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Dec 30, 2015

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica (Anime) add

Recommended

Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica, henceforth shortened to ‘Magica’ in the interest of concision, is a show that came out in 2011 and was met with stunning praise and, as with most popular shows, harsh rejection. I decided to watch the show on a whim and assess for myself what I thought of the show and if I would recommend it to someone else.

In short, my answer is ‘yes, it is’. I should clarify my perspective. I approach Magica at the angle of someone who has never really watched the mahou shoujo genre, though I have watched some deconstructions of the genre and am not unfamiliar to ... its tropes. I also come at it from several years after it was originally produced, so I think it would be safe to say that hype, good or bad, is not going to enter into this review. With that, let us begin.

Story -
Life for Kaname Madoka, is happy but unexciting. Madoka has a happy family, good friends and overall a normal life. This is all turned up on its head, however, when, she and her close friend, Sayaka Miki, rescue a mysterious cat-like creature called Kyuubei. Kyuubei, as thanks, offers the girls a deal. In return for having whatever wish they want granted, he will turn them into magical girls, whose job it is to fight off the evil witches who threaten the town.
Fairly typical set-up, right? Mysterious, cutesy creature finds young girls and turns them into magical girls to fight off the forces of evil. Cue the moe, right? Well, if you don’t know, I won’t spoil it in this review, but it is obvious from the first episode that Magica refuses to simply be put in the box of ‘another mahou shoujo anime’.
I personally was already partially spoiled as to the nature of the deeper plot, which did slightly dampen my experience. However, by no means is the story terrible and indeed it is actually quite good. While I think the story alone is decent, I think the main aspect that draws people in is the contrast between the preconceptions about what should happen and what does happen, a theme I will go back to later.

Characters -
The characters, much like the plot, seem at first to be very box-standard. You have Madoka Kaname, the cute, shy type who only wants to help everyone and protect her friends and family. The rest of the main characters follow suit. Sayaka Miki is the spirited, tom-boyish type who want to be a hero. Homura Akemi is the mysterious and cold transfer student. Kyuubei is the cute, alien-animal sidekick. And so and so forth. Much like the plot, though, from these predictable base archetypes, you start to see fully-grown 3D characters with their own motivations, personality flaws and feelings. Indeed, motivation is an important theme in the show, although explaining more would spoil the most interesting character conflict that I have seen in a long time. So, I’ll stop there.

Animation and Sound –
The animation, I would say should be split into three parts; early-series, late-series and battle.
Early-series, the colour palette is light, with lots of bright blues, yellows, greens and other bright colours that present the aesthetic of a happy atmosphere that suits the overall atmosphere and nature of the start of the show.
Late-series the colours grow darker, but also richer and starker, taking on various tones of grayscale, whites, deep reds and dark blues. These help represent the change in tone the show undertakes, with the bright, innocent colours that featured so heavily before, now only appearing infrequently and now seeming much more fake and fantastical than before.
My favourite animation is definitely present in the battle scenes, both in and outside of the ‘witch worlds’. Inside the witch worlds, the art-style moves from cute to abstract and creepy, taking on a picture-book style. These scenes have some of the best artistic choices, including a whole battle carried out in silhouette form. The animation is overall fluid and fast-paced, with mercifully short ‘transformation’ sequences for the magical girls, though still maintaining the feel of a traditional transformation.

The OP and ED are easily my favourite part of the show. ‘Connect’ by ClariS is a bright, fast-paced pop/rock song the brings the viewer into the mind-set of adventure and magic that would be expected in a regular mahou shoujo anime. It’s filled with bright, innocent scenes of the main characters having fun. The opening does, however, hint at the way the show will develop, certain images gaining new meaning as the show progresses as well as the lyrics.
‘Magia’ by Kalafina, leans more into the rock side of the genre, the tone of the song tempered by the inclusion of bells and a much deeper and richer sound than the opening. This represents the latter half of the show and features; images of the girls being sucked into an encroaching dark force. The lyrics here to, present a much darker picture than the OPs did. The rest of the music is incredibly good too as well, though these songs are what stick out in my mind.

