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Oct 12, 2015
"Is that really something you can decide for her?"
What is happiness?
For something that isn't tangible, happiness is something that is hard to describe. We can't touch, buy, or see happiness, so how do you know if what you have is genuine? How do you know if you're truly and wholeheartedly happy?
Beyond the Boundary - I'll be here touches deeply with this theme of happiness and how it affects its characters.
KyoAni is a studio that has gained a fairly large reputation over the years and has graced us with many notable series that are considered the cream of the crop in terms of art and
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storytelling. This is why I was a bit disappointed when I watched the original Kyoukai no Kanata series. The art and animation was amazing as always, but the plot ended up building plotholes which made it hard to fully understand and piece everything together.
This movie was planned to be the sequel of the series, and aimed towards answering all of those questions that were raised when watching the original series. Was it successful in answering the questions that I had while watching the original series?
Yes and no... but it was beautiful to watch. KyoAni has always been known for their great art style and animation, and it really showed in this movie. Its animation high points simply take your breath away. Its fighting animation was incredibly smooth and clear, which made the fight scenes beautiful to watch in terms of art quality.
The plot of this story on the other hand, had large expectations to match, since we were left with quite a few plotholes that were never answered in the original story. They also introduced this new theme of happiness, and how characters in this story try to perceive whether or not this happiness that they desire is genuine for themselves and for those around them. This theme was nicely explained and resolved. It made the plot seem a bit more relatable for us as the audience even if the story revolves around youmu's and spirits. There was something for us to relate to which made the dramatic scenes impactful.
BUT.. I believe for this movie to be a success it had to answer the plotholes that were created previously and thoroughly explain everything so that we as the audience aren't left with huge unanswered questions about the plot and what's happening.
When I say yes and no, I believe they were successful in answering the questions that arose when watching the original series, but I felt the movie also created alot more questions as well. It felt as if they did not heavily dive that deep into the plot of the story, as most of the explanations only appear in the last half hour of the film. Now, the questions I had in the original series was answered, but now there are many scenes in the movie that are left unexplained and in the end, it felt really unlikely to leave the movie without being somewhat confused about what exactly happened to some characters and why it did.
The sound was an aspect that I didn't really notice about the movie, which is kind of a shame since in the original series, I fell in love with the beautiful ending song. It did seem like they used to person who sang the opening of the original series for the end song in the movie. It was nice to listen to but in my opinion nothing too special, but that's just my personal taste. The OST's on the other hand really complimented the scenes for which they were used in. They weren't something that I'd particularly find online just to listen to it, but nonetheless, it was a great accompaniment.
So did this movie meet every single one of my expectations? No.. but it was one hell of a fun ride filled with such beautiful animation and art that in itself would satisfy many individuals. What it lacks in terms of plot, it almost makes up for with its stunning animation and art. It's an interesting movie that i'd recommend for people to give a try if they liked the original series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 30, 2015
"The more I concentrate.. the more I get consumed by the performance... the sounds I play fade away from my reach, tangling up like flowers seized by the spring wind...and vanish."
Such uttered words have never felt so relevant as I was watching this anime. Each episode, was constantly successful at grabbing my attention and made me crave for the next one. The more I watched it, the more consumed I was into the world of 'Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso'.
The anime is handled in such a carefree but in such compelling way. Often times, people tend to stray away from an anime solely
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because of the type of music that is portrayed which in this specific case, classical music. Let me just say as a person who does not particularly enjoy classical music, 'Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso' is not just for music or romance fans, but because of its character's ambitions that are portrayed, it's also for anyone who has ever had a dream of becoming something bigger in their lives. A person who has ever wanted to stray away from the boring average norm, and become someone truly memorable that has no regrets looking back.
It is definitely a relatable series with realistic characters and quite thoughtful dialogue. The plot has a clear and distinct direction, but along the path contained a large amount of character development that was as enjoyable as it was beautifully sentimental.
