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- BirthdayMar 2, 1993
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Sep 30, 2016
This manga starts out guns-blazing amazing. I'm really into psychological thrillers where there's a twist at every corner, and death games like Liar Game, Tower of God, and Darwin's Game really appeal to me. This one turned out to be a horrible disappointment.
STORY - 3
The author definitely has the genius for it. The strategies and revelations shown through the games actually reveals a lot of forethought and planning on his part. You'll never be sure of anything. However, questions are constantly appearing, and answers are never given. Characters drop like flies or get put on a bus, and what started out as an excitingly paced
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dark-but-fun story turned into a depressing read that doesn't pull at my heartstrings anymore. You stop caring about the twists too - they start growing out of control, and I've lost faith in the author's ability to turn it around and untie this knot.
ART - 9
Really good, imo. Nisekoi-ish art, the characters, their expressions, landscape and shading, incredible detail, etc. are all on point.
CHARACTER -1
This is what really sinks this manga. By the time you're caught up, most of the characters you've known to love are either gone, on hiatus, or just a completely different character from what you've come to know. I've really stopped caring about most of the characters and their suffering as I no longer find them relatable. The actions of many of the people in the manga are absolutely unrealistic, and it gives off the impression that even the artist has stopped caring.
Overall, I think it takes a special kind of reader to really enjoy the series more beyond its crucial turning point. As someone who usually remains faithful to the story and has become disillusioned, I believe most readers will only find themselves increasingly disappointed as they move forward.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 25, 2015
Oh, Naruto. I want to give this series a higher rating since it is the first anime series I have ever watched and is actually the one that helped me decide I should continue watching more. However, with the sheer amount of high quality content out there, Naruto comes off overrated, even with its few redeemable qualities.
Story – 5
Without discussion of how events unfold in Shippuden, Naruto shows the early stages before the time skip of when 3 ninja have to individually develop their skills and learn the values of teamwork. I must say the story starts off excellent – there’s discussion of the ninja
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rules, hopeless battles that are turned around by the protagonists through tact, and introductions of characters that build them up to be extremely threatening. The coolest part of the Naruto story is how ninjas are constantly tested by their ability to see through deception. That being said, the Naruto series is almost half filler (I’m not exaggerating) and beats to death the value of friendship, but in a more “telling” way than “showing” way. At the climax of the story, viewers are supposed to feel the tension of a friendship falling apart between Naruto and Sasuke. However, while the two did have fun times, they rarely shared personal moments or really exhibited their friendship towards each other. They only enjoyed each other in a misery-loves-company way because of how they both grew up alone. For me, the strong bond I was supposed to see simply wasn’t there.
Art – 3
The art improves in Shippuden, but the quality of the animation and the jagged uncomfortable drawings of the characters is really off-putting. This is a combination of Kishimoto’s originally slipshod art skills (it gets better) at the beginning of the series and just poor animation. None of the characters look good proportionally, especially the women. The scenery and Konoha itself are really nothing special either, and most of the background is painfully simple in design. Background characters look like almost no effort was put into drawing them. Still, I suppose I have seen worse.
Sound – 6
The music is fitting to the anime, but nothing besides the battle soundtracks are really anything special. Compare the soundtrack of Naruto to masterpiece shows like Attack on Titan, Cowboy Bepop, or Puella Magi. The opening themes are nothing special but do have some very enjoyable tunes with JRock standouts like ROCKS, Yura Yura, Haruka Kanata, and Fighting Dreamers. While fitting, the soundtrack rarely evokes the intense emotion required of the scene. This also improves in Shippuden.
Character – 3
Boy, oh boy, character development is such a disaster on this show I don’t even know where to begin. The show throws a large ensemble cast at you during the Chunin exams, almost ALL of who add nothing to the story and become complete background throughout the series. The series is also the best at building up characters to seem like they are either strong or have significant plot impact only to forget about them entirely. Examples are Sakura, one of the main characters, who doesn’t exhibit a single unique skill throughout the series (and while she gets better in Shippuden skill-wise, she is given almost no screentime) and is in the story because it needs a damsel in distress. The rest of the kunoichi in the series are no better – We don’t even know Tenten’s personality, Hinata’s around for her crush on Naruto and is just a weaker version of Neji, and Ino is the same character as Sakura except with one skill that is extremely difficult to use when fighting on her own. The fifth hokage, Tsunade, is brought in as the strongest ninja in the village, but her skills are rarely showcased either – except that one time she beats up a guy who already had NO ARMS. The same goes for her teammate Jiraiya, another legendary ninja who barely gets a chance to show his stuff, his one time in battle being so drugged by Tsunade he was essentially useless.
Little else is shown about the other characters’ pasts, male or female. We know that Naruto and Sasuke had it rough as orphans and the Hyugas have a complicated family structure, but we are to assume that most of the other characters live normal lives otherwise. There’s no complexity in their pasts, and very little happens to them throughout the show to shape them into better people, unless it’s a villain who miraculously got turned around by Naruto’s words about how friendship is important (if only it was that easy in real life, eh?). The one true gem of Naruto’s cast is Shikamaru, whose sheer intelligence and developed leadership after the chunin exam makes him impressive and exciting to watch. Overall, however, what One Piece accomplishes for over a hundred characters, including a boat, Naruto fails to for a dozen.
