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Jun 28, 2017
-- This review contains spoilers. Only read if you have finished the series. --
I'm gonna get straight to the point, because quite frankly there's not much going for this show. This one of the worst things I have ever seen.
Basically, two people who happen to look alike decide to switch roles and do the other person's job. In a really dumb way, it somehow manages to work. The female lead goes to an all-boy school that is made for fighting - I guess - because they're never in class to begin with. Anyway, through sheer stupidity of the side characters, they support her and
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believe her, along with two other characters that know her identity. In the end, when it's made apparent that her secret is known, she decides to not reveal anything whatsoever, and it somehow manages to work out, again.
Not only was the story terrible, but the action scenes were incredibly dull as well. The viewers are also expected to believe that she successfully beat everyone with no real explanation to it. Not only that, but she has a past history with one character in particular, but nothing ever really happens with them.
Long story short: I understand you're the main character, but there's no way things just magically work out like that. Besides the obvious things, one may struggle to realize what the point in all of this was.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 27, 2017
-- This review contains spoilers. Only read if you have finished the series. --
Story:
Regrettably, I had initially believed this show to be a dark horse of the season. However, what I received was not what I had hoped for. Instead of a clever take on the magical fantasy setting, it was a walking stereotype with little to no depth.
It has a decent start with the mentioning of beastfallen and witches but quickly goes downhill with the very predictable direction. From the unoriginal yet "overpowered" main character, to the useless side character, to the boring villain, to the damsel in distress trope, to the lack
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of exploration on magic, to the obvious and highly convenient "plot twists" ...
Diving into the lack of exploration on magc, it has always been something that piqued my interest as far as I can remember. I just find the subject of "magic" to be interesting and limitless in terms of potential with story progression. Combine that with adventure, fantasy, and even witches, then it's natural to assume you would see it pretty often, right? I mean, considering its importance to the story, then why is it so little explored in this show? That is not using your strengths to your advantage, and it shows the lack of thought or small preparation in writing. To bring my point full circle, the incompetency in writing continues to be evident due to the poor characterization - which leaves the viewer to become apathetic towards said characters - and the terrible "plot twists" - which just ends up feeling anticlimactic to an already unimpressive show. For example, when it was revealed that Albus was a female, it felt as if though they were trying to store value into a character that was otherwise useless and dragging the story down with it.
Art:
Honestly, it could be better, but this is pretty standard in today's times with some relatively low dips in quality here and there. However, that's not necessarily a compliment. With numerous anime per season competing against each other, it should be common sense that having "better than standard art" be a necessity for relevancy. If not, then it's safe to assume proper care wasn't given to other aspects of that show as well. With nothing to really capture the attention, then did it have impact in the first place? We, as humans, tend to forget the things in life that are seen as daily routine or events that don't make us remember it afterwards, because in the end it becomes just that - irrelevant. I can say with certainty that Grimoire of Zero is not something I will look back on in the future.
Sound:
Much like the art, the sound was dull and forgettable. Admittedly, the show gave me no reason to listen its soundtracks. In fact, I'm quite happy to not spend time bothering to do so.
Characters:
The ultimate sin of a writer is to neglect its characters, which makes sense from my perspective. Why would you bother investing time into a story where you can't stand the characters to begin with? Or if the characters do not grow? The person you are going to spend most time with is the character, after all.
I will acknowledge the fact that the characters do grow in this anime, but it loses overall impact if I did not care for them at any given time. If the cons outweigh the pros, then it would be deemed as a liability and not an asset; an inconvenience or weakness, not a strength. From the get-go, the poor characterization, as previously stated, left an underwhelming first impression that was never really serious at fixing itself. At what point would you cross the line? Maybe the sudden tone shift where it was time to eat in the middle of a supposedly high-tension fight? It's absolutely ridiculous how bad that scene was, in particular. Why should I take it seriously if it refuses to do so? To add insult to injury, 13, specifically, had a questionable motive. Quite frankly, Zero, Albus, and even 13 were poorly written. That's 3/4 characters with the most screen time. 25% of that was decent with Youhei, our mercenary beastfallen. His struggle with society and lack of communication with others was notable, but his backstory needed further looking at.
To summarize, Zero, Albus, and 13 were liabilities, in my opinion. Rather than bringing something unique to the table, I received unoriginal content with poor excuses of reasoning behind it to boot.
The show somehow felt incredibly rushed and could have greatly improved had it taken the time to explore more of its own history, the inner workings of magic itself, and fleshed out its characters more. Also, if it just had better writing in general.
