February 21st, 2022
Talking about favorite studio
Anime Relations: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season Part 2
I probably don't have a "favorite studio" because usually I won't check an anime's studio to estimate its quality. That said...
In the 10 anime I named as "my favorites", 4 were made by Madhouse Studio.
Monster
Gunslinger Girl
One Punch Man
Hunter X Hunter 2011
In the 10 anime I named as "my favorites", 2 was made by Wit Studio.
After the Rain
Vivy
1 Was made by Tatsunoko Production:
Tekkaman Blade
1 Was made by Studio Ghibli:
Mononoke Hime
1 was made by Clovers Studio:
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl
1 was made by White Fox Studio:
Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2
So I guess my favorite studio is Madhouse followed by Wit Studio.
If I gather all the anime that received 9 and above to check their studios, would that change?
In the 10 anime I named as "my favorites", 4 were made by Madhouse Studio.
Monster
Gunslinger Girl
One Punch Man
Hunter X Hunter 2011
In the 10 anime I named as "my favorites", 2 was made by Wit Studio.
After the Rain
Vivy
1 Was made by Tatsunoko Production:
Tekkaman Blade
1 Was made by Studio Ghibli:
Mononoke Hime
1 was made by Clovers Studio:
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl
1 was made by White Fox Studio:
Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2
So I guess my favorite studio is Madhouse followed by Wit Studio.
If I gather all the anime that received 9 and above to check their studios, would that change?
Posted by JoexySun | Feb 21, 2022 1:08 AM | 0 comments
February 19th, 2022
Check out my Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2 review!
Anime Relations: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season Part 2
Check out my Re:Zero Season 2 Part 2 review here!
https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=435556
And feel free to rant about why you disagree, or better, click "helpful" if you find it helpful.
https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=435556
And feel free to rant about why you disagree, or better, click "helpful" if you find it helpful.
Posted by JoexySun | Feb 19, 2022 12:47 AM | 0 comments
February 18th, 2022
A few thoughts on the isekai genre and Re:Zero
Anime Relations: Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu
I finished the 1st season of Re:Zero this week. It's quite a show and honestly maybe the only isekai I care to watch in some time.
Guess it's time to articulate my reasons for shunning the isekai genre. First, most of the isekais I encountered, just by reading the basic synopsis or introduction, gives a redundant feeling. It usually involves a typical high-schooler getting teleported to a D&D-based world and the adventure follows video-game logics. By "redundant", I mean why should I watch some other loser playing a goofy D&D game when I (maybe another loser) can just hop in an actual video game with better graphics, writing and interactivity? Guess we are indeed living in an age where we are somehow inclined to watch someone else reacting to a show rather than watching that show ourselves. Nonetheless, I try to fight that tendency.
Second, the isekai premise inevitably involves the most blatant form of escapism and power fantasy. No matter how you spin it, and despite the actual quality of the show within the criteria of this genre, this is always going to be an issue. Re:Zero is no exception, but at least it tried to address the consequences of relying on such power fantasies.
Third, this genre usually rides on a set of assumed rules or D&D worldviews. The advantage of that is many elements require little-to-no explanations, and the author can just conveniently write "the mage restores 20 points of mana by drinking blue potion" and get away with it. However, this often resulted in arbitrary power scales, combat systems and poor worldbuilding. In the end, the market is saturated with homogenized isekais, with only minimum differences. Would you like to watch someone reborn as a slime monster? No? How about someone reborn as a dude with a shield? No? How about another race/specialty? For me, it's comparable to having your appetite lost just reading a menu with minimum variety.
I am partially relying on the MAL ratings for very carefully selecting the isekais I watch. But if my friends would like to hit me with their favorite isekai, I'd love to hear your recommendations as well.
Cheers and have a nice weekend.
Guess it's time to articulate my reasons for shunning the isekai genre. First, most of the isekais I encountered, just by reading the basic synopsis or introduction, gives a redundant feeling. It usually involves a typical high-schooler getting teleported to a D&D-based world and the adventure follows video-game logics. By "redundant", I mean why should I watch some other loser playing a goofy D&D game when I (maybe another loser) can just hop in an actual video game with better graphics, writing and interactivity? Guess we are indeed living in an age where we are somehow inclined to watch someone else reacting to a show rather than watching that show ourselves. Nonetheless, I try to fight that tendency.
Second, the isekai premise inevitably involves the most blatant form of escapism and power fantasy. No matter how you spin it, and despite the actual quality of the show within the criteria of this genre, this is always going to be an issue. Re:Zero is no exception, but at least it tried to address the consequences of relying on such power fantasies.
