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Jul 31, 2014
You want to know what really helps shape a relationship for me? An abundance of rape, sexual assault, and non-consensual acts being performed to your partner. God, what a literal pure romance that is. Thankfully, Junjou Romantica was sure to base one of its relationship entirely off of non-con and definitely wasn't afraid to add in some of that to the other relationships as well! Definitely the type of romance any gay man would dream of.
There are three different "love" stories in this anime, and all three manage to be equally as terrible as the other. For one thing, let's talk about the fact that
...
literal sexual assault by a man 10 years older than you leading into love is not only extremely disturbing, but also completely out there. There is no moral groundpoint for the character Misaki, who is constantly abused in many ways by his newfound partner, Usami. This romance is so pure, that Usami literally shoves Misaki into a car against his will because Misaki dared to have a conversation with another man. What a healthy relationship, such a charming guy. Not to mention he doesn't let Misaki speak on the phone with said guy, and makes sure to later sexually assault the poor guy.
Seriously, what in any way is romantic or logical about this? There isn't anything healthy or consensual about the actions that Usami places on Misaki. And not only that, but it's all played as a joke. As if this kind of stuff is a humorous, cute thing that Misaki secretly wants. The romance in here is a total joke, and if you expect me, or any person with a functioning brain to take a relationship completely built off of sexual harassment seriously, then there's a good chance your morals need reevaluating.
The reason this is such a issue is both because said relationship is the main focus of the show, and because this is apparently a romance. Having your romance start and develop with borderline rape is a terrible choice, because from there on out it's extremely hard to feel anything except disgust at the events occurring. It's an unnecessary element to the relationships. Age difference aside, I wouldn't have had nearly as much of an issue with this show had it not been for all the times that Misaki was screaming "No! Let go! Stop it!" when being advanced on. It makes for a very fucked up relationship.
The other two relationships, while they didn't revolve around borderline rape, still had their major problems in it. One relationship lasted for about 3 - 4 episodes and included a timeline of about 6 years. It also included the man getting up and leaving his partner without any explanation or contact because he thought it'd make him want to come back. Again, great romance there. The last romance only lasts for about 2 episodes, and therefore had less of a chance to be completely idiotic. Though it should be noted the two characters have about 17 year age difference, which is always a plus here. It still featured the token sexual harassment that this show is known for though.
Not only that, but the stories are really choppy and broken up. The first 2 episodes focus on Romantica, episode 3 on Egoist, back to Romantica for a bit, some more of Egoist, etc. Basically it's all very choppily split up, unnecessarily so. The rapey elements obviously ruin it too, and frankly the time it takes for the characters to "fall in love", their reasons for doing so, and how they act towards their loved ones (Preventing them from being with friends, going into their house after you've known them for less than 24 hours) is so incredibly far-fetched that the romance just feels terribly pushed.
In terms of characters, you can tell how they'll be from the designs. Triangle face guys are the seme, and baby-faced boys are the uke. The seme is almost always the one performing the near-rape actions while the uke is the one begging for no more and eventually falling for these creeps. There's not too much to say about them, except for the fact that Usami is an extremely creepy harasser and that the seme in the Terrorist arc actually has some interesting traits to him regarding his past. Other than that, these characters are just here to fill the traditional seme/uke roles and either begin or resist the sexual assault.
The art reeks of terrible same face syndrome, to the point where you can identify the seme and uke just by looking at their faces. The seme's are all drawn with these very awkward looking rectangle chins and huge broad shoulders, likely to insist their dominance on the usually much younger looking uke character. All the ukes are drawn with childlike features to insist their submissiveness. The animation is very cheap-looking too, often relying on chibi faces in order to save budget. It's honestly an unimpressive looking anime.
The sound isn't all that bad frankly, just not at all fitting for this type of anime. There's usually some acoustic piece playing in the background as one of the characters is being assaulted, which is very ill fitting and and makes it feel like the show is romanticizing borderline-rape even more. It's not necessarily a memorable soundtrack, but it's decent at best, just not fitting for the gross nature of this show.
Being asked if I enjoyed this anime is the equivalent to being asked if I enjoy bashing my head against a wall for about 4 hours and would likely have the same answer to them. If you're going to portray a romance, hell, especially a homosexual romance where there's already stereotypes that all homosexuals are pedophiles and stuff, then you don't do it this way. You don't have the starting point of the relationship for a major couple be near-rape. You don't give unequal focus to the relationships and have one take place over a course of 6 years in four episodes. Oh, and you especially don't include homophobic remarks from your own gay characters in an anime. Seriously, how idiotic do you have to get to even think of doing that?
Anime that focuses on something other than straight romance can be really refreshing, but when it's done this way? You'll be left wondering if half the show you just watched was a so-called "pure romance" or a stockholm-syndrome documentary.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jul 28, 2014
While the original Yes Precure 5 had some very good points to it, it's undeniable that there were some consistent flaws in the series that bogged down its enjoyment. While GoGo is far from flawless, it definitely succeeds in being a very solid sequel that helps to pick up where the original Yes 5 had fallen.
The plot doesn't stray too far from the typical thing that you'd expect from a Precure season - an evil organization is seeking out items that, if in their hands, could destroy the world. The five girls, who had given up their powers at the end of the first Yes
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5, are resurrected as Precure when a guardian named Flora calls for their help. The plot proceeds pretty typically, though it does have some strong points to it. For one thing, there's a sideplot that revolves around one of the characters' past and inner conflict with the evil organization that flows very well. The plot also ties up many important things that are brought up. In general, the plot of GoGo can shine when it truly wants to. There are some aspects in it that could be better fleshed out, and there's also the fact that the plot takes a while to properly progress. There's also the fact that later on in the show, GoGo ends up completely dropping and forgetting about two of its villains and never gives us a resolution in terms of their whereabouts. Regardless, the story of GoGo manages to be one that keeps itself steady throughout most of the run.
