Greetings my beloved subjects. It is on this fine morning that I come to bring you thoughts on another work within God’s own genre: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things. So grab your ramen and buckle in for some healing!
Ah, the great outdoors, very possibly a foreign concept to much of weebkind but one that I have at least some affinity with. Antisocial as I may be, I do like to get out for some fresh air and exercise, through running/cycling/walking, it does somewhat cleanse the soul of whatever may be ailing you and take you to a calmer, simpler place. This is of course also
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the core appeal of slice of life, so you would imagine these two would go hand in hand. Yet so many shows of this kind tend to confine the hijinks to a clubroom or other such enclosed setting. If this is a thought that has occurred to you then Yuru Camp may just be the show for you. Beginning with a chance meeting between the energetic Nadeshiko and the quiet, reserved camping enthusiast Rin Shima at the base of Mt Fuji, Yuru Camp then proceeds to show us the adventures and misadventures of the Outdoor Activities Club.
On the technical end this series was produced by the fairly unknown studio C-Station, who have rather few notable credits, or at the very least nothing that I’ve ever heard of. That being said, I was thoroughly impressed by the visuals. The character designs are absolutely perfect, simple but effective, super cute and expressive. They also work fantastically when deformed for comedic purposes, not to mention the various visual motifs and tricks that the show does with the characters, such as having little chibi heads pop up on screen to represent the characters’ texting, which are also absurdly cute, and breathe life into the characters and the setting. The background work, shading and lighting also deserves major props. With a show focused on the outdoors, its nice that there’s always something pretty to look at in the background as well as the foreground. None of it is particularly detailed or outstanding art on its own, and the animation is characteristically minimal and reliant more on pretty looking single frames than much movement, but that works to the favour of a show like this, as its intended to relax you, not energize you. Also worth mentioning is the detail paid to drawing and animating the food, which will make you hungry.
The actual ‘plot’ itself is as you would imagine rather loose. We follow the misadventures of the Outdoor Activities club as they plan trips, and Rin as she lives the solo camping life. The first and most obvious element of the show to talk about is of course the hobby of camping itself and how the series represents it. I will not claim to be anywhere near an expert, but I’ve done enough camping in my time to know enough to discuss this. A lot of attention to detail is paid to the equipment, and the show will often stop to deliver a tidbit of info about camping gear, which for the most part is pretty charming and somewhat informative. I will say however that while they do discuss the pricing element to a degree, even going to a camping store at one point, a lot of the equipment that Rin and the others have is fairly high end, camping stoves that good don’t come cheap. Then again, the characters do have part time jobs in order to fund this so its not completely unbelievable. Overall the show wants to present to you the most appealing aspects of camping, the beauty of the great outdoors, sitting around a campfire with hot food and hanging out with your friends, and in that regard it does its job perfectly.
The characters are all somewhat cookie cutter but fun nonetheless. Nadeshiko fits quite neatly into the ‘Lovable Airhead’ character type as I call it, a fairly common one in slice of life(think Yui from K-on, Akari from Aria, Cocoa from Gochiusa). She’s bubbly, energetic, loves to eat and a little bit clumsy but her heart is in the right place, you can tell all this from episode 1. Rin of course, has to be her exact opposite, quiet, reserved, methodical and a little bit shy. This of course creates brilliant chemistry between the two as they inevitably learn from each other and have fun camping adventures together, and naturally presents light yuri undertones if you’re so inclined(sadly as much as I would love to I will never be a cute anime girl camping with my gf). Other characters include the club members, Aoi and Aki, who fit their own character types pretty well, I don’t think you need me to tell you, but their personalities round things out nicely and the dynamic between the 4, when they’re together on screen, is as good as you’d expect. Often with slice of life, it's not necessarily about having the most original ideas or characters, its how the perfect combination of tropes and elements can add up to more than the sum of its parts.
Backing our relaxing fireside fun is equally relaxing fireside sounding music, predominantly utilising acoustic guitars, a classic fireside instrument, and one close to my heart as a guitarist. This is backed by gentle percussion and whistles, creating a sound that is folksy and rural, completing the vibe nicely. In contrast the opening is a more typical opening song titled ‘SHINY DAYS’ which plays more to the fun elements of the girls enjoying themselves, which of course is always great. Voice acting is phenomenal, as I think a lot of voice acting in slice of life shows is, these are series sold on the characters and jokes, they have to get the best people around, and here is no exception. Everything is cute and filled with expression, Aki Toyosaki is in it, need I say more?
Yuru Camp is probably the comfiest, most feel good thing you will watch recently, and if you’re a CGDCT aficionado, it's one of the most essential entries of the last few years.
Dewayne out
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Oct 24, 2019
Yuru Camp△
(Anime)
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Greetings my beloved subjects. It is on this fine morning that I come to bring you thoughts on another work within God’s own genre: Cute Girls Doing Cute Things. So grab your ramen and buckle in for some healing!
Ah, the great outdoors, very possibly a foreign concept to much of weebkind but one that I have at least some affinity with. Antisocial as I may be, I do like to get out for some fresh air and exercise, through running/cycling/walking, it does somewhat cleanse the soul of whatever may be ailing you and take you to a calmer, simpler place. This is of course also ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 30, 2019
Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?
(Anime)
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Hello everyone, it's about that time of year I emerged from under my rock to give opinions no one asked for, I do hope you enjoy, exalted denizens of the weebnet.
It is often a difficult endeavor, even for those of us who number among the appreciators, to quantify exactly what makes a slice of life show ‘truly great’ or ‘’stand-out’. It’s not that no such shows exist, the truth is in fact far from, its that in the absence of big epic moments or impressive sakuga cuts, that feeling is not one that we feel so intensely in a moment as in other shows. So ... what is it exactly that separates a K-On from a lesser series? Well I think today’s review, ‘Is the order a rabbit’, provides a good case study for some do’s and don'ts of cute girls doing cute things. First of all, we have to get this clear right off the bat, let’s not compare this series to K-on, or any other titans of slice of life made by KyoAni or the like. This is more comparable to the Doga Kobo take on moe, with cute, doughy designs and simple but effective movements. This show however comes to us from studio White Fox, a fairly new studio in the business. They are perhaps best known for handling popular titles such as Steins;Gate and Re:zero. They are however less acquainted with slice of life, with the only other notable outing being the excellent romcom The Devil is a Part Timer. Generally speaking, their production values are on the upper end of the industry, not quite in the upper echelons but still pretty damn respectable. And on the production side of things, this show gets a lot right. First of all, the character designs are absolutely adorable, all very distinct and each character has their own unique flair and set of expressions. They remind me of the simple but expressive designs from New Game! in their ability to handle both ridiculous comedy as well as more serious moments very naturally. It’s always a good sign when the animation can deform the characters to extreme degrees for a joke and they still remain recognisable and with their own individual sense of style. And at the same time as being so distinctive and unique, they are also a perfect canvas for a variety of adorable facial expressions and reactions, which a lot of the show’s comedy lives and dies on. Also worthy of note is the design of the show’s setting and backgrounds, which has a heavy European vibe, giving a distinct feel to the environments shown, many of which are very memorable and pleasing on the eye, which is a nice touch. The environments feel lived in by these characters, which lends an extra level of depth to the world and characters itself, something that is somewhat rare for slice of life shows not made by KyoAni. With these designs and backgrounds doing a lot of the heavy lifting, the animation is perhaps less impressive by comparison, though certainly no slouch. There isn’t a whole lot of movement or impressive character animation but there almost doesn’t need to be. This show is meant to be relaxing on the eyes as well as on the mind. It keeps things simple, using clever placement of camera and character reactions to carry the comedy and drama. Not every show has to have mind blowing animation, some just aim to be visually pleasing, and for a show like this, that’s more than enough to make it memorable. While we’re on the subject of characters, let's talk about that, as well as the overall content of the show. Gochiusa strikes somewhat of a balance between the ultra-irreverent style of moe comedy like Yuru Yuri and Nichijou, and the more character driven fare of something like New game or Dragon Maid. It’s basically a workplace comedy about a girl finding a job in a coffee shop in a new, picturesque town. It does follow a fairly episodic format, with two vignettes per episode telling a different tale in the lives of the employees of Rabbit House. However, unlike those irreverent shows I mentioned previously, watching this show out of order or skipping any would have a tangible effect on your viewing experience, because Gochiusa features some subtle but great character development and narrative. You could pretty much put every character in this show into an archetype chart, but that’s just the surface level. This show does a good job of using comedy and everyday occurrences to shine more light on its characters and their idiosyncrasies. Take Chino for example, who is introduced as a pretty by the books deadpan loli/kuudere type character, who serves to be deadpan and crack sarcastic jokes. However, as the show goes on, we learn why she is the way she is, feeling less able to communicate with her peers due to the environment she grew up in, and various anxieties that hold her back from expressing herself properly. The way she warms up to the other characters as the show progresses, as well as her very wholesome relationship with her rabbit Tippy, give a level of depth perhaps not seen in a lesser slice of life series. The other characters are all pretty great as well. Cocoa is a pretty generic genki girl protag, but her relationship with her sister sheds more light on this dynamic, as well as her growing friendship with her workmates. Syaro is very relatable if you’ve ever been poor and desperate, and Rize is also a very fun character with her gap moe traits of being a military geek while also being kind of a pushover who has a soft spot for cute stuff. It’s also pretty hilarious how the romantic tension between Rize and Syaro is underpinned by the fact that they’re both pretty awkward and insecure people deep down, which leads to some great interactions The show knows just how to put these characters into situations that play off their natural chemistry and unique traits to create cute, often hilarious, sometimes genuinely emotional moments. It’s great fluff to relax and let your worries wash away. Despite these positives though, not everything is perfect. The show can often resort to tried and true jokes and setups within the genre. This includes stuff like hot springs episodes, boob size jokes, embarrassment humour and one joke side characters. This is to be expected, but truly great shows can put an original spin on these a little better. There is also a recurring plot element of misunderstandings between characters, that are resolved in the same manner time and time again, which got a little dull after a while. While the art and characters are somewhat remarkable for the genre, a lot of the more nitty gritty plot elements are standard fare, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The voice acting is a joy, carrying a lot of the funniest moments, with a variety of cute voices that have a good range in displaying emotion. If you’ve ever seen a show like this before, this kind of acting will be very familiar to you, but I tend to like it for what it is, and in this case everyone does a good job. The music is all pretty standard too, relaxing strings and twinkly tones to go with your sugar sweet show, and the opening themes are pretty fun too, with the first being especially catchy, and the second having some fun imagery and use of character. This show is not going to convert any doubter of CGDCT to the dark side, but it does remain a fun, relaxing slice of life show, with a gorgeous setting, some fun characters with some depth, and some really great comedic and dramatic moments.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 20, 2019
Mahoutsukai no Yome
(Anime)
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Ah magic, that which inflames the imagination of mortals, that tempts us with a visage of what is beyond the natural, the sensible and even the possible. Us old human beings have always enjoyed tales of sorcery, magic and wonder, as perhaps a chance to step outside our usual world governed by physical laws and confounding limitations. With many stories like this its taken somewhat as a given that magic both exists and behaves in the way that it does. Rarely I find, does a work of fantasy delve into what magic really is, what it means, how exactly it works and what the rules
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are. I had to give myself some time with this one, to really pinch my brain to see if it was deceiving me. I feel like the whole time I was watching this show I was having an absolute blast with it, it made me feel all kinds of conflicting emotions. I kept thinking that I must me mistaken, people don’t rave about this show that much anymore, I must be missing some huge flaw. As the show went on however, I became more and more unsure if I was.
