Back to BirdBird's Profile BirdBird's Profile

First of all, these stories were not written by Hajime Isayama, and like most fanfiction they deviate slightly from the canon's characterisation, having characters say and do things that are out of place yet serve to tell a story. Secondly, if you have watched the first season of the anime (or read that far in the manga) you will understand the context, but otherwise there are huge spoilers that, while also spoiling the original story, may also be very confusing as they are presented without explanation. However I will avoid all spoilers in my review to spare the uninitiated.

Now allow me to break down the ... stories separately:

1. Lost in the Cruel World

This is Mikasa's story, and it is a dream of an alternate-timeline set before the fall of wall Maria. Here the theory of the "butterfly effect" is the driving metaphor, so Eren and Mikasa's first meeting as kids is different because of reasons never explained (except through the presence of a butterfly? I suppose we're in dream country now). Eren and Mikasa go on adventures that build their friendship while making nods to the original storyline throughout. The main contention is Armin's familiarity with aeroplanes and his lack of foresight. I imagine the purpose of most alt-universe stories is to show an interesting what-if regarding a story and characters we like -- but here, one is only reminded of why Attack on Titan's plotline was chosen: because it's not BORING.


2. Wall Sina, Goodbye

Annie's story occurs the day prior the the scouting legion's 57th exterior mission into the titan territory of wall Maria. She is now a member of the Military Police, and tomorrow's mission is weighing heavily on her thoughts -- that is until she asks her comrade Hitch Dreyse for a favour and is asked to give one in return, today. The favour is finding a missing woman, Carly Stratmann, the daughter of a merchant company president. This case sends her to the underbelly of wall Sina where drunkards and illicit drug-users run rampant. Of course you can't have an Annie story without some hand-to-hand combat, which this story delivers on a number of times. But as always, there are moments where Annie's characterisation is questionable (like her new-found obsession with donuts turning her into Sasha for a few panels).


3. Lost Girls

The shortest story brings Annie and Mikasa together during combat training when they are recruits. Mikasa confronts Annie about a ring that was dropped after Annie and Eren's sparring. She questions the function of the ring, and then Annie's motivation in joining the military police. There's some tension surrounding what remains unspoken, and the fact that Annie's in the middle of cutting potatoes with a big knife and keeps looking at said knife throughout their conversation.


Overall: these stories happen between events shown in the original Attack on Titan, and provide no speculation on character background or present happenings in the parent story. Even "Lost Girls", which doesn't create an entirely new setting, reiterates knowledge gleaned from the manga and only serves as an opportunity to have these 2 girls talk privately. In that regard they are extremely disappointing. However, the art is wonderful, and if either Annie or Mikasa are your favourite characters it might tickle your fancy.

It is impossible to take Di Gi Charat 100% seriously. Firstly, there is no linear narrative -- each episode is a vignette with the established characters in a new situation (but not necessarily a different setting). And secondly, the script is so insane, the writers were definitely having a riot making this stuff up. There is no mistaking this for a serious entry into the anime records.

This was one of the first anime series I watched start to finish as a teenager, and it blew my mind. With only a handful of animes under my belt, I'd seen enough to be very familiar with several ... anime cliches (namely melodramatic dialogue and anticlimactic storytelling), and as such, I watched Di Gi Charat with the understanding that it was a satire on the whole genre. I'm surprised to find that it wasn't designed as a satire, but was simply a whacky comedy that employed common anime elements in bizarre situations. But I still watch it and think "yeah, anime IS ridiculous".

Each episode would have a different tone from the last, either emulating an action-packed thriller, a supernatural drama, or a melodramatic slice of life, and sometimes even nothing in particular (which was just as hilarious). What also convinced me it was a parody was that the design of characters and animation would suddenly shift into an over-the-top 80's shounen or shoujo style that further punctuated the absurdity. The cast of side characters were all caricatures, that we can all agree on, but I was also under the impression that the three main characters, Dejiko, Petite Charat, and Usada (yeah she hates that name) were also parodies of the "moe" style. The fact that they're sincerely designed characters makes me laugh. Oh, anime!

I understand not everyone is as cynical as I am when it comes to anime, so not everyone will see Di Gi Charact as a parody, but I imagine overlooking the moments that could be interpreted as satire would make the show seem kinda bland. Either way, I highly recommend watching this series with friends late at night, as sharing in the confusion will add to the fun.

"Nobody knows my face, but everybody knows my body. I am the messenger of justice, sent by God to this school of perversion! My name is Kekko... Kekko Kamen! I hide my face but expose all else."

While this wasn't the women-empowering, albeit perverted, superhero romp I'd hoped it'd be, it was still a perverted superhero romp with lots of female characters to enjoy (and not just for their bodies), and that's good enough for me!

I'm not going into a full-blown feminist critique of this show because hell, I'm not getting paid to do it, and few would probably read it. Suffice to say, you can ... view 'Kekko Kamen' as a satire of oversexualised female superheroes set in a trashy universe, or you can see it as yet another text making a woman's body her main character trait (Kekko Kamen is identified by her body and not her face, after all), as well as exclusively sexually exploiting female characters and not male ones (equality means I get to see some men sexually exploited, too!) -- although this is because the perverted principal is "not interested in the male students", in my opinion, the biggest perverts care not for gender and relish all bodies!

