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Dec 25, 2009
Alright, let's do this:) First thing I have to say about Umineko , it really lef me with some mixed feelings.Since there's an enormous amount of hate going around regarding this anime, let me clarify to which part of the fanbase I belong. This way, it would be easier for you to spot any bias that might seep in later in the review:)
1) I am a HUGE Higurashi fan: I breathe Higurashi, I think it is the best thing since hot water, blah, blah , blah, you get my point:)
2) I have NOT read the Umineko Visual Novel , so I won't have any complaints
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of the sort "OMG, they left out ____"
Alright, with that being said, here's my opinion:
Story:
For me this is the most intriguing story that was never told.Why? I believe the setting of the novel is perfect for a mystery.Sure, it might be a blatant copy of Aghata Christie's "Ten Little Niggers", but having a group of people on a secluded island with mysterious murders going on always makes up for some good suspense.Plus, most characters seem to have interesting back stories.So , what went wrong? Well, this potential remains totally unexploited, since the story chooses to focus on the supernatural world, whose inhabitants are the least complex characters of the entire cast.Let's face it, demons and witches are made to represent certain human traits, so how can we really make them into fully fleshed out characters? I found myself enjoying the ( sadly too brief ) insight in the stories of Ange and Kyrie much more than the entire logic battle between Battler and Beato, the latter being way too confusing at times ( especially when the event discussed happened a couple of episodes ago and you hardly remember the details of it ).
In short, the anime failed to create the deep bond between the viewer and the main characters that we had in Higurashi.
Art:
In general, very good.However, mouths and noses seem to disappear all too often.Also, censorship ticks me off on general principal, you either let an artist do a scene with gore , or you don't, pixelated cover-ups don't help the overall look.Can patches be released for an anime? We'll see with the dvd version, but untill then, art remains at 7/10
Sound:
Very good voice acting, nice music ( very very epic OP and ED in my opinion ), what more can one want?
Character:
As stated in the story section, great cast of characters, but we don't see much of any of the interesting ones. If ( hopefully ) there's a next season, that might change ...
Enjoyment:
It was actually a good show.Although it was far from my expectations ( as I've said, higurashi fanboy ), it was quite enjoyable and I was constantly looking forward to my weekly golden witch fix.I do believe that I should re-watch all episodes back to back in order to fully appreciate it, since that would probably clear up a lot of confusion.So, if you're wondering if the show is worth it, give it a shot.And if you have that option DON'T read the VN beforehand:):)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 8, 2009
Ahh, Desert Punk, this show is all about the nice surprises:) It is something you definitely shouldn't miss out on, despite the fact that it's kinda hard to get into at first.
First of all, let me tell you that I almost dropped this series.I watched the first 5-6 episodes and I stopped, because quite frankly I didn't think I could handle any more boob jokes.However, the other day,having nothing to do, I decided to finish the series.Much to my surprise, despite that the boob jokes did not diminish in numbers, the show started to grow on me, mostly because of the wonderful character development. Also,
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it is a very light-hearted show ( for the most part, more on this below ), and it's quite funny.My personal favorite among the supporting characters remains Amagumo, this guy makes me chuckle every time he pops up on screen :)
However, what got me completely by surprise is the fact that a series that started in such a simplistic way presented me with one of the most profound and satisfying endings I've seen in anime.Without spoiling it, I can just say that it is about freedom: not necessarily the freedom of making the RIGHT choice, but the freedom of making A choice.Your choice and no one else's.And have the strength to face the consequences of that choice without lying to yourself.For Sunabozu is not presented as an ideal, but as a real person, with real strengths and flaws, who till the very end remains true to himself. This is more than can be said about many of the other characters, which throughout the series seem to have indisputable moral superiority over Kanta.Desert Punk is also one of the few animes where there is no distinction WHATSOEVER between good guys and bad guys.It's all about different groups of people in the middle of the desert, fending for themselves.I felt very realistic.
That's pretty much all I'd like to say about the show.I won't comment on the technical aspects , I think you'll get a better idea of them by simply watching 5 mins of an episode.So, to wrap it up, give this show a chance, you won't be disappointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 25, 2008
The following review is for both seasons of Hell Girl, because they are really part of the same story;
Ok, so we've all read the Lord of the Rings.We all know the trick to it: as soon as a description passage starts, skip 5 pages and continue reading.Same is true for this anime: if you're not prepared, you'd be in serious danger of dropping it, because both seasons , at least for their first halves are so awfully repetitive: Person hates somebody, person contacts Hell Girl, Hell Girl sends said somebody to hell, black mark appears on the contractor's chest in order to remind them that
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they're due to hell as well, after they die.Wash, rinse, repeat ( i'm not 100% sure, but I think one or two episodes of the second season were direct remakes of episodes of the first season).For god's sake, 90% of the words spoken by Enma Ai are reapeated in EVERY single episode.Also some of the situations are quite unrealistic ( way too many little girls going to hell in order to avenge their pets ).
So why am I giving a "boring" series so high scores you might ask?
