February 23rd, 2015
The Friendly Winter Reaction
Anime Relations: Clannad: After Story, Usagi Drop
As a fan of heartwarming drama stories, I went into The Friendly Winter with high expectations. Turns out that not only were those expectations of mine met, they were exceeded by a fairly wide margin. It's a darn shame that this series isn't more popular, because it really deserves to be experienced by more people, given how genuine and profound it is in portraying a wide range of human emotion in its characters. When it comes to drama, one needs to be attached to the characters to feel any kind of sympathy for what happens to them. What makes characters likable, then? Well, there are several factors, but perhaps the most common reason to like a character for many of us, would be our attraction towards the character's personality. A distinctive, strong personality can make a character memorable, and in turn, it makes them affable. Not only does TFW deliver satisfying characters, that are both endearing and memorable, it also manages to create some incredibly well-thought-out drama involving those characters in a seamless manner. Let me explain why I consider TFW a huge hit.
The story revolves around a 19-year-old girl named Da-Jeong, who is physically stuck in a child's body, and a 17-year-old boy named Min-Seong, who is mentally handicapped with a child's intellect. So, we have two characters who are disabled for the rest of their lives, desperately trying to live their lives earnestly. Problem is, the society doesn't see them as "normal" people, and oftentimes they are looked down at for being different. At the beginning, Da-Jeong constantly feels anxious about revealing her real age, since it would get her many strange looks from outsiders, so she pretends to be a 9-year-old girl to protect herself from getting hurt; Min-Seong is extremely clingy around his mother, because he's not able to do things well by himself and he fears that he will be abandoned [again] if he continues to make trouble for her. The same could be said for Da-Jeong, as she was also once an abandoned child; her mother left her when she was a child, in order to live with another family. She lives with her father, who's a kindred spirit, but is hopeless at making money. And since she's stuck in a 9-year-old's body, Da-Jeong can't even go out to get a job to help her dad out, let alone make friends with anyone. Her life was pretty much miserable, until she met Min-Seong for the first time.
Their first encounter took place in a shopping mall. Min-Seong was crying from not being able to find his mother, and it was Da-Jeong who helped him locate his mother. From that moment on, the two of them would often hang out together. They can understand each others' pain better than anyone else, and they would cheer up each other when something bad happens. Da-Jeong, being the older sister, often takes care of Min-Seong and protects him from the bullies who take advantage of his kindness. Whereas for Min-Seong, he acts as the pivotal mental support for Da-Jeong, as he promised to never abandon her and always stay by her side no matter what. The two leads compensate for each others' shortcomings as they stick together through difficult times. When Da-Jeong is feeling dejected from spending her Christmas all alone (because her dad's busy with work), Min-Seong comes to visit her despite having to take the train to get to her place, and being the poor sap he is, it took him half a day to finally get on the right train and land on the right stop. Or how about the time when Min-Seong is accused of having attempted rape on a young girl, where a group of people are talking about how dangerous it is to let a mentally-handicapped person like that on the loose, to which Da-Jeong angrily rebukes the gossipers that such a thing can never happen and does her best to defend her friend from the false accusations. It's scenes like these, where the two characters genuinely wish the best for each other, that hit me the most, emotionally.
But wait, if you think Min-Seong and Da-Jeong are the only characters worth caring about in this story, then you're sadly mistaken, my friends. The side characters are all worth mentioning, as they contribute significantly to the story's success in conveying what I believe to be the main theme of TFW: Compassion. Remember Da-Jeong's mother? Well, it turns out that she isn't a coldhearted person, but rather a very compassionate mother who still yearns to see her daughter, and has never once forgotten about her over the years that they were separated. Da-Jeong, of course, hates her mom for leaving her when she was young, and vows to never meet her again in her life. But, thanks to the support of her family and friends, she eventually reconciles with her mother after learning of her true feelings for her. And then we have characters like Shiwoo and Min-Seo, who act as Da-Jeong's other mental supports. Shiwoo, serving as an older brother figure to Da-Jeong, constantly comes to her rescue whenever she's in trouble. Despite the fact that Da-Jeong has been keeping her real age a secret in order to get closer to him (she secretly has a crush on the guy), when she eventually spills the beans by telling him the truth, he benevolently accepts her for who she is, without a trace of contempt for her deceit. Min-Seo, being the new daughter of Da-Jeong's mother, learns of Da-Jeong's secret at an earlier point. Ever since she knew about the secret, Min-Seo has treated Da-Jeong with unconditional kindness, as if she were her real sister. It's through these kind, selfless characters that Da-Jeong eventually finds the courage to trust in others again.
Furthermore, TFW knows how to construct believable scenarios that make us feel for its characters. To us normal folks, venturing out into society is hardly a challenge, since we don't have distinguishable traits that make us stick out like sore thumbs. When it comes to the physically/mentally disabled people, though, even simple errands like buying certain stuff or going to certain places can prove to be a challenge. Take Da-Jeong, for example. She wants to procure makeup like any girls of her age would, but when she asks the clerk to give her the item, her request is brushed off as a joke, and she's told that children do not need makeup. I'm sure many of you can see how such a scenario can be hurtful to a person who's trying to live life normally. And Min-Seong has it even worse, for his innocent, childlike mind cannot discern when he's being taken advantage of by others, and oftentimes he would find himself in situations where he's completely misunderstood and scorned for doing a good deed. One time, he finds a girl whom he mistakenly believes to be lost, and so he tries to take her by the hand to find her mother. But when they finally meet the girl's parent, she immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion that he was a pervert and was trying to do bad things to her. To a normal person, he may have easily been able to clear away the misunderstanding with a proper explanation. Not Min-Seong. He's not quick enough on his wit to openly deny that accusation, and he gets branded as a molester by those near him. Having promised earlier to Da-Jeong that he will no longer cry, Min-Seong struggles to hold back his tears at such an unfair treatment. And I, too, couldn't help but stifle a tear or two. It goes to show that subtle drama can be just as effective as conveying emotion as utterly tragic drama, when done right.
To conclude my thoughts on TFW, I have enjoyed everything that this little story has to offer. Not only does it get the audience invested in its characters before putting them into difficult situations, situations that anyone with a human heart should feel sympathy or empathy for the characters, it also presents fundamental human themes such as parenthood, friendship, companionship, forgiveness, and most of all, compassion. This work would not have been so enjoyable for me had it been all about making its characters suffer. Underneath all the unfairness of the world, lies an optimistic worldview, bringing us the message that, no matter how difficult life is for an individual, that person should know that he's not alone in this world, because there's bound to be someone out there who cares for him. Sure, the world isn't always fair and there will be times when we'll get hurt, but as long as we cherish the people dear to us, we'll find our own happiness in the end. I implore everybody to give this short webtoon a try, especially if you want to experience a heartwarming story that also teaches valuable life lessons.
My Scores:
Story: 8/10
Character: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Significance: 8/10
Overall: 8.2/10
The story revolves around a 19-year-old girl named Da-Jeong, who is physically stuck in a child's body, and a 17-year-old boy named Min-Seong, who is mentally handicapped with a child's intellect. So, we have two characters who are disabled for the rest of their lives, desperately trying to live their lives earnestly. Problem is, the society doesn't see them as "normal" people, and oftentimes they are looked down at for being different. At the beginning, Da-Jeong constantly feels anxious about revealing her real age, since it would get her many strange looks from outsiders, so she pretends to be a 9-year-old girl to protect herself from getting hurt; Min-Seong is extremely clingy around his mother, because he's not able to do things well by himself and he fears that he will be abandoned [again] if he continues to make trouble for her. The same could be said for Da-Jeong, as she was also once an abandoned child; her mother left her when she was a child, in order to live with another family. She lives with her father, who's a kindred spirit, but is hopeless at making money. And since she's stuck in a 9-year-old's body, Da-Jeong can't even go out to get a job to help her dad out, let alone make friends with anyone. Her life was pretty much miserable, until she met Min-Seong for the first time.
Their first encounter took place in a shopping mall. Min-Seong was crying from not being able to find his mother, and it was Da-Jeong who helped him locate his mother. From that moment on, the two of them would often hang out together. They can understand each others' pain better than anyone else, and they would cheer up each other when something bad happens. Da-Jeong, being the older sister, often takes care of Min-Seong and protects him from the bullies who take advantage of his kindness. Whereas for Min-Seong, he acts as the pivotal mental support for Da-Jeong, as he promised to never abandon her and always stay by her side no matter what. The two leads compensate for each others' shortcomings as they stick together through difficult times. When Da-Jeong is feeling dejected from spending her Christmas all alone (because her dad's busy with work), Min-Seong comes to visit her despite having to take the train to get to her place, and being the poor sap he is, it took him half a day to finally get on the right train and land on the right stop. Or how about the time when Min-Seong is accused of having attempted rape on a young girl, where a group of people are talking about how dangerous it is to let a mentally-handicapped person like that on the loose, to which Da-Jeong angrily rebukes the gossipers that such a thing can never happen and does her best to defend her friend from the false accusations. It's scenes like these, where the two characters genuinely wish the best for each other, that hit me the most, emotionally.
But wait, if you think Min-Seong and Da-Jeong are the only characters worth caring about in this story, then you're sadly mistaken, my friends. The side characters are all worth mentioning, as they contribute significantly to the story's success in conveying what I believe to be the main theme of TFW: Compassion. Remember Da-Jeong's mother? Well, it turns out that she isn't a coldhearted person, but rather a very compassionate mother who still yearns to see her daughter, and has never once forgotten about her over the years that they were separated. Da-Jeong, of course, hates her mom for leaving her when she was young, and vows to never meet her again in her life. But, thanks to the support of her family and friends, she eventually reconciles with her mother after learning of her true feelings for her. And then we have characters like Shiwoo and Min-Seo, who act as Da-Jeong's other mental supports. Shiwoo, serving as an older brother figure to Da-Jeong, constantly comes to her rescue whenever she's in trouble. Despite the fact that Da-Jeong has been keeping her real age a secret in order to get closer to him (she secretly has a crush on the guy), when she eventually spills the beans by telling him the truth, he benevolently accepts her for who she is, without a trace of contempt for her deceit. Min-Seo, being the new daughter of Da-Jeong's mother, learns of Da-Jeong's secret at an earlier point. Ever since she knew about the secret, Min-Seo has treated Da-Jeong with unconditional kindness, as if she were her real sister. It's through these kind, selfless characters that Da-Jeong eventually finds the courage to trust in others again.
