- Last OnlineJan 24, 5:30 AM
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- BirthdayJul 27, 1988
- LocationYoungstown, OH
- JoinedMar 22, 2014
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Jun 29, 2015
Gosh, Cipher is such a strange work.
There's a guy named Cipher, and a guy named Siva, and they're both... twins or something? Nothing is really explained about their relationship to each other or what is even going on in the film. One of them is a movie star making a football film, that's about all I got out of it.
None of the characters are introduced very well (or in some cases at all), as there's very little dialogue in the film, and the dialogue that is there is done through an interview-like style that doesn't actually say much about them or the story at hand.
The
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film literally just ends up being a few different music videos that feature the same characters, strung together by these interview segments. These music videos have a certain amount of charm to them, featuring 80's music and being somewhat fun to watch.
The art is pretty nice too. I like how they portrayed New York, and the character designs look alright, despite being pretty standard for that era.
The animation is nice enough, but for an OVA from 1989, it does seem a bit lacking compared to the other stuff that was coming out at the time.
Overall, Cipher feels like wasted potential. The whole film feels more like an extended intro to an 80's movie, and the last scene of the film feels more like it should be the first scene after the opening credits. However, the film just kind of ends, right as it feels like it's about to begin. It's really bizarre.
If this had been longer and we got more dialogue and an actual story played out, then this could have been a pretty interesting way to start a movie, but as a work on it's own, it just falls really short, and fails to deliver on the loose premise that they set up.
Despite that, I can't say I despised it...
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 27, 2015
Man... this was just... poor. Really poor.
The animation was really badly done, looking like something some amateur web designer would make in Flash for a web page intro.
The music was uninspired and didn't sound good at all.
The art and design of the whole thing felt very digital and mathematical, everything being created with shapes instead of being drawn by a person...
There really isn't any story to be had here, which I guess is to be expected from a music video... However, they don't even try to tell a tale. This is more like the intro to a web series that doesn't exist... and it's not
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even a good intro at that.
I didn't mind watching it, probably because it was short... but I really can't find anything good to say about it either.
Thus, I give it a 1 out of 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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May 22, 2015
The first One Piece movie was a bit of a surprise. I went into it, expecting a basic, unremarkable side-story featuring the cast of the show. What I got instead was an entertaining pirate tale which stands on it's own as a movie and manages to be well written on top of that.
Characters: 8/10
The characters from the show are in top-form here, all bringing along their trademark personality quirks, and being written just as well as they are in the main series. The new characters that get introduced aren't quite as well written or well designed as the main cast, but they're no slouches, either.
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I thought they did a lot with the character of Ganzo, despite not having much time to develop him. Ganzo's son is a bit of a standard "Little kid wanting to get into fights" archetype, and the villains they introduce are also pretty standard antagonists. However, all of the characters fit into the story, and it makes things interesting for the duration of the film.
Story: 7/10
The story itself is a pretty simple tale about finding a pirate's lost treasure, and fighting a separate pirate menace along the way, but the way it's presented is very nice, with a decent pace, well written dialogue, and a nice flow between the scenes. There's a few scenes from the film that are pretty iconic and I think will stick in viewers minds long after the movie has ended. There's also a pretty nice message about greed in there at the end, and I think the movie handles it appropriately, only alluding to the message and leaving it up to the viewer to decide their own opinion on it, instead of shoving it down the viewer's throat.
Art: 9/10
The art is really well done. I've been a fan of the art style in One Piece since I started watching it, but it's a real treat to be able to see that art style done using hand-drawn cel animation, with a movie level budget on top of that. The motion has a very nice flow to it, the colors are nice and vibrant, and there seems to be more detail put into the backdrops than there is in (at least the early episodes of) the TV series.
Sound: 8/10
Audio is done nicely. With quality voice acting, and a fitting soundtrack for the scenes. The overall audio mix works well, but nothing in it really stood out as super impressive to me. The audio is just an acceptable sound mix, nothing more, nothing less.
Enjoyment: 7/10
Overall, while it has it's faults, and there's some parts that make it less enjoyable than the series, I enjoyed this film much more than I thought I would going into it. It's great for both fans of the series and for those who have never seen One Piece before. If you like adventure, action, pirates, or all three, This movie is easy to recommend.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 30, 2015
Idol Fighter Su-Chi-Pai II is apparently based on a Mahjong game series by Jaleco. I've never played the games, so I had no real frame of reference going into this.
The plot is thin, but it basically involves the collecting of nine different Mahjong tiles. However, you won't know this until the very end. The storyline throughout the episode itself is slapdash and likes to jump around to different scenes without any real transition or explanation why. It spends most of it's time introducing each new character.
The characters weren't terrible, but weren't anything too original, either. The acting for them was done well, and they were
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fun to watch on screen, but they're all such typical characters that it's hard to find any of them interesting or memorable.
Overall, I wouldn't call this good at all, but it had it's moments. The animation was acceptable and on-par with other productions at the time of it's release... and while the characters are stereotypical, they still manage to be written decently enough to have a laugh or two.
