Crazy48s's Blog

Anime Relations: Akatsuki no Yona

After a coup d'etat of her father's reign, Princess Yona finds her comfortable sheltered world crumble before her eyes as she must flee for her life with her trusted vassal and friend, General Hak. She promises to reclaim her kingdom with the aid of four 'dragons', fulfilling a long awaited prophecy.

From the synopsis, this show sounds like a promising fantasy epic, a genre that I thoroughly enjoy. After watching this series I can safely say that it delivers but it isn't as great as other titles in its genre. Don't get me wrong, the series is good however this show has a couple issues on closer inspection and seems to only focus on the beginning of Yona's grand adventure (hopes for season 2).

The story itself is done quite well, establishing our characters and the setting. We get the necessary information needed for the story to progress. Sometimes the pacing slows down, dragging out certain story arcs. This does make room for character development but the writers also thought it necessary to give us some light-hearted humor to offset the seriousness of murder, betrayal and human exploitation. For me personally, the humor feels awkwardly placed, for example, the King has been assassinated and then a few moments later we get some out of place comedy. I found these tonal shifts odd to say the least but at least the humor was good.

A fantasy epic always includes a wide variety of characters e.g diverse protagonists and side characters, and Yona of the Dawn upholds this tradition. Our main protagonist, Yona, is at first, a spoiled naive princess. However, by the end, her character has grown and she has a goal she is working towards. She is a protagonist whose story I am eager to follow and her character is still growing. Hak is a one-man army. Known as the 'Thunder Beast', he is an amazing warrior and loyal companion to Yona. It is a pity that Yona doesn't realise how much he loves her. Our villain, Soo-Won, is an enigma which peaks my interest. A villain whose true agenda remains hidden and is incredibly intelligent but does not flaunt it. Then we have my favourite character from the series, Yun. Without Yun, Yona's rag-tag team would have never made it to the next town let alone find the dragons. He is an incredibly smart resourceful kid. Yun is a seriously underrated character and deserves recognition. Lastly, three of the four dragons get introductions and character backgrounds to them however one just drops in by the end of the anime which is rather sloppy by the writers. There are plenty of other side characters I would like to know more about however time constraints limited their screen time and remember, the focus of the show is on Yona and Co after all.

The animation is impressive and the soundtrack is very good, except for the second opening song which is very out of place.

Overall, this is exactly the type of anime that I enjoy to watch. It reminded me a lot of Saiunkoku Monogatari and Fushigi Yuugi, anime titles that I like. The story was engaging, the characters were intriguing, the animation was good along with the soundtrack and by the end I was wanting more. However, as the anime is based on an ongoing manga, we get some pacing issues, a lack of character development and weak story progression near the end. It seems like it is going to be a long wait for the next season (if it ever gets green lit).

Anime Relations: Gankutsuou

“All human wisdom is contained in these two words - Wait and Hope”

It has been almost a year since my review of Romeo X Juliet (few days early). In said review I mentioned how I like adaptations that take a twist on old classics. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is literary gold and is considered to be one of the greatest revenge stories of all time. It is a story about justice, vengeance, power, greed, hope, forgiveness and much more. Dumas gives us an impressive array of characters who have many dimensions to them and you'll have your favourites and those whom you'll despise. I was pretty excited when I found out that there was an anime based on it and when I saw it, I liked it but it wasn't great.

Story (+Pacing): The story of Gankutsuou is loosely based on the book, which is both a strength and a weakness. This was a similar case for Romeo X Juliet however Gankutsuou is the better made anime. It decides to present the story with its own distinctive style, making it stand out as an inventive retelling. The pacing of the show and the setting of the tone is done very well, matching the story's content. However I found the ending to be disappointing as it is very different from the book and leaves a few unanswered questions.

