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Sep 14, 2010
storyline (8/10)
Elfen Lied probably started out with the bloodiest beginning I have seen in awhile. Despite how gruesome it was, it was definitely gripping and the intensity of the story continued until its very end. I felt that the pacing was a tad rushed, but overall, it had a great plot. However, I think that Elfen was cut short, and after rummaging around the internet, I found out that the manga series continued even after the anime series -- which makes sense considering that the anime in the beginning touched about the company that had taken care of the Diclonius only to sweep it
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aside and ignore it by the end. I expected the anime to delve further into the director's goals and how the characters would stop his ambitions, but it hardly touches upon it by the time the ending credits roll around. It doesn't do a good job throughly explaining and cleaning up all the ties. I think of this anime more as an appetizer to Elfen's world more than a full course. I think to get the full context of the story, the manga did a better job.
art (8/10)
the characters were pretty average. i really liked the vectors, some of the buildings/scenery. and the gory scenes were well, bloody epic.
sound (8.5/10)
the only reason being the closing song did NOT fit Elfen whatsoever. it was much too cheery, much too happy. I loved the OP a lot. It grabbed me right away with its haunting and mysterious soundtrack. great picks.
character (8.5/10)
again, I fault it on Elfen's shortened ending. There wasn't enough development with characters, especially with the antagonist's side. I wish that the protagonist was more conflicted about Lucy considering what she had done to his family. I think the most throughly explored characters were probably #35, Nana, Kurama (i think that's his name) and possibly Lucy. The others needed more. Kohta in general needed to be more proactive. I completely forgot about his character once in awhile because he does so little in the anime. (Maybe that's his job... idk. he reminded me of Shiro from Fate/Stay Night) However, I did like the complexity in all the characters -- no one was necessarilly wholly good or wholly bad. Even Nana who was supposed to be the "good" girl, is in the beginning slapped in the face by the protagonist for harming Nyu and she's confused as to who's bad/who's good and etc. The complexity behind the characters definitely made them more human and more interesting than some of the other characters I've seen these days.
Enjoyment (10/10)
I finished it in 1 day non-stop. and even after I finished it I wanted to rewatch it. I think an anime that could provide that much addiction deserves a 10. Certainly in no way I was bored in any scenes in the series. I was either grossed out, laughing or touched. Great blend. Great series.
Overall (8.5/10) great series. but it was cut short. not recommended for the faint-hearted. and I would definitely recommend reading the manga afterwards for the full story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 21, 2010
I honestly wish MAL had a way of doing the ratings so I could do points (like 9.8) than a whole number (like 10) so I could give a more accurate rating.. but.
before my review, I wanted to mention that my review is catered towards those who have watched the original series since every time I think of Brotherhood, I'm constantly linking it back to the original series.
anyways.
I think it's a sin if you have not heard of the FMA franchise and you watch animes.
The original FMA series swept the anime world by storm and collected fans like a hook,
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line and sinker. While its popularity dawdled when the series started breaking away from the manga's storyline, it was still hailed by many reviewers/critics alike as a great, must-watch series. I was no exception to its hype.
After watching the original FMA, I stayed away from animes for the last three years. Any series I tried after FMA, I couldn't get into it -- it just wasn't good enough. It didn't have that "it" factor that FMA had. And so I left each series after FMA unfinished, dropped and with huge disappointments. So I left the anime world all together until I heard the news of a remake of FMA coming out. Initially when I heard about this re-make series, I got nervous at the possibility of them ruining what I hailed as one of the greatest animes at the time. After all, was it possible to perfect an already masterful series? But for the sake of my love for the original series, I decided to give Brotherhood a try.
And what a terrifyingly amazing anime it was...
...is what I would like to say. but the first impression of FMA: brotherhood was disappointment. I mostly owe this to the extreme fast pacing that FMA: Brotherhood adapted for the first 11 episodes. It starts off at a breakneck speed and crams I believe 2-3 episodes of what the original FMA had into 1.
