Back to Deadlynathan's Profile Deadlynathan's Profile

ef: A Tale of Memories(which I will shorten to just "ef" from this point on) was an anime I'd heard was great, but was one of the many sitting in my backlog. However, a recommendation from Reimei-Chan (should definitely check her profile out) gave me the motivation to power through it over the break, so here we are. I like this anime a lot, and definitely got more out of it than the romantic slice of life I was expecting. Here's the breakdown:

Story: 9
Ef's story is composed of three groups of characters that, initially, are ... unrelated, but intertwine as time progresses. This makes it a little hard to follow in the beginning, because no explanation is given as to what's going on, and there's identical twins involved, which doesn't help. That only lasts until about halfway through the second episode though, and then things clear up. Each individual story by itself is excellent, but the real power here is how the stories connect to form an overall theme. It's hard to explain without spoilers, but the story is great, and while I didn't exactly like how some of the relationships developed(muh ships), the ending more than makes up for it. I did find the pacing a bit weird though, with the romance really focused in the last 3-4 episodes. It felt a bit rushed. Overall, you won't find it as emotional as say, Clannad or Angel Beats! (manly tears), but it definitely is chalk full of feels towards the end.

Art:10
I loved the art style here. Not only does the art style look current enough that you can't tell it's from 2007, but there's also all sorts of effects used as well. Some scenes will be entirely done through character silhouettes, some will be in red or blue, and sometimes you get just a few frames of black and white. It reminds me of Bakemonogatari, but nowhere near as extreme. These effects are beautiful, keep things refreshing, and help set the mood throughout the anime.

Sound: 7
Usually I care more about the sound over the art in anime, but not in this one. While I do remember there were several piano pieces that I liked quite a bit, nothing in my mind sticks out as being exceptional or memorable. It's good, but not great. The opening and ending are really catchy though, so there's that.

Character: 8
With the three separate stories, this anime features a lot of different characters. Also a benefit of the individual stories, they all get a large amount of screen time and a lot of back story. Because of this, the character development is great, and the characters themselves are very human like. None of them are perfect or over idealized, but they're also not overly flawed. With a little imagination, this story could easily play out in real life. I also like that what I consider to be the main character in each story specializes in a specific artistic medium(writing, drawing, and photography). It's a minor detail, but I found it interesting considering how important the art is to the story.

Enjoyment: 8
Definitely very enjoyable, I found that I could watch around 3-4 episodes in a row without trouble. I wouldn't recommend watching it this way though, because I think you miss a lot of the smaller details. I powered through it in about 5 days, and then ended up watching again because I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending the first time around. So, I think to fully enjoy this one you need to space it out and let each individual episode sink in, as opposed to watching 3-episode blocks. If you do power through it though, try watching it again, especially if you felt like something was missing. I didn't find it unbearable re watching it, and I think you'd be surprised how many things you missed the first go round.

Overall: 8(Very Good)
Ef is a great anime, and one I highly recommend watching if you like the romance/slice of life genre. As I said in my intro though, even if those aren't your genres of choice, I'd still watch it, because there's so much more going on. You can't just fit this one into a genre like that, you just can't. It doesn't do it justice. I'm not sure if it was obvious from my review, but it was really challenging to try and break this anime down into categories, because, using a cliche, this anime is more than just the sum of its parts(also, if it was obvious, terribly sorry if it was a struggle to read in some areas). TL;DR Watch it, and if you like it, know that there's also a great visual novel that goes along with it if you like those.

Aku no Hana was introduced to me by a friend who's seen far more anime than I have. We were talking about the worst anime we've ever seen, and on the list he produced, Aku no Hana was at the top. Why I decided to watch any anime on a list titled, "Worst Anime Ever", is a very good question. I could be a masochist. Point is, I didn't expect very much going into Aku no Hana, and I got, well, something. Here are my thoughts:

Story:7
The story for Aku no Hana, is, in a word, ... abrasive. It revolves around a cringe worthy main character that does perverse things that get progressively worse to impress someone he hates. Why he does these things is because our main protagonist is so desperate for acceptance that he makes many obvious bad choices. I used the word abrasive because this story is rough and will wear you down over time, to where you think things can't possibly get any worse, and you don't give a damn about what happens to this guy anymore. If you're like me, you'll spend an inordinate amount of time between pausing to brace yourself and recover from the awkward, cringe, moments, and yelling "What the hell are you thinking" at your monitors. Kinda like the "No, don't do that" when watching a scary movie. I still give it a 7 though, because despite all that, the ending ties everything together well enough that it's almost worth all the discomfort of getting there. Almost.

