- Last OnlineYesterday, 4:49 PM
- GenderMale
- BirthdayJun 19, 2000
- LocationArgentina
- JoinedAug 20, 2018
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Feb 9, 2020
36 of 36 episodes seen
|
3
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
5 |
| Story |
4 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Character |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
Some stories just need time to develop. A lot of people say some shows go on for too long, but generally speaking, if a show goes on for years and years, it’s for a damn good reason. Take One Piece for instance. Could you imagine that ending in 50 episodes? Or Naruto, which, while it became a mess during its final stretch, did need the length it had to tell its story. Karakuri Circus is a 43 Volume Long Manga by Fujita Kazuhiro, an author that seems to be, while unrecognized compared to his peers, highly respected by the fanbase, and it probably needed that
length (I haven’t actually read it).
So then, who, in their right mind, thought it was a good idea to adapt it in 36 EPISODES!?
Story:
As you might imagine with the opening bit of this Review, it’s the pacing that kills this Anime. It doesn’t start out too bad, however. The first three or so episodes are actually really well paced all things considered. Hell, the first three episodes in general are actually really great. They could be their own little OVA and nothing would really feel missing. They provide an interesting story with a decent conclusion and overall they’re just really good.
Unfortunately after that the problems start. The plot moves on way too fast after that, with events that should probably be given a lot of attention feeling as if they were cut short. This even expands to the character focus, as the show has a bad tendency to introduce characters only to kill them off some episodes later, but in the end you don’t care about them once their time comes.
This also makes the show a thematic mess. A lot of the ideas are actually really cool and I think with proper time they could be explored, but there’s too many for the time. The show is trying to explore stuff like mortality, free will, what it means to be alive, the difference between artificial beings and non-artificial ones… it’s a lot, yet due to the ultra fast pacing, almost none of them get enough focus. This also causes problems in terms of escalation, as stuff that should have a steady build up in terms of threats comes out of nowhere.
Also, an issue that cannot be excused by the pacing are the flashbacks. Good freaking lord there’s more flashbacks in this show than Gundam SEED Destiny! And they’re long too! Sometimes they can go on for many episodes which makes you lose track of the ongoing plot. I mean I’m happy these events got focus, but they happen so regularly it’s annoying. Overall, this show is a bit of a mess.
Characters:
As said before, the show’s pacing prevents most of the characters from getting any particular focus. To be 100% fair, I don’t really dislike anyone on principle, but I didn’t care about anyone due to the lack of focus. Take for instance our lead: Masaru. He technically has a coming of age story here, but the plot is just so all over the place that you lose track of it. His co-leads Shirogane and Narumi are better about this, but only by so much really.
The side cast suffers even more from this. Everyone will get like, a few minutes to themselves, sure, but given the stuff we learn about them it feels as if we’re just rushing through their stories, not helped that some of them disappear for many episodes before reappearing. The sole exception to this problem the whole cast faces is the main villain, Bai Jin. While he’s not exactly what I would call great, he’s interesting enough for me to say I actually cared about the stuff going on when he appeared. In the end, this cast is rather weak however.
Animation:
The show looks good. I wish I could say more but that’s about it really. Everything looks fine, I don’t think there was anything in particular that went off-model, the fight scenes are decent on average and overall it’s a nice looking show, but not much else to mention, really. I will say though: I like the tone of silver they use for certain character’s hair. It’s a minor thing, I know, but it’s still worth bringing up.
Sound:
Similarly the soundtrack was just kinda there for me. Again, all the tracks fit the scenes, but at the same time none of them popped up to me. The sole exception is the First Opening Theme/Third Ending Theme “Gekkou”, which was admittedly pretty cool.
Voice Acting:
Surprisingly enough the show has an All-Star Cast, even including some actors who barely do voice work anymore due to how expensive they are. The exception to this is Masaru’s Seiyuu, Ueda Chihiro, as this is her only role so far, and even then I thought she was pretty decent in it. On average everyone’s pretty good, with Hayashibara Megumi and Koyama Rikiya being standouts and the overall best being Furukawa Toshio as Bai Jin. It honestly surprises me she can still pull off such a voice in spite of being in his 70’.
Besides them however, there’s also Yuuki Aoi, Fukuyama Jun, Park Romi, Sasaki Nozomu, Kanai Mika, Suyama Akio, Sakura Ayane, Sakurai Takahiro, Hanba Tomoe, Nakata Jouji, Sakenbogi Sayaka, Seki Tomokazu, Inoue Marina and Terasoma Masaki among many, many others.
Overall:
I can see Karakuri Circus being good had it been given more time, but sadly we can’t really focus on the what ifs here, can we? In the end this show is a bit of a mess. Doing short adaptations of long stories takes a lot of effort to pull off, and I don’t think this show really pulled it off in my opinion. I can’t really recommend it, as while it does have some cool tricks, it’s hard to say this performance was one that I could truly call worth it.
Final Score: 5/10
read more
Dec 29, 2019
24 of 24 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Since A Certain Magical Index has a ton of characters, it’s obvious some will get not as much spotlight. That is not however the case with Misaka Mikoto. While introduced in Volume 1, she didn’t really start making any impact on the plot until Volume 3 of the Novels, and it took until as late as Volume 20 for her to properly start getting involved in the actual main plot. She is also a massive fan favorite and for good reason, enough so that since it’s clear she’s had her fair share of adventures in the messed up place known to us mortals as Academy
City, a Spin-Off Manga focused on her was released, which eventually got an Anime Adaptation by JC Staff and directed by Nagai Tatsuyuki of Toradora fame. Thus, in celebration of the soon to come release of Railgun T, we will take a look at the Anime Adaptation of A Certain Scientific Railgun.
Like Index, the show is divided onto individual arcs, so I’ll be using my arc-based structure of reviewing for this show:
1st Arc: Level Upper Arc (Episodes 1-14):
One issue this show has which has to do with the adaptation is its tendency to mess around for far too much time. No, I don’t mean the kind of messing around that actually enriches characterization, I mean the kind of messing around that makes you wonder “Why is this even here?”. In spite of the Manga being very much plot driven, the Anime elongates the SOL stuff a bit too much. It’s not so bad early on when they’re trying to introduce the cast (And one character in particular I’ll mention later) but after a while you start screaming “MOVE ALONG PLEASE!!”
Thankfully the fact that this is a bunch of episodes adapting barely 3 Manga Volumes it means not that much is left out, though some of it is changed or added. Some like the freaking eyebrow girl is really unnecessary. Others however aren’t and most of them have to do with Best Toaru Girl Saten Ruiko. The Arc is restructured from showing the overall pain the Level 0’s suffer in this universe and instead focus mostly on her, but in this case it works out for two reasons: Firstly is because the ultimate message is kept the same, and secondly is because… well, it enriches Saten’s character.
We see her go through a lot in this arc, and the Anime makes her slow descent even more gradual, emphasizing all aspects of her character, from the good, the quirky, to even the bad. You can tell this is someone who’s been suffering through a lot for a while, and while she mostly puts on a brave face and has achieved some sort of happiness, by the end a really bad set of circumstances end up pushing her to make a choice that ultimately ends with a heartbreaking results.
Besides her of course we obviously have our lovely protagonist Misaka. Since a certain Level 0 isn’t around to mess with her and make her become a blushing mess (Most of the time anyways, as good ‘ol Kamijou-San does have a few minor appearances), her more mature and loving side is put on the spotlight, though deep down she’s as childish as always, if not even moreso. And in turn the Main Antagonist serves as a believable yet ultimately sympathetic threat, so much so you can’t really bring yourself to hate that person by the end of it.
Unfortunately this is the point in which Railgun begins to falter: While episode 14 is technically part of the Level Upper Arc (Most fans treat is as canon to the Manga anyways, and so do I), everything past episode 12 is Anime Original, Code-Named: Cloverfield. I say Anime-Original and not filler because the canonicity of the following events is stuck in a weird “Did happen, but not as described” state when compared to the Novels and Manga (I emphasize Novels as apparently stuff from the show’s final arc gets referenced at some point or something, I dunno, I’m only by Volume 21 as of writing this).
This in turn allows me to focus on two characters that did get screwed over by filler: Shirai Kuroko and Kongou Mitsuko. Shirai’s is the easiest to explain really. She was a minor character in the original Novels (Though did somehow get a small Volume devoted to herself) but due to her connection with Misaka she naturally gets promoted to main character. Shirai by the way is infamous for being a massive pervert when it comes to Misaka, and the Anime turns that up to eleven. It’s not that her actions are out of keeping with her Manga/Novel counterpart, it’s just that she’s much more frequent when doing it, as there she was just as likely to be level-headed and judgmental when the need comes. You sometimes get some of that here, but not as often as she should.