Furthermore, TFW knows how to construct believable scenarios that make us feel for its characters. To us normal folks, venturing out into society is hardly a challenge, since we don't have distinguishable traits that make us stick out like sore thumbs. When it comes to the physically/mentally disabled people, though, even simple errands like buying certain stuff or going to certain places can prove to be a challenge. Take Da-Jeong, for example. She wants to procure makeup like any girls of her age would, but when she asks the clerk to give her the item, her request is brushed off as a joke, and she's told that children do not need makeup. I'm sure many of you can see how such a scenario can be hurtful to a person who's trying to live life normally. And Min-Seong has it even worse, for his innocent, childlike mind cannot discern when he's being taken advantage of by others, and oftentimes he would find himself in situations where he's completely misunderstood and scorned for doing a good deed. One time, he finds a girl whom he mistakenly believes to be lost, and so he tries to take her by the hand to find her mother. But when they finally meet the girl's parent, she immediately jumps to the wrong conclusion that he was a pervert and was trying to do bad things to her. To a normal person, he may have easily been able to clear away the misunderstanding with a proper explanation. Not Min-Seong. He's not quick enough on his wit to openly deny that accusation, and he gets branded as a molester by those near him. Having promised earlier to Da-Jeong that he will no longer cry, Min-Seong struggles to hold back his tears at such an unfair treatment. And I, too, couldn't help but stifle a tear or two. It goes to show that subtle drama can be just as effective as conveying emotion as utterly tragic drama, when done right.
To conclude my thoughts on TFW, I have enjoyed everything that this little story has to offer. Not only does it get the audience invested in its characters before putting them into difficult situations, situations that anyone with a human heart should feel sympathy or empathy for the characters, it also presents fundamental human themes such as parenthood, friendship, companionship, forgiveness, and most of all, compassion. This work would not have been so enjoyable for me had it been all about making its characters suffer. Underneath all the unfairness of the world, lies an optimistic worldview, bringing us the message that, no matter how difficult life is for an individual, that person should know that he's not alone in this world, because there's bound to be someone out there who cares for him. Sure, the world isn't always fair and there will be times when we'll get hurt, but as long as we cherish the people dear to us, we'll find our own happiness in the end. I implore everybody to give this short webtoon a try, especially if you want to experience a heartwarming story that also teaches valuable life lessons.
My Scores:
Story: 8/10
Character: 8/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Significance: 8/10
Overall: 8.2/10
Posted by Dashiawia | Feb 23, 2015 9:21 AM | 0 comments
February 11th, 2015
Oyasumi Punpun Reaction
Anime Relations: NHK ni Youkoso!
Okay, where should I begin? Oh, right, the plot. This manga starts off very slow, yet I was intrigued by the subtle narration and tranquil mood, until Yuichi's flashback happened. From there on, the story takes a turn for the depressing, as our protagonist, Punpun, encounters various mishaps in his life. From the moment that he had failed to keep his first promise with Aiko, Punpun struggled to move on properly with his life. He repeatedly loathed himself for breaking his promise with her and felt a persistent sense of guilt that just won't leave him alone. Nihilism progressively catches up to him, as he experiences one failure after another. And eventually, he's come to the point where he genuinely thinks that dying would be the best course of action for him. To me, the plot's realistic writing is nothing short of fantastic, and it delivers a powerful impact on the audience. The message I got out of the story, is a pessimistic view on life -- in that a person's life is insignificant to the world. The world will continue to spin, regardless of one's existence. How one chooses to live is his own decision, and no one else should make that decision for him. Thematically, it's quite a depressing train of thought, but it's also realistic and meaningful. It tells us that we should all be responsible for our own lives, by making the right decisions at the right times, and avoid falling into a hellhole like Punpun did.
As amazing as the story is, the characters are even more brilliant. Every character is multi-dimensional and well-characterized. Punpun, while not exactly a likable character, undergoes one of the greatest transitions I've ever seen from a protagonist in any medium. Through certain events, we see how Punpun's character undergo several changes; this is represented, I presume, by the different ways his character is drawn. Punpun's encounter with Aiko and Sachi, has had different effects on him. Upon meeting Sachi, Punpun learns what it's like to have a goal in life, and the earnest feeling of striving for something he wants. In that sense, Sachi could be seen as Punpun's savior, for she's the one who gave him hope and guided him away from despair. Aiko's presence, on the other hand, has had the opposite effect on him. Now, Aiko herself, is far from a malicious person, and I do believe that she truly loved Punpun. But, to Punpun, she's someone that he feels obligated to protect, even at the cost of his own future. He's literally willing to murder someone in order to protect her. During the time that he was together with Aiko, during their runaway after the murder of Aiko's mother, one can see that Punpun's conscience has deteriorated. He is no longer the same weak-willed, shy teenager that he once was, but instead, he has transformed into a monster, with the sole purpose of staying with Aiko and keeping her safe. When she has committed suicide, Punpun has once again lost his raison d'etre, and sought to kill himself, until Sachi came to stop him. All in all, the characters are extremely well-developed and their psychological states are very much believable, as well. And what I like about Asano Inio's style in particular, is that he adopts a "show, don't tell" way of depicting his characters during various situations. The subtlety adds much beauty to this mature work, something that many other series unfortunately lack.
The art style is another positive aspect. Characters are uniquely drawn, some with rather grotesque expressions, while others take on a more cutesy-looking appearance. The background art is also extremely detailed and pleasant on the eyes.
Last but not least, I have truly "enjoyed" this manga. Now, you might wonder why I have quotation marks around the word. That's because the kind of enjoyment I got out of this piece, isn't quite the same as any other works I've experienced in the past. It's not the kind of enjoyment one would experience from a thriller, or even a tearjerker. The feeling I got out of Oyasumi Punpun was a lot more subtle, yet just as powerful as something that is blatantly emotional. It was a feeling of despair and nihilism, for the lack of better words. While I don't consider this manga a top 3 favorite of mine, or at least, not in a traditional sense, I will likely forever deem it as one of the greatest fictional works I've ever experienced.
"But eventually, when it's my time to leave, I'd like to vanish like an insignificant bubble, and fade away from everyone's memories as well." -- Onodera Punpun
^ The above quote couldn't be any more depressing.
Now, for my own scoring:
Story: 9/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Significance: 9/10
Overall: 9.1/10
As amazing as the story is, the characters are even more brilliant. Every character is multi-dimensional and well-characterized. Punpun, while not exactly a likable character, undergoes one of the greatest transitions I've ever seen from a protagonist in any medium. Through certain events, we see how Punpun's character undergo several changes; this is represented, I presume, by the different ways his character is drawn. Punpun's encounter with Aiko and Sachi, has had different effects on him. Upon meeting Sachi, Punpun learns what it's like to have a goal in life, and the earnest feeling of striving for something he wants. In that sense, Sachi could be seen as Punpun's savior, for she's the one who gave him hope and guided him away from despair. Aiko's presence, on the other hand, has had the opposite effect on him. Now, Aiko herself, is far from a malicious person, and I do believe that she truly loved Punpun. But, to Punpun, she's someone that he feels obligated to protect, even at the cost of his own future. He's literally willing to murder someone in order to protect her. During the time that he was together with Aiko, during their runaway after the murder of Aiko's mother, one can see that Punpun's conscience has deteriorated. He is no longer the same weak-willed, shy teenager that he once was, but instead, he has transformed into a monster, with the sole purpose of staying with Aiko and keeping her safe. When she has committed suicide, Punpun has once again lost his raison d'etre, and sought to kill himself, until Sachi came to stop him. All in all, the characters are extremely well-developed and their psychological states are very much believable, as well. And what I like about Asano Inio's style in particular, is that he adopts a "show, don't tell" way of depicting his characters during various situations. The subtlety adds much beauty to this mature work, something that many other series unfortunately lack.
The art style is another positive aspect. Characters are uniquely drawn, some with rather grotesque expressions, while others take on a more cutesy-looking appearance. The background art is also extremely detailed and pleasant on the eyes.
Last but not least, I have truly "enjoyed" this manga. Now, you might wonder why I have quotation marks around the word. That's because the kind of enjoyment I got out of this piece, isn't quite the same as any other works I've experienced in the past. It's not the kind of enjoyment one would experience from a thriller, or even a tearjerker. The feeling I got out of Oyasumi Punpun was a lot more subtle, yet just as powerful as something that is blatantly emotional. It was a feeling of despair and nihilism, for the lack of better words. While I don't consider this manga a top 3 favorite of mine, or at least, not in a traditional sense, I will likely forever deem it as one of the greatest fictional works I've ever experienced.
"But eventually, when it's my time to leave, I'd like to vanish like an insignificant bubble, and fade away from everyone's memories as well." -- Onodera Punpun
^ The above quote couldn't be any more depressing.
Now, for my own scoring:
Story: 9/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Significance: 9/10
Overall: 9.1/10
Posted by Dashiawia | Feb 11, 2015 9:34 AM | 4 comments
January 6th, 2015
Rewrite Reaction
Anime Relations: Clannad, Clannad: After Story
Rewrite reaction [warning: this reaction contains several major spoilers, so it's best that you read it only after you have completed the game.]
Lucia:
First of all, I found the romance to be absolutely beautiful and touching. As someone who was never able to experience close relationships with anyone in her life, due to her abnormal physiological differences from a normal human, Lucia's love for Kotarou felt extremely convincing. He was (literally) the only man who could survive being anywhere near her, and he was the only person who has ever given her heart, warmth. It was honest of Kotarou to admit that he once only saw Lucia as someone he pitied, but after spending time with her on their date, he came to realize he truly loved her as a person. That confession scene was just beautiful, when complemented by the nightly city view background and that particular OST (Yuriha, if I remember correctly).
Lucia's belief about her existence being completely "unnecessary", is also understandable. After all, her body was tampered with by a group of mad scientists, for the entire purpose of surviving in a distant future thousands of years from the present time. She was made to carry out humanity's greatest mission: living on as the last human on earth, in a world of barrenness. The curse she has to carry with her, however, is a poison that is lethal to every living organism on the planet. She can't touch anything that is living, because her poison will kill it. For this reason, she can't pet a cat, hold flowers in her hands, or make friends with anyone in her class, even though she really wants to do these things! Out of all the tragic heroines I've seen, and believe me when I say I have seen a lot of them, Lucia easily takes the cake as the most tragic heroine I've seen yet. :(
When Lucia started doubting her reason for existence again, after she completed the mission of spreading her poison in the city for the purpose of eliminating the Key, it was hard watching her suffer alone. Thankfully, Kotarou eventually came to realize what it is that she was seeking from him. It was not hollow words that she will be saved eventually, when scientists come up with a new drug to suppress her poison. No, it was something much simpler than that. She only wanted Kotarou to tell her that he needs her in his life. That alone is enough to give her life meaning. At the very end, Kotarou and Lucia are required to live in isolation, switching from one shelter to the next, since there still isn't any drug that can suppress Lucia's poison and make her live the life of a normal girl. Yet, to both of them, having each other's company is more than enough to keep them going. It's a bittersweet ending, but given the circumstances, I'd say it was done masterfully. And that final scene, where Lucia was able to hold a sunflower again without making it wilt (because it's artificial), was definitely feel-inducing.
