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Jun 17, 2023
From the get-go I felt the pacing of this story and the way it gets to the heart of the character’s personalities was well done. There was a good mixture of show and tell, revealing Kyousuke’s character through his actions (i.e. showing us he’s a hard worker (read: workaholic) and has seemingly high morals through his work at the advertising company) and revealing Kasumi’s character through Kyousuke’s thoughts and feelings.
The conflict between Kyousuke’s morals and Kasumi’s actions and feelings are also apparent from their first interaction on the page, and solidified when they meet again. There are a lot of layers—not only the tension of
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loving someone unrequitedly and being so physically close with that someone, but also the tension of this individual having their own (unrequited?) love with a woman in a relationship…and believing that that is wrong, fundamentally, even though you love this person so deeply and have known them for years. (This is all without mentioning the generally openly—and internally—homophobic nature of the Japanese public as portrayed in the manga.)
Without revealing too many spoilers, things aren’t entirely complete from just seeing Kyousuke’s POV, and digging into what happened between the two throughout their school days (and how that ended) is what sets off the chain of events that make this BL so spectacular. It makes us ask harder questions, like: Does Kyousuke really have “high morals,” or is he jealous? That internalized homophobia of his that has so wholly convinced him that being in a gay relationship is an impossibility for himself or those he cares about—the belief that that is “gross” or “wrong”—is really what this manga gets to the heart of. It’s up to Kyousuke to grow from the past and accept himself in order to finally be there for the one he loves the most—before it’s too late.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Oct 15, 2017
Warning: Minor Spoilers ahead
Story: 8/10
The story was, overall, very enjoyable. I was able to sit down and watch the movie in its entirety without feeling bored or pausing for a break, which is pretty impressive considering my increasingly short attention span (something I deem a societal problem, not a personal one). It did have one rather jarring continuity issue, which unfortunately results in a "happy ending"--admittedly matching the tone overall, but contradicting the central message of the film: happiness cannot be achieved without hardship. I also disliked the montage around the 1/3 point of the movie, which was honestly unnecessary and kind of distracting. It
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leads to a feeling of disconnection between audience connection and character connection--which leads me to my second point.
Character: 7/10
The characters in Brave Story were likable, but out of the five characters featured in the cover art, only two were given the development they deserved. The montage I previously mentioned is part of the problem, but the larger issue was the lack of time. This movie was dense, and uses the time it was given (nearly two hours) pretty effectively, but in all honesty, it would work better as a 12 episode series than a stand-alone movie. That being said, the two main characters were given sufficient development to make the audience care about their "destinies."
Art: 7/10
I mean, it was 2004, so I can't be too harsh here...but god the CG. If you haven't seen the movie yet, watch out for the frog part. You've know what I'm talking about when you see it. It's like PS1 level graphics. Besides that, the traditionally animated parts are standard, but nothing impressive.
Sound: 7/10
The soundtrack was fine, but nothing stood out.
Enjoyment: 8/10
It was a good use of my time. The story was compelling. I'd watch it again.
Overall: 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 23, 2017
Nobita no Nippon Tanjou was certainly an enjoyable movie, and a great first impression for a person like myself who has never actually seen Doraemon, despite its overwhelming popularity in Japan. Albeit formulated upon a childish and roundabout plot line, this archetypal setup does not detract from the depth of its amusement and the value of its entertainment.
Opening up with a supposedly recurrent motif--that is, Nobito's tendency to attempt to run away--juxtaposed with the hunting excursions of a confused cavechild about to be sucked into a vortex, the film clearly aims to immediately earn the attention of it's intended audience (children).
The art is colorful
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and eye-catching, but not exceptional and clearly old-fashioned. The soundtrack and voice acting is par, but again, not spectacular. The characters are pre-established and not given any sort of development within the span of the movie, but they certainly aren't unlikable, they're just generically comedic and static. While I can't praise the movie for this, I don't find it particularly negative either--for the genre and pure entertainment purpose of the film, the kids fit the bill.