The advantage of this is that it is a nice, FAST refresher for those who have watched the original series and for those who are new, it is a very fast summary of the big events (ie nina) that would continue to resurface throughout the series. The disadvantage (and my problem) of this method is that it loses the emotions behind each scenes (namely Nina's) that the original series so very well poignantly portrayed. However, I do understand that Bones had to cram this long series into a span of a year. Taking that into account, it does get the job done and bring the audiences to the branching point where FMA and brotherhood essentially splits, neatly and cleanly. And from this point onwards, it certainly did become the "terrifyingly amazing anime" that I hoped it to be.
The plot is undoubtedly one of the most original, action-packed, twisted storylines I have seen. However, what makes this anime so great is that it also had comedic moments that serve as a breather to all the emotional or intense scenes. Most animes I've seen run into a problem here as they are either not able to break away from the heavy atmosphere or the comedic moments are awkwardly placed. Brotherhood proves otherwise and makes the switch into and out of comedic scenes work smoothly. And I praise them for it. Even in the most dire consequences, I can't help but let out a chuckle every time Ed erupts into fits with the word "short" The plot is definitely more smoother than FMA was (most likely since it just followed the manga, which had a very complex yet easy to follow storyline) and the ending of Brotherhood is simply divine. I can't put it in words how good and satisfied the ending left me -- it neatly put all the stray hairs into one and gave me what I think is the most appropriate and "realistic" end for this series.
If I had one thing to complain about aside from the loss of emotional component in the beginning, it's the episode with Yoki. Honestly, it was so short that it completely passed over my head when he was reintroduced. I thought he was a character that appeared out of nowhere until the anime had a refresher of where the viewers first met him. While he isn't a super important character, he's a character that constantly appears and reappears throughout the series. Thus, I felt that his episode should have been expanded longer than what it was in the beginning.
I'm not a huge stickler on music/voice in general -- but the voice actors did a great job with each of their assigned characters. I can't imagine them sounding like any other after the completion of the series. And the soundtracks, while I do prefer the FMA ones, Brotherhood still provides great OSTs that left me with no complaints.
From what I remember, while it was more simple, the animation was more crisper than what I had seen in the FMA. however, I did originally hate the art -- not because it was bad but it took me a couple episodes to get used to it. After all, I loved FMA through and through that I've rewatched the series on more than one occassion. It was natural that the image of Ed, Al and all the other characters were so deeply embedded in my head that my brain registered any other form of them as "weird" and "awkward" but after getting used to it, I really liked it. I remember really enjoying the fight scenes in FMA brotherhood, lots of great visual affects, pleasing to the eye. (especially during transmutation) fantastic.
If I had to point to the single most thing that probably made Brotherhood a bigger gem than FMA it is probably in the characters. FMA, I think, focuses heavily on the two brothers and their development throughout the story. Brotherhood doesn't stray from this but also adds in the other characters and enhances their role in the story -- adding depth and complexity to the side characters more than FMA did such as with Mustang and most definitely the antagonists. (I find this ironic since Brotherhood is well, called "brother"hood but does a better job in developing the entire cast) By the end of the story, it is able to boast a gigantic number of characters but is able to package them individually into well-rounded characters.
so the short version/my breakdown:
plot (9.8/10) fast fast pacing in the beginning, you get used to it as it goes. however, as a compensation, lacks a bit in emotions in the beginning. well balanced series of comedy/serious moments, nice twists and an EPIC, godly ending.
music (10/10)
animation (10/10) took awhile to get used to. a bit more simpler than FMA but more crisp. great visual effects that stands out in the fight scenes.
character (10/10) a crazy huge cast. however, they're all well-developed and fit into the story rather nicely.
enjoyment (10++++/10) .. if i could give 11s, this would be it.
overall (10/10) I'm hesitant to give 10s in any form -- but I think this anime truly deserves it. (or if not, it would be like a 9.99999999) It exceeded what I thought was impossible and delivered a captivating story with detailed character development, great music/visual to boot and NO FILLERS (the last one being a pretty amazing feat in this day and age if you know what I mean). A classic in my book, and a must-watch in everyone's.
