| Finished TriageX last night, the first 2 maybe 3 episodes admittedly caught my interest and I actually enjoyed. A group of vigilantes who hunt and remove the evil part of society with brightly colored fight scenes and plenty of fan service (woman in this show are freakishly out of proportion to almost to comedic bit level). The show quickly went off the rails as painful back stories were expounded and an evil nemesis organization was encountered, also there was a shady ex member who randomly surfaced. Show was plagued by strong atmosphere of violence against women and the idea that most if not all women are there for male sexual gratification. It wore me down as the series progressed and did little to enhance the story, back stories, or give the villains a deeper depth of evil (as most of the villains were female). Was definitely drop able but the hope it would get back on track and it's short run (10 episode) kept me through the end. Final episode fight scene was lack luster with no resolution to the plot or to the character stories. I am a very kind grader and still gave this 4/10 with little to offer to ecchi or action fans. Poorly execution of a mid level idea, only Gunslinger Stratos keeps this from being the worst of the current season. A spoiler free picture from the end scene.  |
Bunch1335 said: Jym said: did my taste in Anime disappoint you? I really did enjoy the series. PS I love Squid Girl Nah not really, each their own, just surprised, seemed like it was one of the most reviled shows of last season (was it last season, I think it was). I think you are the first voice I've heard that enjoyed. Of course it goes with out saying that haters are definitely more vocal then others on the internet. Cross Ange was a Fall/Winter 2-cour. I know some other people who liked it. I never saw it myself, but the consensus as far as I can tell is that if you can get through the first few episodes (and particularly the end of episode 1, which was a deal-breaker for a lot of people), you're rewarded with a series that became really good. It's kind of like Saekano from the Winter season in that respect. Saekano's prologue episode turned a lot of people off, but the rest of the series was one of the sharpest and most cleverly written anime comedies I've seen in a long time. In that example you can even see the difference since MAL has separate entries for the prologue and main series. The prologue rating is 7.02, while the main series rating is 7.83. |
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| Actually quite a few, really. I've been busy cleaning out some of the shorter titles from my PTW List, and what better way than to actually watch them! I know. Weird idea, right? Hello Harinezumi: Satsui no Ryoubun Browsing around KissAnime one day, just seeing what there was to see, and I noticed this little gem sitting around very unloved and very unnoticed. As I'm a fan of police procedurals, I figured I'd give it a shot. And it was actually pretty good. The basic plot setup is this: A woman goes into a detective agency and hires them to look for the husband that has been missing for the last three years. She had just seen his face on a poster that said he was wanted in suspicion of murder... Then the plot takes off from there. Hello Hedgehog had a few great touches to it, and at times felt like an old film noir detective story like Sunset Boulevard. It wasn't quite as hardboiled, though it did contain a couple of twists that would have made old Dashiel Hammett proud. This wasn't earth-shatteringly awesome or anything, yet it is the type of anime I've been craving for a very long time. If only it was more popular, I'd be asking for recommendations based on it. As it is, it's definitely taken a prominent place in my Most Loved Obscure Anime list. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Fans of shows like Law & Order. Lingerie Senshi Papillon Rose Um... Yeah... No. I'm not going to bother trying to describe this one's plot, except to say that it's an ecchi mahou shoujo parody that rips directly into Sailor Moon. It definitely will be showing up in any future discussion about anime that are so bad they become good. Score: 4/10 Recommendation level: People who thought Puni Puni Poemii wasn't serious enough. After that particular trainwreck, I felt the need for something a bit more serious. And my PTW List didn't contain many things more serious than the Aoi Bungaku Series Yeah. This definitely was no Papillon Rose. A collection of six classic Japanese stories, Aoi Bungaku was not your typical happiness-and-friendship anime. These are dark anime. Very dark. Exceptionally dark, even. No Longer Human: A boy has felt so removed from society that he considers himself as not worthy of being human. Depression, alcoholism, drugs, suicide, and feelings of absolute worthlessness are the main themes. And they are far from subtle. (10/10) In the Forest, Under Cherries in Full Bloom: A forest bandit happens across a young maiden. After cutting down the men that were with her, he takes her back to his home to add her to his harem. And then things go horribly weird... (8/10) Kokoro: A tale in two parts, relating to the events of two friends. One is told from the point of view of Sensei, a confident man who is willing to go after exactly what he wants. The other is told from the point of the very pessimistic K. These two episodes tell the same story through each of those men's eyes, and the contrast between them is startling. (9/10) Run, Melos!: A writer is tasked to write a play based on an adaptation of a classic Greek legend. And as he writes, he starts to see parallels with events of his own past. (10/10) The Spider's Thread: A cruel and despicable thief chooses not to kill a spider. Later, the spider god returns the kindness. To give any more about this would be to spoil things. (7/10) Hell Screen: The emperor commissions a renowned artist to decorate a mausoleum with the glorious sights of his empire. Yet the artist can only paint what he has seen with his own eyes... (9/10) Total score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Yes. Simply yes. Absolutely yes. 3x3 Eyes Pure 90s anime at its most weird. Enjoyable, but weird. In fact, it's so weird that I can't even describe it in a coherent fashion anymore. I've tried. I've really tried. But I've been deleting this section far too many times, and I should just give up by now. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: People who like early-90s OVAs. Or weird things. Aside from that... Area 88 Two friends go out drinking one night in Paris. One, Shin Kazama, is at the top of his class and has a bright future ahead of him. The other, Satoru Kanzaki, is still pretty competent and also has a bright future ahead. Yet only one of those futures will be realized after this night. This was a glorious GAR-filled spectacle. Some anime get things done the GAR way with fists. Some anime get things done the GAR way with cars. This one? This one gets things done the GAR way with jet fighters. And lots of them, each one faithfully drawn to be the spitting image of their real-world counterparts. Oh, and also with back-stabbing sons of bitches. But I won't mention that part. You want explosions? You get explosions. You want the harsh realities of war? You get the harsh realities of war. You want to see someone deep in the throes of PTSD? Yeah, you get that as well. You want to see prominent characters blown out of the sky? You get that too. You want to see what happens when nice people are forced to become mercenary bastards in order to simply live another day? You definitely get that. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Old-school GAR. On-deck: A light palate-cleanser with Natsuiro Kiseki, and then on to Choujikuu Seiki Orguss. |
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OffColfax said: Lingerie Senshi Papillon Rose Um... Yeah... No. I'm not going to bother trying to describe this one's plot, except to say that it's an ecchi mahou shoujo parody that rips directly into Sailor Moon. It definitely will be showing up in any future discussion about anime that are so bad they become good. Score: 4/10 Recommendation level: People who thought Puni Puni Poemii wasn't serious enough. I kinda like shows that are so bad they're fun to watch so I put this on my PTW list. Thanks |
| Kakurenbo Found it in OffColfax recently completed post and decided to give it a try. A bunch of kids is going to play hide-and-seek in some supposedly haunted part of town. And when they start "playing" a strange things starts to happen. A very intriguing and unique concept behind the story. I watched it twice and still doesn't understand it completely :-) I would love to see a feature film or full TV series with this concept. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Worth the time to watch it. Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken I was browsing the net and after following one of the links I ended on Crunchyroll web page. There I randomly picked one anime, guess which one :-) So the anime follows a daily life of Kaoru and her otaku husband, Hajime. The story is hilarious, with many references to other anime :-) Animation is good, no drawbacks noticed. There is no soundtrack or I didn't noticed any, but ending song is quite catchy. Overall good, short anime. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: You need only 45 minutes to watch all 13 episodes :-) Slayers Next "Have you ever seen one of those anime with tentacles?". If someone asked me this question a few days ago, I would answer "No, I haven't. Moreover, I'm not planing to do so in foreseeable future.". Well, future is unpredictable and so I have to admit "Yes, I have seen one of those anime.". You will understand what I'm saying once you watch this show :-) Everything I wrote for prequel is still true, except the story, which is better in this sequel. If it only had better animation I would easily gave it 9/10. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Everyone must see at least one anime with tentacles :D Slayers Return Another prequel movie to TV series. Adventures of Lina and Naga continues :-) There are moments where animation is very good, much better than in TV series. Unfortunately story in this movie is not so good. Nonetheless still enjoyable :-) Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Only for slayers fans. On deck: Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken 2 Sure-me, Slayers Great, Slayers Try. |
mozgowJun 21, 2015 10:34 PM
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| Natsuiro Kiseki I chose this as a bit of a palate cleanser. After slapping myself with a bunch of really heavy titles last week, I needed something to just chill out and relax for a while. And while this wasn't exactly the summer-colored miracle I was hoping for, it served well its purpose. Brief description of the setup: A group of friends find out that one of them will be moving to (what is still technically) Tokyo at the end of summer. And, because they want to have a lot of fun in the meantime, they set out to do a whole bunch of things. One of those things happens to be about a gigantic rock in the middle of the temple grounds. Rumor has it that, if four friends wish for the same thing on that rock, all the wishes will come true. Bored yet? Of course you are. You're reading one of my comments. Not exactly the most exciting thing on the planet... But I digress. This felt like a cross between the fun parts of Ano Natsu de Matteru and the boring parts of Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko: close friends having fun while supernatural events screw with them. When it was fun, it was really exceptionally fun. When it was boring, it wasn't worth much at all. Fortunately, the fun parts outweighed the boring parts. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Fans of cute-girls-doing-cute-things. Choujikyuu Seiki Orguss Status: 6/35 A bit of old-school 80s anime, this was written by the same guy that wrote Macross. It was also directed by Ishiguro Noboru, the same man who directed Legend of Galactic Heroes, Macross, the Astro Boy movie from 1980, and Space Battleship Yamato. You know, nothing you've ever heard of or anything like that... It's been fairly slow going, though. But there's plenty of time for this to amaze me, so I'm not terribly disappointed yet. Projected Score: TBD On-deck: the Madoka movies. |
OffColfax said: Lingerie Senshi Papillon Rose Um... Yeah... No. I'm not going to bother trying to describe this one's plot, except to say that it's an ecchi mahou shoujo parody that rips directly into Sailor Moon. It definitely will be showing up in any future discussion about anime that are so bad they become good. Just watched this and it was very entertaining in a reallly awfull kind of way. First time I ever saw a Siamese Cat give a guy a BJ! :-) Thanks Off for the rec. Now to catch the rest of the series. |
Jym said: Just watched this and it was very entertaining in a reallly awfull kind of way. First time I ever saw a Siamese Cat give a guy a BJ! :-) Thanks Off for the rec. Now to catch the rest of the series. You're welcome, and I'm so sorry. |
