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Dec 11, 2013
Looking for Mystery, Horror and Supernatural? Good luck with that and have fun with a different anime. No, really, at best this is a cliche boring parody that’s not even remotely scary. And I’m not necessarily talking about the dub which adds ‘ridiculous’ to the adjectives and pushes everything up to the eleven.
It starts with Satsuki Miyanoshita and her family moving to the hometown of her late mother. However the real thing starts when all of the main characters walk into an old school building (for different reasons) which is still on the premise of the new school and it’s closed. Don’t ask why, apparently
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that makes sense in Japan. After being chased by a ghost, meeting another schoolmate and conveniently finding Satsuki’s late mother’s diary about exorcising demons, they accidentally make their cat possessed. Which isn’t half as funny as it could have been. Then relevant plot happens at the very end. In between we have a lot of episodes that follow exactly the same pattern. A random ghost appears, the gang freaks out and doesn’t know what to do and then they magically rediscover mom’s diary that has the answers to everything. They usually rediscover it in Satsuki’s bag or her room. No, they never learn they always act as if they’ve seen the diary for the first time.
It wouldn’t be so bad even if you can tell what’s about to happen all the time if they hadn’t used already overused ghost cliches. Creepy doll? Check. Ghost in a mirror? Check. Headless rider? Check. I could go on and on and I’m certain that with everything I mention you’ll go “Ah, I’ve seen that in ...“. It doesn’t help that when you saw one episode you’ve seen them all.
Characters aren’t that great either and if you’re one of the unfortunate souls that are watching the dub, like me, they’re far worse than bad. In dub, everyone breaks the fourth wall. That wouldn’t be bad if it didn’t happen in every scene done by every character. Although dub does the good thing of making fun of the stupid characteristics and dumb mistakes they make. Like calling Satsuki’s brother retarded or making fun of characters’ illogical behavior etc.. Although the dub overdid it with the constant religion jokes and by ridiculing every single line there was literally no atmosphere. It wasn’t scary because everyone was constantly cracking stupid jokes and it wasn’t funny because they were always about to die… and the jokes were really bad.
Natures of the characters are as bland as their actions. All of them are very old archetypes that don’t even try or pretend to be anything more than that. We have a stereotype female lead, stereotype male lead that, of course, have constant romantic moments but say they hate each other. Then we have a cry baby that doesn’t serve any purpose a latent medium that gets randomly possessed with the spirit of Satsuki’s mother and a spirit obsessed nerd. Anything you imagine belonging to those stereotypes, it’s here.
Animation and sound aren’t the strong points either. They’re both already dated and the sound was very repetitive. Character designs are quite dull too. Although I don’t think the animation was particularly bad it was really underwhelming. Everyone froze while talking and in movement in vehicles there was an obvious repetition to scenery. The ghosts were trying too hard to be scary and turned out to be a mash of “seen this” and “what the hell?” and not in a good way.
I have to say that this is one of the few shows I really wanted to enjoy but couldn’t. partly because the dub is seriously horrid and partly because the story writing isn’t any better. At least the dub made me laugh here and there unlike the plot. The plot almost did too a few times. But I was too distracted by the infinite plot devices and plot conveniences that I couldn’t laugh. Too bad nothing got really explained. You just get hurled into a slow and boring roller coaster that makes repetitive up and downs then quickly kicked out at the end and the roller coaster closes. For good. With no refund.
If you are new to stories about ghost, this is a must see. It’s a perfect introduction where you don’t have to worry about being distracted by characters or plot and you have time to digest all clichés and overused ghosts that go with the genre. You might even laugh. But if you are actually looking for something scary and you are a busy person that’s very picky about their anime. Don’t bother. It’s not worth your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 2, 2013
If I should describe this anime in a few words, I would say colourful and predictable fanservice. It’s not that there’s nothing else to it, it’s just the strongest and arguably the best or worst points of the whole anime. Really, enjoyment in this anime is as subjective as it gets. Do you like cliché and predictability? Do you like fanservice of underaged girls? Colourful cast with only as much depth as their fanservice scenes? Or simply want something simple with a hint of characters and story to watch? If so, this show is for you and you’d most likely enjoy it.
