- Last OnlineNow
- GenderFemale
- BirthdayApr 4, 2000
- LocationElkhart, Indiana
- JoinedOct 5, 2012
|
Sep 27, 2018
6 of 6 episodes seen
|
2
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
4 |
| Story |
1 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
Have you ever questioned every decision you’ve ever made in your life? I sure have had those moments, and I have a feeling that the people who made this anime had one after it was all over, too. “Just what were we thinking?” they probably asked themselves. “For what purpose did we create this thing?” Believe me; my question is very similar to this one, and I’m determined to get it answered. Before I do so, however, I must state what that question is.
What purpose does the ONA known as “Iya na Kao sare nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai” serve? Ladies and gentlemen, wish me luck
in my investigation.
Let’s see.... I guess from stating what it’s about, it should give me a clue. It should be easy enough; after all, the only thing that really happens is that the Anime Girl of the Week makes a disgusted face and shows you - the audience - her underwear. Wait, no.... I can’t really put it that way, since the title literally translates to “I Want You To Make A Disgusted Face and Show Me Your Underwear”.... You know what? Just look at the title, and you’ll be able to discern the “plot” of this anime. (Oh, and it’s also in a first-person point of view.)
The reason why I put “plot” in quotation marks is precisely because there is no actual plot and only “plot”. Even when a story is attempting to be told up until the “plot” kicks in, it’s incredibly tedious and boring, to the point where even I couldn’t help but think, “Can we just throw in the panty shot and get it over with?” Needless to say, I’m disgusted at myself for having such a thought, but I’m sure that there are others who could think such a thought with pride. Maybe this anime’s purpose is to give “plot” to those who desire only it? No.... if they wanted “plot”, those people could easily watch High School DxD or Rosario + Vampire or any ecchi anime like those....
Okay, so it’s not the plot, nor is it the “plot”. Moving on.
Could it be the artwork? I mean, the girls look cute, so it’s a small possibility. However, the animation is just....meh. It’s not God-awful, but it’s not all that good, either. What about the sound, though? No, that can’t be it, either. The voice acting is pretty average, and the ending theme is so forgettable that even if it somehow gets stuck inside of your head, it won’t take much to get it out. The lack of background music isn’t doing it any favors, either.
This investigation is going nowhere.... I guess if I’m going to figure it out, I’d have to talk about the characters. First, let’s talk about the protagonist, who is - as you can probably guess from what I had said earlier in this review - YOU. You’re someone who is acquainted with these six girls - a maid, an idol, a nun, a shrine maiden, a nurse, and a high school girl gamer - and you’re also a pervert. Yeah, that’s all “you” are, no matter how many variations of “you” there are in this anime. All of the girls are pretty one-note, too; originally, their opinions of “you” are positive or neutral, but by the end of the episode, they see “you” as the sicko you are. Even so, they still show “you” their panties every time, calling your masochistic self “gross” or “pervert” the entire time.
Masochistic....? Oh my! I think I’ve got it!
Iya na Kao sare nagara Opantsu Misete Moraitai’s purpose is to satisfy the masochistic perverts with panty fetishes, nothing more and nothing less. Anyone who doesn’t fit into this category, please don’t watch it; I know that I fit into that category, and I didn’t find it too enjoyable. Anyone who DOES fit into that category, however, may be looking forward to season two right now.... WAIT, SEASON TWO?!?
read more
Aug 19, 2018
13 of 13 episodes seen
|
4
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
I will admit that there have been times where I’m unable to express how I truly feel. I’m sure everyone has those moments, though; they know that they feel a certain way, yet they can’t put those feelings into words. However, I will try today; I will try as hard as I can to put my feelings for this particular anime into words. After all, I’ve waited so long to watch this anime, from the moment it was announced to the day (after) it was released on Netflix (because I wanted to watch it legally). Even so.... despite the facts being that this anime was
animated by Kyoto Animation and the light novel it was based off of was the first to win the grand prize in any of their contests, was the wait worth it? Was this anime able to meet the expectations of me and everyone else who eagerly awaited it?
From the looks of it, yes. At the very least, I can speak for myself when I say that Violet Evergarden was worth the wait.
Violet Evergarden follows a girl named.... well, Violet Evergarden, who was raised to be a “weapon” for the military in a war. Gilbert Bougainvillea, a major in the military, did not treat her as a weapon, however; he treated her with kindness and treasured her....right up until he told her he loved her right before the war ended. Having lost her arms in the war, Violet is left with only those words that her beloved major told her and no understanding of what they mean. In order to understand, she ends up getting a job as an Auto Memories Doll, who write letters for people who are unable to do so or have trouble expressing their feelings. From there, Violet’s encounters with her clients not only change their lives for the better, but they also help her grow and understand emotions better.