| Sakasama no Patema: Beginning of the Day Discovered that there is a prequel to Sakasama no Patema and was wondering what it is about. Well, it's just first 20 minutes of the movie but I watched it anyway :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: It was nice to see Patema again. Riding Bean Bean Bandit is a driver for hire, to deliver you or your cargo anywhere you want. That is if you can afford his rates. The story begins when he is hired to "deliver" a girl that has been recently kidnapped (but managed to escape) to her home. Well, almost nothing goes as he planned... Even though it was released in 1989 it has the best quality of the '90s. There are some drawbacks in the animation but vast majority of anime from that time has the same flaws. So nothing to complain here. Soundtrack is good, but you need to concentrate to notice it. As for the characters, only two main ones have enough screen time and are made believable. The rest are not bad, but they could have more screen time. Finally the story, which is quite intriguing and enjoyable. The car chases are very good (oh man, they bring memories of old TV series :-)), as are gunshots and dialogues (quite humorous at times). The only drawback is that is damn too short :-) It looks like a pilot to a TV series. Sore: 8/10 Recommendation level: Very entertaining and worth the time you need to watch it. Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken 2 Sure-me First ongoing series I watched in years (since Bleach). Almost the same as prequel. Very good animation, good soundtrack and characters, and quite good story. Well, it's only 6 minutes per episode :-) Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: You need only 45 minutes to watch whole season. Slayers Great Another instalment of Slayers franchise. This time Lina and Naga got involved in some crazy competition. Again, animation is a bit better than in previous movie. The rest is just old good Slayers :-) Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Probably only for Slayers fans. Slayers Gorgeous Yet another Slayers movie :-) This one is much better than previous in almost everything. Animation is very good (those spells), as are supporting characters (Lord Calvert and Marlene). Even the plot twist is really good (Gaizno looked suspicious from the start but still was surprised by what happened). Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Not only for Slayers fans. Plastic Nee-san The story is about Genma Iroe, nicknamed nee-san and her friends from plastic models club. There is no consequent story, just random, hilarious episodes. Some are really great, some are just so-so. Overall good, enjoyable short anime. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Worst case scenario: You wasted 30 minutes of your life :-) Touhou Niji Sousaku Doujin Anime: Musou Kakyou The main protagonist of the series is Hakurei Reimu, a miko at the Hakurei Shrine, located at the border between Gensōkyō and the human world. One morning she discovers that her offering/donation box is missing. She decides to investigate the case, which will later be known as one of the "Incidents". Recommended by fellow UAS member. I watched it almost immediately and instantly felt in love with it :-) The story is not complete, with more episodes to come in the future. But what we can see so far gives hope for a great series. Animation is great, especially in the second and third episode. Spells, fights, backgrounds, everything looks almost perfect. Same goes for soundtrack and voice acting. The weakest part are the story and characters. By "weak" I mean "only" very good :-) Story is very intriguing but at the same time a bit confusing. As for the characters, there are quite many, so not all get enough screen time. My opinion will probably change once more episodes are released. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: A very good start to something that could be a great anime series. Slayers Premium The last movie in the Slayers franchise. Again animation is better, but unfortunately story is not so good. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Only if you like Slayers, otherwise don't bother. One deck: Slayers Try |
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| Choujikuu Seiki Orguss The second installment of the famed Super Dimension series, Orguss has almost everything it needs to be something extraordinary. It has the same creator as the acclaimed Macross. It has the same director that brought us Space Battleship Yamato, the Astro Boy movie, *and* Legend of Galactic Heroes. (Plus, to top it off, Ishigoru Noboru also managed the production of Mushishi. Just a little trivia answer for you.) It had a concept that blew my brains out with Composition 4 once I realized what the hell was happening. And it had one of the catchier EDs to come out of the 80s. Yet it is almost never heard of these days. It was even cut from the USian adaptation of the Super Dimensional series known as Robotech, with Genesis Climber MOSPEADA taking its place in the trilogy that helped bring anime into more of a mainstream status in the 80s, paving the way for Ranma, Dragon Ball, and Sailor Moon to take off like a rocket. So while Super Dimension Fortress Macross and, to a much lesser extent, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross went on to become pillars of anime history, Super Dimensional Century Orguss faded away to the point where even we older folks have to look it up to even know it exists. So what the hell went wrong? First, the animation. Even for a title from the 80s, there was something definitely wrong with Orguss. To the untrained eye, you could still tell that frames were dropped and cels were used multiple times in quick succession. For the more daily-life parts, it wasn't quite so bad. Yet during the frequent battle scenes, there were entire episodes where it was jumpier than a 5th grader's cheap claymation video. And that's never a good sign. It certainly didn't meet with the standards set by the other two Super Dimension titles. Second, the plot. To use a modern saying, Orguss was definitely an anime that lost its way. They were too busy throwing new things at the main characters to bother actually sewing up the previous storylines. By the end, there were more plothooks dangling in Orguss than there were participles dangling in an 6th grade book report. I can't even bother to go back and count how many times I said "But what about insert-plot-point-here? Are they going to do something with that, or is it just going to sit there and do nothing?" And those that *did* get capped off were mere handwaves that left you with no real sense of resolution. Third, the ending. Even more than the animation, this was a definite signal that the staff simply stopped caring about this anime and just wanted it shoved through as painlessly as possible. They had lost all semblance of the plot and couldn't find a way to bring it down to a final conclusion. And, even more than the animation, this was what killed Orguss' place in Robotech. After all, you can't have a show continue on after the two main characters go back in time and kill themselves, can you? Exactly. The only things that kept Orguss from being a complete waste of time? First, the story idea itself. Set off a bomb that distorts space and time so badly that multiple alternate dimensions get mushed together like a ball of clay? Mind = blown. Each version of Earth was amazingly detailed, with little history pieces and evolutionary drifts that made them all exceptionally unique and satsifying. Second, the characters. While Katsuragi Kei was the same generic brash hero MC that we all know today, the side characters all had bits and pieces to them that made them even larger than the MC himself. They carried the show, while Kei just sat there and looked foolish for most of the series. So yeah. There really was a reason why this was dropped from Robotech. And I have absolutely no complaint about it. Score: 5/10 Recommendation level: Only serious completionists need apply. Oira Uchuu no Tankoufu A little two-episode OVA that got cancelled, this also could have been so much more than it was. I could see little glimmers of something that would be great, yet they were overshadowed by more than a few physicsLOL moments that blew aside any chance this show had of continuing. And when OVAs actually came out on video cassettes, it was a really major problem when something like this doesn't sell well. Which is a shame. Because I would have really liked to see where it was going. But there's only so much analysis you can do with only an incomplete story to go on. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: Curious people. Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Movie 1: Hajimari no Monogatari Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Movie 2: Eien no Monogatari So yeah. I figure it's been a couple of years since I saw the TV version. It's probably been long enough that I've forgotten enough to be able to enjoy the Madoka movies at their fullest. Right? Right? Ummm... Right? Not really, no. Well, not about the enjoyment part. That part did just fine, thank you very much! The forgetting part, on the other hand... That didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped. During the first movie in particular, I was not only able to mentally go through plot points to rell myself what was coming up next but also was able to notice the places where fat had been trimmed in order to bring the running time down from 8 episodes long to (plus or minus OP/ED times) around 5 episodes. And while the second movie wasn't quite so bad, I could even tell exactly where they had *added* a scene or two with a slightly out-of-sync voiceover to bridge the gaps. So basically, I'm trying to say that there is little functional difference between watching the Madoka TV series and the first two Madoka movies. If you do one, you really don't need to do the other. And this is particularly true if ou just *now* finished one of them. And so, because they're the same, then they get the same score as the original series with a little mental asterick saying that the first movie is precisely how to edit down a well-respected TV show to a movie length. Scores: 8/10 Recommendation level: Only if you a) haven't watched the TV series yet or b) it's been too long for you to remember the TV series. On-deck: Madoka Rebellion, the KissxSis OVA, a couple of other OVAs and specials that I've been putting off for a while, and soon-to-be Completed Anime #599 *So Ra No Wo To* in prepraration for Completed Anime #600... Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Next update on Tuesday, as I go through the previous season. Well... Tuesday-ish. Maybe Thursday-ish. Who knows. Special edit: Aika Zero http://i.imgur.com/L0xyKWD.png Score: lewd/10 Recommendation level: Sunday brunch with the in-laws. |
OffColfaxJun 29, 2015 4:45 AM
| Okay, wow, so it's been a long time. Since I've mostly only been watching the spring season anime I haven't had many other completions to report, but with the season coming to an end I suddenly have a bunch. So I think I'll do this in two parts, one part today and the second part later this week after Euphonium wraps up. So...for this post I'll cover the five spring anime that I can officially put a bow on. In descending order of how I rank them: Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In a Dungeon? The plot in one sentence: When a boy has his life saved by one of the world's most famous adventurers, he instantly falls in love with her and sets out to become her equal as an adventurer. My thoughts: While it never actually answers the title question, this charming and fun little fantasy series is a clear cut above most light novel adaptations. This is thanks mostly to the wonderful chemistry between its two main characters, Bell the rookie adventurer and his patron goddess Hestia (with the chest that launched a thousand boob-string fanarts). And it isn't all generic harem comedy stuff; they have a very healthy relationship where they genuinely care for and protect each other, more like close family members than anything else. Of course, Bell gains plenty of other female admirers as the series goes on, but it feels more like fangirls attracted to a celebrity than a true harem, and he never wavers in his own feelings for Aiz, the girl who saved him. Action fans won't have anything to complain about either, with lots of tense and exciting (and often well-animated) fights, and a few trips to the dungeon that become quite harrowing when Bell starts running low on hit points or magic. Overall a very solid, entertaining show that turned out to be a lot better than I expected. Score: 7/10 for now, probably bumping up to 8/10 if it gets a second season Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Vivid The plot in one sentence: In this fourth season of the Lyrical Nanoha franchise, Nanoha's daughter Vivio and her friends enter a martial arts competition for preteen and teen magical girls. My thoughts: I actually posted a full review of this series, which you can find here if you want to read it. In brief, it's effectively a Nanoha spinoff with a new main cast, and more of a shounen tournament battle series than a proper magical girl. I liked it, and Nanoha fans will probably find it worth watching if they don't mind the cast change, but Nanoha novices will just get lost and are much better off starting with season one instead. Score: 7/10, and this could also go up if a second season is announced Houkago no Pleiades The plot in one sentence: Magical girls are trying to gather the fragments of a spaceship engine so that a cute little octopus-looking alien can go home, but someone else also wants the fragments for his own mysterious purposes. My thoughts: A flawed but still entertaining series that might actually have more appeal to hard sci-fi fans and astronomy geeks than your typical mahou shoujo audience, as the show often delves into things like relativity theory, dark matter, star formation, black hole physics, and quantum mechanical probability theories. As a mahou shoujo, I saw a lot of influence from Cardcaptor Sakura and Shugo Chara, and it was much more cheerful/optimistic than most post-Madoka magical girl series have been, which I found very refreshing. It isn't as good as any of the three I just mentioned, but for what it sets out to do, it mostly succeeds. The animation's just average and the writing's a bit muddy until the last few episodes clear a lot of things up, but most of the background art is gorgeous and I love the soundtrack, which is primarily a mix of quiet pianos and ambient, Tangerine Dream-ish space music. Score: 6.5/10 Definitely stream-worthy, but I haven't decided yet if it's buy-worthy, hence the half-point. Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works Season 2 The plot in one sentence: The Holy Grail War continues and Shirou has to face the harsh reality of what clinging to his ideals will mean for him. My thoughts: Hoo boy. Well it looked gorgeous, I liked the fights, and I liked the soundtrack. But this half of it pretty badly mishandled Shirou and Rin's relationship (and Rin’s character in general), and if season 1 was missing a spark somewhere, most of this season was just plain flat. With one exception (involving Ilya), I had very little emotional engagement with almost anything that happened over the last 13 episodes. A disappointing ending for a series I looked forward to so much. Score: 6/10. And since I gave the first season 8/10, that's an overall 7/10 for the entire series. Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken 2 Sure-me The plot in one sentence: More slice-of-life shorts with our favorite married couple and their wacky family and friends. My thoughts: Not quite as consistently strong as the first season. This season had more episodes featuring the secondary characters, and most of those just weren't as good as the ones that kept their focus on Kaoru and Hajime. Score: 6/10, although it's really more like a 5.5. |
