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Jun 30, 2017
Ok, I might not be the best candidate for writing a review since I only watched half of it and dropped it but I couldn't help it with this one. I would like to point out that my views are completely unbiased because I never played the games, so I am not a fan of the series, just someone who decided to watch the anime.
Story: 2/10
I remember hearing about this series when I was just in elementary school. I remember the dubbed version coming on late nights, but I used to watch other anime and never really got into it. Back then I used to
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think "I'm definetely going to watch this from the beginning." From the eyes of a child, it looked different, the character designs looked cool, the soundtrack sounded amazing, and I was very new to anime and only watched dubbed versions that came on television. In the end, I never really got around to watching it until now, when I've reached adulthood. I had really high expectations, but now if I had to describe this series in one word, it would be "disappointing".
I understand this series is probably what has inspired other shows based on MMORPGS like Sword Art Online and is probably original to the "stuck in a game" plot. It has a very unique premise for its time and that's why I'm giving this a 2/10 instead of 1/10. The storytelling is just downright awful and I couldn't stand watching it. There is just so much...dialogue. Characters just sit around and talk for a good 90% of the show. The story barely moves forward in each episode. Don't believe me? Go on Wikipedia Episodes list and look at each episodes summary. Just skim through if you don't want to ruin the story for yourself. In the end, I just read up online what happens in the show because I could no longer put myself to another 12 episodes of pure torture.
To be honest, I didn't know much about the series. I did some research and I realized that its part of a series of games. I realized later that its probably the reason why its so dragged out when it could have been much more condensed. It's sad that it was dragged out for the sake of the fans and probably to generate cash when it could have been made great with some proper storytelling.
Art: 3/10
Looking at the character designs now, some of it is cool and some of it is just downright weird. I don't know why I thought it was really cool.
It's an old series, so the animation is not fluid and the overall art isn't that great.
Sound: 6/10
Soundtrack is good, but it's used in some odd places, making it a little awkward.
Character: 3/10
The story progressed too slowly, so as a viewer, I did not get attached to any character. The main character in the beginning was just annoying, always running away from someone acting a little friend. You barely even get to see him actually, because its mostly the other characters sitting around and discussing things about the main character.
One thing I don't get is why were the other side characters so worried about him, always rushing to his aid, when he doesn't even care about them and treats them coldly.
Enjoyment: 1/10
I hate to say this, and despite my hatred toward harems, I thought sword art online was much more enjoyable than this. I don't mean to compare shows, but if you look at my reviews from SAO, I haven't given it a high rating, but since these two are similar in storyline, I would have to say SAO beats this.
Overall: 2/10
I think a lot of people like this show according to the reviews, so I do think that people may enjoy it despite it being slow, and that's completely fine, people have different tastes. But I do think that if you're an impatient person like me, don't bother with this series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 4, 2017
With the success SAO has garnered, there was no doubt a second season would be made. This season is marginally worse than the first season, with the first season carrying its flaws over to SAO II. It still follows that harem-esque storyline, with barely any romance but mostly filled with fanservice. There is no deus ex machina plot mechanics. However, SAO II presents its own separate flaws, that were never present in the first season.
Story: 4/10
Compared to SAO, its sequel has no underlying plot, but instead consists of 3 arcs that have entirely different plots barely connected to each other. There is no flow
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from one arc to another and seems arbitrary. Although the story is told in arcs, since there is no underlying plot, the arcs themselves seem useless because it does not contribute anything to the overall story or what was established by SAO I.
In the first arc, Kirito and Asuna are successfully out of the virtual world of SAO and ALO, and a year has passed. They are going to school and going about their normal lives, until Kirito, who on the whim of a government official ends up investigating rumors about Death Gun, an alleged player who is responsible for a number of murders in the VRMMORPG Gun Gale Online that apparently kills players in real life. He joins a tournament, Bullet of Bullets, and with Sinon, a sniper and a topmost player, takes down Death Gun.