See, that last sentence alone capitalizes the second best thing about this anime (and I’ll get to the first best thing later), and that is the character development. All of the characters get a great amount of development, from the main characters to the supporting characters and even those who only appear in one episode. Even the characters I initially found annoying for one reason or the other, I ended up sympathizing with them; if an anime can do something like that, it’s doing a good job. In the center, however, is the titular character, Violet Evergarden, who gets the best character development of all. As fascinating as it is to see how she affects the lives of those around her, it’s simply quite amazing to see how it all affects her, as well.
The character development helps the overall story, as well. There were moments where I was admittedly not too invested in what was going on, but those moments were few and far between; for a large majority, there was quite an amount of emotional investment. Take episode 10, for example; given the situation that was going on in that episode, I will just say that by the end, I was in tears. (It’s kind of funny, actually; Violet is starting to understand emotions throughout the course of this anime, and I was starting to get emotional as I watched!) With all of that said, some people may say that each of the stories told in this anime aren’t really connected to each other, but I can confidently say that whoever would say that doesn’t know what they’re talking about. All of them are connected in that we see how Violet grows through all of these experiences; thus, even if these stories aren’t connected, they are.
“Sincerely” by TRUE and “Michishirube” by Minori Chihara, which respectively serve as the opening and ending themes, are truly music to my ears; both are beautifully composed and wonderfully sung, and I could listen to them many times! (In fact, I already have, in the opening theme’s case.) On another music-related note, “Violet Snow” by Aira Yuuki is very beautiful, too; I can remember it being played when one of the first PVs of this anime came out, and it was pleasing to hear it again in the last episode. While I can’t really say much about the Japanese voice acting because I watched the English dub, I can say that the English voice acting was superb, with every voice actor, especially Erika Harlacher as Violet, doing much more than just fitting the roles they were given. The best part about this anime, however, is the animation, and I really mean it when I say this; it is breathtakingly gorgeous, even by Kyoto Animation’s usual standards. The backgrounds, the character designs, the colors, the animation.... It was clear to see that on an artistic scale, this was KyoAni at their finest.
Overall, Violet Evergarden was truly a great anime. Looking for an emotional rollercoaster with gorgeous animation? Watch this one! It’ll probably leave you experiencing pretty powerful emotions.
read more
Jul 3, 2018
1 of 1 chapters read
|
0
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
2 |
| Story |
2 |
| Art |
3 |
| Character |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
1 |
And today's romance tip of the day is, "Don't rush into things!" I mean, if you're going to fall in love with someone, you should at least take the time to get to know them before deciding that you want to be with them for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, some people don't even seem to realize this simple fact, as a specific one-shot manga demonstrates. To be perfectly honest, I only read this one-shot in the first place because of how low of a score it has on MAL; it's the second-lowest-rated manga on MAL, as a matter of fact, right above the
manga adaptation of "High School Musical"! It felt like the obvious choice was to read it and see how bad it was (also demonstrating how much I tend to make bad decisions)....and holy crud, do I have some things to say about it now that I have!
Ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention as I explain how "Zannen nagara Chigaimasu" teaches us about the pacing of relationships.
One day, while going up an escalator, a girl has a "chance encounter" with a guy who tells her to meet him at the top of the escalator. (I honestly can't remember either of their names, which is actually kind of funny for reasons that I will explain later.) When they do meet up, it turns out that the girl is still in high school while the guy is 29, meaning that they're over a decade apart in age; however, from this encounter alone, the two come to the conclusion that they can't be without each other. Thus, they fill out a marriage application, but get this; they don't even know each other's names before they decide to get married! (Now you know why it's funny that I can't remember their names. Haha.) Then, they kiss, and it's implied that they have sex. The end.
I'm sorry, but it's really hard to take a plot like this seriously. I mean, they literally just met each other and took no time to get to know each other, and then, bada-bing bada-boom, they're getting married? These two skipped so many crucial steps in making a relationship work that it's kind of hard NOT to make fun of it! Because of this, I don't hate the story as much as I could be hating it, but there's no excusing how rushed this one-shot is, whether it's the story or the relationship. I know that the manga artist only had a few pages to tell a one-chapter story, but couldn't a FEW of those pages been used to allow them to get to know each other better instead of the whole "I have to be with you forever even though I literally just met you" crap?
