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After noticing the plethora of mixed to negative reviews, I've decided to review one of my favorite series because apparently I care way to much about these things.

FLCL is perfectly coherent, it's characters are relatable, and it's themes are down to earth, but not any less meaningful because of it. This six episode OVA is about a boy, Naota, transitioning from adolescence to adulthood as he deals with a battery of sexual advances and hormonal imbalances from the main female characters. They all have their own arcs as well which helps to give variety to the shows themes and balances the series. FLCL's method of ... conveying it's themes is abnormal to say the least, which is going to turn a lot of people off and probably require multiple viewings. The information given explicitly is not all that's needed to really understand what's going on and if you didn't feel it's art and soundtrack were enough to warrant multiple viewers than I can't exactly blame you for writing it off as complete nonsense.

FLCL opens with Naota hanging out by a bridge spanning a canal with Mamimi, a 17 social reject who is troubled by her former boyfriend (and Naota's brother) ignoring her after moving to America to play baseball. She fills the gaping hole in her heart with her unwarranted sexual advances on Naota. Nothing serious, but she cuddles him while disallowing him from returning any affection. Theirs is a dysfunctional relationship that lacks proper communication and only serves Mamimi's desperate need for attention. Over the course of the first episode, puberty hits Naota like a 20 year old pink haired girl on a motorized scooter. He realizes his attraction to Mamimi and this seriously freaks her out. Her pet is transitioning into an adult, and if it becomes mature enough, it might cause it to realize that Mamimi is far more dependent on it than it is on her. "It" of course, referring to Naota, who Mamimi calls Takkun, a pet name for his brother (who she thinks is still dating her). Once Naota gets hit with the puberty bat, he sprouts an unsightly forehead boner which erupts into a giant robot battle in response to Mamimi's emotional turmoil after Naota informs her than she's been dumped in favor of a hot, blond American... it might be better if you watch the first episode before reading this because it's hard to explain. Oh well, it probbaly won't make sense either way. So, with that synopsis out of the way, we can get to why FLCL executes it's themes and character development so well through some very unusual methods.

FLCL is about maturity with an emphasis on sexual desires. Over the course of the show, Naota transitions for a surly and overly serious teenager to to a surly and overly serious teenager who wants to get it on with his brothers 17 year old ex girl friend (he's 12). Being 5 years apart as well as his brothers former love interest puts Mamimi in a fetishist but almost unattainable position. From the moment Naota starts hinting at his attraction to Mamimi to the scene where he drags her to a cafe for a date, which culminates in what resembles a rape scene (his forehead boner impacts the ground directly between her legs after her insistence that she doesn't want to go anywhere with him) their relationship is categorized by misunderstanding and manipulation on both ends. Mamimi wants a pet whom is dependent on her while Naota, in his coming of age, wants a relationship of some kind, but as a 12 year old, sucks at telling her that. Their distance is expressed in the cinematography and symbolism as much as the spoken lines, so we'll move onto that next.

SYMBOLISM, oh yeah...
Medical machina is a factory on a hill. All the adults are excited about it which probably means it has something to do with adulthood and maturity. There is an iconic scene where Naota and Mamimi stand on either side of the frame, the medical machina factory separating them. It symbolizes the difference in years and maturity between them. Much of Natoa's character arc is about him realizing that he needs to be a 12 year old and stop feigning maturity. Sometimes the most mature thing to do is to stop chasing your brothers ex girlfriend, hang out with friends his own age and just be a kid. Now how is this all symbolized? Let's give a few examples

There's the aforementioned medical machina shot, whit both characters separated by their age gap. perhaps the most ironic example is when Naota engages Haruko in an airsoft fight and encounters his fellow class mates, driving a car, working. That turns the whole maturity dynamic on its head. The 20 year old is playing with toy guns while the 12 year old class mates work like adults. Another example is spicy, sour, and mild foods. Naota initially refuses the sour drink offered to him by Mamimi. Later on, he accepts it, despite his apparent distaste for it. The same happens with spicy food. The irony of his feigned maturity is depicted in the plot as well. His embarrassment at having to play a cat in the school play, as well as his embarrassment of having a girl sleep over at his house, and of course, his inability to swig that bat (metaphorical for manning up). I feel this review will become unbearably dry if I'm simply listing examples of symbolism, but if you're the kind of person who enjoys themes and characterization conveyed subtly, FLCL may be perfect for you. I'll finish with this, the most important example of the theme of maturity is how Naota expects adults to behave. He often criticizes others for not being serious enough and that gives the best insight into this confused little boy's head.

Let's move on to something everyone can appreciate, and that's the incredible art and animation. FLCL utilizes the animated medium to its fullest with shots of Naota being extruded through Haruko's bike's vents, and the eye popping mecha battles that take place in every episode. The color palette is vibrant and beautiful without being too saturated, and the animation is fluid. There's several cool directing tricks as well, and you can clearly see the influence of Hideaki Anno and Hiroyuki Imaishi. These directors maximize the tone in every scene, from the claustrophobic experience in Naota's house where his family members literally enclose him in a box of their incessant questioning about his sex life to Canti's asymmetrical take off to the tune of "Hybrid rainbow". That's something else worth noting, the sound track.

FLCL's sound track is composed by the pillows, and it's worth listening to on its own, no matter how much you hate this show. From Runner's High to Bran New Love Song, the pillows inject a wide range of emotions into FLCL, melancholy, frenetic, empathetic, and hype as fuck.

To avoid stretching this out any longer I'll summarize the characters traits and developments and perhaps one of them will strike a chord with you.

Naota is obsessed with maturity but is ironically less mature than is similarly aged class mates. Mamimi has no friends other than Natoa, she's basically homeless, and her life sucks. She can either be an emotionally manipulative loser, or move on from Naota's brother and her need for a pet and make something of her life. Haruko is the embodiment of Naota's adolescent desires. I'm not making this up, she literally says this, and knowing this during rewatch gives a lot of context into what her place in the story is.