Firstly, I have to mention that the series’ visual presentation is absolutely breathtaking. The character designs, if a little generic, are detailed and expressive. They have an pretty ‘anime’ aesthetic overall but in a charming way. What deserves a lot more praise however, is the background and environments. Wit really knocked it out of the park here, the rendering of a modern English setting is not only convincing, but also breathtakingly beautiful, especially as the show goes on and the seasons shift, generating a level of detail and wonder that environmental design does not often reach on its own. The animation is perhaps nothing special in light of this, but still measures up pretty well compared to a lot of modern anime. Also will briefly mention that the first opening is amazing, both music and animation wise, OST is fairly solid, and also that the voice acting, at least in Japanese, is absolutely top notch, cannot speak for the dub. But I guess I have to get to the heart of the matter because I really loved this show, and I understand it's not the kind of thing that would appeal to everyone. It's pretty slow, can at times be kind of confusing and the core premise might turn some people off. Given a chance though I think this show is a highly unique experience. Firstly, it offers a very detailed and well researched take on magic, drawing from various sources, not only Japanese but from Europe and the British Isles as well. This creates a world of magic that is highly detailed, full of wonder but not fully detached from the familiar. I think in terms of tone this show could not be more perfect for what it is, its fantastical enough to be great escapism, but grounded enough in what we understand to create real drama, its serious enough to sell those moments, but is able to have moments of levity when it does and they feel appreciated. I think what enables this show, and really any show, to pull this off, is a solid cast of characters and this show definitely delivers on that. Chise is, if you look at things trope wise, the classic audience surrogate apprentice archetype that stories about magic do tend to rely on. However, I think the fact that the show is very much told from her perspective helps to flesh this out a bit further. Her tragic backstory could have made her into a brooding and edgy character that no one likes, but it really didn't. Sure she’s somewhat shy and lacking self worth because of that but beneath that she also cares, has a sense of humour, makes lasting friendships, learns things about the world and herself that make her a more well rounded person. On the other side of the coin is Elias, a man who knows everything about magic but nothing about himself. Having a non-human character in this kind of role is unusual, and the first few episodes can be a bit awkward at times because of it. Honestly though, by the end, I was totally invested in the relationship between him and Chise. Weird though it may be, it feels like they need each other in some deep sense, and while they may come from very different places, they have a lot to learn from each other. There was some very tender and honest moments between these two, better than a lot of anime romances i’ll tell you that. Both intimidating and kind, the tension that the very nature of his being creates throughout the series is a really interesting twist. You never fully trust him nor can fully hate him, a very interesting dynamic in my opinion. The side characters all serve their purposes too, though they are numerous and one can get lost in all the different people and how exactly they fit into things. Some of my favourites are Chise’s church grim familiar and the goodest of all boys Ruth, and the Leanan Sidhe the vampire fairy, who both have roots in mythology that are nice little things that add to their characters and provide some reading to do after watching! I think the main point where your mileage with this show may vary is in the plot itself. I think part of the reason it's not more talked about, now especially, is because its not a ‘hype’ show. Popular seasonal fare that has a lifespan to it tends to fit two qualities, a)interesting or unique premise and b)gripping week by week plot. Magus Bride doesn’t really have that, it spends more time exploring the daily lives of its main characters, how they work through various issues and how they develop as characters. Now I love slice of life anime, especially ones with a twist, so I enjoyed these segments greatly, but I could understand the frustration at this show not having a more concrete plot to it. The plot itself is essentially the story of Chise and her adjustment to this life, and some of the challenges that come with it. The problem is that as the show goes on more plot threads are introduced, things can get a bit complex and confusing, though I applaud the show from never letting these developments distract from the core relationship between the two mains and how this changes both of them, for better or worse. I’m finding it hard to sell this show aren’t I? I don’t know what it is, I think somehow it all just...works. Not perfect by any means, but something about the combination between the calm rural setting, wholly unique and well researched take on magic and the surprisingly nuanced and touching relationship between the two main leads just made this a really charming watch for me. Well that’s the best I can do it seems, feel free to mock ol Dewayne for how bad his writing has gotten, peace out. EDIT: Fixed a mistake where I said White Fox instead instead of Wit Studio, wow guys you can tell i totally spent time on this one
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 28, 2019
Comic Girls
(Anime)
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Let’s keep this one brief shall we, at least by my standards. Brevity is the soul of of wit, as old Shakey said. Comic Girls manages to carve an identity for itself within the oversaturated market of ‘CGDCT’ shows by being a very genuine portrayal of what it means to be a struggling creative up and coming in a brutal and unforgiving industry, which will definitely be relatable to many people, myself included. With a unique artstyle and design sense, Comic Girls sets itself apart from the pack by giving weight to it’s characters and environments. Like such past shows as K-on, the locales and
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backgrounds of Comic Girls feel like real lived in environs, which only furthers to enhance the atmosphere. The animation is impressive for what it is too, providing excellent comedic timing and some great creative gimmicks like the use of comic panel like cutaways to enhance gags and emotional moments.
A lot of shows like this would push the technical and practical elements of its conceit to the background to focus on cute antics, but Comic Girls faces it head on, deadlines are always looming, improving and getting inspiration is always in the back of the characters’ minds. Even when allowed to relax, the characters’ creatives sensibilities are still at play, because they have to be, and this lead to some of the show’s best moments and gags. At it’s heart, this is a show about drawing manga, and doesn’t let you forget it, while still being able to have funny and cute hijinks along the way. The characters are definitely not original in concept, but are set apart from the usual cast of this type show by being more down to Earth, understandable people. Kaos is a delicate, self conscious, anxious wreck and I love it because the show is not afraid to show her as kind of pathetic and relatable as opposed to just presenting these traits as adorable quirks, which was refreshing. Tsubasa is a tomboy with trouble connecting emotionally but has her moments of weakness, struggles with upholding the lifestyle that she’s chosen, and has issues with reconciling her current self with how she was raised. Koyume, while seeming like the most simple character, has her own struggles with keeping up and her own self image. All of the residents of the dorm seem like people with real problems despite being professionals, or at least as accurately as you can represent this in a primarily comedic series. The plot progresses as you would expect, with mainly episodic stories of various issues that the girls face in lives as manga artists, with them learning things about themselves in a way that’s not too in your face as to be irritating. I have to mention the voice acting purely because it’s some of the best i’ve heard in the last few years, with plenty of hilarious nuance in the jokes and in giving each character a unique voice not just in the literal sense, but in the more personal sense, which goes a long way in a character focused series. Music is nice but not worth much discussion, and overall sound design is pretty standard. The show ended in a place that left things fairly open, while still finding a satisfying conclusion enough to leave me in good-ish spirits. Overall an entertaining series and proof that there still is potential left in creating quality shows in this genre.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 30, 2018
Darling in the FranXX
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
(Look who’s back, its me, i’m a little(lot) older now, and felt like writing again so here’s a review of a recently wrapped and decently controversial show, hope you enjoy, spoilers btw)
Well well well, this is gonna be a fun one… Rising from the ashes of industry legends Gainax in 2011, Studio Trigger began to carve themselves an identity within anime communities, in many ways carrying on the work of their predecessors, but definitely remaining a distinctive studio in their own right. Earning the title of ‘the saviour of anime’ by some fans, and heavily criticized by others for favouring spectacle over substance. Getting this out ... of the way first, I have greatly enjoyed a lot of Trigger’s body of work, with Kill la Kill(2013) and Little witch Academia(2013-2017) being not only some of the most visually impressive and creative TV anime I have ever seen, but also some of the most genuinely full of heart and lovingly made as well. If I could sum up the core theme of Trigger’s shows, it would be “your emotions and dreams are valid” whether they be childhood dreams, epic quests or teenage crushes. Today’s subject however, is not really anything like what Trigger have worked on before. Perhaps this is because its not entirely their own show, being a collaborative effort with CloverWorks(a sub-studio of A1 Pictures). It’s a giant robot show, in a rather classic vein, similar perhaps to certain shows Trigger’s predecessors Gainax became known for in their glory days. We’re actually going to start with the visual side of things because there’s something I want to get out of the way. This is broadly a high quality production, backgrounds are layered and well rendered, fights are kinetic and have all the over the top flair you would expect from Trigger(they handled the animation itself themselves after all), things stay on model and the directing is overall pretty decent by anime standards, though nothing special. I wanted to talk about the look of the show itself though, because I feel this is where the styles of the two studios start to mish mash a bit. Franxx is a dark post-apocalyptic show, but has a surprisingly bright colour palette in terms of character and mecha designs, and has a fairly generic anime look. This is something A1 and their associates are known for, making anime that looks like anime. Trigger’s design sense definitely come across in the mechs, which feel like representations of the characters who pilot them, but the same cannot be said of the character designs, which are very generic and somewhat unvaried for a show with such a large main cast. It doesn’t help that every character wears the same uniform pretty much all the time either, leaves everything feeling rather homogenous, even if that was the intention considering the show’s themes. The background art is a standout, often making the atmosphere of certain scenes work much better than it would have without them, even if it does look a little too much like environments from other shows.... In terms of the animation itself, it does hold together well, but it feels like there’s something..missing. Part of what made other Trigger shows so great is the use of creative animation techniques and visual storytelling outside of action scenes, adding an extra layer of excitement to scenes that would otherwise be dull if written on paper. I understand that the tone of this show is generally more serious and less comedic than some of Trigger’s other work, but it really could have been used at certain points in this show, when the drama was really not enough to carry the scene on its own. There were scenes in this show, where a character was giving a monologue over images, where the monologue was really not needed, as the same ideas could much more effectively be shown through animation. In conclusion the show is generally well put together, but lacks the visual flair and creativity I usually would expect from Trigger. Right, so now we have to talk about what the plot and characters are actually like and well.. Where do I start. Have you ever seen Evangelion? Eureka Seven? Gurren Lagann? Ergo Proxy? No? well you better start taking some notes. My point here is that the designs are not the only unoriginal thing in this show, the core premise itself is highly derivative of some of the most influential anime of the last 25 years. In a world where humanity lives in fear of big monsters and is run by evil government, young boy meets mysterious girl, pilots giant robot, saves world etc. The show practically writes its own TV tropes page. This is not a negative in itself, but I feel like every major problem with the show can be boiled down to its failure to carve out an individual identity or a clear idea of what it wants to do. Because you see, despite aping most of its concept from these other shows, I feel like Franxx was trying to make its own point about human relationships and sexuality...I think. The issue is that it did a very poor job at doing it. The plot itself is somewhat of a muddled mess, It begins like a lot of mech shows do, as a monster of the week ordeal, before a grand plot conspiracy slowly unfolds. The first half was, if you ignore all the derivative stuff, quite entertaining in its own right. The world was legitimately intriguing as the information about the world came slowly and naturally, giving us little drips here and there and keeping us watching week after week. The relationships between the members of squad 13 began to show sparks, and this created some drama early on, and seemed to be setting up a breakdown of how this world worked, or some dark revelations about its secrets. The problem is it kind of completely shits the bed after this. After episode 15 the show’s fast paced action narrative slows down for little reason, introducing various irrelevant subplots and impatiently buying time until the final act. This is perhaps because, as I may not have mentioned, Franxx is also a romance series, and gave the audience their main romantic payoff in that 15th episode, and was then kind of left with nowhere to go. All the tension and conflict in Hiro and Zero Two’s relationship is pretty much resolved at this point, and then the show kind of blindy wanders for a while, wasting precious time that could have been used giving a proper backstory to the world and characters, or setting up a dramatic final act that could have produced some actual dramatic tension. The problem is once the show gets to said final act, it pretty much destroys everything that was good and intriguing about the first half, the backstory of the world turns out to be pretty generic, is rushed in its explanation and quite honestly doesn’t even really make any sense. From here, the conclusion suffers from a sudden change in the kind of show Franxx is, where the audience