First of all, why is a government official approaching a student who has just gotten out of the hellhole of SAO so he can investigate Death Gun? There is no logic in this part, and doesn't the government usually refrain from bringing teenagers into such dangerous situations?
Second of all, aren't these people traumatized from SAO? How are they even willing to go back in VRMMORPGS without being scared that they may end up being stuck like in SAO. How are their parents even allowing these teenagers to continue to Full-Dive? How is this thing still popular after so many people died? Where the hell is the logic in this?
And most importantly, why does Kirito look like a girl with a saber in an MMORPG involving guns? What kind of shitty fanservice is this?
Aside from the above points, the introduction of Death Gun makes this arc a little interesting. However, if you've read some mystery novels, you would have been able to quickly deduce the villain, also in part due to the lack of side characters in this. Although there is some creativity in how the murders are committed, there is a lack of imagination for the identity.
The second arc starts and Sinon joins ALO and Kirito's harem. Kirito, Kirito's harem and Klein set out on a new adventure to find Excalibur, a legendary sword. That's literally it. There is no plot, there is no character development, the story doesn't progress anywhere, nothing. The only thing it did was probably increase Kirito's awesomeness level because now he has this amazingly rare item which we never see him in action with in the subsequent arc.
The third arc is superior in terms of character development, it is more emotional. Asuna and a girl she befriends, Yuuki, and her party go on an adventure to defeat a floor boss and clear a floor in New Aincrad. The third arc is emotional, but slightly overdramatic as well. It tries hard to make the viewers sympathize with Asuna and Yuuki.
Characters: 6/10
Kirito ends up becoming a cocky overpowered character in SAO towards the end, and continues to stay as such in SAO II. In this season, the creators invent a trauma for him in which he supposedly had killed two other characters while being stuck in Sword Art Online and this continues to haunt him. This is the first time we are seeing this, and was never mentioned in the first season. Hence, we can conclude this trauma was invented for the sole purpose of him relating to Sinon, the other main character in the first arc.
Sinon has her flaws and seems very strong in game but is actually very weak in real. She has some trauma, except it is so different from anything that you cannot really relate with her as an audience. By the second arc, as what usually happens with female characters in SAO, she quickly degrades to become a part of Kirito's harem, with no purpose but just to be a part of it.
The third arc is dedicated completely to Asuna, and she is shown to be more than just a trophy girlfriend to Kirito. She actually has real life problems with her family and is unable to communicate with them about what she wants in in life. She then meets Yuuki, who helps her overcome them indirectly.
Yuuki is one of the more likable characters in SAO and you may or may not shed at least a tear in the third arc due to her.
Overall, Sinon and Yuuki were more interesting main characters in their respective arcs, compared to the side characters in the first season.
Art: 9/10
The art is simply beautiful. You can see a huge contrast in the settings of ALO and GGO, with ALO depicting a fantasy theme and GGO giving a steampunk vibe. The animation is amazing especially when it came to the action scenes.
Sound: 9/10
The background music and OSTs are very nice. The background music is of course the same as SAO I. One thing that was awkward was there is super epic music playing that usually plays in the background for an epic fight. This boss fight was shown for no reason and is inserted just when the second arc starts, and hence due to the serious overtone introduced by the music, it makes it seem overdramatic.
Enjoyment: 5/10
It's just as enjoyable as SAO I was, parts that were actually interesting to watch, and some parts you just couldn't wait for to get over.
Overall: 6/10
There is no concrete plot so I do not see the point in SAO II. It obviously exists to rake in cash from the popularity SAO I garnered, but that's usually what sequels are for, right?
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 28, 2017
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
After hearing so much about this show and literally seeing it everywhere, I decided I would give this show a try. Naturally I had high expectations, thinking it was going to be an epic show. After watching the first 2-3 episodes, SAO piqued my interest and my expectations increased. Unfortunately, SAO plummeted itself into a harem-esque driven plot with no return.