Third, this genre usually rides on a set of assumed rules or D&D worldviews. The advantage of that is many elements require little-to-no explanations, and the author can just conveniently write "the mage restores 20 points of mana by drinking blue potion" and get away with it. However, this often resulted in arbitrary power scales, combat systems and poor worldbuilding. In the end, the market is saturated with homogenized isekais, with only minimum differences. Would you like to watch someone reborn as a slime monster? No? How about someone reborn as a dude with a shield? No? How about another race/specialty? For me, it's comparable to having your appetite lost just reading a menu with minimum variety.
I am partially relying on the MAL ratings for very carefully selecting the isekais I watch. But if my friends would like to hit me with their favorite isekai, I'd love to hear your recommendations as well.
Cheers and have a nice weekend.
Posted by JoexySun | Feb 18, 2022 4:41 PM | 0 comments
February 16th, 2022
The other day I saw a review of Monster......
Anime Relations: Monster
I just encountered this random review of Naoki Urasawa's Monster. The reviewer gave the show a 1/10, calling out its outdated 4:3 picture ratio, grey-ish color palette, etc. With 9 episodes in, the reviewer found the show unbearable, especially since he found Dr. Tenma's struggle unrealistic.
Well, I guess to each of their own, I cannot call the reviewer's points invalid, since that's their real feelings and reactions. As one of the top-rated shows here on MAL, Monster is bound to invite some contrarians and active haters, like any other shows on the top-rated list.
Personally, I don't see the point of actively hating a show or trying to track down/downvote popular shows out of trite.
However, it's also possible the reviewer went in with genuine 10/10 expectations and struggled to connect with the show on any level. That would be totally understandable. Then again, I very rarely give ratings lower than 5. If I were an animator or staff on a show, and had found out that the show I worked my hairs off for was given a 4/10 just because one soundtrack is not the reviewer's cup of tea, I wouldn't be able to imagine the sheer frustration.
And now I am tempted to write a detailed review of Monster justifying my rating.
Well, I guess to each of their own, I cannot call the reviewer's points invalid, since that's their real feelings and reactions. As one of the top-rated shows here on MAL, Monster is bound to invite some contrarians and active haters, like any other shows on the top-rated list.
Personally, I don't see the point of actively hating a show or trying to track down/downvote popular shows out of trite.
However, it's also possible the reviewer went in with genuine 10/10 expectations and struggled to connect with the show on any level. That would be totally understandable. Then again, I very rarely give ratings lower than 5. If I were an animator or staff on a show, and had found out that the show I worked my hairs off for was given a 4/10 just because one soundtrack is not the reviewer's cup of tea, I wouldn't be able to imagine the sheer frustration.
And now I am tempted to write a detailed review of Monster justifying my rating.
Posted by JoexySun | Feb 16, 2022 1:33 PM | 0 comments
February 5th, 2022
When you put a lot of thoughts into a review...
Anime Relations: Psycho-Pass
But it got sandwiched between 2 spam reviews, it gets really frustrating. No wonder some of my anime pals are decisively anti-MAL.
Still, check out my review of Psycho-Pass Season 1.
Short Review: Psycho-Pass Season 1 is a great Sci-fi thriller with some serious issues. It's thought-provoking and extensively debatable. For that quality alone, it's quite an accomplishment. However, the show lacks basic consistency in its world-building, and that's a fatal flaw for a hardcore cyberpunk story. The main antagonist is actually written as an antihero, and that resulted in his vile crimes and total disregard for human life being slighted, while his stunted ideology being idealized. For these problems, I cannot honestly give it a thumb-up.
Baseline quality: 8.5/10. Dragged down to 7.2/10 by the aforementioned issues.
What worked really well for me:
+ Quite an effective thriller. From early episodes' detective procedure to explosive actions in the later parts, it's a compelling narrative that maintained its momentum.
+ Visually striking. The first episode, with over-the-top depiction of authoritarian brutality and exploding human bodies, sets the tone for the story. The dystopian and rainy tone like Blade Runner is maintained throughout the season, with enough visual flares in the mix.
+ Some likeable main characters. Shinya Kougami, Tomomi Masaoka and Yayoi Kunizuka are mostly well-written heroes with complex and interesting background stories.
+ Thought-provoking and highly debatable. Whether you agree or like the philosophy of this anime, one has to admit it provokes enough reflections and debates about technology, social justice and the notion of freedom. It feels like the writer designed the show to be controversial, and that helped it to maintain its relevancy in the online culture until this day. (for a show from a decade ago, it's still the No.53 most popular anime on MAL).
