Back to DenzRui's Profile DenzRui's Profile

Well, it's been a few years since I've finished Saiunkoku Monogatari and my memory's not that reliable but I'll do my best in reviewing this anime.

I've seen some reverse harems; from classics to modern ones, but let me tell you this: Saiunkoku Monogatari still tops them all. (If not, then it's one of the best out there.)

I came blind to this anime without knowing anything; the only thing I was expecting was for it to be underwhelming. But nah. It's good. Really good.

Story:

Saiunkoku Monogatari's premise about a girl from a fallen branch of their aristocratic family who is then offered 500 gold coins to join ... the imperial 'harem' for six months to straighten their unreliable emperor caught my attention. (Just so you know, I'm a maniac when it comes to governance,royalties,classics, politics etc.)

The story for me was a hit; but on the other hand what happens after that would be 50/50; either it goes on full-blown romance with the emperor or it delves into politics with some good-ol'-life lessons.

What did I get? Well I got a slow romance with some some politics (more on this on the 2nd season) bit more on life lessons about people,country and being a ruler. Not that I'm complaining, I mean it fits.

Character(s):

They aren't 'that' deep but the anime does give them background stories. It's just that there are MANY characters in the series to remember.

As for the romance, I've no complaint (Though in the anime, it takes a back seat but it's there.) I mean falling for Shuurei must be the most logical thing to do.

Music:

It's not memorable but it does fit the story with it's classic instruments playing.

Animation/art:

Well, the animation for this anime is rather stiff. You'd mostly see people talking. (Not that there should be more moving;this ain't action anyway) The art's is also good and simple.

Overall:

If you want to watch an anime with a strong female lead,slow paced anime, with romance present and with life lessons to boot then this one is for you.

Spoiler free

"Why '6'? Why did you only give it a score of 6? " is what you are probably thinking right now. (Especially, if you are a fan of this series)

I followed Last Game from the VERY BEGINNING of its serialization. I then got updated on its chapters like a student waiting for a vacation, suspension of classes and early dismissals of profs. ( In literal sense, it means I really liked Last Game )

Let's talk about the manga.

Last Game is about a guy named Yanagi who was very proud of himself because his family is rich af. Then, a girl named Kujou enters the ... story and told him that he shouldn't brag about something he didn't achieve on his own. Yanagi's ego got hurt and decided to get even with Kujou by making her fall in love with him and dump her the second she confesses.

The characters aren't deep but they aren't that bad either. The thing I like about this shoujo manga is that the guy, Yanagi, is the one getting flustered most of the time because of Kujou and the POV of the story is mostly from his side.(Considering this is a shoujo manga, it should be the girl doing the job right? But nah, it's the guy this time. That's why it's kinda like a breath of fresh air for me)

It may be from the guy's POV but the story does not in any way, lack sweetness and cuteness when it comes to execution. The pacing is slow, really slow, but the sweet moments and funny reactions of Yanagi and Kujou's denseness make up for the slow pacing.

We have already established that the pacing is slow, and the slowness will continue...until one of the most cliche thing happened. ( I won't mention the chapter, but you'll know it when you get to that point. It's kinda like "I've been expecting this to happen, but not THIS early!") That's the point where everything became faster than a jet plane flying. ( Seriously.)

As anime watchers; we've often encountered words such as "wasted potential", and let me tell you, yes you, the one who's reading this, this anime is the very definition of WASTED POTENTIAL.

Story:
The story starts with twin brothers; Thor and Rai with Thor being the elder sibling and Rai being the younger. After coming home, they went to see the dead bodies of their parents and while lamenting their lost; they we're put on sleep and dropped in a plant planet called Chimaera.

The plot didn't have that much "interesting" vibe to it, but once you get to watch the first few episodes, that's when you'll know ... that it was becoming interesting to good.

But sadly, it was only good for the first part, after the major time skip, this show went suicidal.

Art:

The art for me was really decent. No complaints about it.

Sound:

I thought I'd never like the opening song but it grew on me, and after 3 episodes I've never skip it. But other than the opening, the voice acting was decent. nothing spectacular.

Character:

This part of the show has many negative things that writing it in this review would spoil you.

Let me just tell you this; Don't expect any psychological or moral shits taking place, if ever, you won't buy to it because everything is forced. Don't even get interested in a specific character, because they'll never be dived upon because they'll be disposed of ( Even the main character gets none, if ever, he turns 180 degress to the right, then he'll turn 180 degress to the left. )

Enjoyment:

The first few episodes were quite good, I mean 1-7, or before the timeskip ( even with super thick plot armor )

The second part of the show is a train-wreck. It was so bad that enjoying its badness became a thing.