The plot isn’t
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really a rocket science (even though it has hints of it, no, really). So, a genius that invented an infinite source of energy gets turned into a stuffed animal for mascot purposes just when weird creatures begun attacking the energy machine-thingy. So he sends his pre-teen granddaughter to fight them with cool effects and lots of ass in tight shorts, not by the mascot. Of course, she gets a colour matched (tight) dress with rockets and jets and a boomerang. ‘Cos they’re cool. Later she makes friends at school and gives them keys (the magical devices that turn them into mahou shoujo of science) as if they were manufactured. Why would anyone with a bit of sanity let a 12 year-old give out weapons of mass destruction in return for friendship is beyond me. But I guess stuffed animals aren’t made with a big brain. There’s also a mysterious girl that appears at the scene of attacks with not as much fanservice… I mean screen time. At first. She gets better. At both. Oh, and there are some yuri hints all over the place. That’s the plot. Intriguing, right?
Characters are as strong and unpredictable as the plot is. Every character is colour coded. Of course, Akane, the lead, stupid and naïve goody-two shoes is bright red. Her little sis (that serves as a hook for those that find pre-teens too old for their liking) is bright pink and looks like her copy. Blue, I mean Aoi (Oh, wait) is shy and cute goody-two shoes. Wakaba (green) is the goody-two shoes samurai (metaphorically speaking). Yellow, Himawari, is the goody-two shoes hikkikomori with stunning beauty and the last but not least; Kuroki , black as her name hints, the goody-two shoes mysterious girl. Pick your goody-two shoes… I mean colour… I mean character and you stick with it until the end because that’s as far as they go. Preferred fanservice doesn’t really matter because all of them get the same over and over. What can you expect when their school uniforms look like they were designed by a paedophile?
Don’t worry, fanservice isn’t the only thing this show is good at. Art is one of the points when the anime shines the most. But, really, have you seen the art? Those colours should be used for traffic lights in bad weather. Still, the character design is really amazing and fits the show perfectly (even the clothes design, those ass shots would be awkward with baggy jeans). I really liked it. It’s fresh, lively and sweet while it didn’t give me diabetes. So, it’s the good kind of sweet. Like a semi-dark chocolate. I don’t care if you like it or not, it’s chocolate!
All in all, this was an entertaining ride that I’ll forget I have ever watched in a week or so. The most memorable thing about this is the fanservice that makes me wonder if the animators ever felt awkward while working on this. Second most memorable thing would be the character design, which I really liked and the vivid colours. There’s really not as much fanservice as I keep implying. There’s more! So, before you start watching this make sure it won’t make you feel weird. And don’t watch it with you parents. Just don’t.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 30, 2012
Every Digimon season has one or more short films that serve to tell something that didn’t fit anywhere into the original. However, Digimon X – Evolution is a self-standing film of film length that has a story and world of its own. It doesn’t depend on popularity of anything as it creates something completely new. The question is, does it need other series to look appealing or can it truly stand on its own?
Probably the first thing any Digimon fan is going to notice is the lack of human characters and complete focus on the Digimon and the Digital World. This is further emphasised by
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using CGI for animation. This setting will either chase Digimon fans away or pull them in depending on whether they watched Digimon series for human characters or for the world itself. I was really happy when I found out that this was only about Digimon because it’s something that hadn’t been explored before.
Like I wrote before, the story is completely set in the Digital World. However, the Digital World is close to destruction. The main problem is that it got overpopulated as thus the host computer, Yggdrasil, decided to let only the chosen few live. The Royal Knights, protectors of Yggdrasil and the strongest Digimon in existence, are to execute that task. So begins the hunt of Digimon by Digimon and complete chaos ensues. The film doesn’t even try to go lightly about it and the ugliness of strong fighting the weakest is fully shown. In comes our lead, Dorumon, that doesn’t remember anything and his goal is both finding his purpose and surviving. However, soon its discovered that Yggdrasil’s plan isn’t exactly the same as he told his Royal Knights and they face a difficult decision, to stay by their master and watch the death of many Digimon or to protect those, that are helpless and oppose the one they swore their loyalty to.
We are watching the growth of Dorumon, not only evolution wise but also nature wise and maturity wise. While not being exactly an action anime lead, Dorumon is rather weak and helpless, what is something even he acknowledges, he has a very realistic character. His only goal is his survival and survival of his friends but he get swept into hell very fast. He is never black or white and never tries to have moral upper hand. The Royal Knights aren’t exactly villains either. They face very difficult decisions and each of them solves it differently. Every character has their own nature, both good and bad sides and the also make bad and good decisions. No character is what they seem at first sight.
