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- BirthdayDec 1, 1982
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Oct 3, 2015
From the start, Akatsuki no Yona seemed destined to follow the standard “Restore the Rightful Ruler to Power” plot path, and the twists that do come tend to be emotional side tracks, or road blocks present so Princess Yona can expand her horizons from sheltered princess to enlightened warrior step by step.
One can't really argue with the quality of the art, or production value. No complaints at all in that area. As an incomplete work at this stage, it's hard to pass judgment on what likely needs another full season to bring the story to it's conclusion, but in terms of an action epic,
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it gets a passing grade, even if it's performance so far would put it behind something like Code Geass for plot. Yona covers all the basics and I was waiting for it to blow me away with greatness, and I just didn't find it, at least not in the first season, but I suppose there's still reason to hope. Right now, it feels like a SNES era RPG plot from a second tier publisher. Just wait you meanie, I'll come back with my four warriors of justice and I'll show you!
I did like the reverse harem aspect of the show, and that while it's Shoujo it isn't shying away from action scenes like other examples of Shoujo I've seen. It is deserving of the action genre. Overall I will watch a second season if produced, and hope for a little bit more maturing of the plot, otherwise it will stay down a notch from the greats.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 21, 2015
Hitsugi no Chaika is easily classified as a standard issue, steam punk style fantasy adventure anime, but it possesses enough quality in production and story to make it something you don't feel guilty about watching.
The first thing that stood out to me about the series was that the battles were actually animated. No reused scenes of stock “moves” or fading to a screen of flashing lines while the hero screams as an attack. People actually swing swords, move, duck, dodge, and maneuver. Amazing isn't it? The “guns as magic” aspect is a little boring, but it is what it is and doesn't take too
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much away from the otherwise enjoyable fight scenes.
Getting an engaging story is the other difficulty in adventure anime. Series tend to get dry with repetitive themes, boring fetch quests, or stereotypical villains that must be put down. Hitsugi no Chaika manages to be more than this, by providing a convincing world for the characters to inhabit and giving them a unique threat to deal with, mysterious agents of a supposedly defeated mage emperor. It takes time for the plot to unfold, there are a few twists involved, and it gives the series enough time for you to possibly develop some affection for the characters involved.
We probably won't be talking about this series as a ground breaker or classic for the ages years from now, but it's a solid production I have no trouble suggesting to fans of fantasy and/or action anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 28, 2014
Mushishi Zoku Shou continues the story of Ginko, a mushishi, which roughly equates to one part medicine man, one part paranormal expert. Mushi exist in a sort of gray area between living creatures and spiritual, other worldly beings.
Mushishi's greatest strengths carry on into the second installment, beautiful artwork of natural landscapes and pre-industrial Japanese rural locations. It feels very authentic at every turn. The stories of what Ginko gets into during his travels are very easy to relate to, and I found myself caring about the characters involved even though most of the characters only appear in one episode given the nature of Ginko's
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travels.
While each episode of Mushishi is a great piece of work in and of itself, beautiful and engaging as it is, there is criticism to be handed out to the series as a whole. Ultimately, almost every episode of Mushishi is based on a simple plot formula with little to no carry over or progression in an overall plot.
Here's an episode in a nutshell. Ginko enters some beautiful majestic rural setting...the mountains, the forest, a small farming or fishing village. Ginko discovers Mushi causing some disturbance in people and/or the environment. Through a combination of paranormal knowledge, moral superiority, and his box of trinkets Ginko saves the day, or at least mitigates the problem, gets out alive, etc. The people are happier and better off for his coming, and Ginko wanders off into the wilderness to some other pristine local, never to meet any of the people he just helped again.
Almost every episode of Mushishi follows this formula, and it creates really the only serious criticism I have of the series, if you've watched one episode of Mushishi you've basically watched all the episodes of Mushishi. Out of this latest set of new episodes, only 1 or 2 carried over to characters I recognized before and contributed to an overarching plot line. Technically, that episode (or two parter) is a special and listed under a different heading on Animelist so I could say none at all if I wanted to.
Now none of this is to say you shouldn't watch Mushishi, you should. It's a great piece of anime. It just doesn't offer much in terms of plot development for this reason. For the most part, Mushishi is simply great single serving anime, which probably explains it's broad appeal, you don't have to marathon the entire series to enjoy it. I'm just left with the feeling that I'll have to read the manga if I want any closure when it comes to this story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 22, 2014
One Week Friends is a cute, slice of life story that pulls at your heartstrings. Yes, this series does center around the repetitive, selective amnesia plot device. I know it's been done before. You know it's been done before. That said, it's worth getting past just that into the story itself. Plot devices are recycled constantly, and One Week Friends did a good job of making me care about the characters and their feelings very quickly. You initial response might be to recoil because of an overused plot device, but you'd be missing out if you let that alone make you avoid this series. It's
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a plot device, and this series did a really good job of dragging me through the highs and lows with the characters using it.