Overall, it's definitely something I enjoyed and would recommend to burn an hour or to entertain a group of bored children, but it's not something I would set aside time to watch again. It's funny, dynamic, and has the chummy, nostalgic vibe that would bring a warm pain to the chest of any adult revisiting it, but for someone watching for the first time, it can seem to drag along at times and serve no real purpose when it comes to intellectual analysis. It's a dated piece of art for dated folk, but otherwise, it's just a film to laugh at and appreciate for its unabashed mediocrity.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 25, 2016
Intro:
Madoka Magica is the most artistic, enthralling, and thorough evaluation of the human conscience I've ever experienced in anime. Probably every anime fan has heard it once before: Madoka is one of those shows you start off expecting one thing and leave with your heart ripped from your chest and thrown across the room in one quick swing of Satan's scythe--but when you actually sit down to watch it, it's still more intense than what you've been warned. While I expected something along the lines of "cute but morbid," something resembling Gakkou Gurashi (a show which I consider one of my favorites), what I received
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was so much more complex, so much more of a postulation regarding the concept of our existence and the validity of our emotions. The only regret I have is that I waited so long, passing this show off as another hyped up mainstream series that simply defied the stereotypical.
Story: 10/10
Without spoiling anything, this series deals with themes of personal responsibility, the will to survive, the meaning of life, the importance of friendship, the sacrifice of heroism, fate and the validity (or invalidity) of time travel, the inevitability of evil, and the obscurity of human values. And it nails every one of these concepts.
Art: 8/10
Despite the extremely beautiful styles of art throughout the show, one thing, ONE VERY SPECIFIC THING, irritated me enough to consider the art the worse aspect of this show: THE CHIN LINES. Tell me why the close-ups have such thick chin lines, with a weird darker skin shading between? Maybe it was just an artistic choice, or it was a way to make the character designs appear more sketchy (as this sketchiness is often used to indicate the severity of an emotion or situation), but....it just BOTHERS ME.
Sound: 8/10
While the OST wasn't a huge part of the experience for me, the opening was catchy as hell, and music was used to intensify or express the emotions of a situation (much like the art style) in a natural way. Not much more to say--it isn't outstanding but it does its job without flaw.
Character: 10/10
Virtually the entire plot revolves around the development and fundamental importance of each character. I'll refrain from continuing, as anything regarding the constantly evolving plot of this series could be spoiler territory, but I can assure you that the character development is done right, many times over.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Need I say more? Go watch Madoka Magica for yourself--nothing I say can express what it does perfectly in expressing itself. That's the most important thing to remember going into this show: unless someone were to tell you the plot, you would never expect what it has to offer.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 18, 2016
I really enjoyed these shorts. While I have some things to critique, overall they exceeded my expectations (by far) and served their purpose (i.e. got my hyped for the game).
The story is what you would expect from a FF game/spin-off (or prequel, in this case)--but in my opinion, I personally like this story more than others from preceding games. It has a uniqueness I can't quite delineate--in fact, it might just be Noct as a character that draws me in, as opposed to, say, Tidus (lol citing basically the only other FF game I've invested any sort of time into). Despite the subtle cliché basis
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that comes from FF as a whole, the fact that Noct is a character I've come so quickly to care about is enough to make the story feel, from what we were given, well composed.
The art, while I have no complaints about it particularly (considering I normally prefer the hand-drawn style), was nothing to flaunt. I almost wish (and I know this probably wouldn't have been feasible) that these shorts were in the beautiful CGI style that the game demo advertised. Again, that's just my preference, but it was what I was sort of expecting (given that I did no research whatsoever before diving into watching these shorts).
Overall, I'd certainly recommend these shorts to anyone planning or contemplating buying FFXV. After playing the demo I was already pretty excited for the release, but this little mini-series gives a lot more information as to our main characters in the game and their backstories.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 11, 2016
Story: 9
Honestly, I really loved this movie. It had me immersed from the first minute to the last, and while I can understand why some people dislike it over its "lack of logic," I don't agree. For the first half, or even first 3/4 of the film, it seems rather realistic, almost as if it could be an alternate reality to our own. Undeniably, it takes an unanticipated twist at that point--and one that I felt personally bumped my overall enjoyment of the film from an 8 to a 10--there was no doubt in my mind that the change of pace was, for my taste,
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a positive. With that said, I'm going to keep this review spoiler free, so that's about as far as my review of the story itself goes--I decided on a 9 for this section, just because the very beginning starts off a bit too slow for me, despite it being the general establishing opening.