Overall – 6
While Naruto is heavily flawed in most ways, looking at it as a whole is quite different. In the same way books like Twilight are page turners, Naruto keeps you on your toes and each arc is genuinely interesting even if the quality of its storytelling is bland. There is plenty of action, maybe so much action that it detracts from all other aspects of the story. Nevertheless, it’s a show about ninjas geared towards teenage boys, and in that respect, it does well. The series presents itself as an amazing gateway anime, and it certainly is still worth watching.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 5, 2015
I know the packaging of this work is very off-putting and pink, but in its sweet creamy shell it hides a refreshingly bittersweet core. I have resisted this show forever, even though it was constantly recommended to me by Netflix and came up in searches for mystery/psychological genres. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica (or Puella Magi if it's easier on the eyes) takes a hot sec to gain momentum, but once you finish episode 3, it's liftoff from there. Each episode after that escalates the depth of its characters and both raises and answers questions.
Story - 10
Mahou Shoujo is set up relatively simple and the
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world that the characters are in are explained quickly in the beginning. Madoka Kanama, a very average 8th grader, grows up with a happy family and has plenty of friends at school. She has a cute little brother, a businesswoman mom who's her best friend, and a househusband dad who cooks. One day, she rescues Kyubey, a cute critter, from a new transfer student at her school, she is thrown into the world of magical girls. Kyubey will grant a single wish to these chosen girls. In return, they must become magical girls and fight witches. Win-win, right?
The anime cleverly lulls you into the fantasy you hopelessly expect will happen, and then it peels it away layer by layer. The magical world is seemingly explained very briefly and efficiently in the first 2 episodes, and it seems like a basic premise. However, more information is revealed every episode, and the physical danger of fighting "witches" soon seems trivial compared to the true trade-off of the win-win deal the viewer has come to know. What is initially a fantasy about child heroines making wishes turns out to be the world you would expect in reality - no one gets a free miracle. Puella Magi accomplishes through excellent pacing. No scene is wasted, and each episode is densely packed with new findings, important details, and foreshadowing brought on by minute details and day-to-day conversations. Gen Urobuchi is known for making his characters suffer, and the emotional burden dished out in the story would overwhelm any preteen girl, yet at the same time the plot is believable. Urobuchi doesn’t betray his universe. The ending seemed confusing at first, but upon a rewatch, it works for me.
In many ways, the event of becoming a magical girl can be seen as a metaphor to real challenges girls must face, and it is no coincidence that the characters are teenage girls. Parallels of this event have been drawn to one losing her virginity (and each character’s respective reaction to that event), marriage, having children, or simply becoming an adult.
Characters - 8
This is where I think the show has opportunity for improvement, but it is by no means bad. The characters do carry an incredible amount of symbolism and are diverse in their attitudes. Their color schemes all fit very well. Madoka (pink) is gentle and has the happiest background lives of all the characters on the show. Many consider her to be quite ordinary, since unlike in any conventional series, the protagonist doesn’t just become a magical girl right away – rather, this is actually used as a plot device, because the actual event of becoming a magical girl is made so much more significant in this anime. Sayaka (blue) draws many parallels to the original Little Mermaid, even down to her fascination with music and perky, rash personality. Mami (yellow) is a believer in justice and doing the right thing, and her bright appearance fits that trope. Kyoko (red) is hot-headed and bloodthirsty but in some ways might be the nicest of them all. Finally, Homura (black) is the one darkened by her lack of hope of correcting a mistake she made. Her character is writing at its finest. Many of her actions and words may seem strange or inexplicable, but viewers will come to understand. Therefore, at the end, it actually makes sense to re-watch the show when you’ve finished after knowing her rationale for her behavior. The most incredible part is that Homura’s abilities and what she uses it for completely parallels the action of re-watching the show from the beginning. Kyubey (white)... well. The whiteness is a reflection of his blank characterization, and that’s pretty much all I can say. The other characters may lack buildup behind their actions, may seem to change their mind quickly, or requires a little push for some viewers to really invest in, Kyubey is a consistently strong character in that he represents a question very relevant to our real society. He... She... It? Values the greater good, which is something any emotional human being would consider important, only Puella Magi flips this idea on its head and show how our emotions can actually be at odds with the optimal outcome for society. It’s up to the viewer to decide what they consider more important, or if the greater good is worth the despair the characters have to face.
Art & Music – 10
With a decent budget, creative character design, and a futuristic universe, Puella Magi is a cut above many other shows episode 1-12. The flashes of the background scenery and animation of the world, the coloring, the fight scenes – they’re all great. The pastel colors are very pleasant and contrast with the otherwise ordinary and sometimes monochrome world. However, the “witch lairs” are animated like a weird LSD trip and it’s masterfully done – to the point where it earns the show distinction for its quality. While some underlying style is consistent among all of them, every lair is still very uniquely animated in its own theme and different from all the others.
The soundtrack is a masterpiece. The soundtrack isn’t as good stand-alone, but the scenes are expertly paired. The opening theme’s [Connect] lyrics are actually relevant to the plot, which just shows how thoroughly this was produced. The show has a few ending themes, but the one most frequently chosen is the sinister-sounding [Magia], which starts playing right after the true nature of the show is exposed at the end of episode 3.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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