However, most people don't watch Precure for the plot, but for its endearing characters. GoGo has the advantage of having viewers that already know and are attached to the main cast, so it's not hard to become reattached to them in the sequel. Seeing as there are five (later six) girls on the team, the show makes it a point to give everyone equal screentime. Although our leader is quite obvious, the spotlight doesn't hesitate to shine on the other girls when need be. GoGo also makes it a point to focus a bit more on the girls' goals and the struggles they face when attempting to achieve them. One of our main characters has an implied learning disability, yet seeks to be a teacher, and shows some very real struggle and inner conflict in trying to attain her dream. While most of the development took place in season one, GoGo still gives us room to give everyone a bit more depth to their character when it comes to things like their goals and dreams.
Anyone who watched the first season would know that there was quite a lot of, to be blunt, cilche and cheesy romance, namely between Nozomi and Coco. If you weren't a big fan of this, then you'll be very pleased to know that GoGo features little to none of the dramatic, shoujo-y romance subplots that Yes5 had. This season has a bigger focus on both our main female cast and our two new main characters, Kurumi and Syrup, and cuts out the unnecessary and kind of embarassing romance the first season had. Speaking of Kurumi and Syrup, the development for these two characters is also a big plus in GoGo. Syrup in particular undergoes a lot of inner and outer conflict and develops into a very solid ally of the Precure. While Kurumi's development doesn't reach near those levels, her relationship with the girls throughout the show helps her become a more fully-fleshed out character.
GoGo also improves with its villains in a way that would help shape Precure villains in the future. Pretty much every season pre-GoGo would follow a route of having one villain attack the girls for a few weeks, get killed off, and replaced. The reason this wouldn't work well is because it wouldn't give the viewer time to get to know the villain or their past and motivations. GoGo, while it still does do some quick villain killing, keeps its villains alive much longer than usual and also lets one become redeemed. This lets you become much more invested in what they're doing, rather than wondering when they're going to be replaced.
The art for GoGo has a much sharper and cleaner look to it, and it's definitely worth nothing that there's been an animation upgrade. Regardless of that, the season is still riddled with many instances of off-model scenes from Toei, which is to be expected in any long-running Toei show. When it tries, however, the animation can end up being extremely fluid resulting in very well-animated fights. The transformations also received an upgrade, which finally involved dynamic movements whilst transforming.
The soundtrack is not much different at all from the original Yes5, and still consists of composter Naoki Sato. There are many familiar tracks included in GoGo that you may notice when watching the show. Sato's music is very well-done and helps to exemplify both the slice of life and the dramatic moments of the show. His music generally compliments the show in a very positive way.
GoGo, in many ways, ranks above Yes5 when it comes to enjoyment. GoGo manages to have quite a few memorable episodes and the more consistent villains helps add on to this as well. Again, being familiar with a majority of the cast also helps to raise the enoyment of the series, giving it an advantage in that sense. It definitely does a great job at keeping the viewers entertained, and when it really tries, ends up doing an excellent job at just that.
While GoGo is far from a perfect sequel or season in general, it's able to have a solid enough cast and story to be one that is worth watching for anyone that got enjoyment out of the original Yes5. It's improvements in romance, villains, and even animation help bring it up a few notches over the original season as well. If you were a bit disappointed in how the original handled these things, then I'd recommend that you give GoGo a gogo and see how it fares up to the original. While it's a generally forgotten season, it's one that fans of Yes5 should definitely pick up.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 27, 2014
Alright, let's face it. After the ever famous and successful "Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica," a want and increase in demand for dark magical girl shows have been prevalent in the anime community. Now, I'm not going to be comparing this show to Madoka 24/7, because trust me, this show is bad on it's own, but I will be using Madoka as a basis for what a dark magical girl show should try to succeed, and what it shouldn't.
Day Break Illusion is, absolutely, what it shouldn't.
If the promotional art and the opening wasn't a dead giveaway, it should be well-known that this show is going to
...
be pretty dark. And well, it definitely is. The story pretty much revolves on young tarot card users who fight against "Daemonia" - demons created when humans contract with them and eventually succumb into despair after the daemonia pretty much takes over their mind. The Daemonia causes what appears to be natural disasters around it, and its up to the tarot card girls to fight against it.
You know, I wouldn't mind the story. I wouldn't mind it even if it was almost an exact replica of what Madoka did. Here's the thing though -- the story is insanely try-hard. By try-hard, I mean it does so, SO much to try to remind you of how dark it is, of how grim and bloody things get. Let's take how we're flashed back with Akari's dead cousins' bloody corpse at least 5 times throughout the show. Or how when a painter girl becomes jealous that another painter criticized her, she made sure that both her and the boy that the critic liked were KILLED. Or turning the twelve (yes, twelve) year old girl into a wolf demon. Yes, a wolf demon.
I wouldn't mind these story elements either that much if they were, gee, I dunno, foreshadowed? The sudden and grimdark death of Akari's cousin happens within 10 minutes of the first episode. 10 minutes. You hardly know anything about the cousin or why she dies. A revelation that occurs later on that almost guarantees death of major characters just.. happens. Why? To make the plot get gritter and darker. Nothing is ever at least foreshadowed a little bit, not even once. There were no hints whatsoever that a tarot card user could combine with a Daemonia and create some weird demon, nothing.
Basically, the show does whatever it can and goes out of its way to remind you of how dark and edgy and grim it is. You know, I have people that complain about Madoka being dark and edgy, but at least Madoka foreshadowed it. Maybe it had issues with shock value, but just so you know, shock value isn't just tricking the audience. Shock value can be randomly killing off a character in a gorey way in the first episode. Shock value can be deciding at the end of an episode to change one of the characters into a demon wolf. It doesn't matter if the show is already proclaimed as dark, if it happens without foreshadowing, it's shock value.
Now you're probably wondering, well, do the characters at least save the show? Oh, I wish. I really, really wish. Hopeful protagonist, cold girl with dark past, sisterly lesbian, and energetic one. That's really what they all are, and honestly.. they're not that good. Namely our protagonist, Akari. I get it -- I get that she's only twelve years old and couldn't kill things that easily. But you know what? When I see another character go up and kill someone she knew personally and loved to free him out of his misery, I'm going to be annoyed at her actions.
