MidniteAndBeyond's Profile - Reviews

Last OnlineApr 28, 10:11 AM
GenderNon-Binary
BirthdayMay 22, 1996
LocationNew World
JoinedJun 24, 2013

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Jul 14, 2016

Ouran Koukou Host Club (Anime) add

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Ouran High School Host Club Review (NO SPOILERS)

As much as I love anime, I tend to be VERY late to the party, with a lot of shows. It mainly has to do with me not even really knowing what anime was, until like, 2011. So a lot of those LEGENDARY shows that are an absolute necessity to watch, I've either only recently seen them, or are still planning to do so. One of these shows... is Ouran High School Host Club.

I had heard about this show, in the past. But I didn't really pay it much mind, because it didn't really seem like my thing. ... But man, do people rave about this series!. At first, I was just like "Is it a fan service show?" "Is it just a girl's show?" Well, I'm very ashamed in myself for thinking those things. Because after all the different types of anime that I've seen, there is one lesson I've learned that is VERY clear. That lesson is this: In anime... there is NO SUCH THING as a "boy's show" or a "girl's show". Not. At. All. Anime is for everyone. It doesn't fear taking risks and breaking molds and boundaries. Absolutely everyone can get something out of some sort of anime. There's something for everyone, out there. And if a certain anime isn't for you, it'll never be for a reason as trivial as it being "too girly". So let's stop beating around the bush and talk about this show. First off, is this show worth all the hype that it's gotten? I'll answer that right now. Yes. Absolutely, 100% yes.

I seriously cannot stress enough how near perfect this show is. From Episode 1, I am immediately drawn in with the entire world and its characters. And there are a lot of shows in this genre that I very much enjoy. But there's always at least one or two episodes that I don't like watching. Ouran doesn't have that. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every single episode. Each one has both hilarity that never gets old, as well as deep and engaging character development. That's where this show really shines. Its characters. They are SOOOOOOO deep! You're never done learning about them and you end up loving them, with every single passing moment. They're not perfect people. But they have very admirable qualities that often surprise you. They also go through a lot of growth and understanding of other people's feelings. I was not expecting that, from this show. Whenever an episode would come up, where the topic would be to make fun of a certain thing, usually a person's appearance or personality. At first, I would be a bit turned off, thinking the whole episode would just be making fun of these sort of things that I've had personal experience with, just because some sorts of people think it's funny. But as the episode progressed, you saw that some of the characters didn't go along with those sorts of performances. They'd actually speak up and make others aware of how some of these "jokes" can be quite hurtful. And when it comes from characters that you think would just be one dimensional boy toys, it's really powerful, seeing just how unpredictable these people are.

Tamaki was probably my favorite one, out of the bunch. He could've easily had a constantly bratty and demanding personality, who never cared or even noticed when they were hurting others. But in as early as the first episode, they show you that he isn't that kind of a person. He has a conscience. A DEEP one. He cares very deeply for his friends and for common courtesy and respectful behavior, towards other people. I think the right word would be... impressed. This show, and its characters, very much impressed me, with just how deep and civil they all were. And the whole cast is like that. Ya, all of them have that one defining trait. But they all have stories and emotion and shifting feelings. This is honestly one of the deepest and most enjoyable cast of characters I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. The ONLY character I didn't like in this show, as well as the only THING I didn't like about this show, overall, was Renge. I thought she'd just be a "one episode only" character, but she wound up being a recurring one, for reasons I still don't quite understand. I honestly don't think she adds anything at all to the show, with her presence, past her introductory episode. And even still, the best part of that episode was when they shot her down, for her less than pleasurable ideals. She's the one and only complaint I have about this show. And honestly... that's pretty impressive.

The animation isn't anything mind-blowing. It doesn't look old, as it was made in 2006. And we all know how seller anime looked in 2006. I'd more so be willing to call its design stylized, rather than simple. Whether or not people would agree with me on that, I cannot say. Probably the most shocking thing about the animation is that it was done by.... Studio Bones... That's just cool, to me. I really like how anime companies don't really have all much of a set in stone style, to them. Some of them do, of course. But I'm really happy that I can look forward to being surprised, with whatever it is I'm looking at, whenever it comes to anime. A lot of people say anime all looks the same, but that can't be farther from the truth. Look at shows like Cowboy Bebop, Clannad, Attack on Titan, and Ouran, all side by side. And try telling me that all anime looks the same. Or sounds the same, for that matter. Which leads me to my next topic: Ouran's music. For the regular tracks, it's all very nice. Nothing too mind blowing, that I can remember, after the show is over, now. BUT THE OPENING! MAAAAAAAN, THE OPENING! If you don't get addicted to that opening, the SECOND you hear it, I don't know what to tell you! THAT is a good opening theme song. And so is the ending theme song, which is quite a rarity to even say!

