TL;DR - This OVA should have been the second half or continuation of episode 7 of the main season of the show, and thus fits perfectly between it and episode 8. It's more of what you love about the show, and an easy recommendation. If you do decide to watch it between 7 and 8, DO NOT WATCH THE AFTER CREDITS SCENE UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE COMPLETED THE MAIN SEASON! It features heavy spoilers for the finale.
The battle against Anzio in the original series run literally wasn't shown; only the outcome was, which, after watching the whole season, felt off since every other battle was played
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Aug 30, 2023
Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen
(Anime)
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-Seeing as I binge watched all three of the movies in one sitting, I'm just going to go ahead and make this review cover my opinion of all three entries in the trilogy. All three of them got a rating of an 8 from me, and my opinions of this third movie extend to the previous two as well.-
These three movies were a significant improvement over Bakemonogatari in my opinion. The main plot was far more cohesive due to it not following a semi-episodic plot structure like Bake did, they focused on a much smaller cast of main characters allowing them to explore them with ... more depth, and while it still uses abstract cut-ins to help tell the story, they weren't shot at us in the often chaotic pace that they were in Bake, and as far as I can tell, none were used as a plot progression tool like some were in Bake. But it does have some issues. What you're getting here is a prequel to Bakemonogatari. The movies cover the events that transpired during Araragi's short time as a vampire that is frequently referenced throughout the season. It's not really the deepest of stories, and you can tell that some parts of it were shoe-horned in to explain things from Bake, but it's still decent and certainly inoffensive. It more or less plays out as if it were a three hour long arc from Bake, so if you enjoyed the stories that season gave you, I'd say you'll most likely like what's on offer here. I felt they did a relatively better job with character development. Having a smaller cast of main characters to work with means they can do a better job of fleshing them out, and I'm all for that. I absolutely approve. But as others have said, they really did make a baffling decision in terms of Hanekawa. They almost completely changed her personality in comparison to her in Bake. I've seen big changes made to characters in other shows; it's not too terribly uncommon. But when that does happen, the character's base personality doesn't change usually. They use it as a starting point and make little tweaks here and there that fit in with how the character was originally portrayed. In Bake, Hanekawa was the kindhearted girl next door. She was calm and collected and was the type to put others ahead of herself, even if that led to her suffering. In this trilogy, however, she's turned into something of an amalgamation of her base personality and her personality as Black Hanekawa in Bake, leaning more towards Black Hanekawa. She's uncharacteristically flirty, upbeat, and silly leading to it really feeling as though they made that change simply so they could in make the fanservice she's involved in feel more appropriate for her character. Look, I have 0 shame in saying I am a fan of fanservice. I've seen more than a few ecchi series. As you'll see in just a bit, I did in fact like that there's more of it in these movies than there was in Bake. But man, you need to implement it properly. You can't just force it. If you have to dramatically change a character's personality just to make it work, then you need to figure out another way to do it. This is anime; it's not hard to make fanservice work with a character like the original Hanekawa. I truly don't understand the thought process here. Why would they waste the time and resources essentially writing a whole new character when it has been proven countless times that it's very much possible to make it work with her character type? Completely changing her personality was unnecessary and slightly jarring. There are definitely some moments where I did like her new personality, but that really doesn't change my opinion on this much. As far as the art goes, it's a massive step up from Bake, which is to be expected I suppose; there had been a few years since the shows release for them to improve, and I would imagine they were given a bigger budget to work with for these movies. And it shows. Bake had a much more surreal feel to its art that existed in everything from characters and environments, but I felt like they went a bit overboard with it. That surreal feel is still here in the movies, but they didn't go crazy with it. Instead, they went with a blend of both surreal and realistic art design that looked great and still conveys the same feelings Bake did. There's also more fan service in play here, and like I said previously, as a fan of it, it was nice to see a bit more of it, but it does have occasional issues. It's never so frequent that it gets to be too much; just a few spots of it in each of the movies, and in most cases it comes up as part of the comedy when the characters are being playful, which is an acceptable time for it. But it doesn't stay in those moments. It's one thing if there's fanservice during action scenes thanks to convenient camera angles and whatnot. No, it doesn't *need* to be there, but it at least feels sensible. However, there are a couple times in the movies where it goes beyond that and throws in fanservice where even I will say it doesn't belong. I think the most egregious offense here is in the third movie when Araragi calls Hanekawa to tell her of his upsetting plans in the gym store room. This is obviously a very serious interaction that is supposed to be emotional between the two, and does help further solidify the relationship between the pair...and randomly ends with a minutes long ecchi scene where Araragi tells her he wants to touch her tits and starts imagining an lewd scenario with him feeling her up before cutting back to him begging her forgiveness for even asking after realizing he