Back to ggultra2764's Profile ggultra2764's Profile

Scum's Wish focuses on teenagers Hanabi and Mugi making a pact together to form a temporary relationship to satisfy their sexual frustrations from unrequited love until they are able to successfully hook up with their love interests. Outside of our main leads, the series also delves into the personal problems plaguing some of those close to Hanabi and Mugi in regards to intimate relationships and how this affects our two leads.

Scum's Wish sticks out from many romance titles in a number of ways. First, it explores the negative ramifications of unrequited love as seen from the experiences of any teenage character in the series. As seen throughout the series, Hanabi, Mugi, and several other characters are shown to exploit the desires and vulnerabilities of those they start sexual relationships with to satisfy the urges and frustrations they have with lacking the ideal companionship they desire. The characters realize with time how flawed it is to have a relationship that relies purely on sexual interactions, how this could hurt any positive relationships they have with those close to them, and gradually learn to find their own ways to move on from these negative experiences to find a romantic relationship they can form more positive connections with.

The second way that Scum's Wish sticks out is that it doesn't idealize the relationships formed by its characters. The characters are believably flawed in how they cope with not having the relationships they want, whether due to inexperience dealing with such emotions or having the obsessive desire to seek companionship through sex. All relevant characters in the series are focused on to show how they met up with and developed feelings for their love interest, as well as showing the negative toll that their issues have on their mental state when it comes to trying to understanding how romantic relationships are supposed to be more than just sexual relations.

The third way that the series sticks out comes in regards to how it treats its sexual content. Scum's Wish isn't afraid to focus on intimate scenes between its characters as they are important in showing how the characters regard sex in their actions toward those they initiate the act with. While certainly not appropriate to show for younger or more sensitive audiences, the acts are tastefully depicted and do well at showing the flaws of many of its characters with how they regard sexual acts.

This being said, Scum's Wish isn't without its flaws. The series can turn off those who can't connect with the actions and decisions made by these characters that I have taken notice of, as there are points where the characters can come off as repulsive and selfish with how they exploit others to satisfy their carnal desires. Personally, I was not turned off by many of the characters in their behavior, though Noriko's character did grate on my nerves at points with how obnoxious her voice acting came off. The only characters that I did not feel satisfied with in their relationship developments came with Narumi and Akane, as the resolution of the relationship came off a bit forced given the issues that Akane dealt with from being a nymphomaniac.

Still, Scum's Wish made for one of the more interesting titles I had a chance of seeing for 2017 thus far thanks to the psychological focus it offers up on the flaws of its characters with handling unrequited love and understanding how there are more to relationships than just sexual acts. It won't be for everyone given its sexual content and how low a number of the characters can go with their developments. But it still made for one of the more better watches I've gotten out of recent anime titles for the year thus far.

Helpful

read more

Girlish Number is another of a number of recent anime titles that attempt to believably explore an element of the anime industry, in this case work as a seiyuu. Whereas titles like Shirobako and Seiyu's Life paint a more optimistic mood of the developments of their lead characters within the anime industry, Girlish Number opts for a more realistic look at things in its focus on our main lead and struggling seiyuu, Chitose. While a struggling seiyuu in the same vain as Seiyu's Life's Futaba, Chitose sports a more cynical outlook on her present situation as she is struggling to get a breakthrough role and while putting on the public persona of a highly confident and energetic person, her private persona is not so appealing as her brother/ manager often has to put up with. In addition, Chitose also has to face the limitations of her talents in voice acting when she struggles with a main role that she is able to land for an anime production, has to put up with the high pressures that the industry put on seiyuu like herself with looks and talent, and has to deal with harsh criticisms from fans of the anime she is cast in. Outside of Chitose's struggles, the series also believably looks into the not so appealing aspects of anime production as meddling from production management, a source material's creator having little to no say in the production of their work, production delays, milking marketing gimmicks, and not making a faithful adaptation of the source material are common issues that can come up with anime production and this is an occurrence with the anime that Chitose stars in.

Outside of the realistic lens it paints on the anime industry, Girlish Number also takes the time to get into the heads of its major characters to see how the realities of the industry effect them. With Chitose, the series delves into her cynical outlook on her situation and how it affects her relationship with her manager/ brother, who had his own past successes within the industry. Chitose's co-stars also get their focus with each being at different stages of life with some having difficulties with their families due to focusing on their seiyuu careers and seeing the anime production they are involved with as either a major stepping stone for their careers in the anime industry or a "make it or break it" opportunity.