And finally, the classic sub vs dub debate. Honestly, after hearing how much praise was sung about this show, by the english voice actors and its fans, I absolutely had to go with the dub, on this one. And it is by far one of the best dubs I've heard. The only voice I had a problem with was with, big surprise, Renge. I don't know, it may just be because I'm use to hearing that voice attached to much younger girls, like Amy from Case Closed or May Chang from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. But whatever. It's a minor nitpick. That Japanese is pretty spot on, too. And this show does have a lot of Japanese text that pops on the screen, throughout each episode. It's all just a bunch of titles, along with some flavor text. None of it is necessary to read, but I would've liked if they had edited it, for the English release. It's really not a big deal though, trust me. The Japanese did a great job, but seriously. The English voice cast NAILED this one. And they LOVE this show, just as much as its fans do. So seriously. For this show, dub. All the way.

I honestly wish I did a full, in depth review on every single episode. Every one of them has merit, in both surprising you with its characters and engaging you with its story and lessons. I absolutely ADORED this show, from beginning to end. My only worry now, is that any slice of life show I watch after this won't be able to top it. But if there's one thing anime is good at, it's surprising people. So I'm excited for what the future holds, for my viewing pleasure. And I very happy, in the hear and now, for getting to meet and experience some of the greatest characters in any anime, I've seen. This show is a masterpiece. There's no other way of putting it. I can 100% recommend it to anyone and everyone. Whether it's to surprise you with something you haven't seen before. Or to just make you feel good, with the kindness and friendly characters this show has to offer. This show came to me at a very good time. It helped me feel good about life, and friendships, in general. I feel I was able to better understand some of my own friends, because of it. And I'm very grateful to this show, for that.

Ouran High School Host Club... gets a 9/10

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Jul 9, 2016

FLCL (Anime) add

Not Recommended

Fooly Cooly (FLCL) Review (NO SPOILERS)

.........................................................................wat

Ok, so this is one of those shows that I couldn't possibly spoil it for you, even if I tried. Mainly because I can't even describe what happens in it, to you, even if I tried. So what have I heard about this show, before going into it? Well... I've heard that it was one of, if not the weirdest anime in the history of the universe. I don't think I'd go THAT far. But ya, it was still pretty insane. Soooooo...... um...... where do I even go, with this? The story is so all over the place and hard ... to interpret, so I can't really explain it. The characters are just as insane, but at least I can pin down a personality on all of them. Even if that personality is absolutely crazy, for every single character. Soooooo..... I guess we're done, with that.

The animation is.... just as all over the place, as the show is. Nothing super great, but still nice to look at. It has that sharp and edgy color and outlines that fit the show, well. Though, there are times where the animation changes completely. From stuff like scenes being still image shots of a manga page, to the animation mimicking that of.... South Park.... for some reason. The music was actually very catchy. I really liked the songs in this show, for how small of a show it is. And ya. This show is small. As in, SIX episodes, small! That's pretty much the main reason why I decided to keep watching it. If it was a regular 24, or even a 12 episode show, I probably would've dropped it. But it was just short enough for me to tolerate its insanity, all the way to the end.

Now, for the sub vs dub debate. As always, I give both versions a chance, whenever I'm given the option of both. And I gotta say. FLCL has probably the most IDENTICAL dub that I have ever heard. Like, if you told me that it was the same voice actors for both the Japanese and English versions, I probably would've believed you. They sound EXACTLY the same. So by all means, pick whichever language you prefer. Because they are both 100% identical, in every way. With that being said, though.... I actually didn't like either of them, voice wise. The voices were weird and the deliveries were weirder. And I don't really know where to point the blame at. I don't really think a better voice cast would've made this a better show. But... I GUESS the zany and awkward voices matched the insanity of the show? I don't know. This just had some of the most... bizarre voices, that I've heard in any show, I've ever seen.

I always heard that this show was legendary. Not CRAZY legendary. But rather, it's legendary BECAUSE it's crazy. I don't think it deserves the title of the "MOST INSANE ANIME EVER!!!!!". It definitely was weird, but I was spending more time, trying to figure out what the heck was going on, rather than being able to enjoy the insane comedy that was taking place. Take a show like Heaven's Lost Property, AKA Sora no Otoshimono, for example. One of the most insane and sexually inappropriate shows that I've ever seen. But throughout it all, it USES these insane occurrences as key objects and elements in the plot. Ya, it's all insane. But this is an insane world. And I was at least able to understand what was going on, in this insane world.

Another example would be Bobobo-bobo-bobo. By far, THE weirdest show that I've ever seen. Absolutely nothing that happens in that show, makes sense. But I'm still able to follow the plot and understand every conversation, between the characters. But with FLCL, I didn't understand WHY everyone was so crazy. I didn't understand WHAT was going on. I didn't understand... anything. And not in a funny, sort of way. But in a "This is not a well structured story" kind of way. If you want mindless comedy with no plot, watch a comedy stage show, or something. If you want a plotless show, watch a slice of life. I'd only really recommend this show to people who either A: Are being told to watch it, by all of their friends. Or B: Just wanna add an easy edition to their "completed anime series" list, since it's only 6 episodes. But as far as watching it for the sake of enjoyment... I personally cannot recommend that.