are left feeling like nothing is really at stake, and the underdeveloped final villains that the show pulls out of its ass do not help with this either. Now to talk about how the show struggles with expressing its themes and ideas. By arranging the Franxx pilots in male-female pairs, having them be teenagers in a world where ‘growing up’ is symbolic for escaping their life as mech pilots and giving each pilot pair a complex web of feelings about each other, it would seem the show is trying to make a point about relationships, growing up and coming of age. In certain episodes like episode 8, the show tries to explore puberty and how this can create a divide between boys and girls of this age, although beyond this the show does not do much else to comment on gender. I found the ideas from this episode quite interesting, and kind of wish the series had gone in a direction where it explored this more than the apocalyptic space battles, as it seemed to be better at writing that kind of story than this one. I also enjoyed how the show explored different types of love and feelings one might have for another person, and how they choose to express those feelings, though once again, this is something the show really failed to follow through with after the initial episodes of set up. It felt like the show was starting to make a point, but then just gave it up to focus on...well I honestly have no idea but it left me rather disappointed. And now we get on to talking about characters, and this is where I was saving a lot of the ranting for. Franxx sets itself as being a character-based story, it clearly wants to be kind of a new Evangelion, where the background alien-fighting plot takes somewhat of a backseat to the character interactions and development. The issue here is that all the characters end up either underdeveloped, or just end up as stand ins for a ham fisted point that the show is trying to make. Main character Hiro is quite a generic MC-kun, who ends up being mainly defined by his relationship to Zero Two. This is one of the worst sins in anime romance if you ask me, not giving a character a distinctive personality outside of their relationship to their love interest. He is in fact so generic that I cannot think of anything else to say about him, so let’s talk about Zero Two. At the beginning of the show, Zero Two is pretty much the main thing keeping it going, she’s got the wacky, zany charm to carry entire scenes on her own, in the vein of many great past Gainax and Trigger characters. Her actions end up driving the entire first half of the show, and the character arc she goes through in this part of the show is pretty well done, if a little melodramatic and predictable. The issue is after this, her personality does a complete 180 for the second half of the show. Her developments ends with her confession of love to Hiro, and from then on she becomes a generic character with none of the zany charm she had to start with. The secondary cast is mainly comprised of the other Franxx pairs, some of which fared better than others in terms of characterization. Goro and Ichigo probably got most out these, with their relationship being explored in a fair bit of detail. Ichigo became somewhat of an unfairly despised character by some sections of the fanbase, but was actually a very likeable character all round, a strong leader and team player. Her approach to the world that she lives in and how she balances it with her own personal problems is among the most rational in the main cast. The same is true of Goro, a pragmatic but believable character, who is able to stay strong through difficult situations, while still having relatable personal weaknesses. Mitsuru and Kokoro are more difficult to discuss, as I think the show wanted them to be important characters, but didn’t put in the framework to justify it. Their relationship forms part of the backbone of the show’s main thematic point, but they are given barely enough screen time for us to really care, and it is never clarified a) how they feel about each other or b) why they feel this way, so when their desire to have a baby is supposed to be the crux of the kids’ plan to succeed and rebuild society, it rings a little hollow. Zorome and Miku were likeable, but didn’t get enough development, Ikuno is gay as fuck and that’s it, and everyone else is kind of just there, some solid character basis, but wasted in a lot of regards. Music is hype as fuck, this is the legacy of the people who made Gurren Lagann, so of course the soundtrack is gonna be the kind of thing that makes you want to go into space and fight giant alien robots while Gainax posing in a god damn cape, I have no complaints here. Opening theme ‘Kiss of Death’ is kind of interesting, a kind of seedy sounding rock track with prominent piano and seductive vocals, I like it. First ending theme ‘Torikago’ is also one of the best i’ve heard in awhile, really a hype track with some super dramatic chord changes and strings that i’m a total sucker for. Despite this, the animation in this openings and endings is not what i’d expect from Trigger, its mostly stock images and character profiles, no creative narrative or crazy zany bullshit, I am disappointed quite honestly. Overall, Franxx is a show which had basically no idea what it wanted to do, and kind of stumbled its way into a half baked, derivative, clumsily written story that remained entertaining if not much else, and is easily the worst thing Trigger have worked on to date. That being said, its not offensively bad, just a classic example of a high concept show that could never really live up to its initial hype. I still enjoyed the first half pretty decently, and perhaps some of it will stick with me. Hopefully their next project will learn from these mistakes and make a more complete and filling offer to us to chew on.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 24, 2017
Guilty Crown
(Anime)
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Okay so this is gonna be one of those deals where I just write something because I feel like it, which I happen to right now. Guilty crown is a show I went into expecting to hate it, because pretty much everyone who’s opinion I generally trust gave the impression that I probably would. The plot sounds like a mish mash of pretty much everything your edgy normie friend thinks anime is: Crazy powers, high schools, complex plots and tits. I mean I never saw how any of these were negatives but oh well.
So let’s start with our basic plot. Shu Ouma is generic ... socially awkward high school student #2378044, trying to just live his life when suddenly stuff happens, because of course it does. The setup of the show is your standard terrorist group fighting government for ultimately good ends a la Code Geass, Eureka Seven, Gundam 00, every show ever etc. The funny thing is about this setup though is that unlike in those shows, where the main character is kind of willingly in it from the start, Shu just kind of stumbles into it. For the first half of the show we’re just trying to convince Shu that he should actually fight for the cause, and not run away like a snarkier Shinji Ikari. However the first 8 or so episodes must be given credit where it is due in that they set up the world and the backgrounds of the characters fairly well, even if we do often feel quite distant from the members of Funeral Parlor, as they act so distant towards Shu. I feel like Guilty Crown had about fifty different ideas about what it wanted to do and then remembered that it only had just under two cours to do it in. Over the course of the 22 episode run it tries its hand at mecha action, high school comedy, survival fiction, political thriller and symbolic fantasy elements without ever picking an identity of its own. In fact so many things in Guilty Crown feel like they’ve been aped from other shows. Aside from Shu, Gai acts just like Lelouch, Inori is a Eureka clone, Hare may as well be Kazumi Yoshida or any other token third wheel girl. The mech designs are unoriginal, the grand conspiracy of the plot is basically End of Evangelion and so on and so on. “But Dewayne, stop comparing it to other shows, assess it on its own merits” Okay fine, setting aside comparisons, how does the plot actually stack up? Well...its mess. A mess that has its moments sure, but still a mess. Its clearly a high concept idea, but each element isn’t given enough time to make us care about it. Who are this evil government? How are the people of Japan coping with the occupation? What is the apocalypse virus? Who is Inori? What are these void things? These things kind of get answered but not really. The show has a borderline obsession with plot twists, there’s like three every episode i’m not kidding. You think you know things and then the show’s like “nah” and that’s fine if it's like spaced out a bit, but it happens all the time. That being said, there are some genuinely good ideas and effective moments here, buried beneath all the crazy nonsense. Like occasionally the show will have a scene that makes you feel a very raw emotion, and you’ll start to think maybe the show isn’t too bad, but then you have to sit through an exposition scene that makes 0 sense and completely inverts the mood that it all seems not worth it. But it is entertaining, only if to see what’s going to happen at the end of all this. And as for the ending, everyone seems to hate it, it was meh to be honest, very generic ending but nothing too terrible. Characters are a different kettle of fish, because I think this is supposed to be a show focused on the characters. Firstly, just gotta get it out the way, the villains suck, like really hard, I don’t even remember any of their names and I finished the show like three days ago. So I already talked a bit about Shu, but let’s go into some detail. He’s an edgy, socially awkward guy who just falls into the wrong place at the wrong time, but how does he develop? Well quite a lot actually, to the show’s credit, he learns things, he matures, he goes through bad times. He was pretty much a different guy by the end of the show, but it was done in a really cliche way. A lot of the time it's difficult to sympathise with his decisions because he just does some stupid shit. And also the only time when the show was meant to make you angry at Shu, when he finally took charge, I thought he was doing the right thing, whereas when he was being a snivelling coward, we were meant to sympathise with him, like why? And now i’m going to talk about the romance, and also Inori, because let’s face it you can’t do one without the other. So Inori is basically the emotionless girl trope as I said before, born as a blank slate for a purpose etc. So naturally the point of this romance is to have her learn how to feel emotions and whatnot, and have Shu slowly view her in a different light. Now this isn’t a problem, we know it can be done well. But the problem is not enough time is dedicated to the romance, we get maybe a few scenes of them alone, but you never really feel like they’re bonding. I hate to hammer in the Eureka comparisons again, but in that show we had plenty of time dedicated to showing how she changed because of Renton. In this we get Inori telling him she faked it to manipulate him, telling him not to get close to her, then getting kidnapped because drama. And it's not like they weren’t together in the latter parts of the show, because they basically were, but they barely talked! And this could have been easily fixed by just having some scenes where there share some alone time. This frustrated me to no end, cause i’m a sucker for romances like this. Supporting cast are a mixed bag. Gai is pretty cool at first, but they really just didn’t know what to do with him later on in the show, and his motives remain pretty confusing and unclear. Plus he could just be quite an unpleasant guy at times. Tsugumi is annoying, Hare is pointless and the rest of funeral parlor are pretty forgettable EXCEPT for Ayase. She was the only character that I actually liked in the whole show pretty much. It was refreshing how they wrote a disabled character, and both explored the effect that had on her life, but also didn’t let it define her character. She was a lot of fun and got to kick some ass too. Basically though, the cast is too big. I’m not even mentioning all the other classmates, random government people, scientists etc. I lost track of who people even were by the end, and some characters got introduced without a proper explanation of who they actually were and what purpose they serve to the plot. So...this show looks amazing. Like not just good, legitimately amazing. Despite the unoriginality of some of the designs and generic artstyle, the show is a technovisual marvel. The animation is crisp throughout, from the fight scenes to the classrooms. Like I mean it's still on a TV budget and there are some cut corners and lazy bits, but on the whole a cut above what you’d expect from TV anime. I think another major boon is how good the directing is. Good directing is not something that a lot of anime fans care about or even notice, but it does make a difference. I think the reason why this train wreck of a show is somewhat watchable is because the directing actually makes some of the scenes way more effective. If this show was directed badly, I guarantee it would be completely unwatchable. Take the scene from early in the show, when Shu is using his powers to catch Inori as she falls, the way this scene is shot and edited is mesmerising, if it was in a better show it could be a legendary scene. Shu’s void powers are rendered in what I assume is CG, and it can look a little jarring at times, but nothing too distracting. The use of lighting and colour are also notable at various points, though mainly for the banal use of a flashback sequence. Overall the animation is excellent, though I can’t think of anything particular to say about it, as it's not at all stylistically unique or so good that it's technically groundbreaking. The music is another strong point, which like the directing and animation, helps to elevate certain parts of the mediocre script to almost being pretty good scenes. The two opening songs, performed by the fictional band EGOIST, are both super catchy and come with some great accompanying animation to boot. The actual soundtrack, composed by Hiroyuki Sawano, is what he usually does, it's big, it's epic, it makes you want to fight things. And when there’s an emotional moment, you can be damn sure the strings are gonna come in and make you feel that moment, if the writing isn’t quite doing it for you. Yet another strong point is the dub, surprisingly, a funimation effort and among their better work I would have to say. The adapted script tries to make some sense of the madness that the original laid out, and the actors all try their absolute best to give some semblance of humanity to these characters, and they do a great job. There were very few bum lines in the whole thing, which is very impressive for a high concept and complex story like this, there’s usually one guy who flubs some super cheesy line, but they totally own it here. You want my final opinion? Okay well the show’s not good, every idea in it has been done before and better, and there’s way too many of them being juggled here. But it’s not bad, like not really bad. The impressive visuals, great music, solid dub and occasionally effective moments make it at least mediocre. There are worse shows of this kind you could watch. If anything, GC is a very questionable use of a lot of money, for better or for worse.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jan 23, 2016
Kantai Collection: KanColle
(Anime)
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(DEWAYNE’S NOTES: JUST A QUICK AND KINDA BAD REVIEW BECAUSE THIS SHOW DOESN’T GIVE ME MUCH TO SAY. I JUST HAD TO WRITE BECAUSE WRITING IS ALL I DO AT COLLEGE AND NOT EXPRESSING MY OPINION DRIVES ME INSANE. ALSO I HAVE NOT PLAYED THE GAME, SO DON’T HASSLE ABOUT THAT.)