Overall, Girlish Number offers a rather solid and realistic focus on the anime industry by exploring the less glamorous elements of working in production and being a seiyuu. If you have enjoyed titles like Shirobako that offer a grounded focus on elements of the anime industry, you are likely to get as much enjoyment out of seeing Girlish Number.

Helpful

read more

And I guess we have another winner here coming from Anime Mirai. For those not in the know, Little Witch Academia was originally made as an animated short for an annual Japanese animator's project called Anime Mirai for aspiring young animators to create their own unique works. The short's popularity with fans eventually led to a Kickstarter-funded film project to be brought about in 2015 and later led to this TV anime that aired, the second one made from an Anime Mirai short since the 2015 premiere of Death Parade. Focused on a young girl named Akko aspiring to be a witch in spite of lacking any aptitude in magic, our main heroine enrolls into the Luna Nova Magical Academy to receive witch training, getting caught up in some of the antics of her classmates, and trying to seek out magical words connected to a mysterious magic wand called the Shiny Rod that belonged to Akko's idol, the stage magician Shiny Chariot.

This TV anime expands a great deal on exploring the world of Little Witch Academia with the large amount of time that the format provides it. Besides Akko, a good number of the witches at Luna Nova get a good deal of focus and development into their characters that help flesh them out. There's enough time for the TV format as such where some new characters are even brought into the series with witches and non-magic folk that include new witch instructor Croix and young aristocrat Andrew Hanbridge. The series even takes the time to explore how magic works within the world of the series, with a major story element in the series being magic becoming increasingly scarce for use by witches and any spiritual familiars that draw upon it to sustain themselves, thus affecting the status of Luna Nova Academy.

On the subject of Akko and the mentioned magic crisis, these two mentioned situations are consistently entwined with one another throughout much of Little Witch Academia. With Akko gaining possession of the Shiny Rod, she comes to discover that she has to unlock specific words to it in order to tap more into its powers. Without spoiling too much, the discovery of the words to the Shiny Rod are connected to Akko's character development throughout the series where she tries to defy the magical traditions of Luna Nova to show she can gain the power to become a witch through hard work, perseverance, faith in one self, and trusting in others. These story elements take on more prominence in the show's second half when more about the Shiny Rod's purpose and origins are revealed, and what connection it has to Akko's idol, Shiny Chariot (who is revealed quite early on to be much closer to Akko than she would expect).

Setting aside these serious elements, what perhaps makes Little Little Academia one of the year's best titles for me is how unique it sticks out. It avoids going into many of the typical storytelling cliches that many modern anime would lazily get into and offers a Western-inspired look at a world of magic that is rarely focused on within many anime titles. In addition, it strikes a nice balance of comedy and drama to focus on the developments of the witches at Luna Nova and its main plot of Akko's quest to learn more about the Shiny Rod, while also being very accessible to Western audiences with its family-friendly content and optimistic themes.

Overall, Little Witch Academia made for one of the best viewing experiences for an anime for the year thus far thanks to its unique premise on Western-influenced magic and the developments concerning Akko and the Shiny Rod. Being very accessible to wide audiences with its premise and having a nice balance of comedy, adventure, and drama, the series is a definite recommendation I would make as a fan and one that could also be used as a possible "gateway drug" to draw in new or casual fans to the world of anime.

Helpful

read more

Aquarion is a rather interesting entry in the mecha genre in all the wrong ways, being a sort of homage to the super robot genre. Set in a future where humanity is under threat by supernatural beings called Shadow Angels, a homeless boy named Apollo and several teenagers with various special abilities become co-pilots for the transforming mecha known as Aquarion to fight the Shadow Angels. Before I go into the mess that this series is, I should compliment the presentation of this series. The visuals are quite pleasing on the eyes with gorgeous and majestic scenic shots of both Earth and the world of the Shadow Angels, a number of unique character designs for the Shadow Angels, and nicely rendered CG animation of the mecha used by both factions that blends in almost seamlessly with the show's regular animation. The soundtrack composed by Yoko Kanno also sports a variety of instrumentals, orchestral scores, and haunting lyrical pieces that are fitting for the various scenes that play out throughout the series.