The characters range from cliche to boring to downright DISGUSTING. The main villain, who we know almost nothing about, decides late in the series that he wants to mate (he literally says mate) with Akari. Akari is twelve. Twelve years old. He basically does this sick shit in order to completely destroy her mind and heart so she doesnt care about silly things like consent anymore and, I quote, "becomes a mother."
Playing the rape/sexual card in a story is NEVER a good sign, unless it's absolutely relevant to the plot or was foreshadowed/absolutely needed. But you know what? These girls are twelve/thirteen. We have one girl walk around evil and demonic with her tits literally bouncing out of her chest. We have another one being nearly forced to give into consent with pretty much a demon. Do you see the issue here? I hope so, because none of this is mature, or deep, or good. It's honestly really sick and unnecessary.
In terms of the art.. it's... ehh... I mean, the animation honestly is pretty good. The fight scenes, attacks, all of that look pretty nice. But the show is very obviously lolicon-ish. The girl, all of them, look so stick thin and skinny and tiny that when these terrible things happen to them, it feels so out of place and awkward. It feels honestly awkward seeing a scrawny 12 year old girls' eyes turn into tiny dots and scream at the top of her lungs. It looks awkward, and the artstyle makes it feel awkward too. It really feels like it's trying hard to appeal to the lolicons with its artstyle.
Not only that, but the artstyle and character designs in general aren't all that good. The eyes are all really huge, they're usually misplaced too or sliding off the characters face. The bodies in general look really unproportional and just weird, and the hair seems really choppy and cheaply made. Not really an appealing design, at least for me.
If one thing can be said good about Day Break Illusion, it's the soundtrack. I have to admit, aside from Akari's seiyuu, the voices are pretty good and solid. Not to mention the OP and ED themes are pretty great and catchy too. The OST isn't honestly all that stand out, but I can definitely say that the sound is a really concrete part about the show.
And here's where I talk about dark magical girl shows in general. You can skip the next three paragraphs if you don't wanna hear it, I just feel it's kind of needed.
Look, what I believe made Madoka successful in it's darkness wasn't that a girl got her head chopped off or another had to watch her friends die again and again. That's not where I saw success. I saw success in how the show dealt with the psychological breakdown of the things that happened to these characters, and even how their issues could be applied to real life. I feel, personally, that it did an excellent job with showing many different character archetypes in these situations and pretty much breaking them down, showing the affects that it has on them. But that's for another day.
I feel like studios seem to think that if they just add in some death and gore, that it'll be a success. But that's not how it works. It really isn't. I hate to break it to you, but just showing characters die doesn't guarantee success! It really, really doesn't. A solid story, solid characters, good foreshadowing and writing, and a good breakdown of these things are what make it so great. I don't think the show being open about its dark nature is what makes it unpopular either. There are plenty of shows that were shown to be dark from the very beginning that were successful. (Psycho-Pass, Attack on Titan) I'm not calling these objectively good, but they were overall well-received. Essentially, the fault for Day Break Illusion of not being a big hit despite having cute girls in grim situations isn't really because it was already dark from the beginning, but it just does a very bad job at doing what it tries to do, which is, again, be dark.
I guess I enjoy this anime, I mean, it doesn't bore me or put me to sleep like other shows, but the enjoyment is really just mediocre for me. It's enjoyable to watch weekly I guess, but not something that I can say I actually "like" watching, you know? I guess it can be fun for people who like watching anorexic lolis kill things and get killed though.
Overall, Day Break Illusion is a prime example, in my opinion, of how people SHOULDN'T be trying to make dark magical girl shows. Go ahead, make more! It's what people want! But making them so grimdark, adding in things like wanting a 12 year old to give birth to pretty much a demon child, killing off side characters like there's no tomorrow -- that's not what we want. A good story, a solid one with good character that happens to have a darker or more serious twist on the genre, is what would be good, really. But this? Not this, please no this.
Magical girls are about cute girls doing cute magical things, not awkward lolis being slaughtered in blood.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 26, 2014
If you were to go back to the beginning of 2013 and asked a general Precure fan what the worst season was claimed to be, the chances are they would've said Suite, and usually for the universal reason that it wasn't the well-acclaimed Heartcatch season. If we're to go back to the present and you asked a general Precure fan what the worst season is, you'll probably hear them say DokiDoki, except for very, very good reasons.
DokiDoki Precure is a Precure season that not only fails to be a good show in general, but it fails to be a good show for this franchise in
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general. When I say that, I mean that there are general things in Precure that makes the franchise very worthwhile, and DokiDoki fails at even delivering those.
While the plot of this season appears to be a simplistic one, the show is intent on continuing to expand upon the plot until many holes begin to to show up and many things are left both unexplained or are given improper care time. People praised DokiDoki in the beginning for being more plot-centric than past seasons, though DokiDoki ultimately suffers from this formula.
Since the plot and characters go hand in hand, let's discuss the characters too. The reason DokiDoki suffers from its plot-centric formula is because it shafts its characters, their development and their interactions in favor of things like a badly done plot point or more time for our main character. (whom I'll rant about later) There is one characters whose school uniform we don't get to see until episode 49. The last episode. That's how long it takes.
The show also made two instances of randomly introducing new characters into the plot in the middle of the show. First case was with a poorly-done character, Regina, who basically starts off as a bad guy, decides she's pretty much in love with our main girls, tries to become good, becomes bad again, becomes good again, then becomes brainwashed into being bad and we don't see her again for about 20 episodes since they decide to shoehorn in another character who we had no indication of appearing prior. This character is Madoka Aguri, Cure Ace.
Fun fact: There's a video up on YouTube where a 5 year old girl who watches the episode that Ace debuts is very confused and upset because of how random her appearance is. That's how bad it is. Ace is, essentially, an over-powered 10 year old who had no foreshadowing of appearing and is there to basically lecture the other girls into "getting stronger" and takes credit for a lot of their development episodes. She is bound by a time limit which the plot removes when they need it too, and is basically the second strongest character next to the over-overpowered main lead.
