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Sep 26, 2017
***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.***
Before I officially begin, I'm going to mention is that I went into this movie with incredibly minuscule (but not entirely nonexistent) prior knowledge. I was aware that it was going to avert the bittersweet ending of the anime into one that was pretty much entirely bitter. Specifically, I already knew Homura's excessive adoration for Madoka was going to turn into something ferocious in this movie, as well as that Homura was going to transform into a "Lucifer" figure to counteract Madoka's "God"/"Jesus" figure. I did not know anything about Rebellion other than that.
I'm going to
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start with talking about two very specific aspects of Rebellion that are quick and easy to go over: the animation and the soundtrack.
I gave the animation (listed as "art") a 9/10. The animation was spot-on, much better than the original anime's (which was already quite good). It was extremely detailed and fluid, a feast for the eyes, and perfectly displayed the atmosphere of Madoka Magica as a whole--surreal, stunning, ominous, off-putting.
Then there's the soundtrack (listed as "sound"), which I gave a 7/10. I absolutely love Yuki Kajiura, who composed the music for everything Madoka Magica, and she always shocks me with the ardent emotion present in all of her pieces. The music in this movie was very nice, but I had to admit it did not connect with me the same way the music from the original anime did; perhaps this is because it conveyed the atmosphere of the movie perfectly, and I'm not sure if I like the atmosphere of the movie. However, I will say I have a soft spot for the piece "I Was Waiting for This Moment", which is both beautiful and grimly condemning.
But ultimately, I must confess I'm rather upset with this movie. When I mentioned the things I already knew about Rebellion before watching it, I'd like to address how I knew those things. I knew those things because I had watched a single scene of the movie beforehand, that scene being the "plot twist" one, in which it's revealed Homura has become something of a yandere and that the new universe Madoka created wasn't enough for her after all. I thought this scene was amazing and still do, which drove me to be fascinated as to how they would bring about this side of Homura.
I probably should have gone into Rebellion with no expectations, but admittedly, I did have one. I was kind of expecting, with far too much exhilaration, that it would expand on what the events of Homura's life did to her and show us the extent of the psychological damage that had been inflicted upon her. Then, I thought she would go through something equally or even more painful than what she'd already gone through, and only then would she become "unstable Homura."
I was completely wrong, and even if I think back on the movie without those expectations, I'm still extremely disappointed with what they did end up doing with Homura.
The main cast was portrayed decently, although the "real" main cast didn't get much screen time at all. They were kind of boring in this movie, which was disappointing, but also to be expected since it was so drastically focused on Homura and Homura alone. I didn't have much of a problem with them besides the fact that they were truly just side characters here, but again, that was to be expected.
Long story short, I don't understand why they would include Bebe in this movie other than to make a new character to refresh themselves or lure in fans. She's adorable, sure, but she serves basically no purpose the entire movie other than to be cute, as well as to be a "red herring" for Homura. I don't think she was necessary to include.
The movie itself started out pretty well, and it definitely lured me in. Fans can tell something is wrong immediately because, even if Rebellion took place in Madoka's new universe, Madoka herself would not be present as anything other than a god, and the rest of the Magical Girls other than Homura would not remember her. Strangely, wherever Rebellion takes place, it's some alternate universe that still has Madoka in it as a human being (or so we thought at this point), with the rest of the Magical Girls aware of her existence.
I was lured in even more when we found out Homura was trapped in a labyrinth, in spite of the fact that we as fans were aware no present universe should have labyrinths or witches present within them. I thought it was a good choice and a greatly interesting one to do the minor plot twist: Homura was trapped within her own labyrinth.
(To be continued)
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 18, 2017
And so I commence with my unpopular opinion of this extremely popular manga.
Obviously, Tokyo Ghoul gets on quite well with the darker portion of anime/manga fans, and I am definitely part of that darker portion. Due to several other people's knowledge of this (both online and in real life), Tokyo Ghoul was heavily suggested to me, the manga over the anime because of how drastically the anime strayed from the manga during the second season. I decided it couldn't hurt to give the manga a try.
For a long time, I wasn't sure what to think of Tokyo Ghoul. I kind of liked it,
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but there was something I couldn't name about it that kept making me put out while I was reading. Later, I realized it was Tokyo Ghoul's vibe.
For better or worse, Tokyo Ghoul is incredibly cynical, the key line/lesson of the manga being: "This world is wrong." I think that, for many people on "this" side of the anime/manga fandom, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. And that's fine. But I'm pretty sure your enjoyment of Tokyo Ghoul relies heavily on the philosophies you believe in and your view of the world.
Because I tend to believe the world is both terrible and utterly beautiful, Tokyo Ghoul's all-or-nothing "this world sucks" attitude was just not for me, and it got progressively worse as I continued to read.
I have actually only read four volumes of Tokyo Ghoul, but I looked up spoilers to become aware of everything that happened next in hopes that what I found would change my mind from wanting to drop the manga.