Outside of presentation, Aquarion's faces plenty of issues with its plotting and characters, in no small part because it felt like the series was trying too hard to appeal to various audiences. The show's plot seemed to be spinning its wheels for much of its run with "monster of the day" plots where Apollo and the teens faced off against different creations of the Shadow Angels while trying to figure out some vague hint dropped by their team captain, with the occasional hints dropped about Apollo's past life as a fellow Shadow Angel and a few of his teammates having their own connections to his past incarnation. However the revelations are nothing remarkable as the series doesn't really take much time to further flesh out the origins of the Shadow Angels and the Aquarion mecha created specifically to combat them. The show also could not seem to find a consistent mood to maintain in many of its earlier episodes where some come off serious, while others have a more comical bent. While the final 6-7 episodes do get somewhat more compelling with some shocking twists and developments that reveal more about the origins of some major characters, the show still devolves into a mess focused around mecha combinations and mysticism that the show had done a poor job of attempting to have complement Aquarion instead of being the anime's main attraction, which is laughably ridiculous with its pilots almost orgasming anytime the Aquarion's different formations combine together.

Not helping matters are the characters not having much to offer in terms of depth. All of the characters fill your typical anime character types in one form or another that include our lead Apollo as the rude and impulsive troublemaker, Silvia your short-fused noble girl with a brother complex, Sirius the attractive bishounen craving beauty and perfection, and team captain Fudou loaning enigmatic and vague hints that the teen pilots have to learn of. The Shadow Angels aren't much better off either as many of them are mostly two-dimensional baddies who look down upon humanity and see them as cattle for maintaining energy for their realm, with only main baddie Toma getting any sort of dimension for his character.

In spite of its impressive presentation, Aquarion is still a mess of an anime that loses focus over what sort of mood and plot direction it wishes to take its story, lacks any memorable characters due to how shallow they are, and trying too hard at attempting to please as wide a fanbase as possible. Overall, it's a rather forgettable entry in the mecha genre.

Helpful

read more

Kado: The Right Answer offers up a unique premise for an alien-focused anime in that rather than the series being a typical action title focused on conflict between humanity and alien invaders, the series is instead focused on diplomacy and the questions that can arise if humanity suddenly gained abilities and technologies that it may not be ready to accept. These issues are present when human negotiator Kojiro Shindo takes on the job to work with the alien being, Yaha-kui zaShunina, in trying to express and comprehend the gifts that zaShunina provides to advance humanity's evolution.

In the issue of diplomacy, Kado focuses on the interactions between Shindo and zaShunina, as Shindo serves as a mediator between the Japanese government and zaShunina in working out the interests of both parties. Besides mediator, Shindo also serves as a sort of confidante to zaShunina who expresses his desires for what he would like to bring for humanity with his gifts and Shindo even gets first exposure to them before the rest of humanity. Still in spite of this diplomacy and zaShunina's apparent benevolence, hints are dropped in early episodes that his motives may not be as benevolent as they would seem on the surface and this gradually becomes more clear as episodes progress into Kado's second half. Even then, the series does enough to develop a character dynamic between Shindo and zaShunina throughout the series where Shindo's interactions with the alien being affect him mentally in leading up to the show's finale.

The other matter in the series, humanity's being unprepared for rapid advancements, gets explored in how the world would respond to such changes and zaShunina's influence in offering them. As zaShunina deliberately chose Japan as the starting point for introducing his technology to humanity, these developments don't exactly make the other countries of the world enthused as they grill political pressure on Japan to share whatever they are provided from the start of the series. The Japanese government also gradually starts to express concern with the rapid advancement in zaShunina's progression of the abilities he bestows upon humanity as Shindo communicates the alien's goals and trying to come up with measures to minimize the effect this would have on the populace at large. Also as mentioned earlier, zaShunina's motives with providing humanity's rapid evolution not being so benevolent contributes to developments in this element of the series as the tools he provides for the advancement serve as components for the plans he has in place.