Overall, I absolutely loved this route, for being an absolute beauty from start to finish. It definitely ranks up there as one of the most satisfying romance stories ever told in any media, in my opinion. And this route totally made me appreciate Lucia's character in a way I never thought was possible, considering she was my least favorite girl in the common route. Now she's moved up all the way to my second favorite heroine, right behind Kotori. In addition, her route is my favorite one so far, and it would take something really special for any of the other heroine routes to take that spot away. Maybe Akane's will, hmm...
Akane:
Akane was one of my favorite heroines in the common route, as I really liked her cynical perspective on life. Upon entering her route, which I saved for last, I expected to be thoroughly impressed. So, did it meet my expectations? For the most part, I'd say yes, but there are a few things I didn't like about it. As an overall story, I'd say the writing was strong. The themes were mature as well, dealing with politics and philosophies. Do humans really deserve to live, when we are the ones who are jeopardizing the planet's well-being? Or should the planet's stability be prioritized over humanity? For Akane, who acts as the holy woman of the organization, Gaia, she decides on the latter approach -- choosing the planet over the people.
Now, I'm not one to criticize the rationality of her decision, since Gaia's teachings have been literally ingrained in her mind, but I was frankly disappointed with her decision. Killing people all over the world, passing judgment on them, who gave her the right to act as God? What she did is akin to what a cult leader would do. She hates the world and all the people living in it, so she decides that getting rid of them all is in the best interest of the planet. She fails to see that doing so would also mean that she'd be killing a massive number of innocent lives, who may even contribute to preserving the planet in the long run. She was overtaken by hatred and nihilism, and acted as a lifeless doll, carrying out what the former holy woman has planned out. Writing-wise, I think it makes for a very unique perspective, as we seldom ever see the heroine of any story intentionally resorting to genocide on a global scale, and believing it to be the correct thing to do. But subjectively, I really disliked the turn of events, and wanted Kotarou to beat some sense into her by the end of it.
A large portion of the story had Akane missing, and Kotarou trying to save the people from the destruction she's bringing about. Kotarou's development was superb here, I must say. His path to maturity was done extremely well, as he made up his mind to help Akane, despite knowing that he'll be hated by the world for it. And when he learned that Akane was no longer herself, he sought to correct her, and make her pay for her mistakes. The aftermath of Akane's genocide was devastating; countless lives were lost, disasters made the land uninhabitable for people to live in, and only a selected number of people in the world were safely evacuated in time. Akane, who had failed to carry out "salvation", no longer had any meaning to live. Yet, Kotarou still won't abandon her, or make her take the easy way out through death. He insists that she should continue to live, all the while shouldering her sins, and dedicate the rest of her life to help others. That's the only way she can repent for her crimes. And he's willing to spend the rest of his life by her side, protecting her. The ending was truly beautiful, for it doesn't try to sugarcoat things, but lays out reality the way it should be. Neither Kotarou nor Akane can ever live a normal life anymore, but they have accepted their punishment, and will struggle to keep on living, in a world where they only have each other to depend on.
Rewrite's ability to craft bittersweet endings is really praiseworthy. I have not cried a single time while reading the 5 heroine routes (though I came close a few times!), but almost every ending have made me feel both happiness and sadness at the same time. And although Rewrite incorporates more supernatural themes than every other Key work before it, the emotional impact still feels genuine and powerful, and strikes a cord with me. I liked all 5 heroine routes in Rewrite, some more than others, and really am looking forward to the true route, Moon + Terra, which I hope will wrap up the mysteries about the Key, and deliver a satisfying conclusion to all the build-up the series has accumulated up to this point.
Moon:
After completing all five heroine routes and getting accustomed to the world-building and mechanics, I was highly anticipating how the mystery surrounding Kagari will be presented in the true routes, Moon and Terra. Moon's purpose was to introduce the concept behind Kagari, while also showing the connection between her and Kotarou. In the heroine routes, we were shown that Kagari plays the role of the Key, who is a harbinger of destruction for humanity. Feared by the Superhumans in Guardian, and worshipped by the Summoners in Gaia, Kagari was hardly given any characterization outside of the role she was assigned. In Moon, we get to see her in closer inspection, including the reason why she doesn't talk much, why she has to destroy mankind, and the relationship between her and Kotarou. Moon was quite the mystic experience, as it doesn't have much dialogue to work with, but rather relies on the use of narratives (from Kotarou's perspective) to describe the lonely world Kagari resides in. As it turns out, Kagari lives on the Moon, a world where her only companion is Kotarou, and spends her entire time thinking about a solution to humanity's impending doom: the depletion of resources. Even as a lifeform whose intelligence is higher than any human's, Kagari struggles to come up with a solution to the core of the problem, because as long as humans require resources to survive, conflicts are inevitable. Kotarou, despite being unable to communicate with her, feels the obligation to protect and help Kagari in her research. Apparently, the Kotarou in this route has access to most of his memories from the different worlds wherein he became involved with the 5 heroines, and as such, he's privy to the knowledge that Kashima Sakura will come after Kagari, hoping to capture and use her to destroy mankind.
How does Kotarou counteract the mastermind with this knowledge in mind? Summoning his old friends to help him, of course! Keep in mind, the guy is pretty much an omnipotent being in Moon, thanks to the fact that he rewrote himself to the point where he knows almost everything there is to know. So after all the Occult Club members are reunited, they begin to fight against the swarm of familiars sent by Kashima. Eventually, his friends perished one by one during battle, and Kotarou himself was killed, too, after a long fight against the endless wave of familiars. But before he died, his memories of Kagari were sent from the Moon to the Earth, prompting his other human self to remember the girl he fell in love with. I found the story to be quite romantic, despite still believing Kagari to be less likable than the other heroines. All in all, Moon was a very nice setup for the serious stuff that happens in Terra.
Terra:
This right here, is the pinnacle of storytelling in Rewrite. Whether someone loves this route or not, ultimately boils down to his appreciation for Kotarou. For me, this route was great for its excellent characterization of Kotarou, fully capturing his emotions during the ordeals he had to go through to accomplish his goals. Kotarou, who was once a goofy, happy-go-lucky teenager in the common route, progressively becomes more mature in the heroine routes as he goes through difficult times with the girls he had chosen, at times even forced to commit terrible deeds in order to survive (e.g. Akane's route). In Terra, we see the serious side to Kotarou in even more detail, since with the world now at stake, our protagonist has no choice but to take things seriously, by actively trying to stop the world from ending. As we have seen previously from Shizuru's and Akane's routes, the Key has the power to destroy the world in what Gaians like to call, "salvation". "Salvation" happens when the Key decides that humanity has no future left, as they have done far too much damage to the planet, so the only course of action left available is to wipe out the entire Homo sapien species. Now, it's up to Kotarou to find a way to convince the Key, Kagari, that humanity still has the potential for re-evolution, and that "salvation" isn't needed.
The route starts off showing what Kotarou's life was like as a teenager. Surprisingly, he's actually quite a few years older than the 5 heroines! This was revealed when both Kotori and Akane are shown to be young children, while Kotarou's already in his teens. I found this reveal to be pretty cool, as there were a few hints early in the game that suggested Kotarou may be in fact older than what he appears to be (e.g. In Kotori's route, it was mentioned that he became her familiar when she was forced to bring him back from the dead a long time ago. And as it was mentioned before, familiars age much slower than humans do.), but it still came as a big surprise to me. Anyway, Kotarou had been keeping his superpowers a secret from everyone, including the fact that he had been hunting UMA's at night in the forest. That is, until he met Esaka and Guardian. Having been saved from a dangerous encounter with a medium-sized dinosaur familiar by Esaka and his group one night, Kotarou quickly befriended the man, and talked to him about various troubles that he had been unable to share with anyone else, with the exception of his superpowers. But it turns out that Esaka already knew about them, and one day asked him to join his organization, Guardian, because that's where Superhumans like him truly belong. After some thinking, Kotarou accepted his offer and joined.
Starting off as someone completely weak and incompetent compared to his peers-in-training, Kotarou quickly found himself stuck in the weakest team, which consists of Nagai, Imamiya, and Nishikujou. Feeling inferior to the rest of the Superhumans, he can't help but feel whether joining Guardian was the right decision. He still couldn't make friends in his new environment, as his poor performance made him a loser in the eyes of many, and even worse, many were jealous of the fact that Esaka, who was heralded as a legendary warrior in Guardian, gave him special treatment. The only person who was kind to him was Esaka, who insists that he doesn't need special talent to be a good soldier; he only needs to follow the tasks that he's given, and loyally carry out his duties. After a certain perilous mission that involved destroying the Key, Kotarou saw many Superhumans die in front of his eyes against the Earth Dragon, a huge familiar based on a T-Rex (it has one hell of an intense theme music, by the way!), and he also met the Key (Kagari) for the first time. It is here that we learn what really happened to Kotarou prior to the common route. If he had attacked the Key like he was ordered to, he would have been killed by her, and then revived by Kotori through her Druid powers. Had that been the case, Kotarou would have forgotten who he was, including his memories of wanting to see Kagari again, and all of that would have led to him living a peaceful life, and eventually, creating the Occult Club as we have seen in the common route. If he chose to disobey his orders, though, and actually protect the Key, then he will work together with Kagari to find a solution to world peace.
At this point in the story, Kotarou is now officially a full-fledged soldier working for Guardian. He has been travelling to many places in the world, carrying out missions that usually involve killing his enemies. However, when he finally returned to his hometown again, he met Kagari once more, and promised to help her save humanity. Since Guardian and Gaia have been at odds with each other throughout history, often resulting in war during their hunt for the Key, Kotarou believed that he could try to change both organizations from the inside. Thus begins his arduous life as a double-agent for both organizations. After managing to deceive the leader of Gaia, Suzuki, Kotarou quickly gained trust from Gaia, and officially became a part of Suzuki's faction. He then proceeds to work day-and-night in both organizations, twisting things in his favor when it comes to capturing the Key, and reports his progress to Kagari in their secret meetings. Unfortunately, Kagari isn't really the brightest kid on the block, despite her supposedly high intelligence, as she has almost no knowledge about how the human world works. This is played to some great comedic effects, when Kotarou asks for her input on what he could do to improve the situation, and she responds with some of the most ridiculous ideas ever heard (e.g. "If a tank is stronger than any Superhuman, why not procure one and wipe out Guardian with it?" -- quoted from the great philosopher, Kagarin), often earning her a pat on the head from Kotarou, out of sympathy for her ignorance.
As Kotarou becomes ever so busy trying to control both organizations from the inside, Kagari frequently urges him to speed up his process because the Earth doesn't have much energy left, and "salvation" is growing ever closer. By then, Kotarou realized that he can't get anything more from staying in Gaia, so he used the opportunity to let Guardian capture Suzuki and assassinate him. Kotarou has fully resolved himself to betray everyone he knew, other than Kagari, to save humanity from destruction. Along the final struggle, he battled his mentor, Esaka, in a ferocious fight and came out as the victor. That scene was, in my opinion, the most hard-hitting scene in all of Terra, for the conversation between Kotarou and the dying Esaka was heartrending. His mentor, even after learning about his betrayal, still wished him to succeed in his mission (to save the Earth) from the bottom of his heart, and boy do I respect this man. Following that sad moment, Kotarou confronted his old teammates, Imamiya and Nishikujou, and told them the truth, while entrusting the future of mankind to them. Again, the drama in this scene was well-executed as his teammates were conflicted on what to think of him.