Speaking of this main lead... Mana Aida. In some seasons, there is definitely some leader bias, but never before has it been this bad. The worst part is that Mana is bland. She is bland, she is flawless according to the show, the show never acknowledges her flawed logic, and she is given everything. Mana has all the other Cures transfer THEIR power to HER. Teamwork? Who needs that, just give all the power to Mana! Most of their combo attacks revolve around giving Mana the power and her taking them out. She is loved by everyone. She is the student council president, has a bunch of friends, and when she outs her Cure identity everyone is okay with it.
Mana is also the only one who gets a leader upgrade at the end of the season. She single handedly takes out the big bad using everyone elses' power. She is the one who basically restores everything. All the Cures' and their resolves revolve around Mana. Their reason to fight? Mana. It's all about Mana and it's terrible, because this show has 5 other characters, 3 of which are already shafted as it is, that it could focus on and develop but it instead focuses on and DOESN'T develop the overpowered and generic main lead.
Other Cure leaders may have been some spotlight hogs, but at least they had some good interactions and growth with their friends. At least it somewhat made sense that Nagisa had a lot of attention since there WERE only two cures (eventually three) in that season. There is no excuse here, just bias, and it results in an extremely bland main character who gets everything without reason and sucks everything away from all the other characters who deserve it. When the show didn't focus too much on Mana, it focused too much on Reginas' shoddily written character arc that relied on shifting her sides when the plot demanded it, or too much on Ace, who bossed the Cures' around and took credit for their growth and served as a deus ex machina plot device.
The villains, honestly, the only one with actual character was probably Ira. He had one interaction episode with Rikka, one that had lots of great potential with her, only for that episode to end and for it to never be directly spoken about again. Its implied a few times in the finale, yes, but overall his time with her is wasted in favor of, you guessed it, more Mana.
Basically, the plot is a big mess that ends up shafting a bunch of characters in exchange of more Mana, Ace, Regina, or some other plot points that they feel like bringing up to expand things more that only result in everything becoming more confusing and unnecessarily complicated and stupid.
Art and sound are mediocre. The transformations, aside from Ace, are extremely average at best and are very dynamic and honestly pretty boring. The endings have some nice artwork and some catchy tunes, though nothing else really stood out besides that. There's quite a lot of QUALITY inducing scenes within the show, but the overall art isn't exactly that bad.
I mean, as someone who likes mahou shoujo, I enjoyed it.. to an extent. Sort of. Though honestly, there was nothing appealing in this season. A plot centric season? Yeah, a BADLY written plot-centric season. Character centric? Well, it was Mana centric, where none of the girls' interactions with Mana went outside of 'we need you.'
DokiDoki has nothing going for it, nothing at all. Not as a show in general, or as a Precure season. When it fails on both accounts, there's nothing really worth watching here. If you want to start Precure, go with any other season that isn't Max Heart or GoGo!. (They're sequels) Just don't start with this, there is nothing to gain from this season of Precure and let's just hope the next season succeeds in the things DokiDoki didn't.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 27, 2013
I think it should be a general rule that if you're going to adapt any type of game, that you cannot make it 1-cour. If Danganronpa isn't a prime example of this rule, than I don't know what is.
Being a fan of the game, I was very excited to hear that Danganronpa was receiving an adaption. The biggest issue though was 13 episodes - which, considering that Danganronpa relies a lot on character and plot development for it to work so well, was obviously going to be a huge let down in the series. Even as a standalone anime, Danganronpa doesn't work as well as
...
it could've.
The series revolves around 15 high school students, chosen to go to an academy of hope - Hope's Peak Academy - based on one major thing they excel in, be it detective work, fortune telling, anything really. I won't get into detail about the story, since well, there is a synopsis, but the words "15 high school students" and "13 episodes" should already start sounding alarms for you.
Why? Because the show obviously doesn't have time to explore all of these characters, which is honestly a shame. The characters, honestly, come off as very one-dimensional and underdeveloped due to how quickly the pace moves. Characters that were supposed to have spent lots of time and have connections with Naegi, our main protagonist, are severely cut back which makes the murders all look like petty shock value.
One thing I have always praised Danganronpa for was its excellent characters, which are almost completely butchered in the anime. The amount of foreshadowing and interactions that they all had was amazing, but in the anime, again, even as a standalone, is just very flat. Obviously, the characters who survive longer get more development, but without any actual character development or depth given to them, the entire impact of the death, trial, and executions are just.. gone. It makes it seem like just another petty death game, which unfortunately, is what the anime feels like.
The story itself suffers due to rushed time as well, since again, the rushed pace takes away from a lot of foreshadowing that tie in to key events, most specifically a major plot twist near the end of the show. The story is pretty coherent and easy to follow, but in the end it never comes off as more than just mediocre due to how the anime is presented. Not to mention, so many things come off as complete asspulls. This is really present in the trials because of how short the investigations are. It makes it seem like some of the conclusions and accusations are just pulled out of nowhere for convenience. Important points that come up later on just feel extremely forced, and the drama that occurs as well feels too melodramatic due to lack of time spent in the setting and characters. It's all just a very overall rushed and messy anime.
I both give credit and displeasure towards the artwork of the anime. I give credit to them for staying true to the character designs, actions, and sprites that were in the game. But my displeasure leads towards both the overall animation and the executions. The studio, Lerche, is a studio that has done hardly any actual anime and their lack of budget is very obvious, especially in the early episodes. It's also noticeable when you realize that a lot of animated scenes in the game, the executions obviously, are just traced over. Literally. I mean, good, I'm glad you tried THAT hard to stay true to the game, but that's just lazy when you have to trace over this. Not to mention the entire anime feels far too.. game like. As if the studio didn't know if they were making an anime or a game with more movements.
The opening song is honestly a pretty generic rap song, and changes at odd times. The OST, while excellent in the game, doesn't seem to be as fitting in the anime? It's hard to describe, really, but it just doesn't feel right, though that could just be me. I do, however, appreciate all the VAs, namely Junko's, for their excellent job on the characters. The ED theme is also very well-done as well, and a very catch tune.