I feel I should also address two rather controversial elements to Kado that need addressing, the first of which being in the form of the character of Saraka Tsukai, the Japanese government's own negotiator opposed to zaShunina's devices being bestowed upon humanity. There are some rather surprising revelations about her character that get revealed in the show's second half that some fans have assumed to be a deus ex machina of some sort. Granted the series doesn't provide any proper foreshadowing that hint to the revelations coming about. But at the same time, her concerns about zaShunina were brought about in earlier episodes and hints of zaShunina not being so benevolent were shown at points in earlier episodes as well. In addition, a case can be made where her stance on humanity's evolution is a representation of a naturalistic stance in allowing humanity's evolution to happen with time rather than speeding things up as zaShunina is attempting to bring about.

The second and most recent element would come in the form of the show's ending. Again, some may argue how it came about would be a kind of deus ex machina since hints of how the events come about were not hinted to in the anime's prior episode. I would argue in this particular case, enough was fleshed out in earlier episodes about the capabilities of the anisotropic where what came about was not necessarily so out of nowhere, especially with what is revealed about Tsukai. It also meshes up with the naturalistic views on evolution that Tsukai favors since the interactions between humanity and the anisotropic bring about a potential new path in evolution for both species rather than the rapid advancement that zaShunina was forcing about.

Overall, I can kind of see where the events of Kado's second half may cause viewers of the series to be divided in their reception of it with some of the major seemingly sudden developments that I brought up above. Still, I feel that there was enough fleshed out and explored within earlier episodes of the series where the developments didn't completely come out of nowhere and made enough sense once you picked apart the hints alluded from earlier episodes. The series offers a rather engaging and solid exploration of debating about following a natural path of evolution or attempting to speed up the process, and creates some engaging chemistry in the interactions between Shindo and zaShunina with their growing relationship that eventually turns confrontational due to their differing ideologies on human evolution. Kado won't be for those that prefer their anime to be on the more action-heavy side. But if you are looking for a unique sci-fi title, Kado is an easy recommendation I would make.

Helpful

read more

SukaSuka is set in a post-apocalyptic future where Wilhelm, the last surviving human, is brought out of an icy sleep after centuries when his kind was wiped out by supernatural beings called Beasts and he becomes a paternal figure to a number of young girls who are leprechauns, beings capable of wielding powerful magical swords that can slay the Beasts at the cost of the wielder's life force and personality for each time they fight.

In terms of plotting, the series is a mixed bag having its high and low points. Starting with the positive end, the series does a solid job with focusing on the characters of Wilheim and Ctholly, one of the leprechaun girls he develops a bond throughout the course of the series. Both have their unique struggles they are dealing with throughout the series with Wilheim adjusting to the new world he is unexpectedly part of and Ctholly being different from other leprechauns in that she fears facing death while others of her kind are fearless in facing it due to being created as such. It also takes time to explore elements of the world of its series where mythical creatures have come to take humanity's place in existing after its extinction and have survived by living on floating islands to avoid many of the Beasts that have taken control over the ground. The second half of the series also progressively gets better as Wilheim and Ctholly's bond develops and tragedy starts to strike with Ctholly slowly falling victim to the deterioration of her body from use of her sword.

On the other hand, SukaSuka does suffer a good deal with its first half and dealing with its other characters. The first half of the series falls into the usual bad habit of a number of anime with attempting to poorly implement comedy during serious situations in an attempt to balance out its more somber mood. In addition, the series did get inconsistent with its plotting direction at points in its first half where the show shifted focus away from Ctholly's situation and attempted to focus on side plots involving the other leprechauns. While focus on the side characters may have been worthwhile if this were a longer series, this isn't the case with SukaSuka and said side plots derail focus on its main plot involving Ctholly and Wilheim's characters. Also not helping matters is that beyond Ctholly and Wilhelm, the majority of other characters don't get much in the way of fleshing out as they are reduced to simple archetypes and seemingly only exist to contrast the characters or advance the show's plot into a certain direction.

Overall, I suppose my reception to SukaSuka is mixed. While having a decent amount of world building and a strong second half focusing on the bond between our two major characters, the series still suffered from a first half that struggled to find a solid direction for its plot, needless implementation of humor, and the majority of its cast being underdeveloped compared to Wilhelm and Ctholly. It is an okay fantasy-based drama with what it offers up, but far from being the best anime I have come across this year thus far.