Overall:

As I've stated at the beginning, this show is the epitome of WASTED POTENTIAL. It had many things in store, really. They could've expounded on the world, the rules, the characters, motivations, morals etc. But no, the rushed everything and compiled everything within a span of 11 episodes.

Do I recommend this? No. But if you're curious and want to have some laughs then do so.

Arslan Senki or otherwise known in English as The Heroic Legend of Arslan, is a story about the crown prince of Pars, Arslan, as he embarks on a journey to retake the fallen kingdom of Pars from the Lusitanians with the help of his loyal sevants.

It's an adaption of Hiromu Arakawa's manga adaption of Yoshiki Tanaka's novel by the same name and who is also celebrated for the war-epic Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

Story:
As I've stated above, it's a story of a crown prince who embarks on a journey to retake the fallen kingdom of Pars. This kind of story, a prince who retakes ... a kingdom, has been very much told from time to time. If I were to compare it, it's like Fire Emblem. But one should not look at it as a whole since the most important is the journey itself on HOW he retakes the fallen kingdom.

It's a coming-of-age story, drama,war and tactics. With the use of its colors, one also expects that it is also grounded in reality. But take heed my friend, I was blown away when "magic" appeared out of nowhere. This is the kind of anime where magic should not even be needed to further the story.

Art:
To be honest, for me, the art was a beauty when it's focused on a character's face or a particular character. ( one to two characters ) The art falls deeply when it is not focused on a character or when there are too many characters to draw.

In my opinion, budget has something to do with this. Sometimes the art was great, then becomes average, then it becomes lacking. If it had a greater budget, especially since it's historical one should expect luxurious clothes, palaces, castles and locations, my eyes would've cried in sheer joy.

Animation:
The animation is good when there are one to one fights ( amazing when daryun vs hermes ) but falls flat sometimes in horses and in massive scales of armies because the CGI was so below-average.

Lighting:
I need to separate this, because in Arslan Senki, when it's daytime there is light. But when there are some scenes that happen in hidden places, like sewers, one must expect that in undergrounds it is dark so the staffs should do something about the lighting, but in Arslan Senki, when it is dark, it is literally dark. Dark in a sense that, soldiers fighting in the sewers can barely be seen anymore. I am not joking.

Sound:

Pretty good in my honest opinion.

Character:
The characters are enjoyable but they lack back-story and developments ( Arslan is excluded ). In this war-drama I expected those characters that didn't have experiences in war before be shocked but it's never dived upon ( Arslan included ).

( I don't know how I would take this matter in my hands, because in those times, warring kingdoms and all, it must have been "normal" for them to see people die. But to see people die getting sliced and stabbed to death, do they also take that as "normal"? )

Enjoyment:
I'm a sucker for historical,war, strategies and throne-rivalries, so I enjoyed the heck out of Arslan Senki. It's the only anime I watched in the spring season.

If you like playing Fire Emblem, then you would surely like this.

Overall:

In all its glory, Arslan Senki is enjoyable. Enough to satisfy you. But it is without flaws.

Flaws:

-Magic
-Character Developments
-Animation
-CGI
-Lighting
-Budget
-Unbelievable scenes ( Horse on top of a raging elephant, surrounded with archers and not even getting a scratch )

As of now, I'm waiting for the announcement of a 2nd season because it sure felt like there is one.

the "reviews" I made were more like rants than reviews. so I'll do my best on this one and give it a a real review.

=no spoilers =

" Don't believe in yourself, believe in me who believes in you! " - Kamina

the story of Gurren Lagann is about a boy who wants to see the "surface" finds a pointy object, became brothers with an awesome character, befriended a chick named yoko all while fighting a big robot with a chibi robot and went off to an awesome, legendary, epic and crazy journey that would make you say " this shit is great! " faster than eminem ... rapping.

The story is just normal and became very good because of execution. From humble beginnings to awe-inspiring moments.

When watching Gurren Lagann, you don't watch it with your head, you should just enjoy the ride, be inspired and just go crazy with them. Just like what the creators intended you to do. You do it with the feelings! It is freedom itself, it will make you laugh so damn hard, make you cry and make you dance! ( Because if you watch this anime with your brains on, you'll be bashing this show instead )

This anime is really unique! If you have an idea, like your logic and you force it on the show, it will just tell you to shut the fuck up and believe in the power of will! The show is actually illogical, but its illogicality is the core of this show. it's so illogical that it's so damn good!

the characters were fun! very fun to watch! there are so many characters that I'll just put the 2 main heroes here.

if you want a character who doesn't falter even for a millisecond then this Kamina guy is the embodiment of it all! He is not the kind of character who is smart, he is the the character who makes his own almanac! the embodiment of confidence, fuck-logic -I -have- my -own and pure awesomeness!