Fooly Cooly, AKA FLCL, gets a 3/10.

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Jun 28, 2016

Fate/Zero 2nd Season (Anime) add

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Fate/Zero Review (NO SPOILERS)

.......................................................................................WHAT.

Ok. Fate/Zero. A show that I saw a lot of pictures of for a while and it just had something about it that made me think it would become one of my favorite anime series ever. Did that end up being true? Well, let's see. Now, before I begin the review, let me make it clear that first off, this is a review of BOTH seasons. Not just 1 or 2. Just so we're clear on that. You can't really just stop at the first season, anyway, so I feel this is justified. And second, this review is being done by someone ... who has ZERO (teehee) experience with ANYTHING else Fate, related. I haven't seen Fate/Stay Night, I haven't seen Unlimited Blade Works. I chose to start with Fate/Zero, because it's first in the timeline. So if my opinions seem a bit strange, due to not knowing anything else that happens in the future, that is why. Ok. Now that that's settled, let's jump into the review.

Now, again. This review is being done, before seeing anything else Fate related. Fate/Zero may be first in the timeline, but it was released after Fate/Stay Night and Unlimited Blade Works. So maybe this complaint would be null and void if I watched it in release order, but I really had a hard time following what was going on, a lot of the time. The first season is very slow, in my opinion. It focuses a lot more on building up the world and characters, but in a bit of a weird, almost awkward sort of way. While the second season completely focus on tearing everything apart, and ripping any and all hope you had for anything and anyone to shreds. The second season was much more intense and engaging to watch, but I still wish that kind of intensity was sprinkled all around the entirety of this show, rather than just solely the second half. For the most part, I knew what was going on. I know who's on whose side. I know which characters I'm rooting for. I know what they're fighting for. I get the main gist of it, but it tends to get a bit convoluted in terms of explaining its history. Stuff like the connections and relations with all the characters in the past, explaining the details of the Holy Grail War, the different classes and creatures and rules of magic in this world. It got better in the second season, which is a lot more action oriented. But then it wen back to being confusing in the ending. And I still don't entirely know what just happened.

The characters either range from very interesting, to not at all. Personally, I much rather preferred watching the servants be on screen and interact with one another, while the master characters were a lot less interesting and overall kinda quiet and bland. It's like, the show knew that they were taking a back seat to the servants, who were the real stars of the show. But still tried to focus the main story elements all on them. The masters have the deep story, while the servants have the fun personalities. If only we could've gotten both traits within both groups. Though, the masters did have their moments. Even if it was usually only when they were interacting with their servants. Specifically Irisveil and Waver. It certainly helped that they had the most interesting servants, out of the bunch.

Now the place where this show REALLY shines, is in its animation. I'll just say it right here. I'm not sure if I'd call Fate/Zero's animation my favorite that I've ever seen. But I'm willing to say that it's one of, if not THE best animation I've ever seen in an anime series, not counting movies. This show is downright gorgeous in every way! Seriously, it looks like it was released just yesterday, it looks so good! I'd go as far as to say that you need to watch this show, only for the amazing visuals. Because it's seriously stellar, 100% of the time. As for the music, I'm pretty much neutral on it. Nothing really jumped out on me, but it certainly wasn't bad, by any means, either. And as for the sub vs dub debate, considering the type of show that this is, with medieval knights and warriors and whatnot, I think it's a bit more appropriate to watch in English. The dub is pretty fantastic, with every single character. The only complaint I could come up with is that Kirei and Kiritsugu had VERY similar voices, and I often got their characters mixed up, because of that. But still, the performances were amazing, nonetheless. Though, I should probably warn you that if you plan on watching the entire Fate series in English, you'll have to watch out for some casting changes. As the main character, Saber, goes through a whopping THREE English voice actors, throughout the series. So if hearing characters lose their voice actors is a turn off for you, then you might wanna stick with the Japanese. The Japanese dub is amazing, as well. And I feel it actually adds to Saber's personality, specifically. Honestly, both the Japanese and English get my complete and total approval. So pick whichever one you like.

So then.... did I like this show? Well.... there were a couple times where I was heavily considering dropping it. The first season is VERY slow, and while the action parts are fun to watch, it was just very rare to see any of those, on top of the story being rather confusing. If it wasn't for the FIRST episode of Season 2 getting REAL intense REAL quickly, I probably would've dropped this show. Season 2 was much more enjoyable, and incredibly intense and mind blowing until the very end. Speaking of the end...... WHAT!? Like, seriously. WHAT!? Ok. If they were planning to get people like me to immediately want to watch Fate/Stay Night, after Zero, they succeeded. You outright can't just watch Fate/Zero. Not with that ending! I am definitely very much intrigued to find out what happens next, now. For those who watched Fate/Zero after Stay Night and UBW, I'm not sure how you'd feel about this show. Personally, I'm sure I would've appreciated learning about the backstory a bit more, but having THIS be the last Fate thing I ever watch would've been very... weird. So I'm glad I decided to watch Zero first. And while it may not be right away, they definitely sold me on eventually watching the rest of the story unfold.