*random note: I'm not sure how helpful this would be since most people who read this review had probably finished the series, BUT for those who are starting and have watched and loved the original series, I would actually recommend skipping the first 11 (assuming you're well familiar with the story) since I think it's around episode 11-12 where the branching from FMA and Brotherhood starts. I did that when I watched Brotherhood first time around because I've watched FMA enough times (I'm too embarrassed to tell you the exact number) that I just continued comparing the two series and also got bored since I knew the scenes by heart.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 21, 2010
Plot (6.5/10):
“shall I take you? to a place in the city where wishes come true”
-Episode 1, Clannad, Nagisa
The message of what Clannad initially intends is promising – however, it is something that is not correctly delivered in my opinion. The series is divided into a series of arcs that at the very end of the day, it has an overarching theme that it tries to deliver. It works – sort of. My biggest problem was in the division of the arcs – it was extremely unevenly divided especially with the beginning 10 episodes being entirely focused on Fuko and then approximately 3 episodes
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dedicated to the main heroine in the story, Nagisa. Honestly. What the heck? While the arcs themselves are beautiful and emotionally provoking, the transition between each arc is messy and rough. Overall, it did work, but it left some holes (such as the robot and the girl) that ALWAYS came out in the beginning of the episodes but never was there an explanation to satisfy the viewers at the end of the series. Also, the stories are quite cliche.
Animation (8/10): simply amazing. Animation is extremely clean – it’s easy on the eyes and there isn’t anything that distracts me from the story. I’m not really an artist so I can’t really critique as well as I would like, but nothing really bothered me too much about the art, aside from the fact that all the girls seem to look EXACTLY THE SAME. IN the beginning I couldn’t remember their names and just started calling them “the silver haired girl” “the brown haired” “the purple twins” etc.
Music (10/10): the music is fantastic, but they are rather simple melodies. However, it worked for Clannad. Clannad for the most part, tells a simple, slice-of-life story. So the music fit beautifully and wove into the story (especially in the emotional moments, but also in the comedic moments as well) I think the voices were appropriate for each characters – especially tomoya’s.
Characters (7.5/10): My biggest problem with the characters were their development into the story. I felt that certain characters were overemphasized than others, but the development of side characters in some sense had outshadowed the two main characters’ growth which had bothered me. But I did love Nagisa’s parents as well as Tomoya’s bff as comic relief throughout the story. Each character has a quirk that makes them easy to distinguish one from another in terms of personality, which I loved and wished was further developed.
enjoyment (8/10)
Overall (7/10) for me this was an anime with potential that was never fully developed. I always felt that Clannad with 24 episodes was just too short to tell its full story about all the characters, to tell an overarching message AND to develop a loveline between tomoya and nagisa. Although it is important to keep in mind that Clannad was originally a visual novel containing multiple branching storylines -- and so there were hardships to integrate the storyline into one and still keep a focus, it is still not an excuse for convoluted and confusing arcs that were not well put together. Overall, with it’s poignant stories, it’s an anime that could be watched for enjoyment, but with plot holes here and there and rough transitions, it ends up being nothing more than an “average” anime in my eyes.
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with that being said, I HIGHLY encourage anyone who had either 1) the same opinions as I did after finishing clannad/clannad AS 2) who loved the series to death to play the visual novel. While I think Clannad/Clannad AS averages out to be a 8/10 total, the Visual Novel is a solid 10/10. It covers all the "holes" and problems I had with the anime seamlessly and spins a simply beautiful story. (the story is the same, but it's more indepth and the characters are much more fleshed out). I've played around 20 Visual Novels (Ever-17, Tsukihime, Sharin no kuni etc) so far -- and I can say with confidence that Clannad is definitely a gem. If you are going to play the game though, I highly recommend the 300 hour walkthrough (more like a must-have) it's extremely hard to play without one in my opinion.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 21, 2010
ahh first review.. SPOILERS AHEAD. SPOILERS AHEAD SPOILERS AHEAD.