Helpful

read more

March Comes In Like a Lion may have you draw some parallels to Your Lie in April in that both focus on teenage boys gifted in particular talents who suffer some sort of mental trauma due to facing strong familial pressure to engage in their talents and getting out of whatever trauma that is negatively affecting them. In the case of March Comes In Like a Lion, this involves Rei and his interest in shogi as he is under pressure to use the winnings from his victories in the game to maintain living independently from his estranged adoptive family. However unlike Your Lie in April, this series offers some major improvements in how it explores its somewhat similar premise.

Whereas Your Lie in April resorts to melodrama in exploring the issues surrounding Kousei and Kaori, March Comes In Like a Lion is more grounded in the exploration of Rei's situation. While Rei is cynical and isolated to engage with others, the series does not overdramatize these elements to his character and the growth he undergoes to improve himself is more gradual instead of in large spurts as Your Lie in April does with Kousei. Also while Kaori serves as the sole trigger for Kousei's growth in Your Lie in April, Rei's growth is undergone by gradually bonding with others in and out of the game of shogi that he is part of.

Another strength that March Comes In Like a Lion has over Your Lie in April is the exploration of its supporting characters. Whereas the majority of characters in Your Lie in April were mostly irrelevant in the series, many of the characters in March Comes In Like a Lion have their roles to fulfill in the gradual growth of Rei's character and a number of them even get fleshing out to give them more depth and not feel like mere archetypes as much of Your Lie in April's cast.

And finally, the last major element that March Comes In Like a Lion is more polished in than Your Lie in April is the execution of its comedy. This was a major issue for my viewing of Your Lie in April because of the style and timing meshing poorly with the anime's more serious developments. With this series, its comedic timing is better executed to not be as abrupt in presence during more serious scenes and is more diverse in style depending on the situation that plays out for a comical moment, being either subtle or over-the-top without taking away from ongoing developments occurring within said scenes. While my mileage did vary on when I chuckled during March Comes In Like a Lion's comical moments, I did appreciate the anime's better timing and diversity of comedy compared to Your Lie in April.

Still, this isn't to say that Your Lie in April edges over March Comes In Like a Lion in some areas. The visual presentation in Your Lie in April is far superior in detail and animation, as March Comes In Like a Lion utilizes a pastel-like animation style similar to Honey and Clover. While the character designs look decent with this drawing style, scenic shots looked washed out in comparison to Your Lie in April and the animation is noticeably not as fluid in comparison. Also whereas Your Lie in April had a conclusive ending, March Comes In Like a Lion ends inconclusively as its manga source material is still ongoing as of this review and a second anime season of the series is expected to continue the anime's plot when it starts airing during the Fall 2016 anime season.

Still in spite of these minor issues with the comparisons, March Comes In Like a Lion is a series that can still stand on its own feet with the quality storytelling that it offers in exploring the developments of Rei's character and others who interact with him throughout this series. A definite recommendation if you have interest in character-driven comedy/ dramas.

Helpful

read more

Violinist of Hameln is a dark medieval-fantasy based drama focused on a pair of adventurers and childhood friends named Flute and Hamel who find themselves chosen to defend humanity from the threat of the demon race, who seek the means to resurrect their sealed ruler Chestra. The series is actually known to be a rather divided one among those fans who have been able to see this obscure and forgotten 1990s anime series for some major reasons related to its presentation and storytelling, that I will touch upon.

First, let me touch upon the biggest criticism of the series and one that would be hard to dispute in the form of its visuals. The series was animated by Studio Deen who, with a few exceptions, are known to often cut a number of corners with the animation to their titles. Violinist of Hameln is perhaps one of the worst instances of the studio's use of limited animation as there are a great number of still shots shown throughout the series at many points and becomes quite noticeable particularly during the title's action scenes. This is a rather glaring annoyance as the series otherwise sports decent scenery shots and character designs, especially with some of the designs of the demons that Hamel and others battle throughout the span of the series.

