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Dec 27, 2015
I love how Planetes talks about a future that could be real. A future without heroism, incredible missions or fights. But just something that could most likely happen in 2075.
The story, fluent and interesting, revolves around four main characters, it manages to explore deeply their personality, behaviours and actions. They all work as part of a team of debris cleaners on a space ship called the Toy Box, to clean the orbit from space debris produced by humans in order to keep spaceship's paths clean and avoid catastrophic collisions.
My impression while reading Planetes was that the plot's main aim is to develop characters: they
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pursue their dreams or they try to repair past mistakes, helped by the development of the manga. Planetes takes inspiration from characters' issues to talk about major themes like the mysterious relationship between man and space, the Kessler syndrome or astronauts' issues with their families when they stay in space for long periods of time due to their jobs.
Hachirota Hoshino, Ai Tanabe, Fee Carmichael and Yuri Mihalkov are the characters that are explored the most. Hachirota dreams to buy his own spaceship to become a free space explorer; Ai is an innocent girl that believes in love (her name, Ai, means love) and respect between people; Fee understands step by step the value of kindness and love by the complicated relationship between her, her son and the whole earth; Yuri dedicates himself to clean space from debris after his wife has been killed by a space flight accident caused by the impact with a debris. There aren't random characters, they all have their past, their story to narrate, a goal. This is what intrigued me the most.
The art is very detailed and realistic, especially when it comes to spaceships and landscapes, but I didn't like that much the representation of the characters. Usually they are very simple and similar to each other and you tend to confuse them, especially when they are wearing space suits, and this complicates things quite a bit since there are many jumps between various characters during the story.
It's a very original show, at least for what I've seen/read until now, that mixes realism with funny parts, all together to create a really nice sci-fi manga. It takes time to read, since some parts are pretty heavy, and tends to give the reader many informations at the same time, but it's definitely worth it. The most of sci-fi fans will surely like Planetes if they don't consider sci-fi only a sequence of space fights and big advanced weapons.
Story: 8
Art: 8
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 8
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 22, 2015
I don’t know why I decided to begin No Game No Life, probably because it has a good score, but as usually happens, the score lies. Again and again.
This review won’t contain spoilers.
No game No Life talks about two brothers that don’t go to school and don’t have any kind of social life, they simply spend all their time playing computer games. So much that you even ask yourself how they can be still alive. After winning a chess-game against Tet, a God, they are brought in a world where every conflict is decided by playing games. Their aim is to become gods of this
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world by defeating the final boss: Tet himself.
Everything revolves on the sympathy between those two incredibly genious characters and the watcher, that wants to be a super sharp mind like those two unrealistic characters. This is the only reason that I can think about for its success. Wait I forgot breasts, it’s full of stupid scenes where characters just randomly lose pieces of their clothes. And yes, this is a concern even in an ecchi anime, because it only adds stupidity to the whole show. And loli, there is so much loli that I don’t even want to talk about that.
The fantasy world they are in seems somewhat challenging, full of obstacles and threats. This could have been interesting if the two brothers, Sora and Shiro, didn’t win everything so easily. Since they have to be a “model to follow” by the watcher, they seem to be expert in litterally everything, from math to literature, without even going to school. They are so strong that they win every single game; even before a challenge starts, you know that they can’t lose. They can’t lose because everytime they bet everything, even their own life at some points, and the plot couldn’t continue otherwise.
Another aspect that is paricularly annoying is that instead of trying to win the games, everyone tries to find the best cheat to win. Infact the rules of this world say that you can cheat as long as you are not detected. So the characters are all focused on deceiving their opponent and there are really just a few games where they played following the rules.
But how do they win? Their intelligence is so high that in ten minutes they could read and understand Einstein’s general relativity paper, during the games they take advantage of things that they couldn’t possibly know if they spend the whole day in front of videogames. The anime tries to put up the logical chain of thoughts that gave to our little Einsteins the victory, but everything seems only based on luck. Let me explain: there are so many things that could go wrong, so many things that they couldn’t have planned in any possible way, that you can only ask yourself “Why the hell don’t they play in a Casino and win millions to live the rest of their life in a royal palace?” They could litterally conquer the whole Earth without any difficulty. Every little detail, even if they seem in trouble, is revealed to be a part of their plan. Someone trips? It was a part of their plan! Someone sneezes? It was a part of their plan! Someone farts? It was a part of their evil plan! They are too smart.
