. I'll explain as I go along. A strange phenomenon called "spacequakes" has been causing destruction all over the
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globe and they are caused by female entities called "Spirits". Our protagonist Shido has been tasked with having to seal their powers before they can cause anymore spacequakes. With what you may ask? By having to go on dates with the Spirits and make them fall in love. That explains what I meant earlier about the story's potential being lack-luster. The concept of spacequakes and Spirits where in my eyes well conceived and I think they could've add more potential to the anime then they let on. But unfortunately the ridiculous concept of a dating sim has killed off the seriousness of these ideas and made it feel more like a harem comedy (which is the anime's true genre). And this was only the first episode. After finishing it, I thought the concepts will make the rest of the anime crash and burn. It turns out that I was wrong. Despite the ridiculous concepts of the plot, this anime was still able to maintain its entertainment factor and improve as the episodes progress. This was a big surprise for me. The rest of the story is basically Shido dating Spirits to seal their powers before the Spirits are killed off by an organization called the AST (Anti-Spirit Team). The story is flawed but it makes up for it with a well-executed entertainment factor.
I'm not too familiar with Tsunako's art work but I can tell that the art style of the characters is pleasant to look at. Each character has their own unique style that makes them quite memorable. Whether it be Kotori's twin pink ponytails or Kurumi's goth-like outfit. The character designs were well done. The setting and background art though are average. Although not bad or terrible, the city designs didn't catch my drift as much as the characters did (mainly because the city the anime takes place in doesn't have some very memorable spots like other cities from other anime). The overall animation is also good and everything runs smoothly to the frame rate. The only issue I have with the animation though is that some scenes will show background characters completely motionless or show only a still image that is being panned. This takes away the livelihood of the scenes that should have been. Otherwise, the art is good nonetheless.
The music that plays in Date A Live has been well composed and each tune fits their scenario very well with their unique melody. So far I haven't heard one mediocre tune in the anime that disappoints. The opening theme is also good but because of the story's quirky concept, the theme feels out-of-place. The ending themes are basic and average and they fit more to the genre than the opening theme. The voice acting is also superb with each character sporting a unique and pleasant voice to listen. But because this anime hasn't been dubbed yet, there's not much I can say about the voice acting at this point.
As far as characters go, each of them have very likable personality traits and their personality developments runs very smoothly throughout the course of the anime. Such as Tohka starting out cold and distant and eventually becoming cheerful and protective later on. So far I haven't seen one excruciatingly hate-able character in the anime. One exception though would be Kotori and her "annoying Imouto" trait but I never found her a really huge problem. She's still likable. But if there is possibly one character that is the best of the bunch, it has to be Kurumi for her Yandere personality. Just her alone makes her very entertaining (I don't know why, she just does). However because this is a harem anime, there will be a lot of "WTF" moments with these characters. Such as Shido making the most ridiculous choices possible that makes him seem like a pervert in front of the Spirits. Despite this though, all the characters are likable and they will keep you entertained for a while.
Despite its lack-luster story and quirky concepts, Date A Live still manages to keep the entertainment factor going with its likable characters and memorable soundtrack and art. This anime is definitely worth a try. The first episode is the anime's weakest point so if you can bare with its flaws, you'll have yourself a good time with this anime. However keep in mind that this anime has a lot of fan service so if you're not into these types of genres, I recommend you stay away from Date A Live until you're sure that you can handle them all the way through.
Overall, it is worth the watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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