- Last OnlineAug 15, 2022 4:01 PM
- JoinedJun 7, 2017
No friend yet.
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Feb 19, 2018
Truth be told, I stopped watching the anime after the 6th episode and continued the rest by reading the manga because the anime had terrible pacing. The first few episodes had some glimmers of interesting things and ideas, but were obviously and painfully stretched out. After reading the manga it was pretty apparent why: the animators had to get at least 2 minutes per panel since the chapters were so short. Even so, any criticisms I have with the manga are identically with the anime since my gripes are mainly with the story, characters, and setting whereas I found the art and sound to be
...
the best parts of the anime.
Let me preface this review by warning you of minor SPOILERS.
The most glaring and pressing issue that really took me out of this anime/manga was how readily Riko's friends allowed her and Reg to disappear into a LITERAL deathtrap. Riko had made her intentions explicitly clear that she wanted to go to the deepest parts of the Abyss in order to find her mother, which no person had EVER survived climbing out of. Not only do her teacher and Uncle both know about this... they actually allow and encourage it. Two very experienced divers who are extremely knowledgeable about the dangers of the Abyss and very acutely aware that Riko is a FUCKING 12-year-old girl with no special abilities along with a barely understood robot/cyborg thing that's supposed to act as a guardian. What the fuck is wrong with these people? They are sending off a child to a place of eldritch horror in which being torn limb from limb and eaten is one of the better deaths you could hope for. The only sensible friend that Riko has who opposes this is peer pressured into making up with Riko because he said that her mother is most likely dead. Which is almost certainly true and a sentiment that any person with a brain could agree with.
The second issue I have with the series is the world-building. And I'm not talking about the specifics of the Abyss, although there are plenty of problems there. The series takes no effort in implicitly establishing and reinforcing the idea that the people of Orth are Abyss diving experts and the fact that their daily lives revolves around this deadly Abyss. Most of the divers are dressed like they're going to the safari rather than diving into the literal pits of hells. I would have thought that the series would have incorporated some mountaineering and caving terms and concepts like bivouacking or belaying. This would make sense since they are literally climbing into a hole and climbing back out. But nope, I'd seen only one scene where a person climbs down with a rope and that was like a 10 foot drop. Why does nobody have any climbing equipment or even any rope on them? Riko gets carried down like the child she is by Reg's mechanical arms... so what about the rest of the cave divers? Riko and Reg also seem to have no equipment on them whatsoever. Reg carries the only backpack they thought to bring with them and in it has some cooking utensils and some change of clothes. Are these kids going to a fucking summer camp? In some scenes they are sleeping in the open. Why didn't they bring a tent with them? Wouldn't that make more sense than sleeping in the open with monsters all around? And why doesn't anyone seem to have any weapons? In the very first episode a giant flying shark shows up in an usually safe area almost kills Riko and her friend. Her teacher literally gave no fucks about that and told them to be more careful. None of the cave divers, apart from the elite White Whistles, carry any form of self-defense or seem to be strong enough to take on even the weakest of enemies. This just breaks my immersion far too much. This is like trying to explore the Marina Trench with some kiddie floats.
These are the main problems I had with the anime before I broke off of watching it. It's not a matter of wanting to see more action or guns, it's a matter of tonal consistency. If the kids were going to a summer camp, this anime would fit it perfectly. The people of this world (with the exception of White Whistles) do not look, feel, or talk like they live next to a gaping Abyss of horror and madness. They let Riko go off as though she's just going to the playground by herself for the very first time.
I could go on with the issues I found with the story and characters, but you could find those with other reviews. This show and manga are both highly overrated and complete trash in my objective opinion.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Jun 13, 2017
If I had watched the anime first before reading both the original webcomic and the remake by Murata, I would have definitely rated this higher. Alas, what's done is done and what I can say is the manga is better and outshone the anime in multiple places. That's just a consequence of the source material originating from manga form after all. I can't really blame the anime because the medium itself just isn't the right one for some of the set pieces and jokes. For example, when Genos first introduces himself to Saitama, he gives an incredibly wordy and hilariously generic tragic character story which
...
is purposely shown as a huge wall of text in a speech bubble in the manga. In the anime Genos goes on for a full minute or two to do this gag, which feels really drawn out and paced poorly compared to the manga. Again, this is just the problem with switching mediums.