Characters: The show presents a good set of developed and intriguing characters. I liked how both the adults and the young are portrayed BUT the original is much better. The change in the protagonist from Edmond Dantes to Albert de Moncref baffles me. Edmond was a great, smart lead who you rooted for in the book despite him having a growing hunger for revenge (being wrongfully imprisoned would do that to you). He was a flawed hero. Albert, though he does have a decent character arc, is a spoilt halfwit whiner. He is the same in the book but at least he has redeemable qualities, here not so much.
The Count in the anime is a little too obsessed with revenge but he still retains his a charismatic intellect like in the books. Even if he looks like a blue-ish Uruk-Hai Dracula.
I did like Eugenie's character in the anime. She is a trapped lonely young woman who tries to hide it all behind a cold rich girl facade. Yet I felt like her character was misused by her being a love interest for Albert. She wasn't in the book, in fact she runs away with her female piano teacher (now that would have been entertaining to watch unfold). I didn't mind the romance with Albert so much but it ruined Eugenie's strong character as she then becomes your generic damsel in distress.
I really liked Maximilian's character and his relationship with Valentine. This was the romance I was looking forward to seeing, however the anime doesn't give enough time or focus on it, which is a real shame. I also liked Haydée's character but she is kinda neglected as well, along with her relationship with the Count, that is thrown completely out the window.
Lastly and most importantly, WHERE THE HECK IS ABBE FARIA?! This man played a major part in the novel and was ultimately the reason why we got the Count of Monte Cristo in the first place. For him to be replaced by some weird space demon is insulting, creative but insulting.

Animation and Sound: The anime presents the story with its own distinctive style which is mirrored through its animation. It is an oddball mixture of CG and 2-D cell animation that is unique yet perplexing to look at. A strain on my eyes for sure. The soundtrack is enjoyable and once again has a strange quality to it that matches the entire series.

From the looks of my review, it seems mostly negative but I would like to reaffirm that I did enjoy watching this series. It is weird, I like and dislike this show yet the overall score is above average. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to try and adapt a great novel. You will get things right, things wrong and you are bound to piss someone off. This anime made a solid effort to do right by the book. It retains the prominent themes from the novel and presented us with its own creative re-imagining of the story. This definitely makes it stand out from the plethora of adaptations. However the changes in the characters is where the anime lost points for me. Time constraints of a TV show probably resulted in the producers to throw away characters arcs, change their roles and limit how much we saw of them. So maybe if the anime was longer and the writers left the characters as they were, I could have possibly loved this series. Then again, I don't think I could have handled seeing too much of that animation.

Anime Relations: Chobits

NOTE: I have NOT read the manga, nor do I plan to (thanks in part to this anime). If the manga is better, good for you but I am reviewing the Chobits ANIME here.
Also, I decided to breakdown this review into segments as it is quite lengthy (I had a lot to say about it). Okay? Cool, onward...

I was meant to watch this on Valentine's Day but I was too busying eating chocolate so forgive me for this late review. But maybe it was a good thing I didn't as it seems that Chobits didn't really rock my boat as a romance anime.
The only thing I knew about this series before watching it was that Clamp wrote the manga and the story is an ecchi romance about a male human falling in love with a female robot. With a concept like this, a great many unique ideas and questions can arise such as: Falling in love with a Persocom, is it right or wrong? Would society accept such a relationship? Do the Persocoms truly learn to love or is it just a part of their programming? When the years go by and the Persocom remains forever young and the human ages, will their love remain strong or would it curdle into bitterness? So much potential that I personally feel the Chobits anime wasted. This series does make attempts to dive into such themes but that is it, it only attempts at this, barely scratching the surface. It doesn't fully explore these questions or devote enough time on these intriguing subject areas. Instead, most of the shows run time is filler and lots of it. Sigh. Let us examine this show, starting with the story.