We all know that cute girls doing cute things has pretty much been consistently popular in anime since Kyoto Animation made it their selling point back in the mid 2000’s. Now I shall shamelessly admit that I love this genre as much as the next guy, but there has been a longstanding sentiment that people ... are starting to get tired of it. So that’s why it seems like there has emerged a reactionary subgenre of cute girls doing decidedly uncute things. Whether it Gen Urobuchi mercilessly killing magical girls in Madoka magica or moeblobs in MUTHAFUCKIN TANKS in Girls und panzer, it seems the optimal way to refresh the formula was to take it to the EXTREME for all the jaded otaku tired of seeing girls drinking tea and/or crying with planet sized eyes. I imagine it is such a subgenre that led to the creation of today’s subject, Kantai Collection(or Kancolle). Adapted from a game that was apparently very popular and produced by an animation studio only really known for the highly controversial Kodomo no Jikan, Kancolle tells the story of cute girls…. who are also ancient Japanese warships! The show tells us that ‘Fleet girls’ are girls who have been born with the souls of ancient warships, and that they are needed to fight a mysterious race of sea demons called ‘Abyssals’. We follow Fubuki, a destroyer that has recently arrived at a naval base ready to fight. Yeah.. that is actually the premise. This may be where the first problem lies, a game doesn’t really need a believable or even consistent premise, but an anime series does a lot more. Then again, Kancolle, with its mixture of cool fights and comedy, perhaps doesn’t want you to take it that seriously, which is acceptable. The main plot is a mixture of naval action and slice of life elements. This is a combination that I personally adore in a show but I have to question whether it was pulled off effectively here. It moves slowly at first, letting us get to know the characters and mechanics, and following Fubuki as she learns more about her mission and attempts to grow stronger. However, just once it gets up to speed, the show throws filler episodes in the mix, which while entertaining, did not bode well for a 12 episode series. The mix of slice of life and action has to feel natural and not like the creators decided to suddenly switch gears because they thought you were getting bored. This harms the pacing and makes it harder to care about what it going on in the long run. Another thing is that in the show’s downtime, the comedy and character interaction isn’t all up to snuff, meaning you’ll often be wishing for something to happen. When the action scenes do kick into gear, they can be pretty tense, and the stakes are clearly shown, with little plot armor or deus ex machinas being used to cheat their way out of a fight. Despite the fact that we never really learn anything about the abyssals, they are pretty menacing and make for some good fights. When it comes to the drama, the show does make a good effort in attempting to get me to care, but these elements were too lightly spiced onto the mix to be effective. Things like Mutsuki’s arc from episodes 3 and 4 and Akagi’s arc near the end are able to shed some light on the characters and give us some reasons to care about how they fare in their fight against the abyssals, but not enough focus was given to this for it to be a prominent part of the show, as it was diluted by mediocre comedy and boring character interactions. Overall, this leads to a show which is entertaining, but lacks the tools to be truly engaging. The characters are many, and as such I forgot who many of them were. There is Fubuki’s squad, the other squads, the carriers, the higher ups and many more. I will give the show credit in managing to cram so many distinct characters into a measly 12 episodes, but they pay a heavy price for doing so. If you can keep track of these characters, you will pick up a surface level understanding of who they are, but that is exactly ALL you get, never does the show have time to dig any deeper into these ship girls. When the show uses its characters for some good drama(like in episodes 3+4 as I previously mentioned) it can be fairly competent but most of the time it doesn’t bother. This leads to many of the characters being pretty one note and bland. Fubuki is the spunky but shy protagonist who will keep training until senpai notices her, Mutsuki and Yuudachi are just ditzy best friends, Akagi is a wise mentor with a troubled past and Kongou is completely insane. If the show had more time or less characters, maybe this wouldn’t be a problem, but it is as it stands, and a fairly damning one too. The character designs and setting are mostly pretty dull, you can sometimes get confused which characters are which because of the multitude of them present, but the show at least tries to give unique designs to each girl. But hey it's what you expect, long flowing hair, school uniforms(for some reason?) and big moe eyes, but lacking in the originality or distinctness that make good moe designs. The animation is unsurprisingly kept to a minimum for the most part and movement is pretty limited(this is moe, who needs movement?). The exception to this is pretty obviously when the show wants to wow you with its gun porn.. I mean fight scenes. Here they pull out all the smooth water animations, gun animations, torpedo animations and EXTREME WIND BLOWY HAIR MOVEMENT. But this is to be expected from a show of this nature, and its not like it looks Ufotable or Madhouse levels of extreme sakuga usage. Music is pretty chill, but it doesn’t really have anything to compliment apart from the fight scenes. The music for most of the SOL aspects is just your usual light sounding tonky lounge music that usually is meant to compliment the comedy and light tone, which doesn’t work here on account of how boring these scenes are. The music in the fight scenes is of the “let's use an orchestra to be all dramatic” variety which is a shame because the game has face melting guitar as its battle theme from what I have heard, so why couldn’t we get some of that? The opening is also a fairly dull song, apart from the hilarious misheard lyric of “WANKERRRRRRRRRR” and I don’t even remember the ending so it can’t have been great. One thing I will say is that the voice acting is pretty impressive, mainly because many of the seiyus portray multiple characters, and manage to give them all distinct tones, which in moe is no easy task. They appear to be really TRYING to make the show more funny or dramatic, but sometimes it is the tools, not the workman at fault. In conclusion this show is either a heavily botched game adaptation or just a really boring moe show, it's dull and predictable but I honestly can’t say anything worse about it. You can tell it attempts to be something but ultimately cannot save itself from being nothing, the curse of bad moe shows if you will. Come to think of it, why did I even review this? they say mediocrities are the worst thing for a critic, then I guess that makes me some kind of intellectual masochist.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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May 31, 2015
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
(Anime)
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{NOTES-This review covers both the first season and Kai as I don’t see a reason to write 2 separate review for 2 halves of the same story. Also, this review does contain minor spoilers for episodes 1-4 of the first season, this is because I need to discuss the methods of storytelling in order to fully evaluate this series on its narrative quality. If you don’t want to be spoiled you don’t have to read, simple as that :)}
If you knew me well enough then you would know that I love murder mystery. Many an evening I have spent on my sofa watching reruns of ... CSI, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Columbo and many other series. I am also a big fan of psychological thrillers like the films of Charlie Kaufman and Alfred Hitchcock. What draws me to these stories is difficult to describe. Perhaps it is the excitement of watching a complex set of seemingly unconnected events slowly shift into place like a seismic jigsaw, or the exploration of the mental states of damaged and deranged characters and what led them to this behavior, or maybe it's the gripping tension and fright that often accompanies these frequently grim and disturbing tales. With this said, you can probably deduce why I was drawn to today’s subject: Higurashi no naku koro ni/Kai. Based on the popular visual novel series, Higurashi was adapted into anime in two seasons which aired between 2006 and 2007. It is famous for its infamous gore and unconventional storytelling methods. After finishing the series, I am convinced that it has been misrepresented by the people who sell it on these points alone. I was slightly hesitant going in that the series might turn out to just be a gorefest with a weakly defined mystery aspect, but I found myself pleasantly surprised… Story- Higurashi is a supernatural mystery thriller series set in a small village called Hinamizawa. The series is structured by means of various arcs that each tell a different story about the people of the village. Ok, sounds simple so far doesn’t it? Well the fact is these stories aren’t random or trivial and they’re certainly not very lighthearted. Most of the arcs end with some kind of tragic event in which something happens to the characters or town and involve mental instability and often murder. The twist is that after this happens, instead of moving the story on from there, Higurashi resets the clock and plays out a different set of events because the whole show is set in a time loop. Each of these scenarios teaches you a bit more about the town, its inhabitants and the tragic events that keep occurring each time. You see Higurashi is a master of a little thing called perspective. There is no real main character, at least not a constant one. The perspective shifts between various characters throughout the show to give you clues about character motivations and the truth behind certain events. Its this bizarre method of moving along the story that gives Higurashi a unique edge among mystery shows, being more comparable to something more avant garde like Twin peaks or The prisoner than a standard murder mystery. The mystery aspect is by far one of the best aspects of the show, it has you totally confused but also totally hooked to find out what all the answers are as well as see the characters work out how to stop the tragedies. The show dangles the carrot to an almost ridiculous degree at some points, giving you no context to bizarre events and raising 5 times as many questions as it answers though I would argue this is part of the fun. This is not a cheap mystery drama where the conclusion can be guessed half way through, you have to think and pay attention to even keep track of some events. Each story arc is well paced and very intense, they all build up a heavy atmosphere of impending disaster and visibly show the mental states of the characters slowly fall into a state of despair by subtle dialogue exchanges and visual symbolism. The plot always starts unassumingly but slowly descends into darker territories but this change in mood is done so subtly and atmospherically that it adds a great deal of tension and foreboding. Though 90% of the show is dialogue and atmosphere, nothing ever feels boring or pointless as every conversation serves to build character, atmosphere or offer clues. The other 10% however is what everyone remembers and that’s the gorier scenes. Yes, there are lots of gory scenes but they are not as frequent or intense as people say. In fact, often the show goes out of its way to directly show anything too horrific, we mainly see character reactions and brief glimpses of horrible images. This works to the show’s favour as these images are more effective when less is shown and more is implied. Also, these scenes do not come out of nowhere. They are the emotional and narrative climax to each story arc, which has built them up over many layers of foreshadowing and tension. Between all the mind boggling mystery and gory mess though, Higurashi is also a series with a lot of emotional and thematic poignancy. The descent of the characters into madness and despair is often heartbreaking to watch, especially because most of the tragedy is based on a mixture of character flaws and unfortunate events which lead