- Last OnlineMar 25, 6:35 PM
- GenderMale
- BirthdayJan 27, 1996
- LocationOakville, Ontario
- JoinedJan 1, 2016
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Dec 19, 2016
*This review takes consideration of the 2nd season*
*Viewership is recommended to be watched in dub*
It's evident why parts of society regards some of its areas to be ghetto, sketchy, or a place no one should be involved in. It's a rougher life out there with little luxury and more grit and dirt to rub on you, in life, body, and health.
City people forget these types of lives which they titled nonredeemable. That they are scum. These lives are left alone to survive with questionable or less than moral methods.
There's a reason why audiences love a criminal cast, they become awed at witnessing the rough in
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both mind and action. Our main male lead tastes this and gets his entire life changed from being part of the city, to being part of the Lagoon Company. A 'for-hire' group able to get things done in guns, glory and life threatening work.
Our main group is bad ass and lovable each in their own way. Finding out how they entered this life or their outlooks to be such characters, this information is presented to the viewer in such an enthralling way that doesn't fall back to the "Flashback narration." You can see their determination in their eyes, their actions and the demeanor. You will pick up changes and understand what their minds are thinking, and you will love them even more.
It feels damn great to get away from what I understand as the norm of anime, Black Lagoon will excite you when things gets going yet keep you interested when they are on the down-low. There's none of that cliche trope filled garbage to hurt it either.
Not only do I love this show's characters, the theme and setting is so well done. This disarray mess of places could still be called home, even if one may worry of getting shot around the corner. The importance of money, lifestyle and reputation is properly asserted as well as what it means to its society.
Others may call them cockroaches, never dying no matter what the attempts or circumstances (Although there are times where some gunshots seemed like they should've hit), but others may see them as just as human as the rest of us. The imbalance of virtues and afflictions we always face in decision and life.
Something else that I really wanted to highlight was the show's ED. It's so contrasting and confusing to a viewer. Why on earth after all that action, all those words and all the mayhem, does it end with something so serene and calm? In the end, we're all looking for that place where we can release even our most trusted tools in life, so we may finally walk in peace.
Don't worry about transitioning to the second season, it really could just be one season. It properly continues without leaving one in lost question or thought.
Please watch it dubbed, the voices and dialogue are perfect. Even hearing someone be called 'Chinglish' or even simply 'retarded' adds to watching and immersing one to this diamond in the rough.
Side note; check out stuff from Shadowrun like their games, always showcasing a story, a rough world, and a group of disagreeables. Black Lagoon heavily reminds me of that series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 19, 2016
*This review takes consideration of the 2nd season*
DENKA! DENKA! DENKA! DENKA!
This anime aims for that historical fantasy world where 'massive' or 'epic' fits perfectly; shown through its huge army battles, the large scale strategies and tactics of war, the heavy politics of land and rule, and the importance of leaders in the fight for faction objectives.
Our main cast surrounds Prince Arslan and his close court of leaders. I struggle in describing them as under Arslan because that is what makes him different to the other heads of the world.
While inexperienced and rather dependent, Arslan has an opened eyed outlook to his people and of others.
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It's from his equality world policy and good mentality that makes people wish to serve him. For example, the biggest upset for others of power against him is that he wishes to abolish slavery.
He slowly grows in understanding, in strength, and in power, while making sure that what he does is what he believes to be good.
This of course, includes the amazing support he has from his allies, each who are unique and shown to be just as important as him. The uplifting camaraderie as they travel is always fun to see.
It reminds me of why I love the Fire Emblem series so much; all these individuals who can make a nation great while showing why they themselves are so special to the masses and to each other.
Not only do I love the characters, my ears surrender in joy and my mind gets grabbed of it's attention whenever I hear its soundtrack. Those songs still speak power in my memories. They fit the world and the settings so well.
My mother called it the Lord of the Rings anime, in the sense of all the different armies, the massive battles and the important fights and individuals seen inside them. Even country to country, culture and politics, lands to travel, its all so grandeur and large.
Again, I fall back to describe it as large or epic, straying away from typical small cast of 4 or 5 friends squabbling over small things. Every piece on this chessboard has meaning and purpose.
A fair warning to those who hate CGI in anime, while I'm not personally bothered by its uses, it wasn't exactly synergistic at times in its scenes.
As well as the second season which threw its budget efforts at even more CGI animation at the sacrifice of having only 8 episodes, a glaring difference to the 25 it has at the start.