Story: The show starts off with Hideki Motosuwa, a farm boy from Hokkaido, coming to the city for cram school to get into university. I swear, if the anime stated Tokyo U, my laptop would have been flung against the wall in anger from repressed memories about Love Hina (one of the worst romances I have seen in my life). As he comes into the city, he realises that everyone has a Persocom at their disposal and they are an accepted part of society here. Seeing this, Hideki is eager to have his own but they are too expensive. Luckily for him, a very rare and unique Persocom is just lying around on a pile of garbage wrapped up only in some bandages, trying her best to imitate Leeloo from The Fifth Element. Whoa, that is some lazy writing right there. Later on in the anime you could make a far-fetched assumption as to who put her there but it is only your assumption, you never get a clear answer. Moving on, Hideki takes her home and turns on her power button by spreading her legs and *beep* *beep*. Yeah, this show should not be seen by young kids and made me very uncomfortable at times. How old is Chii meant to be again?
Well anyway, the subsequent episodes mainly follow Hideki and his attempts to teach Chii (the Persocom found in the trash) about the real world...which consists of how to talk, buy underwear, take a bath, bake cakes etc. Most of the show is just filler with plenty of repetitious ecchi humour. Hideki doesn't seem to have any drive as to figure out who Chii is and how she came to be in the trash. This is one of the problems with the main story about Chii's origins, you don't get much of it and when you do, it is kinda meh. There is a clever reoccurring theme throughout the show about a series a picture books that Chii likes to read that has possible hints as to who she really is. I found this method of revealing the plot really interesting and good...until I found out who wrote them and why. However most of the main plot is revealed only near the end of the anime which leads me to the pacing of the series which is mind boggling.

Pacing: During the first 18 episodes or so, most of them feel like filler which slows down the show immensely. You get snippets of the main story progressing but no natural flow or consistency. Only in the last few episodes do things start to move and I mean moving faster than Speedy Gonzales chasing after some cheese. We get introduced to some new characters late in the game and are given some melodramatic revelations that just leave me wondering: Have I just wasted an entire day on this? Another pacing issue is the fact we get side stories, such as Shimizu's and Ueda's, about their personal experiences with Persocoms, which are genuinely interesting and the type of exploration I was looking for. But these are only just shoehorned in and resolved rather quickly. Why couldn't they just have gradually shown this throughout the shows run-time, building up the intrigue and emotional depth of their stories? Heck, why couldn't this be the focal point of the show? Nope, seeing whether or not Chii can buy underwear is topmost priority it seems.

Characters: The show has a fish out of water main protagonist, Hideki. Fish out of water characters are usually a solid choice for when stories are set in a world not like our own. It mirrors the viewer's perception of what they are seeing for the first time on screen and we can relate to such protagonists. In the case of Hideki, we can't as he only really has one thing on his mind, Gentlemen's Literature or Movies. He doesn't really change or grow as a character from his experience in a world where Persocoms are as popular as Samsung Galaxy S7. He does display brief moments where he questions the role Persocoms play in society but then he regresses back to being a lame pervert with a strong libido. Not necessarily the kind of protagonist you root for. Chii, is a robot doll, so you get what you expect. A bland robot doll with no emotion trying to show an emotion due to her gaining the ability to express emotions. Yeeeeeah... Chii is a sweet robot girl but her naivety is trying and the repetitious lewd humour does not help her character develop. Our leads leave much to be desired but we get some interesting side characters at least. Shinbo, Hideki's neighbour and pal, is supposed to be the token male best friend who acts like a foil for Hideki but it seems to be the exact opposite. He is more suited to be the lead, along with his annoying but fun Persocom, Sumomo. Then we have Minoru I.am.a.twelve.year.old.boy.genius, who is exactly that. He is a character that poses philosophical questions throughout the series and tries his best to drag the anime back to main plot: Who is Chii? What Persocom are and their roles in society. However his efforts often end up in vain, which is a shame. Lastly we have Ueda and Shimizu, whose life stories revolve around their distinctive experiences with Persocoms, making them valuable characters. They get decent development but the pacing of it is all over the place just like how their stories are handled.

Animation: The animation isn't too bad. The character design for Chii is rather unique and I like it...except for those dead eyes. Actually, dead eyes are a common thing in this anime. Now it is understandable for a Persocom to have dead eyes, they are robots not living things. But why do the humans have them too? Found it rather disconcerting when watching a supposedly emotional scene but the characters have dead pan eyes. Well, Hideki's eyes are an exception, he looks like he is high on something.