the characters over the edge. Every time the story resets, especially near the end of the series you want to see the characters prevail over the tragedies and get back to their peaceful lives that the beginning of each arc gives you a glimpse of. As the plot and mystery unfolds, the show also raises a lot of interesting questions and explores a wide variety of themes and conflicts. Besides some messages about forgiveness, friendship and perseverance, Higurashi also comments on fate, various mental conditions, political corruption, scientific ethics, community, child abuse and God. These issues are not often addressed directly but rather are implemented into the stories of various characters so that they don’t distract from the main conflict of the show. Now, because of my inner critic’s solemn oath, I must admit that the story is not perfect. Not all the questions that are raised throughout the series are answered. Some plot threads which I assume were addressed in the visual novel or spin offs have been left out of this adaptation or not given enough explanation to make sense. I personally didn’t find this too bad, it's good not to be handed every answer on a silver platter and have to make some inferences to fully get the gist of what’s going on. With this said, there were a few things that I thought could have been given some more time and explanation to increase the drama of some of the reveals. There is also issues with scientific accuracy, some of the phenomena are not explained properly which may bum out people who crave total realism in whatever they watch. Finally, the transition between arcs can be somewhat tonally jarring. You witness the tragic train crash of a conclusion of one story only to be pulled over to a parallel line of carefree days in the village. Granted, you get used to this after a while but it is kind of weird in the first 10 or so episodes. Despite these flaws however, I have no problem calling Higurashi one of the best mystery/thriller series I have ever sat all the way through. Story 9.5/10 Characters- The characters of Higurashi are like a surrealist fruit bowl, incredibly varied and all different flavours of crazy. Ok, maybe that was a little bit of an insensitive way to put it but seriously, they’re all really fucked up, like i’m talking Evangelion fucked up here. Every character is essentially a ticking time bomb, in each story a different fuse is pulled and one of them succumbs to some kind of intense mental breakdown. Whether it is Keiichi, who suffers from paranoia and hallucinations, Shion, who is traumatised by her upbringing and the disappearance of her love interest before the start of the story or Satoko, who has had such a rough deal in life that you will just want to hug her by the end of the series. Every character is like an enigma wrapped in a twinkie wrapped in 10 layers of more confusing behaviour and foreshadowing than a David Lynch movie. When you first meet the characters, they display fairly normal personalities and behaviours. But once things take a turn for the worse, their seemingly ordinary temperaments are revealed to be nothing more than masks that drop to floor covered in blood, revealing their true colours. If this was the extent of the characterization however, it would not be nearly as effective as it is as the show would have merely pulled the proverbial rug out from under your unsuspecting feet without any real drama of connection. Throughout every arc, information continues to be revealed about each character which makes you question everything you thought you knew about them. While they may have seemed to be a weak mental wreck in one story, in the next they seem to be a strong survivor who seeks to stop the impending tragedy. There are also no real villains, everyone is a victim. Despite the fact that this is a series where most everyone commits horrific acts of violence, the series goes out of its way to show you how these people got to this point and how it's honestly surprising they didn’t snap long beforehand. The decisions that each character makes in each story is often different, sometimes they subconsciously learn from their mistakes in previous worlds and sometimes they just succumb to the same craziness that they did before. What makes the characters of Higurashi so great is that they aren’t mere machines of the plot, as one character in particular learns, they have the power to influence the tragic events and change fate rather than be the victims in some schlocky horror story that kills people just to jerk undeserved tears. To pick standout characters is like asking me to pick my favorite Doctor who, I like them all for different reasons. Rika Furude is one of the most intriguing characters of the series, remaining a complete puzzle box for the majority of the series, her true internal conflict is revealed near the end and by Oyashiro is it some truly intense stuff. Another standout character is Takano Miyo, whose backstory and character arc is so very heartbreaking but saying anymore would be major, major spoilers. By the time we reach the end of the story, we know all we need to know about these characters. We know their strengths, their weaknesses, their masks, their true nature, their past and how it influences them, their motivations and most importantly we have seen them grow, learn and change. That, my friends is what all great stories should aim to do, not many can do it to this caliber. Characters 9.7/10 Art- The art style of Higurashi is rather minimalist. The character designs are thin and not particularly detailed, with a definite moe influence(as Higurashi was inspired by the works of Key). Though this was clearly a stylistic choice, it is also clear that this show was on a budget, and quite a small one at that. Often the characters look more like mannequins than people which, in the more disturbing scenes, actually adds to the horror on screen. But, sometimes the designs just look a bit too lifeless or disconnected from what we know as people. So, while it works for the horrific scenes, it can also subtract from the drama and emotion that the show is trying to transmit. This is somewhat remedied in the second season, where the designs are given more flair and detail but the point still stands for the first season. It is also clear that the animation for the first season wasn’t the best it could be, especially after you compare it to other titles from 2006. The reason for the clever camera tricks and use of atmosphere I mentioned earlier was probably because of budget reasons as well as an artistic choice. Often during the show, there are still shots of characters talking from a distance or repeated stock shots of the village to save on animation budget. Once again, this can also add to the atmosphere and it's admirable that they were able to turn a limitation into a tool to build atmosphere but once again it is technically a flaw and it is occasionally distracting from the experience. Something that is worth mentioning in a positive light though is the design of the environments, specifically the village. Based on the real life mountain village of Shirakawa-go, Hinamizawa feels like a real town. Over the course of the series, you come to know certain landmarks and places that serve as the backdrop to important scenes. The many atmospheric shots I previously mentioned are used to give the viewer a feel of the village itself and its people. We often see Hinamizawa either in the evening or at night and the show makes fantastic use of lighting to build mood in the environments. The colour scheme is a mixture of murky oranges, lush greens and other rural shades. Another final thing worth mentioning is the animation in the openings which presents the viewer with lots of abstract images and symbolism which slowly reveals its meaning as you watch the show. Art 7.0/10 Sound- The music of Higurashi is… well it's just… creepy. A lot of it makes me think i’m in the Shadow temple from Ocarina of time. Menacing drums beats, heavy drones, ominous choirs and pretty much every other horror sounding instrument imaginable. Some of the sounds aren’t even recognizable as instruments like the weird twisting noises and low humming. Something about it just makes your skin crawl(Could it be?) Most of the songs aren’t really songs, rather just 1 minute of what sounds like an intro to something bigger. And when you think about it, that’s exactly what this whole show is about so it definitely works. One of the songs worth mentioning is the ‘Main theme’, a haunting piano piece with some creepy non-linguistic singing over the top that displays both sadness and fear, things that this anime has no short supply of. Because of this, the soundtrack isn’t too effective when listened to on its own but I think that’s the point, it exists to compliment the show. There are 2 opening songs used over the 2 seasons. The first season’s opening, titled ‘Higurashi no naku koro ni’, is an ominous techno song with some disturbing lyrics and a driving, syncopated beat that makes you feel slightly uneasy.The second season opening, ‘Naraku no hana(Flower in hell)’, is a more melodic and hopeful song that I found myself singing along to by the end of the series. The ending themes are also quite nice. The first is a semi-whispered ‘engrish’ song that has quite a nice tune and piano accompaniment. The second ending however is a slightly jazzy number with some nice vocals, this time all in Japanese. As far as voice acting goes, I only watched the sub because I was told that the dub is the worst thing since the Elfen Lied dub so I steered clear of it. If there’s one thing I can say about the cast of this show it's that they have some incredible range and flexibility. Yukari Tamura is able to balance Rika’s many shades and depths naturally to an almost scary degree. Mai Nakahara is able to make Rena cute and fluffy one moment and borderline schizoid the next and Miki Ito’s portrayal of Takano is chilling in its intensity at points. Other notable standouts include Chafurin as the tough, seasoned cop Ooishi and Satsuki Yukino playing both of the Sonozaki twins, now that takes talent. Overall, the cast are excellent and are the magic that brings the characters to life, and to the edge of insanity… Sound 9.0/10 Enjoyment- Ah, the section I always have trouble talking about, I mean how do I effectively judge enjoyment? This show is a prime example of my difficulty with this category because no 2 shows are enjoyable for the same reasons and in the same way. 90% of this show is dialogue and atmosphere, preparing you for the more intense scenes. If you watch it for they gory bits alone, you won’t be able to get the most out of its brilliant mystery and thriller aspects. It requires a certain type of mindset, like a mad scientist or detective looking for clues amongst the rubble. The draw of this show at first is looking for all the clues, picking up on the foreshadowing and trying to make sense of the seemingly random events. But, as the show goes on and the secrets unravel you start to care for the characters and want to see them escape the tragic events that befall them. Higurashi becomes an effective and engaging drama as well as a mystery mindfuck. It is this slow transition and duality that gives the show its edge among others of its kind. If you want something intense, confusing, mysterious, engaging, deep and emotional then I have no doubt that you will enjoy this series. Enjoyment 9.0 Conclusion- Higurashi is an excellent supernatural mystery series. It presents its story in an interesting manner, provides a lot of good mysteries, creates some highly complex characters and does this all while creating a thick, impending mood. It has its hiccups, unanswered questions and shoddy animation but these can work to its advantage in places. Its an interesting puzzle box study of severely messed up but still good at heart people. A highly thrilling experience if you’re paying attention… ONS(Overall narrative score, Story+Characters+Enjoyment/2)=9.4 OAS(Overall aesthetic score, Art+Sound/2)=8.0 OFS(Overall final score, average of all categories)=8.8 Thanks for reading guys n gals, my next review will probably be on Blast of tempest :)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 26, 2015
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
(Anime)
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“Human life is too long to devote to reproduction, yet too short to devote to learning in the helix of time”- Ming Jol-Ik, Episode 135.