WingKingJun 28, 2015 9:51 PM
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| Okay, folks. Nobody asked for it, but you're getting it anyways! OC's Spring 2015 Anime Rankings! S-Tier (Score:9):
A-Tier (Score:8):
B-Tier (Score:7):
C-Tier (Score:6):
D-Tier (Score:5):
F-Tier (Score<5)
Not Included/To Be Marathoned
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| And now for the promised part 2. This catches up with the rest of the season's completed shows and everything else I've finished since the beginning of June. Sound! Euphonium The plot in one sentence: A year in the lives of a high school concert band. My Thoughts: Well, I've written reams about this show on other people's blogs; to keep this from turning into something the length of a graduate thesis, I loved it. The animation is gorgeous, the writing is superb, the characters - even most of the supporting cast - are rich and complex individuals with a wealth of development, and the soundtrack more than does justice to a music anime. There's so much storytelling that they do in this series without words, with things like facial expressions, body language, meaningful glances, lighting, music, and everything else, it's just amazing. And then some of the individual episodes...I think episode 8 might have been my favorite episode from any series all season, and if that wasn't it then it was probably episode 11. The competition performance itself in the last episode - as I again said elsewhere, that was KyoAni taking the bar for an anime concert scene that they set with Haruhi's "Live Alive" episode and raising it about three more notches. So yeah, Euphonium. Watch it. It's great. "But Wing," I hear you cry, "Who cares about all that stuff? What about the shipping?" Well for those who want my very, very lengthy thoughts on the shipping in this series (or specifically, the one ship most people care about), I wrote a MAL blog post to take care of that, so you can go read it there. Spoilers abound for those who haven’t watched the series. For everyone else, my final score is…. Score: 9/10, and easily my favorite anime of the year so far Kaitou Joker Season 2 The plot in one sentence: More phantom thief hijinks with Joker, Hachi, and the rest of the crew. My Thoughts: To quote myself from my comments on season one a couple of pages back, "Kaitou Joker won't be taken seriously by anime bloggers or critics, but it’s well worth picking up if you’ve had enough of heavy drama for a while and feel like taking a break with something light, entertaining, and just plain fun, especially if you enjoy crime caper shows anyway." The same remains true of season two, which I enjoyed even more than the first. The animation's only average, but the writing and direction are really sharp and the characters are irresistibly charming. For 26 episodes over two seasons, this series almost never failed to entertain me, and sometimes it even delivered some real gems, like its delightfully funny spoof of idol anime in episode 19. Really, what more can you ask of a series? Score: 7/10. I don't know if they'll make more seasons of this in the future (they may be running out of manga at this point), but if they ever do I'll gladly keep watching. Houkago no Pleiades (2011 ONA) The plot in one sentence: Same as Houkago no Pleiades 2015, two posts above My Thoughts: This four-episode short series (about 25 minutes) basically feels like a prototype or pilot for the full-length TV series, which has everything the ONA has plus about ten times more. And the full series is so much more fully developed with its story and characters (not to mention so much better looking and sounding) that it renders this ONA pretty much completely obsolete except as a historical artifact. If you're curious about HnP, you're better off just watching the first episode of the full series - don't bother with this. Score: 5/10 A Letter to Momo The plot in one sentence: A girl and her mother move to a new town after her father dies, and among the girl's possessions is a last letter that he started writing to her and never finished. My Thoughts: Studies in characters dealing with grief and loss are nothing new in anime, but there aren’t many that have done it much better than this charming little film by Hiroyuki Okiura (Jin-Roh). Momo’s a strong lead character. She's a prickly, moody preteen battling with her feelings of grief and guilt, and her loneliness from being uprooted and shunted off to an unfamiliar place, but she's still a good person with her own brands of honor and courage. She’s not the only focus of the story, though, as it doesn’t neglect the fact that her mother’s hurting just as much. The theater where I saw this showed the dub version, and Stephanie Sheh’s performance as Momo’s mother is probably the best work I’ve ever heard from her. The other major characters in the story are three goblins who turn up a little later in the film, on a mission they’re keeping secret. Only Momo can see them, and their interactions with her and their unfamiliarity with the human world lead to many of the movie’s funniest scenes. Anyway, the whole movie reminds me a bit of a cross between Spirited Away and Anohana, and that’s good company to keep. Score: 8/10, and definitely a movie you should watch if you have the chance. |
WingKingJul 3, 2015 4:52 PM
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| Some short(er compared to last week's essay) thoughts about This Week In Anime. Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica Movie 3: Hangyaku no Monogatari I honestly don't know what to think. It was good, but... I think I missed something while my brain was going "DAFUQ WAS THAT? DAFUQ WAS THIS? SO ODD, CAN'T EVEN..." for a two-hour time span. So I'm definitely going to need a rewatch in order to keep some details in my brain and give this one a proper review. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: My mind is full of fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu Kiss x Sis OVA Okay. Fine. So maybe I needed a bit of time to recover from Rebellion. Okay? Fine. Good. Let's not mention this again. Score: http://i.imgur.com/L0xyKWD.png /10 Recommendation level: I always wanted a sist... WAIT! NO! NOT LIKE THAT, YOU PERVERTS! Rakuen Tsuihou: Expelled From Paradise When I saw it was from Toei, my expectations instantly fell. I don't exactly have the best opinion of the studio these days after watching title after title fall flat. But this is an exception to their usual trend. This movie was definitely worth the watch. 100 minutes of win will descend on your brain like an orbital strike. The only problem with it was the not-up-to-par CGI they were using. If it hadn't been for that one issue, I would have placed this even higher on the charts than Summer Wars. Still a fantastic watch, but one major issue kept it from making top marks. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: YES! So Ra No Wo To That was pretty damn good, really. I wasn't quite expecting all of that to happen, and particularly not quite that much of it. It may start off slow, but it sure as hell ends with a bang. Though I've got to say... I never expected someone to sound that German in an anime. Particularly compared to the common level of engrish that gets thrown around in the industry, hearing that heavy of a German accent was a very nice touch. And, to be honest, it probably influenced my score a bit. Not by much, but it was definitely a factor. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: For people who hate anything moe, just so their mind can be full of fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu. Oh, and for everyone else, too. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 Status: 600TH COMPLETED MAL LISTING I think I need a grown-up before I can talk about this show, but I'll try anyways. It starts off pretty darned awfully, to be honest. It stars a typical obnoxious suffering junior-high girl, with typical obnoxious fashion and typical obnoxious behavior, so put-upon by the world that she just wants it all to end. And then it does. Honestly, this anime triggered me at times. I was visiting friends in Sherman Oaks on January 17, 1994, when the Northridge quake hit. While it wasn't nearly as powerful or as damaging as the World Series quake, much less a friggin' 8.0, it's still a remarkable thing to feel like you can no longer trust the ground you walk on. And 8.0 was amazing at bringing that feeling to life. Yet even more earthshaking was the change it brought out in our main character, who goes from a girl who we all love to hate to someone I can actually like in just a couple of episodes. All from a silly little thing like a life-changing disaster that affected millions of people, too. Funny how that works. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Yes. Absolutely, yes. On-deck: I actually don't know yet. Part of me wants something a bit fluffier like D-Frag!, while part of me wants something a little bit different like Mobile Police Patlabor. I'll figure something out... |
OffColfax said: Some short(er compared to last week's essay) thoughts about This Week In Anime So Ra No Wo To That was pretty damn good, really. I wasn't quite expecting all of that to happen, and particularly not quite that much of it. It may start off slow, but it sure as hell ends with a bang. Though I've got to say... I never expected someone to sound that German in an anime. Particularly compared to the common level of engrish that gets thrown around in the industry, hearing that heavy of a German accent was a very nice touch. And, to be honest, it probably influenced my score a bit. Not by much, but it was definitely a factor. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: For people who hate anything moe, just so their mind can be full of fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu. Oh, and for everyone else, too. If you read the discussion in the anime listing, some members did a heck of a lot of work with regards to many of scenes. Even the music room scene. It was sad that the characters didn't know how to read Japanese, but then I didn't see then read much of anything. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0Status: 600TH COMPLETED MAL LISTING You mean you didn't get the shocking ending??I think I need a grown-up before I can talk about this show, but I'll try anyways. It starts off pretty darned awfully, to be honest. It stars a typical obnoxious suffering junior-high girl, with typical obnoxious fashion and typical obnoxious behavior, so put-upon by the world that she just wants it all to end. And then it does. Honestly, this anime triggered me at times. I was visiting friends in Sherman Oaks on January 17, 1994, when the Northridge quake hit. While it wasn't nearly as powerful or as damaging as the World Series quake, much less a friggin' 8.0, it's still a remarkable thing to feel like you can no longer trust the ground you walk on. And 8.0 was amazing at bringing that feeling to life. Yet even more earthshaking was the change it brought out in our main character, who goes from a girl who we all love to hate to someone I can actually like in just a couple of episodes. All from a silly little thing like a life-changing disaster that affected millions of people, too. Funny how that works. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Yes. Absolutely, yes. Even though I finished 5 series, none of them were of great importance. 1) Angel Beats Specials - I finally got the second one. These two part ONA did nothing for me. They were so far off the main storyline it made no sense. 2) Tetsuwan Birdy Decode: The Cipher - I haven't seen any of the original series AND this one-shot was sitting in my files for ages. I thought I'd take a watch. It was okay. Without the background series it really didn't make a lot of sense. 3) Gatchaman Crowds Insight: Inbound - This is post-first series/pre-second series. It's a good one-shot connecting the two together. I highly recommend it if you liked the first Crowd. 4) Gatchaman Crowds: Embrace - It's a redo of the episode 12 of Gatchaman Crowds. To be truthful, I'd have to rewatch 12 to see how it's different. 5) Wake Up, Girl Zoo! - This is a play on the Wake Up, Girls if there was to be a second season AND the girls were wild animals instead, ergo Zoo! instead of Two!. It's just a light 3.5 minute romp. Don't expect it to be as good as the original series. |
Dodecahedron-O24Jul 12, 2015 1:55 PM
| What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about? |