Kongou’s issue is a different one. Again, her actions aren’t too out of keeping with her Manga self… until you realize “Wait, why is she here!?”. Kongou is introduced after the arc that kicks off the next Season in the Anime, yet here she’s around from the get go, which wouldn’t be so bad if they hadn’t removed her whole subplot as well. What was originally a lonely rich girl who acted like a typical Ojou due to an awkward attempt in trying to make friends with others… now is just a typical Ojou. I dunno maybe Railgun T will bring back at least enough of her old personality for it not to matter in the long run, but sadly her introduction arc is forever lost.
There’s also too much standalone stuff that doesn’t contribute to anything, or when it does I don’t feel it does so quite in the right way, thoug the intentions are almost always good here. For instance there’s a whole episode about the Neck Snapping Dorm Manager. I like the concept of the episode and even its early twist, but the small romance they add later feels unnecesary by comparison. You could’ve had one whole episode building up to the first reveal and if properly done it would’ve been hilarious, but we clearly can’t have good things.
Anyhow, there are two notable arcs in the stretch of the show, so I’m not done yet, starting with:
2nd Arc: Big Spider Arc (Episodes 15 and 16):
This one requires a bit of set-up. There’s a minor character in the Manga called Konori Mii, who is also Shirai’s Senpai in Judgement (Basically a volunteer police force for ESPERs). Since the Anime noticed there was’t much else to do, they expanded her role slightly (Even gave her a Big Name VA in the form of Ueda Kana) and gave her a backstory, which is what most of this arc is actually about. Well, the important part of it.
This arc suffers from some massive leaps in logic and basic intelligence (Namely by Shirai and Misaka), but when Konori and her Maybe-Love Interest-Maybe-Big Brother Mentor Kurozuma are in the focus there’s some legitimately great stuff. They do a great job at making you care about the two, and their drama is quite believable. And while the ending is a bit sad, it’s one that you can’t help but smile at in a weird way. So yeah, kinda hit or miss, which summarizes quite well both this arc and…
3rd Arc: Poltergeist Arc (Episodes 17-24):
Now on paper this arc is actually pretty good. Bar a kinda obvious plot twist you can see a mile away assuming you’re even vaguely familiar with Umineko No Naku Koko Ni, there’s a lot of great ideas in this arc, and overall given the material they had I’d say they at least tried to make the show come circle by making this Arc tie back to the first arc in the show and finally give that Arc’s antagonist a happy ending, one that is actually both deserved and earned in this case.
The problem lies in the 3rd Member of the Railgang: Uiharu Kazari. To give you an idea of her, physically speaking and on more laid back scenarios: Uiharu is a fucking wimp. The best she can do is legitimately grow a bunch of flowers and… yeah, that’s it. Geez, even the group’s designated normal has a bat in case things get out of hand, Uiharu? Not even that. However, that is all physical strength. Judge her by her mental strength and Uiharu Kazari is a freaking badass with ovaries of titanium who will politely tell the second strongest Level 5 to politely fuck off. Her however she’s an overzealous wimp who breaks down into a sobbing mess when the whole situation falls apart… even though less than 10 episodes ago she was mostly composed (Oh sure she was crying there too, but you can tell she was trying her damndest to stay composed) when her best friend was on the brink of falling into a coma!
And that is what drags the arc down, for as many of the conflicts in it are caused by Uiharu being stupid and doing stupid shit. The other half is caused by the Main Antagonist, who once you get past the admittedly amussing plot twist is pretty freaking bland. She’s like Kihara Amata from Volume 12 of the Light Novels, but leaves nowhere near a big an impact. In the end however, I can’t really hate this arc, if only because of the stuff with the aforementioned antagonist of the first arc, which is legitimately great and provides closure that character never really managed to get in the Manga.
Animation:
If Index’s first Season looked okay by the standards of the time but was directed like a piece of cardboard (Actually, scratch that, calling any Index Season as boringly directed as cardboard would be an insult to cardboard) Railgun looks pretty good for the time and is directed by someone who gives a fuck! Seriously, I’m quite fond of Nagai’s style due to how adaptable it is, and this is no exception. Railgun still looks quite good to this day, even if ultimately it’s no masterpiece. Special Mention however to the final battle of Episode 16, which features the absolute best hand-to-hand choreography in the whole franchise.
Sound:
Iuchi Maiko’s OST has never been to appealing to me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike her works at all, but at the same time they kinda blend into the background bar a few select themes, in this case “High Speed” ended up being my favorite overall. That said hot damn are those vocal tracks amazing! Of the three EDs “Dear My Friend” ended up being my favorite overall, but I adore the Opening themes, both done by fripSide. “Only My Railgun” won an award for a damn good reason, and while I’m not as big a fan of “LEVEL 5 –Judgelight-”, I’d be lying if I said I disliked it.
Voice Acting:
The cast is overall pretty good. I guess if Shirai’s characterization had some pros is that it allowed Arai Satomi to get an award, and for good reason as she’s freaking amazing in the role. Like, I think she cycles between around three voices just for this one character and it’s hilarious. Besides her, obviously Satou Rina returns and does a good job, and both Toyosaki Aki and Ito Kanae do similarly well, especially Ito. Besides them there’s also Konishi Katsuyuki, the aforementioned Ueda Kana, Majima Junji, Ohara Sayaka, Nojima Hirofumi, Minagawa Junko, Kondo Takayuki and Tanaka Atsuko, who gets to show off her range by sounding less so hot and seductive like usual and moreso apathetic and deadpan. Oh and fripSide’s singer (Nanjo Yoshino) has a minor role in the show, which is quite nice.
Overall:
A Certain Scientific Railgun is far from perfect, yet I can’t truly bring myself to say anything other than the fact that it’s honestly good. It’s weird how the Spin-Off got more care put into it than the main series ever had, but I guess I’ll take what I can get in this case. It was a fun ride to be sure, even if there were some bumps along the road. Better than what the mains series got with its third Season, that’s for sure…
Final Score: 7/10
read more
Dec 9, 2019
4 of 4 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
The Tales series is not one I’ve talked about too often, namely due to my lack of experience with it. I want to get into it, but a combination of so many games being Japan only, lacking the necessary hardware as stuff like that, I’ve only been able to play two games: Tales Of Sympohonia (Which I haven’t quite finished yet but I am steadily making my way through it) and the subject of today’s Review: Tales Of Phantasia. Overall it’s a pretty decent game, though sometimes I feel as if it doesn’t convey its messages well enough. Still though, it was eventually adapted in
2004… as a 4-Episode OVA… surprisingly it worked out.
Story:
Before I say anything else I should mention that this OVA is NOT newcomer friendly. See, in order to get around the limited runtime, massive chunks of the plot are removed, mostly in the first half… as in, literally most of the first half. Even then, it mostly just focuses on a few key moments of the game and not much else. That said the narrative is far from incomprehensible. Overall it’s not really confusing or disjointed, hell it actually flows surprisingly well in spite of the cuts. In turn, the adapted parts are really lovably adapted, with clear effort being put into them.
In fact, controversial opinion here, but I kinda prefer some things here over their game counterparts, namely the whole “Humans are bastards” thing. The game hammered this on over and over again, yet everytime it did so it often fell flat. This was often because humans had no idea their ideas would cause harm, or they were in some way justified. Here, I can actually legitimately buy the whole thing. Humanity is often shown being brash and uncaring about the damage to the planet, and some of their decisions are questionable at best. At the same time the other factions still do all their shifty stuff so it legitimately comes off as a situation in which everyone was both right and wrong at the same time.
That said there are issues. Due to the way the plot is structured the whole thing starts In Media Res, yet at the same time the events that led up to it are never really properly shown so it kinda lacks a proper beginning. By that same token the plot lacks a proper ending. The final episode just kinda… ends. Like, the bad guy is beaten and… yeah, we’re done. Basically, this plot is missing the first and last of the 5 stages of storytelling, and it’s quite notable to put it bluntly.
Character:
This is partly when personal opinion comes in, as to be honest while the characters are a bit vanilla due to the runtime… I’d argue they weren’t really much better in the game. Phantasia is mostly just a traditional fantasy story, and its cast reflects that. Cress is the traditional hero, Mint is the kindhearted female lead, Claus is the smart guy, Arche is the Genki Girl and Chester is the angsty best friend. The closest they have to depth besides that is Arche having to deal with discrimination from bein a half-elf and the fact that there’s clearly a thing going on with her and Chester.