Though the situations that the characters are placed in are incredibly relatable and heartfelt, and the dialogue is beautifully written, sometimes it felt like the character and dialogue didn't really match up with each other. It becomes somewhat less realistic when you see middle school kids rambling as if they've over analyzed and understood every single thing that they do when they are trying to convey their feelings.
But, what the characters are able to accomplish, is expressing in great detail how he or she feels at a certain moment in time, which really helps with imagining the reasoning behind their actions. It's an important aspect that I feel is easily overlooked sometimes, but maybe toning it down a little bit so their words actually match with who's saying them would go a long way.
Another problem I felt Shigatsu fell pray upon, is comedic timing. In addition to having a serious and drama filled tone to the show, it also had comedic moments. Some of these moments were well planned and hilarious to watch, but other times, it could really affect the mood the scene was trying to inflict. Often times, the mood would suddenly change from serious to comedy, leaving you confused on how you should feel and interpret the scene. Some scenes really did feel like they were just trying to randomly insert some form of comedy into the scene.
Nonetheless, a great thing about Shigatsu, is the 2 main characters Arima and Kaori. Their dynamic pairing personalities is like a breath of fresh air. Though some of their individual qualities might not be the greatest, the differences they have really bring out the best in each other. It creates large amounts of progression not only in terms of their personality, but also in their actions and motivations.
This anime also provided us with an array of classical music, such as the "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" composed by Camille Saint-Saëns played on episode 4. To be frank, i'm not necessarily a huge fan of classical music nor do I listen to it often so I might not necessarily be the best judge for it. Although the music was nice to hear , its not something I would find myself listening to independently.
Then again, the pieces were nicely executed from my amateur viewpoint. The pieces were well synced with the instrument playing, and overall at the very least the pieces made me more curious on the type of music that they was being played.
I must also add that, the first opening and ending was quite beautiful. Both in art and in the music. For most series, I tend to usually skip both of them as they don't usually have an impact on me but I wholeheartedly enjoyed listening to both from beginning to end and its happy but serious feel and bright colors really compliments the overall feel of the show.
Speaking of bright, it is also why Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso's art style looks distinctly different from its competitors. It really stands out. Its colors are much brighter, and I enjoyed the contrast of colors as they really blended well with each other. It helps you really appreciate the subtle changes because it becomes so much easier to spot it. It's simply beautiful to look at.
Overall even with its potential faults, I feel the show has truly been beautiful with its combination of meaningful plot paired with its artistic and original animation. It's high points make for a truly breathtaking moment. Was it perfect? Maybe not, but it was a great ride that never ceased to keep it interesting and definitely something that was memorable to watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 26, 2014
Many teenagers dream of their high school life as being the best years of their life. There they meet friends who's friendships they keep dear, discover what they honestly want to do with their lives, and to chase their dreams.
But what if all of this was taken away from you?
This is exactly what happens to our main protagonist Kousaka Honoka as she fights to keep her high school dream alive.
This is my review of the anime hit series: Love Live! School Idol Project
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[Story] - 7/10
This story starts off with the decision that Otonokizaka High School will be closed due to lack of new student applications. Honoka, upon hearing this gets depressed as she wont be able to fully live her high school dream to its full potential as there will be never be any new students/friends to enter the school again. Honoka does not want this to happen and decides that she; with the help of her 2 friends Umi and Kotori will be the ones that save the school from closing. To fulfill this task, she must find a way to attract the attention and influence teens to join her school. How will she do that? Well, what attracts students more then new school pop idols?! Thus, the school idol group 'Muse' was born.
To be honest, I felt hesitant when I first approached this anime. I was never really interested in idol genre because generally the music played in them I felt were all generic and too cliche. If I were not to stumble over a Reddit post showing how 'Long Live! School Idol Project' sold a tremendous amount of copies its first week, I might have never came across this anime.. but i'm really glad I did.