In the final act, Kotarou battles the Earth Dragon to stop the Summoners from bringing "salvation" with their song. He defeats the beast, only to find that almost all the Summoners have already perished due to over-expending their life energy. Soon after, just as he was on the verge of collapsing, Kotarou makes the decision to rewrite himself for the last time, and here he meets Sakuya again, who warns him that this is the final time he can use his power, and that he will turn into a familiar with this final use. Kotarou accepts the conditions and officially takes Sakuya's role as his successor. Finally, he meets Kagari one more time before he's forced to kill her to stop "salvation". Kagari tells him that his decision was correct, and that he really should have done this to begin with. To which Kotarou responds by admitting his love for her, to the girl's surprise, but she kisses him just before they both disappeared from the world. This scene was pretty emotional, but unfortunately I just wasn't invested in the Kotarou x Kagari relationship to really feel that much emotion, especially since it's mostly just a one-sided crush on Kotarou's part. Nonetheless, it was still a beautiful moment that fulfilled its purpose well in the story, even though the aftermath was a bittersweet one. Turns out later that the world is saved from destruction, because a hero named Kotarou granted humanity with possibilities for the future, and thus slowed down Judgment Day. The ending jumped to a time-skip, where all 5 heroines are in their teens, as they found Kotarou, who is now a living spirit residing in the tallest tree on the Earth, and summoned him. And finally, after some nostalgic banters between Kotarou and the 5 girls, he takes them to the Moon as proof of his superpowers.
It was a fantastic ending, really. Despite thinking that the final dramatic moments between Kotarou and Kagari could have been better, and the resolution to the whole conflict between Gaia and Guardian, more concrete, I still had one heck of an amazing experience with the route, and I would easily consider it the best-written route in the game. It may not have been quite as emotional of a ride as, say, Clannad: After Story, but it certainly did leave a very memorable impression on me, and that's what really counts at the end of the day!
Oppai Ending:
Frankly, completing all the quests was a chore to go through. But I still persevered because I wanted to get the ending on my own, and not have to watch it on Youtube. I was not disappointed, as this was absolutely a riot to experience! The very idea that world peace could be achieved from everyone's fondness of boobs is just incredible, and to think that it was actually implemented here is all the more hilarious! And as if that's not enough, Kagari had to be completely out-of-character with her playful attitude, while promoting her own [made-up] spinoff series! Yeah, I think it's safe to say that this is a masterpiece right here, folks. And it totally should have been the true ending instead of Terra~ If I had to give this a rating on a 10 point scale, it would no doubt break the scale and go over 9000. That's how godly it is~!
But yeah, seriously, it was 100% worth completing all the quests for.
Concluding Thoughts: Easily my second favorite Key work to date, right behind Clannad.
Ratings for the individual routes, with sub-categories included:
Kotori: 6.4/10 (Story: 6/10, Character: 6/10, Enjoyment: 7/10, Significance: 7/10)
Chihaya: 6.3/10 (Story: 5/10, Character: 6/10, Enjoyment: 8/10, Significance: 7/10)
Lucia: 8/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 8/10, Enjoyment: 8/10, Significance: 8/10)
Shizuru: 6/10 (Story: 6/10, Character: 6/10, Enjoyment: 6/10, Significance: 6/10)
Akane: 7.6/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 8/10, Enjoyment: 6/10, Significance: 8/10)
Moon: 7/10 (Story: 7/10, Character: 7/10, Enjoyment: 7/10, Significance: 7/10)
Terra: 8.7/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 9/10, Enjoyment: 9/10, Significance: 9/10)
Overall: 8.4/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 8/10, Enjoyment: 9/10, Significance: 9/10)
Lucia:
First of all, I found the romance to be absolutely beautiful and touching. As someone who was never able to experience close relationships with anyone in her life, due to her abnormal physiological differences from a normal human, Lucia's love for Kotarou felt extremely convincing. He was (literally) the only man who could survive being anywhere near her, and he was the only person who has ever given her heart, warmth. It was honest of Kotarou to admit that he once only saw Lucia as someone he pitied, but after spending time with her on their date, he came to realize he truly loved her as a person. That confession scene was just beautiful, when complemented by the nightly city view background and that particular OST (Yuriha, if I remember correctly).
Lucia's belief about her existence being completely "unnecessary", is also understandable. After all, her body was tampered with by a group of mad scientists, for the entire purpose of surviving in a distant future thousands of years from the present time. She was made to carry out humanity's greatest mission: living on as the last human on earth, in a world of barrenness. The curse she has to carry with her, however, is a poison that is lethal to every living organism on the planet. She can't touch anything that is living, because her poison will kill it. For this reason, she can't pet a cat, hold flowers in her hands, or make friends with anyone in her class, even though she really wants to do these things! Out of all the tragic heroines I've seen, and believe me when I say I have seen a lot of them, Lucia easily takes the cake as the most tragic heroine I've seen yet. :(
When Lucia started doubting her reason for existence again, after she completed the mission of spreading her poison in the city for the purpose of eliminating the Key, it was hard watching her suffer alone. Thankfully, Kotarou eventually came to realize what it is that she was seeking from him. It was not hollow words that she will be saved eventually, when scientists come up with a new drug to suppress her poison. No, it was something much simpler than that. She only wanted Kotarou to tell her that he needs her in his life. That alone is enough to give her life meaning. At the very end, Kotarou and Lucia are required to live in isolation, switching from one shelter to the next, since there still isn't any drug that can suppress Lucia's poison and make her live the life of a normal girl. Yet, to both of them, having each other's company is more than enough to keep them going. It's a bittersweet ending, but given the circumstances, I'd say it was done masterfully. And that final scene, where Lucia was able to hold a sunflower again without making it wilt (because it's artificial), was definitely feel-inducing.
Overall, I absolutely loved this route, for being an absolute beauty from start to finish. It definitely ranks up there as one of the most satisfying romance stories ever told in any media, in my opinion. And this route totally made me appreciate Lucia's character in a way I never thought was possible, considering she was my least favorite girl in the common route. Now she's moved up all the way to my second favorite heroine, right behind Kotori. In addition, her route is my favorite one so far, and it would take something really special for any of the other heroine routes to take that spot away. Maybe Akane's will, hmm...
Akane:
Akane was one of my favorite heroines in the common route, as I really liked her cynical perspective on life. Upon entering her route, which I saved for last, I expected to be thoroughly impressed. So, did it meet my expectations? For the most part, I'd say yes, but there are a few things I didn't like about it. As an overall story, I'd say the writing was strong. The themes were mature as well, dealing with politics and philosophies. Do humans really deserve to live, when we are the ones who are jeopardizing the planet's well-being? Or should the planet's stability be prioritized over humanity? For Akane, who acts as the holy woman of the organization, Gaia, she decides on the latter approach -- choosing the planet over the people.
Now, I'm not one to criticize the rationality of her decision, since Gaia's teachings have been literally ingrained in her mind, but I was frankly disappointed with her decision. Killing people all over the world, passing judgment on them, who gave her the right to act as God? What she did is akin to what a cult leader would do. She hates the world and all the people living in it, so she decides that getting rid of them all is in the best interest of the planet. She fails to see that doing so would also mean that she'd be killing a massive number of innocent lives, who may even contribute to preserving the planet in the long run. She was overtaken by hatred and nihilism, and acted as a lifeless doll, carrying out what the former holy woman has planned out. Writing-wise, I think it makes for a very unique perspective, as we seldom ever see the heroine of any story intentionally resorting to genocide on a global scale, and believing it to be the correct thing to do. But subjectively, I really disliked the turn of events, and wanted Kotarou to beat some sense into her by the end of it.
A large portion of the story had Akane missing, and Kotarou trying to save the people from the destruction she's bringing about. Kotarou's development was superb here, I must say. His path to maturity was done extremely well, as he made up his mind to help Akane, despite knowing that he'll be hated by the world for it. And when he learned that Akane was no longer herself, he sought to correct her, and make her pay for her mistakes. The aftermath of Akane's genocide was devastating; countless lives were lost, disasters made the land uninhabitable for people to live in, and only a selected number of people in the world were safely evacuated in time. Akane, who had failed to carry out "salvation", no longer had any meaning to live. Yet, Kotarou still won't abandon her, or make her take the easy way out through death. He insists that she should continue to live, all the while shouldering her sins, and dedicate the rest of her life to help others. That's the only way she can repent for her crimes. And he's willing to spend the rest of his life by her side, protecting her. The ending was truly beautiful, for it doesn't try to sugarcoat things, but lays out reality the way it should be. Neither Kotarou nor Akane can ever live a normal life anymore, but they have accepted their punishment, and will struggle to keep on living, in a world where they only have each other to depend on.
Rewrite's ability to craft bittersweet endings is really praiseworthy. I have not cried a single time while reading the 5 heroine routes (though I came close a few times!), but almost every ending have made me feel both happiness and sadness at the same time. And although Rewrite incorporates more supernatural themes than every other Key work before it, the emotional impact still feels genuine and powerful, and strikes a cord with me. I liked all 5 heroine routes in Rewrite, some more than others, and really am looking forward to the true route, Moon + Terra, which I hope will wrap up the mysteries about the Key, and deliver a satisfying conclusion to all the build-up the series has accumulated up to this point.
Moon:
After completing all five heroine routes and getting accustomed to the world-building and mechanics, I was highly anticipating how the mystery surrounding Kagari will be presented in the true routes, Moon and Terra. Moon's purpose was to introduce the concept behind Kagari, while also showing the connection between her and Kotarou. In the heroine routes, we were shown that Kagari plays the role of the Key, who is a harbinger of destruction for humanity. Feared by the Superhumans in Guardian, and worshipped by the Summoners in Gaia, Kagari was hardly given any characterization outside of the role she was assigned. In Moon, we get to see her in closer inspection, including the reason why she doesn't talk much, why she has to destroy mankind, and the relationship between her and Kotarou. Moon was quite the mystic experience, as it doesn't have much dialogue to work with, but rather relies on the use of narratives (from Kotarou's perspective) to describe the lonely world Kagari resides in. As it turns out, Kagari lives on the Moon, a world where her only companion is Kotarou, and spends her entire time thinking about a solution to humanity's impending doom: the depletion of resources. Even as a lifeform whose intelligence is higher than any human's, Kagari struggles to come up with a solution to the core of the problem, because as long as humans require resources to survive, conflicts are inevitable. Kotarou, despite being unable to communicate with her, feels the obligation to protect and help Kagari in her research. Apparently, the Kotarou in this route has access to most of his memories from the different worlds wherein he became involved with the 5 heroines, and as such, he's privy to the knowledge that Kashima Sakura will come after Kagari, hoping to capture and use her to destroy mankind.