Long story short, this was a huge letdown with no redeemable qualities whatsoever. It is quite literally the very definition of "meh." With that being said, it still isn't the worst of the worst.
Final score: 3/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 25, 2017
-- This review contains spoilers. Only read if you have finished the series. --
Story:
This was an anime that caught my eye from the very beginning. The way it presents itself could be alluring to anybody, yet the story felt as if though it lacked any creative direction. Our main character, who goes by the name Sana, is basically an experiment with luck on her side. After her escape from the depressing facility, as if by fate, she meets and ends up being taken care of by Zouroku. Like most people, Sana cannot escape her past and is forced to go head to head with
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enemies... and then the second half of the story begins. This is where it essentially fell apart for me. Rather than focusing on what caught everyone's attention to begin with, it lowers itself to carefree almost slice-of-life-like daily events that do not seem significant initially. Another girl somehow magically attains the Dreams of Alice power and the last third of the show basically revolves around her and the birth of her friendship with Sana. This ended up achieving two things: Sana is no longer lonely, and we see a glimpse of the impact the Dreams of Alice has on the world - or at least Japan. However, at what cost did this underwhelming ending have on the show? Let's not forget how the expansion of Wonderland was ceased all at the push of a button, literally.
Art:
In terms of art, J.C.Staff has done better. With that said, it does portray a sort of childish atmosphere, and I can see why they went with this. I don't recall seeing dips in quality, either. For what it was trying to achieve, I would say it did a good job.
Sound:
The music was different from what we normally hear. Overall, I would describe it as a happy-go-lucky adventure in itself. It mirrored the show, or to be more precise, Sana's personality.
Characters:
When it comes to character development, I doubt there's much "development" a child can achieve in a show. But with Sana, we basically start from ground zero. As Zouroku mentions, everything is a first with her. Their relationship together can be seen as a grandfather and his granddaughter, or possibly even a parent and their child. His constant help really emphasizes how little she knows of the world, and throughout the show we end up seeing how she gradually learns. In comparison to the child characters, the adult characters received little screen time. If the show was longer, we could have gotten to know them a bit more. The show mainly focuses on the children, with the exception of Zouroku, and the things they learn throughout this journey. Zouroku himself is an honest man who wants nothing to do with corruption or what isn't deemed as the "honest life." His real granddaughter, Sanae, is painfully just there in the background most of the time. She seems like an airhead, but in reality she's just always cheery - much like Sana is.
In the end, there wasn't much to the story and characters as I thought there would be. If the show was expanded into more seasons, then I could understand. Unfortunately, it looks like they decided to give it its own ending. The final scene with grown-up Sana seemed rather cryptic as the fog that surrounded her and flowers she held immediately made me think she was at a graveyard, which possibly hints that Zouroku died about a decade later.
To me, the whole show seemed like a waste of a decent plot. Nothing was really achieved on a grand scale. The exception would be the Dreams of Alice being spread to other people, but we never really got to see more into that other than it happened. But who knows. Maybe that's not what the show was going for. Maybe it was just a story about a girl who desperately wanted a happy ending.
Final score: 4/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 22, 2017
-- This review contains spoilers. Only read if you have finished the series. --
Story:
When thinking of this show, the word wacky comes to mind. We're introduced to characters that fit their "niche," if you will, but with a slight spin on it. They are basically forced together with the end result of their shenanigans being rather bizarre at times. This comedy follows the job of a cupid and the troubles that go along with it. With that said, it may be repetitive here and there which brings the show down overall. However, one of my biggest problems with the show is that the story itself
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quickly goes downhill somewhere midway when Guri is basically forced to find love for the sake of "developing" her character; the way it was brought about was rather sudden and obvious in intention. As if the romance wasn't stiff enough as it is.
On the other hand, I do enjoy the ever-present theme of "good vs. bad" within the show; to be more precise, angels vs. demons. It really plays off the characters really well, and I think it was a great setup. For instance, our "antiheroine" Akane comes from an assassin family skilled with swords while her half-sister's family offers protection in the form of a shield, or rather, a barrier. Likewise, we can say the same thing towards Seiji's sister - being on the good side - and Shikimi - being on the bad side. Interestingly enough, Guri is a living and breathing oxymoron herself. She's an angel, yet she loves to stir up trouble every so often.