If you want something artistically beautiful that spends more time impressing you with its animation and uses symbolism and other abstract narrative methods, this is just the show for you. If you direct story telling that keeps you on the edge of your seat with twists and turns, this is going to be a nightmare. Either way, I wouldn't go into it trying to interpret it, just enjoy the ride.

The premise of the show is pretty hard to believe. After an accidental meeting involving two violent outbursts, Taiga Aisaka and Ryuuji Takasu make an agreement to help one another pursue their respective love interests, Kitamura and Kushieda, who also happen to be Ryuuji and Taiga's mutual friends. It's the stockholm syndrome trope, create a situation in which the two main characters are forced to spend large amounts of time together and wait for them to fall in love. High school ‘contracts’ are an object of fiction, much like the accidentally overheard conversations that drive most of the character development. People do overhear things occasionally, ... but when the relationship is progressed entirely through cliches, it’s pretty hard to take it seriously.

However, after a rocky beginning I actually began to enjoy watching Taiga and Ryuuji. Ryuuji is more functional than most adults, doing all the cooking and cleaning for his mom who comes home late from her job as a cocktail waitress and sleeps most of the day. Ryuuji finds another dependent in Taiga, whom he feeds and launders for on a daily basis. He discovers her living amongst dirty dishes and garbage after entering her unlocked apartment to wake her up and make her breakfast. What’s important here is Ryuuji isn’t just a caretaker to Taiga, he represents something she’s never had, a person who genuinely cares about her and accepts her for who she is. He's a surrogate parent, which will be incredibly significant as we learn more of her backstory. He doesn’t complain that Taiga’s a mess, he just helps her pick it up and she slowly improves. This relationship does have some kind of benefit for Ryuuji as well, though it's far from ideal for him.

He seems to derive enjoyment from taking care of the dysfunctional Taiga, and given his relationship with his mother, who's equally bad at taking care of herself, it's very understandable that he's okay with it, he's used to it after all. But not only is their relationship is entirely one-sided, Ryuuji deals with being verbally and physically abused by Taiga constantly, aggression can definitely be attractive in a girl, but there's a difference between being aggressive and abusive. As part of their agreement, Taiga calls him a dog and commands him to do whatever she wishes... and he agrees. I guess he just really, REALLY wants Kushieda, and somehow plotting schemes with the diminutive and violent Taiga seems a better idea to him than simply talking to somebody he's already friends with. It's not like Kushieda's distant with him either, she bubbly, confident, and provides Ryuuji multiple opportunities to get closer to her, hell, they get locked in a storage room together for hours. At this point the overbearing use of cliches started to make me believe Toradora! was a satire, but given the amount of melodrama I'm pretty sure that it's takes its romance seriously. However, it’s important to remember that it’s Kushieda he’s interested in, so it’s not like the show is trying to force TaigaxRyuuji down your throat, they’re simply spending time together, so Ryuuji maintaining Kushieda as a love interest helps the story feel somewhat believable, despite Taiga’s abuse.

As the plot continues to carve its destructive path, Ami is introduced, and with her, more opportunities for "contract" agreements that force characters to be in the same place together despite their apparent misgivings. I'm not sure if Ryuuji is aware that he isn't legally bound by the results of immature high school contests. In any case, the writers continue to create contrived situations that force character interactions that would not otherwise happen.

I liked both Ryuuji and Taiga, despite the unbelievable circumstances that make up their character development. I stated before Ryuuji enjoys cooking and cleaning and is very good at both of them, this detail is the precipitating factor for most of their interactions. Taiga is pretty helpless when it comes to household tasks and Ryuuji provides those services to her. Despite the horribly unrealistic circumstances I felt that Taiga and Ryuuji actually acted in reasonable ways for the most part. Taiga beats Ryuuji frequently but it's clear that she actually does like spending time with him. They're both laughably bad at pursuing their romantic interest but that's pretty typical of high schoolers so it's hardly surprising.

Kushieda is obnoxiously positive. She shares many traits with Ryuuji including domestic competence and is very hard working. I'm sure you've all encountered that person in high school who magically balanced multiple jobs, sports, and school, all while staying unusually cheery. Most of the time she was on screen I just found her really annoying, she's just WAY too positive, there is such a thing. I don't think she was necessarily a bad character, just not the type of character I liked and I wasn't remotely invested in her. I didn't care if Ryuuji made in success in pursuing her because 1. Taiga the obvious romantic interest so you know that nothing's going to happen anyway, and 2. because Ryuuji was such an idiot when it came to trying to win her over that I wanted him to fail. She also becomes the source of more forced drama later on, making it even harder to take seriously and threatening to ruin ending.

Kitamura is the man. At first you get the impression that he's the stereotypical "obvlivious anime male highschool student" but he has his own agenda, and it plays out in spectacular fashion. You have not seen a love confession until you’ve seen Kitamura. To be fair, his arc’s only purpose is to help make TaigaxRyuuji a thing, it also results in a fantastic sword fight, but he’s still pretty funny to watch.

Kawashima is introduced later and is absolutely fantastic. She’s far more mature than the rest of the cast due to growing up as a model in the “adult” world, but is stunted in some ways by her air of superiority. Her development was the best part of the show and creates some of the only believable drama between characters. Her conversations with Ryuuji are similarly realistic, they are rarely on the same page but it’s clear to the audience what she’s trying to tell him, which makes their interactions much easier to understand, why Kawashima finds Ryuuji interesting etc.

The biggest mark against the show is that it’s totally drowned in melodrama. Taiga overreacts in ways the get old fast, and the forced pathos ruins the genuinely emotional moments in the show. I need to emphasize this, there were truly some great emotional moments. The Christmas episode with the bear costume (you’ll know it when you see it) [i]almost[/i] caused me to shed a tear, a feat that only Grave of the Fireflies is capable of, but because of the melodrama surrounding most of the show, these scenes lose their effect. Of course, there’s also the incredibly contrived situations (See accidentally overheard conversations/confessions) that bring these scenes about, which doesn’t help.

The production quality was fairly good, I liked the character designs and the animation quality was impressive at times and never bad. Nothing else about its artwork or animation stood out but that’s not terrible in a romcom. The OST was kind of forgettable but does add a lot to the emotion in certain scenes and I wasn’t a fan of the OP/EDs.