| Oh, no. I definitely got the shocking ending, all right. That's why I need a grown-up before I can talk about it! |
| Cat Shit One An old-fashioned action-packed movie about two elite rabbit-soldiers tasked with freeing hostages from camel-terrorists. As for CGI animation it's quite impressive. Some scenes looks like filmed with camera. Sound effects and voice acting is good, as are action sequences. The story is really simple and there is no character development. Overall a good, enjoyable short anime. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: It's only 22 minutes long. Slayers Try Last of the "old" series in the franchise. This time Lina's gang is, what a surprise, tasked with saving the world from destruction. Golden dragon prophecy says the world will face destruction and only humans can save it. Lina is a "backup" choice after her sister Luna refused to take the job. I really liked this one, more than previous series. It has more drama than previous ones but comedy is still present*. If it only had better animation I would gave it 9/10. Starting from the animation, it's good. There are better parts but there are also a really weak ones. Budget constraints are noticeable. Soundtrack, sound effects and voice acting is as always very good. As are opening and ending. Characters, as expected, are realy great. Even the newest member of the gang :-) Story is realy good. Unexpected plot twists and ongoing question "How is really the bad one?" are the best part of it. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: A must for any Slayers fan :-) * You will burst out laughing in most unexpected moments :D On deck: Slayers Revolution and Slayers Evolution-R. The last two instalments in the series. It will ends with PADS :D |
mozgowJul 11, 2015 1:59 PM
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| Quiz Magic Academy: The Original Animation The plot in one sentence: Hilarity ensues when kids from a wizard school's worst class try to conjure up an extra-impressive performance during the school’s inter-class magic duels. My thoughts: So here’s how I ended up selecting this OVA (I swear I am not making this up). (thinking) "Hmm, I don’t have any shows on my anime list that start with 'Q' yet." *does anime search* "Wait a sec, they turned a quiz video game into an anime? I gotta see this." As some of you know, I have a soft spot for bad anime video game adaptations. Quiz Magic Academy is a Konami game series, and it’s exactly what it sounds like, a trivia quiz video game with only the barest frame of a plot. Spinning an anime out of – essentially – a souped-up version of Trivial Pursuit works about as well as you’d expect. What you get is a 30-minute OVA where all the characters are just generic archetypes, the story is paper-thin, and the studio has to pad half the running time with either lots of slow pans or lots of gratuitous fanservice. Still, even though it was bad it wasn’t boring, and I suspect I might have enjoyed it a bit more if I hadn’t watched it almost back-to-back with… Little Witch Academia The plot in one sentence: Inspired by a magical stage show that she saw as a child, a girl enrolls at a school for witches even though she’s the only student who's not from a wizarding family and has no experience using magic. My thoughts: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone meets Tweeny Witches in this charming 26-minute short film. LWA was created as part of Japan’s Young Animator Training Project in 2013, and the finished movie is very, very well made. It’s a few minutes shorter than Quiz Magic Academy, but it packs tons more story and character development into its running time, it has way better animation, and it's simply more fun to watch. A definite keeper. Coincidentally a sequel film just premiered at Anime Expo last week, and I want to watch that too when I get a chance. My face watching most of Little Witch Academia Scores: Quiz Magic Academy 5/10, Little Witch Academia 8/10. |
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| D-Frag In my mind, this is a weird cross between C3-bu, Jinsei, and Plastic Nee-san: funny at times, weird at times, and then absolutely nothing at others. It goes through the usual "Surprise! You're going to be a member of my club!" routine common with clubroom comedies with all the associated rigamarole that goes with the trope. Then there's the "Surprise! There's a competing club that wants to take you down!" routine that seems just as common as the first bit. Once you've seen a good dozen or so clubroom comedies, you've got a pretty good expectation as to what's going to happen. It suffered from a couple of rather prominent faults, though. First, it had rather poor characterization with very little development. Everybody except MC-kun was static and unchanging, with the script relying more on cheap gags and repetitious routines than actual writing, leaving me with little to no attachment to any of the main characters. And the number of side characters was a definite minus, as it tried to give the impression of a broad cast of characters but only ended up as a muddled mess throughout the show. Second, the comedy was extremely hit-and-miss. The standard comment-response-overreaction joke writing was inconsistent and weak. And, even worse, the timing was off. Comedy like this requires a very specific pattern to the lines, and these were delivered far too quickly. There's a rhythm to these gags, time-tested and true, and to deviate too much from that rhythm breaks the flow and doesn't give the audience enough time to process the joke before the punchline is delivered. And D-Frag regularly broke that pattern. Compared to some of the better clubroom comedies (GJ-bu, Sabagebu!, Going Home Club), it was nothing special. Yet compared to the worst clubroom comedies (Jinsei, Koi to Senkyou to Chocolate), it wasn't all that bad. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: If you like this kind of thing, go for it. Aa! Megami-sama OVA (1993) Ah, yes. One of my most beloved series of all time is back in front of my eyes after far too long. The OVA version concentrates more on the main storyline itself rather than a long and detailed set of character building that made fans of the TV show fall in love with the characters as a whole. (Similar in concept would be the difference between Sailor Moon and Sailor Moon Crystal.) It's much more condensed and compact than the original, and it lets the viewer get the general idea of the concept in one big shove than the 24-episode broadcast version. For fans of the TV show, it's a real treat to watch how the love for this series got its start. For those who have never heard of it, it's a nice introduction to what happens when you dial the wrong number at the right time. And it gives me more time with Belldandy, who is still one of my best Best Girls of all time. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: I wish for a Goddess like her to live with me for the rest of my life. On-deck: Shelving Patlabor until later, I'm going to target Terra e... and Tears to Tiara instead. |
| Queen Emeraldas This was my random pick for letter Q. The stroy follows Umino Hiroshi, a boy from Earth who has a dream of owning a spaceship and being able to fly anywhere he wants. On his journey he meets Emerladas, a self-proclaimed pirate-queen, who will help him on many occasions. I really enjoyed it and even badly-aged CGI didn't change that. I think that I just found a new, great franchise :-) Starting from the animation, the hand-drawn parts are pretty amazing. Especially character movements and action sequences. Backgrounds are not so good but neither are they bad. Just what is to be expected from '90s show. Moving to soundtrack and sound-effects, again they are pretty amazing. Especially opening and ending songs. Adding very good voice acting it creates a damn good impression. And finally characters and the story. Story is somehow weak but it's compensated with very good characters. Hiroshi is a bit annoying, but this is expected from a boy his age, and Emeraldas is one-of-a-kind bad-ass pirate :-) Score: 8.5/10 Recommendation level: Yes, definitely a yes! :-) Captain Harlock The newest instalment of Captain Harlock franchise. This is a re-imagination of original series and has little to no in common with original. Captain Harlock is a well known pirate that has been wrecking havoc throughout the universe for the last 100 years. Well, that's the official version, that most people believe. But not Yuma, who would like to join his crew to fight for freedom, or what is his official version. That is pretty amazing CGI animation. I don't know how it would age in next 10 years, but for now it looks gorgeous. Unfortunately only this and soundtrack are so great in this anime. Story is a bit too compressed, like they wanted to put too many things into it, and characters don't have enough screen time. It's implied many times that there is more to the characters and their actions than we can see. For some we get a hint what is it, but for many others we don't. This also affects story, which is not bad, but could be much better. To not sound like a grumbling old man I must add that I really enjoyed it. Two hours have passed without me realizing it :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Worth giving a try. Slayers Revolution This time Lina gets accused of being Lina Inverse, which implies she's the devil incarnate who destroys anything she wants. She has to fight really hard to prove that she's not as evil as rumours says. After eleven years of break Slayers are back, with much better animation quality. Spell casting animations are especially great. Too bad that the story is not so great, mostly because it's too short. Not every plot and sub-plot gets enough time. Characters are the same. Even Sylphiel is back for few episodes :-) It could be better but it's not bad :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Slayers in 1080p :-) Slayers Evolution-R Continuation of previous season. This time Lina will try to help Pokota bring his people back to life. Everything is still the same as it was in the prequel. Animation quality is really good, spell casting is amazing, and even character animation improved a bit. Too bad the story is not so good. Well, the main plot line is quite good, but the filler episodes are... mediocre to say the least. Fortunately Lina is as bad-ass as always :-) And a last piece of advice. Do not start watching Slayers unless you are prepared for PADS. You have been warned :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: PADS awaits those who complete it :-) Ore, Twintails ni Narimasu. The best way to fight with PADS is to watch another anime right away. Mitsuka Souji loves twintails (well, most people would call it a fetish). One day strange monster appears an takes twintails' sprint/power from girls/women. Because he loves them so much, he doesn't hesitate to fight the monster in powerful battle-suit. But there is one... inconvenience while using such armour. To do so he must be a girl :-) Technical aspects of this anime are good. Animation is really nice and pleasant to an eye. Soundtrack is noticeable and opening/ending songs are really catchy. Characters are quite unique and the story... well, the story is ridiculous. It's so absurd that it's actually good :-) I think I haven't laugh so hard since Koe de Oshigoto!. Some might say it's only fan-service. Well, most of the time it is. Others might say it's a crap. Well, it might be crap but it's highly enjoyable crap :D Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Fan-service done right. On-deck: I haven't decided yet. I was planning to watch GitS: SAC but might as well watch Durarara!! or Sword Art Online II. |
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| Tears to Tiara This could have been a fun anime. It had all the ingredients: an interesting cast with all the boxes checked, a mildly Japan-ified version of the King Arthur story, plus swords and sorcery and evil villains and armies on the march. I kept thinking to myself that this was what Chaos Dragon wanted to be when it finally grew up enough to be animated: an epic tale of magic and mayhem, of dragons and beasts, of hard choices and fast friends. And the first two-thirds of the anime made me think that Tears to Tiara would live up to what it was trying to do. Sure, it may not have had the best worldbuilding or the best voice acting or the most original concept in the known universe. But it was fun. At least until the exposition started. And not just a few scenes of exposition, either. This exposition took up three entire episodes, plus parts of a fourth, smack dab in the middle of a fight scene. And, if that wasn't enough, they even had another full episode of exposition later on. Yeah. That's right. Of the last nine episodes of the anime, most of them were exposition. Were they important to the story? Amazingly enough, yes. Yet they killed off the narrative flow, making it so that it became a task just to try and keep up with the original plot once the backstory got finished off. It could have been handled so much better than this, and it hurt to watch a decent idea self-destruct like that. Yet because the idea was decent, the final tally at least remains in the positives. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: Masochists that think Chaos Dragon is a good story. On-deck: Terra e... and Thermae Romae. |
| Looking through my recent history, I'm surprised by how few anime I've finished. I've been dropping a lot of shows, and the shows I'm watching now are still airing. The last anime I actually finished was Anne no Nikki, a little known adaptation of Anne Frank's diary by Madhouse released in 1995. It was a very moving experience for me. I haven't cried watching an anime yet, but Anne no Nikki almost broke me down. |