To be honest, I'd find it very hard for one to genuinely enjoy Danganronpa if they haven't previously played the game. The immense flaws in the characters and storytelling is just so obvious, though then again if you're into just overall death game anime, then you may like this. Most of my enjoyment simply came from seeing all my favorite characters animated, though obviously if you haven't read the LP or played the game, you won't have that in it for you.
Overall, Danganronpa shows exactly what is wrong with game to anime adaptions - cut time for key things like the characters and plot can really break a show, especially one that relies purely on that. If I were to recommend Danganronpa to someone, I'd recommend the translated game or the Let's Play any day. If you've already watched the anime and happened to like it, definitely go for one of the following, because the depth it goes into is quite amazing. If you wanted more out of the anime, then again, go for the LP or game. It's actually coming out for PS Vita come 2014, so if you get the chance, perhaps even buy it.
Also, the end of the 13th episode hints at Super Danganronpa 2, the sequel to Danganronpa, being animated. Essentially, if this gets greenlit for an anime and is only 13 episodes and you're interested in it, don't bother. SDR2 can and will only work as 2-cour. I'd honestly recommend it either way since it answers many questions that Danganronpa had left behind.
I sure as hell got my fill of despair from this, but not in the way I wanted to..
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jul 3, 2013
"Suite Precure" doesn't seem to have the best reputation in the Precure franchise. With weak starting episodes, silly conflict between the two main girls, and being the next installment after the highly successful and loved "Heartcatch Precure," expectations were both raised high for it and then shot down when it didn't deliver things similar to it's predecessors. Tag this along with the fact that it borrowed some used plotlines from previous seasons and people conjure up the idea that Suite is worst Precure season. With all of this on the table, is it safe to say that this is really the case?
I, for one,
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can certainly say it's not.
Those who are familiar with the Precure franchises know that the plot definitely reused to an extent. Bad guy from another world gets sealed up, servants of said bad guy attempt to revive them by stealing emotions from the real world, and the legendary warriors Precure are called upon to protect these two worlds and eventually defeat the evil entity. Essentially, Suite follows this formula for it's main plot, but that's not the only thing that happens in this story.
Suite actually has a very strong arc, which thankfully, is the very first one that occurs in the series. The Siren arc, which is similar to Setsuna's villain redemption arc in Fresh is definitely the highest point in the series in terms of plot. The internal and external conflict with Siren and her own emotions is very intriguing and well-done. This also gives the show a stronger foot to work off of seeing as the beginning can be a turn-off for some people. (which I'll get to in a bit) The music theme in the show is also very well-played, and hell, even relatable. The messages that music has the ability to give people strength and make them stronger is definitely not an exaggeration. All throughout the show, that theme is very prevalent and never wasted, another big plus.
Although, a big flaw with the wonderful Siren arc is the fact that the other arcs seem to pale a bit in comparison to Siren's. For example, while the Cure Muse arc is shrouded around mystery, the interactions with Muse along with her development and acceptance with the other girls feels quite a bit rushed and not nearly as well written. The ending also seems to spin a bit around in circles in terms of trying to defeat the big-bad. Though I still see the ending as a very strong way to send off the series. Seeing the girls fight the bad guy and letting out their own past feelings and experiences, talking about and remembering how they were before and how happy they feel now that they've found each other was a very strong and powerful moment. The ending is able to get across its feelings of inner strength and happiness without resorting to melodrama or crying, just by speaking out their true feelings. And boy, does it work well.
If plot isn't Suite's biggest strength, than what is? Well, that's an easy answer -- the characters, their interactions, and most notably their development. I believe Suite had some of the best character development and growth in terms of Kanade and Hibiki. The two girls start off on bad terms after a (very silly and avoidable) misunderstanding a few years back. Due to their constant bickering after becoming Precure together, it's very easy to get aggravated and annoyed by all the fighting that goes on. Thankfully though, Suite does a marvelous job of putting in subtle development as these two girls learn and grow with each other.
As the episodes go on, you can see it. You can see Hibiki not doubting Kanade as much when she's being tricked by the villains to lose faith in her friend. You can see them beginning to understand each other more and start to help each other becoming better warriors and friends as opposed to bickering all the time. Watching the two girls learn from their past mistakes and becoming even closer than they were before is simply amazing, and something I heavily applaud Suite for. It definitely handles its two main girls well.
Though the great characters don't stop there. Siren's redemption is a very intriguing thing to watch. Seeing her own internal conflicts, even after becoming a Precure with the other girls just felt very realistic and was concluded in a beautiful way. While Cure Muse may not have as strong character development as the other girls, she too had a sympathetic and nicely played out arc, even if it was rushed and concluded in a very hasty way. Her own willpower and strength to get back what she lost is an admirable thing, especially for the young girls watching this.
Being a music themed season, the show definitely excels in its OST. The OP theme is especially refreshing since it has more of a rock feeling as opposed to the more J-Poppy feelings of the other seasons. The soundtracks played are well-fitting for both the slice of life moments in the show and the intense emotional battles that occur. The ED themes are a bit more generic and not as memorable, though aside from that the soundtrack and overall music in the show is solid. Artstyle and animation wise, to put it bluntly, looks gorgeous. The girls' designs are appealing to people who aren't a fan of the large round eyes that Precure is infamous for, and oh god, those transformation sequences. While not as dynamic as some may prefer, the backgrounds in them and the music that plays during them is simply breathtaking. Suite's transformations are the ones that you really dont' want to skip on, no matter how long they are. Fight scenes are pretty nice to watch too. Not too amazing but not that underwhelming (usually) either.
While I wouldn't call Suite the best Precure season, it definitely feels as they did put nearly as much effort in this one as they did in other well-received seasons such as Heartcatch or Fresh. It's hard NOT to come to that conclusion when you see all the time put into the characters and their personalities and development throughout the run of the show. While Suite definitely isn't without its flaws, like the reused plotlines, silly reason for conflict between the two main girls, and weaker arcs that occur after the first, its safe to say that its positives outweigh the negatives that it has.