Story (7/10):
The anime follows the manga almost to a tee so the story remains largely the same. The only really notable change is that the anime is missing all of the special one-shot chapters, which is a shame because some of those are the best ones in the manga and hold significant world-building and some character development. Other than that, the anime adds more focus on the Heroes Association and scenes involving heroes that weren't in the manga. Now the story itself isn't really anything to write home about. Its serviceable and builds enough intrigue and mystery to keep you going. One thing I love about OPM is that it doesn't try to be something it's not. It's a comedy first, action second kinda show and the plot reflects that. I do have a small gripe with it, which is that it is kinda like a monster-of-the-week deal with not much lore. The manga does hint at a overarching villain, but the anime is far far from even being close to that point. Again, these issues don't really hurt the story in anyway because as I said, it is a comedy. It's just that having a bit more lore would spice up the story and make this great anime even better.
Art (7/10):
The art is great, but alas I have been spoiled by Murata. Though its definitely way better than the webcomics (which is almost purposefully "bad"), the art in this anime falls short of the manga. Some of it is because of again, the medium change. Especially with the introduction of Metal Knight. In the manga, Metal Knight showing up to destroy the meteor is an entire chapter of just him flying and landing in watercolor, which is one of the very few times a chapter is in color. The last page of this chapter is particularly orgasm inducing as the city is reflected off his shiny helmet.This scene was a brilliant visual switch up and the anime couldn't really come close to the same effect since its already in color. Also sometimes the animation during fight scenes would switch to a less detailed but more kinetic art, which kinda put me off the first time watching it. It's not terrible, but I wish they kept the same animation throughout.
Sound (9/10):
They absolutely nailed the opening song and the theme song. Incredibly memorable and exactly what I would imagine the main songs for OPM would be. This is a lot more than I can say for a majority of animes. The only thing stopping me from giving it a 10 is that they do reuse some tracks a fair bit, which is kinda annoying at times.
Character (8/10):
The characters in OPM, like the story, isn't anything to write home about. They are solid, believable and most importantly feel human. The case can be made for Saitama being inhuman since he exhibits a Dr. Manhattan kinda of feel because he is literally infinitely strong. He is definitely not easy to relate to since all his obstacles die in one punch and no effort. There is a reason why shounen animes and mangas are so popular and its because the vast majority of people can identify with the immense struggles and insecurities that main characters eventually overcome in order to reach their goals. In OPM, struggles are instead delegated to the secondary characters in the Heroes Association. This is a very bold move and it pays off in dividends because the plethora of strong characters with solid motivations and unique designs carry the anime in the character department. One interesting difference I noticed about the anime from the manga is that the anime tries to make some of the lesser heroes more "heroic" by including scenes that show them in a positive light that weren't in the manga. In the manga, the majority of heroes are shown to be more ambiguously grey in their morals. Most join the HA for fame and glory and aren't above using dirty tricks to get ahead of other heroes. Now they're a few good apples in this mix and most of them would, when push comes to shove, do their duty.
Overall, the anime was probably the best adaptation we could have had for one of my favorite mangas of all time. I do want to stress that if you're not sure whether to read or watch it first, I would highly recommend watching it first because I'm sure your enjoyment of the anime would be diminished otherwise. Anyway, this is a solid anime and you should hop on it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jun 12, 2017
I came in watching this because I found the initial idea of a symbiotic relationship between a parasite and a human pretty interesting and it looked like the fight scenes were going to be fun. Needless to say I came away very disappointed after only 7 episodes in.
Story (4/10):
This anime starts off as the classic fish-out-of-water scenario with Shinchi as the fish whose worldview is completely turned upside down when an alien parasite attaches to his right hand and reveals that humans are merely fodder for its species. This is fine and all, but the problem is Shinchi continues to be a fish
...
and things have to be constantly explained to him (thus us the viewers) by mostly his parasite Migi or other parasites in long drawn out monotone lectures. Literally anything new or unexpected that happens is almost immediately explained by a parasite. "Show, don't tell" is the golden rule of a story telling experience and this anime does a whole lot of telling instead of showing.