Outrageous luck like a river in this anime flows.
The art is really good, drawings are well made and neon/pink colors, even if many criticize them, are perfect for the anime. Sound is nice too, there are some good OST that match the theme of the anime: videogames. Art is what raised my overall score from 4 to 5, well done Madhouse.
As I’ve already said the two main characters are just unbelievably cunning and smart, but except for that, they are simply flat and without a real purpose in their life except than playing games and prove that Blank, the name that they gave to their team, is better than everyone else and can’t lose. I find this a really weak aim for the life of two teenagers, but ok. They are also completely incosistent and meaningless, for example they spent their whole life in their room and they say that they suffer of agoraphobia, but in two minutes they just change completely, and Sora becomes a formidable orator. This hurts, a lot.
There aren’t other interesting characters. Stephanie is here only for the sake of ecchi, she litterally doesn’t do anything to advance the plot and is completely useless and stupid. She seems like a bonus to use when the anime has been serious for too long and the watcher needs some fanservice. Jybril is the same thing, but with a pair of wings.
Another big question mark is: but Sora and Shiro never asked themself what and where this world is? Why does this world exists? Where are their parents? Why they never talk about them or don’t miss them at least? What the hell is wrong with those guys? No Game No Life doesn’t give you any answer, the watcher just have to accept the fact that they have to become Gods. Ok.
At this point you are probably wondering why I gave to this anime a 5 instead of something much lower. Well, all in all it’s entertaining, some parts are funny and some games are interesting. Strange that I didn’t choose to drop it, maybe I just wanted to see what the producers were trying to put up next. But there are way too many plot holes and inexplicable facts, and what I felt while watching No Game No Life was the disperate attempt to create a intelligent and badass character, that should be Sora, and creating an harem around him, because badass guys attract girls...
Should you watch it? If you have some free time and you don’t have anything better to do. There are so many good anime around that it’s a pity to waste time on this one, but if you are just searching an anime with a cool main character, then No Game No Life is probably for you.
You hate me because No Game No Life is the best anime ever? It was all my plan since the beginning!
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 20, 2015
I’ve recently finished to watch both Neon Genesis Evangelion and the related film, the End of Evangelion. It seemed impossible to find something more mind blowing than that, but I was wrong.
This review won’t contain spoliers.
Story 9/10
Perfect Blue talk about a pop-idol called Mima Kirigoe, that is forced by her managers to leave the pop world, that she loved, to become an actress, considered a more economically convenient work. At the beginning she feels free without all the commitments that she had while she was a singer, but after a while something changes and the reality of her as an actress starts to mix
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with the illusion of her as a pop-idol. And a strange stalker is following her...
Even if the story at the beginning might seem clear and linear, while the anime progresses you start to lose the perception of what is true and what is an illusion. Satoshi Kon, the director, manages to involve the watcher in the anime, putting yourself in the shoes of the protagonist and its paranoia. Everything is made even more confusing by the fact that Mima is acting in a film and usually it’s hard to distinguish the reality from the film and from Mima’s illusions too.
Art & Animation 8/10
The art is weird, facial proportions are distorted in nearly all characters except for Mima and a few others. The animation isn’t the best I’ve seen, but since this is an anime from 1998 it isn't really a concern. The staff probably wanted to use the exterior aspect of the characters to externalize how they really are inside: for example, Me-Mania, the fanatic stalker, has a grotesque face that will probably give me nightmares if I continue to think about it.
Colors are mainly dull, the general atmosphere is gloomy and surreal. The art style fits very well the story and the themes discussed, drawings and animation manage to give you the sense of alienation typical of this dementia genre.
Sound 7/10
I don’t remember any particular music except the ending one, that is particularly enjoyable, but that’s probably because you can’t in any possible way focus on the OST while you are watching and trying to understand an anime like this. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the japanese version of Perfect Blue, so I had to watch the english dubbed version, that isn’t as good as I expected. I hope to find it one day in the original language to watch it again.
Characters 8/10
Mima is the center of all the story and the anime is a study of every aspect of her psychology. The story goes really deep in character’s development of not only the protagonist, but also of Me-Mania and Rumi Hidaka, that are a sort of co-protagonists rather than supporting. As I’ve already said in the Art paragraph, the external appearence is also a determinant factor in the analysis of the characters, so you can really have a 360 degrees view about them.