What did not work for me:
- Worldbuilding. For great cyberpunk/high-concept sci-fi shows, each new piece of info, technology or new location and character would add a little more depth and believability to its world. Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell (the main movies and Stand Alone Complex series), Blame! and Knights of Sidonia all have very convincing sci-fi worldbuilding. On the contrast, for each new location or new clue, the world of Psycho-pass progressively becomes less believable and eventually crumbled down for me. The show presupposes a depressing dystopian future Japan under the iron fist of a single entity--the all-seeing Sibyl system that directly monitors everyone's mind/mood. Once you show enough violent or dangerous tendency, the system will flag you for isolation and treatment, and a certain threshold would mark you as targets to be "excluded". Quite compelling, isn't it? However, the story quickly introduces "blind zones" out of Sibyl's sight (which already defeats Sibyl's goal of total control). Later, the show introduces its main antagonist with the intention to expose the moral dissonance/dystopian aspects created by Sibyl's flaws. The problem is, if you even ponder on the Sibyl system for 5 minutes, you would find enough bugs or loopholes for Sibyl to crash within the first month of its run. For instance, why would the enforcer weapon execute the targets in the most graphical way (other than for shock value to impress modern audience) when Sibyl was designed to maintain total social stability and equilibrium? The ripple effect of witnessing an execution for bystanders can send hundreds into isolation, with thousands of family members emotionally jeopardized as well. When the show reaches its central twist reveal, the shock value was also turned all the way to 11, while logical consistency takes a sharp drop. These issues only accumulated as more seasons and movies were made, but that's for another review.
- Problematic depiction of antisocial crimes and consequences. The show frames its central antagonist, Shougo Makishima, as an antihero and went all out to depict him as the epitome of "free soul" or "freedom fighter". When his storyline reaches its end, his death is even framed as some kind of noble martyrdom. Enthralling? Yes. Controversial? Definitely. Deep? Probably not. Telling stories from the perspective of criminal with stunted ideologies is nothing new. The Hannibal stories, Dexter and Death Note, for example, did it way before Psycho-pass. Combined with the worldbuilding issues, when Makishima "heroically" tries to tear down Sibyl's hypocrisy and the dystopia it created, the writer's intended response from audience was probably "wow, Makishima has a point". But my thoughts were "Hmmm, it's a miracle this broken system has been running for decades, and that makes Makishima--even if he is the embodiment of the antithesis of Sibyl, not very believable or compelling". The biggest issue I have with Makishima, is the slighting of his vile crimes as the story progresses. Not to mention that Makishima feels like a watered-down Johan from "Monster", albeit without the real historical and societal roots.
- Similar problem happened to the female lead, Akane Tsunemori. The first half of the season vaguely suggested an interesting backstory for her, and I was waiting for a twist reveal regarding her identity/nature/upbringing towards the end of season. However, that never happened. Akane ended up a "righteous robot" kind of character serving as the instrument of "necessary compromise" between Sibyl and real justice.
- For a show designed to create controversy, it lacks the sincerity to maintain fair and respectful dialogues with its viewers. For comparison, Minority Report maintained a fair and balanced philosophical debate/dialogue between pro-precog and anti-precog sides (and a subtle dialogue with the audience) towards the very end. I don't mind Psycho-Pass intensively borrowing from Minority Report or other famous works, but I do mind its disrespectful and unconvincing arguments.
With all these issues combined, I believe it's reasonable to question if the writer wrote this story with any goodwill towards audience or humanity at large. (Note that Psycho-Pass is not some teenager's angst-driven fiction, but from a prolific writer boasting depth in social commentary in his 40s) Ironically, among this writer's works I have seen, Psycho-Pass is still probably the most well-rounded. I have to apologize to the enthusiastic fans, but I don't find Psycho-Pass to be among the best sci-fi/cyberpunk shows.
Still, check out my review of Psycho-Pass Season 1.
Short Review: Psycho-Pass Season 1 is a great Sci-fi thriller with some serious issues. It's thought-provoking and extensively debatable. For that quality alone, it's quite an accomplishment. However, the show lacks basic consistency in its world-building, and that's a fatal flaw for a hardcore cyberpunk story. The main antagonist is actually written as an antihero, and that resulted in his vile crimes and total disregard for human life being slighted, while his stunted ideology being idealized. For these problems, I cannot honestly give it a thumb-up.
Baseline quality: 8.5/10. Dragged down to 7.2/10 by the aforementioned issues.
What worked really well for me:
+ Quite an effective thriller. From early episodes' detective procedure to explosive actions in the later parts, it's a compelling narrative that maintained its momentum.