Art: 8
I am NOT a fan of CGI, and this movie depends heavily on it. However, for the most part (aside from some of the cringy monsters), I really didn't mind it when applied to the scenes and even the characters. The speed of the action blurred the 3D models almost enough to make the CGI undetectable, if you aren't an enemy of it (like me), and it was certainly better than the usual MMD standard.
Otherwise, the hand drawn artstyle was somewhat generic, but definitely not something that negatively impacted the experience.
Sound: 10
I think that the soundtrack of this movie was picked perfectly. There are times, especially in flashbacks and in the conclusion of the film, that the outside noise is nearly or entirely muted, and the beautiful music has a moment to take over. Is it something most of us would listen to all by itself? Probably not. But it fit the scenes so while that doesn't even matter to me.
Character: 9
While there isn't anything extraordinarily spectacular about the cast, I really appreciated its diversity. At first glance, one might point the seven mains out as archetypes, but as the story progresses we learn that they REALLY aren't. The development is done well, even if it turns pretty entropic towards the end, and I wasn't left feeling like any of the character were familiar cookie cutters I'd seen before. All that having been said, working with seven characters does mean that certain ones were given, if not more screen time in this case, more attention. And THAT having been said, this extra attention was done somewhat subtly and I'd say was rather acceptable given the survivability of each character in the end (lol sorry I'm not trying to sound all weirdly sophisticated, I'm just trying my hardest not to spoil those major plot points).
Enjoyment: 10 (see Story for why...sorry I got lazy and need a snack)
Overall: 10
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 21, 2016
This may be the first and last time I write a review based almost exclusively on the plot of an anime, but bear with me. This is not an entirely synoptic review, just a collection of my thoughts, praises and criticism (that is, one singular criticism).
I absolutely fell in like with Boku Dake ga Inai Machi right off the bat, as I'm sure most people did (I remember, even if it was for a very short time, there was a little car for ERASED on the 2016 hype train). I watched weekly until the 7th episode, when I realized if I was left with another
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cliff hanger I was going to lose my patience and literally jump off the cliff--so I caved and binge read the entire manga over the course of about 24 hours.
To be entirely honest, I was a little disappointed by the ending of the manga. It felt so incomplete to me, in fact, that after finishing the anime a few months later I can't remember entirely what the original ending even was--only that is was dissatisfying, and in the moment I dismissed the show rather quickly with the expectation that it, too, would end up in disappointment.
I AM REALLY GLAD THAT I DIDN'T PERMANENTLY DROP THIS SHOW. After finally sitting a friend down after a bit of pleading earlier this year, I re-watched the first 5 episodes and realized that a few things were already altered (for the better) from the manga. Just a few hours ago, I decided I'd finish the series.
MINOR* SPOILERS START HERE.
The last 2 episodes, specifically, are what make the anime better than the manga. The entire show, we're rooting for Satoru to finally achieve what he desires--and unlike most shounen or even seinen out there, it isn't for some sort of self-improvement in the long run--it's exclusively to help and protect others, not himself. The direction that they take at the end of episode 11 and in episode 12 regarding Yumi emphasizes this point, while adding depth to the ending that was originally lacking. The ending itself is so much more optimistic and satisfying, creating a scenario of absolute success for Satoru without entirely pandering to predictability.
MAJOR* SPOILERS START HERE.
My favorite part(s) about the ending that differ from the manga is the addition of snow (yuki) and the paper airplane floating in the river (a symbol of courage, yuuki), along with a proper conclusion for each of Satoru's childhood friends, including the formerly suspected killer, Yuuki. This is also important when it comes to Kayo and her baby, since I don't recall it ever being stated in the manga that Kenya and Kayo get married--it leaves the father anonymous, making the audience feel as if it should have been Satoru instead, and that makes the entire coma fate seem worse than it really is designed to be.