Story: 2/10
If you think you're going to see enthralling action scenes, don't be fooled. This show focuses mostly on the characters and their relationships. Like I've stated earlier, this show falls more in the genre of harem rather than action and adventure.
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The story centers around the main characters, Kirito and Asuna, and its brought up several times how amazingly badass they are. But you barely see them acting badass. Now when I try to remember their action scenes, I can barely remember 2 or 3, and top of that they are very short, but I will say one thing is that they were animated very well.
I'm assuming that since there are other shows like this out there, they probably elaborate on parts of the world while progressing with the plot but whatever they showed was involving the system of relationships in the world. I wished the creators would have actually brought the world to life, but the world felt two-dimensional with no real depth.
After the first episode, the show had so much potential, but the show straight-away dived into a series of fillers, which made it less enjoyable. To sum it up, Kirito, our main character, meets a bunch of girls in a few filler episodes, helps them, one of them dies, becomes emo, then meets Asuna. After meeting Asuna, they are living a blissful life together, even getting married in-game, and they live happily together in a cottage with an adopted daughter. Then they suddenly reveal the antagonist. I hoped they would reach the 100 floor and then reveal the antagonist and have an epic battle. However, they rushed through it and ended the first half using a deus ex machina plot mechanic, only to dump the characters with annoying Suguha in another spinoff world, Alfheim Online, with a new but even worse antagonist. This world seemed to have more depth than SAO, but again, this world was barely elaborated on. The jump to a new world seemed unnecessary, but then again, to me it seemed the second half was altogether unnecessary.
The second half mainly involves Suguha and Kirito trying to find trapped Asuna in Alfheim Online with the help of his adopted daughter. They finally find her, have a faceoff with the antagonist, again in a deus ex machina style again.
Character: 5/10
Kirito as the main character had some developments, going from someone who seemed antisocial suddenly to emo to some cheerful, outgoing guy. However, the final and positive change was credited to Asuna. I wanted him to grow into a better person for other reasons than a girl. Asuna on the other hand seemed badass throughout the first half, but the second half of the anime showed her degrading to a maiden in distress, mainly for plot purposes.
The third main character, Suguha, Kirito's younger sister, is mainly there for fulfilling the harem aspect of the show. Why is every girl, including his sister falling for this guy? It gets tiring and repetitive. On top of all this, why is the younger sister of all characters falling for him? I'm sorry I'm not a fan of incest in any way, and Suguha actually being his cousin doesn't make it any better for me and less incestuous. Since the Japanese love adding these kinds of relationships in their mangas and anime, I'm going to assume shes there to fulfill just that reason, although the plot was driven forward due to her, the plot would have moved forward just fine without a character like her.
Now comes the villain in the first half. I hoped they would explain why he ended up making a virtual game just to trap hundreds and thousands of people in it. What interested me was that in the first or second episode, the antagonist changed the rules of the game so that they looked the same as they did in real life. I thought this would mean something which would bring light to the antagonists goals. But nope, his excuse for creating SAO was, "I wanted to make a castle." Should I even say anything at this point? Somebody find me a wall to bang my head on.
There is one point in the show where it seemed Kirito showed some respect for the creator of SAO. There was barely any contempt shown by the characters for the villain or for SAO. Either way, their opinion of the whole spectacle was a little ambiguous except for the fact that they lost two years of their lives stuck in that game. You would expect more sorrow and despair for the comrades they have lost but you can barely see that towards the end, as was seen in the beginning.
Art: 9/10
The art is actually quite pretty and attractive. The animation was also quite good.
Sound: 8/10
The music matched the fight scenes well and other parts of the show.
Enjoyment: 5/10
It's good if you want to sit an watch something mindless without making any sense out of it. But that's about it. Basically, its good to watch to kill time.