If anything Dhaos is the overall best character by process of elimination and a MASSIVE improvement over his game self. Due to the humans are bastards theme being more believable, Dhaos actually feels as if he has a point and overall comes across far more reasonable and sympathethic than his game self ever was. There he was a failure of an attempt at a well-intentioned extremist. Here he’s a good example of that trope!
Also, what’s up with Suzu? In the game she’s admittedly a secret character so she can’t really get involved too much in the plot, but even then her treatment in this OVA is rather random. She just pops up in episode 3, does some stuff, does some other stuff in episode 4 and… yeah, that’s about it really. I mean on the plus side they didn’t have to do that stupid-ass sidequest you need to do to get her (That thing was a nightmare…) but even then by the end I was wondering if she was just here for Fanservice.
Animation:
Thankfully by this point I have nothing but positive things to say. While the art is forced to undergo a slight downgrade, the actual animation is stunning. The fluidity and choreography presented here are all amazing, even by today’s standards. Magic is similarly well represented, and in general this just looks amazing. Frankly I think even if the plot was a mess I would’ve just watched it just to see so many scenes adapted.
Sound:
Most of the OST from the game is either remixed or served as inspiration for tracks here, and it is amazing. All of them fit the series wonderfully and I have zero complaints about it. As for the vocal tracks, “Prayer” is pretty decent, though in the end I much prefer the Opening Theme “Yume no Hate”. An amazing song to round off an amazing OST.
Voice Acting:
To compliment this all members (Bar one) of the original cast return and do a great job as always. It’s a bit odd nowadays for me to see Kusao Takeshi playing a traditional fantasy hero, but man if it doesn’t pay off. Similarly the rest of his co-leads (Inoue Kazuhiko, Iwao Junko, Ito Kentaro and Kanai Mika) all do a similarly good job. While it’s a shame Shiozawa Kaneto didn’t live to play Dhaos for this OVA, I ironically ended up preferring Morikawa Toshiyuki in the long run. To round off the cast there’s Kawata Takeo, Nakajima Yumiko and Tanaka Rie for a pretty great cast.
Overall:
Tales Of Phantasia The Animation is by no means a replacement for the game. If anything, it should be taken as a complementary to it. One that enhances the experience and lets you enjoy a familiar story in a new medium with a few tweaks along the way. With all of that taken into account, if you were a fan of the game, you’re doing yourself a disservice by not watching this. It is very much worth the investment.
Final Score: 8/10
read more
Dec 8, 2019
27 of 27 episodes seen
|
2
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
You know, there was a time in which Isekai wasn’t the genre that everyone and their mum wanted to do. No, that was the Mecha Genre. Back in the day, all you needed was a good plot and giant robots to make something absolutely awesome. Sadly, as the years have gone by, less and less people have put input into it, likely in part because of lack of good mechanical designers nowadays. To mourn this loss, we will look at the series that is basically the history of Mecha Anime in a nutshell: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. So then, let’s see if this show is
worth all the hype:
Story:
Let’s get this out of the way as many people have lobbied it as a complaint towards this show: It is not very original. The plot is basically just that of the Getter Robo Saga with some elements of Gunbuster and a bit of Zambot 3 thrown into the mix. Overall, many of its plot points have been done before in other sources with a different code of paint, and some may argue they did them better due to focusing on only one of those concepts rather than all of them at once, giving the only one they had more time to develop.
So, what’s my argument against that? Simple: It’s unoriginality is where its originality lies. The whole show is basically one big love letter to Mecha Anime and its history, which is reflected in its narrative. The show starts in the 60’-70’ with the genre’s beginning: Hopefull, simple, yet also falling into the clichés. Once THAT event happens it switches to the 80’, with its darker plotlines in the beginning, yet ultimately standing up once more and showing those original ideas where not wrong. After episode 15 it becomes a huge homage to the 90’, with the genre at its most depressing before engaging in its triumphant return to its roots, now acknowledging the critiques thrown at it.
Even setting that aside, it’s still a well done plot. Its full of memorable scenarios, from the sad to hopeful ones; the humor is often times hilarious, with episode 6 in particular (The uncensored version anyways) being one of the funniest things ever. There are also many twists, many of which you can notice the seeds for on rewatches. At the end of it all is an ending that satisfyingly ties up all loose ends, yet also does not feel contrived.
Above all else: It’s simply fun. So many show get lost in trying to convey a deeper meaning and lose sight of telling a story the audience can enjoy. Some people claim that is indeed the case, but TTGL shows that you can indeed have you cake and eat it. You can indeed have a deep, thought provoking message or commentary yet at the exact same time be an entertaining and fun to watch story.
Character:
And all of this is made possible by one of the best casts I’ve ever seen in an Anime. Simon is basically a gender-flipped Takaya Noriko: Starting out a wuss that shows promise before maturing into someone that more than grasped the potential they showed. Simon’s arc is mainly about maturity. At the one-quarter or so mark of the show and at the end of it he is shown with very similar situations, yet his response varies widely.
The two most in charge of this change are Kamina and Nia. Kamina serves as an idol Simon can look up to, someone who’s always got his back and helps him push forward. The “Believe In Me Who Believes in you” line may be a meme at this point, but in the context of the show it makes a surprising amount of sense, especially with the reveal that they are the same: Two men who believed in each other, yet could never believe in themselves. Best Girl Nia however serves to pull Simon out of his absolute worst, to bring back light to his dark world and to be someone Simon can stand alongside as an equal rather than one to look up to and eventually surpass.
The rest of the cast in turn have their own role in the plot. Yoko serves as the overall tritagonist of the story, never quite reaching the same level of importance as everyone else, yet her role in it cannot be forgotten. Others like Dayakka, Kinon and Kittan do have their own small arcs, though they’re less notable overall, yet still fulfilling. Viral in particular deserves special mention for being one of the most compelling and well written rival characters in all the genre (That scene in episode 26 still makes me tear up to this day).
The villains all serve as a good enough threat in their own right, though admittedly some are more memorable than others (I’m looking straight at you Cytomander. Were it not for your design I would forget you ever existed!). I sadly can’t talk about the show’s final antagonist as he’s only revealed at the halfway point and his reveal also brings forth a massive amount of spoilers, but all I’ll say is that he’s pretty freaking scary.
Now, there is one character I do feel the need to discuss in greater detail: Rossiu. To keep this as spoiler free as possible, towards the show’s third fourth, the guy starts pulling some… questionable actions. This in turn has earned him the ire of many fans, and to them I must ask… did you guys even watch the show? The guy felt like absolute shit while doing all of those things, enough so that once all of them were for nothing, he was driven to the point of despair. If anything I’d argue he’s one of the shows best characters: One who is willing to do everything he can for the betterment of everyone, but in a way radically different from the rest.
Animation:
Frankly the only reason I’m not giving it a perfect mark is because there is one episode (Episode 4) that looks like absolute shit. Besides that, the show looks amazing! Every frame has a lot of love put into it, and the character designs are all varied, unique and all-around great looking. The final battle in particular looks stunningly beautiful, to the point that this is one of those shows I feel could only really work in Animation. Overall, this is just an amazing looking show.
The Mecha:
One of the weirdest ones out there. The main gimmick is that most of them have faces. Yes, seriously. For the most part this does create some great designs (Enkidu and King Kittan in particular being some of my favorties) but some don’t pull it off as well as others. That said, the titular Gurren Lagann looks great, and all of its evolutions do a great job building off what the original had established.
Sound:
The soundtrack is quite unique, to say the least. Composed by Iwasaki Taku, to soundtrack combines a classic orchestra (With Latin Choir included) with… I have no idea what the hell the other thing is. It’s some really heavy-techno-rock-thingy that I don’t know the correct term for. It’s by no means bad though, if anything it’s quite good, though not entirely to my liking. That said, I do quite like most of the tracks, with “Nikipol”, “With Your Drill” and, of course, “Libera Me From Hell” being my personal favorites. As for the vocal tracks, I overall enjoyed “Sorario Days”, but it’s not exactly my favorite song ever. As for the Ending themes, my favorite is “Happily Ever After”.
Voice Acting:
The cast is great, though there are a few moments of awkward delivery here or there. Most of them come from Kakihara Tetsuya as Simon, as this was his first truly big role. For the most part his performance is actually really good, but there are a few moments that he sounds a tad off, though some of them can be blamed moreso on direction. His co-stars do help pick up the slack though, with Fukui Yukari, Konishi Katsuyuki (The role that more or less perfected his popularity to begin with) and Hiyama Nobuyuki in particular being the overall best actors here. Hell, I don’t even mind the use of celebrity VAs here, as both Ikeda Narushi and Kamikawa Takaya did a surprisingly good job. Besides them there’s Inoue Marina, Onosaka Masaya, Saiga Mitsuki, Taniyama Kissho, Ueda Kana, Nakamura Daiki, Ito Shizuka, Mizushima Takahiro, Honda Takako, Yanada Kiyoyuki, Neya Michiko, Shimoyama Go, Satou Rina, Sugo Takayuki, Asumi Kana and the ever awesome Nakata Joji (He even gets to play a priest again!).