How does Kotarou counteract the mastermind with this knowledge in mind? Summoning his old friends to help him, of course! Keep in mind, the guy is pretty much an omnipotent being in Moon, thanks to the fact that he rewrote himself to the point where he knows almost everything there is to know. So after all the Occult Club members are reunited, they begin to fight against the swarm of familiars sent by Kashima. Eventually, his friends perished one by one during battle, and Kotarou himself was killed, too, after a long fight against the endless wave of familiars. But before he died, his memories of Kagari were sent from the Moon to the Earth, prompting his other human self to remember the girl he fell in love with. I found the story to be quite romantic, despite still believing Kagari to be less likable than the other heroines. All in all, Moon was a very nice setup for the serious stuff that happens in Terra.
Terra:
This right here, is the pinnacle of storytelling in Rewrite. Whether someone loves this route or not, ultimately boils down to his appreciation for Kotarou. For me, this route was great for its excellent characterization of Kotarou, fully capturing his emotions during the ordeals he had to go through to accomplish his goals. Kotarou, who was once a goofy, happy-go-lucky teenager in the common route, progressively becomes more mature in the heroine routes as he goes through difficult times with the girls he had chosen, at times even forced to commit terrible deeds in order to survive (e.g. Akane's route). In Terra, we see the serious side to Kotarou in even more detail, since with the world now at stake, our protagonist has no choice but to take things seriously, by actively trying to stop the world from ending. As we have seen previously from Shizuru's and Akane's routes, the Key has the power to destroy the world in what Gaians like to call, "salvation". "Salvation" happens when the Key decides that humanity has no future left, as they have done far too much damage to the planet, so the only course of action left available is to wipe out the entire Homo sapien species. Now, it's up to Kotarou to find a way to convince the Key, Kagari, that humanity still has the potential for re-evolution, and that "salvation" isn't needed.
The route starts off showing what Kotarou's life was like as a teenager. Surprisingly, he's actually quite a few years older than the 5 heroines! This was revealed when both Kotori and Akane are shown to be young children, while Kotarou's already in his teens. I found this reveal to be pretty cool, as there were a few hints early in the game that suggested Kotarou may be in fact older than what he appears to be (e.g. In Kotori's route, it was mentioned that he became her familiar when she was forced to bring him back from the dead a long time ago. And as it was mentioned before, familiars age much slower than humans do.), but it still came as a big surprise to me. Anyway, Kotarou had been keeping his superpowers a secret from everyone, including the fact that he had been hunting UMA's at night in the forest. That is, until he met Esaka and Guardian. Having been saved from a dangerous encounter with a medium-sized dinosaur familiar by Esaka and his group one night, Kotarou quickly befriended the man, and talked to him about various troubles that he had been unable to share with anyone else, with the exception of his superpowers. But it turns out that Esaka already knew about them, and one day asked him to join his organization, Guardian, because that's where Superhumans like him truly belong. After some thinking, Kotarou accepted his offer and joined.
Starting off as someone completely weak and incompetent compared to his peers-in-training, Kotarou quickly found himself stuck in the weakest team, which consists of Nagai, Imamiya, and Nishikujou. Feeling inferior to the rest of the Superhumans, he can't help but feel whether joining Guardian was the right decision. He still couldn't make friends in his new environment, as his poor performance made him a loser in the eyes of many, and even worse, many were jealous of the fact that Esaka, who was heralded as a legendary warrior in Guardian, gave him special treatment. The only person who was kind to him was Esaka, who insists that he doesn't need special talent to be a good soldier; he only needs to follow the tasks that he's given, and loyally carry out his duties. After a certain perilous mission that involved destroying the Key, Kotarou saw many Superhumans die in front of his eyes against the Earth Dragon, a huge familiar based on a T-Rex (it has one hell of an intense theme music, by the way!), and he also met the Key (Kagari) for the first time. It is here that we learn what really happened to Kotarou prior to the common route. If he had attacked the Key like he was ordered to, he would have been killed by her, and then revived by Kotori through her Druid powers. Had that been the case, Kotarou would have forgotten who he was, including his memories of wanting to see Kagari again, and all of that would have led to him living a peaceful life, and eventually, creating the Occult Club as we have seen in the common route. If he chose to disobey his orders, though, and actually protect the Key, then he will work together with Kagari to find a solution to world peace.
At this point in the story, Kotarou is now officially a full-fledged soldier working for Guardian. He has been travelling to many places in the world, carrying out missions that usually involve killing his enemies. However, when he finally returned to his hometown again, he met Kagari once more, and promised to help her save humanity. Since Guardian and Gaia have been at odds with each other throughout history, often resulting in war during their hunt for the Key, Kotarou believed that he could try to change both organizations from the inside. Thus begins his arduous life as a double-agent for both organizations. After managing to deceive the leader of Gaia, Suzuki, Kotarou quickly gained trust from Gaia, and officially became a part of Suzuki's faction. He then proceeds to work day-and-night in both organizations, twisting things in his favor when it comes to capturing the Key, and reports his progress to Kagari in their secret meetings. Unfortunately, Kagari isn't really the brightest kid on the block, despite her supposedly high intelligence, as she has almost no knowledge about how the human world works. This is played to some great comedic effects, when Kotarou asks for her input on what he could do to improve the situation, and she responds with some of the most ridiculous ideas ever heard (e.g. "If a tank is stronger than any Superhuman, why not procure one and wipe out Guardian with it?" -- quoted from the great philosopher, Kagarin), often earning her a pat on the head from Kotarou, out of sympathy for her ignorance.
As Kotarou becomes ever so busy trying to control both organizations from the inside, Kagari frequently urges him to speed up his process because the Earth doesn't have much energy left, and "salvation" is growing ever closer. By then, Kotarou realized that he can't get anything more from staying in Gaia, so he used the opportunity to let Guardian capture Suzuki and assassinate him. Kotarou has fully resolved himself to betray everyone he knew, other than Kagari, to save humanity from destruction. Along the final struggle, he battled his mentor, Esaka, in a ferocious fight and came out as the victor. That scene was, in my opinion, the most hard-hitting scene in all of Terra, for the conversation between Kotarou and the dying Esaka was heartrending. His mentor, even after learning about his betrayal, still wished him to succeed in his mission (to save the Earth) from the bottom of his heart, and boy do I respect this man. Following that sad moment, Kotarou confronted his old teammates, Imamiya and Nishikujou, and told them the truth, while entrusting the future of mankind to them. Again, the drama in this scene was well-executed as his teammates were conflicted on what to think of him.
In the final act, Kotarou battles the Earth Dragon to stop the Summoners from bringing "salvation" with their song. He defeats the beast, only to find that almost all the Summoners have already perished due to over-expending their life energy. Soon after, just as he was on the verge of collapsing, Kotarou makes the decision to rewrite himself for the last time, and here he meets Sakuya again, who warns him that this is the final time he can use his power, and that he will turn into a familiar with this final use. Kotarou accepts the conditions and officially takes Sakuya's role as his successor. Finally, he meets Kagari one more time before he's forced to kill her to stop "salvation". Kagari tells him that his decision was correct, and that he really should have done this to begin with. To which Kotarou responds by admitting his love for her, to the girl's surprise, but she kisses him just before they both disappeared from the world. This scene was pretty emotional, but unfortunately I just wasn't invested in the Kotarou x Kagari relationship to really feel that much emotion, especially since it's mostly just a one-sided crush on Kotarou's part. Nonetheless, it was still a beautiful moment that fulfilled its purpose well in the story, even though the aftermath was a bittersweet one. Turns out later that the world is saved from destruction, because a hero named Kotarou granted humanity with possibilities for the future, and thus slowed down Judgment Day. The ending jumped to a time-skip, where all 5 heroines are in their teens, as they found Kotarou, who is now a living spirit residing in the tallest tree on the Earth, and summoned him. And finally, after some nostalgic banters between Kotarou and the 5 girls, he takes them to the Moon as proof of his superpowers.
It was a fantastic ending, really. Despite thinking that the final dramatic moments between Kotarou and Kagari could have been better, and the resolution to the whole conflict between Gaia and Guardian, more concrete, I still had one heck of an amazing experience with the route, and I would easily consider it the best-written route in the game. It may not have been quite as emotional of a ride as, say, Clannad: After Story, but it certainly did leave a very memorable impression on me, and that's what really counts at the end of the day!
Oppai Ending:
Frankly, completing all the quests was a chore to go through. But I still persevered because I wanted to get the ending on my own, and not have to watch it on Youtube. I was not disappointed, as this was absolutely a riot to experience! The very idea that world peace could be achieved from everyone's fondness of boobs is just incredible, and to think that it was actually implemented here is all the more hilarious! And as if that's not enough, Kagari had to be completely out-of-character with her playful attitude, while promoting her own [made-up] spinoff series! Yeah, I think it's safe to say that this is a masterpiece right here, folks. And it totally should have been the true ending instead of Terra~ If I had to give this a rating on a 10 point scale, it would no doubt break the scale and go over 9000. That's how godly it is~!
But yeah, seriously, it was 100% worth completing all the quests for.
Concluding Thoughts: Easily my second favorite Key work to date, right behind Clannad.
Ratings for the individual routes, with sub-categories included:
Kotori: 6.4/10 (Story: 6/10, Character: 6/10, Enjoyment: 7/10, Significance: 7/10)
Chihaya: 6.3/10 (Story: 5/10, Character: 6/10, Enjoyment: 8/10, Significance: 7/10)
Lucia: 8/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 8/10, Enjoyment: 8/10, Significance: 8/10)
Shizuru: 6/10 (Story: 6/10, Character: 6/10, Enjoyment: 6/10, Significance: 6/10)
Akane: 7.6/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 8/10, Enjoyment: 6/10, Significance: 8/10)
Moon: 7/10 (Story: 7/10, Character: 7/10, Enjoyment: 7/10, Significance: 7/10)
Terra: 8.7/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 9/10, Enjoyment: 9/10, Significance: 9/10)
Overall: 8.4/10 (Story: 8/10, Character: 8/10, Enjoyment: 9/10, Significance: 9/10)
Posted by Dashiawia | Jan 6, 2015 2:30 PM | 0 comments
January 7th, 2014
Muv-Luv + Alternative Review
Anime Relations: Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
The critically-acclaimed Muv-Luv Alternative (MLA) had always been high on my radar ever since I first got into visual novels. But, there had been one thing that put me off from trying it: The prequel, Muv-Luv (ML). For the top rated VN to have a not so highly received prequel, it's only natural for one to hesitate about getting into the franchise. After all, neither work is exactly short; ML probably takes at least a good 30 hours for full completion, whereas MLA is roughly a 50 hour long read. ML is composed of two parts: The first half is your typical high school romantic-comedy, known as Extra; the second half, however, changes gear and takes you to a post-apocalyptic setting, where humanity is on the brink of destruction -- this segment is known as Unlimited. You can unlock Unlimited only by completing the two main routes in Extra, or Sumika and Meiya's routes, first.