Still, I do believe the pacing to remain unhurt, one gets a sense of progression and accomplishment as Arslan commands his army. Taken in by its historical life and thirsting for it thanks to all those similar Chinese movies my dad has shown me (Oh you know the ones.), its an amazing watch to see a country in action.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 2, 2016
*I altered my score by -1 to better reflect overall than just adding my personal love for it*
Soon approaching my third year of university and still fresh in the anime medium, this show hit home on some experiences and memories it had during the show.
We're out of the house, gaining independence, and meeting a ton of new people and without a doubt in adulthood comes romance. No parents but ourselves to decided what we do!
And boy, when it comes to just our own wits to do things, we can turn bat-shit crazy at times.
We let some colours show because 'Dammit, this is me and what
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I'm going to choose what to do in the world!' and while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it is very important to filter and think to ourselves in what we do or say.
Watching the moments of the cast at a party with drinks and emotions high, there rung my past two years of university flashing by my eyes. People being wild, words said by liquid courage, and way too personal information being slipped out.
Even seeing the main female lead showing how much she aims for a stand-offish impression, going overboard at times, it can really show how crazy we can be in how we act for an identity to the world.
Speaking of identity, our main male lead has a real damn struggle with his due to the ailment of amnesia. Stuck between the wants of past memories and present memories, he fights with himself on what he wants in his future.
That is probably the wonkiest thing to affect if people like or don't like the show. The amnesia aspect can be found at odd variables in terms of how much he remembers and how easily he forgets himself literally remembering a few moments ago.
What kept me going were the cast and the things I could relate too from point to point. It was also nice to get away from some tropes one would expect when watching any anime.
The only thing I wished for was more perspective from the main female lead. In fact I'd be totally down to see a female lead in a romance anime to be the biggest role in the show. This and the second OP gave my heart a rising hope even when parts were looking pretty dismal.
If one were to watch this during their university years, I'd say that brightens up the experience as much as it did for me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 18, 2016
I'm going to give this a higher score than what I give it credit it for.
This anime brings forth a main female lead who has escaped from a harsh reality that comes from even the most safe and trusted of people and places. Specifically she loses her home and her trust in things she grew up with since childhood.
It defies the norm in the sense we have a female lead who is hurt by betrayal and is trying to overcome and make the right decision from it, unlike from the ordinary first time a female lead is shown to be a bad-ass and reliable person
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one can count on. She learns and grows both in character and in philosophy. This and the obvious 'It isn't a male lead.' It has promoted growth and development in character.
This is well told through the storytelling of the show;
She learns how to defend herself and others,
she learns independence,
she learns how to distinguish others demeanor instead of naively trusting them immediately.
And she adventurers along a mix of old and new friends in her party to realize her goal.
It very much reminds me a bit of a more Chinese storytelling rather than a Japanese storytelling but that may just be it visually for background, art, and setting. The action is standard with sometimes our main male lead standing out in his more bold moments.
What I lost interest in was in two things;
The lesser con was the music sounds so great on its own, but I never felt the scenes complimented well with them. One never helped the other standout. I'm either really picky or something just seemed missing in terms of heavy or light moments. It was more character reaction that made things more memorable.
The biggest irritation for me was the lack of focus a high number of times. I get there is a time and a place for everything, but it seemed so segmented rather than fluid in delivery. This would be the back and forth of serious moments to comedic moments as well as the change of art style between shots but in the same scene.
It's jarring and a very agitating way of storytelling. An example comparison to get the idea across is sometimes a scene that includes CGI as a big part of a scene but it did not compliment the previous shots that had none or had that it didn't give introduction to help transition to the CGI segment.
The show will change scene appearance into a very sudden flat shot either for all or just one of the characters and/or its background. A poorly contrasting use to the detailed backgrounds and mood set before it.
A more small minor thing that bothered me was that the latest prophesied dragon/party member was haphazardly put in. Unlike the first three where we got to see backstory, interests, intentions and character. This is probably due to them reaching the last of the episode time/budget.
The standard anime check list is here at least whether you like them or not; Incest love interest (Cousin), the majority of friends have some romantic interest in the lead, the villain has some good in his evil doing, and comedy dialogue to show that our cast isn't always uptight (Although here gets a bit too much.)
It has good moments, but to me, it falls to make sure it does typical norms of the medium and therefore hurts itself into putting greatness into what it has.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 9, 2016
There are times when solely focusing around a theme can make a viewing experience so satisfying.
The anime has a very historical Gothic presentation that it never breaks from, the world is set in an era where seeing architecture, clothing, scenery, etc, feels so wholesome and together.