Overall:
Must I say anything else, really? Gurren Lagann is just a great show. Is it the greatest things ever? No. Is it one of my all-time favorites? No. Do I like it? Hell yes! I’d actually argue this makes for a fantastic gateway Anime, and overall it’s just a very easy show to recommend. It rebels in its absurdity and lack of common sense, yet is also able to make you care about the events that unfold. I highly, highly recommend it.
Final Score: 9/10
read more
Nov 10, 2019
24 of 24 episodes seen
|
3
people found this review helpful
|
| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
Magic and technology, an eternal struggle. Some people will say one is better, other people will say the other is better, and it seems to be a thing that there can’t really be a middle ground. Not just in real life (Back when magic was believed to be real, anyways), but even in Fiction. In general, people will have to choose one or the other and one must always be superior. Now then, the question must be asked however: What would happen if that middle ground was found… somewhat. That my friends, is the basic concept of A Certain Magical Index.
I am applying my usual
style of reviews for shows for arc based structures here, so spoilers ahead. Setting that aside, let’s see how this show fares.
1St Arc: Index Arc (Episode’s 1-6):
The longest arc in this Season for sure, apparently at the request of the author himself. We are introduced to the world here, which sadly means this arc is very exposition heavy. Well, okay, the whole show is exposition heavy, but this one in particular is pretty bad about that. It also introduces what’s my second biggest issue with this show: This show is so cliché heavy it isn’t even funny.
Now, I know this was one of the early shows before these cliches became widespread, so I can’t be too harsh on it, but the point still stands. A good example of this is our MC Kamijou Touma. Now, I don’t hate him, per say, but I also don’t find him to be very good. If anyone reading this has also read my SAO review, you know my issues with Kiriguya Kazuto, and many of them apply to dear old Kamijou-San. The guy is OP, has a Harem he is unaware of, and is a pretty notable self-Insert. The only reason I don’t hate him as much as the other guy, however, is mostly because at least he does have one or two things going for him that are legitimately interesting and that by the standards of OP Light Novel protagonists he isn’t too bad: At least he has a set of pre-set weaknesses that they do actually follow through.
Now a character I do hate is the female Lead, Index. Unlike Kamijou, whom I don’t really have any hard feelings of like or dislike towards, Index I straight up hate. Not because she’s boring, however. Oh no, it’s the opposite: She’s annoying! Jesus Christ, I swear there were only a few scenes in which I didn’t detest her precense. It’s one thing to be a Tsundere ad it’s another thing to just be a dick to the MC and not anyone else for no reason! She’s thankfully at her most tolerable in this arc, but besides that, I can’t stand her.
However, I am somewhat more forgiving of this here because as a countermeasure, the supporting cast is fantastic. Like, they’re simple, sure, but never too much so that they felt bland either. The duo of Styil and Kanzaki serve as good examples of this, as in spite of their limited screen time, they end up being surprisingly likable and easy to root for. Hell, this show has one of the few Lolis I don’t hate: Tsukuyomi Komoe. I admit I expect to hate her character, but after a while, while she’s not a great character, I can’t help to admit to find her somewhat funny.
I’ll also say this, bar the occasional bad dialogue here and there, the plot is pretty decent. It’s simple, sure, but it works out quite well. Hell, there’s even one scene I particularly loved in which they make a scientific statement that is clear bullcrap… and the show acknowledges that. And in the end, the arc ends on a bittersweet yet oddly fitting note. So overall, in spite of its issues, this is actually a pretty decent arc.
2nd Arc: Deep Blood Arc (Episodes 7-9):
Unfortunately if there’s one thing this Anime is famous for is how many Novels are covered in only 3 EPISODES! I just… What!? Novels usually take about 4 episodes to be properly adapted, sometimes even more depending on the content! You can’t even say it’s fine because it’s short: Volume 2 of the Light Novels is barely even shorter than 1.
This basically means a whole subplot had to be axed out: Dummy Areolus. This is a problem because THIS IS A MASSIVE SOURCE OF CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR KAMIJOU! What were they even thinking when they did this!?
Anyhow besides that, well, it’s fine, I guess. Deep Blood was never the most interesting of arcs to begin with, so in some ways I actually appreciate the abridging, but even then it’s otherwise fine. The biggest problem I have with it is how little it matters in the long run. Bar what’s apparently some foreshadowing for some stuff for the later Novels (I should note that as of writing this I’m only by Volume 15) and some minor stuff, nothing really matters. Not even Himegami Aisa, Who is eventually reduced to a background character, to the point it’s a joke in the fandom to mention how little she matters.
Surprisingly though, I actually didn’t mind the main antagonist: Aureolus Izzard. He was simple, yet strangely effective. And damn, that guy’s breakdown was absolutely majestic, and so was his defeat for that matter. Hell, he even proves himself to be scarily effective and Only really loses due to a logical problem in the way his powers work. So overall, I’d say this arc is slightly worse than the last one, but not by much.
3rd Arc: Sisters Arc (Episodes 10-14):
Let’s face it, if there was a candidate for the series most emblematic arc, it would be this one, and for good reason as it is legitimately great… or it would be were it not for an issue I will mention later, but in terms of just the story, it’s great stuff and by far the best this season has to offer. Index is thankfully reduced to a minor role here and the role of the female lead is temporarily passed on to Misaka Mikoto, a MUCH better character and a far more likable female lead overall.
A good lot of this arc is more or less build up, with Kamijou trying to find out what the hell is going on and why the hell there are clones of a certain Tsundere he knows and try to put a stop to this mess. Make no mistake, this arc is freaking dark, with gruesome imagery being common and our villain being a freaking psychopath… kinda… more on that later.
In the end, it all builds up to one big fight scene, and while a certain issue I’ll mention later does hamper it severely, from a purely narrative stand point it is great, and a very satisfying end overall. The only downside is that right before that there is a scene in a bridge that suffers from some somewhat awkward dialogue at times. Needless to say, I can see why most other adaptations of this arc remove those bits.
4th Arc: Angel Fall (Episodes 15-17):
So naturally the next arc must be butchered!
Well, okay Angel Fall wasn’t hit as bad as Deep Blood was, mostly because the story was structured around the fact that they have less time and also taking into account changes having been done before and during the arc. Hell, they actually fixed one of Kamijou’s biggest “What an idiot!” Moments and changed it into a legitimate eureka moment.
Setting that aside, the world has been put into a Freaky Friday Flick, so it’s up to the unlikely trio of Kanzaki, Kamijou and Tsuchimikado to fix this. Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce Tsuchimikado! He’s basically the cast’s wild card, with his alignment being unclear, yet you can’t help but love him due to his laid back attitude. He is legitimately one of the few people in the planet who can joke about suffering from internal bleeding.
That aside, the one change to the structure of the arc I don’t like is that the comedy is way played up in exchange for downplaying how borderline Lovecraftian the whole event is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all funny, but I feel that some of that time could’ve been better spent on something else. They also sadly downplay some stuff, like how terrible Kamijou’s childhood was or the guilt Kanzaki felt due to all the people who followed her dying in her stead, but overall it’s not bad. Certainly not the worst adaptation in this series.
5th Arc: 3 Stories Arc… kinda (Episodes 18-20. Episode 1 S2):
Err… this will take a bit of explaining.
Okay, so Volume 5 of the original Light Novels was comprised of three stories (Duh) that all happen at roughly the same time. For due to time constraints, however, the Anime only covers the first two. Now the third story was eventually covered in Season 2 as its opening episode, so technically speaking the whole arc was adapted.
Setting that aside, for the sake of this Review I will only analyze the first two, though if you want my abridged thoughts on the one from the second Season, I’ll summarize it as “Meh”. Setting that aside, how are these two stories?
The first one is Misaka and Kamijou having to pretend to be a couple for a while because she has a sorta-stalker (He’s actually a really nice guy. I actually wonder why Misaka doesn’t like him). This one seems to be the fan popular pairing in the fandom, and I can see why and agree with it. The two just wonderfully play off each other, and their interactions are never a chore to watch. That aside, the whole thing is done pretty well, and it ends on a fight on a construction yard, which is always a treat.
But let’s talk about what you really want to hear. The OTHER story, focused on the one character I mysteriously didn’t talk about too much during my analysis of the Sisters Arc. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the most popular character in this show and the deutraginist Of the whole Toaru-Verse: Accelerator, the One-Way Road.