So while no men are punished, we do have a male character in episode 2 who IS sexualised, and this has to be the strongest moment of the anime -- when he uses his muscular body as a weapon to weaken/distract Kekko Kamen. The whole thing is bloody hilarious, and I recommend the show based on this episode alone! I also appreciated the character Yuka Chigusa not depending on Kekko Kamen to help her friend, Mayumi Takahashi, who's the main victim of the principal's punishments. Girl power, yeah!

My reaction to this show was very similar to the enjoyment the principal gets from punishing Mayumi Takahashi -- laughing gleefully at the absurdist humour and oggling at the big tits. If you find females being sexually compromised offensive, even in a humourous context, give this a pass (and maybe give all ecchi/hentai anime a pass, too).

"The crisis at the school is over for now. However, if the sales of this video are really good, she will return! For now, goodbye, Kekko Kamen. Thank you Kekko Kamen!"

After reading reviews condemning the characters for "border-line rape", my curiosity was piqued. If reverse-harems are designed for female enjoyment (as typical harems are for males), then is this a non-hentai anime catering to FEMALE rape fantasy? (Because we all know plenty of anime for male rape fantasy exists)

A hesitant yes. If this really was meant to please women they went about it the wrong way. The plot is so forced and stupid that the show would have been better without it, as well as any exposition given to explain the situation entirely -- it's so bad, it would have been improved if there was ... no explanation at all. A girl just shows up to a house and guys with no background start forcing themselves on her. As soon as they started expounding on that, it was difficult to stomach.

This anime has the subtlety of a teenager's erotic fanfic, and plays exactly like one -- with sexual scenes playing one after another with barely a moment's reflection, and established character forgotten for the sake of... I don't know what exactly (e.g. brothers who hate each other feeding on her at the same time). What is the motivation for their actions? The abuse they received from their mothers? That's the only possibility we're given, and it's only relevant for 4 of the 6 men, but they all act the same way. Why they hate each other is never explored, nor why they live together, why they care about the female character's well-being at all beyond drinking from her. I suppose the only reason they don't completely drain her is that they have to fill 12 episodes. Her being slowly drained at the end of the first episode would've been 10x more erotic than the nonsense we're given (mainly because we would've been spared 12 episodes with these terrible characters).

Some female perverts do not ask for romance, or even context, but we just cannot abide terrible writing. Unless truly desperate, look elsewhere for your rape fantasy fix, my fellow perverts.

"Why did Gora-san... He was standing there quietly all this time. Why did he decide to start moving again now?"
"That's the kabuki rule! When the camera's rolling, everyone else stops moving. Until the speaker's done with their lines, they must stand quietly. More precisely, they're incapable of moving!"

Now that's what I call an accurate parody of all action anime, not just the magical girl genre!
---

'Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu LOVE!' pokes fun at a lot of tropes: anime character 'types', inexplicable shounen-ai shenanigans, talking animals, pointless slice-of-life dialogue, and, obviously, the magical girl genre (including the obligatory speeches about love, as well as silly attack and ... transformation names).

What 'Binan' accomplishes in 12 episodes is more that can be said of a lot of anime. Questions asked in early episodes are answered in a final showdown, with a hilarious explanation as to why all this craziness is even happening. And the journey is totally worth it for the satisfying ending. I've recommended this to friends who haven't watched anime in decades, I'm that certain that it's an all-round crowd pleaser! I hope you have as much fun as I did.

Inuyasha was a childhood show of mine, and the first anime I watched sequentially, though I did not complete at the time. As such, I am heavily biased for nostalgic reasons, but as I rewatched to finally complete the series, I did face problems with the show.

Firstly, the story itself, even without fillers, is too long. There are many unnecessary aspects that can be cut. For example, the Band of Seven arc (boring characters except for Bankotsu) felt like a drag, and could easily have been worked around with already established characters, and thus, fewer episodes. Once that was past, the momentum was restored and ... I began enjoying the show again.

Secondly, while the character development is above that of many, MANY anime, it is sometimes ignored for the sake of humour or plot. Inuyasha and Kagome grow and become strong fighters, and we are shown this. But countless times they fail to shoot an arrow or swing their sword when real damage can be done -- the only conceivable reason being that the bad guy isn't "supposed" to die just yet, we've got more minutes of episode to fill, more story to tell. So they shackle their strong characters that have abilities to overcome the situation at hand so that the story can be LONGER? NOOOO

I have just begun the manga, so I don't know whether these problems came from the manga, or were created by the anime. Whichever, the anime still suffers for it. Despite all this, I fucking love this show. Inuyasha gets on my nerves a lot less than most protagonists, so kudos there (Kagome, though, should shoot some more arrows goddammit).

I will continue the series by watching "The Final Act", but I'm certain it will not end in a way that will truly satisfy me -- this either being Inuyasha becoming a human by the power of the Sacred Jewel, or Kagome purifying it with her life. Yep, I like it big. If no one dies WHAT'S THE POINT -- I jest. Just watch the show.