Soundtrack: Nothing to rave about. The intro is catchy but I didn't like it. The outro, Ningyo Hime, is very interesting however.

Overall, this was an extremely disappointing series that had what it takes to be a fun yet thought provoking anime. It had engaging storylines but they were poorly executed and our main duo were just unlikable (Hideki) and bland (Chii). Maybe I was just asking too much from this anime as it is not the worst thing ever...but my comment about episode 10 says it all.
"Man, this show is like 20% actual story development and 80% yummies, watching Hideki fail and Chi learning new stuff. I wish it was a bit more balanced out."

Edit: Go watch Eve no Jikan instead or even Ghost in the Shell instead.

Anime Relations: Allison to Lillia

I have been meaning to write a review for this series for sometime and I have used my holiday break just for that. This anime probably has the most flimsiest plot-lines I have come across in a while yet for some bizarre reason, I found myself watching this to the very end. Why anime...why did I finish you when I could have just dropped you? Let us examine the autopsy of this show starting with the story.

We follow the journey of childhood friends Allison and Wil, resolving wars with cave paintings, reinstating royalty by the power of utter bull poop, somehow getting away with property damage & murder and falling in love with each other despite the fact Wil is as bland and dense as an Irish potato. However this is only for the first 13 episodes as the rest of the series then suddenly shifts focus on their daughter, Lillia. We follow her adventures with her childhood friend, Treize. We see both of them on various escapades including almost killing a bunch of orphans, getting away with property damage, recklessly flying planes & mine carts, surviving dynamite explosions without a scratch and falling in love with each other despite the fact Lillia seems to have only inherited the worst traits of her parents by being an over-confident dense idiot. Wow, these two stories seem similar. Hey, you know it feels like the writers may have just reused the same story twice (do I even need to emphasise my sarcasm).

Now let us look at the pacing of the anime. My what a mess this is as it only seems to be on one setting, fast, with problems being resolved as quickly as they arise within 3 to 4 episodes. Also, what is the deal with the finale always taking place on a train...ah I see, the writers must have seen Baccano before writing this crap. Well that anime is great so I don't mind if you use it for inspiration. Anyway, most of the content of the anime seems to heavily rely on cliches, deus ex machinas, cliffhangers, convenient plot holes and family melodrama you would find in a soap opera written by William J. Bell. Furthermore, half-way through the series we get a massive 15/16 year time skip...anime...why...why are you doing this to me.

Moving on to the characters who are all flawed and, at one point in their lives, take the most illogical choice of action making me think twice as to why anyone is doing anything. My favourite example, skiing head first into a group of terrorists with machine guns shooting at you as a diversion...whaaaaaat. Furthermore, all the antagonist throughout the series are pathetic along with most of their motivations. One of the worst has to be Claire who actually gets comforted in the end by Lillia's corny speech about how they both loved their fathers or something. Hold my hat while I laugh out loud at this inedible cheese.

The animation isn't too bad, with some fight sequences being hit or miss (mostly miss) and I am actually amazed by the decent soundtrack. Seems like someone cared about the project they were working on.

For me, this anime felt like a badly written fan-fiction story that somehow got green-lit. Yet, despite its awfulness, it manages to have an engaging atmosphere, some genuinely funny scenes, interesting themes and a handful of likeable characters. Each mini-arc has a set-up which reels me in, even though I know it will end with my palm in my face. We have some nice characters in this series like Allison, who gets better with age, along with Benedict and Fiona whose lovey dovey-ness is so strong that my eyes hurt just thinking about them. The whole anime is so laughably bad that this was the reason I could finish it to the very end. Will I be watching this again...I don't know, maybe. Do I recommend it, yeah, why not. I wanna know if anyone else finds it laughably bad or genuinely good and if it is the latter, please write a review about it. There are always two sides of the spectrum. Well I am off to enjoy the rest of my Christmas holiday. Happy Holidays to you, wherever you may be.