Animation is very fluent and for CGI truly amazing even though I generally hate it. To me it made the atmosphere much better because it really gave me the feeling like it was happening inside of a computer. And at times it made me wonder whether a computer should really have the right to control the lives of living beings. That’s one of the things I really liked about this film. While it rises very philosophical questions for a Digimon film it never asks them directly but rather shows them to you.
The only real problem I had with this film was that the setting was very complicated and since we were thrown right into the middle along with Dorumon, there was never time for explaining things in depth. Most of the situation had to be deduced by what was going on. That isn’t a generally bad thing but in an action film full of stuff happening left and right it was changing too fast to keep track of it. Generally, I’d say that enjoyment depends on what the idea of Digimon only film makes you feel. If it interests you, watch this. If not, don’t bother or give it a try but don’t expect much of it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 29, 2012
Medaka Box Abnormal is the sequel to Medaka Box, so if you haven’t watched that, don’t bother with this anime. As a proper sequel, it picks up where the first season ended, however the main genre is very different than the first season. It turns the first season into a sort of lengthy introduction and puts emphasis on battles and “abnormalities” (strange inhuman abilities based on nature aspects) of individuals compared to the first season that focused on humour and SOL. Nearly every mainstream shounen does this, but this anime does it on a completely different level, what makes many people dislike it. But it
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isn’t serious and it never tries to be so it shouldn’t be taken seriously or people will be very let down.
That “light” feel is taken into the story as well with it being a bit cliché, while it raises very interesting questions. Is it right to be strong without doing anything for it? To Medaka and Zenkichi, two of the main characters, it’s something people shouldn’t even think about because getting stronger and suffering go hand in hand. Of course, they are bound to meet people that think otherwise. This is the first moment where people turn away from the show with rolling eyes. It’s because of how it’s handled. Surely, with Medaka being able to do inhuman deeds simply because she was born with it, she isn’t the right person to tell others that they have to suffer to get strong.
However, if you don’t turn away so fast, you’ll see that there’s much more to Medaka Box Abnormal than just hypocrisy. Here comes Zenkichi, the other lead character, who is the exact opposite of her talent wise. He might be strong, both physically and mentally, however it is mentioned, not once, that he got there by hard work and was very weak during his childhood. Unfortunately, the rest of the main characters don’t do the themes justice as most of them are “specials”; very talented people or abnormals. Of course, most of the time, they can’t rival the abnormals that are villains.
One of the biggest problems I had with the story was how all themes were presented. Medaka Box Abnormal sure deals with very interesting issues but they are usually solved by main characters simply stating their opinion, even though villains keep asking better and better questions. The difference between the “good” guys and the “bad” guys is nothing but the way they answer them. That wouldn’t be such a problem if the show didn’t portray the main character’s opinion as the right one and everything else as wrong and it goes as far as Medaka deciding what’s right for the rest of the world (that doesn’t make her think about it even for a bit).
Art doesn’t really help its case. It might look really strange and it’s difficult to get used to it but once I did, I fell in love with it. Animation is fluent and very well done. There’s lots of fanservice but it doesn’t feel overdone or annoying because it’s usually played for laughs.
While it might look like a huge mess, and it somewhat is, most of it is done supposedly to create a comedic effect. However, not everything looks like it’s trying to parody itself. Character interactions and presentation is probably the best part of the anime. While characters themselves aren’t something to remember, their relationships and feelings are delivered perfectly. You can see how they feel about what they say or about what is happening or simply know their nature by their actions. I found this to be the best part of Medaka Box Abnormal because to me it felt more real than most of SOLs I’ve finished and it made the anime more enjoyable.
Medaka Box Abnormal is definitely not a perfect anime. It’s difficult to like because it tries to jam too many genres together and never truly focuses on one. And even when it does (for a while) it usually overdoes it for bigger effect. However, if you do find something enjoyable about it, stick until the very end because it won’t go away easily. I recommend this anime only if you’re bored or open minded.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 1, 2012
Digimon films have a weird habit of being called films despite having double episode length. However, most of the still manage to have some sort of plot, cool action, interesting new characters or act simply as a reminder of how awesome the Digimon season was. This is where the Savers film probably surprises fans. Unlike the usual double episode we got single episode “film” and, even more surprisingly, less characters than in original season. Why the creators did that is completely beyond me.
Story:
Evil Digimon attacks and seals all humans. So the Digimon have to release them and defeat him. Sounds nice at first, right?