When I watch something what I generally look for is something that can both entertain me and make me care about what’s going on. It usually does this by exceeding in a few certain areas: compelling characters, good pacing, an interesting conflict etc. Rarely does something come along that not only ticks all the basic boxes for being a solid piece of entertainment but manages to rise above that and become something truly breathtaking. This is especially true in the realms ... of long running series, either in Japan or over here in the west. They generally conform to certain cliches and ground rules that they are reluctant to step outside, and while they may be highly entertaining and engaging for a few hundred episodes, they seldom offer much in the way of innovation or depth. So what does it take for a series to be everything one desires out of a work of fiction? To be fun, engaging, consistent, balanced, upbeat and entertaining but also deep, thought provoking, intense, genius, powerful and heartbreaking? Well, it just has to be Hunter x Hunter, that’s what. Hunter x Hunter 2011 is the second adaptation of the classic manga series by Yoshihiro Togashi, which started running in 1998 and has been running ever since(though with many hiatuses). Now, to clear my position I must clarify that I have no great bias against long running shounen series, they are actually pretty fun and often quite engaging. That being said, I also must clarify that this show is in a totally different league to all its competition but that is purely a testament to how absolutely amazing it is and not an attack on other long running shows. Merely by glancing at the score for this show on MAL’s top anime section you can guess that a whole lot of people love this series, in fact most people who have seen it love it. Despite this, I still think that people have not properly expressed why its so good as most of the reviews just tell people how different it is from other long running shounen without expanding on its merits independent of that fact. But that seems like enough rambling for now, lets get down to business! Story- Hunter x Hunter’s initial premise may be the aspect that puts the most people off because it has a supposedly cheesy shounen vibe to it. Now while I can partially see this it just seems like a silly complaint. Judging a book by its cover is something I vehemently dislike, though elitist anime fans are guilty of it all the time as are closed minded fanboys. So there’s a 12 year old kid called Gon Freecs who wants to find his father by taking an exam to become a hunter. This sounds kind of typical of an adventure show. However, the moment Gon sets foot into the hunter exam, we see the kind of world he lives in, and trust me its not a very pleasant one. The exam is gruelling, candidates try to trick others and even sabotage their chances of passing, murderers are allowed to participate and all kinds of other unpleasantries. Now instead of getting some OP power up or plowing through exam with the power of friendship Gon struggles through affair with perseverance, determination and just plain luck. This is very reflective of HxH as a whole. The main characters set themselves very simple goals but often end up being totally outclassed, being bit players in bigger schemes or having to settle for much less than perfect victory. The way it is written allows our protagonists to participate in an engaging scenario and have to deal with that scenario and grow as characters without them being the central players in all the conflict. The series’ fighting system, Nen, is a very complicated one but is balanced enough to provide the viewer with interesting fights and strategies without seeming like a convoluted mess of a power system. It also serves to balance our protagonists with some of the more powerful enemies in the series and provide methods in which they can have an advantage over their enemies by virtue of their creative use of their powers. Another great thing is how aside from strategy, the most important thing about fights in this series is experience. Hunters in the series don’t just suddenly become powerful, they have to spend years honing their skills on various missions and jobs that give them the experience and knowledge they need to be formidable combatants. The best way to describe the ins and outs of the plot would be to discuss the structure which, like many long running shounen, is divided into arcs. There are 6 arcs in the whole show(if you discount the 4 episode Zoldyck family mini arc which I don’t see as a full arc, just an extension of the first one). All of these arcs focus on our main characters reaching a goal they have set themselves while revealing more and more about Hunter x Hunter’s fascinating world. They all vary in tone, length and style but all still feel like different parts of the same journey. Each one is written with extreme detail and care, paying close attention to structuring the individual arc’s story in such a way that it feels complete by the end but there is always still room for the journey to continue. They also all conjure up different moods and themes. The hunter exam arc is an engaging underdog story that introduces the diverse cast of characters, the Phantom troupe arc is a dark, urban thriller that focuses on the thematic idea of a cycle of revenge and the chimera ant arc is a very long, dense war arc that brilliantly explores the ideas of evolution, human nature and morality. The sense of pacing in each arc is excellent and the writing is flexible enough to change the pacing depending on the scenario. For example, during the palace invasion section of the chimera ant arc the pacing slows down to immensely slow speed in order to capture the brutal intensity of the situation and the sheer amount of things happening at once. These changes in pace irk many viewers though to me I can’t see how the series would work without them as they are necessary for squeezing the full dramatic impact out of every moment. The tension in every arc is also unparalleled in its intensity. A combination of the pacing, the characterization and the scenarios make some moments in this series almost heart stopping in how tense they are. This combined with the very clever dialogue and battle strategies that HxH employs mean that its a very polar opposite watching experience than most shounen in that you really have to be paying attention to soak up the full effect of everything. A thing I see a lot of people complaining about is the lack of a big climax in every arc. In many shounen series there would be a big epic battle to end each arc where all the villains die and all the heroes nearly die. HxH arcs don’t have this no but they do have emotional and thematic payoffs that to me anyway feel just as satisfying as as a big battle would. My favorite and what I consider to be the best arc would definitely have to be the chimera ant arc. Its based around the idea of another species evolving to a point where their intelligence and numbers rival that of humans and a long and bloody war breaks out between them and the human race, led by the hunter association. This arc is where the previously mentioned tension is used to full effect and all the intelligence of the writing is used to construct a truly breathtaking 60 episode experience, its one of those stories that can’t really be explained and just has to be experienced. Now to talk about about weaknesses. While there certainly aren’t many major weaknesses, for the sake of being a fair critic I do have to mention them. Of all the arcs, the Greed Island arc would have to be labelled as the weak point of the series. Now, don’t get me wrong, the arc is still solidly written and entertaining enough but I feel it has a fair share of problems. Firstly it takes place inside a virtual reality game and it feels like a bit of a tonal shift from the rest of the series. It distracts from the very interesting world of HxH to kind of do its own thing for 20 episodes. I also think the villain in this arc is pretty weak and cliche which is surprising as this show generally has really brilliant villains. I just feel that the arc feels less like it takes place inside the gritty world of HxH, full of assassins and thieves and more like its from a different show. Other weaknesses are minor ones such as a few minor plot holes here and there and some questionable character decisions but considering the ambition of the show, this is somewhat to be expected. Other people point out pacing issues, an inconsistent first few episodes and other perceived problems but I honestly can’t see these let alone think they are major issues. Overall, the weaknesses, of which there are few, do little to harm the impact of the series in any meaningful way and doesn’t stop HxH stand out for having one of the most complex, unique, varied and engaging stories in all of shounen. Score- 9.2/10 Very solid arcs, great tension, brilliant pacing, genius writing and full of intriguing ideas Characters- You thought the story was the best thing about this show? Well think again because the characterization may be even better. Firstly I should mention that this show has an absolutely humongous cast. There must be at least 200 named characters by the end of the show and most of them serve some kind of purpose within the narrative. For this section though I am just going to discuss the main characters, the villains and some of the other standouts. Gon Freecs is our hero and from the offset he may seem like a rather typical shounen protagonist. He’s upbeat, determined and stubborn. However, over time we learn that Gon is not a simple individual nor is he driven by any typical goals. He searches for the lifestyle of a hunter to see why his father decided to become a hunter and hopefully one day to meet him. But, Gon is an underdog throughout most of the story and many of his traits end up causing him to lose more than he wins. His determination and stubborn nature cause him to suffer great physical and mental damage over the course of the series. His determination and naive nature lead him to have a lack of critical thinking ability and a warped sense of morality. Despite this, we understand Gon’s emotions and drive enough to want him to overcome the obstacles in his way and we don’t connect with him just because he’s the good guy but because he is a very understandable character. Killua Zoldyck is Gon’s polar opposite in many ways but also shares some traits with him. Cold and logical, Killua was raised to be a professional assassin but abandoned his family and that destiny to take the hunter exam. He hides his trouble childhood and family problems behind the facade of a normal kid. His friendship with Gon is one of his main reasons for not wanting to go back to his life as an assassin and the relationship dynamic between the two continuously evolves in each arc. Kurapika is a revenge driven exam candidate who Gon meets on the way. Also cold and calculating like Killua he has dedicated his life to finding the thieves who killed his tribe and harvested their scarlet eyes(Still think this is a kids show?). He claims he doesn’t need friends as they only distract him from his goal of vengeance which he is aware will lead him to dark places. His character may seem to be simple and closed minded but his motives and choices become increasingly complex as events play out especially during the Phantom troupe arc where he becomes the main character for 20 or so episodes. Leorio is the oldest of the main characters and is taking the exam so he can train to be a doctor in order to help his poverty stricken hometown. He may appear to be the token comic relief character but he has a lot of depth to him and proves to be a useful ally to the other main characters even though he is not particularly useful in battle. These main characters all have great dialogue and chemistry with each other and the interactions between them form the initial charm of the series. However the show would not be half as interesting if it weren’t for the villains. The villains are equally as interesting if not more so than the protagonists. For example the morally ambiguous psychopathic clown Hisoka casts a great sense of threat in the early episodes but his motivations are arguably more sinister and bizarre than they initially appear. Then there’s the Phantom troupe who, even though they are ruthless thieves, have a definite sense of camaraderie and enough personality to help you see them in a different light than just being bloodthirsty killers. Even the non-human villains have a lot of depth to them. I am of course referring to the chimera ants, whose characterization both as a species and as individuals is absolutely fascinating. The standouts among the ants include the ant king Meruem whose journey throughout the arc is equal parts emotionally shattering, thought provoking and unforgettable, his royal guards Shaiapouf and Neferpitou who receive a lot of visible depth and development and also some of the other normal ants like Welfin, Ikalgo and Colt. Even the background characters and characters who only show up for a brief role in the story can leave quite an impact, that’s how great this show is at packing personality and detail into every aspect of its narrative. No, not every character is given focus(that would be impossible!) but the show is pretty impressive with how it measures everything out carefully to provide you with enough information to be satisfied while still keeping you wanting to come back for more. Score- 9.5/10 A whole lot of them but somehow it manages! Art- Hunter x Hunter was animated by Madhouse who are revered for many high quality TV anime productions over the years such as Death Note, Black lagoon and Monster. They are generally known for their high quality animation and this show is definitely no exception. To keep up a show looking this good for 148 episodes is just staggering. The art style itself is initially quite colourful which is probably another reason why people dismiss this anime as a kids show. Though as you make your way through the series you