Fate/Zero gets a 7/10

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Jun 28, 2016

Fate/Zero (Anime) add

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May 18, 2016

Trigun (Anime) add

Recommended

Trigun Review (MINOR SPOILERS)

There's a certain anime reviewer on YouTube who I VERY much enjoy their work. Their reviews are always super informative, entertaining, and he's helped me find some of my absolute favorite shows of all time. This reviewer is known for making a certain list known as "The 5 Anime Series Everyone Should Watch Before You Die". Those 5 would be Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Akira. I just finished watching Trigun, and now Akira is the last thing on that list that I've yet to see. This list has definitely been interesting. As Bebop and FMA have easily become some ... of my favorite anime series of all time. While on the other hand, Evangelion is one of my least favorite anime of all time. Though, I'm sure I'm not the first person you've heard say that. But we're not here to talk about those shows We're here to talk about Trigun and where it falls on that list of the holy quintet of anime necessities.

Trigun looked very similar to Bebop, when I was previewing images and quick glimpses of footage, before watching. Both were made in the same year, both involve bounty hunting, and both have very similar settings. So since I was such a huge fan of Bebop and the awesome Chuck Norris-ness that was its main cast of characters, I was expecting the same from Trigun. Did I end up getting that? Well...... kinda, but not really. The first thing that became VERY apparent to me in the first episode is that our main protagonist, Vash, is a GIANT WEENY. Vash, AKA THE HUMANOID TYPHOON WITH A SIXTY MILLION DOUBLE DOLLAR BOUNTY, VASH THE STAMPEDE (ya, you're gonna hear that A LOT in this show) is known all over the land as being this monstrous human weapon of mass destruction, but in reality, he's both a complete pacifist and the most hyper active crybaby in the entire show. Now don't get me wrong. I can totally respect a person who refuses to kill or fight, and stands up against violence. I'm one of those people, myself. But I feel they could've at least made him cool about being a pacifist who manages to always come out on top. Most of the time, it seems like a complete accident that he even survived, and he just sorta ends up being the one given credit for saving everyone. Now this becomes a lot less apparent, later on in the show. Ash does end up growing a backbone during certain situations, as well as having a cool and cocky confident side that's fun to watch, when it shows up. But a LOT of the times, he's stuck in wiener mode, and it's just not fun to watch.

The other main characters include Meryl and Milly, who "accompany" Vash on his adventures. They're fun characters in their own way. I'm glad that Meryl wasn't a typical ball of anger character. Though, she can still be a bit stubborn and ignorant at times, which can get a bit old. Milly acts as her anchor and is the carefree one of the group. And finally there's Mr. Wolfwood, who is basically Vash without the wiener attributes. The two end up conflicting with one another due to their different views on the battlefield, but also end up being a pretty awesome team. The rest of the characters range from mysterious bad guys who slowly get revealed as the show goes on, to simple minor characters who are only important for the one episode that they appear in. Something I liked a lot about Bebop is that it made each individual episode's story feel REALLY important. Each episode seemed long and you grew attached to the minor characters and their stories, even though you'd never see them after that one episode. Trigun is very similar in its set up, but doesn't nearly succeed as much as Bebop did. The first 5 episodes of Trigun are more or less the same exact thing. Vash getting roped into some sort of trouble, some bad guys doing bad things, good guys turning out to be bad, bad guys turning out to be good, Vash stopping all of them from fighting, and keeps everyone from dying, and Meryl refusing to believe that Vash is actually Vash.

It isn't until Episode 6 where things start becoming somewhat interesting. You begin to receive pieces of a mystery. You see that there's more to Vash's character then meets the eye. You get more and more pieces to the puzzle as time goes on, but there are still instances where they bring back those boring filler episodes that are exactly like episodes 1-5. Not only that, but there's a flashback episode thrown into the halfway point, too! If the mystery weren't so interesting, I might've given up on the show, for making me trek through so many slow parts. In the end, am I happy with all that was revealed? Yes, actually. This show actually gets pretty incredible, during the second half. It's just annoying to wait so long to get there. But once you're there, you'll never wanna stop moving. Probably the most interesting thing about Trigun is that it isn't afraid to rip its main protagonist to shreds. And whenever those moments arise, where Vash's world is quickly falling apart, seeing his reactions to it all is just really interesting to watch. Not in a mean way, but in, it keeps you wondering how he'll recover from this, or if he'll even want to. The other characters go through the same kind of trauma, after facing all the garbage that's thrown at them, and I'm glad that all of them were really involved, in the end of it all.