Although this genre generally has a bad name in terms of plot, this anime executes it quite nicely. This story was interesting because it felt relatable as it touches on many themes that we face in our everyday life such as hard work, perseverance, and the dreams we hold dear. As a student that is still in high school currently, I feel that I have dealt with these themes myself at least once in my high school life, which makes the story even more reassuring as I can relate to it and its characters as a student/viewer. Even though these themes aren't elaborated as much as I wish they did, it was still great to see that this anime contained an interesting plot, and how we can learn from this story as opposed to the usual cute girls doing cute things because well... you know... they're cute. Not that i'm opposed to that, as sometimes those can be a good watch when your in the mood. (Please don't kill me moe army.)
[Art] - 8/10
The overall art style of this anime is above average. For a show created in 2013, I've seen some of our current year anime's with lower quality art then this.That is definitely reassuring as there's no drop in quality and is quite balanced in terms of quality distribution throughout the anime. During the live shows, the dance scenes are super cute, and ultimately provide for a nice viewing experience that never ceased to stop me from watching these scenes with a slight smile. It also impressed me on how they change the art style when the live shows happen. They turn all of the idols into 3 dimensional characters instead of the usual 2D throughout the anime. I felt that this was a very cool change and implemented a stronger impact during the live scenes as it always got me excited whenever they decided to perform.
[Sound] - 9/10
For an anime that prides itself on being in the idle genre, I expected there to be tons of new and exciting songs that would keep me interested throughout the story. I wasn't disappointed. The music they sang were lively and spirited. It really got me pumped up when they started singing, and the live performances never ceased to stop me from humming along with the tune. The idol's voices were beautiful and strong as well, that managed to leave an impact on me with the resonant songs they sang. I felt the songs that they sang were always full of fun, and you could tell that they were originally made too as it didn't seem too professional but also not too amateurish as well. An example of this would be this series opening "Bokura wa Ima no Naka de" by non other then 'Muse'. I really enjoyed the impact of the opening of this song. The tune is extremely catchy and I often found myself humming along with the opening as each episode began. Overall I was quite impressed with the music in this anime, as it was something that made this anime stand out and shine. (Something people can't really say about all Idle anime today, as some of them don't really focus on the music part as much anymore)
[Character] - 8/10
All the Idol's found within this anime are all lovable in their own way. They each portray a different quality that makes them somewhat unique. Even though they might be put into a generic archetype, that doesn't mean that it is all there is to them. The thing i'm impressed with, is the amount of character development that our Idols go through. During the beginning of the story, we can definitely tell that these 3 girls did not really look like they were idol material and it certainly didn't feel like they wanted to be one. With hard work and perseverance, they were able to take on this incredible difficult task by setting aside their differences on the topic at hand. The dramatic moments in the story also have a greater impact because we can relate to these characters and situations as we've most likely gone through the same hardships numerous times before. High school life. I feel that many of us have felt the emotions that have come with it far too many times. This helps us feel stronger emotions toward these characters.
The only thing I felt was problematic, was how the situation played out too perfectly. It seemed that the idea of becoming idols was just a random idea thrown out of the blue from Honoka. Yet, these 3 students who've never even sang on stage, trained professionally as a singer/dancer, and only practiced with no help whatsoever can do it perfectly just like that? Is that all there is to an idol? Probably not. It could be that they just don't want us to think about it too much as it is probably not that big of a deal, but it just kind of left me wondering.
[Enjoyment/Overall] 8/10
Overall, I enjoyed watching this anime alot. Sure, I did feel kind of embarrassed as this was the first idle anime that I've ever watched, but i'm really glad I did. Now, I'll be less hesitant to try anime like these because some of them are definitely worth watching like this. For all of the people that enjoy idol anime, I would definitely recommend this and to the people who are curious/worried about this anime because of its genre, i'd say give it a shot. I know you can't hate something that you haven't watched, but that goes the same way with anime that you like.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 15, 2014
Please note that this review may contain minor spoilers. You have been warned.