This is particularly annoying when the anime tries to invoke deeper messages about the nature of humans and humanity itself relative to other organisms. There is clearly a "right" way of thinking about these kinds of topics because the anime tells us as much in its laughably cliche morality scenes. Also Shinchi even calls himself a "morally-upright high schooler", which means every time he ponders about a moral issue, the side he takes is correct. This is just lazy story-telling.
Beyond that, the story just isn't very interesting at all compared to its premise. Migi, in a span of what I can only guess is a week, is not only able to learn the entirely of the Japanese language but also have a mastery of biology and various other subjects. Tamiya is another parasite that is able to completely impersonate a person to the extent of keeping her host's original social standing as a calculus teacher in Shinchi's highschool. So these parasites are able to learn at inhumane speeds and even integrate into human society with little to no problem whatsoever. However, the greatest aspiration of any parasite I've seen so far is its own survival. [Spoilers] Tamiya may be an exception because she seems interested in studying human society and interaction. So you are telling me these hyper-intelligent shape-shifting parasites with no morality other than survival of the fittest have no other goals than just surviving? What's the point of making them super intelligent if they only want to survive? The heavy implications of such creatures existing in our society is never explored and really is a missed opportunity.
Art (4/10):
The art is fairly ok, there's not much to say about it other than it looks like every other generic anime other than for the parasites. The designs for the parasites are generally pretty unique, I have to give it that. However, this makes their fight scenes disappointing in comparison. The extent of the fight scenes in this anime are the two opposing parasites standing across from each other and using their tendrils with blades at the end to whip and stab at each other at light speeds. Its just a bunch of whip noises and blade clashing sounds while the two characters do a staring contest with a bunch of blurry blades hitting each other in the air. Incredibly unimaginative and a real snoozefest. For a battle between shapeshifting super aliens, there's less action than in a children's card game.
Sound (3/10):
Honestly I have no idea what the director of this anime was thinking when he put in some of these tracks. A great majority of the music is some form of dubstep, but really quiet. The whole point of dubstep is that its dance music. You'll be hard pressed to find any dubstep track thats effective in building tension or reflecting the character's emotional state. The tracks they used definitely do not fit whatsoever and generally detract from the scene that they are put in. Seriously, just watch the first episode when Shinchi meets the dog parasite. The music is so laughably inappropriate that shitty AMV's look like masterpieces compared to that scene.
Character (3/10):
Boring 2D cardboard characters all around except for Shinchi and Migi. And even then, Shinchi is a generic retarded moron nerd that has to get spoonfed everything. Migi is literally a robot with a monotone voice 90% of the time and almost no emotion. Clearly Migi is going to have some development into turning more human as a result of Shinchi's dumbass morality and human qualities. And he'll end up caring about Shinchi because that's how these kinds of animes go. But as of now there is no endearing relationship between the two characters. Or anything at all besides Shinchi (in Migi's words) thinking of Migi as a mild nuisance and Migi needing Shinchi to survive. Seriously? You don't have any overarching stronger emotions regarding an alien whose species eats humans and has threatened to make you blind and deaf? Shinchi freaks out for like half an episode about the whole thing and I guess gets tired of harboring strong emotions. Which is not how a real human would react. The thing about real humans is that it takes a long time to build trust. Longer time if you start off the wrong foot... which having your hand being replaced by a sentient hostile parasite is most definitely a couple of wrong foots there. And the longest if who you're trying to connect with shows no discernible signs of emotion, personality, or empathy. I am just under 1/3 of the way through and there is no development between the two characters other than the generic "you saved me and I saved you and we're both in this together so we must be friends". That's not how humans work. That's just generic anime bullshit.
Enjoyment (4/10):
This was just terrible all around. Enjoyment is definitely not something I got out of this anime. I would say Bewilderment (8/10), Boredom (7/10), Cringe (9/10), Waste of Time (10/10). Seriously there's a lot better than this garbage.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
