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Feb 11, 2021
A Deconstruction of the Shonen Genre. The Tarantino of Manga. A story written for people who have seen it all. A spoiler-free review.
If any of those descriptions sounds like something you'd be interested in, then boy do I have a manga for you.
Tatsuki Fujimoto, the author of Chainsaw Man, is a well known film buff. In fact, the advice he gives to aspiring young mangakas is to get a Netflix subscription. And this shows in his work. Neat pop culture references aside, what really shines in Fujimoto's work is what he intentionally leaves unsaid.
Chainsaw Man from beginning to end is a thrilling, chaotic,
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often depressing, yet oddly hilarious, rollercoaster of emotions. And to express this, Fujimoto's favorite language to use is Atmosphere. Whether shown through paneling, or his signature rough and unrefined art style, or through the quiet moments shared between characters, the emotions he wants to convey have never been heard more loudly.
This is what I feel like separates Fujimoto's work from other Mangaka's. But what about Chainsaw Man? What makes this series in particular, so absolutely brilliant? And why has it developed such an intense cult following?
I would say it comes down to three things: Characters, Theme, and Expectations.
The characters in Chainsaw Man have this odd power, the ability to instantly make you fall in love with them. I say its odd, because the world of anime and manga has always taken an excruciating amount of time developing each and every character (often at the expense of others). So how, despite Chainsaw Man's blistering pace, do we find ourselves so emotionally attached to these characters?
I think the answer is in what I already explained as Fujimoto's genius: His language of atmosphere. Everything he draws, and everything he doesn't, all culminates into telling a story and conveying the emotions he wants to express. His characters use this language, and in every panel you can find them doing something or saying something that characterizes them even further. And that makes their growth, pain, happiness, and destruction all that more intensely satisfying.
So what happens when you take Fujimoto's genius language of atmosphere, combined with lovable characters that have no need for exposition, and tie it all together with a theme? Well then you have the makings for one of the most incredible stories in the game. I could spend hours talking to you about the themes portrayed in this series, and some of the reviews here have already done an incredible job of doing just that. So instead, I want to end this review on a little bit of an anecdote.
Fujimoto writes Chainsaw Man for people like Fujimoto. People like me. Someone who has watched hundreds of anime, read countless manga, binged endless novels, has a hulu, netflix, disney plus, and amazon prime subscription, and has generally spent their life watching film and television. After a while, people like us begin to crave the same thing: The Unexpected.
Tropes and Cliches have existed for as long as stories have, and when you see enough of them, you gain the ability to predict plots from beginning to end. When I watched Game of thrones with my friend for the first time, I was accused of never being surprised. And to be honest, I wasn't. Yet, every week, no matter what predictions I had in my head, Chainsaw Man never failed to completely blow away my expectations. And because of that, I have never been more excited for a manga in my life.
I don't know what Fujimoto has planned for the rest of the series, and honestly, that's what makes it great. And I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 16, 2020
This anime should not be as good as it is. (Tldr below)
Let me preface this review by saying that I'm a writer. I really enjoy watching stories, but I also enjoy analyzing what makes stories great. And when I spot some of the more skillful techniques in action, I tend to get excited.
From an outsider point of view, I could see how people would have complaints. The biggest being the lack of realism. This story takes key elements and likes to exaggerate them for effect. For example, the extremely over-the-top affectionate main heroine.
However, unlike a large majority of anime, Golden Time exaggerates with
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[Purpose]. We often find ourselves fighting a battle of trying to enjoy a well made anime, when something stupid happens for no reason other than fanservice. Like a mentor suddenly betraying his student, and then when the protagonist saves the student in an emotional confrontation, he accidentally cops a feel. (If you know, you know.)
Though, I tend to criticize anyone who looks for realism in anime.
What makes Golden Time great is the way they create these over the top situations, that brings out the shining star of the whole series.
Character development.
A key component in character development is the need for a weakness. We start out with a protagonist that lost his memories. A lazy writer could stop there and leave it at that. But Golden Time takes it further, and gives their characters weaknesses that many of us could relate to. Insecurity. Anxiety. Fear of things that we can't control. They take these weaknesses, and learn to grow past them.
But they also give these characters strength. For example, the Protagonist has one of the most overpowered abilities in all of anime history.
Self respect.
The second biggest flaw of this show, I'd say, is it's predictability. From the first episode, you can pretty much tell where the whole story is going to go. It's very rare that something catches you off guard. It's not going for plot-twists, or mystery. And that's fine. Because through this, Golden time excels in something that brought me immense joy.
Suspense.
Even when I knew an event was coming, they somehow managed to keep me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Because even if you know what is going to happen, you never know what the result will be.
But despite the drama tag, this anime never fails to give you some of the most adorable, heart tingling, wholesome moments that romance lovers like I desperately crave.
If I had to say one bad thing about the show, it would be that the ending was rushed. They tried to give you suspense until the very end, but in this case you knew what the result would be. I would have rather had a whole episode dedicated to the aftermath, rather than just the credits.
TL;DR: Overall, it was by far one of the best romance anime I've ever watched. And I would highly recommend it to anyone who is tired of spineless MC's, and generic harem anime that are 99% tease and maybe a kiss at the end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 18, 2015
Alright, I don't normally write reviews, but I've got a lot to say about Blassreiter.
Blassreiter was one of the worst anime I've ever seen in my lifetime. But let me give it the benefit of the doubt and start off with what's good about it. (TL;DR below)
Pros: The story pacing overall is fairly decent. Not too slow, not too fast. The story itself has nothing wrong with it, in fact it's not half bad. They don't try to pump it full of different genre's that don't mix.
Now onto the cons!
Cons: This is the type of anime that tries waaaay too hard to make you feel
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sad about a character's death despite the fact the character is so underdeveloped they only count as a supporting character because of the extra screen time.
The character development overall is some of the worst I've ever seen. Bringing up plot devices and killing them off in the same episode in order to force development on the main characters.
Speaking of the main characters. Think you know who they are? Well you don't. Because for half the anime the main character acts more like a side character. The biggest plot twist of the entire anime is finding out who the actual main character is.
Have you ever watched an anime where they bring up suspense devices that hold no meaning to you? Well I hope you like anime like that because this one has a ton of it. You'll be hearing lines like "Oh no it's the X377. How dare they use that? if we don't stop it we're all doomed!". And the name X377 holds more meaning that some of the suspense devices they use in this anime.
Do you like cliche character architypes? Well I sure hope so because every single one of these characters could be the face of the word "cliche". Want more proof? How about Villains who yell "How dare you!" or "This is impossible!" when they're losing?
Have you ever watched an anime where the flashbacks/backstories are more interesting than the main story? You haven't? Well you will when you watch Blassreiter.
How about Bullsh*t endings that try to force closure in without you noticing how dumb it is? Hope you like that, because that's what you're gonna get at the end.
Do you like watching anime where halfway through about 5 characters you don't know show up and the badguy is suddenly an ally and with NO explanation at all? Well if you do, then you should watch Blassreiter, you'll love it.
Despite the endless amounts of skin tight mecha suits, big boobs, that one nude scene, and tons of blood gore and action... It was extremely boring and hard to watch. I mean some of the action was good, but after it was over you were still bored.
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So to summarize and for those TL;DR readers out there... This anime is so bad that not only is it the first anime I considered below 5/10 in rating, but it's also so bad that it convinced me to write and entire review about it. Do not watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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