I give it a 4 out of 10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 14, 2015
Route 20 is a manga about one kid who's in a biker gang, and the trouble he gets into along the way. The story is told in a somewhat haphazard way, with things changing left and right, but I feel like that works in it's favor, making the pacing of the manga feel similar to the life of chaos that the main character has chosen. It helps set the tone of the manga well. Each scene is also very nicely done, with interesting, cinematic-like storytelling.
The art is pretty nice, with lots of interesting character designs that are expressive and iconic. There are also some cool
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looking robot and futuristic car designs which help flesh out the world, and some backgrounds which are fairly nice looking, but perhaps a bit minimalist.
The art is detailed overall, but I also can't help but think it's a bit lacking in spots. Still, it looks good.
The characters end up becoming interesting and by the end, I felt like I wanted to see more of all of them. However, that's where we begin to get to the problems.
Despite liking the manga, by the end, I was left wanting more. Each chapter is very short, being only 8-15 pages long. In total, the manga is only about 60 pages long.
I think a short one-shot like this can be interesting when done right, but in this case the reader only begins to get introduced to the characters and the story, and despite very strong introductions to all of them, all of the sudden it's over, and you desperately just want to continue reading... but you can't.
Ultimately, this manga is a super quick romp through a very dense and interesting world, with nice looking art and interesting characters. However, it also doesn't go anywhere, and just kind of ends without much of a conclusion. Being as short as it is, it ends up feeling more like the first two episodes of a longer series, except there was never a continuation afterwards, making all of it's good parts seem disappointing, because they end up being wasted.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Apr 2, 2015
Released after the end of the TV series, this standalone episode serves little purpose and doesn't add anything to the main story.
The reason for this is because essentially nothing of merit takes place in this episode. We watch Kenshin and crew go about their lives, with a few shots of the scenery that go on for a bit too long (almost as though they're stretching for time), and then the episode just kind of ends... without much of a climax.
I'd be surprised if this episode even had a writer. It's much more likely that the actors just got in a booth and recorded some new
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lines of dialogue and the animators slapped something on top of it. The story is THAT poorly done in this thing. The most I can say is that there's one humorous moment with Sanosuke.
As for the art, it's a slight step up from the TV series, utilizing digital coloring, digital linework, and even some live-action shots spliced in. It gives the episode an iconic look which works in it's favor, but I think I still prefer the classic hand-drawn look of the original series. That being said, the art is probably the best part of this whole special.
Sound is nothing outstanding, and does little to impress, but also isn't offensively bad. The actors did a fine job, despite not having many lines... but they also didn't manage to be overly impressive either.
The characters still seem like themselves in this special, but due to the extremely poor storytelling they don't really get any chance to shine, instead relegated to being there mostly for no reason.
Overall, I really didn't enjoy this at all. The art had an interesting look to it, but that didn't wow me enough to warrant the 25 minutes I spent watching barely anything happening on screen.
Even if you're a fan of the series, I can only recommend this special to the most die-hard Kenshin fans. To everybody else, it isn't required viewing, and your time would likely be better spent elsewhere.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 18, 2015
Story - 7/10
When it comes to the story in Time of Eve, I felt like it was a pretty original take on an existing formula. That formula being the common "androids are people too" trope that has been present in many sci-fi productions. However, the way the show approaches this concept, having it set in a cafe that doesn't discriminate between humans and robots, works really well. It frames the characters and their interactions in every episode in much of the same way something like the classic sitcom Cheers does.
That might be a bit of an odd comparison, though, as Time of Eve is more
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focused on drama instead of comedy. The drama is done well, however there is a much larger dramatic story that starts to come into the spotlight in the back half of the series that doesn't have a proper resolution or conclusion. We see much of the world outside the cafe but that is another point where the series doesn't explore it's setting as much as it could. However, with only an hour and 45 minutes, I can understand why. Still, I think perhaps the story may have been better served if they didn't include any hints at a larger picture whatsoever, focusing solely on the cafe and it's characters.
Characters - 7/10
(Visual Design - 7/10
Uniqueness - 7/10
Memorable - 5/10)
The characters are all well crafted, despite feeling somewhat plain. Their visual designs vary enough for each of them to feel different, and they all have a unique personality that make them interesting to watch on screen, but they also feel like the kind of characters I won't remember in a year from now. They feel almost like they're just one step above the cookie-cutter characters that are present in many other anime. They're done well, but they also didn't blow me away.
Art - 8/10
(Style - 9/10
Animation - 8/10)
The art is very crisp and nice, with really nice colors, lighting, as well as a decent amount of cg mixed in that feels like it fits well with the 2D art. However, it's also got a certain lifelessness to it. It's hard to explain, but the art and animation feels very manufactured, without much passion put into it. It all looks fine on a technical level, but part of me thinks that there could have been more warmth and spirit put into it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that despite it looking nice it feels somewhat emotionless, which is a bit ironic considering the nature of the story.
Sound - 6/10
(Voice Acting - 7/10
Effects & mix - 4/10
Music - 6/10)
I watched the Japanese dub with English subtitles, and the voice acting felt natural and I didn't notice any poorly read lines, but nothing really blew me away, either. All of the characters sounded good, and their voice actors definitely breathed life into them. However, there were a few emotional scenes as well, and while they were done nice enough, those scenes didn't tug on my heartstrings or surprise me in any way, and I feel like this is where the voice actors' performances suffer.