| Just finished a wonderful little oddball comedy, Gugure! Kokkuri-san. It's about a little girl who acts like a doll to protect herself from feeling lonely. While playing a childrens' game by herself she invokes a Fox deity. He takes pity on her and because the Fox is lonely also, decides to care for her, Their little family grows with the addition of a playboy Dog spirit and a boozing, gambling old Tanuki (Racoon Dog). This comedy/parody takes classic tragedies and situations and turns them upside down to create a touching, comedic, cleverly written show that made me wanting more. Give it a shot. |
| Outbreak Company The story follows Kanou Shinichi, a full-fledged otaku, who is given an opportunity to work as "moe" missionary in a sword-and-sorcery world. I read many times that this and GATE are very similar. Decided to watch it to be able to compare them :-) I have a bit of mixed feelings about it. When it was more serious it was really great, and if it was that way more often or even whole time, I would easily gave it a score of 9. But most of the time it was fan-service comedy with many references to other anime and pop-culture. It was not bad, but that kind of mix was awkward. As for the "technical" aspects of the anime, everything is quite good. Animation is nice to an eye, soundtrack and opening are very good (I was even whistling to the opening :-)) and characters are quite good. The weakest part is the story. When the theme is more serious it's great, but when it's back to comedy, there is almost no story at all. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Only if you don't mind an awkward mix of comedy and seriousness. Sword Art Online: Extra Edition A special episode of SAO where Yui wants to see a whale. Most of the time it was just a recap of first season and only last 30 minutes were completely new. It was nice to see the characters from SAO again. Nothing more, nothing less. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Only for SAO fans. On-deck: Sword Art Online II and Gugure! Kokkuri-san. |
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| Terra e... This had an idea. It was even a good idea at times. A far-future vision of humanity, filled with utopian ideals, where all are happy and productive citizens of society? Perfect! Wonderful! Kinda *Brave New World*-ish with bare hints of *1984* and a touch of *Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?* with psychic-powered mutants in place of Replicants, but I'll forgive them for cribbing from other people's notes just this once. Decent worldbuilding, interesting art, standard character designs... This was an anime that was going places! Unfortunately, like all utopias in fiction, it came crashing down very quickly once the curtain gets peeled back. It barely filled in a couple of plot points before it inexplicably changed its POV from the original MC to a completely different MC-ish character, with the bare hint of a timeskip between the episodes. So you're sitting there, caring about what happens with one character, just to watch as he completely disappears for four episodes so that the other side gets introduced thoroughly. Of course, by the time all that was done, I had more interest in the side characters than the main duo. It was an excellent concept, but it suffered from awful writing and poor planning. Pacing problems plagued almost every episode. Inconsistent characters, baffling decisions, and gods-awful voice acting (I actually had to remind myself that I was watching it in Japanese rather than an English dub from 4Kids.) kept pulling it down even as the major plot points tried to lift it up. This was an anime that deserved better. And if they had been able to provide it, I would have had a new title to praise from the heavens. Yet sadly, that will not be the case. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: For novices only, as they would be less likely to see its glaring faults Thermae Romae In one sentence: An architect from Hadrian-era Rome gets pulled into various Japanese baths, and uses that as inspiration to kickstart his failing career. Public baths, hot springs, bathrooms in houses, department stores that sell baths, and even an onsen resort town are well-featured. It gets a bit repetitive, which is quite an accomplishment for an anime that only lasts a full hour, but still mildly entertaining throughout. A definite plus was the musical selection, featuring such classical favorites as The Nutcracker Suite and Flight of the Valkyries. It was a bit odd of a choice for an anime featuring the Roman Empire, but it was still somewhat fitting for the mood of the show. There was only one significant problem, and that was with the poorly-done Flash animation. Which was odd, seeing as how this was aired during the noitaminA block. It looked like it was animated as cheaply as possible and, particularly when combined with classical music, makes me wonder if they ever had anything resembling a budget for this show. It's a worthwhile way to spend an hour or so, but that's all it really is. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: While taking a bath. On-deck: Starship Operators and Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan |
OffColfaxJul 26, 2015 5:27 PM
| Gunslinger Girl The plot in one sentence: Preteen and teen girls in desperate situations are "rescued" by an Italian government agency and given a new lease on life as cyborg assassins. My thoughts: A premise like Gunslinger Girl's is a high-risk, high-reward proposition. In the wrong hands, this could have easily turned into a disaster. Fortunately it ended up in exactly the right hands with accomplished Madhouse director Morio Asaka, who avoided the "campy action series" trap, and expertly fashioned it into a somber and often poignant character drama instead. To its credit, the show never for a second flinches away from the uncomfortable implications of its premise, but at the same time it never asks you to feel sorry for the girls either. It just presents you with the reality of what their lives are, both the good and the bad. In fact, the various ways that each of the girls and their adult handlers all try to cope with this unnatural arrangement is at the very heart of the series, and that's exactly one of the reasons why it works as well as it does. The show is also an audiovisual treat, as the Italian settings are beautifully rendered and the soundtrack is greatly inspired by European classical and opera music. I could write a lot more about Gunslinger Girl, but suffice to say if you've been thinking about watching it, stop thinking and pop it in. It's worth your time. Score: 8/10 K-On! The Movie The plot in one sentence: The cute girls of K-On! take a graduation trip to London and do lots of cute things there too. My thoughts: Unlike Gunslinger Girl, there's very little to say here. This movie is just a whole lot more of everything K-On! fans enjoy, with the added bonus of getting to see the girls in a different environment for at least part of the time. If you're a fan you should like it, and if you aren't then you're missing nothing. About the only noteworthy thing to mention is that this movie has lots more music in it than the TV series, with the girls actually performing several uncut, full-length songs over the course of the story. Score: 8/10, same as I gave both seasons of the TV series. The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato The plot in one sentence: The characters from the Haruhi Suzumiya series live in an alternate universe where all of them are just normal high school kids with no special abilities. My thoughts: This is the first time in my life I've ever actually gotten totally bored watching something Haruhi-related. Even Endless Eight didn't feel nearly as tedious as some parts of this series. Episode 4 was good, and the rather Serial Experiments Lain-ish "Disappearance" arc from episodes 10-13 was terrific (and something I'd recommend Haruhi fans to watch regardless of the rest of the series), but much of the rest of it was just a chore to get through. Score: 5/10, only because of its one good arc. Otherwise this was 4/10 all the way, which is the rating I often give shows that weren't "bad" as much as they just put me to sleep. |
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| Finished Is The Order A Rabbit? last night. The cuteness of this show is staggering, and I liked it lots! And the second season is on the way later this year. YAY! |
 May the DESU be with you! Always! |
| Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica I was visiting my family in southern Poland, where they had internet barely fast enough to stream video in 480p. As I had problems watching SAO II on Crunchyroll, I decided to re-watch Madoka (which I have on my hard-drive) :-) Kaname Madoka is a typical girl. Has loving family, great friends and nothing to worry about. One night she has a strange dream in which a girl she doesn't know fights some monster, moreover she knows Madoka. The very next day a new transfer student appears and turns out to be a girl form her dream. And this is only beginning of strange events that starts to unfold in her life. I originally watched Madoka during three winter days of March, 2013 :-) I thought that I remembered it quite well but there were things I forgot :-) I was re-watching it to spot more hints about the ending in the first episodes. And there were a few I found, but there was one big I noticed only after episode 3 but should notice it right away :-) Technical aspects of this anime are great. Animation is very good with the exception of witch realm, which is amazing. It's vastly different from everything I saw before :-) But that's not all, animation is mixed with really great music (Madoka's soundtrack is still one of my favourite ones). But it all would be in vain if it would had not great characters and amazing story. We have cold and heartless Homura, sweet and friendly Mami, rebellious and a bit childish Kyouko, hot-headed and a little tomboyish Sayaka, deceptive and emotionless Kyuubey and finally empathic and compassionate Madoka. All those characters are thrown into one-of-a-kind story with amazing twist at the end. Score: 10/10 Recommendation level: If you call yourself an anime fan, you have to watch it once in your life. On-deck: Sword Art Online II |
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| Starship Operators It was a decent enough idea. Essentially, you take a bunch of cadets on their graduation cruise and throw them into the heat of battle as all of the grown-ups abandon ship. It could have been great. Unfortunately, they went and wrecked it. The good? Excellent worldbuilding, some great battle scenes, and a pretty darned decent space opera. The setting of the show was really brought to life with all of those small details that are easily overlooked if you aren't paying attention to them. The ship-to-ship combat scenes were rendered amazingly, particularly for 2005-era computer technology. The side-plots and odd little quirks of a good space opera were in clear and wonderful evidence throughout. The bad? Gods-awful characters and gods-awful character animation. Just about all of the primaries were one-dimensional and bland. Everyone that actually had character development ended up getting killed off, turning all of that effort into absolutely zero payoff. And the voice acting was so bad that even the lousy dub was better than listening to Shizuka Itou monotone her way through a 6-hour runtime. And every wonderful thing the CGI did for the combat was painfully absent from anything that showed a single human character. Bloody Mars of Destruction had better character animation than this, and that's harder to type than it was to comprehend. All in all, it was a wash. Every moment of good was met equally with another moment of bad. It's not exactly a forgettable title, unfortunately. And that makes the final judgement somewhat painful, as this was something I really wanted to enjoy. Score: 5/10 Recommendation level: No. Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan I realy don't think they knew what the hell to do with this one. A side-project from the PSP game known as Shining Blade, it was basically a jumbled mess. Too many characters had heavily featured scenes, but were rarely seen again afterwards. And countless others were thrown in for zero purpose. It probably made sense for people who had played the game, but they did a crap job explaining things in the anime. (Which seems to be a feature with game adaptations, come to think of it.) Even worse than the characters were the major plot points. Nothing made any sense. It goes from a cute-girls-baking-cute-bread anime to a swordfighting anime to a ship combat anime to a weird monster anime with nary a single explanation. It was a play-doh ball of concepts from beginning to end, and every single episode was confusing in at least one aspect. At least there was one minor plus to it: this was mildly entertaining. Confusing as hell and a muddle throughout, but it didn't make me feel like I had completely wasted all of my time. Part of it, yes. But not quite all. Plus the bread-porn-worthy food scenes made me feel a little hungry. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: I'm sure I could find at least some use for this title. Don't ask me how, though. On-Deck: Crying Freeman and Shinsekai Yori |