Another divided element of the series, and one where your mileage could vary, has to do with its choice of storytelling. From what I gather, the original manga source material for Violinist of Hameln was quite a bit more comical in its storytelling to the point where it was almost like a gag manga series and having a rather light mood throughout its run. But much as what was done for the 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime, this anime adaptation of Violinist of Hameln is a reimagined take on the series that is more darker and serious in its mood and themes with themes of tragedy, revenge, and deception being found throughout the anime's run. Personally, I loved the reimagined take on the anime's storyline as it dug into the more traditional storytelling tropes of medieval-fantasy titles with the adventures of Hamel and his comrades, and created some pretty engaging and dramatic developments that made the stories of many characters, both human and demon alike, rather sympathetic and relatable thanks to the struggles they face with comprehending the tragic and shocking developments they come to learn of their pasts and even their very comrades. This especially hits Hamel's character hard throughout the span of the series as he struggles with understanding his origins and attempting to come to terms with them as he learns more about himself while on his adventure. The ending that results from the dark path that the series takes is bittersweet, yet very fitting for the tragedies faced by a number of its characters in spite of the much different mood that its source material offered.

Another highlight of Violinist of Hameln came in the form of its soundtrack. Consisting of a mix of classical musical pieces played from some of the magical music used within the series and hauntingly powerful tracks, they are very effective at complementing Hameln's dark storytelling and do their part to make up for the anime's underwhelming animation for me.

Overall, I can understand where Violinist of Hameln would not be for everybody thanks to its subpar animation and much different style of storytelling. Still while the visual quality is defensible to judge, I can't say the same things for its storytelling style as it helps create an engaging tragedy involving those caught up in the conflict between humans and demons throughout Violinist of Hameln's run. If you are able to look past the subpar visuals, you will find yourself quite engaged to this lost gem of 1990s anime since it has never received an American video release nor has it even been picked up on legal streaming sites like Crunchyroll or Hulu.

Helpful

read more

Sword Art Online is an anime that popularized the "trapped in another world" storytelling premise that is overexposed in varying capacities with a number of recent anime and was originally explored a decade earlier than Sword Art Online with .hack//SIGN. Like the mentioned show, both have divided opinions among fans for one reason or another as many were turned off by .hack//SIGN for being dialogue-heavy and not as full of action compared to Sword Art Online, an element which is one part of what drew fans more easily to the series. However what may be more accessible to casual anime fans does not always necessarily make for a good quality series, and Sword Art Online is rife with plenty of issues throughout its run.

First, let us explore the core element of Sword Art Online that drew in its fans in the form of its "trapped in another world" premise. For the world of the series, the thousands of players trapped in the online game are forced to play through it in order to free themselves from within it and will actually die in real life if their online avatars are killed while within the game. The series gets into some decent ideas with exploring how this could affect players in differing capacities, but a myriad of reasons related to story focus and pacing kill the amount of depth this could have gotten and felt too dumbed down as characters like Kirito seem too well-adjusted mentally to their dilemma. This pales in comparison to its predecessor series, .hack//SIGN, which actually devotes time to exploring the mental trauma this situation would have on its affected player, Tsukasa, who goes through varying stages of development with his character throughout the series as he copes with and tries to comprehend the circumstances that have him trapped in the MMORPG he is in.

Plotting is another issue that Sword Art Online suffers greatly from. The anime is divided up into two arcs with Kirito getting into different conflicts with two MMORPGs that he takes part in for Aincrad and Fairy Dance. Many fans think of the Aincard arc as the best arc in regards of quality since Kayaba Akihiko was a seemingly competent and morally ambiguous villain with the plans he had to trap the players within his game. However, the arc suffers from rushed pacing that makes the narrative a bit disjointed as it jumps through different points of time in exploring Kirito's interactions with different players and fighting against either enemy monsters or rogue players. While Fairy Dance arc has a more smoother narrative, its storytelling lacks the high stakes of the Aincrad arc and has a rather pitiful excuse of a villain compared to Kayaba. Also as the series is heavily focused on Kirito (who has his own issues I will elaborate on shortly), he is rather overpowered as a player as this kills the stakes of any major battle we see him in and in cases where he would be in some sort of crisis, the anime resorts to deus ex machina a great deal to have situations swing in his favor.