The final cherry on top was the revelation that Satoru will be reunited with Airi, which I was afraid would never happen, given that it wasn't hinted at until the last possible moment. This reinforces the idea of "hope" and "never giving up" that brought the entire conclusion together.
The only complaint I have is the lack of Yashiro's character development, as it was explained thoroughly in the manga, allowing for a tiny bit of empathy from the audience instead of painting him entirely as a bad guy (despite the fact that he was a serial murderer).
P.S. I'm sorry if my thoughts sound jumbled. It's nearly midnight, but I absolutely needed to write this review in the heat of the moment (take the bull by the horns) in order to capture all of my emotions regarding the ending of the show. In case I haven't already made it obvious enough,
WATCH. THIS. SHOW.
I highly recommend, it is definitely in my top 5 favorites.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 15, 2016
Story: 10/10
I've seen my fair share of negative reviews for Noragami Aragoto, for various reasons, but I'm writing this review to make the case for why Noragami is so popular, and why so many people love it: it makes you feel something. Actually, a lot of things. I'm a huge believer in the idea that what makes any piece of art gain success is the creator's ability to evoke an emotional response from the audience. This doesn't always mean its a good thing: terrorist groups, as an extreme example, achieve this "success" by evoking fear and torment. In most cases, however, the intent is to
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make the audience feel happiness, sadness, anger, and/or suspense (ha, better add agony to that list, actually). Sometimes this comes as a retrospective realization, which often leaves lasting effects, while other times it comes as the journey unfolds, like Noragami. The advantage of having this evocation of emotion occur as the story unfolds is that it keeps the audience constantly engaged, without having to rely on curiosity or sudden changes that inevitably result in pacing inconsistencies. The disadvantage is that, while the feelings may be intense "in the moment," they may or may not be memorable, but I can't make the case for everyone--it all depends on how much a person personally enjoys the series, and how long they watch it for, whether that's week by week or binging, like me. In addition, this being the second season means that (if season 1 did it's job) we're already attached to these characters (to a degree), making it easier to empathize with them and much easier to care about what happens to them.
SPOILER ALERT--SKIP CHARACTER CATEGORY IF YOU CARE
Character: 9/10
The only reason I even feel the need to differentiate "Character" from "Story" after already complimenting the character development is because of one character, essential to the second arc of the season: Ebisu. While MAL may categorize him as a supporting character, I beg to differ--he obviously has an extreme impact on Yato after he dies, ultimately causing the complete shift of his perspective and his releasing of Nora. Because of how important he was, I feel like the audience should have been given a bigger insight into his importance and his past, rather than just passing him off as "that god who reincarnates a lot." All that being stated, Ebisu was still focused on enough throughout the second half of the season to have an impact on me when he died, especially considering his newfound desire to survive and the illegitimacy of his execution.
Art: 10/10
The art of Noragami Aragoto is very stylized, and the colors are vibrant and often meaningfully chosen, either to highlight certain elements of a scene or to create subliminal connections between specific characters and their personalities. While the style is pretty common, this use of colors is something rather unique, considering the otherwise flat shading (as opposed to either continual dull or vibrant tints throughout).
Sound: 9/10
The music of the show is great. It always fits the mood of a scene, and is the type of OST that one could listen to independently after the anime has concluded. The OP is upbeat and never fails to get me pumped for what's to come (on top of how catchy it is), while the ED, though by far not my favorite, was choreographed well and had meaninful, emotional lyrics.
Enjoyment: 10
No need to extrapolate here. I really enjoyed the show. In addition, it wrapped up in a way that leads us straight into season 3--suffice to say, I'm excited to see where the story takes us next.
Conclusion:
I recommend this show for fans of shounen, or people who appreciate continually dramatic, unpredictable, and intense plot, and those who enjoyed season 1.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Feb 12, 2016
Art:
The art of Natsume Yuujinchou is probably the least impressive aspect, which is not to say it isn't impressive. It's simple, soft, and fluid, and there isn't much to pick on about it. The character designs are simple but hardly archetypical, and the individuality of each is accentuated even further by their differentiability.