Ironically, not only does the couple not take the time to get to know each other, we, the readers, barely get to know either of the two characters other than their ages and their feelings for each other; heck, we barely get to know their names! As a result of this lack of characterization, I found myself not caring about either character. What's worse, however, is their chemistry; I feel no sparks between them, and they don't look like their "marriage" is going to work out in the long run. Speaking of looks, although the artwork is the best part of the whole manga, it's not by much; although it's mostly just standard shoujo manga artwork, there are some moments, the escalator scene in particular, where the proportions and angles look kind of off. Really, Kotomi Aoki? You've worked on plenty of shoujo manga before this one; shouldn't your art have improved from all of that experience?
If Houkago no Shokuinshitsu is the short anime you should watch only if you're in the mood for making fun of something, then Zannen nagara Chigaimasu is the short manga you should read for that same purpose; one may be yaoi while the other is hetero, but both of them are "love stories" you can't take seriously about couples with zero chemistry. With that being said, go ahead and read Zannen nagara Chigaimasu if that's your agenda, but otherwise, stay as far away from it as possible. After all, if you're going to expect a manga about a couple getting married without even knowing each other's names to actually be good, not only will you be disappointed, but you will be questioning everything you have ever known about the pacing of relationships.
read more
May 12, 2018
13 of 13 episodes seen
|
1
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
At some point in their lives, everyone has needed to ask for advice from someone they find trustworthy, but it's questionable as to whether or not their advice is actually credible. I'm not sure how credible MY advice is, per se, but here's some that I'll give to you right now; you're probably better off watching something other than the anime I'm reviewing today. It was an anime from the Summer 2014 season that caught my attention for rather odd reasons; despite its license from Funimation and the fact that the final episode aired in Japan on schedule, subtitled versions of each episode were taking
their sweet time being released, especially for the last few episodes. I ended up watching the first episode and putting it on hold for years, but now that I've finally finished it, I have to ask myself this question.
Can I really give solid advice to other anime fans about whether or not watching "Jinsei", or "Life" in English, is a good decision? Well, only one way to find out!
To start, Jinsei revolves around Yuuki Akamatsu, who is roped by his cousin, Ayaka Nikaidou, into the Second Newspaper Club. In this club, the members - at least, those in charge of the life advice section - read over the problems of the students of their school, discuss potential solutions to those problems, and then publish their answers in the school's newspaper. Through this club, Akamatsu ends up acquainted with three girls: Rino Endou, a smart girl with glasses and a disbelief in the occult, Fumi Kujou, a sweet, big-busted girl from a wealthy family, and Ikumi Suzuki, an energetic girl with sport smarts but not so much brain smarts. Get these four together with a question from a student seeking advice, and hilarity is abound....or maybe not.
Believe me when I say that I'm pretty sure you've seen all of this before; you may not believe me, but it's true. A guy joining a school club and finding himself in many awkward situations with the female members, who, by the way, are the only other members of the club? A plot like that has been recycled time and time again, and some further anime will succumb to that fate with that one thing to distinguish them apart from the others; Jinsei has the whole "life advice" thing, but that's pretty much all. It doesn't really try to do a lot of new things, and I found that aspect of the series rather boring.
The characters aren't much different, either; every last one of them are walking, talking cliches. In all honesty, Akamatsu is the worst of them all; he has his moments, but overall, he's just a generic copy-and-paste protagonist that you can find in many other anime. The girls aren't much better, as they're the kinds of girls you can find in any harem anime; I found Ikumi and Emi rather amusing, but I know that even they aren't particularly unique. However, I will give credit where credit is due; while I never really laughed or even giggled at these points, their chemistry is undeniable in their clashes over the advice to give. Their conflict with the Student Council President wasn't really as interesting, however; in fact, was it really needed?
The art and animation aren't anything too groundbreaking; I've seen better from Feel's other anime, such as Kono Bijutsubu ni wa Mondai ga Aru, which is also a slice-of-life anime. However, it goes to show you that they're capable of a better animation quality than that in Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete, which is sad considering the fact that it aired the season after this one and even had a better story! The voice acting isn't terrible, either; the voice actors for the main characters may not have had a lot of voice work at the time that this anime came out, but they did a good job. The opening and ending themes were rather catchy; however, they don't really stand out from other songs, and it's not like I want to listen to them on loops.
Hopefully, the question I asked earlier has been answered; after all, I've given my reasons why Jinsei isn't that great of an anime to the best of my ability. Now, I might as well give my advice to those interested in it; you're probably better off watching something else. I mean, no one's going to kill you for watching it, but if you decide not to take my advice and come out unsatisfied because of all of the cliches, don't say I didn't warn you.
read more
Jan 20, 2018
26 of 26 episodes seen
|
3
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
Sometimes, you may watch an anime and think, "This could be better." It could even be an anime you quite enjoy, but you know that if there was less of one thing and/or more of another, it could be even better. The proof is that you've read the manga for it, and you enjoyed it enough for you to watch the anime before you realize what the thing holding it back was. Such is the case for Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (Kare Kano for short), or His and Her Circumstances in English; I couldn't praise the manga enough for its deep story and character development,
but although it's also there in the anime, I found myself complimenting the shortness of the budget (in a sarcastic way, of course) more than that.