Now let's move onto animation. Let's be real, here. This show is from 1998. It ain't gonna look good, compared to today's stuff. For it's time, I guess it's ok looking. But like many other shows from back then, Trigun's visuals do not age well. However, I don't really feel like a show like this needs to look good. They're in the wild west (sorta). Stuff is dirty and gritty there. The dry and plain wasteland, along with the dirty looking people, all just fit into that environment. It reminds you of a real old western tv series or movie. Now I'm sure this wasn't intentional on the animators part, as I'm sure this was the best kind of quality they could come up with, during that era. But it simply doesn't hurt the show, looking like this. Ya, it's old. But it's not bad enough to the point where you can't bare to even look at it. Honestly, there have only been two anime series that had visuals so unappealing to me, that it was painful to watch. One of them I finished, only because it was a 3 episode series, while the other one... I'm not gonna name, because I'm sure I'll receive a lot of hate from people, once they know what it is.

As for the music, while the western setting is very heavily apparent, it mixes that with a futuristic vibe, as well. As such, the music is not some little ukulele diddy played by old man Jenkins, but rather a bunch of awesome electric guitar tracks. it suits the show's fight scenes VERY well, and the opening does a good job at getting you pumped up for the show... even if the episode might end up not being as awesome as the opening was. As far as the voice cast goes, both the Japanese and English versions sound very identical to me. My main gripe with the show is with Vash's voice actor. It takes some getting used to. While he does portray the weeny side of Vash very well, I wish that when the moments of epic awesomeness arise, where Vash is actually brave and somewhat terrifying, that he actually had a voice to match. But instead, he sounds like a poor man's version of a generic superhero from a children's Saturday morning cartoon show. The other voice actors do their jobs alright, though there are several instances where the line delivery, mouth flaps, and overall script just seems off. I get that it's old, but other shows from this era had no problem with just overall sentence structuring, so why this one?

Now there is a movie to go along with this series, made 12 years after the original series began. Now I don't think I'll bother making a full blown review of the movie Badlands Rumble, so I'll just briefly state my thoughts on it, here. It's basically a movie length episode, that takes place sometime in the middle of the series. The events in the movie are never mentioned in the series, so just watch this if you really wanna watch some more Trigun. Though, be forewarned. In the English dub of the Trigun movie, Vash is the ONLY character to retain his original voice actor. Meryl, Milly, and Wolfwood all have different voice actors for this movie, due to various reasons on their voice actors' side of things. Now while their replacements didn't do a bad job, it's just VERY noticeable that the voices are different. So maybe watch this movie after some time has passed from watching the series. The movie isn't necessary to the series, like I said, but it's still a lot more enjoyable than most of the filler episodes were. Plus, the 12 years that have passed since the original series give this movie a MAJOR upgrade in visuals. The movie is gorgeous, and is worth watching, simply to see familiar faces in a MUCH nicer light!

Overall, Trigun was not nearly as amazing as I thought it was going to be. I highly recommend Cowboy Bebop over this show, any day. But I certainly didn't hate this show, by any means. It has its serious moments and a story that really draws you in. The only problem is that there are several times where it's just not progressing. I was a bit torn on what I wanted to rate this show. Part of me really don't think it's deserving of that high of a score, but another part of me knows that other people will enjoy this show much more than I did. Plus, compared to many other shows I've seen that have no redeeming qualities int he end, Trigun definitely is not one of those shows. When all is said and done, I'm glad I took this adventure. Though I might not take it again, I'm glad that I did, at all. As well as what I've learned from it.

Trigun gets a 7/10

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May 3, 2016

Toradora! (Anime) add

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Toradora Review (NO SPOILERS)

Time to review another one of those shows that I've heard a lot of praise on, but never got around to watching until much much later! Toradora! A show that my computer REALLY wants to autocorrect into Toreador. But whatever! Let's talk about the show. If I had to sum it up in a few words, I would say to compare it to Haruhi Suzumiya, get rid of all the super natural elements, and replace them with romance elements. While it is a romance show, I feel it tends to focus a lot more on the comedy side of a romcom. However, ... the show does a good job at keeping me intrigued and never making a comedy moment bring the story progress to a halt. The characters are just so perfect when interacting with one another, that comedy just happens, regardless. Though, the show does still have its fair share of emotional moments that got you really involved with its characters and how everything was going to turn out for them. Really, this show takes a lot of different routes and does them VERY well. It does comedy without being too obnoxious and it does romance without being too unintelligent.

The story isn't completely based on just your typical romance of one guy having to choose between 5 different girls, however. It kinda takes the whole main cast for the ride when dealing with these relationships. And while it does have the inevitable fighting portions where people are mad at one another for not getting to be with the person of their choice, it's not always like that. I'm glad that there's still plenty of moments where they get along with one another, after certain romantic obstacles have been settled, and I especially like it when something comes up that isn't related to the romance. This is especially apparent around the halfway point and was probably my favorite part of the show. It unfortunately didn't touch on that moment as much as I would've liked, but I still enjoyed it being there.