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We can see Digimon used to get help from humans do something on their own. Of course, let’s not forget that one of the biggest charms of Digimon, evolution, is gone. So, we’re left with rookies fighting all Digimon. Still sounds nice since they’ll have to use some strategy. What if their strategy is run as fast and far as you can and leaving team members behind? Still looks interesting? In that case you’ll freaking love this film because that’s where the plot and characters end. Oh, there’s also tons of cliché and meaningful talks all around. Just go along with it if you want to enjoy it. This is about as pointless and cliché 20 minutes full of plot devices as can be.
Art:
Savers art. Nothing else. They didn’t even try to do something spectacular or different.
Sound:
Totally memorable stuff. Just don’t ask me to name something. I don’t even remember the opening or ending. If there were any.
Character:
Just our four main Digimon and a mysterious girl. If you really want some mystery in this, don’t think. Because the second you do, all mystery will be lost. The mysterious girl plays a very important role in this film. She’s the most colourful thing in the world, so they have to preserve her to fly her into the sun. No, not really, she’s just a colourful bush to drag along, I just needed to write something here. There’s really nothing else.
Enjoyment:
If this category was called “boredom” I would rate it 11/10. Throughout the whole thing, I was wondering why the hell they did this. Was it to punish fans and laugh at them? Was it to milk? Was it to show off character design that was scrapped (she really doesn’t serve any other purpose)? I really have no idea. This has no story to tell, no deep meaning, no character development, the interesting setting is completely butchered and if you think about it, you’ll know the end before it even starts.
Overall: 4/10
I’m very biased about rating Digimon. Being longtime fan, it doesn’t matter how bad they are, I can’t rate them lower than 4 since that’s the line of my “hate” rating. So, it leaves with “overrating” because if this were any other universe than Digimon, it wouldn’t get higher than 3 on my scale.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jul 15, 2012
I’m one of those few people that prefer 02 over Adventure. Maybe it’s because I saw it first, maybe it’s because of what a deep and complicated character Ken was. Anyway, you can imagine that I was very happy when I saw there was a film (and I mean film length film not a double episode wannabe film). Of course, I knew how horrid dub is, so I watched the subbed version. More golden Digimentals, must be amazing, right? As long as one of the doesn’t go to a new character that was never mentioned before, sure. Too bad that happened here.
Story: 6/10
This was a
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huge let down. If for nothing else then because it had a lot of promise and could have turned out truly epic if done right. Or if done at all. We get a build up for a very dark story and if you manage to sympathise with a character you’ve never seen before, it’s actually very dark and sad. Then you keep wondering how the hell did that happen since what is happenning could in no way be natural. Well, don’t expect anyone to tell you anything directly.
By the way, the dub version actually gave it a slight reasoning and it shortened the film by a half so it might not be as bad. Well, ignoring hinting at couples that make no sense and scenes that... well, make even less sense.
Art: 7/10
I’m not a huge fan of the art in this film. It felt kind of… lazy but it wasn’t bad.
Sound: 7/10
Not a complaint, though nothing really epic or amazing, kind of boring. Basically, 02 bgm. If there was something new, I missed it what doesn’t really make it a good music.
Characters: 5/10
We get our 02 characters minus Ken (since it’s set before his arc ends) plus a new character, you’ve never heard of before (unless you watched the dub). The new character Willis/Wallace wasn’t a highlight. Most of his screentime (and there’s a lot of it) he spends either being depressed and shouting at digimon to stop fighting (not at the right one either) or travelling and constantly calling his mommy… or both. I really couldn’t feel with him, I found him very annoying and stupid. He also somewhat prefers one of his Digimon a lot (even before he disappeared) what also isn’t a really likeable trait. Especially when the less liked one keeps risking his life for him through the whole film and never complains.
Enjoyment: 6/10
This was very boring and since Wallace takes about 50% of screentime (25% gets Daisuke and 25% the rest) the only entertainment I got was at the end. The ending battle and scenes were amazing and truly worth wasting my time with the film.
Overal: 6/10
This wasn’t bad but for me it takes the place of the worst Digimon film (I haven’t seen any Savers films yet). It had much promise, I just wish it got explained properly how and why it happened. They could have also made Wallace a bit more likeable. Not to mention cut about 40% of the film that everyone just spends traveling (no kidding) and nothing really happens. Aside from that, it was fun to watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 15, 2012
The Runaway Digimon Express may look kind of cliche and boring but it’s much more than it seems to be. It’s short length doesn’t stop it from having a solid story, all important Tamers characters, very interesting moments yet not feel crammed even a little.