In case you don't know what Kare Kano is, it follows a girl named Yukino Miyazawa, who is seen by her classmates as a perfect model student but is actually a "queen of vanity", desperate for the praise of her peers. However, upon starting high school, she gets one-upped by a classmate named Souichirou Arima....and needless to say, she does NOT take this well at all. As if that's not bad enough, however, Yukino's secret gets discovered....by Souichirou, of all people! As it turns out, Souichirou isn't as perfect as he seems to be, and from here, the two of them end up becoming friends. Eventually, they fall in love and begin a relationship, and this series then follows them in their lives as a couple, where they strive to remove their respective masks.
The story of Kare Kano was very good. Of course, some of the comedic scenes were stretched out for longer than necessary, the recaps were slightly annoying, and the anime doesn't pick a good spot in the manga to end at; however, the anime kept a lot of important plot points, and I enjoyed seeing them. I also enjoyed seeing the characters again; although I feel that their actions and interactions with other characters had more of a comedic feel to it, they still felt like actual human beings rather than just tools for getting laughter out of us, and they got a decent amount of development. I still found myself liking Yukino and Souichirou's relationship; it's still a very ideal relationship, with the two of them genuinely caring for each other and making each other better people. Accompanying the good story and great characters is a rather impressive musical score; the opening and ending themes ("Tenshi no Yubikiri" by Mai Fukuda and "Yume no Naka e" by Atsuko Enomoto and Chihiro Yuzuki) were songs that I really wouldn't mind listening to again and again. Finally, the voice acting was surprisingly good; Veronica Taylor did a good job at portraying Yukino's character, among others with other roles in the anime.
Okay, now, time to get the one thing holding this anime back out of the way: the animation. At first, it seems like despite this anime's age, Gainax and J.C.Staff's animation work is very well done; however, as time goes on and the tight budget runs even lower, the animation quality suffers. Surreal animation, still images, and recaps ended up being relied on more and more as time went on, and it got quite annoying. Sure, the surrealism works in some areas, such as scenes that show Souichirou's inner turmoil, but other times, it's rather distracting from the plot. I mean, come on, people! We're here to watch a romantic comedy anime about a couple letting their true selves show, not to stare at pictures of the setting of said romantic comedy anime! You won't be able to believe how many times during the second half that I said, "I think they're running out of budget."
Despite all of that, however, Kare Kano is a good anime, and I'd recommend it to people looking for a good romantic comedy. However, if the budget problems become too much, read the manga instead. Either way, the circumstances of these two young lovers are those that can't be avoided.
read more
Nov 6, 2017
1 of 1 episodes seen
|
16
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
10 |
| Story |
10 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
If we're going to be honest here, Pokémon needs no introduction, especially when it comes to the anime; a boy named Ash Ketchum gets a Pikachu - a yellow mouse - as a partner, leaves his hometown of Pallet Town, and travels the world while catching new Pokémon along the way, all while he remains ten years old. Well, what if we went all the way back to the beginning and started all over? Perhaps I'm the worst person to talk about Pokémon; I was 10 myself when I ended up being pulled along in the Pokémon craze, and by not looking back, I have
made some Pokémon-related memories that I will never regret, whether it's from the game, trading cards, or anime. When I found out about this franchise's twentieth movie, however, I was skeptical, thinking that Pokémon had just caught the "recap movie disease"; however, with each new trailer came a promise of a new experience born from something old instead, and I got more hyped (even though Misty and Brock were still missing). At last, I watched the movie in the theatres with all intent on tackling (heh, get it?) it in a review; I tried to watch it from a critic's point of view instead of a fangirl's....but man, was it hard!
Ladies and gentlemen, Pokémon Trainers all over, here is my review of "Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You!"
Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You starts the same way the Pokémon anime series did; Ash Ketchum wakes up late, all of the starter Pokémon are taken, he ends up getting a Pikachu, they don't get along well at first, they accidentally tick off a group of Spearow, Ash tries to protect Pikachu, Pikachu knocks all of the Spearow out with a Thunderbolt, Ash and Pikachu finally become friends, and they see a legendary bird Pokémon fly through the sky. Your childhood memories know the drill here....but here's where the story starts to diverge. As this legendary bird Pokémon - Ho-oh - flies away, it leaves Ash and Pikachu a rainbow-colored wing; the two then make a promise to each other to one day meet this Pokémon. After that, Ash travels through the Kanto region, collects Gym badges, and follows his dream to be a Pokémon Master, like he originally had been doing; however, an encounter with another legendary Pokémon, Entei, reminds him of his promise. Together with new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel, Ash and Pikachu embark on a quest to reach Rainbow Mountain and encounter Ho-oh.
