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May 14, 2015
Story: Kaichou wa Maid-sama starts off within your average high-school setting and with your stock high school characters. As the series progresses, all of the generic anime base are added in. Part of what drew me in to this series at first is the depth that was given to some characters, but very quickly the supporting cast lose their potential and become annoying. As the series progresses, even the lead characters get watered down, and at episode 20 of 26 I just could not fake interest in the series anymore.
Art: Nothing particularly eye-popping started Kaichou wa Maid-sama at five, the way that
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filler characters are drawn so cartoony in their fantasy cut-aways (and the frequency of said time-wasters) dropped KwMs a to four, and it lost another point for of the eye-retching clash of the stuffed-animal-esque animation inserted into otherwise 'serious' scenes. I can't stand it when an anime can't take itself seriously.
Sound: I popped this up a point from average, as I felt that the main characters' voice actors did a pretty good job. Their efforts didn't go unnoticed, and I blame the plot falling apart on their deterioration as the series progresses. I will point out that none of the supporting cast did more than a noticable job, and not even all of the main cast performs above average.
Characters: I felt a bit betrayed by the depth-to-shallowness that onset the cast, and this is really what killed the series overall for me. I understand that mangaka are pushed to drag out their works for as long as possible, but anime are supposed to circumvent that, and replacing the characters that had drawn me in with, and I can't emphasize this enough, the most generic and unscrupulous of high school anime stand-ins really ruined this series. I think if it had been a twelve or thirteen episode OST I might not have so many criticisms, but, well, it didn't stop there.
Enjoyment: What can I say that I haven't already said? If this is your first time watching an anime of this type, it's not a bad place to start; it'll set the bar right where it needs to be, but if you're an experienced otaku, don't feel bad about walking right by Kaichou wa Maid-sama.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 19, 2014
One of the most generic, predictable anime I've seen. Kaze no Stigma uses the slightly underused approach of magic users and ninja clans in modern times, but, surprisingly, it's not meant to be wacky or childish like other anime of its genre. This gave me high hopes, and I remember catching myself thinking, during the first few episodes "this will really have to take a turn for the worse to prevent me from finishing it".
After sitting through cliché episode after cliché episode, I finally dropped it. While I like the main hero, Yagami Kazuma, the heroin, Kannagi Ayano is what ruined the
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series for me. Not only does her Japanese voice actress kinda suck in this role, her 'burn run time transformation-esque' summoning of Enraiha against every little thing really pissed me off. She never fights using just fire magic, and, despite an early youma kill that was supposed to display her adept fighting abilities, she spends 90% of her time being a decoy, getting defeated, getting caught, and, like any romantic comedy anime, blaming the male lead for her shortcomings. She's childish, weak, poor-sounding, but well drawn.
The animation is up to par, but everything else could have been done so much better; Kaze no Stigma is a testament to the old saying "All that glitters is not gold".
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Mar 21, 2013
Cage of Eden. Well.
I started reading it because there were several volumes already out at the local bookstore, and online the manga is shown as finished, so I knew I wouldn't have to wait for new chapters. It has an uncommon scenario, an uncharted island where dinosaurs roam free.
Character Development:
Much of the series is the main character(s) overcoming obstacles, with unnamed characters dying along the way. There is also (sort of) quite a bit of fan service, with panty-shots aplenty, and as you get deeper into the series, the girls bathe more and more often, however, the artist doesn't draw nipples and
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certainly not "home base", and with the internet just kind of sitting there, these "almost nudity" pages seem to be a waste. Aside from a small group of the main characters, no one really has a personality of their own beyond "pervert", "bad guy" or "jobber", and about two-thirds of the way through the series the author gives the remaining characters names, and no one else really dies after that. I'm not exactly a Star Trek fan, but it was very clearly segregated into 'crew' and 'red shirts'. Furthermore, even though the 'crew' are really put through the ringer, they never die. Kind of detracted from the suspense, for me. Also, all of the girls are *stacked*. I'm talking, nine of every ten girls has double-F-cups+, which is probably not so common for Japanese middle-schoolers.