"Suite Precure" is definitely one of the seasons that I would recommend to people who want to get into Precure, and overall is a very heartwarming and nicely written show for both the younger and older audience alike. Don't always listen to what the fanbases have to say. I know if I did, I would've missed out on a lovely and well-put together season, one that I definitely don't regret watching.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 8, 2013
Are you a lonely, boy-less teenage girl? Do you wish you could have many hot guys surrounded by you, astounded by you for no real reason? What about living in a world where you get to date and be submissive to no, not just one attractive male, but over FOUR of them in many different worlds? Does that sound like the dream life to you? Have no fear, "Amnesia" is just what you need to fulfill this!
In case you don't get the vibe, this is pretty much a reverse harem used primarily for female wish-fulfillment. The story centers around our lead girl, erm, I guess
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we just call her Heroine? Because her boyfriends that love her oh so dearly never bother to call her by her name? Yeah. Heroine finds herself awakening with no memories, and it's up to her and a spirit called Orion to collect her memories. She's also trapped in this sort of "time loop." Basically, each time she dies, the date resets. By date I mean both the month and day and her current boyfriend.
The story has two main issues: the pacing and the Heroine. The pacing moves by pretttty damn slowly, to the point where even when we hit episode nine, nearly nothing is known about the main plot or what exactly is going on. The story is supposedly about the Heroine collecting her memories, but uh.. that's probably the least she's done throughout the show. And that's saying a lot, because she hardly does ANYTHING.
And here comes our other issue, the Heroine herself. This girl is so bland, so personality-less, and used as such a wish-fullfillment device that she doesn't even have a name. Isn't that awesome, girls? You don't even have to get depressed when hot guy #1 doesn't call out your name! It makes self-insertion much, much easier. Heroine is a story-dragger -- she provides little to no advancement to the plot herself and has to rely on everyone else to push her in any direction possible. Oh yeah, having amnesia ain't excuse for not having a personality. Fucking Nyuu from Elfen Lied had more of a personality then her, and she couldn't even dress herself.
Speaking of Heroine's reliance, this also brings another issue: she's submissive. Too, too submissive. Almost all the guys do extremely improper things to her, like shoving her against a tree in the middle of the dark against her will or forcefully kissing her, getting too close to her, anything. And she just accepts all of this. She never sticks up for herself, and is even willing to stay with a man whom she pretty much knows will dump her when his time limit is up. Great example, right guys? The male characters ain't any better -- they're all pretty much just a bunch of hot dude's lusting after Heroine for their own fucked up reasons. Some want to play her, others want to lock her up in a cage. You know how it is.
Oh uh, the positives? Well, the art is pretty crisp, as expected of Brain's Base. The eyes look downright gorgeous and the opening theme is pretty much eyecandy. The men are attractive, which is a key for these anime, and the backgrounds are well-created. Soundtrack is merely mediocre and unmemorable, though bonus points are awarded for such an awesome opening song. I'm convinced to hear more of Nagi Yanagi's stuff.
So, enjoyment? I'm sorry, but I'm not the type of person that gets wet from putting myself in the shoes of a nobody and letting all these hot guys date and rape me. If you're the type that's into that, then I'm sure your enjoyment of this will be much, much higher then mine.
Now I will ask you this again -- are you a lonely and angsty teenage girl? Do you dream of many a men surrounding you, kissing you, pinning you behind alley's, and drugging you? Do you want to live in this life? If so, then look no further, my dears. This anime is perfect for you. You got a bunch of hot guys that want your tits and a girl who's so bland that you can insert my chihuahua in it and it would probably make the story more interesting.
If not, just don't watch this. There is literally nothing to be lost and nothing to gain, except time and knowledge on how not to write a shoujo.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Nov 20, 2012
[Update: 2/24/13]
[b]One of the main issues that a lot of people had with Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica was the lack of screentime and development with quite a few of the characters. While other pieces of the franchise like the Drama CD and PSP Game go much more in depth with the story and characters, they are pretty much useless to those who don't know the Japanese language, which is why this manga adaption was such a useful idea.[/b]
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica: The Different Story is adapted from one of the Drama CD's of the Madoka Magica franchise. It's set in the past right after Kyouko contracts
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as a Puella Magi and ends up meeting up with magical girl Mami. The story has more or less of a lighthearted feel and goes deeper into the past that connected these two girls, and also helps explain some of their motives in the present time. Like the parent story, it has its touch of lightheartedness in the beginning but soon takes a much sharper turn.
With only three volumes and twelve chapters, the pacing can feel a bit fast to some, though it isn't something you shouldn't expect if you're familiar with the pacing in the anime. Regardless, this isn't a manga that you should rush or skim through. It's definitely one that deserves to have it's detailed noted, seeing as everything will fall into place come the later chapters.
The story is important for our two characters, Mami and Kyouko. Not only does it prove more screentime for Mami, who got a meer 3 episodes in the anime, but it also gives more depth to her character and personality. Same can be said for Kyouko, who's backstory and family situation is covered much more then in the anime. In a sense, this story is far too important for their characters to be left unanimated, especially considering one of the main complaints for Madoka Magica was the lack of character development.
With that being said, the lack of character development is definitely not an issue here. The manga takes us further into the minds and motivations of both Mami and Kyouko. Two characters who before could be described with one or two words are fleshed out and explored wonderfully in this manga. It gives justification and background to many of their actions, something that the anime fell short on doing. This is easily the strongest aspect of The Different Story, and is the very thing that makes it such a must-read.
Art wise, The Different Story is most definitely an improvement from the original Puella Magi manga. While no mangaka can live up to SHAFT's art direction and style, it's definitely not an eyesore to look at it and you can tell there's been quite a lot of improvement from it's source manga.
If you aren't familiar with the Puella Magi franchise, it's recommended that you at least watch the anime before jumping into this manga. It's quite an enjoyable read for those who are fans of the anime/manga and can be for those who want more from these two characters. It definitely does them much more justice and is well-worth the read. Oh yeah, you may cry too. Or was that just me?