Overall –
So, on balance, adding in my own personal enjoyment of the show, the show weighs in at 8.4. The show is definitely good and I would definitely recommend it to a friend for them to try. Like most people that rate Magica highly, most of this comes from the main theme that connects all aspects of the show that I have mentioned here. Duality. There are many examples of this; the mahou shoujo genre vs. psychological genre, fantasy vs. reality, light vs. dark. The show embodies the concept of combining two seemingly incompatible elements. The studio obviously knew what they were doing when they thought of how to present this show and that is why I highly recommend you watch this show, if not for its excellent plot and characters, then for its intriguing thematic elements.

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Aug 18, 2014

Higashi no Eden (Anime) add

Recommended

If you were given a phone which had 10 Billion on it and were asked to change the world, what would you do?
While I'm sure at least some people would first buy the Playboy Mansion and then go on to throw the biggest party in the universe, the answer given by the characters of this wonderful series would do something completely different but about two times more awesome.

Story:
All Saki Morimi wanted to do was to throw a quarter into the fountain in front of the white house in Washington D.C. and make a wish. Of course, she didn't expect that the police wouldn't take ... too kindly to her intrusion. Then again, she didn't expected to find a naked guy wielding a gun and a phone with 8.4 Billion Yen on it.

To say anymore than that would be to spoil one of the greatest stories I have seen in recent years. It has mystery, it has action, it has romance, comedy, amnesia. It has everything you would love to see in a thriller movie. What's also good is that Eden of the East, throughout both the series and the movie, takes this opportunity-filled foundation and builds a wonderful narrative that mostly tries to avoid the cliques which no-one likes.
Amnesia is more than just a viewer-friendly add-on, adding a crucial plot element that if it wasn't there, would drastically alter the stories events.
There is romance and comedy, but it isn't the main focus and instead develops the characters, main and supporting, putting them in a favorable light.
It's hard to describe the story without spoiling it, but I just have to say that if you love intrigue on a nation-wide scale and a world where the seemingly impossible can be made possible, with many twists and turns, you will love Eden of the East.

Art & Sound:
While some anime find their solace in a quirky art-style which draws in the audience, EoE has a fairly realistic art-style, the characters have normal eyes, noses and hair, the only exaggerated detail being the white squiggle when they are... exposed. The environments, to compliment the character designs are detailed to the last patch of peeling paint. The settings are colorful, whether you're in Washington D.C by day or Shinjuku by night and to those who live in the areas where these scenes are shown, look out and see if you can recognize places you've been to. It's that detailed. However, it doesn't suffer from taking itself too seriously and doesn't let eye-candy take over characters and plot.
Sound is another bonus to the series. The opening theme, 'Falling Down' by Oasis in the English Dub, sets up the atmosphere of mystery with it's smooth, sultry sounds, while at the same time giving an undertone of the calm before the storm.
The ending theme, 'Futuristic Imagination' by School Food Punishment (who do most of the music for this series), uses an upbeat J-Pop tune to pump the viewer up. It almost makes it seem like you have the power to change the world only if you gave it a good try, which in the end is one of the messages of this series. Otherwise, the music is quite subtle, mixing in the occasional English jazz tune with the epic orchestral arrangement and is a joy to listen to.

Characters:
Oh, the characters.
Akira Takizawa, our naked hero, is an altruistic, eccentric, intelligent man who despite hardship is willing to forgive and no matter what wants to believe in humans and so will always put himself out on a limb for them, knowing that they will always do the right thing in the end. Meanwhile, Akira doesn't come out as 2-D, especially when you find out his past and what he did before he appeared in front of the White House.
Saki Morimi, our perpetually confused heroine, is on the border of being an apathetic girl who is about to become lost in the succubus that is adult life. She has an unrequited love, a fading sense of hope and the sense that she is about to give up on herself. Then what better for her than to meet Takizawa?
The two main leads work well together, besides having romantic chemistry on screen. There is a sense that the characters really grow in the space of 11 episodes and two movies, learning important lessons and making life-long bonds which is all people ever want in life.
The supporting cast are good too, though they have much less screen-time than they deserve and in some respects can be easily forgotten and placed into boxes. However, since I find much enjoyment in how they interact amongst themselves and the main cast. Even characters only given one episode serve important roles and most are likable and admirable, taking pride in themselves, while not gilding their flaws, using their skills to become just as much heroes as the main cast.
In the end, the greatest achievement of the characters is that you will most likely give your full support to Takizawa, not because he is the white of a black-and-white story, but because he is the most likable of a grey story where everyone has one redeemable factor about them, even if it seems like what they do has no justification.