Art:
The exaggeration of the characters' actions brings home the idea that this anime should not be taken too seriously. It's really more for entertainment value, rather than being realistic. From the faces they make to the times they should have "died," the art makes sure to convey a comedic tone to it. Much to my surprise, it does a decent job of balancing out the tone in critical points.
Sound:
This department was pretty lackluster, admittedly. While it fits the general atmosphere, it's not exactly something you would want to listen to by itself. It has a somewhat quirky feel and generally compliments the show. Overall, it definitely gets the job done when it needs to, even if it's half-heartedly.
Characters:
Probably the most disappointing aspect of the show. It's a comedy, and I get that; they are funny in their own way. Although, that's not necessarily a good reason to cling to when they get so predictable early on. After a first impression or two, it's pretty obvious to see that Akane is a yandere, Guri is a carefree spirit, Seiji is clueless, Yuzu is obsessive, Shikimi is sadistic, and Akua is a tsundere. It's not exactly original. There may be some character development here and there - which is great - but then why does it go back to being redundant almost immediately afterwards? The change is definitely there, but it's just extremely hard to tell sometimes. More often than not, it's stagnant. While the characters did bring a smile to my face once in a while, I would not go so far to say that they have depth.
To summarize, it's an entertaining show. I would recommend it to anime fans that are looking for something... "peculiar." Despite the things it does right, it's just not my cup of tea. From my perspective, there were more negatives that outweighed the positives. As a whole, I would say it's pretty unoriginal yet amusing at best. You can interpret that however you wish.
Final score: 3/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Mar 29, 2017
-- This review contains spoilers. Only read if you have finished the series. --
Story:
The story is very interesting alone, or at least it was enough to catch my attention. It's a direct extension from Chaos;Head, so I was going into this trying to find answers. However, the problem with this show is that the explanation for things isn't exactly logical due to the lack of direction put into it and lackluster writing. Quite simply, it's a huge mess.
You have your typical high schoolers that are somehow involved in this big case that turned out to be incredibly pointless in the end. If you've seen
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the last episode, you'll know what I'm talking about. It was explained, with an obnoxious info-dump, that the whole reason the case even exists was because MC wanted to do something he enjoyed. But you know what's hilarious? He wished for this directly after seeing people die in an "earthquake." And I'm supposed to believe he "forgot" his wish when he literally begs for it out in the open? How is that even logical? That seems like something a bored kid would wish for, to be honest. It makes no sense whatsoever and just goes to show how the writer doesn't even remember half of his/her script.
The show also includes characters that don't necessarily need to be there, such as cute girl from hospital. She was probably necessary for about an episode - that's it. You're supposed to use your characters effectively throughout the story, not have them as cute props in the background for cheap appeal 95% of the time. I could say the same thing for other characters, as well.
Let's not even get into the fact that literally NOTHING was solved by the end of this show. The "evil organization" still exists, we don't know what will happen to any of the characters after the final scenes, and this entire season was just unnecessary to the plot in general because some boy made a stupid wish.
Art/Animation:
The appearance or "art" itself is okay for today's standards, maybe even on the mediocre side. With that being said, I think the animation is terrible beyond words. When I say this, I'm also referring to the fight scenes throughout the show - which was very minimal. The swords or "weapons" each person with powers had looked totally out of touch with the original artwork. When comparing the weapons to the characters, the differences were incredibly off-putting and underwhelming. The fight scenes themselves were hilarious, in my opinion; I'm just being honest here. I wouldn't even call the last episode's fight scene a climax or worthy of being watched at all - it was just that boring. At one point, MC's finishing move literally was out of no where, had no sound, and was replaced by a quick black screen filter of sorts. If I could describe it in one word, it would be: underwhelming, again.
Sound:
I'm not going to lie, this was probably my favorite aspect out of this show, which is not a compliment. In fact, it's an insult. If your soundtracks are the only thing you'll be known for in a series, then you're probably doing something wrong and not focusing on everything equally. I'll be sure to look into the singers and sound director's other works for my own personal enjoyment.
Characters:
Or as I like to call it.. How To Create A Boring Character 101.
Step 1) Include dialogue that is so basic it doesn't reflect the character's personality at all.
Step 2) Include zero depth, because adding depth is too much work.
Step 3) Include only flashbacks to create character's past.
Step 4) Include cliche lines with predictable actions.
Step 5) Profit.
And voila! You're finished.