+ Visually striking. The first episode, with over-the-top depiction of authoritarian brutality and exploding human bodies, sets the tone for the story. The dystopian and rainy tone like Blade Runner is maintained throughout the season, with enough visual flares in the mix.
+ Some likeable main characters. Shinya Kougami, Tomomi Masaoka and Yayoi Kunizuka are mostly well-written heroes with complex and interesting background stories.
+ Thought-provoking and highly debatable. Whether you agree or like the philosophy of this anime, one has to admit it provokes enough reflections and debates about technology, social justice and the notion of freedom. It feels like the writer designed the show to be controversial, and that helped it to maintain its relevancy in the online culture until this day. (for a show from a decade ago, it's still the No.53 most popular anime on MAL).
What did not work for me:
- Worldbuilding. For great cyberpunk/high-concept sci-fi shows, each new piece of info, technology or new location and character would add a little more depth and believability to its world. Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell (the main movies and Stand Alone Complex series), Blame! and Knights of Sidonia all have very convincing sci-fi worldbuilding. On the contrast, for each new location or new clue, the world of Psycho-pass progressively becomes less believable and eventually crumbled down for me. The show presupposes a depressing dystopian future Japan under the iron fist of a single entity--the all-seeing Sibyl system that directly monitors everyone's mind/mood. Once you show enough violent or dangerous tendency, the system will flag you for isolation and treatment, and a certain threshold would mark you as targets to be "excluded". Quite compelling, isn't it? However, the story quickly introduces "blind zones" out of Sibyl's sight (which already defeats Sibyl's goal of total control). Later, the show introduces its main antagonist with the intention to expose the moral dissonance/dystopian aspects created by Sibyl's flaws. The problem is, if you even ponder on the Sibyl system for 5 minutes, you would find enough bugs or loopholes for Sibyl to crash within the first month of its run. For instance, why would the enforcer weapon execute the targets in the most graphical way (other than for shock value to impress modern audience) when Sibyl was designed to maintain total social stability and equilibrium? The ripple effect of witnessing an execution for bystanders can send hundreds into isolation, with thousands of family members emotionally jeopardized as well. When the show reaches its central twist reveal, the shock value was also turned all the way to 11, while logical consistency takes a sharp drop. These issues only accumulated as more seasons and movies were made, but that's for another review.
- Problematic depiction of antisocial crimes and consequences. The show frames its central antagonist, Shougo Makishima, as an antihero and went all out to depict him as the epitome of "free soul" or "freedom fighter". When his storyline reaches its end, his death is even framed as some kind of noble martyrdom. Enthralling? Yes. Controversial? Definitely. Deep? Probably not. Telling stories from the perspective of criminal with stunted ideologies is nothing new. The Hannibal stories, Dexter and Death Note, for example, did it way before Psycho-pass. Combined with the worldbuilding issues, when Makishima "heroically" tries to tear down Sibyl's hypocrisy and the dystopia it created, the writer's intended response from audience was probably "wow, Makishima has a point". But my thoughts were "Hmmm, it's a miracle this broken system has been running for decades, and that makes Makishima--even if he is the embodiment of the antithesis of Sibyl, not very believable or compelling". The biggest issue I have with Makishima, is the slighting of his vile crimes as the story progresses. Not to mention that Makishima feels like a watered-down Johan from "Monster", albeit without the real historical and societal roots.
- Similar problem happened to the female lead, Akane Tsunemori. The first half of the season vaguely suggested an interesting backstory for her, and I was waiting for a twist reveal regarding her identity/nature/upbringing towards the end of season. However, that never happened. Akane ended up a "righteous robot" kind of character serving as the instrument of "necessary compromise" between Sibyl and real justice.
- For a show designed to create controversy, it lacks the sincerity to maintain fair and respectful dialogues with its viewers. For comparison, Minority Report maintained a fair and balanced philosophical debate/dialogue between pro-precog and anti-precog sides (and a subtle dialogue with the audience) towards the very end. I don't mind Psycho-Pass intensively borrowing from Minority Report or other famous works, but I do mind its disrespectful and unconvincing arguments.
With all these issues combined, I believe it's reasonable to question if the writer wrote this story with any goodwill towards audience or humanity at large. (Note that Psycho-Pass is not some teenager's angst-driven fiction, but from a prolific writer boasting depth in social commentary in his 40s) Ironically, among this writer's works I have seen, Psycho-Pass is still probably the most well-rounded. I have to apologize to the enthusiastic fans, but I don't find Psycho-Pass to be among the best sci-fi/cyberpunk shows.
Posted by JoexySun | Feb 5, 2022 10:08 PM | 0 comments