Now, this may not be true for everyone, but a lot of people probably won't like the story in Extra. They may see it as generic and trite, and may not even like the characters much at first. This is understandable, as Extra is almost exclusively a slice of life/comedy that offers little story-wise. However, as someone who has finished the entirety of Extra, I have to say the experience is far from redundant or unnecessary. Extra is essentially the building block that serves to introduce the characters to the viewer; by playing through Extra, one gradually learns more about the heroines, and has the opportunity to grow attached to their personalities. I wouldn't advise people to skip Extra, because they'd miss out on subtle character revelations that are arguably important later in Unlimited/Alternative. But, if you're impatient, you can get away with only reading Meiya/Sumika's routes in Extra, and one of the endings in Unlimited [all the pivotal endings are essentially identical, differing only in a few lines, so you won't miss much by not going through all of them]. Now that introductions are out of the way, let's move on to the actual review.
To start off, the plot is arguably the most impressive, distinguishable aspect of MLA. The story itself isn't overly convoluted, but it does have a lot of depth to it. It's essentially a tale about the arduous journey of our protagonist, Shirogane Takeru. But before that, I need to briefly mention about the central plot in Extra and Unlimited, because it ultimately leads to the story in Alternative. In Extra, Takeru is caught up in a love triangle between choosing his childhood friend, Sumika, and a mysterious girl who seems to know him, Meiya. Problem is, he's kind of dense (like you would expect from a typical harem protagonist), and this creates some drama and hurt feelings. Then, in Unlimited, we find that Takeru has somehow shifted to a world he doesn't know, and humanity is desperately fighting for survival against aliens known as the BETA. The protagonist struggles to fit in to his new environment at first, but luckily for him, he meets his cadet squad, which is composed of the counterparts of his old friends from his original world, and quickly forms strong bonds with them. Despite facing many hardships, Takeru and his squad manages to become eishis, pilots of large mecha suits called TSFs -- which are humanity's primary weapons against the BETA. Unfortunately, before our hero even had a chance to fight the enemies, the higher ups have initiated a last resort plan: saving only a few thousands of humans, by sending them into spaceships toward a distant planet, while leaving the rest of humanity on Earth to fend off the BETA. The protagonist chooses to allow his lover (which is subject to your choice) to board the spaceship, while he stays behind to fight a hopeless battle. And this marks the start of MLA.
The first thing we see in Alternative is that Takeru has somehow travelled back in time to the beginning of Unlimited. However, he retains his memories from the previous world, as well as his fully fit body. He recalls humanity's destruction in the past world and vows to prevent the same tragedy from happening. That's essentially the premise of MLA. Throughout the series, the protagonist encounters many difficulties in realizing his goal; despite having a firm conviction, he lacks the resolute willpower to take the necessary action to achieve his goal. Time and time again, his resolve is shaken by various traumatic experiences, and he becomes defeated. But he would stand back up on his feet again and again to fight against fate. At times, the story becomes very depressing and difficult to bear, because you feel like you're Takeru -- that you're experiencing those nasty events, vicariously, in the protagonist's body. I could go on to summarize the events in detail, but that would take far too long, not to mention the spoilers could ruin it for newcomers. So what I'll do is wrap up the story section by saying the following. It's a fantastic journey that deals with multiple themes, such as quantum mechanics, national identities and interests, loyalty, comradeship, and most importantly -- love. The ending to MLA may not please every fan out there, but to me, it was logically sound. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a more complete story than MLA.
Character-wise, MLA is almost equally as successful. Each character has his/her defining traits, and most of them are very well developed. I'll briefly talk about each of the main cast.
Shirogane Takeru - The protagonist of the story. He is the most relatable character in the VN by far. We experience most events from his perspective, and thus, feel joy and pain the same way he feels them. He can be described as a laid-back guy [particularly in ML], but has a strong heart to do what's necessary. He's romantically dense, like aforementioned, but this trait of his is actually significant to the plot. Put in another way, if he wasn't like this, there would be no MLA, as none of the time travelling phenomenon would have occurred in the first place. Whether or not you like him, it'd be inane to call him a bad character, because the sheer amount of character development going for him is simply outstanding.
Kagami Sumika - One of the two central heroines. She is the childhood friend of Takeru, who has always had a crush on him since they were kids. A cute, energetic airhead that is very difficult to dislike.
Mitsurugi Meiya - The other central heroine of the story. She's the compassionate, loyal friend of Takeru in MLA. She's a strong-willed individual, always thinking about the well beings of others. An admirable character and my personal favorite.
Ayamine Kei - A quiet, eccentric heroine who's clumsy at expressing herself. Constantly bickers with Sakaki, because they are essentially opposites in everything. Arguably the most hilarious character.
Sakaki Chizuru - A strict, serious girl who's in charge of leading others. She acts tough on the surface, but is actually quite fragile on the inside. Probably my least favorite heroine overall, albeit her development is commendable.
Tamase Miki - A petite loli who's ridiculously cute. Has confidence issues, and tries her best to make everyone around her happy.
Yoroi Mikoto - A tomboy who's very friendly and social. Has difficulty listening to people, but her bright personality is a great asset for making others around her feel at ease.
Kouzuki Yuuko - An extremely intelligent professor, whose brilliant theories and tactics have saved the protagonist many times. She's also one of the few people Takeru can talk to freely about his special circumstances. Needless to say, she plays a pivotal role in Alternative. Witty, eccentric, and ruthless when she has to get things done.
Yashiro Kasumi - A silent, mysterious girl at first, then becomes much more prominent later on. She works as an assistant of Yuuko's. Extremely affable and cute.
Jinguuji Marimo - A strict, but kind instructor to Takeru and his squad. One of the most memorable characters in the series, due to a certain event.
There are a few more important characters I did not mention, but the above ones are the most prominent casts. As you can see, MLA offers a wide diversity of characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and alongside that, with their own developments. You'd be hard pressed to not care about at least one of the main casts.
In addition, the ML series has a noticeable high budget. Even in ML, all the characters are voiced, no matter how minor they are. Hell, even as you walk down a busy street, you can expect to hear the murmuring chatters of random people passing by. And the voice acting is definitely no slouch, either; VA's have really put their hearts into voicing their respective characters. Even the protagonist has a large number of scenes where he's voiced. On top of all that, MLA features lip-sync as well, which makes the characters feel more animated and 'alive'. Then, there's the detailed background images; they look notably more detailed compared to most other VN's. And what's more, the animated battle scenes look smooth and intense. The high budget really does pay off in both the visual and sound departments, further enhancing the already godlike experience.
Overall, the ML series is a fantastic franchise -- one that I would recommend to just about anyone looking for a mature story. When a work only tells a brilliant story, while neglecting to emphasize on its characters, we would typically forget about it in due time. But when a work combines amazing storytelling, excellent character development, and explosive emotional impact, what we get is an otherworldly experience that will be remembered for a long time. Or, we might call it a masterpiece.
Here's a list of my scoring breakdown for the series.
Muv-Luv:
Story: 5/10
Character: 5/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Significance: 5/10
Overall: 5.2/10
Muv-Luv Alternative:
Story: 10/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Significance: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Now, this may not be true for everyone, but a lot of people probably won't like the story in Extra. They may see it as generic and trite, and may not even like the characters much at first. This is understandable, as Extra is almost exclusively a slice of life/comedy that offers little story-wise. However, as someone who has finished the entirety of Extra, I have to say the experience is far from redundant or unnecessary. Extra is essentially the building block that serves to introduce the characters to the viewer; by playing through Extra, one gradually learns more about the heroines, and has the opportunity to grow attached to their personalities. I wouldn't advise people to skip Extra, because they'd miss out on subtle character revelations that are arguably important later in Unlimited/Alternative. But, if you're impatient, you can get away with only reading Meiya/Sumika's routes in Extra, and one of the endings in Unlimited [all the pivotal endings are essentially identical, differing only in a few lines, so you won't miss much by not going through all of them]. Now that introductions are out of the way, let's move on to the actual review.
To start off, the plot is arguably the most impressive, distinguishable aspect of MLA. The story itself isn't overly convoluted, but it does have a lot of depth to it. It's essentially a tale about the arduous journey of our protagonist, Shirogane Takeru. But before that, I need to briefly mention about the central plot in Extra and Unlimited, because it ultimately leads to the story in Alternative. In Extra, Takeru is caught up in a love triangle between choosing his childhood friend, Sumika, and a mysterious girl who seems to know him, Meiya. Problem is, he's kind of dense (like you would expect from a typical harem protagonist), and this creates some drama and hurt feelings. Then, in Unlimited, we find that Takeru has somehow shifted to a world he doesn't know, and humanity is desperately fighting for survival against aliens known as the BETA. The protagonist struggles to fit in to his new environment at first, but luckily for him, he meets his cadet squad, which is composed of the counterparts of his old friends from his original world, and quickly forms strong bonds with them. Despite facing many hardships, Takeru and his squad manages to become eishis, pilots of large mecha suits called TSFs -- which are humanity's primary weapons against the BETA. Unfortunately, before our hero even had a chance to fight the enemies, the higher ups have initiated a last resort plan: saving only a few thousands of humans, by sending them into spaceships toward a distant planet, while leaving the rest of humanity on Earth to fend off the BETA. The protagonist chooses to allow his lover (which is subject to your choice) to board the spaceship, while he stays behind to fight a hopeless battle. And this marks the start of MLA.
The first thing we see in Alternative is that Takeru has somehow travelled back in time to the beginning of Unlimited. However, he retains his memories from the previous world, as well as his fully fit body. He recalls humanity's destruction in the past world and vows to prevent the same tragedy from happening. That's essentially the premise of MLA. Throughout the series, the protagonist encounters many difficulties in realizing his goal; despite having a firm conviction, he lacks the resolute willpower to take the necessary action to achieve his goal. Time and time again, his resolve is shaken by various traumatic experiences, and he becomes defeated. But he would stand back up on his feet again and again to fight against fate. At times, the story becomes very depressing and difficult to bear, because you feel like you're Takeru -- that you're experiencing those nasty events, vicariously, in the protagonist's body. I could go on to summarize the events in detail, but that would take far too long, not to mention the spoilers could ruin it for newcomers. So what I'll do is wrap up the story section by saying the following. It's a fantastic journey that deals with multiple themes, such as quantum mechanics, national identities and interests, loyalty, comradeship, and most importantly -- love. The ending to MLA may not please every fan out there, but to me, it was logically sound. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a more complete story than MLA.
Character-wise, MLA is almost equally as successful. Each character has his/her defining traits, and most of them are very well developed. I'll briefly talk about each of the main cast.