Toradora! certainly isn’t bad. Despite its issues it delivers an heartfelt romance with well-defined characters, but the frustration with its asinine story telling was enough to outweigh most of the positive aspects. If you like melodrama, you’ll probably like Toradora!.

One final note, the ending is talked about incessantly, and it is very good. Many complain that it was rushed and didn't explain things well enough, but if you pay attention to the character’s values and motivations, you shouldn’t need the writers to spoon feed you Taiga’s reasons for why she did what she did. Just make sure you watch the last episode all the way through, past the credits and everything.

Psycho-Pass is a cyberpunk crime drama set in a city near future Japan (big surprise). The population lives under the totalitarian rule of the SYBIL system. But this society is hardly a dystopia; violent crime is incredibly low thanks to the security provided by the SYBIL system, and aptitude tests ensure that citizens are placed into occupations that suit their skills. While the average person may not have a huge amount of freedom in their professional life, the vast majority of people are safe and more or less content. This adds a sense of realism; a governing body that is beneficial to everyone is far ... more likely to rise to power than a tyrannical one. The moral grayness allows the exploration of many different ideologies and how the people that hold them interact with the system and is one of the series’ greatest strengths.

The SYBIL system utilizes “Psycho-Pass” scanners placed around the city to measure the crime coefficient of each individual citizen. If you have a hard time buying into the idea that a person’s likelihood of breaking the law can quantified with a single number, then you might not enjoy Psycho-Pass. It definitely requires some suspension of disbelief and while I thought this premise was not only believable, not incredible engaging, I know others who feel differently. It’s also worth noting that the series is written by Gen Urobuchi who is famous for “shock value”. I personally enjoy his writing, but you should know what you’re getting into. Anyway, back on topic.

Our protagonists are inspector Akane Tsunemori and Shinya Kogami, an enforcer. Enforcers are individuals whose Psycho-Pass is in excess of 100 (the legal limit) but are allowed to work in law enforcement due to their skills and as a buffer to the enforcers for the psychological damage caused police work. They work under the inspectors and are still seen as “latent criminals” by the system. The dynamic between Akane and Kogami is one of the more interesting developments in the show. Akane sees protecting the citizens as just as important as upholding the law, which can conflict with the more jaded inspectors. We see the friction this causes between her and her colleagues in the first episode, and it’s instrumental to the development of Akane, Kogami, and Ginoza(another inspector throughout the show). Kogami on the other hand, could be called a loose cannon. He possesses great intuition and experience but isn’t in a position of power, leading to further conflict with the inspectors.

I actually disliked Akane for a significant portion of the show, partly because I lean towards Makishima’s ideology, but also because she’s incredibly boring, not as a character, but as a person. However, this is intentional; Akane is SYBIL system’s paragon. She is meant to display the epitome of what it wants from a citizen. Her boringness is a reflection a society that values absolute order and conformity.

Kogami Is cynical towards the system while Akane always works within the boundries of the law and her own moral standard. Akane treats Kogami like an actual human being, rather than a “hunting dog”, she sees all of them that way, and her conversations with them shows that she respects them just as much as her fellow inspectors. These conversations allow world building to happen naturally. While we’re learning about the personalities of the individual members of the team, we also get to see some of the negative effects of the system from the perspective of the enforcers who probably experience them the most. However, the dialogue is mostly directed at advancing the narrative, fleshing out the setting, and showing how people with different positions and philosophies (inspector, enforcer, Makishima, etc.) rather than character development. This might be the biggest weakness of the series. Kogami and Akane remain in the spot-light, and Ginoza’s arc allows us to see the psychological consequences of being an inspector, but the supporting characters take the back seat as the main narrative falls into place, which is a shame, since the other enforcers could potential been just as interesting as Akane and Kogami. Another world building tidbit, Akane is seen interacting with an in home AI, kind of like Jarvis from Iron Man. She tells it what to cook for her, and she uses a hologram that projects virtual close to dress up. The scene shows the technological integration remarkably well.

The interactions between the enforcers, while few, were important. In the first episode, the black haired female enforcer is seen leaving the bisexual analysts room as she puts her clothes back on. This acknowledges that sex exists without making fan service out of it. When you consider the lifestyle the enforcers lead, it makes sense that this would happen. They drink, cook, have sex, and do the things that normal people do, only under SYBIL’s very strict surveillance. This makes them seem human despite their high Psycho-Pass ratings. I think the writer’s message is that the outcasts in a system aren’t necessarily insane or even violent. They’re the products of their environment as much as anyone else and sometimes the people who fit right in are actually the most dangerous. This contributes to the moral grayness in a substantial way.

Pyscho-Pass has some exceptional villains; every one of them is memorable as are their crimes, and they contribute to the world building and explore problems with the system just as much as the main characterss. We get to see the effect that conditioning to low/no stress has on the citizens, how crime coefficient is handled in a professional environment, and the ways people express themselves in a world where big brother is watching you. You can sympathize with every antagonist on some level. Even though some are completely insane, it’s clear that living in a society that judges your mind rather than your actions is partially responsible. People who naturally have higher crime coefficients are doomed from the start.

Makishima, the primary antagonist, is probably the biggest issue people have with the show. Dispelling individual arguments is not the purpose of this review, and delving into his character would naturally require spoilers so I’m going to try to explain why I think he’s a good villain in a very general, spoiler-free way. If you want, I can send you an essay on why I like Makishima. Yes, his philosophical babbling is cheesy at times, but it’s very relevant to his character, not just the quotes he uses but the fact that he uses them at all. By directly quoting Pascal and others he is showing his fondness for long dead authors over currently living people. These authors criticize this type of system and the people content to live under it, mirroring Makishima's beliefs. He is the type of person who would be condemned in any reasonably society and a totalitarian one such as SYBIL is something he is against on principle.