Character(s):
You would assume the character development of this series is limited to Natsume, as it is episodic in nature and most characters either don't reappear later or are purely fill-in supporting characters that are meant to be stereotypical, average high school students or adult figures. Wrong. In nearly every single episode, 1-2 characters
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are introduced, and while most of them never reappear (save for the last episode), each and every one is fleshed out in a realistic, concise, and complete manner. Because of this, they are all given the potential to reappear (if, in fact, they don't cease to exist within the episode they are introduced) and likely do in later seasons (though this is purely speculation, since I've only seen season 1). In addition, Natsume himself evolves throughout the series and is a character that I've grown so fond of that he's become one of my favorite characters.
Sound, Story (I know that seems like an odd combination, but when I sat down to write I couldn't think of a better way to compliment the individual categories than to intertwine them, as they are in the show):
I've tried listening to the OST while simultaneously attempting to read a rather monotonous novel for school, but my mind couldn't help but wander onto simpler, more captivating things. Some tracks caused me to subconsciously contemplate my relationships with others, while some caused silly conversations from the day to resurface in my mind. Overall, even though some songs utilized during more action based scenes contained an almost humorous amount of yokai shouting and other traditional Japanese noisemakings, the OST is absolutely beautiful, and definitely the type that I could listen to stand-alone, without a visual aid to enjoy it.
Additionally--
The ending song always filled me with a sense of bittersweet sadness, like a fleeting beauty, reminding me that nothing in this life lasts, that it's only here for a short time, whether we choose to accept that or not, and the only way we can enjoy it to the fullest is to form relationships with others and show everyone kindness. The show as a whole emphasized this through each episodic arc, as well as through Natsume as he grew to love where he was in life and the people who filled him with happiness. The delicate balance of comedy and harsh, yet beautifully executed reality, was fully fledged. Never for a moment did I feel the creators rushed through an episode's emotional aspects in order to further a plot. The main concern was always to make the viewer feel something--sadness, happiness, hope, despair, nostalgia, whatever it may be--and make their own conclusions of it.
In conclusion, this show made me really feel something that not many anime do--it wasn't an acute sense, a "fangirl" feeling, that lasted for a few seconds of intense irruption--it was a lasting sense of warmth and connection with the characters and their struggles, and always left me feeling satisfied and full of emotions that were sometimes difficult to explain, but always present and welcomed.
I highly recommend Natsume Yuujinchou to anyone who may be on the fence about watching it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 17, 2015
This is one of my more serious and critical reviews, not because I dislike yaoi or didn't like this OVA, but because I honestly REALLY did like it. Hybrid Child captivated me backwards, which honestly was a lot better than the other way around, like most anime does. (I'm not the type of person to sit through a show once I start it just because I feel like I need to...if something really bores me, I drop it.) The first part was interesting, no doubt...it set the story up and introduced the main concept that would be fleshed out during the subsequent parts. However, it
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wasn't what drew me in the continue watching. JUST the fact that there was plot was enough. I mean, that's literally the opposite of what the term "yaoi" stands for. The second part interested me twice as much as the first, despite the fact that I initally believed the two to be completely independent from each other. And, of course, parts 3 and 4 were the icing on the cake, and well awaited.
That being said, the sort of disconnect between the four different parts is what threw me off. I watched them all consecutively, and the time periods/characters in each part, though all closely connected, could easily confuse a first time watcher, which normally would be okay but I have a feeling it wasn't intentional (especially for a yaoi, which is normally designed so that the audience doesn't have to concentrate too much on details). Additionally, the premise that the plot had could have been extrapolated further. I personally thought the central idea, hybrid doll children that is, was a fantastic one, and maybe a 12 episode series could have better cultivated its potential. But it's a yaoi, whatareyagonnado. Not much more I could ask for. The fact that the plot itself was so well executed for an anime of this genre and length struck me as pretty incredible.
(Teetering between a rating of 7 and 8 due to the above stated reasons, I have decided on 7 because what does a number really mean, anyway?)
I recommend for any yaoi fan or anime fan that doesn't mind a bit of guy-on-guy action. There's also a bit of comedy thrown into the mix.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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