Something this show deserves MAJOR props for is its characters. This cast is amazing. Both on their own and when interacting with one another. Every single combination of people has its own unique and fun turnout that always has you excited to see them together. Something I'm really glad about is that the entire main cast, and most of the side cast is important. They could've VERY easily had Kushieda and Kitamura be strictly side characters whose only purpose would be to add to a conversation in a scene, but not actually have any depth of their own. But both of them are very important and have their own stories and journeys, which made their presence in the show that much more enjoyable.

Now as much as I wanna praise them for doing that with these two characters, the show kinda forgets the lesson it just passed in by making some other side characters a lot more involved in the show. And not involved, as in having their own story. As in, what I just said about them just being there for the sake of giving the main characters someone else to talk to. This is mainly for the classmate side characters. It honestly got to the point where I dreaded ever seeing them on screen, because the main characters are just so much more fun and I wanna get back to focusing on them, rather than these guys who have no purpose and no real end game, when all is said and done. However, when looking at both the teacher and the main protagonist's mother as side characters, they do VERY good jobs at doing what they do. The teacher is goofy and fun to watch, but she's able to be taken into serious moments to have important moments with the main characters. Same with the mom, she's VERY wacky and very fun to watch. But she's just always in the right place at the right time. Being that person left at home base, where the main character can discuss the events of the outside world to, and get an unbiased, yet still completely supportive opinion on the matter at hand. Both of them fulfilled their roles perfectly, and much more. And while I understand that it may not have been easy to stick with the same 5 main characters throughout the entire show, I wish that the minor characters that they threw in were just half as interesting as the main cast.

The animation is very bright and colorful. And in a good way. Colors and movement look sharp and nicely detailed. It's very pleasing to look at, and it does have some very stellar moments, particularly at night, where the animation really shines. As far as the music, I hear a lot of people praise it. Personally, I'm not too crazy over it. I wanna say it's a poor man's version of Clannad's soundtrack, but I feel that's a bit harsh. It's not bad at all, it's just painfully average. The opening, however, is one of the catchiest openings out there. I wasn't too crazy about it at first, but I really enjoyed watching and listening to it, before every episode. The second opening that's introduced in the half way point, however, while it's not a bad song, it's nothing compared to the first one. And finally, the sub vs dub debate. I was actually really torn on which one I wanted to watch. I actually would go back and forth when watching, switching between sub and dub, just because I couldn't decide. Ultimately, I decided to go with the Japanese version, though that may simply be because Taiga is voiced by Iori Minase from The iDOLM@STER. And as everyone is far too well aware of by this point... I. LOVE. THE. iDOLM@STER. Though, Iori was always my least favorite character in The iDOLM@STER, voice wise. I was VERY surprised to find out that she voiced Taiga in this because the two sound NOTHING alike. It gave me much more respect and appreciation for Iori's voice actor, and I really cannot say enough good about their performance in this show. So ya. Both the Japanese and English versions get a pass from me. So pick whichever one you prefer.

In conclusion, Toradora was everything I wanted it to be, and more. While nothing really blew my mind, I have a very high appreciation for what this show pulled off. Not a single episode was a drag or a bore, though I do feel that this show took a long time to finish. It's only 25 episodes, but it just felt like it was taking forever to complete. That's not necessarily a bad thing, considering I enjoyed the journey so much. But I wouldn't of minded seeing some stuff get sped up a bit. Specifically the side characters. I can honestly recommend this show to anyone, regardless if they like or dislike romance or comedy. It does both of those things REALLY well, so people who like that sort of thing will enjoy seeing it done so well. But at the same time, it's not all up in your face or poorly executed, like some other shows are, so I can recommend it to people who aren't too fond of the genre and want something that isn't too overwhelming in those themes. I'm not sure if I wanna put this in my top 10 favorite anime of all time list, though. I kinda wanna wait a bit and finish everything on my To Watch List before making that call, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this show found a spot on there, in the end.

Toradora gets a 9.5/10

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Apr 25, 2016

Boku dake ga Inai Machi (Anime) add

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ERASED Review (MINOR SPOILERS)

Well, I ran into another one of those shows where I liked it so much, that I watched it all in one sitting, no problem. Take that for what you will, and please go watch it for yourself, because this is really a show that is best watched when going into it, knowing absolutely nothing about it. For those of you sticking around, hi! Here it my review of the current talk of the town anime called Boku dake ga Inai Machi, also known as ERASED. This sorta popped out of nowhere, for me. I don't usually watch the "newest hits" as ... soon as they come out. I just watch whatever is recommended to me, whenever it's recommended to me. I also prefer to watch shows at my own pace, rather than only getting one episode a week, so I waited until ERASED was finished before watching it. And let me just say, I am VERY glad I waited to watch it. I would've HATED having to wait a week for a new episode of this show. It was SO good, and I was more than willing to jump right into the next episode, immediately!