Story: 7/10
There’s not much a of deep storyline, it’s basically just about stopping Locomon. However, that doesn’t mean that it ends there. We get slowly uncovering mystery of how and why Locomon got into the real world and what it wants . Not even the fight against it is straight forward or plain and it’s full of surprises. The only problem
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I had with story is that it’s a little cliche and unoriginal at the beginning.
Art: 7/10
I don’t see anything wrong with art. It’s the same as Tamers had and that was over average.
Sound: 8/10
Sound wasn’t different from Tamers either, however, the inserted song is truly a gem and even though it may seem random at first glance, it truly belongs there and couldn’t imagine it without it. Not to mention that it’s a tearjerker.
Characters: 9/10
This was already one of the best things in Tamers and this film is like a cherry on top. There isn’t much character development but we get more information regarding Ruki’s past and her emotions.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I truly love this film because it does Tamers justice. Unlike a few other Digimon films, this has every right to belong to the Tamers season. The action scenes were very good and I also really liked the introduction and how every tamer saw Locomon and got to him.
Overall: 8/10
This is a must watch for everyone who likes Tamers season and Ruki. Since every tamer makes an appearance, everyone can find the characters they like in this film.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 11, 2012
The yuri and moe force is strong with this one.
That is really the first and the most important thing to mention about this OVA. Basically, watch this only if you like Mei or yuri. Don’t watch this otherwise, it’s a waste of time. Above all, don’t expect this to have a story.
Story: 6/10
This is supposed to be a prequel to Another. It does a nice job being a prequel, since it makes you feel with characters but it does an awful job being a prequel released after the original. Why? You’ll learn nothing new in this. Actually, you learn completely nothing that wouldn’t have been
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said in Another. Probably the only thing you’ll learn is why Mei was carrying the doll to hospital basement in the first episode but if you had at least one brain cell activated during the show, you'd have already known that. The only thing you can see in Another 0 is twins getting as close together as they can. There’s a bathing scene, “date” (sort of) scene, sleeping in one bed scene... you get the point.
Art: 9/10
Art fits MUCH better in this cuteness overload that it did in the brutal murder overload that was Another so not much of a problem here.
Sound: 6/10
It wasn’t bad but opening and ending from Another were used here and it affected the rating a lot. I actually liked them; the problem is that they completely didn’t fit in this. Cute girls having yuri moments constantly really shouldn’t have an opening that will make you expect a monster popping at you and an ending completely unrelated with it full of characters that didn't appear.
Characters: 6/10
The only thing I can say is a cold girl interacting with her exact opposite. That’s as far as characters go. There’s no one else with screen time longer than 1 minute.
Enjoyment: 4/10
To me it seemed like this wanted to get money from its moe factor and nothing else. Those scenes weren’t even proper yuri since they are twins. I’m not really into moe and cute characters being cute (squared here) so I was tempted to stop watching several times.
Overall: 6/10
This was boring to me. But if you like moe, Mei or yuri scenes watch this. You’ll enjoy it definitely more than I did.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 27, 2012
Ai no Kusabi (2012) is the newest adaptation of a light novel of the same name published in 1986-1987. It’s first adaptation was airing in 1992-1994 and it had 2 OVA’s. This adaptation consisted of 4 OVA’s so double the fun, right? Well, yes and no, unless you call unfinished work fun. In that case it’s yes and yes.
Story: 9/10
It’s set in a fictional world with mostly men because of some genetic issues. The society is divided into castes where elites are at the top and mongrels at the bottom. The story revolves around an elite and a mongrel but don’t get the wrong idea,
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this isn’t a Romeo and Juliet spin off.
Iason Mink, an elite of the highest degree, encounters Rikki, a mongrel, in slums. He finds him interesting so after some events, takes him in as his… well… pet (read: sex toy). After 3 years of captivity, Riki’s rather restless and keeps making Iason trouble. That’s where the first OVA starts. Riki unsuccessfully tries to escape and Iason, pressed on by other elites decides to free him for a year, hoping he would come back on his own.
Don’t expect any sort of cheesy romance without point or the usual falling in love after being raped thing. The story follows Riki as he tries to fit back in into slums and regain his past reputation. However, stuff don’t go as easily since everyone keeps asking him where he was for the past 3 years and his former lover is trying to get back together with him at all cost. It all gets even more complicated when Iason decides that Riki had enough freedom and tries to get him back.
The only complaint I have about the story is, that it’s unfinished.
Art: 10/10
Truly amazing, one of the best things about the anime. It shows that it was done recently. Character designs are also very interesting, even of the side characters.