Simon is like us watchers before watching the show. not confident in ourselves, just idolizing someone and just on the background to support our idol. But when you put Kamina in it, it makes us believe ( in a good way ) that when you believe in yourself anything is possible ( literally )

the ops and ed were great! they really fit the heart-thumping and adrenaline aspect of the show.

the only problem I had in this anime was Nia. I only liked her because Simon liked her. and I was a chick-Y x shota-S shipper.

after you have finished watching this anime, this epicness will be etched in your heart that when you hear the word "crazy " you will remember this journey for a very very long time albeit forever.

I only watched Guilty Crown because of the hype that surrounded it, animation and music. I didn't care about the plot, I thought that it was just another ripped-off series of Code Geass. and to my dismay, it was a copied version that failed majestically.

I'll just get to the point, because I really forced myself to watch this series for the sake of finishing an anime.

The story is really a rip-off. They didn't even bother hiding it. The cliche tropes were all there. Incest,boy meets girl, my-life-suddenly-changed, hero, saviour, god-like etc. there were so many plot holes that that it became difficult to watch.

the characters ... were just so " meh."

Shu was such a bastard, bitchy, cry-baby and everything that I don't want in an MC. He's the embodiment of MCs that are full of crap. He was a character trying to be a bad-ass but failed miserably that it was excruciatingly difficult, unbearable and embarrassing to watch.

Inori...y'know the only lines that I can remember from her are " shu " and "shu " that was all. They could've just hired someone from anywhere and make that person utter " shu " every episode. Her character was so..wait, was she even a character to begin with? She didn't even have a personality for god's sake! She was literally a walking cardboard that just wore revealing clothes and had a tape recorder that has a record with an awesome voice glued to her mouth for the sake of advertisements and appearances.

other characters: they were here and there. Killed off when the story needed them to be dead and revived when the story needed the crap to be alive.

tbh, I really hate guilty crown to the extent that after I finished watching the show I have cursed so many times that I don't even know what to say.

for the other aspects of the show like animation, soundtracks, ops and eds, they were so beautiful that they became wasted on such a garbage crap.

With a superior production team, great directors, top-notched musics and art and a golden time slot, what could possibly go wrong?

Everything went wrong and for reasons that are unknown to us.

The only thing that kept me going was the superb animation and the awesome opening theme " My Dearest " Actually, the shows so bad that this might have just been an advertisement for Supercell.

this show is so bad that I would rather watch Bob the Builder.

This is my second review for a show but I'll try to be unbiased. I just recently finished watching Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso, so for the sake of being unbiased, I gave my brain a week to think about the show I just finished.

First things first: I actually dropped this show because of the trope that has been widely used: the boy meets a girl who changed his outlook on life and chose her over his longtime childhood friend. But watched it again because of the hype that surrounded it.

STORY: The story is actually very cliche. I think everyone agrees to this. The thing ... the differentiates this story apart from other cliches is the way it was told to us.

It was told to us in a colorful way. It was told in a romanticized version of adolescence. That everything is colorful, happy and everything will all end well but underneath all of that sparkles and beautiful scenery, we get to see the struggles to which some of us can identify. Though our struggles in real life, when put in this anime, will be amplified. seriously. they took it up to 11. ( if they were a bit older, it could be much more believable, but since this is a coming-of-age story, I wouldn't have it any other way )

The pacing of this show is somewhat slow. really slow. so when you watch this anime you will somewhat cringe on your sit and shout when will anything happen. Then, the pacing that started slow in the first part became piled up and was uneven on the second part of the show, they were everywhere actually.

HUMOR: I really needed to separate this one because I'm gonna emphasize this "humor". The humor was sometimes funny and sometimes not ( because of the abuse ) not only that, some of them were put in a place that shouldn't be there. The humor literally and actually killed the feelings and emotions that was almost about to explode.

ANIMATION: I'm hands down to this series' art. It was beautifully drawn. They were cheerful, colorful and bright .( literally, the contrast of the first episode made my eyes cringed) Especially the animation when Kousei and other rivals of his play the piano.

SOUND: They were amazing! They were beautiful! The BGM and insert songs were very great! they fit the atmosphere of the show. ( especially the insert song in episode 11, the fireflies scene, it's my favorite. My truth-Rondo Capriccioso ENA ver. )

The only problem I had was with the second part's ED theme, they were basically saying that Kaori would die. It was such a sad song. Though it fit the series I didn't like it.