Characterization is also an issue with Sword Art Online as this seems to have quite a bit to do with the series being a sort of otaku gratification title with how it is structured. As our lead character, Kirito doesn't have much going for him in the way of depth beyond being your typical good-natured hero who is overpowered and feels too much like an audience surrogate for fans to get immersed into his experiences within online gaming. In addition, he seems to have a lucky streak in attracting many relevant female characters within the series to him thus leading to a needless harem scenario. As there aren't many other major male characters within this series, the choice of having nearly the whole female cast attracted to Kirito appears to be deliberate from the show's creators as the mentioned female characters are not allowed to be on Kirito's level in combat and don't get much depth beyond whatever affection they have toward our male lead. This especially hits the female lead of the series, Asuna, hard in later episodes when she becomes Kirito's main love interest and her character's strong-willed demeanor from the Aincrad arc takes a big hit in the Fairy Dance arc.

In terms of visuals, Sword Art Online is a bit of a mixed bag. It sports gorgeous and highly-detailed scenic shots found within online and real-life settings that are a treat on the eyes and character designs are decent in detail as well. Battle scenes are a mixed bag as there are moments of decent animated sequences, particularly during the Fairy Dance arc when the flying mechanic is utilized. However, animation shortcuts are utilized at a number of points with still and pan shots, which stick out rather prominently during heated battle scenes.

Overall, I find Sword Art Online's reputation for the "trapped in another world" premise of anime to be greatly overhyped. It comes with plenty of issues for its plotting and characters, and feels too much like an otaku gratification title with the depiction of Kirito's character throughout its run. If you really want a good "trapped in another world" anime within an MMORPG, you'd be better off tracking down .hack//SIGN as the series does a much better job with exploring the psychological effects of being trapped in an online game.

Helpful

read more

Betrayal Knows My Name focuses on a teenage orphan named Yuki who gets caught up in a conflict between the human Zweilt Guardians and the demonic beings known as Duras. The Duras seek to kill Yuki due to his powerful ability called God's Light being a potential threat to their efforts to take over humanity. Outside of the Zweilt Guardians, Yuki also has protection via Zess, a Duras who is a traitor of his kind due to his mysterious contract to protect Yuki from enemy threats.

Before I get into reviewing this series, I should address something that is fairly infamous with this anime and that comes in the form of the implication of it being a boys-love anime thanks to the close relationships that involve Yuki and Zess and a couple pairs of the Zweilt Guardians being young men. Having watched through the series in its entirety, I did not really see much that would elude to the possibility of the male characters showing any interest in one another, beyond possibly some romantic implications played up about a major revelation concerning Yuki's character and how it affects his bond with Zess. Even with these developments, this element to the series does not do anything to get in the way of the title's storytelling and I don't really get why there have been those making a fuss over it.

Setting aside the matter, Betrayal Knows My Name offers a solid amount of buildup in developing its story and exploring a number of its major characters. The series takes its time with exploring more of its supernatural elements with the mysteries surrounding Yuki's powers, the Zweilt Guardians, and the Duras' seeking to kill him off. Also going along by its title name, betrayal is a major element with a few of the major characters within the series that include Zess and some surprising characters who are acquainted with Yuki. In addition, the series devotes episodes to feature focus on the backstories and origins of a number of the characters that include Yuki, a number of the Zweilt Guardians, and even what led up to their official formation.

Setting aside praises, the series also comes with its fair share of shortcomings. There are a fair number of things unclear about elements to Yuki and Zess' relationship, including what led Zess to betray the Duras and what connections he has to Yuki as a result of it. I also felt that the drama coming from Zweilt Guardians efforts to protect Yuki due to concerns for his well-being came off as overdone considering his abilities and how huge a threat he can to the Duras' while willingly wielding it. The final episodes of the series also rush through its final conflict with a group of Duras that our heroes go up against, which ends inconclusively due to the show's manga source material still being ongoing.

Presentation wise, the show's a bit of a mixed bag. The visuals suffer from awkward character designs where the characters seemingly have the same facial designs and the animation is a bit stiff in regards to movements and milking animation shortcuts. On the plus side, the show's soundtrack does a good job at effectively conveying the proper mood during dramatic moments and battle scenes.

Overall, Betrayal Knows My Name is a solid supernatural action-drama that offers a solid amount of plot and character developments to keep you hooked on the show for its full run. While having its issues with plotting and visual presentation, it's still worth at least a rental to get a sense of the supernatural world it offers up.

Helpful

read more