The music was especially fitting and amazing to me. Every time I would hear it as our MC went about the world, I'd become incredibly intrigued and curious on whats around the corner.
It is this made togetherness that made the watch really interesting all the way through.
I was at first abrasive at seeing our main female lead, but like the
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settings and the world, it grows so much that you want to know the whats and the whys.
It also could've fooled me to say it was a type of investigative mystery show but I believe that was just me wanting to investigate the world itself and the stuff going on. Instead it would be a more so dramatic show, with a bit of romance to give some motivation for the end bit.
I still can't get over the music, I have an anime playlist in my device, and whenever songs from this come up, I always love to give it a listen.
Always thinking back to this anime, it reminds me how important it is to understand and bring focus to storytelling because it can make the audience want to go there themselves.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 6, 2016
*This review takes considerations of the 2nd and 3rd season*
This show heavily reminded me of the times I would watch some shows like Friends, Seinfeld, or Home Improvement back in the 90s.
This anime is a sitcom. It really is.
Our main cast is the staff of a restaurant, usually focusing around main lead and the eventual pairing he has with one of the other staff members.
Of course, each have their unique traits, habits, work ethics and ideas. Typical usage of the many character tropes we come to expect in anime.
But the charisma and interactions between characters is what makes this whole show an enjoyable roll of
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comedy. Mostly surrounding their job and working at the restaurant.
It differs in the sense that sitcoms usually have one episode as its own, whereas things will continue from episode to episode for about 4 of them. This does allow character progression and building.
It's great they have this too, because there are so many things that each person has that can't really be done up so simple and short.
Love at the work place. Dealing with customers. Balancing work and home. Trying to be professional but stay themselves at the same time.
It's the cast that makes it all fun. The plot points aren't heavy or critical, but they do allow characters to have some freedom in what they do.
I never tired of seeing them work on the issue of one of the staff have a phobia of men. Holy shit does it make me grin.
From season 1 to 3, we learn and get to love each character and their lives in and out of work. And yes, I'd say it gets better as it ages and it all resolves to the end too. Makes me sad I won't see more of it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 5, 2016
Attack On Some Zombie Titans But Really Just Zombies With Trains.
Heh, old habits die hard eh?
Don't worry if you are unfamiliar with Attack on Titan, basically just note that they did some things that just seem to be the same thing into their latest work.
That being said, they know they have some talents in their given genre. Those who checked it only because of hype are not going in for the reason that they aim for.
They like to make thriller action that looks and sounds amazing.
Of course, they reused some aspects that can be called out and result in unimpressive and unprogressive, however I was
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looking for some visual spice and this was it, done again and pulled off nicer than they did before.
That's probably the big thing about this show, it's all about the visuals.
They do a couple of things that I like to run into that clearly others do not like, but I think of it as shaking it up a bit.
Too commonly do we expect to see a villain's good side or their story to justify their action. Instead here, no matter what his motivation, we have a villain of his own chaos.
A villain who did wrong for his own damn selfish wants. Holding a grudge of several years, he acts out his revenge even when humanity is at a very critical point that faces extinction. But what does he care for others? He want's his goals realize. "Screw the rest, I come first."
The scene where we see a tear come from him, is a tear of sweat.
It was a tear of fear of his own selfish goals being incomplete. Not because the close ones who loved him had to change or be affected, not because he witnessed something he cared for, no it was just him nervous that he almost died.
It's one of the reasons why people loved to hate Kefka, that ruler was chaos, never with or for a shred of good.
Another thing that people didn't like was how vulnerable our main female lead was. The community wants to see shining examples of excellence and perfection. I think its interesting to see someone get played by their own or others human emotions, instincts, and thoughts.
This young girl looked up to her brother and was betrayed by him. She didn't want to believe it, but she had to learn harshly that he isn't such a godsend as she once thought.
Basically, this show lets itself be black and white. It's plain and simple what it is doing and what it is. People with hype or expectations wanted something twisted or mind-blowing, but instead we have a solid bar that travels to neither greatness or terribleness, just strictly fine.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 5, 2016
First glances at this show immediately yell "Oh, another one of these, with...oh yup, another one of that, and is...yes this is in it too."
It's a real struggle for any medium to break meta or do something off hand because the formula to making money is there and real.
While this show does indeed make the viewer encounter the same ol', same ol', it actually approaches with a refreshing course of action while still maintaining those formulaic arcs/scenes.
The biggest sense of it, is in the cast, seen more so specifically in the main couple's use of communication.