Okay, time to try to not fangirl.
May I first say that the story was masterfully executed? I personally would have liked to see some of Ash's Gym battles, as part of one was actually shown and it was differently executed from the series; however, with a limited amount of screen time and a different story to tell, I fully understand this decision. In regards to this "different story", it shared some key story elements with the series, but even with those integrated, the film stays on its own two legs through and through. Although it does start back when Ash is at square one in regards to being a Pokémon Trainer, the different direction the story took didn't affect his character development. In fact, I dare to say that this film dug deeper into his and Pikachu's characters than the series did and gave both of them great amounts of character development as a result.
Some of the other characters were likable, too, but they come with the one flaw I'd say this film has; they don't get fleshed out enough. Perhaps the biggest offenders of this are Ash's new traveling companions, Verity and Sorrel; while they are interesting characters with their own respective backstories, these backstories aren't fleshed out enough for the audience to really get to know them, and they are sadly left as mostly supporting characters. The infamous Team Rocket trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth return, but they are also reduced to supporting characters and don't get as much screen time as they did in the series; however, the scenes of them that we DID get were amusing and retained each of their personalities. Another new character, Cross, is the exact opposite of the ones I have mentioned; he does get enough screen time for his character to be fleshed out, but that doesn't mean he came off as likable. As a rival, he is definitely a powerful adversary who actually affected Ash emotionally, but at the same time, the various problems he ends up causing and the things he says just made me want to throw my bucket of popcorn at the screen.
What this Pokémon movie lacks in fleshing out most of its characters, however, is redeemed in its art. Instead of conforming to the new style of the Pokémon Sun and Moon series, the art style stays close to what the series was before then, which was a wise decision cinematically; with what kind of story it was trying to tell, using that rather goofy style would have made it look pretty ridiculous. However, even with that in mind, this is definitely the best-looking Pokémon movie I have ever seen; the animation was smooth and solid, the backgrounds were drawn in a beautiful fashion, and some shots were masterfully executed. Now, I don't care what other people say about Sarah Natochenny voicing Ash; all of the voice actors did a stellar job at their roles, and there was pure emotion in their performances, too. While I'm not always one to pay attention to background music, I definitely have to give this film's background music credit; the music always blended in perfectly with what was going on. Finally, the opening theme was an excellent remix of the first Pokémon theme song, and the ending theme.... OH, THE ENDING SONG. I wanted to stay at the theatre just to finish listening to it; it was that good!
Overall, Pokémon The Movie: I Choose You is definitely an excellent movie and a challenging one for a longtime Pokémon fan like myself to critique. I wouldn't recommend it to those who can't handle different stories and the fact that Misty and Brock are missing (although I do admit, it was slightly disheartening not to see them), but other than that, I'd recommend it to any Pokémon fan out there, even the ones who haven't watched the anime in forever. With this movie being watched and Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon being eagerly awaited, I can tell that it'll be harder to critique anything Pokémon-related from here on out, but with that being the case, maybe I should just let my inner fangirl out!
read more
Sep 29, 2017
12 of 12 episodes seen
|
1
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
4 |
| Story |
3 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
Sometimes, I ask myself, "Why do you subject yourself to this? Do you really think that if you continue to watch bad anime, you'll eventually come to love bad anime?" Believe me when I say that I don't believe that will ever be the case; after all, trash is trash, even if it's yuri trash. The simple fact that it's yuri resulted in a particular anime being added to the list of anime I watched in the Summer 2017 season when it was announced; although I'm straight, I sometimes have a yuri thirst that I need to quench. Thus, if you ask me why I
kept watching a netorare (cheating) anime such as this one I'm about to review, the answer is simple; it's yuri. The problem is, however, it's not even good yuri.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to my review of "Netsuzou TRap".
Netsuzou TRap revolves around the relationship between Yuma and Hotaru, two best friends who both have boyfriends. In Yuma's case, she just started dating her boyfriend, Takeda; nervous about getting intimate with him, she turns to Hotaru for help. It was at this moment that Yuma realized she messed up, as this resulted in Hotaru kissing her as "practice". Of course, with a title like NTR, it wasn't just going to end there; even with their boyfriends being in the picture, Hotaru keeps "practicing" with Yuma, even though she constantly tells her to stop, even though it's clearly obvious that SHE WANTS IT. Thus, we get the heart-wrenching story of how one toxic relationship shatters all kinds of relationships, both friendships and romantic relationships! Yay! (Just kill me now.)