Sound: 10/10
Incredible opening and ending, both fit perfectly to the anime. VA’s are very good and I don’t think they could have picked better for those characters.
Characters: 9/10
Characters are about the most interesting part of the story. Riki is strong, prideful and arrogant. His nature is part of his inner struggle to figure out his feelings towards Iason. He hates him for imprisoning him and treating him like a toy. There’s even a moment when he spaces out obviously in fear from his memories after seeing him after a long time. At the same time it’s clearly shown by his actions that he is attracted by Iason ever since they met but he isn’t and doesn’t want to be aware of that.
Iason, on the other hand, is completely aware of his feelings for Riki but it never happened to him before so he’s confused by himself.
Other characters have a role in the story. We have Gai, Riki’s former lover who tries to make Riki open up and return to him, Kirie a boy who wants to become a pet and enjoy life full of money, Katze mysterious guy working in black market who was once Iason’s servant so he keeps in touch with him and the rest of Riki’s former gang.
Enjoyment: 9/10 (AKA yaoi scenes)
This is a true gem in the yaoi world. I don’t think I’ve seen a yaoi that would do them better than this. They didn’t feel forced, they weren’t randomly thrown to please fans and it wasn’t the typical girly, unexperienced and shy uke with the perverted and experienced seme. They were both perverted and at some points Riki seemed more experienced than Iason. Censorship is there but it doesn’t feel awkward and it never made me want to hit my fist through the screen unlike many other yaoi.
Overall: 9.5/10 (rounded to 9 because of no ending)
If you are bored with stupid and annoying romance in usual shounen ai like me. Then this anime is exactly for you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 27, 2012
Shadow Star is probably the most well done manga I've read and could have a code name “100 ways how to mentally break young teens”. Cute monsters and young girls? Why not make their life hell and make them fight for their lives in a battle that is seemingly lost even before they try? Why not add a psychotic group of young teens that want to rule world with “cute” monsters of their own and give “cute” another meaning the most ugly and bloody way? That’s pretty much Shadow Star.
Story: 10/10
Everything begins when Shiina finds a weird creature, Hoshimaru (as she names it), and keeps
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it as a pet. Later, she meets another girl with a similar pet but, unfortunately, the said girl isn’t very friendly and is weird. Weird as in, if taking everywhere your own bunch of bushes to hide in was possible she would do it. Shiina somehow manages to make this always scared and hiding girl her friend. But it isn’t until they are attacked by a freak (of similiar age) who gives a new meaning to “cute pet”, that the story actually starts unfolding. They found out that their pets are creatures called dragon children and are emotionless tools of mass destruction. Of course they find out it the hard way. These dragon children need human souls in order to mature because they don’t have their own. They usually look like something from fairy tales to show us that maybe they weren’t so far from truth.
Story perfectly ties together in every way. Not to mention that it’s perfectly realistic and whether air or ground battles with military are nothing rare. Neither are deaths that by the end happen on a massive scale.
Art: 9/10
While art isn’t anything perfect or modern since it’s a bit older but it’s extremely realistic and precise. It fits the story amazingly. Character designs are also very well done and memorable (although I didn’t like Shiina much).
Characters: 10/10
While this have a very well done and solid story with unexpected twists, characters are about as strong. This manga goes as deep into characters’nature and mental health as possible. We have a big variety of characters yet none could be a stereotype or underdeveloped. Even side characters get their own nature that is just their own and recognisable. Main characters have it much more difficult because this manga doesn’t spare them any mental trauma since they are thrown into first fronts of a warfare at a very young age. I dare to say that character mental development and exploration goes as deep and in NGE but at a far larger scale yet it feels perfectly fluent. This doesn’t spare anyoe, whether it’s the villains or leads or side characters, everyone has a secret to explore and everyone has at least one mental breakdown to survive.
Enjoyment: 10/10
The reason why I started reading Shadow Star, was the anime that ended not even in the middle of the manga. I finished the anime within a day since I just couldn’t stop. Manga took me a bit longer because my parents forced me to do such useless stuff like eating and sleeping. Needless to say that even though I was scarred for life, this was the best manga I’ve ever read. Though, that might be because I have a weakness for psychological horror.
Overall: 10/10
This is truly a must read for everyone who enjoyed NGE and the character depth in it. Everything is either explained or hinted at well enough. This is truly a masterpiece and when I manage to gather enough courage, I’ll definitely re-read it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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