realize that the art style is actually very flexible. Its incredibly detailed and crisp use of colour and texture is able to create a variety of different environments and atmospheres. From the lush paradise of Gon’s home of whale island to the urban fuzz of Yorknew city everywhere in the show feels distinct and detailed which adds to the overall tone of each arc. The same can be said for the character designs. The great thing about them is that they are all unique just like all the characters themselves and no two designs look the same. While the designs themselves are wildly creative they have been criticized by some for being a little too bizarre and at times cheesy. This I can agree with but I don’t see exactly what the problem is here, its a lot better than having a cast of indistinguishable muscular psychos who beat each other up for episode after episode. HxH’s designs may be rather quirky but the show still manages to come across as much more mature than many shows with more realistic designs. The animation is pretty solid for the most part though at times it is clear that Madhouse are on a budget of some sort as there are occasionally skimps and still frames in some of the fights so this is a thing that occurs a lot in shounen due to what I assume is an absurd amount of money required to keep animation quality consistent for hundreds of episodes. Though when the fights look good they REALLY look good. The intensity and breakneck speed of the fights is captured perfectly and adds to the already sky high tension of these scenarios. This is a pretty solid effort for such an ambitious series animation wise and a few hiccups here and there can certainly be forgiven. Score- 8.8/10 Beautiful landscapes, mostly great animation and unique character designs Sound- As far as the OST goes its wide and incredibly varied. There are many tracks, some that play throughout and some that are restricted to specific arcs. Most of the music is orchestral but it incorporates other genres and elements too such as electronic beats, distorted guitars and piano ballads. The soundtrack also evolves to match the tone each arc and each scenario. Early in the series songs like ‘The world of adventures’ with its circus like mood signify the initial adventurous tone of HxH. Later on in the Phantom troupe arc we get more dramatic and operatic pieces like ‘Riot’ which reflect the chaos of the events happening in that arc. Then there are specific character themes like Hisoka’s flamenco influenced character theme which sums up his insanity and unpredictability so well and the Zoldyck family theme which sounds fittingly foreboding for such a dysfunctional family. But, by far the best of the music comes from the chimera ant arc where it really helps to add to the tension and mood of everything that happens. The haunting and frantic violin piece ‘In the palace’ forms a great backdrop for a lot of the tension in this arc. Then there’s the battle theme ‘Hegemony of the food chain’ which starts reservedly before erupting into a storm of distorted guitars that adds to the frantic nature of a lot of the fights that occur in the arc. Finally you have the heart crushingly beautiful ‘Understanding’ and ‘Elegy of the dynast’ which greatly enhance some of the most solemn moments in this arc. I’m not going to lie, i’ve spent many a time since I finished this series curled up in my chair listening to these pieces reflecting on the brilliance of this arc. This is a massive soundtrack. Its fitting, impactful, beautifully composed and greatly complementary to the HxH experience. As far as OP and ED’s go, there’s not a whole lot to say. Throughout the series it maintains 1 opening and i’m not going to lie, this probably wasn’t the best idea. Don’t get me wrong the song itself ‘Departure’ is infectiously catchy and good to introduce the series but with how dark everything gets as it goes on it feels a little redundant and unfitting. Thankfully the 6 ED’s are much more varied. They match the tone of their respective arcs and parts of the show very well. My favorites would have to be ‘Hunting for your dream’, an upbeat power metal song which got me so pumped to watch the next episode during the Phantom troupe arc and ‘Hyori ittai’, a more solemn acoustic song that always made me reflect on the episode I had just watched during the latter stages of the chimera ant arc where it played. When it comes to voice acting I have to give a fair amount of credit to the seiyuu for doing a pretty damn good job with such a large and varied cast. The voices fit the characters and are more than competent at pulling off all the comedic, dramatic and emotional scenes when the show needs them to. Megumi Han and Mariya Ise play the parts of Gon and Killua very well, sounding very convincingly like 12 year old boys and perfectly capturing the personalities of each character with extraordinary flair. If I had to choose other standouts I would go with Daisuke Namikawa as Hisoka who sounds so delightfully insane its legitimately frightening at times. Next would be Miyuki Sawashiro as Kurapika who sounds convincingly like a person severely haunted by their past but strong enough to endure it. Finally my last standout would be Koki Uchiyama as the chimera ant king Meruem who really gives life to the king’s journey throughout the arc though saying anymore would be spoiling. Score- 9.4/10 Beautiful OST, great voice acting, could have done with more openings Enjoyment- Do I really have to tell you that HxH is an enjoyable show? Well it damn well is, one of the most enjoyable i’ve ever watched. Though i’ve been mentioning all the little details and nitty gritties that make HxH completely genius these are all things I picked up after contemplation, the show itself gives you almost no time to think about those things! Every episode, every moment, every event is utterly thrilling or engaging in a different way. Even episodes that are mostly talking or contemplating are still highly entertaining due to the wealth of things each character and the show itself has to say. You will marathon this show, it is inevitable, you just won’t be able to stop yourself. But, at the same time, you’ll also be tempted to take systematic breaks to prevent your heart stopping and to savour the experience of watching such a fantastic show. The tension is, as I previously mentioned, unparalleled and that is a great factor to the enjoyment. Also, the series has an absolutely brilliant handle on cliffhangers that almost unfairly tease you into clicking the next episode button. So yes, this is an entertaining show, from beginning to end it never feels like a slog despite its length and in fact will probably leave you wanting more. Score- 9.6/10 Tension through the roof, cliffhangers everywhere, not a slog in any way Conclusion- What else am I to say? This is without a doubt a show of the highest caliber, it deserves to stand up there with FMA as one of the greatest adventures anime has to offer. If there was more of this show, i wouldn’t hesitate to get on it. I know the writer takes many hiatuses but can you blame him? Do you really expect him to write stuff this good consistently? This is one of the greatest anime, scratch that, one of the greatest TV series I have ever watched to completion. I’m sorry for being redundant, I know everyone and their mother loves this series and has articulated how much they adore it on this very site. My cries of love for it may very well be drowned in the veritable cascade of fans that have taken the same emotions to the slate but I tell you, there is no anime more worthy of that treatment than this one. Final scores ONS(Overall narrative score, Story+Characters+Enjoyment/2)=9.4/10 OAS(Overall aesthetic score, Art+Sound/2)=9.1/10 OFS(Overall final score, average of all categories)= 9.3/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 1, 2015
Shingeki no Kyojin
(Anime)
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Hype-Short for hyperbole: To promote or publicize an idea often exaggerating its benefits
Like any medium in entertainment and art anime sometimes produces something which reaches completely ridiculous levels of popularity which rises above all competition, becomes a cultural icon symbolic of the time period from whence it was created and even transcend the boundaries of the hardcore fan base to be totally mainstream. Typically critical opinion is divided on such juggernauts with some critics attributing its overwhelming success to it being a brilliant work within its genre while others considering it to be a cash cow that calculated a formula to agree with the ... minds of every hardcore entertainment devourer. It has certainly happened before in anime from Code Geass(2006-8) to Sword Art Online(2012), the former being rather decent and the latter being a disgusting trainwreck. It would seem then that there is no real formula for what is hyped an the process is rather random. However, as popular and hyped as those previously mentioned shows were, none of them has quite matched the monolithic purge of today's subject Shingeki no Kyojin. Since is it impossible to live up to something that is by definition exaggerated I will at least attempt to discover with this review what makes this cash cow tick and how it managed to captivate so many wide eyed audiences, anime fans or not. STORY-.The main premise of Shingeki, while not original, is interesting enough to create some good mystery and ideas right off the bat. Its a simple idea of man being threatened by a greater force which taps into a rather primal fear that we all share that perhaps one day we may no longer be on the top of the food chain like we have for so long. It does however leave the series with quite a simple end goal to work towards: kill the giants before they eat us. Because of this Shingeki has to do something else with its concept to keep people watching and it does this by adding layers of mystery and intrigue on top to keep itself fresh while relying on heart stopping cliffhangers and tension to make the whole fighting giants shtick more intense. Despite this sounding all very fine in theory I would be lying if I said that Shingeki executes its blend of action, tension and mystery perfectly. Probably one of the reasons Shingeki made its rather unusual sounding premise more exciting and appealing to shounen watchers as well as fans of more mystery based dark fantasy/horror anime is by over utilizing the plot twist as a narrative device. If all there is to do is kill giants then you obviously have to pull some twists but Shingeki milks this. It applies an 'everything you know is wrong' attitude to each story arc and episode where it will flip your perception of where the story is heading and change everything you thought was going to happen regardless of whether it makes sense or not. Shingeki's main mysteries are not actually that difficult to figure out with 2 of the most notable ones being flat out guessed by the viewership when the show first aired. Its is the progression of the plot however that is unpredictable which is both a positive and a negative for it and that is down to a few factors. The first of these factors is something that the fan base give Shingeki a lot of praise for and that is removing or lessening the shounen trope of 'plot armor' meaning that more characters die in this series and stay dead than in other shounen series. While this is a refreshing idea these people are slightly deluded as the plot armor removal in Shingeki only applies to the secondary characters, the main characters still have ridiculous plot armor, even escaping from situations that seem impossible or highly improbable to escape from. Yes, despite the initially horrifying and intriguing premise and setup, Shingeki opts for quite a few bad narrative mistakes which sometimes diminish the believability of the show and break immersion with its dark and serious world. One of these mistakes is the previously mentioned asspulls which attempt to justify some of the series more brutal twists and turns. Though while these asspulls are definitely there, they never flat out ruined the tension of the show for me, they just made me question what the writer was thinking in pulling them and subtracted from realism. The other issue is the pacing which is rather hit or miss. The pacing at the start is very fast and that really works in the Shingeki's favor, giving a real feeling of desperation and excitement and really gets you hooked. After a few episodes the show slows the pace down for a rushed training arc which breaks all the feeling of adrenaline that the first few episodes give. Luckily it picks up again afterwards for the next arc which feels a lot more fleshed out and kept me engaged much better. The pace does noticeably slow down as the show reaches the second half, with more focus being given to slower plot progression that breakneck tension before picking up again for the finale. I felt like the show could never really decide on what it wanted to do with its pacing and feel so just messed around. There were parts where it was balanced and really matched the tone of the story such as episodes 1-3, 5-13 and 17 onwards but there were hiccups that can't be ignored. If there's one place where I have to give credit where it is due it would have to be that for only a 25 episode series Shingeki has pretty impressive worldbuilding. The rudimentary social, political and historical aspects of the world are touched upon within the series which is something that I enjoy seeing in post-apocalyptic anime like this. Though, while impressive, it is by no means groundbreaking and I personally feel the series should have been longer or spent time to go into more detail on this good backdrop. Despite all my negatives though, Shingeki is still a solid action/thriller series with some good tension and always keeps you coming back for more. The nitty gritty details don't always make 100% sense and if that bothers you then you're probably going to dislike this show. Though for me they were never tension breaking issues and i'm purely trying to point out the