In the classic encounter where guy awkwardly meets up with
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girl in an exposed moment, we have the typical fighting of words and worries thrown about. However, the main guy, instead of beating around the bush, goes ahead and admits the fault and his feelings. He even calls out the ridiculousness of the situation or words used.
The guy confesses in the first moments of the screen time they have together, not several episodes later, but in the first moments of his thoughts and interests to her. NOT IN HIS HEAD.
What might have usually been the Tsundere girl going off screen in a huff, is instead her stumbling over her words and feelings but still acknowledging the compliment. Wait, isn't she supposed to slap the shit out of his face here?
The typical embarrassment is still there, the usual banter is still there, the classic situation is used once again, but now we have a different result this time. One that I haven't actually seen anywhere else in the medium.
Over and over this happens again, and boy was it great to have what are the same old set ups of jokes and appeals, turned to a different resolution.
I say it again, they do so with communication. They actually talk it out, not running out of the room, not forgetting like it never happened, and not staying quiet just because.
The biggest one of all, is that when our main couple is having a quarrel, they asked the important questions and even thought and considered the words both persons had said. And the result of it? They kiss and make-up.
The viewer can clearly see the moment of character forgiveness or change of thought. Not cryptic messages of twingy eye moments and a bit lip that is grunting behind it!
I'm sorry but FAWKING FINALLY! Actual believable progression in the growth of a romantic relationship!
I highlighted that because it's the refreshing relief that comes from this show. It knows full well what genre it is in, what fighting action scenes it has, and what they are expected to do from the community. But they have decided to grow their own fresh vegetables instead of picking from the grocery store that everyone goes to.
Yes, its that ecchi area, yeah its what you expected, but this time it knows you expect it. They decided to poke back.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 4, 2016
Here's the point of the show;
You're the best of the best, you're skilled intellectually and physically, you've got bragging rights, you've got unfaltering support from friends and family, you own all the land and money.
Holy shit man, you have it all.
Well, that's what our MC is and has.
Made possible by being one of the best players in a virtual online video game world, when it was time when the game was going to be pulled from its plug, our MC stayed to the very end.
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Except he never left, the world never left, in fact he is the only one left.
Left with all that he had made, owned, built, and bonded.
Now what is left but to continue doing so?
This show heavily appeals to gamers, particularly in the MMORPG demographic or those who are fans of fantasy worlds. That usually goes hand in hand though.
Beside their focused appeal tactics for their target audience, they actually have some rather pretty and effective visuals, characters, and world.
It certainly isn't a disney world, it shows off its grit but it also shows it has a scenic route for our characters to journey through. The characters themselves each have their own unique traits that make then lovable.
But ho' boy, the stuff in the world and what they do in the world. It's pretty damn cool, its one of the biggest reasons why Virtual Reality is pushed in the gaming business.
Imagine seeing things from real life that you never thought you would witness, or imagination that you could've never perceived yourself!
Give this one a shot, I might have oversold this one admittedly, but I do think it is quite awesome to see, not just as a show but as a story world.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 4, 2016
Good and bad. Virtues or evils. Right and wrong.
Oh hell can it be such a trivial trial to choose one, let alone be dedicated to one.
Here's one that I personally believe;
Anyone and everyone has the potential to do good, be good, and be for good.
However this means that someone can be good, even if they are classified as bad, evil, or wrong.
But how should I act when I see something go against what I believe could be goodness acted, instead of their evils acted?
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Do I fight fire with fire? When heat comes to me, should I bring the heat back to them?
Do I ignore the fire? Will the problem give up or will it persist unhindered?
Do I control the fire? As long as it is maintained, it wont be a problem right?
Do I kill the fire? Extinguishing the problems means it will go away permanently maybe?
See what I mean? So many choices or possibilities, and that is without diving into the 'pros versus cons' part.
Our main cast is a part of a secret organization, with their given powers, they proclaim they stop evil with their own evil. To stop the killings, the corruption, and the acts of evil, they reply with their own evil, killing those who do evil.
The question has been set and the answers are wrestled with our female lead.
This is a great issue tackled by this anime, however I have to admit, the presentation isn't the greatest nor is the story telling of it.
It likes to try and show of its super power actions scenes and that it has some really hardcore members of the organization. I guess it wouldn't be typical anime without trying to balance humour, seriousness, and genre action. It's too bad they failed to balance it.
It simply drops short of the intensity and heated emotions it tries to reach.
It's literally an okay show but with a burning thought behind it all. It just gets caught by the expectations and recycling of the medium.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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