It didn't. It actually made Tokyo Ghoul even MORE infuriating to me. I don't want to give a very long rant on everything I hate about what eventually happens in Tokyo Ghoul, but long story short, I hate what becomes of Kaneki, and I hate what becomes of everyone else.
I know that, for many people, this manga is an incredibly emotional ride. Plenty of tears have been spilled over Tokyo Ghoul, I'm aware. Unfortunately, Tokyo Ghoul has failed at making me sympathize with any of the characters. It has, however, succeeded hugely at making me annoyed at all of them. Again, I think your personal system of beliefs contributes heavily to your enjoyment of Tokyo Ghoul--but, more specifically, your connection to the characters.
Kaneki started out as a startlingly boring protagonist. Even after he turned into a ghoul, there was nothing remarkable about him that allowed me to root for him, or even feel something towards him. I know what happens to Kaneki near the end of the manga and completely disagree with what the Tokyo Ghoul fandom apparently calls "character development"; I'd hardly call going straight from a sobbing, pitiful-but-merciful character to an absolute beast "character development." You could argue there's a journey on his way there, but in my opinion, I just don't think there is. He switches, and that's it. No matter how much he gets tortured, it doesn't make up for that in my eyes. (Also, for me, in contrast to what appears to be the rest of this fandom, I despise Kaneki turning into a do-evil-unto-evil ghoul.)
Touka is a stereotypical dark anime tsundere. She's not as lighthearted as the regular stereotypical anime tsunderes are, but she's just like every other dark anime tsundere. I couldn't decide if I liked her or not for a long time. There were times when I could feel for her and times when I only wanted her to shut up. She's nothing all that fascinating, either.
Ultimately, I found myself sympathizing with side characters because the main characters infuriated me so much. Which, obviously, isn't good.
Compared to the other things I've mentioned, this one is minor, but it still matters. Something that annoyed me about Tokyo Ghoul was the way the manga introduced new information, characters, etc. There were things that would seem as if you were supposed to pay close attention to them that ended up meaning nothing. But even more often than that was when the manga simply sprung something on you and expected you to remember it or immediately know it was important in spite of the fact that it literally came out of nowhere, and then you ended up being confused later when it was brought up again.
Honestly, I have no problem with the Tokyo Ghoul fandom, but I must say I've developed a strong disliking for Tokyo Ghoul itself and was supremely disappointed by this manga. The only compliment I can give it is on its art, which is actually quite good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Aug 14, 2016
Please do not disregard my review simply because I've given the overall rating a straight ten, as well as most of the other aspects of this wonderful manga. (And the only thing not rated a ten is the art, which is given a nine!) I tend to skip over reviews that look like the only thing they will do is rave about the topic myself, but I can assure you I will be as honest and unbiased as possible. After all, PandoraHearts deserves nothing less.
(Yes, "PandoraHearts" is written as a single word with the "H" of "Hearts" still capitalized--the proof stealthily given in a
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few parts of translated material, most notably the blurbs of the Caucus Race side novels.)
Before I go on to covering the separate parts of the PandoraHearts manga, I'd like to put in a few words about the anime. Said anime aired for an extremely short period of time during 2009, and it was cancelled for good reason. Although the soundtrack was quite good (not exceptional as a whole but still admirable, with only certain tracks reaching "exceptional" territory), this did not make up for the multiple failures the anime had in regards to the manga.
The animation/art itself that was used in the anime would be considered incredibly poor even before 2009's standards. The colors are too bright and don't flow well, the outlines of character designs are strangely sharp, the movement that is animated is unfaithful to how human beings actually move, and overall, it is all excessively simplistic.
While it followed the manga decently, it still managed to omit several confusing but vital details in order to reduce the complexity of the anime for the audience. It got progressively worse as the anime continued. Eventually, when the anime was cancelled and the manga was nowhere near finished (in fact, the "true" plot had barely been introduced), the former produced a horrific ending that left all strings hanging and made little to no sense.
I've been ranting about the anime for too long now, I suppose.
Basically? Don't watch the anime. Read the manga.
As for the manga...
ART - 9/10
There is only one reason why I didn't give the art of PandoraHearts a ten, and that is because the art starts off someplace a bit below what I would consider "mediocre." At the beginning, PandoraHearts' art looked...rather odd, if I'm being honest. The lazy depictions the anime chose to use looked worse even though it was based on the original art, but the art in the first place had a weird habit of being unusually disproportionate.
However, when I hear the term "art evolution," I'm forced to think of PandoraHearts every time. Jun Mochizuki's art skills increase drastically in very short periods of time, and by the end of the manga, it's drop-dead gorgeous. Stunning. Ethereal. Take your pick.