In a way, you know what you are getting pretty quickly with One Week Friends. The male lead is determined to become “friends” with the female lead, who each week loses the memories of her friends for some unknown reason. Despite repeated setbacks, the two stumble along the path to a closer relationship. I actually enjoy the supporting characters in this series. Compared to most series that have a lot of one dimensional “friend” support characters, the supporting characters have their own feelings, concerns, and interests. Even minor characters just summoned to do their bit parts seem to mesh into the story for their scenes. Everyone ends up likable.
The art style is definitely cutesy and subdued. There is some well done scenery as well. I can see the style being subjective to someone's tastes...and there were times I felt like the characters looked and felt younger than their stated ages because of it, but hey I guess that's just this anime's thing. It's not bad looking though, so just go with it is what I would say. It fits with the pure feelings of the story. If you're looking for fan service you won't find anything though. It's not that kind of anime. The music supports the same mood, generally being light and cheerful during the highs, and tense and anxious during the lows, but always measured and subdued to the point of not overwhelming everything else.
In the end, I'd say One Week Friends accomplished for me what I think it was setting out to do, get at your heartstrings at tug at them. If you're looking for a cute, emotional “love” story then this will definitely get the job done. Nothing revolutionary here, but it works.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 20, 2014
Aldnoah Zero is a futuristic war anime that does a fairly good job of avoiding many of the pitfalls that mecha anime tend to tumble into on a regular basis. In an alternate history, astronauts discover an advanced power left behind by an ancient civilization on the moon. This power allows them to separate themselves from society on Earth and partially terraform Mars, which they make their home. It's not long before war breaks out between the Earth and Mars. 15 years prior to the start of the series, the moon is literally shattered during combat, and somehow the two sides settle into an uneasy
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peace.
The war is renewed when a visiting Martian princess is attacked by terrorists during a visit to Earth. The forces of Mars descend onto Earth in force. Here's where the series does a great job of not letting the mecha get too far out of whack. The Martians do have some nifty powers in their mechs, but never do they become unexplainably powerful, or lacking any sort of weakness. The earth forces use much less extravagant mechs that are easier to relate to as potentially recognizable military hardware so the conflict isn't entirely alien in nature.
As for the characters, the way the war is setup does allow for a semi-feasible insertion of the stereotypical Japanese high school student cast, war tensions and universal conscription. I did enjoy the way the male lead ends up turning down better equipment as the series moves on, choosing a beat up trainer mech painted neon orange as his ride throughout. It makes the scenario a little more desperate and human.
That said...I don't really like the cast of characters, particularly on the Earth side. Nothing really changes for them. They are constantly on the run and trying to avoid death at every turn. Most of the character development is experienced through the anti-hero(?) a Earthling boy that ends up living among the Martians. From his view you see the inner workings of the Martian society, and it's where the series gets it's somewhat dark, cynical aura from. That said, the series avoids painting either side as innate good or evil, a trap that has easily doomed many a war anime to first level mediocrity. The Earthling hero suffers from a borderline case of “Too badass to relate to” but constantly being outgunned somewhat compensates for this. I would have liked it a lot more if the series showed us a crack in his shell. I liked his calm, matter-of-fact nature, but after awhile I want to know he's still human. As for everyone else, you can take them or leave them. The princess is dragged around by circumstance. So are the rest. I was going to rate this series significantly lower than I ended up doing mainly because of the ending so far. I'm not going to spoil it, but I think it's worth seeing though to the end.
I was worried about the CGI for the mechs initially, but I ended up not noticing it too much in the end. Music also just okay. Worth a watch, and here's hoping they don't screw up what they started with the second set.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 20, 2014
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou is a feel good, light romance story, and while it remains easy to enjoy, it is ultimately let down by poor pacing in character development. The male lead is a stereotypical shy guy starting his first year of high school, who wishes for peace and quiet in his life, and an intelligent demure girl to spend his time with. He quickly discovers the target of his desires, a quiet bookish girl who attends his school and lives in the same apartment building. Let the wooing begin.