Childhood abuse is a common tool used in the creation of excessively violent villains. It’s an easy way to justify any horrific actions. I find this incredibly lazy, people with traumatic pasts can turn out good or bad, and using it as an excuse to make someone a sadist feels contrived if they aren’t given further depth. What I like about Makishima’s character is that his personality and backstory, as well as how that personality interacts with the system made it very clear how he became the person he was, specifically that person and no one else. His philosophy is as much the result of growing up in the SYBIL system as it is a justification for his actions. He truly believes that what he is doing is… maybe not morally right, but certainly intended for what he perceives as a more valuable society. That's the key, valuable, not moral. Don't make the mistake of thinking Makishima is poorly written because his philosophy involves killing people in the name of freedom. It isn't about creating a utopia, it's about anarchy. Every violent, chaotic plan he orchestrates is indicative of his ideology, his personality, and his goals. This brings us to the shock value of Psycho-Pass.

The infamous bystander affect scene, one of the hardest to watch, and rage inducing moments in anime, at least in my limited experience. This scene is absolutely shock value, and it’s supposed to be, both for the audience and the crowd. The purple haired dude in the crowd even confirms it for us, commenting on its brutality the statement it makes. This scene becomes a symbol of the discord caused by a gaping hole in SYBIL’s oversight. It’s shown on phone screens, the news, it has a massive impact because the population has never seen anything like this before and they’re conditioned for such low stress that they’re legitimately incapable of doing anything in the situation. This is Makishima making a statement in the most horrific way possible. It says “this is the price of your contentedness.”

While hard to watch, this might be the most important moment of the show. This is what distances the viewer who shares Makishima’s sentiments from Makishima, because no matter how much you agree with his ideology, you’re not going to agree with this. It’s a key point in the story and it feels very real. The way it’s portrayed in the show feels exactly like the way it would be received in modern society, but given the effects of low stress conditioning, the impact is greater. I believe this is also a statement from the writer to the audience, and the message is very similar to Makishima’s, it [i]was[/i] written by the Urobutcher after all.

I felt it necessary to explain the importance of this one particular scene because shock value is often seen as intrinsically bad. This isn’t shock value in the sense that it’s meant solely to cater to the violence hungry part of the audience, every moment of brutality is vitally important to the show. Even the violence in the first episode, which was kind of cheesy, was meant to show off the dominators and the effects of stress on a person’s crime coefficient. This isn't to say that Psycho-Pass is excessively violent. It isn't, the brutality is infrequent and scattered throughout the show. It's sparsity is what makes it impactful, not it's prevalence.

Once the plot gets going and many characters fall from relevance, but I was so engaged in the story that I hardly noticed the underdevelopment until much later on. The setting was so impressively detailed that my least favorite episodes were those that brought us to different locations, (an isolated factory, a school, etc.) and it’s a testament to just how interesting the premise is that I wanted the entirety of the show to take place within the originally defined setting. My suspension of disbelief was broken infrequently and in very minor ways.

I should mention that I’m biased to Urobuchi’s style. Madoka Magica, Fate/Zero, and Psycho-Pass all feature characters who are defined by their ideologies or specific goals more than anything else. They all throw characters with drastically different personalities and philosophies into whatever world the show takes place in, and contrast how the respond to their respective worlds and that drives the relationship between the characters. The dialogue can be a bit hammy at times but is overall very good.

Let’s move from the meat of Psycho-Pass to its aesthetic.

I loved the first opening theme. The rest were decent as well. A good OP is always appreciated, but this is fluff. The soundtrack was unmemorable for the most part. The addition of classical music was a nice touch, but none of the tracks stood out as exceptionally good or bad.

Psycho-Pass is certainly a well animated show. The action is well directed and you get a good sense of spatial awareness, where off screen set pieces are, where everyone is in relation to one another as the camera moves from shot to shot. This is very important in a crime drama because action scenes often feature several groups of characters splitting up, attacking from multiple angles, and tackling separate obstacles simultaneously. The directing makes this all coherent. Makishima’s fight scenes are pretty good as well. You can tell what is going on anatomically and the stages look nice while providing variance in methods of attack. However, there are one or two scenes with poor visual flow. The first scene is just confusing when you try to make sense of the criminals and protagonists movement in relation to each other. At one point, the bad guy randomly appears from an ally that doesn’t have any cohesion with the rest of the location, giving the impression that he teleported.

The character designs are good, but not amazing. The characters are attractive for the most part but their designs are taken seriously enough to match the tone of the show. They all have a few aesthetic qualities that make them more unique such as Kogami smoking, Makishima’s straight razor and the analysts sass and outfits.

There are some really pretty backgrounds, mostly notably the SYBIL tower (I has a name, I just don’t remember it), and the death game section of the subway system/sewer. Even in very dark settings, vibrant color is added without feeling jarring or detracting from the atmosphere. In fact, I think the brilliant use of color is the best part about the presentation of the show. It lends that futuristic cyberpunk feel across many locations. The setting of the third episode, the factory, is my least favorite because that setting lacked the aesthetic qualities present in the rest of the show. It’s also the host to some pretty cheesy moments.

Psycho-Pass shows the interaction of several philosophies in a wonderfully detailed setting that is both believable and unique. Rather than focus on the direct integration of humans and technology, it chooses t explore the sociological and psychological effects of it's premise. I hope you enjoyed this review, now go watch Psycho-Pass.

The most common complaint I see about Arise is that it isn't Stand Alone Complex, it's not consistent with SAC, and it doesn't capture the same feel. This is all true. Arise is a different timeline, a different spin on section 9 and while it may act as Section 9's origin story, and it is, but not one consistent with SAC. Know this as you watch it.

The second is Motoko Kusanagi's character design. This is a bit more valid, as the major is one of the most memorable and iconic characters in cyberpunk, and probably all of anime.

I liked both SAC and Arise, and ... will inevitably need to draw a few comparisons. But, this isn't about SAC, it's about Arise, so onto the review.