flaws of the series to the kind of blind fanboys that so often cloud the review section here on MAL. Similarly, detractors of the series, usually harsh critics into complex, realistic stories like me tend to ignore the series' merits. To me, having great tension, worldbuilding and pacing like Shingeki has at its best is a narrative success worthy of due merit and certainly explains some of the show's wild popularity but Shingeki is by no means a perfect execution of its initial concept. Story-6.8/10 Good concept and tension, very gripping but asspulls, over using twists and pacing hiccups drag it down CHARACTERS-Shingeki's characters are much like its plot, a lot of potential with some good and bad results in execution. I'm going to be talking about the main 3 characters as well as the supporting cast. Firstly, I have to discuss possibly the biggest issue Shingeki has with characterization and that is what I like to call character over-saturation. Shingeki has too many characters to handle! I know that such a detailed world needs lots of people to populate it and make it feel alive and realistic but its all about how characters are used more than the characters themselves. Fullmetal Alchemist(2003) and its remake Brotherhood(2009) for example also have a very detailed fantasy world and many characters inhabit it but all the characters are used well in the plot. They add character to certain areas and parts of the story and many of them have an active role in it. Many of Shingeki's characters end up feeling like titan fodder rather than entities that have an impact on the plot which can be an issue. It would be fine if these were background characters being used in this way but a lot of them are actually recurring secondary characters. It gets to a point where you can't remember many of the characters names because they only appeared for 5 minutes in one episode about 5 episodes ago and you were meant to remember them because OMG THEY JUST DIED. This makes it hard to care about many of the deaths in the show as only a few plot important characters die in the series while LOADS of the other unimportant secondary characters die and at first it works as a way of enforcing the feeling of danger and fear the show wants you to feel but after a while it gets kind of boring. Beside that though, this can be ignored if the main cast are good, so are are they? ehhhhh kind of... Of the 3 main heroes of the story I believe 2 of them to be well characterized but I feel as though I have to start with the primary problem, our main character, Eren Yeager. Eren's initial characterization and personality I will admit is not bad and kind of understandable if a little cliche and similar to other shounen protagonists. He longs to be free of the walls that bind humanity but after they take away his home and family he swears to obliterate them from Earth. He is certainly a frustrating character to watch for the first 15 episodes as his single minded desire for revenge tends to lead to his actions mainly being reckless and without regard of consequences. This would be fine IF the story had Eren learn that this leads him to unforeseen consequences and greater suffering, a character progression which would fit the theme of humanity working together to fight a common enemy. But instead Eren is constantly rewarded for being a reckless douche and punished any time he attempts to be more calm and collected in the face of danger. This is possibly the weirdest execution of a revenge character progression that I have ever seen and needless to say it doesn't really work and feels contrived. It dosen't help that Eren is practically insufferable as a character for the majority of the show due to previously mentioned reckless douche persona that he never gets over. So if a series royally screws up its main character, can the others make up for it? Actually, they kind of can. Eren's friend Armin Arlert is a rather tired archetype of the shy kid with not much confidence in himself but thankfully his character progression is handled much better. He shares Eren's desire for freedom but has no confidence in his own abilities. His friends and various events throughout the story help him come out of his shell and start to help the fight for humanity with his talent for strategy. The progression is by no means original but its handled well here and the development of his character is both justified and clearly visible throughout the series, a huge step up from the characterization of Eren. And saving the best for last we have Mikasa Ackerman, possibly the most complex character Shingeki has to offer and also the one that the fanbase latched onto when they saw it. She is Eren's adopted sister and a complete badass in every sense of the word but thankfully the writers didn't limit her character to that and actually gave her quite a bit of depth. She was one of the only characters to be given a full backstory of events prior to the start of the series and a very dark one at that. Her dark past has seriously warped her worldview causing to be both overprotective of her remaining family and also very apathetic towards the overall situation of the war against the titans. The story's first major arc after the training arc really gives her some great character moments and pulls throws lots of curveballs to the viewer about what she really cares about and what she lives for. Unfortunately after about episode 9 the show kind of just stops developing her and instead just keeps re-iterating what we already know about her which is quite disappointing. However, she still remains pretty much the best thing about Shingeki character-wise and I hope the second series has some more development for her. As far as the other major characters go, there are the members of the trainees which get introduced to the story early on and some are more important than others. The more interesting ones include Annie Leonhardt, a mysterious girl who has some conncetion to the plot but who hasn't had much individual focus on her character yet and Jean Kirchstein, a cadet who initially wanted a peaceful life within the walls but then becomes a leader after witnessing the horror of the titans. He's actually quite a believable character and probably would have been a better protagonist that Eren. A lot of these other characters have quite interesting personalities but don't get much focus so I can't judge them as characters but they certainly do their job well in the story in providing a good backdrop for the detailed world Shingeki has constructed. Characters-7.0/10 Good supporting cast(if a little neglected), 2 of the main characters are good, DAT AWFUL MC THO, character 'over saturation' is a slight issue. ART-Remember what I said about giving credit where it is due? Well now I have to give a whole bunch of it because this show LOOKS AMAZING. This is to be expected as it is co-produced by Production I.G, the geniuses behind bringing Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex(2002) to life and always have top notch production values. The art style is very effective in conveying the kind of dark, gloomy feel that Shingeki attempts to conjure up with its bleak color pallete and very foreboding atmosphere is constantly reflected in the designs of the cities and landscapes which look like a world on the edge of collapse. The character designs are fairly standard stuff but the designs of the titans are truly terrifying and definitely whack up the creepy factor of the show's concept. Some of the landscapes are totally breathtaking such as the fields outside the walls and the buildings of Trost which conjure up a medieval feeling but are also totally unique to Shingeki's world and add to the richness of the worldbuilding itself. The animation while nothing special most of the time really pulls out all the stops when the 3D maneuver gear is involved. These sequences, especially during the fight scenes look absolutely jaw dropping almost to the point of being distracting but mostly do nothing but add to Shingeki's sense of breakneck tension. The animation in the 2 opening sequences is also rather noteworthy for being pretty top notch as well and also matching the 2 opening themes. Shingeki is also pretty well directed, something I often notice as an editor an media student. I would expect this of course from its director Tetsuro Araki who directed Death Note(2006) which despite being mostly dialogue driven had its fair share of fantastically directed scenes. Araki brings his epic, sweeping directing style to Shingeki which is totally the right show to receive this treatment given the premise resulting in some of the best singular scenes I have ever seen in TV anime. Art-9.6/10 Breathtaking art style, animation and direction SOUND-Ah i'm really not making a particularly balanced case for this but Shingeki's aesthetic qualities are all pretty flawless. The soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano can be summed up by 1 simple 4 letter word and that is: Epic. And I mean epic in its original sense of being grand in scale, not in the internet sense of being anything on the level of a cat playing piano or an episode of Naruto. Not all the grand orchestral pieces, sweeping choirs and rock ballads are instantly memorable but damn are they effective in conjunction with the show's epic conflict and battles. They are also masterfully timed with what emotions the show wants you to feel. The show wants you to feel hopeful and pumped BAM it plays the engrish rock ballad 'The Reluctant Heroes' to aid that feeling.The show wants to create a sense of scale and make a battle seem epic BAM it plays the sweeping 'Counter Attack Mankind' complete with choirs and fast paced electronic beats to place you there on the battlefield for mankind's freedom. The 2 opening themes are also worthy of credit. The fast paced and so gloriously OTT 'Guren no Yumiya' along with the symphonic, German inflected 'Jiyuu no Tsubasa' literally bleed adrenaline through the screen and are one of the reasons that Shingeki glues you to the screen. The voice acting in Japanese is mostly fine, general stuff really. I will give special mention to Yui Ishikawa as Mikasa who manages to capture the character's equally stoic but unstable demeanor perfectly. The dub was something that I did not have particularly high hopes for when I saw the trailer as the voices sounded like Funimation's usual bunch doing their usual thing and I feared that effort had not been put in to make the dub anything more than passable as happened with Soul Eater(2009) and other recent productions. However I was quite surprised at the outcome after buying the DVD and sitting down to watch the dub with some friends. Bryce Pappenbrook actually does a fairly decent job of making Eren a more understandable character and actually made him easier to put up with(which trust me is not easy). Josh Grelle did a good job as Armin if a litte prone to play to the archetype. Trina Nishimura's portrayal of Mikasa seems to go the other way from the japanese track and makes the character practically overflowing with emotion which I felt was kind of cheesy and a bad ADR decision which is a shame as it was a very strong performance otherwise. The supporting voice cast are all pretty good, mainly playing to the characters basic archetypes but having enough range to carry all the emotional and more complex scenes the show has at points. Sound-9.0/10 Epic OST, good voice tracks both Japanese and English, some questionable perfromances, mind blowing openings Enjoyment-Some would say this is the most important factor in deciphering Shingeki's popularity and I would totally agree. The narrative issues and characterization shortcomings are things I just had to point out seeing as this show has an absurdly high rank on this site and people's reviews do not seem to be pointing out its issues. I first saw Shingeki when I was just getting into anime and it was being hyped to no end. Not knowing much about the medium, I thought it was the most awesome thing I had ever seen. As a much more seasoned watcher now I can recognize it flaws but I certainly cannot deny its impact upon first watch. It was a show with a great premise, kickass action, nail biting tension and some notable characterization and worldbuilding for only a 25 episode series so far. The story iteslf always keeps you watching if you are willing to overlook some of the more questionable plot elements. Some people who demand realism and have a fervent distaste for plot holes may find their engagement and immersion broken on many occasions. If you can just let yourself be caught up in its epic scope then you may find the mystery, tension and detailed world brought so brilliantly to life in animated form enough to patch over its narrative shortcomings and you will certainly enjoy it. Enjoyment-8.0/10 Very enjoyable experience due to tension, premise and world executed with more epicness than any hollywood blockbuster has to offer, not too great if you go for close analysis Final scores ONS(Overall narrative score, Story+Characters/2)=6.9 Grade: C OAS(Overall aesthetic score, Art+Sound/2)=9.3 Grade: A+ OFS(Overall final score, average of all categories)=8.08 Grade: B Conclusion-I find myself torn on this one. Here I have a show that had an awesome concept, kept me riveted throughout and had a lot going for it to climb into the pantheon of anime greatness. Upon first look it really seems to get there at least moreso than other overhyped garbage like the subject of my last review Mirai Nikki(2011) but upon my close critical analysis after mulling the series over in my mind after re-watch I realize it could have been so much more without some mistakes in key areas. Shingeki no Kyojin is not a great show, but it is a good one which is more than I can say for a lot of things that get hyped by this community. I am EvaGeekDewayne and this has been my opinion, please do remember that, it is the key to co-operation in this barren land we call the internet.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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