Originally Accelerator was meant to be a one-shot villain. Yet he proved popular so the author decided to keep him around. And I, like many, agree this was a good choice. Accelerator is one of the absolute best cases of a villain switching sides I’ve seen in a while. As I once heard, everything you’ve said has meaning, even if it didn’t originally have it when it was said. They took his previous characterization and put a spin on it, analyzing why he behaved the way he did, which, combined with him finally obtaining the one thing he had always wanted, to be accepted by someone else as an equal, a friend, ultimately finally gives him the reason to turn over a new leaf and protect the one person he cares about.
There is however one problem: Most Of The stuff I’ve said? Most of it you would only get by reading the Light Novels or Manga! For crying out loud, I know Accelerator is one of those characters whose characterization is mostly done through inner monologues, but by the standards of those he is pretty easy to adapt, yet the Anime does a fairly mediocre job at showing them. It’s a shame as it feels like they are legitimately trying, but in the end after a while it feels like Okamoto Nobuhiko’s performance is the only thing that is carrying the character through, but more on that later. So yeah, Accelerator? He kinda got screwed over in the Adaptation.
Besides that, the only other change to mention is that they really downplay the whole “These stories are all happening at once” deal. That was actually one of the novel’s appeals, so to see it removed feels like a waste AND a bad choice. Still though, probably the second best arc in this season…
6th Arc: Kazakiri Hyouka Arc (Episodes 21-24):
Wait, we’re ending here? What!?
Okay, more on that later. How’s the arc proper? It’s… okay? Like, I don’t hate it, but I am somewhat indifferent towards it myself. Kazakiri herself is a fine character, but otherwise compared to what came before this arc just feels underwhelming by comparison. Even the final fight feels like it’s just kinda there, not helped by the fact that the story’s climax drags on a bit too much for my book.
But that’s besides the point, the REAL problem is that this was just a plain terrible stopping point! Admittedly, the closest thing early Index has to a good stopping point is the Daihaseisai Arc, Which is Volume 10, but even then, this just further pushes an idea I had in mind: A Certain Magical Index does not work for a TV Format. It would be better as a series of OVAs or movies, not the usual 24 episode series! In the end, a okay arc, but a bad a stopping point.
Something I should mention about all of these arc however is something that drives me nuts: What’s with all the nude scenes!? Like, I could’ve tolerated it if it had been just once or twice, but they are scarily common and I got sick of them fast!
Animation:
The show looks fine for the time. Nothing special, but nothing great either. Normally this would give the Animation a 7, so why did I give it a 5? Well, that’s simple. While the animation itself is fine, the directing is SOULESS!!
This is my biggest issue with the show. It was directed by the same guy who directed Azumanga Daioh and it shows. I love that show, but he was not a good choice for this show! I should mention that with one exception (Angel Fall) I watched all the arcs in this show right after reading their LN counterparts, and with all of them I just had this feeling that not a single scene was shot in a way that truly reflected the quality of the scene. The case that immediately comes to mind being Kamijou’s fight with Accelerator. In the original, Kamijou was barely even conscious and Accelerator was damn close to killing him. All of the events there still happen here, but you don’t feel like they did. Suddenly, Kamijou punching Accelerator one last time goes from being the hypes thing ever, with the narration explicitly noting how close he is to collapsing and that even with the weakness of the punch Accelerator was still sent flying… goes to being just another random punch. Yay…
Sound:
Overall, the Soundtrack is good, though I can’t say any track stood out to me bar a select few, namely Kamijou’s theme, “Gensou Boroshi”. As for the Openings and Ending, well, the endings I didn’t care much for, but the openings deserve some discussion. This is the first time I’ve talked about Kawada Mami, and her songs tend to be kinda hit or miss for me. Don’t get me wrong, her singing itself is borderline heavenly, but the songs as a whole just aren’t for me many times. This show reflects that, as while I loved “PSI-Missing”, I didn’t care much for “Masterpiece”.
Voice Acting:
Overall, most of the cast settle for a good job, but not much else. As for this group, Abe Atsushi And Satou Rina stand out as the best of the lot, giving overall really good performances, and it’s easy to tell why the former got popular through this show. Hell, I freely admit Abe sounded almost exactly like how I imagined Kamijou to sound in the Light Novels… which sadly means he sounds like discount Shimono Hiro but oh well.. Everyone else however is less notable, in spite of the surprising amount of large names like Taniyama Kissho, Ito Shizuka, Seki Toshihiko, Watanabe Akeno, Sugita Tomokazu, Terasaki Yuka, Kishio Daisuke, Inoue Kikuko, Touma Yumi, Suzuki Tatsuhisa, Nomura Kenji And Fukuen Misato.
The only two that stand out are Okamoto Nobuhiko And Iguchi Yuka, And for completely opposite reasons. Okamoto is by far the best performance in the whole show, even if this is before he developed his characteristic growl he would use later on. By contrast Iguchi Yuka is extremely annoying, but I blame it more on her playing an annoying character as she has shown herself to be likable in other roles.
Overall:
A Certain Magical Index is a very flawed show. Yet ultimately I do like it, if only barely. It’s overall a good story that is not presented well, which is a shame as this show deserved better. As it is, can I recommend it? Honestly… I can’t really. Yes, it’s fine, but the Novels are so much better that it’s hard to recommend such a bland adaptation. If you must see it, do so as a complement to those novels, as I wouldn’t say the anime does it justice.
And to think I’m already complaining so much about the adaptation yet I haven’t even finished watching Index III yet. Yare Yare Daze…
Final Score: 6/10
read more
Oct 31, 2019
92 of 92 chapters read
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1
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
8 |
| Art |
10 |
| Character |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Ah, Happy Halloween everyone (Or at least, it is Halloween at the time of posting this review). The day of the dead has finally dawned upon us, and I believe that, as a result, I am obliged to review something that is at least somewhat Halloween themed. And hey, if there’s any Novel that symbolizes the horror Genere, it is Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Since it, many films, series and other stuff have tried adapting it or just making their own damn story with the concept and running with it. And in this case, I’m here to review one of the most insane and just completely
out there takes on the genre. That, of course, being Hirano Kouta’s Hellsing.
I should mention that apparently this sucker took forever to complete. How long is it? Ten Volumes. What was the release schedule? One Chapter a month. When did it end? 2008! For the record, I did the math here; this thing shouldn’t have taken less than 8 to be completed. Apparently Hirano after a while stopped having a consistent release schedule and would just put up chapters whenever he felt like it. And people say Togashi is lazy…
Setting the “Passion” of our author aside; how is the content of this Manga? Well, let’s start off by making one thing clear: Don’t take it seriously. One of Hellsing’s charms is that when you get down to it, this Manga rebels in its absurdity. It is hilariously over the top and aware that its concept is absolutely ridiculous, but it just kinda runs with it without a damn care in the world. It’s part of what makes this so appealing.
In turn, this Manga can be called “Build Up and Conflict: The Manga”. With that I mean that the whole Manga can be divided into two near-equal parts: The first half is all about introducing the setting, characters and putting said characters in the spot that they should be. Then the next half is just one really long fight scene that builds on everything that has been introduced up until now. To call this entertaining would be an understatement.
The whole thing can be best summarized with the show’s main character, Alucard. When you’re introduced to him, there’s not really much to him, just an impossibly badass and mysterious man who happens to be the main character. If anything, him being the main character is a bit odd given how borderline sociopathic he seems at points. Yet while he’s far from the deepest character, the more and more you learn about him he becomes all the more interesting. The initial description of him wasn’t wrong, but there is indeed more to him than just that.
In term, the overall plot is rudimentary basic, but I feel it makes up for it by not really screwing up at anything in particular. No, seriously, while most elements have been done better in other shows, I can’t really count any of them that were done badly here. The plot is accordingly fast paced, but never too much so, and overall the narrative is ultimately just one big excuse for the spectacle, but a good one.
I think the character that shows off my first point best is Seras Victoria. Her story is just an overall simple case of someone without much confidence in herself becoming stronger in spite of, or perhaps BECAUSE of all the tragedy she undergoes. It’s well done and gets the job well enough. The last point however can moreso be illustrated with Alexander Anderson. This man is just freaking insane. Even by the end of this story, I’m not exactly sure what his deal is, but damn if he didn’t leave an impact on me. Dude’s just 900 different types of awesome!
There are of course characters that are simpler, yet no less effective. Sir Integra Fairbook Wingates Hellsing is just a really well done Iron Lady character, and her trusty butler Walter C Dolores is more of the same, though they do a decent enough job at fleshing them out, especially Walter, who is clearly more than he seems. Pip Bernadotte also falls into this group: A simple, yet still well done character.