Setting
The first part of Arise is set in, you guessed it, near future Tokyo, well, it's actually a fictional city called Newport, but it might as well be Tokyo for all intents and purposes. However, the setting differs from usual cyber punk fare by looking almost like a typical modern city. Apart from a decent amount of technological integration, Newport City of Arise is nearly identical to the Tokyo (or any other modern city) of any anime set in a present day city. I feel this is more realistic. Consider the change in cityscape from 20 years ago. Skyscrapers are taller, lights are brighter, touch screens are more prevalent, but aside from that, the Star Wars-esque spires and Vibrant LED lighting portrayed in 80s future fantasies are as distant as ever. It's understated setting is fitting for an anime that plays off of GitS themes but tones down the "cyber" aspect of cyberpunk. Many may dislike this because it doesn't feel futuristic, but the setting design is well done for the most part, especially in th fight sequences.

The major's character design is similarly believable. No large purple hair or tights. I get her design in SAC and I like it, but I don't think that changing it devalued the franchise or her character, in fact, I preferred it, allow me to elaborate. The SAC Motoko is the boss. She has her own team, she's skilled in cyber warfare, and she can get what she wants despite the labyrinth of bureaucracy involved in conducting covert operations. Her character design exemplifies this, the fact that she chooses to remain female despite being able to change into a male body (which we learn from Batou is advantageous in several ways), tells us that choosing her appearance is important to her.

The Motoko of Arise is not the Motoko of SAC. She isn't the boss of anything, she's skilled in combat and espionage due to her cyborg and training body, but it's unit 501 property, she doesn't own anything, not even her body. But considering how little control she seems to have in her life, the major manages to pursue the case of her murdered commanding officer, which the government seems to be going to great lengths to cover up. The lack of control in her life is expanded upon with the core theme of the first part of Arise, identity and the nature of memory in a society that allows both of those things to be manipulated through technology. Our memories, while not infallible, are undeniably our own, what happens when they can be translated into computer data? Data that can be changed, erased, replaced. It's by no means a theme new to the GitS franchise, but I feel it was better explored in Arise than anywhere else.

Arise - Border:1 is a slow burning mystery, and also the prequel to section 9's formation, although Border:2 focuses more on the latter. Beginning with the investigation for Motoko Kusanagi's CO's killer. She arrives in Japan to receive a package, apparently from her CO. Shortly after arriving, Kusanagi witnesses Arimaki, the baboon himself, digging up the grave of the man she's supposed to investigate. Summarizing the plot is not the point of this but what follows is a truly epic action sequence that has raised the bar for what I view is "good" action direction and fight choreography. I'll get to this in a bit. The mystery comes not only from Kusanagi trying to unravel a military cover-up but also from battling the cyborg related ailments she incurs on her mission. The phantom pain allows her back story to be explored in a way that feels natural and presents us with one of the problems of the era's technology, how does phantom pain affect cyberized people? One of the primary reasons I liked Arise so much was that it chose one core issue to focus most of it's time on, and developed it wonderfully. Stand Alone Complex is loaded with philosophical ideas and a more engaging story, but I have to say I like the focus in Arise. I can't say more without spoiling it so...

Action:
Arise contains the best action scenes in any anime I have seen to date. Even if you're among the crowd who thinks Arise is an insult to the GitS franchise, I believe that it's worth watching for the action alone. I can count the number of times on one hand that a fight scene left me in a state of awe and Arise tops that short list. The animation of the characters, the physics, it's perfect. Later battles with another cyborg showcase what you can do with superhuman strength and a body that doesn't feel pain. Cybernetic bodies give amazing creative license for self destructive fighting and the animators capitalized on this brilliantly. Cyberwarfare is integrated seamlessly into the fight sequences so you know what's going on even when hand to hand combat and hacking are being used simultaneously.

Character Design:
The major sports red jump suit and a realistically proportioned body. Granted, she's a cyborg, so she can look like, and wear, whatever she wants, but her character design in Arise fits her personality and position very well. SAC Motoko would simply be awkward had she simply been transplanted into Arise. Arimaki looks more realistic as well. He still has the baboon features, but he looks like he could be an actual person. As for Batou and the rest of the crew, they're designs are largely unchanged, but certainly lower quality. Batou looks a bit pudgy, Borma's a marshmellow, and Togusa looks like he was made on Mii creator.

Aesthetic:
It's toned down compared to most cyberpunk, but I like it. It's atmospheric where it needs to be and the Major's 'cyberspace' is reminiscent of SAC while still being consistent with the overall style. The screens everpresent in fictional cyberspace aren't terribly cheesy either.

Characters:
I've gone into this a bit, but there are some characters that deserve to be brought up. Pazo actually receives screen time. He's not terribly developed and serves a Deus Ex Machina moment at one point but it's nice to see him in action for once. The other members of 501 (Kusanagi's unit) are much more obviously augmented. They would stand out like a sore thumb in any public space but seem to trade an innocuous appearance for brute strength. They mainly serve to show the major's relationship with her unit, to help us understand why she is so driven to solve her CO's murder, and of course, the subjects of excellent fight scenes.

Arise seems to bank on it's viewers watching SAC beforehand, because none of the characters are given too much depth or characterization apart from Saito in Border 2. It relies on you having an idea of what these characters are like already which is kind of a significant flaw given that I think hardcore GitS fans might actually be less likely to enjoy Arise.

Sound Design:
Absolute perfection. I wouldn't necessarily add any of the tracks to my favorite songs list, but that's not the purpose of the score. Every track fits seamlessly into the scene it's set too. It's never outrageously dramatic and the quirky techno fight tracks, as well as the opening song, are some of the most memorable ones I've heard simply by virtue of how much they add to the atmosphere. I watched this with a friend and several times we both commented to each other just how good the OST is. The sound effects are noticeably good as well,a rare occurrence.

I loved Arise because I viewed within it's own context. While it's impossible for a fan of the GitS franchise NOT to compare it with SAC, I was able to enjoy it as it's own work.

So many of my friends, and some who I consider to have good taste in anime, recommended Knights of Sidonia to me, so I came into it wtih high expectations, always a mistake. After the first episode I dropped it for awhile, but my curiosity over the large purple space monster pulled me back in.

Knights of Sidonia is a gorgeously animated sci-fi 'Last of the human race in a colony ship' series with entertaining space battles and perfect use of CGI. unfortunately, that was about all it had to offer.