| Sword Art Online II I watched the prequel in January, 2014, after seeing some image from it :-) In Gun Gale Online (GGO for short) player naming himself Death Gun claims to have power to kill other players in real world. Kirito (Kirigaya Kazuto) is asked to investigate the case inside the game. There he meets Sinon (Asada Shino), a girl with bad experience with guns, who will help him solve the case. I have, again, a bit of mixed feelings after watching it. I can't complain about animation, soundtrack or action sequence. All are very good and sometimes even great. What I'm about to complain are characters and story. The first arc in GGO is solid. Very good intrigue and very good development of Kirito investigation process. If I was to score this arc only, I would gave it 8. Then comes a weak arc about unique quest in ALO (I would gave it 7 at most). When the final arc started I was expecting it to be no better than previous two. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised :-) Something that started like the second arc turned out to something really touching and beautiful. They could skip the second arc altogether and extend the final one. The final arc deserves a solid 9. Moving to the characters. I really liked Sinon in GGO arc. She was very good and strong character. But once the arc ended she almost disappeared. She played a role in second arc, but was totally missing in the final one. I didn't expect her to still be the main character when GGO ended, but dialogue or two in episode wouldn't hurt. Final conclusion is that it had potential to be something great but failed to do so. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: If you liked the prequel you would watch it anyway. If you didn't, try to watch this for the final arc. On-deck: Kaguya-hime no Monogatari, Gugure! Kokkuri-san and Tasogare Otome x Amnesia. |
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| Crying Freeman I'd heard faint whisperings about this old OVA for quite some time, and decided it was finally time to track down the files. In the end, it was worth the effort. This is essentially Japan's answer to the James Bond movies. A suave ladykiller of an assassin, Freeman carves his way through enemies without breaking a sweat and looks damn good while doing so. With a new bombshell every 50+-minute episode and a new over-the-top situation to go along with her, it's fairly easy to make connections with the old Ian Fleming stories. It had a bit of a chop-socky feel like old Hong Kong movies at times, which only added to the mystique. It does have some issues in the art and animation department. Even for a late-80s/early-90s OVA, it was jumpy and ill-timed throughout. Also of issue would be the bizarre plotlines, increasingly bizarre situations, and nonsensical enemies that are part and parcel of this particular genre. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: GAR at its beginnings. Also, Bond fans. Shinsekai Yori I had a dire need for a change of pace. The last four weeks of backlog-clearing had given me nothing but 6/10 titles at best, and it was starting to get tiresome. Therefore, I reached for a critically acclaimed title in order to break my streak of mediocrity. And it served well its purpose. A post-apocalyptic wonderland filled with secrets and powers, SSY had a difficult task yet fulfilled it with aplomb and grandeur. With intricate worldbuilding, detailed characters, and beautiful art, this is an anime more for savoring than it is for marathoning. (Though I can see how it would be difficult to restrain oneself from blasting through it in a single session.) Add in some well-timed cliffhangers, a literal rat-bastard of an antagonist, and a complex-yet-not-complicated plot, and it is easy to see why this anime is so regularly praised. Yet it didn't have quite enough behind it to put it over the top and into the rare 10/10 ranking. It's still an excellent title that is well into my Top-50 list, but it takes a certain special something to go beyond that. It's an elusive quality that is hard to define and even harder to quantify at times, but in the case of SSY it is simply that it didn't make me want to sit down and think about it afterwards. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Yes. Legend of the Galactic Heroes It's been months in the making, slowly going through this epic a single episode at a time, and slowly growing more and more in love with nearly everything about it. A space opera on the grand scale, it is impossible to think of this as being anything other than a masterpiece. From the immense space battles (where I can draw parallels to later entries such as Star Trek's Battle of Wolf 359 and Honor Harrington's First Battle of Manticore) to the sweeping score jam-packed full of classical pieces of every mood, from the rich and intricate worldbuilding to the awesomely quotable lines ("The goddess of victory is waving her underwear at you!", "Man cannot oppose destiny.", and the most astounding one-word sentence in anime that is far too important to quote in full for a throwaway comment such as this.), from the deep philosophical discussions about government and human nature to the amazing characterization; this was nigh-upon perfect in almost every aspect. The only actual problem I found with was the Terraism plotline. I hesitate to use this word, but the entire situation felt a bit too cartoony for my taste and came complete with the stereotypical evil laugh straight out of central casting. Yet for a 110-episode show, this one single issue is far outweighed by the positives. And I'm currently in a lengthy discussion with myself as to exactly where this anime belongs. There are plenty of arguments that it should take over the Number One position on my list, yet there are just as many (and just as compelling) arguments that Cowboy Bebop should retain that position. But seeing as how that internal debate will rage for quite some time, it is simply... Score: 10/10 Recommendation level: Should be watched with foppery and whim. On-deck: Mobile Police Patlabor, currently at 3/47. |
| Kaguya-hime no Monogatari It has been waiting on my PTW list for a very long time. Finaly decided to watch it. Meet Okina - a bamboo tree cutter, his wife Okuna, and Hime (nicknamed Takenoko) - their adopted child from bamboo tree. Follow their daily life as they try to live happily. The first thing many will notice is a very unique drawing style. It's almost the same as in Tonari no Yamada-kun and it's not a coincidence. Both were directed by Takahata Isao. When I watched Yamadas for the first time, I didn't liked this style (and dropped anime after 20 minutes :-P). This time I knew beforehand that it would have such unique style and was prepared for it :-) Regardless of unique drawing style, animation is flawless. And as in almost every Ghibli movie, every tiny details matters, just to mention lights and shadows or grass details. Soundtrack and voice acting is almost perfect. Music did its job to strengthen the feel of certain scenes and so did seiyū with bringing characters to life. Moving to the characters they are great. Not only the main one or supporting, but also some minor one like Me no Warawa. Every single one feels like a real person. That's something one not see very often. And finally the best part of this anime - the story. It's a ride on yours feels from start to the end :-) I didn't knew the legend it is based on, but I knew that it's a very sad movie. Well, for most of the time I didn't think about it as a sad one. It was quite sad that her adoptive father didn't knew what she wanted to be happy, but it wasn't enough for me to consider it as a sad one. It was until it was revealed who she is and what awaits her. When the final scene came I couldn't stop my tears and had to pause the movie for few seconds. I had tears in my eyes many times while watching movie/anime, but it was the first time I couldn't stop them from coming. Score: 10/10 Recommendation level: A must for everyone. Gugure! Kokkuri-san After Kaguya-hime I had to watch something more humorous. I decided to give a try to Jym's recommendation. The story follows Ichimatsu Kohina, a self-proclaimed doll, as she interacts with Kokkuri-san and other spirits. It was and enjoyable journey with Kohina and her pack of friendly spirits. Animation is good with some parts being very good or even great. Some goes for soundtrack with opening and especially ending being very catchy. As for the characters only the two main (Kohina and Kokkuri-san) has enough screen time, so we could learn more about them. The rest are not bad, but just don't have enough screen time. And the weakest part for me was the story. After the first episode I expected that, while being a comedy with random gags on the surface, it will be a story about Kohina turning back to human on the inside. Unfortunately it were mostly just random gags (there was some progress in turning her back to human, but not much). I would love to see what traumatized her so badly that she chose to pretend to be a doll. Don't take me wrong, I laughed at the gags, but expected it to be something more. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: If you need a comedy to relax after something more serious. Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster Sometimes the best anime are found by accident :-) Takaya Noriko is a daughter of famous space fleet captain, who died in the early years of the war against insectoid aliens. Now, in the year 2023, she tries her best in space cadet academy. I don't even know where to start :-P Drawing style is typical for late '80s/early '90s (some will like it, others will not), but animation quality is something even current era anime would be jealous of. Same goes for soundtrack and voice acting (you could see and hear it for yourself here - the animation was not made for the opening, those are actual scenes from first episode). Moving to the characters, the best one is of course our heroine (one of the best female lead characters I've seen, ever), but supporting cast is also very good. Even minor characters, like Toren Smith, has their charm. And finally the best part - the story. Bugs attacking humankind aren't something new, but add coherent fiction behind FTL, time dilation effects (something one not see very often in anime) and characters personal drama, and you have one of the best stories ever. The first three episodes might not be very good, but they are necessary for the world building. Without them the last three would not be so great, with the final one being a masterpiece. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Go watch it immediately, you have no excuse to not do so. Top wo Nerae! Kagaku Kouza Short episodes about "science" in Gunbuster universe. Nothing more, nothing less. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: A must if you watched the series. Top wo Nerae! Gunbuster Specials Three short episodes that add a little to Gunbuster story (but only a little). Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Not a must but you should watch it. On-deck: Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster (official sequel to Gunbuster) and Tasogare Otome x Amnesia. |
mozgowAug 15, 2015 11:45 AM
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| Finally finished the first season of Non Non Biyori. It was cute...relaxing.....*yawning* Maybe a bit to much of each. Onto season 2? |
| What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about? |
| Mobile Police Patlabor An anime that is the 80s condensed, Patlabor was simply okay. A Real Robot mecha title (Real Robots aren't real. And neither are giant robots. So shut up.), it was a mild cross between a basic police procedural and Gundam. Filled with episodic content, there were only a few minor meta-arcs throughout the show with the Black Griffin and the friendly rivalry with the JSDF being the most prominent. And it was those two arcs that gave us the best episodes of the entire show, particularly Eve's Trap/Terror and those leading up to the great Griffin Down. Other episodes of note were Movement in the Dark and Labor and Flower. The rest... were average. In some cases, much worse than average. And in some cases, at least partially embarrassing. The art was pure 80s. If you've seen even one show from this era, you know exactly what to expect from the visuals. The animation ranged from excellent during the fight scenes to inexplicably awful in a few instances when they're just standing around and talking. The music was another pure 80s flashback, heavily synth-driven and repetitive to the point where I've heard ringtones with more variety. Is it absolutely necessary to watch this before watching the much more acclaimed movies? Not exactly. But it's not like that's ever stopped me from watching things before. Is it worthy? I say yes. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Fans of old mecha shows. On-deck: I'm thinking something a bit simpler would be in order here. Maybe either Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma or Hyakko. Or both. Who knows... |
| Finished Toradora yesterday. What began as a wacky and zany rom-com I enjoyed with equally wacky and zany characters deteriorated over the last nine to ten episodes of it's 25 episode run into a maudlin and unpleasant emo-fest that became hard to finish as it turned into an unenjoyable slog, thanks to a boatload of unrelenting drama. As for Ryuji, Taiga and rest, they also became unenjoyable as I stopped caring about them after the tone of the show went from comedic to somber. It was frustrating as a fun show ended up a mess in my opinion. Ugh! |
| May the DESU be with you! Always! |