In the end however, as I mentioned, the plot is but an excuse for the spectacle, and good lord does Hellsing deliver on that. First of all, let’s talk about the actual artstyle. The whole thing just has a gothic feel, and it legitimately does feel like a modernized take on the classic Dracula Mythos in its own way, what with the exaggerated get-up (Or is that just a British thing I am not aware of?).In turn the facial expressions are wide and varied, and some of them are meme worthy for all the right reasons. The only downside I can think of is that some of the early chapters can look a bit rough, but frankly that only really lasts about a volume or so; probably even less, now that I think about it. Best of all, while there is some gore, it’s never so much so that it comes off as something made for shock value and nothing else.
Yet of course it is with the fight scenes that Hellsing truly stands out among the rest. If there’s one word I could use to describe it, it would be Varied. I kid you not; there is not a single action scene in this Manga that is the same as a previous one, with all of them managing to bring something unique at the table. What that something is depends, of course. Sometimes it’s the setting, sometimes it’s the finishing blow, and other times it’s just the many twists and turns that can happen in the middle of a battle. The absolute highlight of course is Anderson and Alucard’s final battle, though I also have some fondness for Seras’ fight against Zorin.
Speaking of which, who would our “good guys” fight without bad guys? The answer is quite simple: Nazi Zombie Vampires!... I did mention this show didn’t take itself that seriously.
And the absurdity of the concept certainly does help you get an idea of the kind of character’s you’ll be getting. They are all varying levels of over the top, ranging from being so in a subtle way (Luke Valentine and ESPECIALLY The Captain) to absolutely banana-balls (Like Rip Van Winkle and the Major). They do however make for very effective antagonists at the same time, and it’s easy to treat them seriously simple because of the sheer amount of destruction they cause. They are the very embodiment of Chaotic Evil and the story never lets you forget that.
Now, with all the positives I have said up until now, you might wonder why I haven’t given this show a straight up 10/10. Well, ultimately the issue just lies on what I said earlier: Bar the spectacle, this show just doesn’t do enough things well enough for a higher score. It is very much the Manga equivalent of a bunch of 80’ action movies: You watch it moreso to see cool people doing cool stuff than seeing an actually interesting plot, with said plot being good enough to… well, be good, but also nothing special.
In the end however, do I recommend Hellsing? You bet I do. It is one of the most Fun Mangas I’ve read, and I can’t help but have a really dumb grin in my face whenever I read it. It’s not the most complex or thought provoking thing ever, but it is very clearly aware of that and just decides to have fun. It’s like a celebration of all the absurdity in Anime and Manga tied up into one concise little package. I wholeheartedly implore you to read it.
Final Score: 9/10
read more
Oct 27, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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2
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
4 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
6 |
I’ll be honest with you guys: I feel that Shounen Tie-In movies get way more hate tan they deserve. Yes, they don’t contribute to the story in any meaningful way, but are they supposed to? Not really in my opinion. I like to think of them as side-stories of sorts, ones that may not necessarily be necessary to the overall plot, but are still fun to watch, while at the same time giving us a scenario we wouldn’t usually see in the show.
Sadly, Yu Yu Hakusho’s first movie, The Golden Seal, is not one of the better Shounen movies. Why? Let’s find out:
Story:
Set somewhere in
the middle of the Spirit Detective arc (And thankfully, there really aren’t any continuity issues in this movie), I think there is one word that describes this movie perfectly: Basic. With that, I mean that when you get right down to it, it feels like some one-off episode from the show that would never be mentioned again. This isn’t helped by how barren the plot is. The whole plot could be described as “Dude steals Seal, Yusuke and Co. go to stop him. Yusuke stops him. The end”.
Now to be fair there is a bit more going on than that, but not much bar a very minor twist towards the end that doesn’t really matter much in the long run. It’s not a terrible plot, mind you; overall it is well told and nothing about it is done badly, per say, but I also feel nothing is done particularly well. The runtime doesn’t help either, with this movie being no longer than a regular episode of the show. In the end, this is just such a painfully basic plot that it hurts this movie tremendously.
Characters:
Everyone’s here… too bad if you wanted anyone but Yusuke and Kuwabara to do anything though! No, seriously, Kurama and Hiei are barely even in this movie! Yusuke and Kuwabara do all the job here, and really it’s Yusuke who does all the heavy lifting. You would think they would give everyone something to do given that this is the first movie, but nope! It’s especially bad in Kurama’s case, as the guy only has, like, three scenes in the whole movie.
The new villains are just meh. Koashura is meant to basically be evil Koenma, but bar being ever so slightly more of a dick, there isn’t enough to differentiate the two. Garuga, his subordinate, is ever so slightly worse, in no small part due to how generic he is. Overall, while they aren’t terrible characters, I’d expect a lot better.
Animation:
The one thing that saves this movie is the beautiful, God-Tier animation. For all of this movie’s faults, it looks freaking amazing. Movement is what really stands out here. There are a bunch of scenes in this movie that are straight up GIF worthy, with multiple camera movements, changing backgrounds and stellar choreography. Basically, you watch the movie for style rather than for substance.
Sound:
It’s the same as the show. Moving on!
Voice Acting:
The whole cast obviously returns and does a good job as always. The three new actors, Suzuki Masami, Matsumoto Rica and the Late Great Aono Takeshi, all do good enough job in their roles, but it’s nothing too special, namely due to the lack of time to properly flesh out their performances.
Overall:
I know this review was short, but that’s because I have nothing else to mention. It’s not a bad movie, per say, but I just don’t have it in me to truly call it a good one. It’s okay, but is also as generic as Shounen Tie-In movies get, with nothing to make it stand out bar the visuals. If you’re a fan of Yu Yu Hakusho, check it out, but otherwise just stay away.
Final Score: 6/10
read more
Oct 20, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
5 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
6 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Final Fantasy VII. If you’re fan of RPGs, you’ve probably Heard of that name at some point. It was the first game in the Final Fantasy series to use 3D Graphics, and even to this day is considered one of the best games ever made by some. Now, I don’t think the game is as good as some claim it is (I honestly find Final Fantasy VIII, IX and X to be far better) but there is some merit to that statement, and the game has overall aged damn well (Bar the graphics and the Translation). So, for some reason, Square decided to make an
epilogue movie!... Why?
Anyhow, that movie was Advent Children, which… well, it had a few fuck-ups. So, to try and fix at least a few of those issues, they re-released the movie as Advent Children Complete. Really it’s just the Blu-Ray release of Advent Children, it’s just that they decided that, since they had to Remaster a few things, they might as well add some new things to make things less confusing. To be clear: I have not seen the original Advent Children and all of what I’m saying comes from Second-Hand sources, so don’t take my word on this entirely. For now, let’s just see if this thing is good or not, shall we?
Story:
Set some time after the Ending of the game (Err… the actual ending, not that weird kinda epilogue thing), it turns out our heroes actions have actually had a few side effects on the world at large. I actually like that, while our heroes’ action did save the world, the fact that there were consequences for them is a nice twist. The tone of the movie reflects that, rather bleak to say the least, even by the standards of this franchise.
In turn, the movie does tell its own story, one about a man rising from the absolute lowest point in his life and finally putting his past behind, which makes sense; after all, a recurring theme of Final Fantasy VII was about coming to terms with both the past and the present. It’s a relatively straightforward and well-paced plot too, so at the very least it has that much going for it. This all concludes in a really well done climax, with it finally making Cloud’s story come full-circle.
That said, there’s also a load of issues. While the plot is somewhat straightforward, there are also many matters that are ridiculously overcomplicated or not explained well enough, and apparently this was even worse in the original. Also, some plot elements just feel either contrived or come out of nowhere: Sephiroth’s resurrection, the nature of his remnants, why the hell is Rufus still alive… you see what I mean? That’s ultimately what drags this movie down: It just doesn’t explain some things well enough.
Characters:
Most of the game’s cast is back… though don’t expect them to do much, mainly with the main party. Of them, only Cloud, Tifa, Aerith (Somewhat), and to a much lesser extent Vincent get to do much, and the rest is really only there to show up for the final fight and nothing else. It’s a shame as I wanted to know how they’ve been doing since then, but they don’t get many chances to show that off; hell, I think Red only had about one line in the whole movie!
The guys at Shinra do get a bit more to do, with Rufus in particular getting his greatest moment yet, but it only helps so much. The villains themselves are overall meh, with them being frankly unremarkable. Even Sephiroth, the big bad of the movie, only gets to do so much. Admittedly there wasn’t much to him back in the original game (It took until Crisis Core for him to get some much needed characterization) but you could’ve done something more with him!