But, all sorts of barriers lay between our hero and heroine, which make up the
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bulk of the story. They both have to get over their awkward natures and shyness, as well as their tenancies to assume the feelings and intentions of others. They are also beset by a horde of meddling supporting characters, who mainly just get in the way and provide comedic relief.
Slowly, the two get closer to each other, and when I say slowly, I mean really slowly. The core of these sorts of shows though is sexual tension. Will they understand each other? Will this person's actions be misinterpreted? It's hyperbole, but at some point I kind of felt like it was Inuyasha, 150 episodes in and he still hadn't sealed the deal with Kagome. So, maybe people like to watch the struggle? Maybe a bit of projection going on? Anyway, this tension is the one thing the show has going for it. It's also it's greatest weakness because the characters can't really evolve out of their initial states without destroying or at least lessening that tension, so slow to no character development.
Nothing special on the art or music front. If you're prepared for a cute, awkward ride, give Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou a try.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 20, 2014
Nanana's Buried Treasure is about an interesting set of characters living on an artificial island made into a lavish education environment by the genius girl Nanana. Set some years in the future Nanana is now dead, murdered by an unknown assailant and unable to move on to whatever lies beyond. She now “haunts” the room she was killed in, and offers the occasional hint to would be treasure hunters who want to find her “treasures”, rare items from around the world Nanana collected while alive to help fund the creation of the island, which she later hid in elaborate artificial dungeons apparently just for fun.
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Now a new generation of students on the island are after Nanana's treasures. Each has their own motivations, back stories, and bring their own set of talents to the hunt. They end up clashing with each other in interesting ways, and with veterans of the hunt they run into along the way. The focus is on our young hero who is quickly sucked into helping the ghost of Nanana find her killer after being tricked into renting the apartment she is still haunting.
About the only criticism I have of the story is it felt a little rushed at 11 episodes. It is great that there is character development, it feels like most of the characters change in some significant way from their starting state, but with only 11 episodes to do it in some of the changes feel abrupt. Seems like there will be more however, so I can see myself rating any further editions higher if they bring the plot to a reasonable close and keep this pace of character development.
I really feel like this series did a good job of mixing the ordinary, extraordinary, and fantastical. Yes, the characters are bad asses, particularly for high school students, but not so much you can't relate to them. Nanana is a ghost and her artifacts are magical, but they still have limits and weaknesses. All in all, I marathoned this in two sessions and would recommend the series to others. You'll find the art and music up to the usual standards, although nothing spectacular. It's really the story and characters that stand out here.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 18, 2014
Valkyria Chronicles ends up being a bland, predictable anime, full of tired cliches and one dimensional characters. While it's epic setting and relative industry quality art make it seem like it has potential, it ends up becoming more disappointing as it fails to live up to those standards in any other area.
Valkyria uses a fictional historical setting roughly mirroring a World War 2 style conflict, then ends up spoiling the humanity of the story by adding in fantastical ancient powers just waiting to be awoken that trump the actions of any hero, general, or army. It's cast of characters might as well come from one
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of those doll templates from the 90s, click, click, click, new hairstyle, different color eyes, one personality trait (tough guy, mean girl, gay guy, shy girl, you get the picture) and you have Squad 7, a cast of characters I can't even get worked up about if any or all of them were to catch a bullet. The male lead is a bad clone of Yang Wenli (see Legend of the Galactic Heroes if you're interested in a real war anime), and the female lead is just every “good girl” you've seen in every anime ever. The main villian is one of the most stupid I have ever seen in an anime and is a real letdown in terms of being a threat in any manner other than a frontal assault. More is promised in terms of court intrigues on both sides, but this too ends up being a real letdown. Don't get me wrong “warrior spirit” has it's place in anime...it just isn't in an anime in this setting based on a tactical RPG. There's a few tactical tricks near the start of the series, but after that tactics and strategy take a backseat to the tired “who has the most to protect” style emotional combat. The soundtrack is nothing special and desperately wants to be Final Fantasy Tactics.
All that said, I couldn't bring myself to hate Valkyria, I was just bored and more than a little disappointed by it. If you are younger and haven't watched much anime I can see some people really getting into this. If you have watched any great anime that you can compare it to, the shallowness of the story and the wasted potential should be obvious. There are worse animes out there, but this one doesn't deviate from the standard formula at all, and isn't even a great example of that standard formula either. I guess if you lower your expectations going in, you'll be able to get through this, but if you let you hopes get up (like I seem to have) over the setting and the potential within it you'll just end up disappointed like me. There's literally nothing new here, and no characters I ended up caring about.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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