STORY - 10/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 11, 2016
Pokemon Origins (or, as it's listed here, Pokemon: The Origin) is a nice, four-episode anime representation of the original Pokemon games, Pokemon Red and Blue. The reason I didn't rate any higher than seven was because I couldn't--it's not a new story or concept, and due to the age group Pokemon is aimed at none of the characters could have any more depth that usual.
However, I particularly like Pokemon Origins because it doesn't consume too much of your time and the four episodes that make it up are very satisfactory. The animation is smooth and definitely better than any animation they'd managed to pull
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off during Sinnoh or before, making it Unova and Kalos quality. The story, though not anything Pokemon fans haven't heard before, it well-executed throughout the few episodes. Nothing feels rushed.
There's really nothing else to say about Pokemon Origins except to watch out if you're looking for something new. Despite the fact that Pokemon Origins is a sort of side series (albeit a short side series) to the main Pokemon anime, the concept isn't all that different, and it's basically exactly the same regarding the concept of the games it was based off of.
There's nothing you can lose, though, from trying out Pokemon Origins. It's only four episodes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 11, 2016
And with the second season of Black Butler comes the introduction of Alois Trancy and Claude Faustus.
I wrote a review for the first season with a whole lot of complaints, and although I certainly liked the second season better than the first, I still had some problems with it.
Ciel and Sebastian remain two-dimensional characters. They haven't gained any new character development as the season changed. The sad thing is that it almost appears that Alois is the one with the most character development, and he's not even a likable character through anything but pity over his constant rejections from Claude.
The story was definitely
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improved from the first season, although I am aware that the second season was an original plot that was not part of the manga. It had more depth (although sadly, as I mentioned, the characters failed to match the depth of the story itself) and was vastly entertaining.
However, when problems with the first season were taken away, this season gained new problems.
Season two was an explosion of fanservice, from Alois's implied sexual obsession to the obvious Sebastian x Ciel scenes. (I love Sebastian x Ciel, and I am aware it's still kind of obvious later, but this season seems to be something else.)
And here's the other problem. Around halfway through the season, things started getting really confusing, and by the end things didn't make sense at all. After thinking things through repeatedly and re-watching a few episodes I understood what was going on, but it was still strange how things slowly began making no sense. Sebastian and Claude's quarrel messed things up because every aspect of it was constantly changing, Claude couldn't seem to decide what (or who) he wanted, and Alois was constantly having dramatically dangerous mood swings and also couldn't decide what or who he wanted.
To be honest, season two was still a lot better than season one, and I'm glad I watched it. But everything has its flaws.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 11, 2016
Although the first season of Black Butler (Kuroshitsuji) sort of serves as an icebreaker for the seasons after, it still counts, as it isn't simply a pilot but an entire season. Therefore, I must acknowledge it.
It's difficult to explain how I feel about the first season of Black Butler. I was very entertained by it, but it was almost as if there was more comic relief than any actual story. During the first season almost everything was done to try and make the viewer laugh, which was nice but not nice enough to save the season.
The story isn't bad, but the problem is that
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there isn't really a story in the first place. Black Butler stars a young boy named Ciel Phantomhive who is the earl of the Phantomhive family and his butler, who is a demon named Sebastian Michaelis. (In case you didn't know, Black Butler is set in the time of the Victorian Era.) Ciel forms a contract with Sebastian in order to get revenge on the people who have soiled the Phantomhive name, and to get revenge on the person who burned down his mansion and caused the death of his parents--although he doesn't know who this person is yet.
But the story, for some odd reason, doesn't seem to be centered on that, at least not during the first season. Sure, Ciel brings it up all the time, but the situations he gets involved in don't usually have to do with exacting his revenge, which is strange. Also, remember how I earlier said that this season doesn't really have a story? I'm going to bring that up again. Every episode of this season there's a different problem. Each problem is resolved at the end of its episode. However, these problems would definitely not realistically be resolved in such a short amount of time. Additionally, most of these problems appear to be either randomized or extremely unlikely.
Another thing I'd like to acknowledge is that the characters are pretty much two-dimensional. And to be fair, that's usually what characters are until the second season or, in some cases, even later. But besides Sebastian being a badass and Ciel having the personality of a bratty (yet badass) rebel and the capability of a nine-year-old, the characters don't really have anything else about them. The rest of the characters are so toned down that I can't really say much about them besides "comic relief."
I would just like to let anyone who is reading this and is agitated know that I actually do like Black Butler, very much. Although I've been mostly bringing up this season's issues (and indeed I believe this season was definitely not the best season Black Butler had), I don't dislike Black Butler at all. It just doesn't seem overly special, at least not by this point, and I will post a review for the second season, since I've also watched that. The story isn't overly unique (if there's a story at all).
But here are some good points about this season of Black Butler. The art and animation is very good. There's nothing to complain about there. The quality of the anime itself (rather than the story, characters, etc.) is incredibly satisfactory. Don't let this review turn you off from starting Black Butler; there are many people who like it more than I do, and I'm just one opinion. I hope this helped!
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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