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- BirthdayJun 27, 2002
- LocationOntario, Canada
- JoinedJan 14, 2020
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Jan 30, 2020
“ Everything about the show is well-done, but I wouldn’t go past calling it ‘good’. ”
Story:
The plot moves very slowly, but not to the point where you get bored. The pacing is done well enough that everything about how the plot progresses feels consistent and steady. In terms of the actual plot, it’s simple and it does, at times, feel like they cut some corners to make more drama. Like why does Menma only remember that they need to fulfill a wish of hers, but conveniently forget what her own wish is? She is invisible to everyone except the protagonist but is shown being able
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to affect both other people and her surroundings. Why didn’t she just prove her existence from the beginning? These things are a bit annoying, but it’s not a big deal. The plot was just okay.
Themes:
Anohana focuses mainly on how grief can affect the lives of people. The show has an innocent feel to it, which I like because it does also seem to focus on the impact of one’s childhood experiences on their life years later. I thought that all of this was well-done and seeing the characters cope with the loss of their childhood friend in their own ways was really interesting.
Art:
The art is nothing ground-breaking. It’s nice and simple.
Sound:
The music is great and I especially adore the intro! But overall not too memorable.
Characters:
Though not all the characters are likeable, they are all relatable and I appreciate the creators of Anohana for making every person feel real and unique. Dialogue between characters was smooth and genuine. Relationships between them are believable and interesting too, but it was a bit annoying that two out of three girls in the friend group like the protagonist. It’s whatever, though.
Anohana is a slow-and-steady story revolving around loss, youth, guilt, and grief. It’s a show that is sad, funny, and heartwarming at its core, and those emotions are easily translated to the viewer. Everything about the show is well-done, but I wouldn’t go past calling it ‘good’. I would watch it again for the characters and themes, but it did at times drag on and nothing was great enough to really stand out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 23, 2020
“ The terrible watching experience was not worth the philosophical prompts. “
I walked into Devilman: Crybaby with somewhat high expectations but without any idea of what to actually expect from it. What I got was an incredibly eccentric, action-packed mini-series that somehow managed to simultaneously feel painstakingly dull and slow.
Many people who rate this series commend it for how good it looks with its unique animation and use of colour. I agree to some extent, but MY GOD. For an anime with so much running involved, you would think the animators would at least try to make the running look A LITTLE BIT decent.
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All the sequences with running in them feel awkward and laughable (I literally laughed out loud the first time I saw Miki running). I genuinely think that the animators have never seen someone run in a sports bra; the boobs are just flying all over the place as if they aren’t being held back by anything at all and it is SO BAD. Maybe it was supposed to trigger some kind of self-reflection about how the human mind of the viewer is inevitably drawn to the boobs, making us all lustful sinners that are no better than the inherently sexual demons? I don’t even know, I’ll get into theme analysis later. As for the use of colours, it’s really dynamic and I have nothing bad to say about it! The colours shine especially during the sex and gore-filled scenes, particularly near the beginning of the anime.
Ahh, yes. How could I possibly discuss Devilman: Crybaby without bringing up the ever so controversial sex and gore? Well, in my opinion, it fits. The show is about demons so, naturally, there is an emphasis on sinful behaviours such as gluttony, lust, wrath, and the like. Is it possible these things were a bit overstated? Well, yeah. As I’m not used to watching shows that are so graphic, and since I’m not a fan of gore in general, I was genuinely shocked by some of the outlandish scenes. But most times, those scenes served a purpose, and I don’t think that it’s valid to rate the show poorly because of how gaudy it is in terms of its visuals. After all, that’s what gives Devilman: Crybaby such a distinct style. However, this style does in no way compensate for how ugly I think this show is overall, but we’ll get to that later.
Another thing people often discuss about Devilman: Crybaby is the masterful philosophical and sociological commentary on humanity, thought-provoking themes, religious image patterns, and amazing metaphors that all come together for an interesting ending. This is all true. I love that I was prompted to think about what makes someone human and what humanity really is, and I love that the things I initially thought were pointless and weird were actually significant upon closer inspection. Despite that, though, my actual watching experience wasn’t really affected by these themes at all, despite the show being all up in your face about them. I acknowledge that it’s all very thought-provoking and the show has a clear message, but I only really had time to reflect on the concepts properly after I had finished Devilman: Crybaby.
This brings me to the part of the review where I discuss the aforementioned “actual watching experience”. This is where things get ugly. As I watched the show, I felt lots of different emotions. I was shocked, sure, but I was also bored, confused, and straight-up unimpressed at times. These are a few of the reasons why I think this show didn’t work for me:
1. Shitty characters are shitty
This is the thing that most bothers me about this show. Most of the characters in Devilman: Crybaby don’t even feel like actual people; they’re more like shells of characters with super rushed backstories and no significant development all-around. No, giving Miki one flashback that tells the audience “I look like a foreigner so I get bullied” is NOT the only thing you should be doing to develop characters. And no, just because Akira is an interesting character with a cool concept attached to him does NOT mean that he was developed at all throughout the entirety of ten episodes. We see nothing introspective from literally anyone, and nothing about any character changes despite all the changes occurring in the character's surroundings. Becoming a demon/devilman doesn’t fucking count as character development. Any character that isn’t too bad (like Miki or Miko, even) is literally just a trope that was given two seconds of “unique” backstory. None of the characters change too significantly throughout the show except for Miko, but she is such a boring and one-dimensional rival trope that the change is predictable and - for lack of a better word - bad.