*Updated 20/06/2014
"The world is filled with (___)." -Kaiba
This anime has been called several names including "'Danganronpa but less shitty." Were they right? Well... maybe. Both certainly have their pro's and con's and even though they are similar in terms of topic, I don't feel the need to compare them.
Today I will be reviewing the highly anticipated yuri hyped anime known as Akuma no Riddle.
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Story - 6/10
Akuma no Riddle (AnR for short) is set in a high school (because apparently nothing interesting ever happens outside of one) in which 12 assassins have chosen to partake in some sort of a contest. The assassins share one common interest. Each with the goal of assassinating our main protagonist Ichinose Haru with the hopes that they will receive the prize that comes with it. A chance to make one request of any kind a reality, but if they fail their attempt they are expelled and forced to leave the competition. This is where our main heroine Tokaku comes to play. Even though her original mission was to assassinate Haru, she grows fond of her and decides to be the one that protects her. Now it is 11 assassins vs one target and a protector.
The overall premise of the story isn't really unheard of with there being a competition in which one must kill to succeed, but I applaud it for trying to bring a more refreshing topic in mind.
The problem with this story is that after you finish the series it leaves you with no fulfillment. They manage to create so many asspulls and plotholes in one abrupt moment, that after you are finished with the series it makes you feel that everything you've learned or seen about the characters had no meaning in the end. You are just left there; confused with a bunch of questions unanswered.
Art - 8/10
Although the style of art in an anime shouldn't be the deciding factor of whether or not its worth watching or not, (Ping Pong the animation being the greatest example I can think of) I constantly see my opinions being influenced because of it. I found myself having no problems with Akuma no Riddle's art quality. AnR's art quality was actually quite nice. It fits the quality of an 2014 anime (of a 2014 anime art style) and is actually above average during its high points. The fight scenes were interesting and nice to look at, but the art that really stood out for me was the custom ending's (ED's) made for each antagonist in the anime. I found that these were creative, well thought out, and well executed. These little things I feel help differentiate from your typical anime and is definitely refreshing to see.
Sound - 8/10
The soundtrack of AnR is actually on par. The opening "Soushou Innocence" is very catchy, and has its high moments. (especially when it gets to the chorus) The different ED's was what made this area stand out. Choosing to play a different ending song every episode was very interesting and having it sung by the characters themselves was an exceptional bonus as well. The combination of these endings was what made each of them stand out on its own and was well executed. The OST's in this anime are okay, but none of them really struck me as something that stands out on its own. That being said, it wasn't bad. Overall as long as the soundtrack helped compliment the anime, then it has done its job, which I felt it has.
Character - 6/10
This is the section where I feel AnR required some work in. I enjoy yuri as much as the next person, but I felt that the other characters (the antagonists) were basically just catalysts for Tokaku and Haru to build their relationship and nothing more. Any form of character development from the antagonist's are thrown out of the window, as after their 'feature' episode, they are basically gone without any recognition in the later episodes except for possibly a few mentions. This is why this anime feels a bit empty. Any form of bond gained between the antagonist's and the viewers are cut, never to be seen again. (I should write my own drama novel lmao) Overall, i'm just disappointed in this section as if it payed more attention to its side characters it could have shined.
Enjoyment - 7/10
Overall before ending - 7.5/10 Overall after ending - 6/10
Overall, I felt that I did not regret watching this. Although there are components that prevented this anime from excelling,it was not done terribly. Hell, i'd even recommend it to some people if they enjoy anime's like these with an assassination type feel, but it certainly wouldn't be the top choice i'd recommend for that type of anime. If the premise and the synopsis interest you, then you should check it out BUT lower your expectations. After finishing this series/ending with high expectations, I was quite dissapointed. There are some parts that are ridiculously stretched (when you find it, you'll see it clearly) and just dissapoints me because this anime had the potential to be so much more. If you are planning to watch this anime don't expect this to be a breakthrough in its genre or you will be quite dissapointed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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