Overall: 5/10
Overall, this is a harem romance, and people who enjoy that genre should watch this instead.
The premise of SAO was quite promising, and immediately pulls the viewers in, but unfortunately becomes lacking in plot soon after as well. The ALO arc was completely unnecessary and the first half could have been made much better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Apr 26, 2012
NOTE: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.
Another starts off by jumping straight into the plot and hooks the viewer right in. It starts off with high potential for the mystery and supernatural aspect of the series. There’s a lot of blood and violence in this, so I’m warning you right now, if you hate violence and blood, don’t watch this anime.
Story: 7/10
The series used a very typical storyline that I see in almost every anime that I encounter now a days. A new boy comes to a new village/town, and discovers something odd and befriends a girl or a number of girls, and discovers something odd about
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the town. In this case, a class that is close to death. However, it’s not so typical as I had thought it would be. The author used a typical plot but turned it into a bizarre ghost story. The girl is completely ignored like she’s a ghost, and there’s a class that seems to be cursed. The show is short and only 12 episodes. It takes the plot at a good pace and it’s not that complex, so it’s a fairly understandable plot.
There is one thing in the plot that makes it hard for me to overlook, and raise several questions about the plot. Why didn't they just close that class? Was it absolutely necessary for them to have a class called Class 3-3, especially since it cost the students their lives? They didn't have to close an entire school down; they just had to close ONE class. After one year was completed, they could just close the class down, and just distribute the students to the other classes, or transfer them to another school. What I'm saying is, ANYTHING could have been done to avoid putting the students in Class 3-3, and clearly, it seemed like all the teachers believed in the so called "curse," so it could have been done easily, or there may have been some problems. At least the students wouldn't have to die because the school failed to see the need to close an entire class down just because some students were dying. If for some other reasons related to the curse, they couldn't close the class down, then the makers should have stated this in the anime, at least to cover up this massive plot hole. If their excuse for this is that the viewer could be imaginative and fill in the blanks themselves, then this is seriously just their sorry excuse for them to cover up their mistake. It just seems like a way for them to create a plot out of this.
The conclusion was mediocre. It wasn’t an amazing ending nor was it a cliff-hanger (thank god). What an ending of an anime needs, or for any matter, is an ending that will leave an impact on the viewer, one that you know you’ll never forget. Something that is memorable will become unforgettable, and you know it was worth your time. However, Another doesn’t convey this feeling in the ending. It did make me think a lot about how the show played out, but the ending wasn’t striking.
Character: 6/10
There is a typical scene in movies where there’s a murderer and the girl is running from him/her in a house, and instead of running down the stairs, she runs up the stairs and hides in a room. You’re sitting there, yelling at the screen that the girl should run down not up. That is what I felt like doing sometimes while watching Another. It seems though that stupid mistakes made by characters are prevalent in horror movies/shows, and Another is no exception to this. Unlike other anime I have watched, I would become attached to the characters, and mature along with them. Although there is some character development in the story, I couldn’t grow to love them. Sakakibara may be the main character, but there isn’t much character development regarding him. Misaki was gradually developing since the first half of the anime is mostly about who she is. The rest of the characters didn’t get a lot of character development.
Sound: 7/10
I didn’t particularly enjoy the opening song. The ending song sounded so much better than the opening, and it sounded more. The background music seemed to go alone well with the show, though I don’t tend to pay much attention to background music when watching an anime.
Art: 10/10
Sometimes when you watch anime, you’ll find that the art will be done badly and in some parts, the characters had some deformity if you look closely. The animation will be choppy and sometimes the studios will do a poor job generally. However, Another doesn’t have these issues at all and I found myself admiring the art. The colours compliment each other and look soft where it is needed depending on the setting and the situation. The characters looked cute and even though the anime is horror, it still is. It is hard to find an anime that will actually put detail in unimportant scenes.