| Ouch. Nothing like hitting the thread and seeing my second-favorite series of all time get taken apart. There is a lot more drama to the second half, but I never felt like it descended to "maudlin," and it does come back around to an optimistic ending for Ryuji and Taiga (albeit one I thought the books handled much better - that's always been one of my chief criticisms of the show). Of course, I can't fathom Philly giving Plastic Memories an 8 when I could barely get through four episodes of that thing, so to each their own. Anyway, on to my own recent completions. Summer Wars The plot in one sentence: When a high school math genius solves a cryptic equation sent to his phone, he accidentally opens the door for a botnet to hack into a major online hub and start wreaking havoc. My thoughts: I'd heard a lot of good stuff about this movie, and while I did enjoy it, I also left the theater feeling slightly underwhelmed. The first half of it was a little too slow for my liking, and I found some of the eventual plot twists too contrived and convenient. It's still a fun movie overall, though, and the title is appropriate because it really feels like a summer blockbuster kind of movie. It has the action sequences, the cheesy inspirational speeches about fighting hard and not giving up, and a group of ordinary people pulling together to try to save the day. Visually it looks great, and the main plot reminded me a lot of the 80s classic WarGames. If you liked that movie, then you'll probably like this one too. Score: 7/10 And for the 100th completed anime on my MAL list... Cardcaptor Sakura The plot in one sentence: After a fourth grade girl accidentally frees a deck of magical cards, the guardian of the cards tells her she has to collect them all again, or else a calamity will befall the Earth. My thoughts: It's easy to see why this is an all-time classic. I did watch Cardcaptors (the bowdlerized American version) years ago, but comparing that to the full version of CCS is like comparing a high school play to one staged by the Royal Shakespeare. There are a few entry barriers, starting with the fact that it's a kid's show, and that it's a CLAMP show - with all that entails for anyone familiar with CLAMP's work. You also have to like the characters, because you're going to be spending 70 episodes with them in what's a very character-centered series. If none of that's a problem, though, then you're in for a treat. Personally I loved the characters, especially the relationship between Sakura and her older brother, which felt wonderfully true to the way many siblings are at that age. I also enjoyed the story, which progressed in a very sensible way (insofar as this IS a magical girl show), and the animation for being over 15 years old never really felt dated to me, maybe because the somewhat moe-ish character designs hew closer to the contemporary drawing style than most other 90s shows. The only big knock I have on CCS is that there was a little too much filler for my taste, and I could usually guess when we were into a filler episode because they tended to recycle a lot of the same jokes and rehash the same plot points, especially in the last third of the series. Even then, not all of the filler was bad, though. Meiling was an anime-only character, and I thought she was a wonderful addition to the cast. Score: An easy 9/10. Bottom line, if you're a magical girl fan, then CCS is definitely a must-watch. Or, if a heartwarming series with a mix of action, comedy, and slice-of-life sounds appealing to you then you should try it out. If you like the first four or five episodes, then you'll probably like the whole series. On Deck: Love Live! The theater where I just saw Summer Wars is showing the Love Live movie next month, so I decided to watch the series. That way if I like it I can go see the movie too. |
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| Mozgow: Well, perhaps I was harsh with the score I gave Toradora, but I was annoyed with how the show's mood turned. Lesson learned: Never vote while emotional! :P WingKing: Sorry to have trashed a favorite show of yours. Meanwhile, I can't describe it, but there was something about Plastic Memories that intrigued me and drew me in. |
| May the DESU be with you! Always! |
| Top wo Nerae 2! Diebuster Had to watch it right after Gunbuster :-) The story is set in the same universe as Gunbuster, some years into the future. Our main heroine this time is Nono, a non-typical girl, with a dream of becoming a space pilot. One day she meets Lal'c, a TOPLESS space pilot, and so she might get a chance to became a one. Animation is FLCL-ish in style (well, it's not a surprise - same studio, same director) and not in place at first glance, but it fits the series perfectly. Soundtrack is also very good with some parts taken directly from the prequel (e.g. soundtrack for next episode preview). Characters are not as great as in Gunbuster, but they are not bad either. Unfortunately only the two main heroines have enough screen time. The best part is of course the story, that will appeal the most to those who watched the prequel. As in Gunbuster first three episodes are quite weak, followed by one very good and two great :-) And the best of the best was the ending, which almost made me cry :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: If you've watched Gunbuster, what are you doing here? If you haven't, go watch it now and then watch Diebuster. Hiyokoi Recommended as anime of the week in U.A.S. club :-) Nishiyama Hiyori is a small and shy girl, who had to skip school due to an accident. Watch as she tries her best after returning to the school. This short anime (only 22 minutes) is one of the best shorts I've seen in a very long time. It has everything any great anime should have. Very good animation, voice acting, interesting story and characters. Add humorous scenes and you will be surprised how fast it ends :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Worth your time. Soredemo Sekai wa Utsukushii I don't remember how I found it (probably by Youtube). Nike is a princess of the Rain Kingdom and has the power to call for rain. She is sent to Sun Kingdom to marry their king. To her astonishment, the king is still a child... Visuals in this anime are very good, with some parts being even great (e.g. Nike calling for rain). I was really impressed by the fact they changed opening animation a bit for every episode. You don't see it quite often. Animation is accompanied by one of the best soundtrack in any anime, with Nike's songs being amazing. Sound effects (listen to the rain!) and voice acting is also very good. Moving to the characters, they are very good, with the main couple being the best :-) But the supporting cast is also quite good and unique. The weakest part is the story, which tries to show too many plots and does not delve deep enough in them. Nonetheless I enjoyed this series. If the story was a bit better, I would probably gave it a score of 9 :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation: One of the best shoujo I've seen so far. Tasogare Otome x Amnesia I found it in one of MAL recommendation threads. Niiya Teiichi, a freshmen in Seikyou Academy, wanders to no longer used part of the school to check a ghost-story about girl hounting school grounds. In a dusty storage room he meets Kanoe Yuuko. At first he didn't realized that she was a ghost. Moreover, she lost her memories and doesn't know how she ended there. Teiichi doesn't hesistate for too long and decides to help her regain lost memories. After the first episode I thought that it was going to be a very good/great RomCom with harem and ecchi elements. But episode two changed the mood completly. Although it still had comedy/ecchi elements, it was obvious that the story will be focused more on the mystery behind Yuuko death. And it was, with really great ending :-) (the last scene ruined it a bit though). But not only story was great, art style and animation was also amazing. It's very rare to see a seasonal anime with so many details on the backgrounds. But there's more. Very good and sometimes great soundtrack, with very nostalgic and fiting the mood of the series opening and ending. And that's still not all :-) Very good and quite unique characters, but you will have to see it for yourself :-) Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Just watch it, you would not be disappointed. Tasogare Otome x Amnesia: Taima Otome The story continues where it left. This episode is more in the style of first episode of the series. It basicaly RomCom with harem/ecchi elements. It was enjoyable to watch. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: If you watched the series you should watch this. Od-deck: Tsuritama |
mozgowAug 22, 2015 7:02 AM
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PhillyFlash said: WingKing: Sorry to have trashed a favorite show of yours. Meanwhile, I can't describe it, but there was something about Plastic Memories that intrigued me and drew me in. Eh, no biggie. You and I don't disagree on many shows, so I was more surprised than anything, but differences of opinion are what make the world interesting. Anyway, I just made the PlasMemo comparison because it was another comedy/drama mix, and I had a similar reaction to your Toradora reaction but in reverse (initially positive about the drama, eventually got fed up with the comedy, which wasn't that funny to me). And Mozgow, thanks for reminding me that I meant to watch Hiyokoi! I should do that tomorrow. Good to hear you liked The World Is Still Beautiful too, because that's one I've had my eye on getting to one day (though probably not soon). |
WingKingAug 22, 2015 7:40 AM
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WingKing said: You should watch it sooner than later :-)And Mozgow, thanks for reminding me that I meant to watch Hiyokoi! I should do that tomorrow. Good to hear you liked The World Is Still Beautiful too, because that's one I've had my eye on getting to one day (though probably not soon). Visuals and soundtrack are top-notch! |
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| Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma Part of my lower bracket project, filled with excellent and unsung anime from throughout the years, Emma has had my curiosity for a very long time. While the previous entry of ABe's NieA_7 was weird yet pleasant, Emma was surprisingly good throughout. Depressing, but good. This is a story of forbidden love. Not in the legal sense or the moral sense, as is more common in anime, but instead in a social sense where the main romance crosses class lines as the heir of the landed gentry falls dramatically for the maid of his former governess. Beautifully detailed and with exceptional animation, this was almost like watching a Jane Austen novel in anime form. (Amazingly enough, there have been no Jane Austen adaptations. And Studio Pierrot needs to change that.) With little details driving the point home that this was indeed pre-1900 England, this is one of the rare historical anime that has convinced me that it was truly set in the past rather than in a fantasy world. While excellent and heartwrenching, Emma did have a couple of telling problems. First off, it was only half the story. Unlike many titles that tell only half the story, Emma actually does have a completion available that was produced two years later. The second was the character of Hakim, which was a completely unnecessary and almost insultingly stereotypical character that seemed to exist solely to inject an unwelcome sense of the absurd into situations. One thing is guaranteed. I will finish this series, and I will do so happily. I'll probably wind up sobbing into the cat while mainlining chocolate ice cream, but I'll be doing so with a smile on my face. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Fans of sad romances and PBS historical dramas. Hyakko This one almost fell flat on its face. A little school life anime with some very pointed yuri subtext, it took a few episodes before it settled down and started to deliver some entertainment. With some exceptionally obscure cultural references that wouldn't make sense to anyone that never attended school in Japan (and probably skipped right over the heads of some who did) and a muddled mess of characters that just never stopped coming, this could have been so much better if they had just simplified it a bit. There were the occasional flashes of wonderful writing and laugh-with-the-playback-paused humor moments, but they were frequently overridden by the too-frequent need to be as random as humanly possible. It's sad when I can say that the only thing that really sticks out in my mind about an anime is the opening. Everything else is pretty much a wash. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: Yuru Yuri is better. On deck: Lamune |
| No big standouts this week, but lots of solidly good stuff. Love Live The plot in one sentence: A high schooler starts an idol group to draw attention (and applicants) to her school, which is in danger of closing from low attendance. My thoughts: I’m not a big fan of pop idol music, but I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to. It's a simple, fun, feel-good show, and the whole package works really well. The only part that fell a bit flat for me (besides some of the bad CG) was the injected drama in the last few episodes, which felt a bit forced in what was otherwise a pretty fluffy series. Otherwise, I could definitely see myself going back and re-watching episodes of this sometimes when I want something to chill with. Score: 7/10. It's not hard to see why it's become so popular. Hiyokoi The plot in one sentence: A small, shy girl starts her school year late after an accident, but almost immediately attracts the attention of one of the most outgoing boys in the class. My thoughts: This charming 23-minute short from 2010 adapts the first two chapters of a fairly obscure shoujo manga (obscure in the West, at least - it ran for 14 volumes in Japan). Anyone who’s a fan of shoujo romances should absolutely watch this, though. It’s not hard to find subbed on YouTube, and it’s not only very cute, but it manages to pack a pretty complete beginning-middle-end story and a decent amount of character development into its short running time. Score: 8/10 Amagi Brilliant Park The plot in one sentence: A high school boy is enlisted by one of his classmates to try to turn around a failing amusement park. My thoughts: A very funny, and overall definitely enjoyable show, and I liked nearly all of the diverse and wacky cast of characters, from the stoic Sento to the perverted Tiramie. The only one who actually did very little for me was Latifah. I found her pretty bland, which unfortunately meant I wasn’t as engaged with her story arc as the show probably wanted me to be. Bottom line, as a comedy it worked really well for me, as a drama not so much. I think I especially enjoyed watching it as an older viewer, because so many of the people Seiya works with at the park are caricaturing different types of co-workers that I've become all too familiar with after 15 years in the working world. Score: 7/10. This isn't one of KyoAni's best series, but it's still very watchable. Hanayamata The plot in one sentence: Led by a Japanophile American transfer student, a group of middle school girls start a new club dedicated to yosakoi dancing. My thoughts: A very pretty slice-of-life series with a good cast of characters, some gorgeous artwork and sakuga, and an engaging enough (if somewhat cliche) story. I liked learning about yosakoi too, which was a little piece of Japanse culture I knew nothing about before this series. For a SOL there's quite a bit of drama here, so it's not a show I could call "relaxing," but it is enjoyable and heartwarming and the main cast all get a lot of character development, more than usual for a 12-episode SOL of this type. Score: 7/10. Hanayamata is well worth a look if you're a SOL and/or CGDCT fan. On Deck: Air |