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don't say i didn't warn you.
first off, if you have not watched Clannad, you need to watch that before you ever start Clannad AS. in my opinion, Clannad is a very average anime (7-7.5/10 at best), but the background information in Clannad is crucial to AS. That being said, if you watched Clannad, you shouldn't hesitate to watch clannad AS. AS and Clannad shouldn't be looked upon as separate series -- but a continuous one.
STORY (8.5/10)
Mostly because I have problems with the ending -- i felt that it was placed mostly to
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make all the Clannad fans happy than to deliver a good story. Because the ending was too happy, too surreal, I think the impact of the message (which I believed was along the lines of family, finding what you want to protect and changing your own fate) that Clannad attempted to make significantly decreased. On top of it, there are a lot of cliche quotes/scenes. In some scenes I was able to guess what the characters would say long before they did and almost to the point. However, at the same time, I can never slander Clannad for its cliche plot because it delivers it with an amazing emotional intensity. And I truly believe that it is this emotional appeal that makes Clannad AS so loved by many fans and allows the critics to overlook its cliche storyline. It makes you really feel from the bottom of your heart what it means to love someone. what it means to be a parent. what it means to care for others. what it means to live. At the end of the day, this anime makes you think. Laugh. Weep and Sigh with contentment. For its versatility of emotions that it was able to carry in mere 24 episodes (technically 22), I applaud it. (I would say emotional component alone was 9.5-10/10)
Art (8/10)
I had no huge problems with the art other than the fact that all the girls seemed to look alike (aside from their hair color). it bugged me -- a little. But not much.
Music (10/10)
fantastic soundtrack. i downloaded all of them. the serene/mellow tracks are definitely my favorite. Listening to the tracks makes me remember certain scenes -- which indicates just how powerful of a tool music is in Clannad. I really believe that in certain scenes, it was the music that carried the mood more than the story. Also, the Dango song is integrated into the plot and becomes a symbol for Nagisa -- which was I thought an interesting way to incorporate music with the anime. It made it seem that without music, a piece of this animation would be missing -- brilliant.
Character (8/10)
I loved. Loved. Loved. Tomoya’s character development. But I felt that Nagisa remained rather static. Actually, I felt that her personality was flat in Clannad compared to the other characters, but I saw that she did at least improve a little. But in Clannad AS, she is hardly seen and hardly grows. She is just an emotional pillar that Tomoya learns to lean on when he needs help. I wish that her character was developed with tomoya because it would have brought their already close relationship to an even more stellar level. However, I think that Tomoya’s character growth was suddenly stunted by the way that the Clannad writers chose to do the end. I wish there were more scenes with Ushio and Tomoya. Ushio is the cutest, most loveable character I have ever encountered in an anime. She’s a mature but cute kid that anyone sane enough would “awwww” and would like to adopt :]. Basically, I love her. It was a shame that the story focuses purely on Tomoya and Nagisa (although I did prefer it since the story was given a better focus) becase it sacrificed the huge number of character cast that Clannad boasted before.
Enjoyment (10/10)
Overall (8.3/10)
while I didn’t bawl at any point in the series, I did have moments where I had goosebumps and when I just felt a part of my heart shatter looking at their tears (helloooooo episode 18 -- an episode I've watched countless, countless of times. It's my favorite episode by miles and miles. It’s one of the major reasons why I think this anime is gold). It has an amazing emotional component that easily out does many, many of the same animes in its genre. I could definitely hail Clannad AS as one of the greatest romantic animes of its time, and although the Clannad series on the whole (including original Clannad) has its bumps and flaws, I’m glad I finished it up until the very end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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