Story:
The conflict with the Gauna is pretty much the extent of the story here, which is ... fine considering that the show is about the struggle to preserve the human race due to problems caused by the Gauna in the first place. However, this meant that the parts of the show devoted to other things, to the pilot's free time, just felt like a waste. The world of Sidonia, while beautiful, wasn't developed enough to make me feel like it was an actual place. I could have derived a similar amount of enjoyment from looking at an art book of this series.

Anyway, the Gauna destroyed earth in the year 2371 CE and several colony ships scattered into deep space in an hopes that humans might one day colonize another planet, but the ever-present Gauna threat means they will have to be dealt with before humanity can achieve that goal. Throughout the series, I didn't get the sense that anything was progressing aside from humanities ability to combat these giant space monsters which affirmed the fact that the Gauna conflict was the only thing actually happening. There are vague hints at political unrest but it's ultimately unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

One of my favorite parts was when three of the characters explored the city and reading Sidonian lore, I though this might lead to something interesting that wasn't space battles but it ended up tying right back into it.

Characters:
None of the characters were particularly memorable, in fact, after watching it recently I can only remember the name of one." NAGATE!" screamed every girl he had ever met while staring in horror as the Gauana wreaked havoc in a manner reminiscent of Krillin gaping uselessly at Vegeta using his powers. Unfortunately, this isn't DBZ, and that trope is inexcusable in an action anime that takes itself seriously.

The relationships between characters is almost Victorian. The sexual tension is so awkward it's hard to watch and everyone is stoic to the point of not having a personality at all. There's a girl with green hair and a mole who actually gets some character development but it's not enough to relieve the frustration.

However, the biggest issue is that all the characters are part of the military despite the fact that they are hopelessly ill suited to combat. They make irrational decisions, shut down in the face of danger, and behave in ways that are outright detrimental to themselves and their comrades, in and out of combat. The commander actually listens to her pilots when they have a good idea, which was a nice break from the constant barrage of authority figures in most shows who never listen to anyone ever.

Nagate's character is actually okay. He doesn't have much going on other than being a really good pilot, but that's okay considering he's lived underground his whole life with one other person, and devoted all his free time to pilot simulations. It makes sense that he'd have zero social skills.

Animation & Direction (Space battles):
This is exactly what I want to see out of a mecha, space battle anime. While it isn't really a mecha show per se, all of combat takes place inside them. The problem I have with mecha (and most action anime) in general is amount of time spent shouting the names of your moves, charging energy, and flashing lights without any actually action. The combat is fast paced, pretty to look at, and easy to follow. It's never chaotic, and things can only be hard to follow because every mech looks the same. However, this fits in with the uniform, militaristic style of the show, so it's not a problem at all. It's hard to put into words how well done the combat is because it's so rare to see anything like it. This was what kept me coming back along with the desire to learn more about the Gauna.

Character Design:
The character design is realistic and consistent. Not a single character's design break immersion. Realistic hair color (even the green haired girl's hair is muted eough to not be distracting) , and similar faces, you get the impression that they have homogenized over years of cloning/being grown in test tubes. Unfortunately, they are also pretty similar and easy to get confused because of it.

Style/Aesthetic:
Like I mentioned before, Knights of Sidnoia depicts consistent realism. It never deviated from this despite the space battles and Sidonia being drastically different, both in terms of pacing and content. This brings me to my next point.

Pacing:
I don't know if it's because the characters mostly lacked personality, or the absence of world building, but the segments of the show spent in Sidonia, which comprise most of the show, are really, really slow. There needed to be something other than shots of generic looking characters walking through gray hallways and reserved, uninteresting dialogue and there just wasn't. I wanted to see Sidonia, I wanted to learn about it's inhabitants, but I got almost nothing in those areas.

Sound:
Fantastic sound effects. Never have I heard weapons with so much Oomph. The sound really conveys just how devastating these weapons are. The score was properly dramatic for a fast paced robot vs. massive alien space battle.

Intro/Outro
The opening theme was perfect for the show. I wasn't crazy about it, but I acknowledged that one would be hard pressed to find a more appropriate song. The ending theme was a little energetic and dramatic for the tone of the show, but sounded cool.

If anyone knows of an anime with animation on par with this show that actually has interesting characters, an intriguing story and decent world building, please let me know.

Edited for reasons.
Keep in mind, this is more of an analysis than a review, and yes, I realize that I am probably overanalyzing it.

Kill la Kill is an anime that can stand solely on it's visuals. It's not that any other parts were poorly done, but the direction and details incorporated so much world building, character definition, and thematic elements that I could have watched it in Japanese without subtitles and I don't feel like my experience would have changed in any substantial way, wait, there's Satsuki's magnificent quotes. Okay, everything about it is incredible.. Again, it's not that the dialogue was unnecessary or bad, ... the visuals were just THAT good. I need examples for this, I'll try to refrain from spoilers as much as possible.

Kill la Kill is about a high school girl named Satsuki Kiryuin who uses her mother's success to create her own town with its high school situated at the top and turns it into a fascist dictatorship. She uses clothing to control the population, both offering upward mobility to those who follow her lead, and using the Goku uniforms power to oppress those who don't. The skimpiest outfits are the most powerful, but only if you aren't embarrassed to wear them. This should have already triggered something in your brain. Clothing as a means of oppression in high school? linking embarrassment and empowerment? these are things that are already present in our daily high school lives and Imaishi simply exaggerates these themes to the point of absurdity. I'll get to this in a bit.

Let's start with the first episode. Even in the first 10 seconds of the show, the atmosphere and style are illustrated in incredible detail. The industrial class room with the battleship door along with the brief exposition about the Nazis winning world war II makes it clear that this is a militarized society, even schools are effected (and as the episode progresses, we learn that this school actually epitomizes this). Then Gamagoori's foot smashes through the door, the scene is thrown into chaos and Gamagoori squeezes through the door, towering over everyone even the teacher. This first scene makes several things clear; The animation style is not meant to be literal, Gamagoori isn't actually 20 feet tall (we seem him at normal height a few seconds later). Rather, the series uses gross exaggeration to get a message across. Gamagoori is a dominating figure, even the teacher is beneath him, and that brings me to my next point. The hierarchy is not what you'd expect, an elite group of students are the ones who really hold the power. The teacher is sent sliding away from Gamagoori on his knees and a sequence of events follows in which Gamagoori beats a student to death in a spectacular fashion.