Well, because apart from the abovementioned problem, everything else is perfect.The art is beautiful, the music is terrific ( i still have the closing song of the second season stuck in my head ).Each individual episode, if taken separately presents a touching story.And the precious few episodes of each season that are actually relevant to the main story (or at least present the backgrounds of the characters of Enma Ai's entourage) are sure to grab your attention.The characters are very well developped, considering their screen time: rule of the thumb is that if a character appers in more than one episode he/she is sure to make a lasting impression.
So there you have it.Do check this show out, it's worth it.IMO, if the plot was condensed into one season instead of two (which would have been quite easy), this anime would easily have made it into the top 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 12, 2008
Well, that's the first anime that motivated me to write a fairly negative review.I may be a bit biased, because I was really expecting it to be more interesting, mainly because one of my favorite books is about a guy who drives around the desert in a tank...In any case, here's my $ 0.02
Story:
Girl drives around in the desert in a tank...That pretty much sums it up.The anime is divided in several substories, each lasting 2-3 episodes.Unfortunately, none of them managed to grab my attention.What annoyed me the most was the one before the last: girl goes in the middle of nowhere,
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accompanied by her worst enemy, to rescue a guy who does not need rescuing and fight a woman that doesn't want to fight her... Plausibility was thrown right out the window ( example, last episode's 'battle scene') It think that the idea was that the show was supposed to be more character driven, rather than plot driven, which brings us to the
Characters:
That's the weakest point of the series.You are unlikely to dislike them.Most probably you just won't care about them.And why should you? They don't change throughout the series, and all have single-layer personalities.You have the optimistic hard working one, the kind mysterious one, cynical mysterious one and the loyal one and the "wise" one.Another annoying thing is that instead of revealing their personalities through their expressions and dialog, the creators of the series decided to use an annoying omniscient Narrator , that explains what's going on in their heads
Art
Not bad overall, only it's quality went down dramatically at 2 or 3 occasions.That being the terrible 3D geese and episode 13 mainly.There are a few other occasional drops in the quality of the character animations, but they are pretty minor.Also, the Third look remarkably like the generic elves from any 80s anime.Apart from those points though, everything was decent
Sound
Not bad, but unremarkable.
Enjoyment
Straight in the middle,watching the series was a nice way to kill some time, but I definitely won't remember much of it in 2 weeks.
Overall:
It left me with a sense of wasted potential.Although not particularly bad, the series just lacks character: the story is standard, the charterers are cliche, the messages we've already heard a thousand times before.I would guess that show was aimed towards a younger audience who hasn't had the chance to see all the cliches of the genre over and over agains.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 11, 2008
Ok , I'm not really a manga reader, but here's my 2 cents about this one:
No central story (therefore the low grade), but keep in mind that this particular manga doesn't need one: It's all about the ups and downs of a bunch of (mostly) high-school relationships.The characters are explored in sufficient depth, provided their stories are usually very short.I found the couples very interesting, for each had its unique share of problems.I admit that many of the situations aren't terribly realistic, but it didn't bother me personally.
Many of the other reviews I've read complain about the fact that there is too much sex
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going on in the manga and that many of the girls act slutty, cheat , etc.While clearly there are some exaggerations, I find that overall the manga does a good job at depicting the psychology of the average teenagers throughout their first steps in the world of interpersonal relationships: sometimes too eager, sometimes too shy, excessively horny and psychologically unstable, girls can't figure out their emotions, guys can't figure out the girls, etc, etc.Everyone who's had at least one turbulent relationship in their youth is bound to get this good ol' "been there , done that" feeling at least a couple of times while reading this.
Bottom line, it's certainly not a manga everyone will enjoy, so make sure to give it a try and find out if it's your cup of tea
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 28, 2007
Great anime about bread, who would have thought of that eh?
Well, here it is.Most of the other reviewers did a good job at presenting the good sides of this anime, so I intend to concentrate on the problems...well, it's one main problem really: the show is too bloody long.The beginning is great, It literally had me rolling on the floor laughing.The middle was so-so (the reason being mostly the fact that I found Pierrot EXTREMELY annoying), and the last third, even though it is better than the middle part, comes at a time when you're 90% sure to be almost completely fed up with the
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show;No new jokes to speak of, it is almost the same dialog over and over again , all that changes is the type of bread currently made.I assume here that most of us are not hardcore bread fanatics.
Another thing that really annoyed me was the degradation of the character of Kawachi: he was one of my favorite characters in the beginning, but as the show progresses, he becomes more and more useless (as the rest of the characters mention at least once per episode)
So that's it.Yakitate! Japan is a show that everyone must see, but be prepared of getting fed up with it at some point or another.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 18, 2007
What can I say, a bit more of same-old Dokuro chan, although the second season manages to be even less politically correct than the first one (tons and tons of ecchi) .No story to speak of, no character developpement, but if that's what you were looking for in this anime you have issues:)
Apart from that, an episode of this series never fails to deliver when you need 10 minutes of stupid/cruel/ecchi humor.Call me twisted, but I still chuckle every time Sakura kun gets clubbed to death:)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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