Now, let me get one thing clear; I don't like netorare or even the very idea of cheating. No matter the genders of the person you're cheating on and the person you're cheating with, it's still a relationship-breaker on both sides, as it results in the loss of an important aspect of a relationship - trust. With that out of the way, I will honestly say that the story of Netsuzou TRap is really bad, without a doubt. Cheating aside, everything within NTR's story feels fake; the actions and thoughts of these characters can be compared to plastic. However, for reasons I cannot even decipher myself, I was intrigued at the same time. Was it because it was yuri, or maybe I just wanted to see Fujiwara or nearly any other character get hit by a bus?
That last sentence actually transitions into the central issue with this anime, which is, of course, its characters. Yuma is pretty much an idiot who can't figure out her growing "feelings" for Hotaru, even though these "feelings" are so shoe-horned in that it just makes me want to slap myself. Hotaru is so much worse, and her actions make me believe that she's actually a succubus in disguise as a human; she constantly seduces Yuma to the point where she thinks she loves her. Their relationship, however, is even worse than the two of them as individual characters; as friends, they're pretty "meh", but everything about their "romantic" relationship is so abrupt and ultimately empty that I consider them to be the worst yuri couple I have ever seen.
There is one character who is worse on his own than Yuma and Hotaru together, and that is Hotaru's "boyfriend", Fujiwara. There is quite a long list of words I could use to describe this character (some of them being not so friendly), but I'm just going to use "manipulative", "heartless", "abusive", "misogynistic", and "unfaithful". Yes, you read that last word right; as if two cheaters wasn't enough, another one had to come into the picture and be even worse of a human being than the other two. With both Hotaru and Fujiwara being horrible human beings, it's clear exactly why they're dating, but that doesn't excuse their relationship also feeling false.
Luckily, the cast of this anime has one saving grace within, however minor this saving grace is, and his name is Takeda. One may compare him to a typical male protagonist in another romance anime, but in comparison to everyone else in this series, he is at least a decent human being; he's kind, sweet, and (for whatever reason) very caring towards Yuma. I even found his relationship with Yuma to be more believable than Yuma's relationship with Hotaru; heck, if Yuma wasn't cheating on Takeda behind his back, I believe that they could have been capable of having a rather healthy relationship! (Note: When you end up aiming for the protagonist of a YURI ANIME to end up with a guy instead, that yuri anime is doing a poor job at being one.) Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that Takeda's only purpose in Netsuzou TRap is to constantly be lied to and eventually get his heart broken. What a shame, really.
With all of this being said, is there any other thing about Netsuzou TRap that is at least decent? Well, I guess I can say that the animation is rather lazy, but with this being a short anime from a studio with a not-so-impressive track record (Creators in Pack), this fact doesn't tick me off as much as it should. Let's see, what else.... Oh! Actually, the voice acting isn't too bad; each voice was a good fit for their character, with the best performance going to, surprisingly, Daisuke Ono as Fujiwara. (An impressive voice actor still doesn't excuse Fujiwara as a character, though.) I also didn't really hate the opening or ending themes, even though they don't really have much re-listen value to them.
Take this piece of advice that I'm about to give you; go watch Sakura Trick or Aoi Hana if you want a yuri anime to watch, or go watch School Days if you want an anime where the main character cheats on the person they're dating. What's that? You want both at the same time? FINE! Go watch Netsuzou TRap! Just know that if you ask your best friend for dating advice, you shouldn't let them seduce you instead!
read more
Aug 15, 2017
2 of 2 episodes seen
|
1
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
2 |
| Story |
2 |
| Animation |
2 |
| Sound |
3 |
| Character |
1 |
| Enjoyment |
4 |
Have you ever purposely watched a bad anime just so you could make fun of how bad it was? Well, it's easy to do that for anime that have disproportioned character designs, among other things. When I first found out about a certain OVA series, the first thing I noticed was not that it was a yaoi anime, but how ugly the character designs are. The next thing I noticed was the amount of negative reviews there were for said OVA series; despite the fact that I've never considered myself a fujoshi (I've only seen two yaoi anime, and both were actually shounen-ai), I knew,
at this moment, I had to watch it. After watching both episodes, there is only one thing I can say for sure.
The best thing about "Houkago no Shokuinshitsu", or "After School in the Teacher's Lounge", was the commentary I made as I watched it; everything else is absolute garbage.