So this show involves both time travel and mystery solving aspects. Though, the time travel isn't really all that prominent. It isn't used by the main character, they don't even have control of it. It just sort of happens whenever, and he's the only one who notices it. Usually it only takes him back a few minutes, but when something REALLY bad happens, it ends up taking him back 18 years. Now, he must stop the bad thing from happening, 18 years from now, while also fixing some tragedies that occurred in his life, back then, as well. I really didn't think of the time travel, all that much. It really wasn't all that much in your face and it really only happens a handful of times. It's a lot more focused on the mystery, and the time travel is just something that helped you get started in solving it. It almost seems like the writers thought that, too. Because while I'm ok with the time travel not really being the main focus of things, I would've appreciated it if its existence was explained at some point. It's almost like they put it in just because it had to be done, in order to tell the story they wanted to tell. It's not that terrible of a problem, but I'm a person who likes having no questions left unanswered in the end.

So as far as the mystery aspect goes, I was VERY engaged, from the very beginning. I'm super glad I knew nothing about the show, going into it. I didn't even know it was a mystery type of show. Every episode left me wanting more. On one hand, that's a great thing to have. I always, immediately watched the next episode. And I was 100% engaged in the show, for every second. Though, on the down side, I kinda had that "wanting more" feeling at the end of it, too. And not as in wanting another season to have more adventures with these characters in this world, because the story is most certainly over. But I kinda wished it had ended differently. A few things were a bit confusing, mainly the antagonist's motives is what I'm a bit unclear on. I'm also not crazy about what happened to the two main protagonists, in the end. Not really their situation, but rather where they end up. I feel the two of them had an immensely strong chemistry and connection to one another, and I'm just kinda sad that it didn't end in the same way that it began, for the two of them.

Despite that, I still like the characters. A lot. Every single cast member was phenomenal. I enjoyed every one of them in terms of personality and importance, (except the obvious evil one, of course) and even in being a suspect to the entire mystery. I really suspected all of them at one point or another, to be the main man, pulling the strings (pun intended). I kinda wish my original suspect was the true culprit, but they unfortunately were not. Who it wound up being, it was a bit anti-climactic, because when you look back on it all, they made it very obvious. I thought all those obvious hints were a way of making us suspect them, but then surprise us in the end by showing us it was someone else. But no, they really were just making it obvious, unfortunately. Still, I loved the cast a lot. I always like good chemistry between people and I also very much enjoy seeing a bad person character get taken down. And this show did a very good job with both of those roles.

As for animation, I am a VERY big fan of it. Animation was done by Studio A1, which is responsible for two shows very dear to my heart, Ano Hana and The iDOLM@STER. This is definitely some of their best work that I've seen. Something they did that I really liked was when they're in the present time, the show is in fullscreen. But when they're in the past, it switched to widescreen. I'm not sure if it's to make it seem like it's an old show, and old shows were in a different screen size back then, or if it was meant to be like a film reel, since there are several parts where they show actual film reel when looking back on past events. Either way, it's really cool.

I'm also very happy to say that the music is just as good, if not even better than the animation is. I loved each song that was presented, and it fit in with the tones perfectly. But the song I loved the most was the show's opening theme. I SWEAR I've heard it somewhere, before. But I'm not sure where, exactly. Maybe I'm mistaken, but whatever. The opening theme was fantastic and as much as I was wanting to jump into the next episode, as soon as the last one had ended, I watched the opening every time and enjoyed it every time. The song is phenomenal and the visuals took me a few episodes to get into, I'll admit. But I eventually loved watching it and analyzing every second of it, because there's actually a lot to analyze. The opening actually changes, depending on where you are in the show, and I LOVE shows that do this! It's such a cool, little touch and it's really cool, how much it all actually means! The ending theme was great, as well. One of my more favorite ending themes, song wise.

In conclusion, ERASED DEFINITELY lives up to the hype it's gotten, these past couple of months. It was an absolute joy to watch, from beginning to end, and it has both amazing music and story, along with one of the most perfect cast of characters I've seen in a long time. This was very close to being put on my top ten favorite anime series of all time. I was planning on putting it there, when I was like half way through. But that was mainly because I was expecting the ending to be a lot more epic and plot twist heavy than it actually was. I'm sorry, but I REALLY wish the ending had played out, differently. I wish the antagonist was different, or at least had a different motive. I wish the protagonists wound up in a different place in life, in the end. It was enough to make me go from definitely wanting this in my top 10, to me just putting it there, because I need a 10th entry. It wasn't bad enough to ruin the entire show. Not at all. I just sorta wish I personally got more out of it, than I did. Perhaps you got exactly what you wanted and more, and that's great, if you did. For me, the ending may not have been what I wanted, but I am still VERY happy with the journey I just took!