The Art:
Well, As I've mentioned, the characters aren't the best, but the scenery isn't bad at all, and the animals are drawn very well. Also, unlike a lot of the battle manga I've read, the "fight scenes" are not at all hard to follow. I've seen plenty of attacks in other manga where you can't really make out what was supposed to have happened, but I never once had this problem when reading Cage of Eden. Still, the characters expressions don't vary that much, between fear, joy, surprise and determination, so while the background work and motion are well drawn, that's about all I can say is positive about the artwork.
Enjoyment:
Well, it was a comfort to know that I could always get online and read more of this work until I finished it, since it's all been released, but I never really felt like "Man, I can't wait to see what happens next!". There were a few twists that I wanted to know how they would be done, but nothing really grabbed me. Furthermore, a little past halfway through the series, when a plot looked like it was starting to be formed, the writer set up several different routes that could be taken to end the series on, and while some of the later chapters really went through a lot of effort to explain how the things the characters have faced were plausible, the ending just plain didn't make sense. I won't give out spoilers, but it kind of just seemed like the mangaka was like "Fuck it, I don't care if this doesn't make sense, this is how it ends", which really pissed me off, 'cause it could have been ended on a very reasonable note. It make me feel like all the previous effort was just tossed out the window.
Overall, it's not the worst manga I've read, not by a longshot (I'm looking at you, Hot Gimmick, you worthless piece of garbage), but it's nowhere near the top. It started off differently than other manga I've read, and I while I'm not a mangaka, I just feel like there was too much about Cage of Eden that could have been done better. I have no desire to watch the anime, at least (if there is one). I don't regret reading it, but don't expect this work to change your life.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 2, 2013
I spend a lot of time reading manga at a local Barns & Noble. After reading what I wanted to read, then reading what I didn't think I would hate, then reading what they had just because they had the whole series, I started reading Gunslinger Girl. I admit, I did not have high hopes for it, having flipped through the pages often and always putting it back on the shelf, but today I decided to read it.
The first thing that drew me in was the art. With a lot of works having pretty shoddy graphics, even after being serialized into a
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manga, I was relieved that the mangaka for Gunslinger Girl was pretty good. Often, in battle manga, scenes can have chaotic effect drawings, making it hard to distinguish whats going on, but I never lost track of what was happening. The characters are all drawn similar, but not clones of each other, nor do they fall into obvious stereotypes. However, even characters from different countries seem to look like they came from the same basic mold, and it gets old pretty quickly. What also doesn't help is that none of the characters have unique personalities. What I mean is, try reading a chapter of GG imagining that every line is coming from the same character. Nothing would be out of place. No one on screen seems to have any characteristics that differentiate them from anybody else.
As far as the plot, I can't help but think the story focuses on the bad guys. We see things from their perspective, but that doesn't seem to justify their actions in my mind. Without giving away too much, Gunslinger Girls is about a section of the Italian government that takes elementary-school-aged girls who've suffered fatal wounds and makes them into cyborgs, who're trained assassins. There are a few different teams the story follows around, and all they do it kill different factions of "terrorists" that oppose the current regimen. I don't think I've seen them yet spare an innocent, and in fact, for whatever reason, one of the first kills is an innocent boy who was shot just because he's spoken to one of the Girls in an earlier panel. By contrast, some of the "terrorists" were put into the exact same situation and let their child live. With so many (at least six) different "terrorist groups" trying to take down the current government, and the lack of demonstrated morals by the protagonists, one wonders who is the oppressor.
I'll probably keep reading it, until new volumes for the manga I'd prefer to read come in, but it just seems to drone on and on, a bunch of boring handlers telling lifeless dolls to kill enemies of the state chapter after chapter. In order for GG to be serialized, I know that more of a plot has to show up eventually, but for now, it's just plain.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Dec 21, 2012
Wow, it's pretty bad. There are 'fight scenes' (that last a few panels) that are very scratchy and hard to read/view. The characters, as expected in a 'Romeo and Juliet' knockoff fall in love, though the mangaka doesn't drive that plot at all. They meet, they fall in love, just because it's Romeo and Juliet. I finished reading it, but really only because it's the only thing in the store I haven't read yet.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Dec 6, 2012
I have a bit of a bias, as this is my favorite anime, but I'll try and be unbiased in my review.