Shirogane Takeru - The protagonist of the story. He is the most relatable character in the VN by far. We experience most events from his perspective, and thus, feel joy and pain the same way he feels them. He can be described as a laid-back guy [particularly in ML], but has a strong heart to do what's necessary. He's romantically dense, like aforementioned, but this trait of his is actually significant to the plot. Put in another way, if he wasn't like this, there would be no MLA, as none of the time travelling phenomenon would have occurred in the first place. Whether or not you like him, it'd be inane to call him a bad character, because the sheer amount of character development going for him is simply outstanding.
Kagami Sumika - One of the two central heroines. She is the childhood friend of Takeru, who has always had a crush on him since they were kids. A cute, energetic airhead that is very difficult to dislike.
Mitsurugi Meiya - The other central heroine of the story. She's the compassionate, loyal friend of Takeru in MLA. She's a strong-willed individual, always thinking about the well beings of others. An admirable character and my personal favorite.
Ayamine Kei - A quiet, eccentric heroine who's clumsy at expressing herself. Constantly bickers with Sakaki, because they are essentially opposites in everything. Arguably the most hilarious character.
Sakaki Chizuru - A strict, serious girl who's in charge of leading others. She acts tough on the surface, but is actually quite fragile on the inside. Probably my least favorite heroine overall, albeit her development is commendable.
Tamase Miki - A petite loli who's ridiculously cute. Has confidence issues, and tries her best to make everyone around her happy.
Yoroi Mikoto - A tomboy who's very friendly and social. Has difficulty listening to people, but her bright personality is a great asset for making others around her feel at ease.
Kouzuki Yuuko - An extremely intelligent professor, whose brilliant theories and tactics have saved the protagonist many times. She's also one of the few people Takeru can talk to freely about his special circumstances. Needless to say, she plays a pivotal role in Alternative. Witty, eccentric, and ruthless when she has to get things done.
Yashiro Kasumi - A silent, mysterious girl at first, then becomes much more prominent later on. She works as an assistant of Yuuko's. Extremely affable and cute.
Jinguuji Marimo - A strict, but kind instructor to Takeru and his squad. One of the most memorable characters in the series, due to a certain event.
There are a few more important characters I did not mention, but the above ones are the most prominent casts. As you can see, MLA offers a wide diversity of characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, and alongside that, with their own developments. You'd be hard pressed to not care about at least one of the main casts.
In addition, the ML series has a noticeable high budget. Even in ML, all the characters are voiced, no matter how minor they are. Hell, even as you walk down a busy street, you can expect to hear the murmuring chatters of random people passing by. And the voice acting is definitely no slouch, either; VA's have really put their hearts into voicing their respective characters. Even the protagonist has a large number of scenes where he's voiced. On top of all that, MLA features lip-sync as well, which makes the characters feel more animated and 'alive'. Then, there's the detailed background images; they look notably more detailed compared to most other VN's. And what's more, the animated battle scenes look smooth and intense. The high budget really does pay off in both the visual and sound departments, further enhancing the already godlike experience.
Overall, the ML series is a fantastic franchise -- one that I would recommend to just about anyone looking for a mature story. When a work only tells a brilliant story, while neglecting to emphasize on its characters, we would typically forget about it in due time. But when a work combines amazing storytelling, excellent character development, and explosive emotional impact, what we get is an otherworldly experience that will be remembered for a long time. Or, we might call it a masterpiece.
Here's a list of my scoring breakdown for the series.
Muv-Luv:
Story: 5/10
Character: 5/10
Enjoyment: 6/10
Significance: 5/10
Overall: 5.2/10
Muv-Luv Alternative:
Story: 10/10
Character: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Significance: 10/10
Overall: 10/10
Posted by Dashiawia | Jan 7, 2014 5:19 PM | 0 comments
October 3rd, 2013
Fall 2013 Anime List
Anime Relations: Golden Time, White Album 2
This season looks quite promising so far, to my surprise. I'm going to be following quite a lot of shows from this season, or at least, that's the plan. How many shows I'll end up following will depend on the quality of the first three episodes, assuming that I liked the first. Here're my first impressions of the airing shows thus far.
Kyoukai no Kanata - A good start. The characters and setting are similar to that of Hyouka and Chuunibyou's. The fight scenes look well animated, too, as expected from KyoAni. How this will end up is still in the air, but as of now it's a very fun watch.
Update: Fuyukai-desu! Turned into a bloody mess by the second half.
Golden Time - Since this is written by the same author who wrote Toradora, I have high expectations for it. The college setting is a nice change of pace from the typical high school one; and the characters are looking pretty fun, too. Should be a very enjoyable series.
Update: A great combination of comedy and fun character interactions. Kouko can be a bit obnoxious at times, but she's an endearing character nonetheless. I have faith that she will mature throughout the series.
Kill la Kill - The art style, along with its over-the-top presentation are definitely reminiscent of TTGL's, which is a good thing considering that I did enjoy that one [albeit I also think it's a little overrated]. As one would expect, this show is all about the action and the fanservice; the plot has potential as well, but I don't see it going too far. Still, it's a fun show to watch if you liked TTGL or if you're an action fan.
Update: Mindlessly entertaining. Essentially a show to watch for the shits and giggles. For unadulterated enjoyment, it's a masterful work. The characters are surprisingly well-written. Not the best plot, though.
Infinite Stratos 2 - As someone who actually kinda enjoyed the first season, I figure I should watch the sequel just for the heck of it. Like, it's obvious that there won't be much of a plot going on in this show, so I will just turn off my brain and watch it for the cute girls. It's actually not too bad when Ichika's not acting like a clueless idiot (which, unfortunately, tends to happen a lot).
Update: A notable downgrade from season one. It would seem that, by increasing the amount of harem candidates, Ichika's denseness is also increasing proportionally. That, my friends, is never a good sign...
Yuushibu - This show is just awful. The abundant fanservice, coupled with archetypal characters did not leave me with a good impression at all. Since I doubt I will ever grow to like this show, I'm dropping it early.
Nagi no Asukara - The unique setting is certainly interesting, and the character dynamics are reminiscent of AnoHana's. Should be a nice romance/drama.
Update: The cute, relatable characters really make this show worth following. Hikari's character development is something to be lauded.
Strike the Blood - This is actually a pretty decent start. The setting's interesting, and the characters are pretty likable, too. The only thing I can see that might ruin the experience is the ecchi content, but as long as it stays tame (like it did this episode), then it should be fine.
Update: Has an average plot, but contains affable characters. It's an enjoyable harem show, with minimal fanservice. To me, that's always a plus. Also, Yukina's easily one of the most likable harem heroines I've seen to date.
Log Horizon - This is kinda petty. Not necessarily awful, but certainly lacks flavour. It's essentially a SAO carbon copy without the cute character designs. Going to give it a few more episodes before I decide to drop it.
Update: The plot is actually pretty decent, and I can somewhat appreciate the mature direction this show's taking. Unfortunately, the lack of interesting characters makes this one a hit-or-miss, as there's nothing in it that motivates me to watch it.
Freezing Vibration - Cool actions, but the unadulterated fanservice kinda undermines the former. Characters aren't exactly lovable either, which means its entire appeal comes from the action and ecchi. Not really desirable for my taste. But since a friend told me the story will get interesting this season, I'll take his word for it and keep watching for now.
Update: Cool fights and somewhat decent characters. The ecchi is abundant, but generally don't get in the way of making the fights look nice. None of the characters really stand out to me, though.
White Album 2 - Now this is what I would call a worthwhile drama. The premise isn't completely new, but it's not exactly generic either; it's interesting. I like how the protagonist feels proactive, rather than the unmotivated types we see in every other harems. The vibrant art style combined with a beautiful soundtrack also help to make it aesthetically pleasing. Definitely has potential to be something amazing.
Update: A simple premise that is brilliantly executed. Easily one of the most entertaining drama shows I've seen in some time.
Little Busters!: Refrain - As someone who didn't really love the prequel, I was rather dubious when I heard the amount of praise for the Refrain route of the visual novel. But so far, the anime sequel is certainly an improvement from the prequel in terms of drama, and I have faith that it will aspire to even greater heights if it's anything like Clannad: After Story.
Update: Certainly emotional, but also somewhat weaker than most other Key adaptations for me. Maybe it's the lackluster heroine cast that is preventing me from fully loving this series. The male characters, however, are all superb.
Magi: The Kingdom of Magic - Not a bad episode, but also not a good one. I've been informed that the first season was a mediocre rendition of the manga, due to some changed scenarios. Therefore, I'm afraid I don't have much hope for the sequel now that those changes are permanent. I will give it a try regardless, though.
Update: More enjoyable than season one so far. Morgiana's still the best character. I hope she gets more screentime, while Alibaba gets less.
Unbreakable Machine-Doll - This was actually pretty entertaining. Despite not liking the ecchi contents, I found the action scenes to be cool. I'm neutral on the protagonist, but the heroine is certainly cute.
Update: A rather enjoyable ecchi without too much fanservice. Has a nice plot too. Raishin's a competent protagonist, and the comedy is consistently funny. It's a decent watch.
Tokyo Ravens - Pretty enjoyable first episode overall. I don't see too much potential in the plot, but the characters should be enough to carry the show. Will likely be following this one.
Update: Not bad at all. It's slowly becoming more enjoyable now that the characters are growing on me. Still, Harutora's denseness is a bit ridiculous... He may be on his way to become a Ichika 2.0. That'd be awful.
NouCome - As awesome as this season has been so far, it's not without its fair number of shitty titles. This show rivals Yuushibu for being the worst title of the season out of the ones I've seen. Maybe I'm just not the biggest fan of perverted jokes when they're blatantly presented... Anyway, I'll probably give it a couple more episodes at most.
Update: So I tried one more episode and still hated it. I'll admit the absolute choice concept is original; too bad it's wasted on a generic harem/ecchi with retarded characters. And to add insult to injury, the comedy is beyond trite; I was stone-faced the entire time while watching this shit. Dropping it now before I regret wasting any more of my time.
Valvrave 2nd Season - Man, this show is so retarded that it's virtually impossible to hate it. Best comedy of the season by far (ironically).
Update: Hmm, this is a fun watch as long as you ignore the shitty writing. Taking it seriously would be unwise.
Outbreak Company - Picked it up after someone recommended it. The premise is kinda interesting and the characters are pretty likable too. Should be a decent show.
Update: A mixed bag for me. On one hand, we have fairly affable characters, along with an interesting concept; on the other hand, the plot is often muddled by pointless fanservice scenes and generic character interactions. Enjoyable nonetheless.
Kyousou Giga - Well, it's certainly unique, but none of the characters really interest me. Thus, it's difficult for me to care about the storyline. Dropping it for now.
Kyoukai no Kanata - A good start. The characters and setting are similar to that of Hyouka and Chuunibyou's. The fight scenes look well animated, too, as expected from KyoAni. How this will end up is still in the air, but as of now it's a very fun watch.
Update: Fuyukai-desu! Turned into a bloody mess by the second half.
Golden Time - Since this is written by the same author who wrote Toradora, I have high expectations for it. The college setting is a nice change of pace from the typical high school one; and the characters are looking pretty fun, too. Should be a very enjoyable series.