Enjoyment 8/10
If you want to understand Perfect Blue, you can’t lose any single word of it, and even this isn’t enough. I confess that after the last scene I immediately went to search for an explanation. What I found was a list of many interpretations, each one different from the others. After reading two/three of them I only had even more confusion in my head, that’s why I’ll probably watch it again and search for some details that I’ve probably missed.
Perfect Blue manages to catch you since the beginning, when everything becomes strange and you feel that you can only continue to try to understand something. The questions made by Mima are the same you make to yourself, while everything revolves around you and her. She doesn’t understand? Well, you don’t understand too. That’s why I enjoyed this anime a lot, it managed to arise that type of interest that mainly only thriller genre normally does.
Should you watch it? Yes, if the old style doesn’t concern you and you aren’t scared about having your mind blowed, watch it. Just keep in mind that the rating is R+, there are indeed some pretty violent and disturbing parts.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 19, 2015
I haven't played the videogame, so my review is only based on this short OVA and obviously it won't be affected in any way by that game.
This review won't contain spoilers.
Story 4/10
In short, the story talks about a group of students that after a charm suddenly end up in Heavenly Host Elementary School, a cursed school where ghosts out for revenge. The premise is somewhat exciting and forced me to watch those 4 episodes. Unfortunately I can't say the same for the effective story of the anime.
Since there are only 4 episodes, I didn't really expected a complex story, but there are way too many
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plot holes and random scenes made only to add some blood and violence to the whole thing. After a while you aren't even surprised anymore by random murders that happen every 2/3 minutes. The worst part of it is that it isn't scary as an horror should be. Let me explain: Corpse Party doesn't have the most original setting, I've seen haunted/cursed schools everywhere in horror films and stories, even children's ghosts are one of the most common characters, so at least I was waiting for something scary to happen, but apparently this isn't the real objective of Corpse Party. Indeed it's all focused on blood and student's inner body parts, especially intestines, that, I'm talking about my personal experience, just cause disgust.
So, nothing scary at all in an horror anime. Ok. Maybe it has some other strong aspects? Nope, just that. Even the will to find a way to get out of that hell of a school is hidden behind the stupidity of the characters that do everything to get killed in the most idiotic ways, but I'll talk better about in the right section. Probably the best parts were the beginning and the ending, they somehow satisfied me and incredibly rised story's mark to 4, the rest was just a bloody mess.
Art & Animation 7/10
Nothing to complain here, drawings were well made, I'm especially talking about the setting (school environment) that's rich of details and realistic. I've appreciated the difference they made between bright, safe places and dark, elementary school filled with ghosts and murderers. Gore and splatter parts were also nicely made, not really realistic but still enjoyable.
Sound 8/10
Even if there isn't any memorable OST, sound effects are well made. Screams are amazing, the sound during various killings/stabs/random splatter stuff is half way between disturbing and enjoyable, but it's overall perfect for the anime.
Characters 3/10
I admit that I don't really remember any of main character's names except for one or two of them because their name was actually shouted during the whole episode. This also means that it was hard to follow the conspicuous sequence of deaths and that I couldn't care less about their deaths, because I haven't even had the time to understand who or how they were.
Leaving this apart, characters are just flat and unrealistic under every point of view. There are way too many situations that could have been avoided if they hadn’t been brainless creatures, I suppose this is a feature to actually make something happen, but it could have been done much better. They take decisions that are against every logic and the events seem forced, squeezed through the episode. I understand that they are just a group of 16/17 years old guys (but not only, there are some grown ups too) put in an infernal school but there are some times that you can’t find a way to justify their behaviour, you’ll probably understand better what I mean while you watch it.
Thing to point out: characters are made of clay, literally, they explode/lose body parts just by touching things. That’s how it seem to work.
Enjoyment 6/10
Despite all his problems, Corpse Party is enjoyable to watch and it’s interesting to see how those characters manage to die in all possible ways. Sounds sick, but that’s what this anime is. I don’t think I’ll watch this OVA again, but I’ll have fun talking about it with friends. Since I haven’t found it scary at all, I can’t say I enjoyed this as an horror anime, but all the crazy stuff that happens everywhere is somewhat interesting.
Should you watch it? Mh, if you aren’t scared easily, with every probably this won’t be a terrible experience. There is a lot of violence, nothing more. If this sounds good to you, go ahead, you won’t be unsatisfied.
This was my first review on MAL, I’m sorry for eventual grammar mistakes since this isn’t my main language. Feel free to send me a message if you want to discuss with me some points of the review.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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