Art:6
This anime receives a lot of hate for its art style, so much so that if you watched it on Crunchyroll like I did, the comments for the first episode were disabled from all the flaming. It uses Rotoscoping, which aesthetically, doesn't please my eyes. To be honest, when I started to watch Aku no Hana, I hated it. I thought it looked really dated. But as I progressed through the series, It bothered me less and less, probably because I was more focused on what I was watching, and less on how it was drawn. Overall, it's a bit annoying, but definitely bearable.

Sound:8
This is another anime that relies heavily on sound, and fortunately, the sound is great. The music throughout is best described as eerie, and unsettling, but it definitely fits the overall mood. It's probably because throughout this anime, there will be plenty of moments where you, as the viewer, will feel uncomfortable, unsure if you want to continue watching. The music personifies that discomfort beautifully. On its own, it's definitely creepy though(in a good way), so if you try to play a song from the anime to a friend, expect them to take two steps back and possibly avoid you indefinitely. Just a word of warning.

Character:7
I feel like a seven is too high here, because out main character Takao takes second place in my "Worst Protagonists Ever" list( behind Makoto from "School Days", who will forever be reigning champ. What a Douche). I don't even like using the word protagonist, because to me, a protagonist is the lead person who does good things(as opposed to an antagonist who is the lead who does bad things). Takao does not do good things. He does things that are obviously bad for him, that he knows are bad, and then complains about how screwed up his life is. But surely given the chance to fix it, to put himself back on the morally right track with zero(yes ZERO) repercussions, he would right? No, he doesn't. As a main character he is terribly flawed, and yet I still don't think he deserves a lower score. Why? Because the fact that he can bother me this much, even after I watched this a couple months ago, tells me that he is a good character. If the creators can make a character that sticks with you this long, and still elicits the same emotional response(in this case, disdain), then it's a well written character in my book, even if he is an annoying little shit. Also, the antagonist Nakamura is brilliantly written, so bonus points for that.

Enjoyment:5
This is where I think this anime suffers, because it can be absolutely painful to watch. Using my "How many episodes can I watch in a row" enjoyment scale, Aku no Hana scores a 1-2, with me usually regretting the second episode. Aside from the fact that I was cringing through most episodes, this anime likes to trick you into thinking things will get better, that Takao will fix things. So many times I watched that second episode because the preview at the end of the first one made me think things were about to resolve for the better, only to be slapped across the face my the creators with an even worse situation. Not only is that lack of resolution irritating, but I don't think that anyone likes to get their hopes up, only to be disappointed. Again, the ending does do a nice job of making it seem almost worthwhile, but a nice lesson learned in episode 13 doesn't really equal 12 episodes of discomfort.

Overall:6(Fair)
Aku no Hana isn't a bad anime if you look at it as a whole. By the end, you tend to forget how much you dreaded watching the episodes leading up to it. But just like a bad movie can't be redeemed by a great ending, if you didn't really enjoy the first 12 episodes, the ending in episode 13 can only do so much to make the series enjoyable. I'm hoping that this was just the necessary evil in order to set up a second season(which seems likely), because a second season would probably score higher now that I know what to expect. Aku no Hana is worth a watch if you like anime that makes you uncomfortable(looking at you "Watamote" fans), or even if you can stand the uncomfortableness if you like anime that make you think. Otherwise, I would avoid it, because if you're like me, curled up in a, cringing, ball of regret is not how you like to spend your free time.

This marvel of modern animation is truly a blessing, and I, for one, feel like I can finally follow my dreams because of its divine power. Let me evaluate this masterpiece, though no numbers could truly express the raw, emotional power of this one minute short:

Story:10
The best story is no story at all, and Ein no Natsuyasumi's power to put unrelated drawings together is masterful.

Art:10
My Eyes bled rainbows because they couldn't handle the beauty of this. If you like colors and art, and colorful art, you'll love this.

Sound:10
I have no idea what this music is supposed to be ( I swear there's a section ... that sounds like the intro to "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas though), but I've incorporated saying "la la la"s and "we are the doggy doggy dogs" into my everyday life, with great results. Would recommend.

Character:10
Ein is love. Ein is Life.