All of that said, the one thing I will forever defend about this movie that is often criticized is Cloud. People complain that he’s way too emo, like if he and Squall from FFVIII had a personality swap. Except here’s the thing guys: He gets over that fairly quickly. By the time the halfway point hits, he stops sulking around so much and goes back to being No-nonsense. Also, think of this from Cloud’s perspective: This is a guy who had been dealing with multiple identity issues back in the game, who later on tried desperately hard (And failed) to find his place in life, not as just Zack’s replacement, but as himself… and then he found out he was gonna die. Wouldn’t you react badly to that? Especially since it’s a disease that has DEPRESSION as one of its symptoms? And as I said before, in the end, he puts it all behind him, letting his past become but a mere memory and living on as himself, having finally realized that, yes, there is indeed a place in the world in which he belongs.
Animation:
Thankfully, from now on I have almost nothing but positives left. This movie looks amazing. Everyone’s looks has been updated, looking more realistic than before, yet it’s all done so in a way that doesn’t hit the uncanny valley as other products occasionally do. Battle damage is all well reflected, and speaking of battles, holy shit the fight scenes in this movie are nothing short of pure eye-candy. Seriously, this is like the FMVs from the PS2 era brought to life, and it all looks great.
Sound:
Uematsu Nobuo obviously returns, and as always, his compositions are amazing. VII’s Soundtrack was never exactly my favorite in the series (That honor goes to VIII) but damn if some of the remixes as well as the new tracks don’t sound absolutely amazing, special props to the new version of “One Winged Angel”, which is by far my favorite version of the song, adding some electric guitars and changing up the lyrics for an absolutely fantastic composition. Needless to say, the OST is amazing, but it’s Final Fantasy, it’s rarer to see a game with a bad soundtrack.
Voice Acting:
Woo boy, do I have a lot to say. Now, let’s start with the less problematic part of the cast, as in, the professionals! Sakurai Takahiro, Kakazu Yumi and Morikawa Toshiyuki, Sakamoto Maaya and Suzumura Kenichi all return to their roles (Having previously played them in the original Kingdom Hearts and also in Last Order in Suzumura’s case) and all do a great job, especially Sakurai, who, fun fact, was actually a huge fan of the original. Similarly; props to Ishikawa Hideo, who sounds almost unrecognizable as Caith Sith. Also, happy that they got actual children to voice the kids in this movie. I can get behind a series not doing it as it would be too big a hassle, but a movie has no excuse, really. Besides them there are a few more recognizable names, such as Suwabe Junichi, Toyoguychi Megumi, Kusunoki Taiten, Kishi Yuji, Moribuko Showtaro and a few others.
Unfortunately, there is a massive thing about this cast that will stick out to you if you watch a lot of Anime, bar the aforementioned members of the party, ALL OF THEM ARE VOICED BY MOVIE ACTORS! Yeah, wondered where Square got the idea to start doing that? Final Fantasy X (To an extent), but this certainly didn’t help matters! Now, I myself don’t mind them using celebrities in animated movies so long as all of the supporting roles don’t sufer the same fate, which this movie does do well. Even so, when dealing with screen actors, you can expect me to become far harsher than I would usually be.
As for the performances themselves, they range in terms of quality. Ito Ayumi’s Tifa is by far the best, a great performance with no its’ or buts’ attached to it. In second place comes Yamaji Kazuhiro as Cid, one of the few film actors that I can think of who has also proven himself as a voice actor numerous times and it shows (He’s kinda like Bryan Cranston in that regard). Suzuki Shogo comes in at second place, being overall good, but he sadly didn’t get much to do, though Dirge Of Cerberus did give him some much needed additional material. Ichimura Masachika as Red comes in second to last, as he had so little material I don’t even know what to think of him. He sounds fine, I guess, and he does have some voice acting experience being the first voice of Mewtwo from Pokémon, but I honestly don’t know what to say here. And finally at the bottom of the barrel comes Kobayashi Masahiro as Barret, which is just a really nothing performance. So yeah, not the worst use of celebrity voice actors, but I’d rather not have this be a thing at all.
Conclusion:
No, Advent Children isn’t perfect. But I can’t call it bad either, far from it. For all my gripes with it, I do overall think this is a fitting conclusion to this story and one of the better FFVII Spin-Offs (Not THE best, though, that’s Crisis Core). Do I recommend it? Only if you’re a fan, as otherwise I can’t see people liking this movie. But if you are a fan, then go ahead and see it.
Final Score: 7/10
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Oct 5, 2019
24 of 24 episodes seen
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3
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Animation |
3 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
Direction is something I don’t bring up too often, and that’s because, well, it’s hard to properly describe. Don’t get me wrong, a good director is most certainly important, not just for Anime but for any form of media. However it’s hard to say how much of a show’s issues can be blamed on direction or how many can’t. Direction doesn’t just involve shot composition, but also the way how the music synchs up with the scene, the overall feeling the scene is meant to have, that kind of stuff. And of course, then there’s the matter of writing vs. directing: Which is more important?
Why
am I mentioning all of this? Well, you see… Full Metal Panic! is MOST CERTAINLY a series that is held up by the quality of its writing rather than its direction.
Story:
Based on Gatoh Shinji’s Light Novel Series, Full Metal Panic! is… a strange beast indeed. While the Mecha Anime genre is most certainly extremely flexible, and to be fair it is no stranger to high school hijinks… for Super Robot shows, that is. That is not the case for the more semi-grounded Real Robot genre (Emphasis on the semi in semi-grounded, by the way. The genre is really fond of making up its own amount of bullshit science).
This in turn causes an odd disconnect. Half the show is your typical real-robot show that just so happens to have a slightly heavier focus on romance than most. On the other have you have a semi-slice of life featuring a Chirico Cuvie parody in the middle of a romantic comedy. It is strange to be sure, but weirdly charming in its own way. That’s part of why I like this show, really, it has its own messed up sense of style and runs with it. It’s quite enjoyable, to say the least, though I do wish I could go with more of one or the other at times, kinda like how the LNs had the main volumes be nonstop drama with a bit of comedy (Bar Volume 6, which is apparently exclusively comedy) and relegating most of the hijinks to side stories.
It also avoids the issue many modern LN adaptations have of not knowing where to end, as in spite of this show covering 3 of the 13 Volumes of the source, it does feel like an actual ending. Mind you, given that it is only 3 Volumes, they kinda had to do some work to stretch it out to 24 episodes, in this case just adding a ton of filler. Most of it is harmless though, and at times quite amusing, my favorites being Kazama’s spotlight episode and the one focusing on how the Uruz team met. That said, not all of them are winners, namely a frankly dragged out desert mini-arc that quickly outweighed its welcome, even if it did pick up by the end, and in spite of me overall liking her as a character, Inaba’s debut episode could’ve also been better.
As for those pesky narrations and internal monologues Light Novels have, thankfully FMP has always been rather lax with them, so transitioning them into animation is surprisingly easy. There are a few cases in which they do kinda forget about a few of them (The most glaring for me being the whole reason Chidori did something really stupid in the second story arc, namely that she was pissed off as she felt that Sousuke didn’t trust her) and on a more amusing note most of the movie references have been sadly cut (Like Chidori directly name-dropping Sean Connery) but overall not that much is lost and the transition between mediums is overall solid... mostly. More on that later.
Characters:
Ah, such a lovable cast. As said before, Sagara Sousuke is basically a parody of the type of character Chirico Cuvie from VOTOMS established. He’s cold, stoic and keeps to himself (Though in general he’s far more emotional than the usual examples of this archetype) but he’s in the middle of a romantic comedy so his behavior is mostly played for laughs. In turn his co-star Chidori Kaname, who is a Takahashi Rumiko Tsundere (Even shares her voice actress with one of the most popular ones: Higurashi Kagome) being put into a Real Robot series and is slowly driven insane by her love interest’s behavior. It is a match made in heaven, to say the least.
The supporting cast in turn is more of what you would expect. Tessa serves as the third main character, continuing Misumaru Yurika’s line of ditzy captains, though at least Tessa’s competence isn’t dependent on what would be funnier. Kurz and Mao serve as the Kaji and Misato of the show: Prime material to get drunk and do something really dumb that will be hilarious, though Kurz sure takes the pervert part of his character as far as possible. And of course there is Andrei Serqeivitch Kalinin, who is basically every badass commander from every military… thing fused together and I love it!
As for the villains, well… the kid who kept adoring his sister was kinda tragic… same goes for said “Sister”… yeah, let’s stop beating around the bush and talking about the main man: Gauron. This guy… how do I put it? Well… I guess you could say he is Yazan Gable, but with the crazy turned up to eleven and given Patrick Colasour’s amazing survival skills. He is sadistic, relentless and he just won’t stay dead. Needless to say, he is quite the effective antagonist.