Houkago no Shokuinshitsu follows the relationship between Mitsuro Kawase and Toshiaki Kazama, two school teachers. Kazama is constantly making advances on Mitsuro, even going as far as asking him out on his birthday. Mitsuro does say yes, but he wasn't serious; however, as time goes on, it seems as though Mitsuro is starting to fall in love with Kazama, yet I don't even know because the two of them don't even seem to have a lot of chemistry. Add in a brother who gives off serious incestuous vibes, a b***h, and Kazama almost doing a certain something that starts with an r to a random guy as a joke (I don't even care if that's a spoiler, to be honest), and what does it equal? The perfect anime to make fun of!
In a way, I feel bad for doing so, because there are probably a lot of people who worked hard on this anime, as well as a manga artist who thought this kind of scenario was a good idea for a yaoi manga. However, that doesn't excuse the many problems there are, and those problems, of course, begin with the artwork. I can give the animation a slight pass, as this anime was made in the '90's, and based off of the few '90's anime I've seen, I can conclude that no '90's anime has the best animation. The glaring issue with the art is how disgusting the character designs are, from the ant-sized heads to the Daddy Long Legs. I guess I can excuse the huge hands, as I'm aware that they're typical of yaoi anime/manga, but they don't justify the rest of the anatomy of each character.
The character designs don't hold a candle to the characters themselves, however. Kazama, disproportionate body aside, is definitely the creepiest character in the anime, always insisting that he follows Mitsuro EVERYWHERE; he isn't even faithful to him, as he does perverted things to two other people in JUST THE FIRST EPISODE. As for Mitsuro himself, I don't understand what it is that made Kazama fall for him (heck, even when asked, he says himself that he can't explain); he's way too bland for words, and he doesn't even have good chemistry with Kazama! The rest of the characters are either really irritating, like Miho (the b***h I mentioned earlier who wants to marry Kazama), or completely forgettable, like the students at the school Mitsuro and Kazama teach at. Speaking of which, does the fact that they're both teachers have little to no relevance to the plot, or is the awfulness of the characters just that distracting? I'm not even sure.
Now, let's talk about the smaller issues of this OVA, even if those issues aren't even that small. The character development - or lack thereof - hurts the overall run-of-the-mill story, making it increasingly difficult to sympathize with any of the characters. Despite the fact that I have watched very few yaoi anime up until now, I can tell when it's executed in a realistic way, and especially pointing out the fact that Kazama literally has no reason to fall in love with Mitsuro, I can say that it's not. The voice actors - even the relatively well-known Hikaru Midorikawa - aren't much help, either, as their portrayals of the characters make them sound utterly emotionless. Even the ending theme ("Out of a Delusion" by Mitsuru Satou), which I found to be the smallest issue with this anime, is a song that I found myself not caring for; I guess it had potential as a song, but for some reason, I did not like the vocals.
What is there to like about Houkago no Shokuinshitsu, then? Well, if you're in the mood to either laugh your butt off or let out your inner sarcasm for an hour, this is your perfect target. Even if you're the most hardcore fujoshi or fudanshi out there, you won't be able to enjoy this anime if you take everything seriously.
read more
Jul 7, 2017
13 of 13 episodes seen
|
1
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Have you ever thought about re-doing a part of your life? If so, what part was it? Maybe....your life as a high school student? There is such an anime that explores such a scenario of re-living your high school life, which I came to find out about when it was in the summer 2016 anime line-up; I didn't watch it at the time, but the overwhelming popularity it was gaining and the fact that all of the episodes were available online within just one day did intrigue me. I finally got the chance to watch the first two episodes of such an anime at an
anime club that I was going to, and immediately, I wanted more. After all, from watching just the first two episodes of ReLIFE, I could tell I was in for something great.
ReLIFE follows Arata Kaizaki, a 27-year-old man whose life has gone completely downhill; after quitting his first company after only three months (and for good reason, as it turns out), he has a hard time finding a steady job and ends up with part-time work. He is soon approached by a man named Ryo Yoake, who explains that he's been chosen as a test subject for the ReLIFE experiment; Arata must take a pill that turns him back into a 17-year-old and attend Aoba High School for a year as a third-year student. Seems simple enough, right? Well, if Arata's test scores have any say in it, the answer is "no". In any case, ReLIFE chronicles Arata's second time through high school as he becomes closer to his classmates and even ends up helping them with their problems.
The story of this anime is quite splendid, and I dare to say that it was nearly perfect. Not a single plot hole was found, and even the biggest surprises had some foreshadowing in a way that would make them make sense; the character development and high school drama were also portrayed realistically, and the characters were all people you could root for. In all honesty, though, I had a problem with the ending; it may have closed the current story nicely, but the overall story still doesn't feel complete (which makes me feel relieved that the upcoming OVA series is supposed to conclude the story).