The story is not too average, though it is in a typical school setting and has the typical characters-types (quiet one, spaz, girl-and-boy-who-start-off-hating-each-other-and-end-up-falling-in-love), but it deals with real-world morality issues, like cloning and nuclear-holocaust. There are many subtleties that you'll have to re-watch the anime to pick up, including an "oh shit" moment at the end that you have to catch the first time. Just try watching the opening after seeing the last episode and try not saying "Oh, man, how did
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I miss that?!", haha.
Lessee... the character voices are spot-on, and though I recommend watching it in Japanese as well as English, this is one of the few anime I usually watch in English (others being Gundam and Evangelion). A few scenes in English the dialogue changes drastically to accommodate cultural differences (in a scene where the students are cleaning the classroom, in English there's an announcement over the speakers that it's due to a 'custodial strike'; also, in the first episode, in Japanese our Title hero is accused of being a regular pervert for peering suspiciously into a restaurant where girls in cute uniforms work, in English he's labeled as a 'fast-food stalker'), but all of those involved know what they're about when it comes to anime voice-acting.
I think what I like best about Generator Gawl is the pacing. One of the first anime I ever watched was Gundam W, and that series alone was 49 episodes and a movie. Generator Gawl didn't feel like it was being dragged out; everything moved along from point to point, and in twelve episodes they're able to tell a story.
In the interest of not gushing, I think I'll end my review here. In conclusion, I gave the Art 10 of 10 because of the way it's used both during battles and outside of combat situations, sometimes even artistically to illustrate a point (as seen in a the dream sequence Ryo has). The sound is 10 of 10 as the voices are all well done, and the background conversations are all well-placed but completely necessary. Enjoyment is 10 of 10; I feel like I learned something as a person just for having seen it. The Character I gave a 9 of 10 to, as while each character gets plenty of development, they all start off as a generic manga/anime type character. The story is 9 of 10 for the same reason. Overall, I rated it as a 9 of 10, as, while this is *my* favorite anime, I recognize that it's probably not "the greatest anime in existence".
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 25, 2012
I've never written a review before. I can't say I've read all the manga or seen all the anime, but I've read my fair share of manga. However, I've never written a review before. Well, Hot Gimmick made me feel an emotion extreme enough to write a review. And I've never done that before.
It's horrible. I hate it. There are no "bad guys" but all the characters are horrible people. *SPOILER* The main character is in an abusive relationship. I've seen couples, I've been a part of a couple, and I loath girls who date guys
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that treat them like shit. Yes, I hate those guys, too, but they only act that way 'cause there are no consequences for their actions. I'm not saying that all girls should date fat geeks with glasses 'cause they'd 'treat them better', but that's reality and this is a manga. There are no ugly people in this world. Absolutely everybody but the guy the main character is dating and his mom treat her with the utmost care. Well, her childhood friend tried to have her raped. The author still tries to redeem his character, though. Remember what I said about there not being any "bad guys"? He goddamn tried to rape her just to piss somebody else off. But he's not a bad guy. Her boyfriend, who blackmailed her, physically abuses her, verbally abuses her, is not ashamed at all of the fact that he cares about himself and only himself, isn't a "bad guy" 'cause he 'only wants to do it with [her]'. Like not screwing the girl his mom picked out for him redeems him. There are, of course, characters who seem to genuinely care about the main character, but she stays with the guy who hits her? Who actually thinks her only purpose in life is to be his personal slave? *SPOILER* there's no nudity in this manga, so if you're looking for some freaky S&M doujinshi this isn't it. It's the story about a horrible person, surrounded by horrible people in an average world and the author tries to make bullies and corrupt rich people look like knights in shining armor. If s guy like Ryoki Yachibanan existed in real life, he's get the shit kicked out of him trying to rape the neighbor girl, I don't care who him mom is. And you'd think that she, and I know this is gonna come out of left field, might not want to continue dating dating someone who constantly beats her up. It's not a dystopian society, so there's no call for it.
It's just a really, really bad manga. I kept reading it, thinking the payoff would be so sweet when she finally dumps the asshole and starts seeing someone else, anyone else, but no, the guy forces her back into an abusive relationship, and she just cries and goes with him because "I can't help I love him". She doesn't, by the way. Being the main characters, we see her perspective often, and he terrifies her. I can't stress enough how bad of a person he is, and yet, she's worse, because she let's him be a bad guy.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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