Animation:
Sadly the show starts to fall apart once you get into the presentation. This show has not aged that well visually. Admittedly the animation isn’t too bad or anything, but at the same time it is unremarkable. Everything looks fine, but that’s about it really. The direction is what really drags it down, though. This is a rather blandly directed show, to say the least. There are some moments that are actually really well done, but overall, it is moreso due to the strength of the writing that the show is allowed to be good rather than the way said scenes are presented. It’s hard to describe, but if I had to put it one way, is that scenes that were originally huge and extremely emotionally impactful now… well, the impact is still there, but not as notable.
The Mecha:
Good designs overall, though the quality of the animation prevents them from standing out. The Albarest is a great main mecha in its own right, simple in all the right ways. The rest is pretty good too, though I will have to warn you all that this show doesn’t have many custom units, so there are mostly generic grunt suits. To be fair, the Novels weren’t exactly made with the intention of selling toys to begin with, but oh well.
Sound:
Composed by Sahashi Toshihiko of Gundam SEED fame, the Soundtrack is great. All of it fits with the militaristic atmosphere, yet at the same time the more lighthearted themes don’t feel out of place, with my favorite tracks being “Arashi No Mae” and “Plan 1056”. As for the opening, I’m not the biggest fan of “Tomorrow”, nor the Ending Theme, "Karenai Hana", but I can see the appeal in them. This is where the direction starts hurting the show again, though, as many tracks are just not utilized to their full capacity, as they either not synch up with the scene as well as they could or are used in moments silence would've been better. A shame, really…
Voice Acting:
Thankfully, the cast isn’t hampered down by the directing. To this day Sousuke remains my favorite role in Seki Tomokazu’s career, and even though his performance hasn’t quite peaked yet, this is still an overall great performance. His co-stars Yukino Satsuki and Nogami Yukana (Her Big Break into voice acting, no less) do a great job bouncing off him, especially Yukino. Also, props to veteran voice actor Tanaka Masahiko for a deliciousy hammy performance. Besides them there’s Neya Michiko, Miki Shinichiro, Nishimura Tomoichi, Noto Mamiko (In a rare male role, no less), Chiba Susumu, Yamaguchi Yuriko, Otsuka Akio, Natsuki Rio, Koyasu Takehito, Takahashi Mikako and Inada Tetsu in an absolutely HILARIOUS casting gag.
Overall:
While Full Metal Panic! isn’t a perfect show by any means as its presentation does hold it back, I do feel it is ultimately a good one. I can see why it was so popular back in the day, and why even now it continues to have a small but dedicated cult following. If you’re a fan of giant robots, romance, drama, comedy or all the above, I can calmly recommend this show. Just make sure the copy you end up buying isn’t booby trapped, because if so, explosions will ensue.
Final Score: 7/10
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Oct 4, 2019
1 of 1 episodes seen
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4
people found this review helpful
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Ah, compilation movies. They’re one of those things in Anime that, after a while, you just kinda get used to seeing. The original MSG Movie trilogy is what made them popular, and many have tried to emulate their success. The problem, of course, is that more often than not they’re trying to cram too much into too little time, which just makes them unfocused and messy. It legitimately seems that only Sunrise can get them right.
There is, however, an exception. Kinda. Macross as a Franchise is weird with its continuity, with the most generally agreed theory being that all TV Series and movies are dramatic
retelling of “Real” events, kinda like how fans of Legend Of The Galactic Heroes like to call the difference between versions of that story as different historians doing their research and differing due to using different sources. This whole mess started with, apropiately enough, a movie based on the original SDF Macross: Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?, which is also widely considered the golden standard most Anime films from the 80’ were compared to. Why? Let’s find out:
Story:
I can’t really apply my usual method of adapting compilation movies here as, well, this isn’t a compilation movie at all. DYRL is a full retelling of the OG SDF Macross, all done from the ground up and with the expectation that you already have seen the show as this movie doesn’t bother much with exposition. In turn, this also allowed Kawamori and his team to change the story as they saw fit to make it work in the new medium, turning a story that was basically 3 cours long into one single movie.
There are of course issues, as you would imagine. Most subplots have either been axed off or greatly reduced. Roy in particular turns from a really well fleshed out character to a really minor one with a few amusing scenes. Same happens to Max, my favorite character, who has his whole arc greatly reduced in importance and screentime. In general, part of the appeal of the original Macross, that it was the journey of this group of people who eventually became the final survivors of humanity is, sadly, now loss.
However, to make up for it, the film acknowledges that. Instead, all of the focus is shifted to the classic love triangle between Hikaru, Hayase and Minmay. It is these characters that receive all the focus and their subplot is what drives the story forward, and with all honestly? It is done excellently. Not only does it not drag on for as long as the TV Series did, but overall they all have an excellent amount of chemistry together.
However it is also used as a way to show one of the main themes of the original series: Things change. People change. You can’t just go back to the past and make things how they used to be all of the sudden. While looking back at the past is wondrous, you also need to look forward and accept things for what they are now. This is all cleverly represented with Minmay’s reaction to realizing Hikaru’s feelings for Hayase and just wishing for things to go back to how they used to be, refusing to accept how both she and Hikaru have changed.
There are also a lot of smaller changes that don’t really affect the quality of the plot, but are nice. The most obvious one being how the Zentradi were given their own language (And yes, they did go full on Klingon Alphabet with it) and a McGuffin our heroes have to find. It doesn’t really affect the plot in any meaningful way, but it does help soemewhat streamline the whole narrative for a movie format. Overall, it’s hard not to praise the makers of this movie for making a 30+ episodes long story a fully cohesive 2 hours long movie.
Characters:
Of course, this is a very character driven show, so the cast better be good, and thankfully they are. Our main trio is changed a bit, with them immediately starting off at their midpoint of their character arcs: Hikaru is less whiny, Hayase is less of a hardass and Minmay is already suffering from burnout. This all done mostly because they changed the way they meet so the original starting point would make no sense, and I think it paid off. Minmay in particular benefits from being less of an airhead and overall less naiive.
As stated before, however, the side cast does suffer as a result. You do overall get the gist of them, but not much else really. They’re mostly there as accompaniment to the actual main plot. While it is a problem, I don’t think it bothered me much. The movie is clearly made for people who have watched the show, and even then they are still generally likable. Do I wish they’d gotten more focus? Of course! But this isn’t their movie, and I’m okay with that.
Animation:
Gone are the off-model days of the TV Series and only the Sakuga remains, and dear lord, this film is absolutely beautiful looking. No, seriously, this puts some movies from the 90’ to shame. Everything, from the characters to the mecha to the absolutely beautiful missile massacres looks absolutely amazing, and it all still holds up. Best of all the Zentradi got an absolutely amazing and much needed redesign. It’s incredible to see what this series could’ve done with a better budget.
The Mecha:
There isn’t much to say here. Most of them are reused from the show, bar a few minor alterations, generally just a few added details. The only one that deserves any special mention is Hikaru’s customized Valkyrie he uses in the final fight, which is freaking badass and I love it.
Sound:
This being Macross you expect a great OST, and you’d be right. Many tracks are reused from the show, but there are also a few new ones and a few rearrangements of old songs as well. Minmay gets a ton of her songs back, and while I’m still not a fan of most of them, they are all very well sung. Of course, you can’t talk about this movie without mentioning the song it is named after: “Ai Oboete Imasuka?”, one of the finest songs to grace this franchise.
Voice Acting:
Since the whole cast from the show reprises their roles and does a great job, I won’t really repeat myself as I already covered them in my review for the series. Instead I’ll mention someone who isn’t even in this movie but I don’t really have anywhere else to mention him: Nojima Kenji. Since Hase Arihiro died in the mid 90’, Nojima was brought in to replace him as Hikaru has appeared in a ton of videogames since, with Nojima himself making his debut in the role in the original Super Robot Wars Alpha. He does a great job too; while some of the honesty of Hase’s performance is lost, Nojima does a great impression of him, particularly impressive in the aforementioned game as he either had to completely re-record all of Hase’s old lines or do new lines alongside Hase’s old lines from this movie, and the transition is seamless. So yeah, props to Banpresto’s casting department.
Overall:
I believe I have made my thoughts on this movie clear already, but to put it bluntly, this film is great. They took the longest subplot of the original series and made some changes to it to make it better and made a movie out of it, and it all turned out wonderfully. It is a fantastic movie and a must-watch for all Anime fans. Yet the irony in all of this? For all the praise it gets, it is but a simple love story people back in the day enjoyed watching.
Final Score: 9/10
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