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 27, 2012
"Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st" is, as stated in the synposis, a re-telling of all the major events that took place in the series, "Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha." While this movie does indeed cover all you really need to know about the overall story and plot, it's highly recommended that you've at least seen season one of Lyrical Nanoha before viewing this movie - mostly since the series touches on a larger variety of characters and gets you more familiar with the entire cast.
For the movie itself, I won't be reviewing it as a comparison to the series but as a standalone,
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mostly because it is possible to watch this movie without having any other knowledge of Lyrical Nanoha.
The story in the movie is pretty blunt and right to the point; basically, our main herione Nanoha gets involved with a young boy from another planet named Yuuno, and his quest to collect the scattered Jewel Seeds that have fallen to Earth. At the same time, another young girl named Fate is also after these Jewel Seeds. The two girls' conflicts, and own inner conflicts as well, are the major driving points of the story.
The movie isn't something that's very hard to follow or understand, however it does go a bit deeper then what you'd expect from a magical series. It's a pretty well written story that mostly focuses on the relationship between Fate and Nanoha. The story flows pretty nicely since it's mostly focused on the rivalry along with growing friendship between the two of them. Speaking of rivalry, you should know that there are quite a few fight scenes in this as well. The movie focuses a lot more on these scenes then one might expect, especially if you're already familiar with the show where these didn't occur as often. While the story could've focused a bit more on some other characters or even had the fights occur less frequently, you have to remember it's condensing 13 episodes worth of material into a 2 hour long movie. The movie basically covers all the events and relations between characters that you need to know.
The story itself is, like I said, more in depth then you'd normally expect. While the movie doesn't totally screw you over and ride along on the dark side like Madoka Magica, it does have it's fair share of moments that may leave you in shock, and also in awe. Everything flows smoothly together and these more or less shocking moments flow with it as well. Events in the movie are paced a bit faster then I'd like, but again - it's condensed material. Standing alone, the story is an easy to follow one that's driven mostly by its characters and their own actions.
As for the characters themselves, the movie mainly focuses on the two rivaling girls - Nanoha and Fate. Nanoha is a motivated, friendly, and overall likeable character and a very good fit for a magical girl movie lead. Fate, on the other hand, is a cold and distant girl who fights with loneliness in her eyes and determination in her heart. The two girls do indeed clash because of their own motives for the Jewel Seeds, but throughout the movie we get to see the relationship between Nanoha and Fate grow as Nanoha continues to work harder to get along with Fate and eventually become her friend.
While the characters aren't the most original, the way that they're presented and used in this movie is done so well that you almost forget that Nanoha is the nice-girl archetype while Fate is the emotionless girl one. It can easily bring a smile to your face to watch as Nanoha does her best to reach out and help Fate, and it's nearly heartbreaking to watch exactly what Fate has to go through and how hard she's trying to do what she thinks is best, even if it means being alone. The movie doesn't try too hard to flesh out the characters or anything like that either. The bonds and connections between the two girls is really just something you want to sit back and appreciate.
The only downfall with the characters is that no one else is really focused on or given much screentime other then Nanoha, Fate, and anyone else involved with the Jewel Seeds. Again though - condensed material. It's much rather preferred that this movie focuses on the major conflicts and relations between the main characters then the side ones.
As for the animation, considering it was made in 2010 and it is a movie it's only natural that you'd expect the most out of the animation, and that's what you get. The battle scenes are extremely fluid and really engaging to watch, along with the transformation scenes. (despite the fact that these were pretty infrequent.) Something that people may have an issue with is the really big eyes that are used on, well pretty much everyone, but it's something that can be easily overlooked when you consider the well-done (and improved) character designs and fight scenes that take place in this movie.
The soundtrack isn't something that I can say is the most memorable. While it is indeed there, most of the tracks aren't something that you're going to remember or really want to look up later on after the movie's over. Most of it consists of pretty average battle music and just some nice pieces to fit the mood. The seiyuu's all do a great job and fit their roles very well, but again it's nothing all too fabulous. One thing I will give you as a treat to the viewers though is, "Namae wo Yonde." Look up that OST. I can honestly say that it is the most emotional track in the soundtrack. You'll thank me later.
I have to admit, I really did enjoy watching this movie. It was nice to see the story more focused on the plot and two main characters as opposed to the series, which took a little while to really set the story forward. The only thing that brings down my enjoyment is the fact that I had already seen the series and knew what was going to happen, but thankfully this movie doesn't use the copy and paste formula when it comes to animation and gives you pretty much the same storyline, but with newer scenes (for lack of the better word) and better artwork as well.
Overall, if you're a fan of the Lyrical Nanoha series and you've yet to see this movie, I'd highly recommend you pick it up since I highly doubt there will be much to disappoint you. You can still watch this movie without seeing the series, but I wouldn't really say that's the best way to approach the Lyrical Nanoha franchise. If you do plan to watch this first and you enjoy it, at least go back and watch the original series as well. Both truly show how great a mahou shoujo can be when it's done right. & I can undoubtedly say that Lyrical Nanoha did just about as much right as one could expect.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 26, 2012
I'm going to tell you all a story. Once, there was a man. A man who loved trains. This man loved trains so much that every year or so he would put different things on the train and send it off for other people to see and enjoy. Sometimes he would put fruit on the train, othertimes he would put toys. All to see the end result that his precious train would deliver.
One day, said man decided to put as many fucked up things that he could find on this train. He put razors, cyanide, bombs, and even decided to mix in some sweet things
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with all of this, like boxes of sugar and a pink dress fit for a loli. He piled the train up, barely being able to fit in all of this stuff onto it, and set it off - awaiting for the end result.
Of course, with the train being overloaded with a bunch of different shit on it, it was only natural that the man's train would crash. And crash it did. However, the man did not care. For he would see it that this trainwreck made all the way to its destination, no matter how much shit he had to pull out of his ass to make it work. And so, with everything in the train clashing into one another as the man pulled his own strings to make the train continue going (no matter how much logic it defied in the end) he eventually got the train to reach the end.