All joking aside, there was nothing memorable about these characters. What were their names, someone may ask? I wouldn't know because I don't consider it relevant. In fact, the entire show was irrelevant. I feel as if though this was all just an elaborate detour and we still don't know anything.
Overall, this was a waste of time. I wouldn't recommend this to anybody. I only completed it because I was already halfway through it anyway.
I don't grade each category like we're "supposed to" because I find it pointless, and it wouldn't really convey my points accurately either. My philosophy is that whatever the show gives me, I give back in return. In other words, if you give me minimal effort, I'll give you a minimal score. I would give this show the lowest possible score, but it at least tried to do something different - which I do acknowledge.
Final score: 2/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Feb 25, 2017
Set in a fantasy-like land, there exists dragons and people who clean the teeth of these great flying-beasts, whom are known as dragon dentists. Dragon dentists cleanse the teeth of "bacteria" and prevent cavities in what looks like a dragon port, station, or village. These bacteria and cavities are harmful because it affects the dragon's power of revival. It is said that humans are reborn after death through the teeth of dragons, but they may not always be reborn as humans. One exception to this rule is the "yomigaeri," or bad omen, which is said to be a sign of future destruction. This may symbolize
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humanity's sins as a whole. Is this fate, or is it mere coincidence? Does fate even exist, or is it something we tell ourselves in order to stop trying? These themes are ever-present throughout the show. In particular, our dragon dentists are very aware of this concept. They have a sense of understanding on what it means to live and what it means to die.
It should be noted that in Buddhism, there is no belief in "God" or "fate." This contrasts against the dragons that live and enable their power of reincarnation. There is a mixture of beliefs or a constant clash in ideology carefully embedded into this show. It makes you think. It makes you wonder. You can be alive, but are you really living? It is said that dragons "cry with their teeth," yet their teeth is their source of power; they live, and they live genuinely.
If you were put into this story, would you fight your fate or would you accept it? There would be a sense of irony if you resisted your fate only to find out that it was your destiny to fight fate; you would be playing into the plan right from the start. Our fellow characters are forced to find out if we truly are the authors of our own tale. Ryuu no Haisha, or The Dragon Dentist, is an unconventional surprise that contains Buddhist undertones and challenges what we may believe in ourselves.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Feb 3, 2017
Let me start off by saying this is a movie that is heavily "supernatural" driven. While other shows may contain supernatural elements, they fail to lay out the foundation of those very elements until it is convenient; in other words, they usually wait to explain until the very end. However, with Your Name, it was laid out from the very beginning. By doing so, it marks a consistency and gives itself time to explore its world while not leaving you in the dark about the paranormal that is at play. This was one of the movie's essential strong points.
From the starting point, a comet
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was able to be seen by people from many places - two in particular. While the heavily populated city life brings up this sense of individuality and independence, the more community-based counterpart has a motif of connectivity and unity. Understandably, the contrasts of living in an exciting city or serene countryside - reinforced by the undeniably attractive visuals - is enticing to any eye. One could argue that anime, a form of art, is intended to make you feel, or make you think, or simply to be enjoyed. Although, one should also ask themselves what the perspective really is when viewing someone's story. Every good story should have a purpose, and every purpose should be supported by its story. Makoto Shinkai's works are similar in the sense that they are on an emotional spectrum with a sensitive side rather than a philosophical one more grounded to reality. You could debate about whether an anime is "realistic" or not, but then you would lose sight of the point. Kimi no Na wa ends up fabricating an interesting spin on the theory of time travel by implementing a supernatural twist of body switching along with it. However, by creating a reason that triggers these two elements, it manages to combine them both.
The body switching aspect playfully reveals the lives of our two main characters, the adventurous Mitsuha Miyamizu and the diligent Taki Tachibana. Mitsuha lives a more traditional and spiritual life while Taki lives a more modern and covetous lifestyle. While being in each other's bodies, they learn the little details about each other and grow to understand or respect one another's viewpoint. They, quite noticeably, influence and grow as individuals despite the unconventional role of communication or interaction. The prevalent theme of being connected is both shown from a direct and indirect position; from a straightforward supernatural approach to a much more broader concept of the "universe" in an intangible, spiritual sense. This theme is particularly supported by the comet itself that is present from start to finish. While the themes were certainly consistent, Kimi no Na wa's message is made evident by the "divide" in time and polarity of differences.
Overall, Your Name has an unyielding story right down to the title. Although it may not be on the realistic side, it is certainly an interesting and engaging experience that manages to deliver its overarching message of looking at the bigger picture.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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