When I said earlier that the characters were all people you could root for, I meant it; this is because of how realistic and alive they feel, and quite a few of them are relatable, as well. Personally, I related to Chizuru Hishiro the most, with her rather awkward behavior; as a result, she actually became my favorite character. I also genuinely liked Arata for his willingness to help others, and I truly felt the impact of his backstory of when he worked at his first company. Speaking of Chizuru and Arata, I always thought that their bond was cute and genuine, and by the time a certain reveal at the end of the anime came into play, I was honestly hoping they'd become a couple. Although I did like Chizuru and Arata's relationship the best, this anime did set up a lot of relationships - both platonic and potentially romantic - that felt real. All in all, ReLIFE had amazing characters that were what made this anime so good.
Another amazing aspect of ReLIFE was its art and animation. I was already familiar with TMS Entertainment from their work on anime such as Gugure! Kokkuri-san and Jitsu wa Watashi wa, but this is undoubtedly some of the best and most fluid animation I've seen from them. I also quite appreciated the character designs, as they weren't overexaggerated, and with an anime like this one, that's perfectly fine. The Japanese voice actors also did great, breathing life into their characters and seemingly even enjoying it. I fell in love with the opening theme, "Button" by PENGUIN RESEARCH, and if I could just find a full version of it, I'd be listening to it again and again! (....Oh, whatever. I'll just listen to the TV version again and again.) There is also a different ending theme in every episode, which is both a good thing and a bad thing; while some of the songs are pretty good (especially "Natsu Matsuri"), not all of them are songs I particularly care for.
Overall, ReLIFE is a great anime, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an anime following second chances without a time travel element. Just don't take drugs from random strangers, though; chances are, unlike the drug for the ReLIFE experiment, those drugs don't make you look younger!
read more
May 19, 2017
1 of 1 episodes seen
|
4
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Understanding someone with a disability can be quite a challenge, but if you're willing to overcome that challenge, chances are that you will become friends with that disabled person.... wait, haven't I already said this before? Well, regardless of whether or not I did, it's true that I somehow became aware of this movie while it was still an ongoing manga series. When I heard it was being adapted into an anime, even when it was confirmed to be an anime movie, I was already intrigued to watch it for myself; however, when I heard that Kyoto Animation would be the studio behind it, my
interest exploded from there. I also read the manga to prepare myself for the movie, and needless to say, I really enjoyed it; however, because I enjoyed it, my concern for how a 2-hour-long movie will adapt the seven volumes grew. So, how did this realistic story of a young man's path toward redemption for bullying a deaf girl fare on the big screen?
Ladies and gentlemen, please read my review for "A Silent Voice", known in Japanese as "Koe no Katachi". (Gosh darn it, not again!)
A Silent Voice follows Shoya Ishida, a young man who was quite a jerk back in elementary school. You see, he was classmates with a deaf girl named Shoko Nishimiya, and he and his classmates used her deafness to bully her into eventually transferring out of school. However, the target of the bullying soon shifts from Shoko to Shoya, causing him to realize exactly how much of a jerk he is; that brings us to the present, where Shoya is a third-year high school student with no friends and suicidal thoughts. However, this changes when he happens to meet Shoko again. From there, Shoya seeks out to set things right.
I'm sorry, but there is just so much I have to say about KyoAni's animation here. The movement is solid, the backgrounds are beautiful, and the fact that they were able to capture the original style of the manga instead of resorting to their own style so much is just magnificent! The voice acting is quite superb, as well, with solid casting choices. I also have to genuinely give Saori Hayami, Shoko's voice actress, some credit for her performance; although I am unable to compare her performance to how a real deaf person speaks, since I admittedly don't know anyone who is actually deaf, it's easy to tell that she is doing her best with her speaking lines. Finally, there's the ending theme, "Koi no Shita no wa" by Aiko; it perfectly matches the overall tone of the film, and I've actually listened to it multiple times before even watching it!
Unfortunately, while I thought the story was the best part of the manga, I can't say the same about the anime; it is here that some of the concerns I had before come into play. Many parts of the story that I remember so clearly from the manga are either rushed through or cut out completely, and it kind of upset me. I mean, I understand why this was done; it's difficult for 62 chapters (7 volumes) of a manga to be squeezed into a 2-hour-long movie, so leaving some things out was going to be left out. Still, this upset me because of how some of the things that were left out of the movie were supposed to give us a better understanding of some of the characters. You know what, though? What we WERE given was still as effective on an emotional scale as the manga was, so I guess I can let this slide just this once.
Overall, A Silent Voice was as great of an anime movie as it was of a manga. If you're in the mood for two hours full of beautiful animation, a realistic story and characters, and emotional moments, I advise you watch this. Perhaps it could show you that no matter how many regrets you have, you've just got to open your ears and listen to the voices of others.
read more
|