Some people looked at the mess of the train and thought, "Wow! Look at all of this stuff! There's knives in this train? Stuffed animals? Explosives? Books? How marvelous! What a wonderful thing this train has brought everyone!" while others looked at the end result and knew right away what a terrible mess all of this stuff was. Rest of the town was too busy watching K-On! to care.
The moral of the story? When you take as much random crap as you can and load it all into one train, it will crash. And if it crashes you should end it. Oh, and people like trainwrecks.
If you haven't already voted this unhelpful for the seemingly irrelevant story, I'm here to tell you that this tale was my description of "Mirai Nikki's" story - a trainwreck. I won't give you a rundown on what the story is about. You have the synopsis and Google for that, so I'll just get straight to the point. The story doesn't really have any idea where it's going or how it should be directed. They made sure to throw in as many psychotic characters, themes, events and mix it in to be able to attract as many viewers as possible. Seriously, you'll find everything from rape to child abandonment to feeding children grass - all to make the story and characters look like they have depth and the viewer to feel "cool" for watching such miscellaneous shit. The transition between events in the story doesn't flow and all seems very random at best. It's as if these events happen just because the plot demands it.
The story had some strong points - while the fighting scenes didn't always make the most sense or had little to no build-up, they were very entertaining to watch and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in seeing how it played out. However, the poor writing and lack of common sense in most of the story is what makes it so terrible. The plot loses all of it's purpose by the end of the show as well, which just makes everything worse. It's a good story to be mindlessly entertained, but for those of us who were paying attention you can tell just how often things failed to make sense. It was all driven off of shock value and crazy, psychological things.
Speaking of crazy, psychological things, let's talk about the characters, or as I like to call them, "plot devices." Each of the character exists only for convenience of the plot and nothing more, and same goes for their past. Every diary holder, save for First & Eight, has something that makes them insane or crazy in some way or another so that way they can serve purpose to the plot. If these characters weren't all deranged or had these insane backstories than they would be of no threat. So why did a bunch of characters with messed up lives get chosen to be diary holders, and then someone like Yuki (I won't focus on the Eighth) who lives a completely normal life gets chosen as well? It doesn't add up.
As for the characters themselves, Yuki is just a normal guy thrown into a pit of madness. Many hate him, some pity him. Me? I pity the guy. You can't help but look at it realistically - he's a normal kid thrown into this survival game where everyone has some type of mental issue and is out to kill him. This doesn't make his crying and patheticness any less annoying, but it's justifiable. At the same time you can't help but wonder why Yuki was chosen to be a diary holder in the first place considering how out of place he is. Then we have Yuno, the main reason why everyone watches the show. Yandere. That's pretty much her whole personality. (save for her own fucked up past that tries to give her depth and reasoning.) Yuno is like a robot, per say - only programmed when desired to scream "Yukii!", act innocent, then kill people. And apparently that sells. She's a selfish, unreasonable character who's popularity is earned from her constant blushing and murdering. While she was indeed suffering from major emotional trauma, none of that justified the actions that she had towards Yuki and the people he cared about. Despite her "love" for Yuki, she still constantly hurt him and the friends that he loved - doing what she can to turn him against them instead of letting him be happy with both him AND his friends. She's simply an annoying character with no actual depth or personality.
As for the other diary holders, they're mostly forgettable and run a cycle of "appear for a few episodes, fight Yuki/Yuno (mostly Yuno), win, reveal traumatic past, fight Yuno, lose" and repeat. In short, most of the diary holders were just forgettable and used only for the sake of being killed and adding excitement to the show. Side characters like Yuki's friends (namely Akise) are on-screen more and provide more to the story then even most of the diary holders. That doesn't change the fact that everyone is pretty flat. No real development is given the the majority of our cast. The development that does occur for a few of our characters is written or presented pretty poorly with very little reasons to back it up. I won't say too much as to not spoil the series, though. As I said before, these characters are nothing more then plot devices - created to make the story more "interesting" and to shock the viewer into thinking they're looking at an emotionally deep character.
Artwork is nothing to be fawned over and is mediocre at best. Character designs aren't terrible but they aren't something that I'd call memorable either. The bloodbath scenes are the ones that look the most realistic and it's obvious that the animators took their most time in animating these. The animation is pretty fluid throughout the fighting scenes, but it's an overall forgettable performance save for the blood and gore that they flesh out so well.
The soundtrack was again, not very memorable, but you can at least say that it stood out. Emotional music fit those so-called "sad scenes" pretty well (despite the lack of real feeling in the scenes themselves) and was well-played out. The battle music and of course, suspenseful tracks were also well-fitting and it's easy to say that those tracks were what helped keep you on your toes as to when something may be getting ready to happen. The seiyuu's did a pretty good job considering their roles, but based on a personal experience I can't say that hearing Yuno screaming "Yuki!" every episode and listening to Yuki cry every episode didn't get annoying or ear-aching. But overall no real complaints here.
Did I enjoy "Mirai Nikki?" I don't know, do I enjoy not knowing where the hell a story's going? Do I enjoy watching pink-haired girls who only exist for "love" do a bunch of random, messed up stuff to everyone every other episode? Do I enjoy trainwrecks? No, I can tell you right now that I don't. The thing that made this show bearable, however, was Minene and Akise, who were probably the two most interesting characters in this show for me. Minene got more screentime then most of the diary holders and was actually tolerable, while Akise held that intelligent personality that always spices up a show for me. Otherwise no, this show held little to no enjoyment for me. Even though I'm a sucker for thrillers if there's nothing to hold it up, not even a simple plot that can be explained in a few words, then I won't enjoy it.
Overall, "Mirai Nikki" left a bitter taste in my mouth. The lack of any reasonable directing - or even reason at all - along with a mix of unlikeable, forgettable plot devices, or as we all call them characters made this show nearly intolerable for me. It took as many different, fucked up things as possible in order to appeal to the general audience, threw in some blood and a horny yandere and viola! A masterpiece! Or so says the people who only look on the outside of the trainwreck. For those of us who are examining this train and everything that actually happened for the end result to be.. this, then you'll be able to see just how terrible "Mirai Nikki" actually was.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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