The sound effects and the overall mix seems pretty amatuerish in spots, with loud noises jutting out of nowhere and feeling completely detached from the scene, breaking some of the immersion. In other spots it seems fine, but also doesn't really do anything special, making me overall somewhat unimpressed with the sound mix, even though it's not offensively bad.
The music is fairly nice for the most part. The theme that plays for the first scene in the cafe in any episode is nice, and also fairly iconic... even memorable. However, the rest of the music is somewhat bland and forgettable, despite being well made and fitting into scenes nicely. There are also a few moments where the music is overbearing and seems kind of noticeably amatuerish, and it took me out of the scene a few times, but these moments are few and far between. The music is mostly average with a few amateurish points... but that Time of Eve cafe intro theme sticks out in my mind well enough to make the music at least somewhat worthwhile.
Enjoyment - 9
Overall - 8
Time of Eve is a show that, despite it's few flaws, comes off as a very nicely done production and ends up being really enjoyable. I'd recommend it to fans of the genre who are looking for a new twist on an old formula, just so long as you don't mind a few small quirks in the production that keep it from being great.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 8, 2014
A Drifting Life tells an interesting tale. It falls into many of the pitfalls you would expect from a non-fiction work, in terms of irregular pacing, as well as not having any real arc to the story. However, it still manages to be incredibly well put together despite these shortcomings, and I had fun reading through it.
The tone of the story is often an uplifting and motivating one, with a few darker elements here & there. The whole story seems to work, though, as it feels very realistic. These aren't the trials and tribulations of fictional characters, but actual drama that happened to actual people,
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and the fact that some of that drama comes out of nowhere makes it even more striking when it does happen, and it makes the characters feel very realistic.
Speaking of the characters, I really enjoyed them. It feels a little odd to even call them characters, since they're all based on real people. However, they each have their own, unique personality that lends itself to the overall story really well. I feel like this is probably the strongest element of the book, and it's what kept me most interested in it as I got deeper and deeper in.
Aside from that, I also really enjoyed the setting. The book brings you right into that era of Japan, and it's interesting to see how Japan develops around the characters as well. There's also a lot of references to classic manga and artists in here, and it was pretty interesting just seeing all the references to these books and their creators, even if I'm unfamiliar with a lot of them.
The art is somewhat simple, but looks really great, evoking the style of many manga of the era. The backgrounds are drawn wonderfully, and have a lot of detail put into them, but I think my favorite thing about the art is the character design, which splits the difference between cartoony and realistic art styles, perfectly.
This book is easily recommendable to anybody who has any interest in manga history or manga creation, and also recommendable to anybody who just likes a good slice-of-life drama.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 8, 2014
The story of Kemonozume was very enjoyable. While it does have a lot of standard ideas within it, I feel like it separates itself from them by presenting them in a new, unique manner that comes off a wholly original. Most of the episodes feel like a self-contained tale, while still adding to the overall plotline, and I love that style of doing things. The way the story is presented, in terms of the camera angles and the pacing of everything is also masterfully done.
Most of the characters have some unique qualities to them, but don't do too much to sand out from the crowd,
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giving us interesting, likable, and realistic characters... but also entirely forgettable ones. However, one character really stands out to me as memorable, and that would be Kyuutarou Ooba. This old man with his iconic laugh and demented personality is one of the most well done, and most memorable characters in the series, for sure.
As for the art, it may not be for everyone, but I really like it, and I feel like it adds so much to the visceral nature of the show. The rough edges around all of the characters might look sloppy to some people, but for me, I feel like it gives the show a very specific tone, but it also allows the animators to get more fluid and natural with the character movement, combine that with the muted and dark color palette, and it makes the whole show feel a lot more realistic than many other anime.
The Audio is fantastic, across the board. From loud, thumping sound design, to a really effectively used soundtrack, I'm absolutely in love with it. The opening theme is fantastic as well and sets the tone of the series very nicely. The ending theme isn't quite as good, but the contrast between the themes does a good job of showing the contrast between the action parts of the story, and the romance parts.
Overall, this is a really enjoyable show. It's got a few minor flaws here and there, but every episode was a blast. It was one of those kinds of series where, even though it's somewhat episodic, each episode was so well done that I just wanted to watch more of it after finishing one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 1, 2014
Well, geez, here we are again. It's another one of Yoji Kuri's experimental madhouses of a short film. Let's see what this one has to offer.
Much like his other works, this one consists of a bunch of short vignettes that don't have any real purpose to them, make between little and zero sense, and always end with some stupid, pointless gag.
Audio is a mess, and there's no notable characters, either.
The one positive thing I can say about this is that the art is slightly better looking than some of his other work. Sure, everything has a really simplistic design without any interesting details or refined
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character traits, but at least it's not as scribbly as much of his other stuff, and at least the colors in this one look a little bit more vibrant.
Still, this short film is not recommendable. Watch it if you must, but there are definitely better ways that you could be spending 7 minutes of your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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