Relationships between characters are either cheesy, rushed, nonsensical or awkward. You don’t get any decent insight as to why these characters even talk to each other, much less why some are friends and why some are rivals. Even if some are interesting at the start, every single character is static as hell and I cannot believe that people somehow manage to gloss over this.
2. It’s all pretty ugly
The characters, the movements, the backgrounds...every aspect of Devilman: Crybaby’s visuals look like a rough sketch. Everything moves in exaggerated and wild ways that just don’t mix well with the overly simple designs. I will (again) commend the show for the use of colour, though. The direction/shot composition was also good for the most part.
3. Non-existent plot and super weird pacing
The plot was just...everywhere. It seems as though they put the themes first, established events to solidify them, and packed them all into ten episodes carelessly. There are some times where everything is happening so quickly that it’s hard to process, and other times where you’re trying not to fall asleep as you wait for something interesting to happen.
The ending is bittersweet and leaves room for thought (as most of this show does), but I didn’t get even a little emotional over it because - referring back to my first point - shitty characters are shitty.
4. Cliche themes/Only focusing on thematic development
All the themes are really cool or whatever but GOD are they cliche! The creators didn’t even try to make this show anything more than “we live in a society” and “humanity sucks”. Cliches can be done well, and being cliche is not always bad, but this show does not set a good example.
When society crumbles, it feels so unbelievably exaggerated because of how sudden and stereotypical it is. Everything is simply done to develop themes, without any thought as to why it would even be happening. There’s no logic. The rappers are definitely there for thematic development as well, but they just rap about sOciETy and the state of affairs at different points in the story, which is both shallow and pointless. When you think deeply about the themes and devices, they can become interesting, but as you’re watching it’s all just too obvious (yes, obvious...this will be explained in the next point) for me to care.
5. This show spat in my face and called me a dumbass
I felt like an idiot watching this. Not because the show was too smart for me, but because Devilman: Crybaby actually treated me (as a viewer) like a child that has to be spoon-fed the “complex” idea that good and evil exist. Sure, there was some nuance, but not nearly enough for the philosophically-driven show that this is. A perfect example of this is the contrast between Akira and Ryo. It isn’t even mildly discreet, so looking at the “black and white” thing they were trying to pull off just made me frustrated. We get it, the show is about good and evil and humanity.
6. Soundtrack
What even is this soundtrack? This is more of a personal opinion than an important aspect of my critique, but I just gotta say that the crazy electro beats are not my style. It makes sense for the show, what with everything being so “out there”, but it just wasn’t for me. The songs that weren't so techno were honestly forgettable, but not bad by any means.
Devilman: Crybaby has really amazing things working for it (colour, direction, theme), but these are far outweighed by the catastrophic nature of the things working against it (everything else). If you want something to be able to analyze after watching, this show might be for you. But for me, the terrible watching experience was not worth the philosophical prompts. The interesting parts of the show become more interesting the more you think about them, just as the bad parts of the show become worse the more I think about them. There is no way I would watch Devilman: Crybaby a second time, but the concepts and some of the scenes are fond memories that are good food for thought.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 16, 2020
“ GGO: Alternative has a lot of potentials, specifically near the mid-end of the series, but it ultimately leaves the viewer unsatisfied. “
GGO: Alternative begins a bit slowly - to the point where I almost dropped it - but the first few episodes are effective in establishing characters, real-world settings, and virtual game mechanics. The action scenes in the Space Jam competition (revealed at the beginning of episode one) are lacklustre, mainly because there isn’t much purpose behind the battles aside from the basic “I’ll beat them all and become the winner!” idea behind all contests. I stuck with the anime because of the protagonist’s
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reasons for playing GGO, and because I saw potential in what the show was doing with the escapism motif.
The anime picks up its pace, and by episode six I’m sort of invested. This is where a bigger conflict is presented, and where the new motifs of life versus death and virtual versus real are established and connected to the already existing escapism motif. Still, something about the plot makes it feel like it lacks substance. It is a light watch even after devastating events are brought to light. The development of the characters continues and the plot thickens, with the tension building slowly but gradually.
When the climax finally arrives, it is splendid, wild, and unpredictable. It’s the part I most genuinely enjoy watching and that has me at the edge of my seat. After the final confrontation, I feel a sense of shock and satisfaction, and it feels like sitting through all the episodes preceding these had been worth the watch...but then it keeps going.
The final episode of GGO: Alternative brings me back to square one, or even farther back than that. The satisfaction I felt from the climax was utterly crushed! The ending is predictable, the motifs and themes were shit on SO HARD, the characters abandon all their development for a comedic little skit to finish off the show, and none of it even makes any sense! There is no closure at all! I had initially thought the show would improve, which is why I stuck with it, but I am not exaggerating when I say that the ending threw away all my hope for this show.
To sum it up, I believe GGO: Alternative has a lot of potentials, specifically near the mid-end of the series, but it ultimately leaves the viewer unsatisfied. The development of characters is one of the things I like, but even that wasn’t done outstandingly; the art is good but basic; the action is decent throughout with a few truly outstanding moments (mainly during the climax); the soundtrack is pretty good but tends to serve more as a sensory overload tactic in battles (the intro is pretty solid though!), and the themes are promising but left somewhat undecided on what they want to say because of that TERRIBLE ending.
Oh, and there are two bisexual characters, both of which are viewed as weird and predatory. That was a bit off-putting...
This anime is far better than the one it was adapted from, which I have also watched a bit of, but that by no means makes it good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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