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| Najica Dengeki Sakusen When I first looked at this anime, my thought was "So it's basically AIKa mixed with Armitage III, then." Turns out it wasn't all that far off the mark, but not quite the full story. Hiragi Najica, master perfumer and secret agent, goes on various dangerous missions with her trusted robotic partner Triple-Zed by her side. Yup, you heard me right. A real page-turner, this one is. With exotic locales, contrived villains, and lengthy scenes of nothing but unconscious sprawled-out women with their legs spread and panties showing, Najica is little more than episode after episode of everyone's favorite game... "Count The Pantyshots!" Now, from that description, you might assume that this is a really bad anime. And you'd at least be partly right. Instead, it is simply just kinda meh, and nowhere near the bottom of the barrel even within the realm of pre-moe fanservice. For one thing, the writing in Najica is much much better than in AIKa. That alone is moving this anime up towards the tolerable side of the balance. Maybe. Occasionally. Kinda... Take one part Agent AIKa, one part Noir, and one part Jane Bond. Add liberal amounts of unnecessary violence, the occasional full-frontal nude scene for no reason, and fill the remainder with tits and ass. Shake well. Pour drink into blueball glass, and rim with a light hint of yuri that never goes anywhere. Garnish well with a big-band soundtrack and a hint of Bogey's Office Door film noir-style trumpet solos. And that's how you make a Blitz Tactics. This is not an anime for enjoying. This is an anime that you approach carefully in just the right kind of mood. This is an anime for when you just want to watch something old and trashy. And you know what? I actually wanted to watch something old and trashy so it fit very well. (Or maybe I was just drinking heavily...) But I can still say with a straight face that I'm glad it's over. Score: 6/10 Recommendation level: To paraphrase a dandy guy, a good ass is seen and not felt. Lamune This was fairly average in many aspects. A mostly light-hearted romance set in the countryside, this is not an anime for those who are looking for something to be hyped and excited. It's more like a mixture of Clannad with Non Non Biyori, with a light dash of Kimi ga Nozomu Eien for seasoning. For Kenji, the main character, you have a fairly normal Tomoya clone. For Nanami, the main love interest, you have a fairly normal Nagisa clone. Toss in the usual random assortment of friends and classmates, and there's not really a non-generic character to be found. Likewise, the art, animation, and music are also normal and fairly generic without any real surprises. What is not average is that this is a fairly relaxing romance. Every episode opens with a little flashback to when the characters were young, and then the rest of the episode somewhat relates to those early scenes: the cousin finds pearls, the watermelon massacre, the night of the typhoon, and so on. And, at least until the last two episodes, it keeps the plain relaxing feel to it through the series. Day after day after endless summer day, it's just a simple and normal title where you watch two childhood friends come to terms with their actual feelings. And in that, it's even more refreshing. One point of benefit for me? It's not a harem. It's not even a love triangle. It's a relatively honest and direct romance, with only one main couple throughout. Sure, there's the occasional challenger that appears as that's normal for just about any romance. But it's very quickly resolved, and without too much unnecessary drama. All in all, Lamune is mildly enjoyable and exceptionally relaxing. And that's not a very common combination for a romance at all. Score: 7/10 Recommendation level: Fans of childhood friends. On-deck: Still trying to figure that out, really. I'll think of something. |
| Love Live! The School Idol Movie - It made it the US shores for a few days. I caught it in Bloomfield Hills (1 or 2 places in Michigan showing it). I loved it. It does close off the muse part of the LL series. The first half was a big confusing. Why did they have to go the NY for the Love Live competition? It could have been within Japan for the same effect. The second half dealt with Honoka and the ending of muse after their final concert. Taiho Shichau zo Special - These were 9 minute short stories of our two traffic beauties Miyuki and Natsumi. The stories were standard YUA! fare. I had to get through this series. Don't worry, you aren't missing much of you don't watch this. Triangle Blue - Bad hentai. I'll leave it at that. Working!! - To much fun. I love all the characters. A series I would recommend. Papa no Iukoto wo Kikinasai! OVA - Finally got around to watching the second OVA. It was a 4 year time skip and it was the end of the Papakiki series. Ghost in the Shell 2.0 - I guess I'll need to watch the other movies and series to know if this was really the end of the series or this movie was a precursor to a new series. Ghost in the Shell: Arise - Logicoma Specials - Just 4 minute comedy snippets of our lovable Logicomas. |
| What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about? |
| I had really busy last two weeks at work and had little to no time to watch anime :/ Tsuritama This was my attempt to write a review for U.A.S. club (you can read it here). Original version follows :-) "How good an anime about fishing can be?" - that's what I though after reading synopsis for Tsuritama. Now, that I finished watching it, I can say that, although it's not as good as one about space debris collectors, it's still a very good one. The story revolves around two high-school boys, one alien and one alien-investigator. Yuki is a 17 years old boy, who transfers between schools very often (due to grandma's work) but lacks social skills when interacting with other people. Haru is a self-proclaimed alien (that's how he introduced himself at the school), who is always smiling and easily befriends anyone. Natsuki is a 17 years old local "celebrity" (due to his fishing skills), but has serious problems while communicating with his dad. And finally the alien-investigator men, 25 years old Akira, who seems to have a power to communicate with duck? They do not know this yet, but meeting with Haru will change their lives forever. I have to admit that at first I didn't liked the art style. It was odd to say the least. But the more I watched, the less it mattered, and by the end I liked it :-) I didn't had such problem with animation, which I find good and sometimes very good. It's accompanied by the thing this anime shines the most - the soundtrack. Opening and ending songs are very catchy and the music during the show is also very good. It's not the best soundtrack ever, but I can't complain about its quality. Moving to the characters, all four main ones are very good witch actual character development. Each of them will change for better. Even the supporting cast is very good and with some development. As for the story, at first I thought it would be a great comedy (I laughed very hard while watching first episode) but then the mood changed in the later episodes. And when I thought it would end with more serious tone, it struck me with so absurd scenes that I didn't know what to think. But everything ended pretty well and the overall story was one-of-a-kind :-) Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Very good comedy with some ridiculous moments :-) Aura: Maryuuinkouga Saigo no Tatakai Found this in some other club (I think :-P). Satou Ichirou used to be a chuunibyou, or that's what he wished was true. Once he entered high school, he left that in the past and decided to live a normal life. Well, as he soon learns, it will be hard, as at least half of his new class is a chuunibyou. And there is a rather peculiar girl, who sits next to him... Animation and art style are both very good. There are some great parts, but not enough to call the animation and art a great one. Same goes for soundtrack and voice acting. It's very good, with some part being great, but again not enough to say it was a great one. What I really liked, and think it's the best part, are the characters. The two main feel almost like real persons, but even the supporting cast is very good. This, unfortunately, is followed by overall good story. The ending was really great, but the beginning was very slow and quite weak. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Not only for chuunibyou fans. Aki no Kanade As mentioned earlier, I had really busy time at work, and had not time for full anime series. So picked this to watch :-) Once again I was surprised by how anime about something ordinary (Drumming? Are you kidding me?) can be so good. The story follows Miyagawa Aki, who moved to Tokyo to became a professional taiko drummer. Now, after 15 years, she's returning to her home town to coach others for a taiko festival. Starting with animation and art style, it's great with some parts being really amazing (I had to pause and gaze at it :D). Soundtrack is also very good with drumming sound especially well made. Now moving to the best parts, characters and story. Characters are very good or even great. Almost every single one feels like a real person. That's something impressive even for a live action movies. And this is all mixed with really great story. It's not about drumming as it would seems, but drumming is an important part of it. I can't say more to not spoil it :-) And finally the weakest part. It's damn too short! It should be at least twice as long. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Just watch it (it's only 25 minutes long), you won't be disappointed. Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan - Tsuiokuhen Another short on my list :-) This is a prequel to "Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenkaku Romantan", which I haven't watched, yet. Himura Kenshin is a skilled swordsman and an assassin working for Katsura Kogoro. One day, after killing an assassin sent to kill him, he noticed that there was a witness. A strange girl named Yukishiro Tomoe. It's hard to tell which part of the anime is the best. Animation and art style is really great, with many efforts put into sword fights and background details. Soundtrack does its job - strengthens the feel of the story (I had to check if there was a soundtrack at all :D). Characters and story are both amazing, with characters being IMO the best part of this anime. The first two episodes are mostly story-driven, the last two character-driven (with the exception of ending, which is a mix of both). And there is one more thing worth mentioning - enjoyment - which for me was exceptionally high. Score: 9/10 Recommendation level: Definitely worth your time. Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri Piked by me from this season after reading the synopsis (I couldn't resist :D). It was unexpectedly split into two seasons. In not so distant future (20XX) a "GATE" to other dimension appeared in Ginza, Tokyo. An army made of fantasy creatures invade Japan. They are initially successful, but later JSDF takes control and pushes them back. As a measure to prevent any other attacks, a JSDF forces are send to "Special Region" (the realm that lies behind the gate). Amongst the soldiers send to the other side, there is Itami Youji, a 33-year-old otaku, who proved to be capable JSDF soldier during the invasion of the "GATE" army. Animation and art style are overall good. There are some great parts, but they are not so many of them. The soundtrack, sound effects and voice acting is also good (didn't notice anything bad about it, but neither anything really great). And finally the best part, where the anime shines the most - characters and story. Starting from the characters we have Itami - a full-fledged otaku and JSDF soldier, Rory - a demi-god who enjoys fights and killing, Lelei - a very intelligent and skilled magician, and Tuka Luna - a sole survivor of the elf clan attacked by fire dragon (and also a magic user). Interactions between those character is what gives the viewers the most enjoyment. And finally the story, which is not as good as the characters, but I consider it to be a very good part of this anime. Same concept was already animated in "Outbreak Company", but this instalment does it better. It less comedic and more serious - but don't take me wrong, I laughed a lot while watching it - it just doesn't need gags to be enjoyable. Score: 8/10 Recommendation level: Not only for "Outbreak Company" fans. On-deck: Kämpfer. |
mozgowSep 20, 2015 1:28 PM
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