Enjoyment/Overall: 8/10
Another is enjoyable, but it’s not perfect. There are flaws, but which anime is perfect? Of course, whether you will like it or not depends on you. I definitely recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys mystery/horror. It’s only 12 episodes, and it’s quite short, so it won’t take up much time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 10, 2012
Note: I have not played the visual novel game so I won't be comparing the anime to the visual novel in this.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai starts off from where Higurashi no naku koro ni left off from, so essentially, it's really important for you to watch the second season after you've watched the first one. The first one consisted of four question arcs and two answer arcs. The second season has two answer arcs as well as some additional ones in both seasons. These answer arcs answer the unanswered questions of the question arcs. As you go deeper in this anime, each
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question arc and the corresponding answer arc enlightens the viewer about the situations and the overall big mystery behind things. So when you watch the anime, you might want to know which answer arcs corresponds to which question arc to make things easier.
Story: 9/10
I'm not much of a horror fan, but I absolutely love mystery, so I generally loved the series because of it's unique way of storytelling in question arcs and answer arcs. It's very smooth in the way it can change the point of views in each arc. My main problem when it comes to a lot of the anime that I have watched, is that the overall big mystery surrounding things aren't answered. Thankfully, Higurashi isn't like that and most of the answers are answered. The first season seems to be more horror and supernatural. The second half of season 2 doesn't show much horror at all, and people who really liked this about the series might even be disappointed. It could get confusing because it may seem like the question arcs have nothing to do with each other, but they are significant and if you watch the series, you'll know what I mean.
Art: 8/10
The art is slightly different in season two, but I preferred the art in the first season. The second season seems to look a little more "clannad-type" with the wider faces. But I think there was a change to the art because the anime in the second season took a more "positive energy" change compared to how dark the first season was. When I first saw the series, I was like, "What the hell, the art looks cute but the plot seems so dark." After you see the angry expressions of a cute character like Ryuuga Rena, I realized how wrong I was. The way the expressions are illustrated is amazing, it actually gave me the creeps when I saw it. When you see a character snap like that, especially a cute character, it has more affect on the viewer.
Sound: 7/10
I'm not familiar with voice actors, but everyone seemed to do fine to me. Because I don't know any Japanese at all, and every language has a different way of speaking, it's hard for me to differentiate what is good voice acting and what is not. The music seemed pretty good to me and I liked the opening song for both seasons. The ending song was also good. I didn't really like the first season's ending song though, but that's just me. The background music was good too, especially the parts where they showed the murders or the depressing parts of the anime. It had a good eerie affect to it.
Character: 10/10
There's a lot of character development throughout the series. Each character has a past and their own story, and act differently because of it. The story didn't just focus on one character, everyone got a chance to shine, and through this, the circumstances of the characters are shown. In the second season though, the characters change, and of course, the change is brought on by Keiichi. They become more positive and make better decisions because of their better understanding of things. They become more considerate of each other, and you can see teamwork growing throughout the series.
Enjoyment: 9/10
The serious parts were more entertaining to me then the parts where everyone are carrying out their club activities. Those were the parts where I was mostly was just sitting and thinking "Hurry up, let's get to the main part" But I also loved the mystery part to the story. To me, and I'm sure many of you (unless you're one of those that read the last page of a book first) suspense is what makes a mystery so enjoyable. Sadly, if you watch the preview at the end of each episode in the second season, there's a certain episode that pretty much gives away who the culprit is. That completely ruined the story for me, so I'm strongly stressing this part for those of you who like the suspense. DON'T WATCH THE PREVIEWS OF THE ANIME. Maybe I was being stupid but I haven't heard of an anime where they reveal the culprit like that and I watched it unknowingly.
Overall: 9/10
This is definitely should be a must watch anime. I'm not a fan of anime that are long (this might not seem so long to some of you, but to me it was since there are two seasons) but I gave this a go and I'm glad I did. It's certainly really enjoyable and will have you at the edge of your seat wanting for more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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