Conclusion:
Overall, I love this series and I think if you think anything I said sounds good, you should watch it too and make your own opinions.
After calculating the scores I have come up with an exact 9 out of ten. A must-watch.
And with that I, Cazuki, beg you adieu.
Bang.

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Jul 27, 2014

Gokukoku no Brynhildr (Anime) add

Mixed Feelings

Gokukoku no Brynhildr (A.k.a Brynhildr In The Dark) is an anime which, depending on whether you've read the manga or not, is either a fairly average, enjoyable show or a rushed, patchy one which tries to stuff 100+ chapters into the space of 13 episodes.
I've never read the manga myself, so when I review this anime I review it as a stand-alone title which is my first introduction to the series (which I feel will be useful for those who watch the anime before reading the manga).

The basic story follows Ryouta Murakami, a high-school boy who is the sole member of the astronomy club. Murakami ... is haunted by the memory of a girl who he called 'Kuroneko' (as he did not know her real name), who died when she fell, trying to save Murakami who slipped. Years have passed and one night, Murakami meets a mysterious girl who looks exactly like Kuroneko and happens to be called Kuroha Neko. Murakami, assuming Kuroha's identity, is overcome with joy but soon he finds out the Kuroha is much more than an ordinary transfer student.
The story in itself is rather basic, with amnesia being a main roadblock with most conflicts with the plot. The story would be a box-standard harem, and still slightly is, but for the background plot. The background plot, which comes more to the foreground in later episodes, gives the show it's dark tone. The threat of death is always hanging in the air and many characters do die over the course of the anime, some who care about, others not.

This moves us onto characters. Murakami has the traits of most male protagonists in the harem genre. He's oblivious to people's affection and always seems to find himself in situations that involve either seeing the female cast's assets or otherwise embarrassing/sexual situation. He by no means is the most powerful member of the crew but his reasoning is sound, if not out of the box and that tends to get them out of trouble more often than not, combined with the abilities of the rest of his team.
The rest of the cast follow suit. The amnesiac, the tsundere, the lolita etc. And while they are standard the dialogue between characters is entertaining and heart-wrenching at times and the relationships between characters does develop in a meaningful way so that you do feel sad when something bad happens to them or someone they know.
The villain does his job well, though he really only becomes a character in the final few episodes of the show, leaving a bad taste in your mouth purely because of his lack of concern for human life.

Art and sound is okay. The animation is decent enough, with some well-designed locations and enough of a color pallet to stop boredom. Both openings are noteworthy to me because of their lack of lyrics. The openings are dark electric with a tune that gets you ready for the conflict that will arise in the next episode. The ending is significantly lighter in terms of tone, which can be both a comfort when a conflict is resolved or slightly sinister when the episode ends with a conflict, much like hearing a soothing song at a funeral. The rest of the music is good, though there were few recognizable tracks which I could remember.

Overall, I enjoyed the anime quite a bit, though dark fantasy such as this and Elfien Lied has never been my favorite genre. I felt sad when sad things happened, but I never cried, which to me is a bit disappointing. The funniest ,and best, parts of the show were when the female cast, because of heir lack of knowledge of the outside world, completely own the other high-school kids and Murakami.
So, on calculation, Brynhildr in the dark gets a 6.4 out of ten. It's a fair anime from the perspective of someone who has not read the manga and I think it will be best for people to view if they have not read the manga or if they don't mind it being patchy in places.

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Jul 8, 2014

Sword Art Online (Anime) add

Recommended

Hello Everyone, Caz here with an anime review.

SAO to me is neither the worst thing created nor the best, instead it is stuck in the valley of almost brilliant but not there yet.
The story is very good for the first part of the first season, with plenty of motivation from the surroundings to create and let you become attached to some of the characters, though this peters out towards the end of the first season and it becomes quite ordinary in the second half, with much of the threat of death gone and the objective being better for a single episode than a whole twelve.
Of ...

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