CHARACTER: the well developed character in this series is undoubtedly Kousei. I've got nothing else to say.

and Emi's was good. Even Takeshi's too. they were given time to develop.

now let's go to the other characters:

Tsubaki: She was one of the cliche characters, but the way her side was told was just very good. We get to see the psychological aspect of a widely used trope: The childhood friend.

Because of her, I got to see childhood friends in a new light. They were just trope for the plot and fanservice but we got to see how heart-wrenching their story has been. Their struggles in the form of jealousy and one-sided love that is close to never being reciprocated. She was a great character but the only flaw Tsubaki has is that they never gave a closure for her story.

Watari: Ok, he was practically the yuujin-a of the show. He got the short end of the stick. I know that he has been supporting Kousei and Kaori. But where was his character developments?

Kaori: Also one of the cliche characters. She was mainly used for the feels, the melodrama and plot ( but not all, mostly ) The only reason she was part of the show was to inspire and contribute to the maturity of Kousei. I know that that was the reason but they could have shown us her character developments. because her's was entirely off-cam.

and before I forgot, one of the reasons why I first dropped this show was because of how they abused Kousei. I also know it was for the "push" but they could've picked a much more friendly method.

Enjoyment: if you're the type of person who would be turned-off to many monologuing then this show is not for you. But if you're fine with it, then expect this show to be very good. It delivers what it wants to be delivered in a very poetic manner albeit a very good one.

Overall: I'll personally give this anime a 9 for the "feels" it gave me but a 7 score, good, for the technical aspects. it was good but it could've done better.

The plot is very predictable but the way it was told through music, quotable quotes mainly from Kousei, they way they handled the romance between the two characters was very well done. ( Though, I wished Kousei and Kaori could have also known each other on a personal level. their's was mainly through music. If it wasn't for music, this two characters wouldn't have even cross paths at all )

= None spoilers =

when this series aired, I was very hyped, because for the first time, there would be an anime that would tell the tale of us MMORPG gamers. But I was very disappointed.

Story: Gamers were imprisoned inside a game called Sword Art Online, and in order for them to get out, they must defeat all 100 the stages with bosses that are also powerful.

the sypnosis was, in my opinion, interesting. and that was all. It was just interesting. When I watched the first 2 episodes. it was good, enough to make me watch another episode. But as I go further with the show, ... it became dull. and became unbearable to watch after the first part of the show.

let's go into detail: i watched the show to see the struggles of MMORPG gamers trapped inside a game. It kept me hooked because I wanted to know what they would do. Will they form an alliance? Friendships? Party? Defeat a stage Boss? How?

They did. But in a negative way that would affect the main character in a negative way that would also affect the show in a much more negative way.

I don't mind having an MC that is pessimistic, actually, I even welcome it. But his pessimism ruined the show. I didn't get to see the things I wanted to see and enjoy.

Art: the art is decent. Clean actually. it's not something to be remembered or to be forgotten just better than the average because of some action scenes which are practically cool and nice to watch and characters that were cutesi-ly drawn ( imo ) ( I guess this is where all of their money went XD )

Sound: OP's and Ending's were Ok, they fit they story. the sounds give off the vibe of being in a fantasy world. Voices were good too.

Character: Now, this is were it all goes down.

Kirito: So perfect. Powerful. His development were mostly off-cam. Pessimist. dull. Can't relate to. Gary-stu.

Asuna: for me, she was one of the most promising characters. she was the kind of heroine I'm looking for after watching so many anime they have shitty heroines. she was strong, intelligent, has leadership qualities. but everything became crap when she fell in love. SERIOUSLY.

actually, that's all I know about her. I didn't even know anything about her likes and dislikes. she was practically a moving cardboard character that was wasted.

Suguha: Put incest in a fantasy world with wings, melodrama that are very trivial and you'll have this crap fanservice. a chocolate wrapped in gold but once you taste it, it's just full of crap.

other characters: characters?! oh! they were just their for the convenience of the story!

Enjoyment: well I enjoyed it while cursing everything that's bad about it.

Overall: it had a promising story but they crumpled it and threw it on the trash can. watching this show will make you take an interest in it, wonder why all are such a jackass just because someone's a BETA tester ( they should actually worship him ), think when will the MC get his ass going, then will fall in love and blah bah blah. the first part of the series ends.

then there comes the second part: it was literally unnecessary for it to have a second part. It didn't have any connection to the plot anymore! it was all just for the sake of FANSERVICE!


at the very core: SAO is a story turned love story turned incest turned princess saving and turned playing again.

( and the worst of all, there's a second season, oh, also a third season! )