Anime Relations: Tenkuu no Escaflowne, Escaflowne

I had seen this anime before, way back when on AnimeCentral, and this looked damn cool. Dragons, mecha suit battles, time-travelling to new worlds... Watching this again, as an adult, I can see a lot more of the flaws BUT I still enjoyed watching it, just maybe a little less than before. It's nostalgic for me and is seen by many as a classic fantasy anime, to which I agree.

So firstly, lets cover the flaws of this show. The main characters, for me, are unlikable with the exception of Van who gradually warms up to me through the show's runtime. Hitomi is a wilting whining flower throughout and Allen is just...meh. The whole love triangle felt forced and I didn't really care for it (and here I thought the mushy lovey stuff in Fushigi Yuugi was bad). Some of the plot-lines implemented in this show are rather questionable and made me check to make sure that I wasn't watching a (over)melodramtic telenovela or something. We had a crazy plot twist, a weak villain and some useless characters (looking at you dogman). The last third of the anime is rather disappointing as I didn't like the direction that it was heading. The climax was very anti-climatic and rushed. [Note: This series was meant to be 39 eps but budget cuts etc resulted in it being crammed into 26...making an obvious impact. Pity.]

Despite my complaints, which mainly stemmed from the fact the series was cut short = horrible knock on effects, this is still a decent fantasy series. The set up of Gaea drew me in as a teen, like a fantasy should and this still holds true years later. The story during the first half is engaging, along with most of action sequences between guymelefs. The themes of fate, militarism, political corruption and the morality of war are all interesting concepts presented in the show. This series had much potential but unfortunately it is never fully developed. The animation, for 1996, is really impressive and the soundtrack is amazing (thank you Yoko Kanno). Characters are a mixed bag along with their development, you like some and dislike others. Folken, Van, Millerna and Dryden are characters to look out for and I enjoyed watching their journey. They are people who grow and learn from their experiences and change for the better.

Overall, I give this show a 6/10 and that is me being a bit harsh BUT this is something I would recommend, especially to lovers of fantasy. I personally found the movie to have done a better job, as the story had more focus to it. Maybe this was due to the fact this was a movie and the time constraints limited the writers from adding useless melodrama (which still makes its way into the movie so...hmmm). Don't get me wrong, the movie isn't perfect. Also I prefer Emo Hitomi (movie) than Annoying Hitomi (TV). Anyway...look this review is long enough so it's time to wrap up, if you enjoy fantasy anime like Fushigi Yuugi, InuYasha or The 12 Kingdoms then give this a watch. If you are new to the genre then I still recommend it but tread with caution.

Anime Relations: Fruits Basket

What started off on a good note, this anime seemed determined to crap all over it. The first episode reels you in and we get a rather interesting story. You don't see people turning into animals from the Chinese Zodiac everyday. But then the story seems to just stagnate to make way for high school high-jinks and revealing how messed up the Souma family is with their 'tragic' backstories being revealed to us each episode. Just how messed up is the Souma family? A lot apparently as this anime continuously points out. By episode 8, things are starting to get a little too repetitious and melodramatic for my liking.
There are some elements that I felt were done well, like the episode that shows the extent of Tooru's friendship with Saki and Arisa. I did like Saki, Arisa and Kyo (before the whole melodrama of episode 24 ruined his character) however most of the other characters were either too annoying, one dimensional or dull but in the case of Tooru, she was just way too pleasant...she is human right?
I did like the humour at first but like I said before, things starting to get repetitious and unfortunately the humour was one of them. It got on my nerves how much filler like episodes were in this show and I mean the unproductive kind of filler. For example the episode revolving around a member of the Yuki fan club. Who gives a rat's ass about her...Yuki sure didn't and neither did I. The filler continues until the last 3 remaining episodes where we get a huge ex-positional mess dumped upon us. This just reveals how awful the pacing and tone is in this anime and how we only get the bare bones of the story which got me to watch it in the first place. Another problem is that the anime just suddenly ends on a anti-climatic note leaving plenty of unanswered questions in its wake.
This was just an overall disappointment. I heard such good things about Fruits Basket but this anime is far from good.