Let's give one more example, Mako doing manual labor. The scene depicts her passing objects don a line of people, like how the bucket of water is passed down the line in Little Rascals. Mako isn't literally passing boxes down a long line of completely identical goons (although I guess she might be, Kill la Kill is pretty silly like that), but rather, the scene is meant to describe the highly mechanical process in which the labor is carried out. It's was able to convey this idea in a span of about 3 seconds, and the entire show packed this densely with narrative and developmental visuals.

Elaborating on these specific scenes is necessary to explain just how much this show relies on imagery to convey information to the audience.

Thematic Elements:
It is likely that dozens, if not hundreds of people have attempted to enumerate and discuss all the themes present in this show. A book that detailed these theories in their entirety would like fill thousands of pages, so I wouldn't doubt that most of those theories are pure fantasy. I will attempt to explain the themes that are obvious from the world and the events in the story.

The manipulation of a population through greed and social constructs is the immediately recognizable theme. Goku uniforms are status, a better standard of living, and the power to dominate others, much like symbols of status in the real world. However, this is taken to the extreme as is everything else in Kill la Kill. Since Honnouji academy, and the city it's built on are ruled by a governing body with the ability to hand Status and power (see Goku uniforms) out as they choose, they can completely control the population by playing on peoples desperation and greed. People will literally kill each other over these uniforms.

Nudity is another idea presented in Kill la Kill. Make no mistake, this show will likely have more fan service than any non ecchi show you have ever seen, and while nudity is used for a "higher purpose", the show still has all the revealing camera angles that many anime fans have become accustomed to. However, I would argue that these camera angles reflect how the audience (because these scenes always happen in front of an audience within the show) are meant to better show how shame plays into everything.

So how is nudity used? Firstly, nudity is portrayed as a symbol shame, and later empowerment as the series progresses. Something is symbolism because of it's place in the story, nudity is consistently associated with freedom and clothing is consistently associated with oppression. The Kamui are unique, they are distinguished from the other Goku uniforms both in power and style, telling us that the main characters, Satsuki and Ryuuko,are different, they possess the resolve to succeed outside the confines of the system or to rise to the top of it, which is what Ryuuko and Satsuki respectively attempt to do, but in order to reach your final form, you can't be held back by embarrassment."The fact that you are embarrassed by the values of the masses only proves how small you are!" This may be one of Satsuki's most important quotes, it ties the ideas of oppression and conformity to nudity, forming a cohesive argument with two distinct themes. But simply alluding to social constructs does not make them an underlying theme in the show, the story and characters have to reflect them as well. And they do. Let's break it down.

Satsuki and Ryuuko, some of my favorite characters of all time, both for their development, and for what they represent. Satsuki is the pinnacle of femininity and authority, she is the ideal citizen elevated to god-like heights by her willingness to submit to the typical gender roles and her resolve to impose these roles on everyone else with absolute authority. This is depicted symbolically in the form of a wedding dress, Juketsu (purity). This symbol comes up frequently and is always associated with matrimony, conformity, traditional gender roles, all that jazz, and Ryuuko is not having any part of that. Satsuki spends much of the show trying to force Ryuuko to behave and not be a delinquent lesbian who wears black and red. Satsuki wears Junketsu, a metaphor for her beliefs while Ryuuko wears Senketsu, who is way sexier.

Ryuuko and Senketsu form the counter argument to Satsuki. What is at first a story of a girl trying to find her fathers killer becomes one of that girl tearing down a system of oppression, Senketsu constantly badgers Ryuuko about how she is wearing him but has yet to put him on, a reference to how her shame is preventing her from reaching her true potential. They grow closer throughout the series until the ending drives home the ideas the show had been working towards until that point. Unfortunately, her development can often come off as teenage angst, and it can be hard to relate to.

What is perhaps most impressive is how the show uses it's high school setting to connect high school dynamics to it's ideas of conformity and oppression. The Principle says something very important in the first episode "we are but mere pawns, Satsuki is the schools true master" that's not word for word, but the idea is the same, in Kill la Kill Satsuki, the Student Council President, is literally a fascist dictator. This is also true in a sense in real life. The school administration can suspend you, or tell you to wear a longer skirt, but ultimately, it's peer pressure that impacts your behavior the most, the desire to fit in. Ryuuko's friendship with Mako is important because she is basically immune to peer pressure, giving Ryuuko confidence, and slapping her back to reality when she decides to act like a big fat idiot.

Every other student is dependent on Satsuki's system, and if we look at this as a normal school anime, which isn't far off if you scale back the over the top style, it's about a troublemaker (Ryuuko) who gets transferred to a super uptight school after beating people up in her previous schools. Satsuki uses her position as the most popular girl in school to try and force Ryuuko to conform to her standards. She uses peer pressure by telling everyone else in the school to attack Ryuuko, and later even tries to turn her friends against her. Using greed and the desire to fit in to manipulate people is behavior prevalent in both high school and the practice of tyrants, and this double layer allows Kill la Kill to flesh out more ideas in greater detail, showing how the methods of dictators are used in other aspects of our lives.

Aesthetic:
The color palette is perfect, the shots of Honnou city give a good sense of what this city is like without devoting too much time to it, a single 5 second pan out is enough to tell you more about the setting than most shows accomplish in their entire run time. This is why "show don't tell is so important".