ERASED gets a 9.5/10

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Apr 13, 2016

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (Anime) add

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Fullmetal Alchemist AND Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Review (NO SPOILERS)

There are some shows that when people find out I haven't seen them, they go nuts. There are a lot of shows that are so legendary, so fantastical, have made such a huge impact on the world that we live in, that it would be considered a crime to not watch it. 2015 was a pretty amazing year for me, in terms of the anime I watched. I knocked out some pretty big titles during that year. One of them being the 2003-2004 adaptation of Fullmetal Alchemist. And, to sum up my enjoyment of that show in ...

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Apr 13, 2016

Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime) add

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Apr 13, 2016

Bakemono no Ko (Anime) add

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The Boy And The Beast Review (NO SPOILERS)

The Boy And The Beast! The fifth film by Mamoru Hosoda. The other films he has created are quite legendary, so maybe you'll immediately become interested in this film just by hearing what else he's worked on. While he's only created four major films, each one is very much worthy of note. There's The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, Wolf Children, and of course, the original classic, Digimon: The Movie: Our War Game. Also, he was the director for episode 199 of One Piece. Not sure why he was only on for that one episode, but ... any dude involved with One Piece is a cool guy in my book! So how does The Boy And The Beast hold up to all his past works? Well... let's find out.

First off, for those of you who have never seen a Hosoda film, here's how it goes. His films are very family friendly and just over all good feel movies. They also all have a very specific and distinct art style. And most of the time, you're gonna be surrounded with a bunch of talking animals... #JustHosodaThings Of course, this carried over to Beast, while also introducing new and exciting concepts. So let's go and talk about the bits and pieces that makes up this movie. First off, as far as the animation goes, like I said, it's more or less identical to Hosoda's previous films. His animation was never really one of my favorites, though don't get me wrong, it all looks really good. It's just really simple in design and it's something I kinda wish evolved a bit, over time. That's more so with the design of the characters, though. The backgrounds are where his film's animation really shines. I don't think Beast had as much amazing scenery moments as Hosoda's other films, though. It's not bad if it isn't there, it's just that it would've only helped the film if it was there. Of course, this is 2016, so the colors and movements are all majorly improved from previous films. There's little details that are very much noticed and appreciated. So really, this could've been Hosoda's best looking film, but there are just a LOT of amazing scenes in stuff like Wolf Children that Beast just didn't have. Again, that doesn't make Beast bad, it's just that I wish it was there, cuz it would've only added to it.

The characters are all really good. A solid cast, all around. I really like seeing the journey between the two main characters. I like their own different perspectives and their own personal journeys play out. And the side characters are all really good in their own way. It does a good job at making everyone feel important, even if their role really isn't all that big. You quickly know who everyone is and what they're like. And for the main characters, you become really invested in watching them grow and wanting to find out what happens to them in the end. That's one of the good things about long films. When done right, you become REALLY interested in the journey. It doesn't feel dragged pout or boring, you don't really want it to end, but at the same time, you want to see what gets resolved. The Boy And The Beast is a long film. Not as long as say, The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, but it comes pretty close. And it's very fortunate that the entire time spent watching that movie is very much enjoyed. It's not an easy thing to do a long film, but when it's done right, it's done REALLY right!

The music does its job well, as most Hosoda films do. They compliment the scenes and they know when to show up and when to go away and let the story do the singing. There aren't really any memorable songs from the soundtrack, but certainly nothing that was bad. As far as the story goes, it's pretty simple and straightforward. Ironically, there are parts that are a bit similar to Zootopia, though Beast wasn't nearly as forceful with showing you their message. And honestly, I preferred it that way. It has a nice message in there, while also telling stories of the lives of several other characters. It's nice that they had that sort of message in there, but I also really appreciated it that it wasn't the only thing done in the movie. I don't really wanna go too much into anything, to avoid spoiling it. I'll just say that I really enjoyed each character's personal story and I like that one of the character's stories can relate a lot to the real world.

In short, I really did like this film. Though, to be honest, it's not my favorite Hosoda film. I'm honestly not sure if I like it more than Wolf Children. I like and dislike them both for different reasons. I feel Wolf Children had better characters, but weaker story, while Beast had a better story, but weaker characters. Overall, I guess I would rate this one a bit higher than Wolf Children, but that may only be because I didn't have as high standards going into this one, like I did for Wolf Children. I still haven't seen Summer Wars, so I can't really compare it to that yet. And for now, I still say that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is my favorite Hosoda film, as well as one of my favorite films of all time. The Boy And The Beast didn't really top any of its competition, but it certainly didn't fail at what it was trying to do, either. It's a very good film to watch with family or just as something to wind down, a bit. And if you have yet to see anything from Mamoru Hosoda, I think this is a great start.

The Boy And The Beast gets an 8/10

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