Update: A great combination of comedy and fun character interactions. Kouko can be a bit obnoxious at times, but she's an endearing character nonetheless. I have faith that she will mature throughout the series.
Kill la Kill - The art style, along with its over-the-top presentation are definitely reminiscent of TTGL's, which is a good thing considering that I did enjoy that one [albeit I also think it's a little overrated]. As one would expect, this show is all about the action and the fanservice; the plot has potential as well, but I don't see it going too far. Still, it's a fun show to watch if you liked TTGL or if you're an action fan.
Update: Mindlessly entertaining. Essentially a show to watch for the shits and giggles. For unadulterated enjoyment, it's a masterful work. The characters are surprisingly well-written. Not the best plot, though.
Infinite Stratos 2 - As someone who actually kinda enjoyed the first season, I figure I should watch the sequel just for the heck of it. Like, it's obvious that there won't be much of a plot going on in this show, so I will just turn off my brain and watch it for the cute girls. It's actually not too bad when Ichika's not acting like a clueless idiot (which, unfortunately, tends to happen a lot).
Update: A notable downgrade from season one. It would seem that, by increasing the amount of harem candidates, Ichika's denseness is also increasing proportionally. That, my friends, is never a good sign...
Yuushibu - This show is just awful. The abundant fanservice, coupled with archetypal characters did not leave me with a good impression at all. Since I doubt I will ever grow to like this show, I'm dropping it early.
Nagi no Asukara - The unique setting is certainly interesting, and the character dynamics are reminiscent of AnoHana's. Should be a nice romance/drama.
Update: The cute, relatable characters really make this show worth following. Hikari's character development is something to be lauded.
Strike the Blood - This is actually a pretty decent start. The setting's interesting, and the characters are pretty likable, too. The only thing I can see that might ruin the experience is the ecchi content, but as long as it stays tame (like it did this episode), then it should be fine.
Update: Has an average plot, but contains affable characters. It's an enjoyable harem show, with minimal fanservice. To me, that's always a plus. Also, Yukina's easily one of the most likable harem heroines I've seen to date.
Log Horizon - This is kinda petty. Not necessarily awful, but certainly lacks flavour. It's essentially a SAO carbon copy without the cute character designs. Going to give it a few more episodes before I decide to drop it.
Update: The plot is actually pretty decent, and I can somewhat appreciate the mature direction this show's taking. Unfortunately, the lack of interesting characters makes this one a hit-or-miss, as there's nothing in it that motivates me to watch it.
Freezing Vibration - Cool actions, but the unadulterated fanservice kinda undermines the former. Characters aren't exactly lovable either, which means its entire appeal comes from the action and ecchi. Not really desirable for my taste. But since a friend told me the story will get interesting this season, I'll take his word for it and keep watching for now.
Update: Cool fights and somewhat decent characters. The ecchi is abundant, but generally don't get in the way of making the fights look nice. None of the characters really stand out to me, though.
White Album 2 - Now this is what I would call a worthwhile drama. The premise isn't completely new, but it's not exactly generic either; it's interesting. I like how the protagonist feels proactive, rather than the unmotivated types we see in every other harems. The vibrant art style combined with a beautiful soundtrack also help to make it aesthetically pleasing. Definitely has potential to be something amazing.
Update: A simple premise that is brilliantly executed. Easily one of the most entertaining drama shows I've seen in some time.
Little Busters!: Refrain - As someone who didn't really love the prequel, I was rather dubious when I heard the amount of praise for the Refrain route of the visual novel. But so far, the anime sequel is certainly an improvement from the prequel in terms of drama, and I have faith that it will aspire to even greater heights if it's anything like Clannad: After Story.
Update: Certainly emotional, but also somewhat weaker than most other Key adaptations for me. Maybe it's the lackluster heroine cast that is preventing me from fully loving this series. The male characters, however, are all superb.
Magi: The Kingdom of Magic - Not a bad episode, but also not a good one. I've been informed that the first season was a mediocre rendition of the manga, due to some changed scenarios. Therefore, I'm afraid I don't have much hope for the sequel now that those changes are permanent. I will give it a try regardless, though.
Update: More enjoyable than season one so far. Morgiana's still the best character. I hope she gets more screentime, while Alibaba gets less.
Unbreakable Machine-Doll - This was actually pretty entertaining. Despite not liking the ecchi contents, I found the action scenes to be cool. I'm neutral on the protagonist, but the heroine is certainly cute.
Update: A rather enjoyable ecchi without too much fanservice. Has a nice plot too. Raishin's a competent protagonist, and the comedy is consistently funny. It's a decent watch.
Tokyo Ravens - Pretty enjoyable first episode overall. I don't see too much potential in the plot, but the characters should be enough to carry the show. Will likely be following this one.
Update: Not bad at all. It's slowly becoming more enjoyable now that the characters are growing on me. Still, Harutora's denseness is a bit ridiculous... He may be on his way to become a Ichika 2.0. That'd be awful.
NouCome - As awesome as this season has been so far, it's not without its fair number of shitty titles. This show rivals Yuushibu for being the worst title of the season out of the ones I've seen. Maybe I'm just not the biggest fan of perverted jokes when they're blatantly presented... Anyway, I'll probably give it a couple more episodes at most.
Update: So I tried one more episode and still hated it. I'll admit the absolute choice concept is original; too bad it's wasted on a generic harem/ecchi with retarded characters. And to add insult to injury, the comedy is beyond trite; I was stone-faced the entire time while watching this shit. Dropping it now before I regret wasting any more of my time.
Valvrave 2nd Season - Man, this show is so retarded that it's virtually impossible to hate it. Best comedy of the season by far (ironically).
Update: Hmm, this is a fun watch as long as you ignore the shitty writing. Taking it seriously would be unwise.
Outbreak Company - Picked it up after someone recommended it. The premise is kinda interesting and the characters are pretty likable too. Should be a decent show.
Update: A mixed bag for me. On one hand, we have fairly affable characters, along with an interesting concept; on the other hand, the plot is often muddled by pointless fanservice scenes and generic character interactions. Enjoyable nonetheless.
Kyousou Giga - Well, it's certainly unique, but none of the characters really interest me. Thus, it's difficult for me to care about the storyline. Dropping it for now.
Posted by Dashiawia | Oct 3, 2013 9:22 PM | 1 comments
July 5th, 2013
Summer 2013 Anime List
Anime Relations: Monogatari Series: Second Season
This is just a breakdown of my first impressions. Will update this entry when the season is over.
Danganronpa- A mediocre pilot, yet still enjoyable with its horror theme. The survival theme premise seems to be overly abundant nowadays... Has the potential to be interesting if characters turn out to be likable.
Update: It's progressively becoming more interesting. The presentation seems to be a bit sloppy, though.
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi- Certainly has the potential to be interesting, but it's not exactly fulfilling yet.
Update: It's turning out to be a very fine series. Episode 3 had some really nice drama. Hope it will continue to deliver this kind of quality from here on.
Monogatari Second Season- Very enjoyable in its comedy and characters. The fanservice is a bit gratuitous at times, but it does not detract from the overall enjoyment in any way. It'll more than likely turn out to be the best show of the season from a subjective, sentimental perspective. More Senjougahara screentime is always a plus.
Fate/kaleid- Neither original nor particularly entertaining. Can't say I liked it. Dropped.
Highschool Dxd New- Pure fanservice really isn't my thing, especially when the protagonist is a lewd, typical teenager without any other striking features. Sure, the girls are all sexy, but I don't intend to follow it just for the salacious guilty pleasure. Besides, season one already left a bad taste in my mouth. Dropped.
Blood Lad- A pretty entertaining show, despite being somewhat unoriginal in its premise. The comedy seems to be quite decent, so I'll probably keep on watching.
Update: Average, yet enjoyable. It's one of those series where I watch it solely for the mindless gags.
TWGOK III- Probably my second most anticipated series after Monogatari S2. I'm definitely excited for the Goddess arc, but at the same time I can't help but feel a little disappointed that so much content has been skipped. Hopefully, they won't rush this adaptation. As long as it stays consistent with the manga, it should be highly enjoyable.
Watamote- Good comedy mixed with a likable protagonist. Should be a consistently entertaining show.
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory- Cute girls, but seems pretty trite otherwise. Going to give it a few more episodes.
Update: It's not keeping my attention well at all. All the fanservice also feels distracting and unnecessary. Not motivated to watch more. Dropped.
Kimi no Iru Machi- Awfully generic characters, along with a mediocre plot; seems to be a subpar adaptation. Going to give it one more episode.
Update: The main heroine is actually semi-likable. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is kinda boring and the story feels disjointed from the perspective of an anime only viewer. Dropped.
Danganronpa- A mediocre pilot, yet still enjoyable with its horror theme. The survival theme premise seems to be overly abundant nowadays... Has the potential to be interesting if characters turn out to be likable.
Update: It's progressively becoming more interesting. The presentation seems to be a bit sloppy, though.
Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi- Certainly has the potential to be interesting, but it's not exactly fulfilling yet.
Update: It's turning out to be a very fine series. Episode 3 had some really nice drama. Hope it will continue to deliver this kind of quality from here on.
Monogatari Second Season- Very enjoyable in its comedy and characters. The fanservice is a bit gratuitous at times, but it does not detract from the overall enjoyment in any way. It'll more than likely turn out to be the best show of the season from a subjective, sentimental perspective. More Senjougahara screentime is always a plus.
Fate/kaleid- Neither original nor particularly entertaining. Can't say I liked it. Dropped.
Highschool Dxd New- Pure fanservice really isn't my thing, especially when the protagonist is a lewd, typical teenager without any other striking features. Sure, the girls are all sexy, but I don't intend to follow it just for the salacious guilty pleasure. Besides, season one already left a bad taste in my mouth. Dropped.
Blood Lad- A pretty entertaining show, despite being somewhat unoriginal in its premise. The comedy seems to be quite decent, so I'll probably keep on watching.
Update: Average, yet enjoyable. It's one of those series where I watch it solely for the mindless gags.
TWGOK III- Probably my second most anticipated series after Monogatari S2. I'm definitely excited for the Goddess arc, but at the same time I can't help but feel a little disappointed that so much content has been skipped. Hopefully, they won't rush this adaptation. As long as it stays consistent with the manga, it should be highly enjoyable.
Watamote- Good comedy mixed with a likable protagonist. Should be a consistently entertaining show.
Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory- Cute girls, but seems pretty trite otherwise. Going to give it a few more episodes.
Update: It's not keeping my attention well at all. All the fanservice also feels distracting and unnecessary. Not motivated to watch more. Dropped.
Kimi no Iru Machi- Awfully generic characters, along with a mediocre plot; seems to be a subpar adaptation. Going to give it one more episode.
Update: The main heroine is actually semi-likable. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast is kinda boring and the story feels disjointed from the perspective of an anime only viewer. Dropped.
Posted by Dashiawia | Jul 5, 2013 10:03 AM | 0 comments