But wait, there's more! Kill la Kill's story is built from the ground up upon the tropes of high school and shonen genres. The overblown importance of the student council? Well this student council is a fascist dictatorship. The bizarre obsession with school clubs? In Kill la Kill, club success directly influences your quality of life. No star students like Mako live in the slums while the one stars live in condos. Beyond that are ludicrously ornate mansions. Fights are decided with asspulls, and how do you beat an asspull? with an even bigger asspull of course! Ryuuko isn't some stubborn twelve your old who doesn't afraid of anything, she runs from fights she can't win and "cheats" too! The most obvious one is the incredible roast of the "Woman wearing improbably skimpy clothing in a wildly inappropriate setting" cliche. A fair number of anime tend to feature characters like Yoko who are inexplicably wearing a bikini in a post apocalyptic setting, I'm sure you've seen many examples of your own. By using the skimpiest costumes allowed on TV, and trying it into the core themes and plot of the show, we get something that is simultaneously epic, hilarious, and beautiful.

Sound:
DON'T LOSE YOUR WAY!!!!!!!!!!
Kill la Kill features the best OST I have ever heard in my life. This is one aspect of the show that is almost unanimously agreed upon. It's so fantastically dramatic, every song so epic, that it will give you goose bumps and get your blood pumping. Listening to it will running fills me with strength. All of the voice actors are spot on as well and I can't imagine changing any of them. Just like it's art style and animation, this is literally perfect.

Weak points:
Episode 4, the only filler episode. This was by far my least favorite episode and not just because it could be removed without effecting the plot at all. Any ideas were already presented in previous episodes. If nothing else it show cases the ridiculous schemes Honnouji academy will utilize to weed out the weak. The tropes are overdone and overwhelming, I was hesitant about continuing the show after this episode because I was worried the series would devolve into episodic, nosebleed inducing nonsense. It didn't and I'm relieved. It should be noted however, that like the rest of the show, this episode likes to blow a lot of cliches out of proportion, accidental groping -> nosebleed -> head injury, but oddly enough, this actually becomes relevant to the subplot of the episode.

The show goes in a different direction after episode 12. I suppose you could say that it starts to take itself "seriously", but it never loses its insane style. Be warned, many people find the show becomes immensely better, or immensely worse after this episode.

The middle episodes could be described as the low point in the series depending on how much you enjoy the action and comedy, and whether you become annoyed with the slow plot progression during this time. The bigger issue is that most of the themes I've discussed, the character development, and the best fights take place in the first and last thirds of the show.

Kill la Kill is my favorite anime of all time but I also believe it is one of the most important releases ever. This is animation and direction perfected. Not only that, it tells multiple narratives simultaneously that all explore its core ideas and every individual piece of symbolism has multiple meanings. This kind of metanarrative is exceedingly rare, so I challenge you to watch this, and analyze it in depth, wear your detective hat, because no matter how incredible this show is on the surface, it gets immensely better the more work you put into it.

Berserk is odd. I decided to watch this anime after seeing it's movie adaptation on Netflix, and at first I was disappointed by the low budget animation but it grew on me the more I watched. Although this comes as an action anime, it's real strengths are in story and character developments. So I'll start with the characters.

Characters:
Guts is your archetypal badass swordsman who seems to have no equal, at least at first glance. I was worried at first because this type of character is present in many shows and watching an unstoppable fighter gets boring fast. However, Guts' character development is done in such ... a way that his badassery seems deserved. Watching his backstory, it becomes very clear how he became the person he is and I didn't ever feel like Guts was there merely as an excuse for gratuitous violence as these types of characters so often are. His personal growth over the series feels natural and he never does anything that breaks immersion. Guts is plagued by existential anxiety. He understands the futility of devoting his life to the sword but admits that it's all he's ever known.

Griffith, so charismatic, so beautiful. Griffith is the perfect brick wall for Guts as he's the first opponent Guts is unable to defeat. There relationship is one of the more interesting aspects of the show and results in several plot points that wouldn't have been nearly as strong had their relationship not been so perfectly executed. Griffith's dream and his views on friendship support his actions in a way that makes him feel very real. You come to understand why he acts the way he does as the show goes on which is kind of the point of character development...

Casca's personality is the result of being the only women in an all male army, she can be irritating and unlikable at times but she'd be treated as a doormat if she presented herself differently so you can't really fault her for that.

Story:
I highly recommend skipping the first episode. It reveals the endpoint of the entire series. I feel like I would have enjoyed this show immensely more had I saved the first episode for last. It ruins any sense of suspense or surprise.

Aside from that, I thought the story was brilliantly crafted. It feels like you're actually caught up in a medieval war campaign and the events and characters you encounter along the way to a superb job of defining the social and moral constructs of the world it takes place in. The entire story has a aura of predestination about it and you get the feelings that these characters do have free will but at the same time are doomed to their fate. The individual battles make use of deception and tactics in addition to just having Guts cut everyone in half.

Aesthetic:
The series surpassed the movie in this aspect which was pleasantly surprising. While the quality of the animation wasn't fantastic, the tone of the show, the dark colors, the depressing villages, and extravagant castles all fit the feel of the show. It's gloomy and vibrant in all the right places. The dark swamp where Casca and Guts hide out just oozes despair while the 'cityscape' still of the Band of the Hawks sea of tents illustrates the groups triumph and energy beautifully. I only wish the more money and effot went into the animaiton of this show.

Animation:
This is where the show falls short and will probably lose a lot of viewers. So many action scenes consist of Guts hacking up stationary soldiers, and stills are used liberally throughout the series. There's actually very little movement. It's ironic that action is the least engaging aspect of the show. It attempts to make up for this with it's directing. Often, a scene will just focus on guts (or whoever else is currently chopping people up) or just showing the sword hitting it's mark to distract the viewer from the fact that only one person in the scene is moving but this just makes the fights chaotic and hard to follow.

Sound/Music:
I wasn't fond of either the intro or outro at first listen. They're still not something I'd listen to outside of the show but I recognize that they fit exceptionally well and the show would be worse off if the music were to change. As far as the soundtrack goes, again, it fits the show very well and attributes to the tone and atmosphere in the same way the art does but is not particularly memorable.

Overall, I enjoyed this show, but some of it's weaknesses (particularly the animation) are just to glaring for me to recommend it to most people. If you like tight, engaging narrative and characters that smash the preconceptions of their archetypes then you will probably like this, just remember to leave the first episode for last.