Enjoyment:10
*Can't be put into words*

Overall:
If you desire to find the meaning of life, the secrets to being rich, or if you just have a minute to spare, watch this. You won't regret it. Probably.

Cowboy Bebop is a household name to anime fans. Either you've seen it, or you've at least heard about it from your friends. Being one of the original anime aired in the US via Cartoon Network, it served as a gateway anime for many, a taste of what Japanese animation has to offer. Because of this, many people give it glowing reviews as a masterpiece, and a textbook example of what a good anime is. I am not of those people. I'm from the latter group of people, who heard the reviews about how good it was. So naturally, I ... had to see if the hype train was real, if it's really that good, or if people think it's better than it really is because of the sentimentality of it being(probably) their first anime. Here are my thoughts:

Story:6
The story of Bebop is a bit convoluted, in the sense that it's a roller coaster of fillerish material and key plot points. What I mean by that is that the series definitely has its ups and downs, with the down episodes seeming to have no point to the overall progression(essentially filler), and the up episodes having lots of action and plot in a 20 minute block(these are of course, sprinkled throughout the 26 episodes). While Bebop does a great job of tying everything together into a cohesive story by the end, I found that in the midst of it, I could never expect what was going to happen in the next episode, which makes it hard to follow the story as you watch it. So overall, the story overall is good, but falls apart episode to episode. I wish the main plot was emphasized more throughout the whole anime, as opposed to the last 4-5 episodes.

Art:8
The artwork in this anime is good, so much so that I was surprised when i found out it was 15 years old. Obviously it won't look as good as your 2014 summer anime, but the art style definitely complements the overall feel of the anime. I think if you redid the anime with modern animation, it wouldn't hold up well at all. You pair a sort of western feeling anime with a sort of choppy grainy animation, and it definitely works. No complaints here.

Sound:10
What I said for the art holds even more true for the sound. In my opinion, the sound is what really carries this anime. The music in this anime is very jazzy, ranging from upbeat to emotional pieces, from the sultry orchestral opening to the subtle guitar/piano background music scattered throughout. I don't think the creators could have done a better job of pairing music with animation, because the music really does set the tone well. Even if you're not the type to actively listen to the music in your anime, I bet you'd be surprised by how easily you could pick out a song from Bebop if you heard it somewhere else. Hell, I bet if you gave me a piano I could learn the opening by ear, and that's saying something. It's that memorable.

Character:7
The characters in Bebop are a likeable motley crue of varying personalities. No one is particularly fascinating(although the dog Ein is hilarious), but no one is particularly boring either. They're just a very normal, dare I say average, group. No Makoto-esque characters that make you want to swallow a spoon and/or yell at your screen(damn you School Days), and no *Insert stereotypical heroine from harem anime here*-esque characters with the emotional depth of a puddle. I will say that the characters are developed well throughout the anime, so the filler I mentioned earlier did serve a point. Although, considering your main cast consists of 4 characters and a badass dog, character development should be a given considering 26 episodes is significantly longer that your typical 12 episode animes, and you've got such a small cast to work with.

Enjoyment:7
I usually judge my enjoyment factor by how many episodes I can watch in a row before I want to do something else, with 1 episode being painful to watch(School Days, Aku no Hana) and 5+ being "Holy shit! Is it that late already?!?"(A Certain Magical Index, Clannad). Bebop scores in the 2-3 range, usually 2. The reason I'm scoring that in the middle is because of the roller coastering(Adding that to dictionary) between episodes. You finish one episode that's awesome, and action packed, and makes you want to punch a stranger because "fuck yeah!".....and then the next episode is kinda boring. Usually I stop after a boring (and I'm using boring here to contrast the exciting episodes, not so much that the episode it self is terribly boring) episode, which is about every other episode.

Overall:7(Worth watching once)
Overall, Bebop is a good anime. Is it worthy of the more recent Attack on Titan or Sword Art Online hype train that it still garners(For those of you who have been lambasted for not watching those while they were airing like me, you know what I' m talking about), I don't think so. It's worth a watch if you haven't seen it already, but it's not worth seeking out for anime enlightenment. It's not your anime Mecca, and I challenge anybody who thinks that it is to watch it again without bias, because I bet if you're one of the people who watched it when you were younger, you'll find that it's not as good as your remembered. You'll probably still enjoy it, but it won't seem as fulfilling the second time around.