can't actually bring himself to do such a thing. Again, there's only a couple scenes throughout all three movies that I could remember that do this. The rest is sprinkled in at times where I'd say fanservice is fine. Touching on the sound, I have to say I love what they did here for the most part. Particularly in terms of the ambience. Similar to Kino's Journey, there are many moments in the movies where music will be much quieter or will cut out, and the sounds of the environment are thrust into the spotlight. One of the moments of this that impressed me most is actually in one of the ecchi scenes. Brace yourself, because the following is going to honestly sound almost like something out of an erotic novel, but it really is the scene that uses this effect best in my opinion and is really a testament to just how detailed the ambient sound is in the movies. At a point, Hanekawa and Araragi are in a field and she starts removing her panties (no, it's not what you're understandably thinking. Probably). As she's doing this there is no music and you can hear every little bit of her movements. You can hear her clothing rustling as she fiddles with it, the sound of her hands brushing up against her skin, her feet shifting and the crunch of grass as she fidgets around, as she's sliding her underwear down you can hear the friction between her skin and the cloth, and hear that it's audibly different from her skirt due to the former being silk and sounding slightly different than cotton, when they get stuck on her foot, you can hear the sound of the panties snapping away from her toes when she tugs them off. And these effects are used all throughout the movie. Bakemonogatari also utilized sound like this, but not on the same level it is here, and like in Kino, it's a cool experience. Overall, I feel the Kizumonogatari trilogy was a noted upgrade compared to Bake. I don't know if I would say they really added anything to the formula; it still very much feels like Monogatari (or at least I assume it does; as of writing this I've only seen Bakemonogatari and this trilogy). But they really didn't need to add anything. Bake already had all the elements of a great show, it just didn't execute on them as well as they could have in my opinion. Kizumonogatari didn't need to reinvent the wheel, it just had to use it properly, and I'd say it succeeded in that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 26, 2023 Recommended
An alright movie. It's nothing to write home about, but also not so bad as to be off-putting. Basically, it's 100% fan service meant to give you some more time with the mansion gang and has no impact whatsoever on the main series. If you're looking for progression or deeper insight into any of the characters, you won't really find that here, at least not to any meaningful extent. In fact, it's hard to see where exactly the events of this movie are supposed to be taking place in the context of the first season, and actually feels more like it's not really supposed to
...
take place during it at all. I'd go so far as to say it's supposed to be a self-contained story, but there are a couple of moments where there are references to the first season, and even a few flashbacks to it as well. So who knows.
The plot isn't extravagant, but it is really cute. As mentioned, you're not going to learn much of anything new about the characters involved, but they did give many of them a bit more personality in my opinion, particularly the maid twins and Emilia. It's nothing that really changed my opinions on any of them; they're still mostly set in their prim and proper ways, but it was really nice to see them loosen up some. The art and animation is completely on par with the first season, as is the sound and music; nothing more, nothing less. If you were a fan of it there, you'll like what you're given here as well. And honestly, that's all that there really is to be said about this movie. If you're a fan of the show and/or wonder what the residents of the mansion would be like in a slice of life-y setting, there's no reason not to give it a watch.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 6, 2023
To LOVE-Ru OVA
(Anime)
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A bit of a Preamble:
I think the first thing to mention here should be the unfortunate state of these episodes. As of writing this, there is no legitimate streaming service anywhere, Japan or otherwise, that has these 6 episodes; if you want to watch them, the only legal means of doing so is by purchasing the Japanese home video discs second hand. Of course, that's much more difficult/expensive outside of Japan, but is possible via Japanese proxy purchasing sites, just keep in mind there are no subs for them. This is obviously a bummer on its own, but making it worse is the fact that Motto ... To Love-Ru, the actual sequel season to the first season, heavily involves characters that appeared in these episodes and frequently refers to events that occurred within them with no context for anyone who hasn't seen them. With that out of the way; my opinions. If you're watching To Love-Ru, I'm going to assume you're watching it for the fanservice, or at least initially came to it for that. If you were looking for more, you're going to be extremely pleased. The fanservice has been cranked up to absurd levels and is damn near constant. Think of any risque situation that happened in the first season, and make it twice as lewd. Fully exposed butts and breasts are everywhere, characters are fully nude in every episode, and no character is safe from it. If that's your thing, this show is what you want. And it's enhanced thanks to the much better art and animation quality of these episodes. Everything overall looks much cleaner and more colorful, and this is most prevalent in the character design. All the characters have had their designs tweaked a bit, and look much better over the first season. They did give them a...cuter? I guess?...design, so it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I feel it suits the show much better. It's not on the same level as Motto in my opinion, but it's a definite improvement over the more dated look of the first season and still holds up well. Everything else about the show is pretty much what you would expect from OVA's of an ecchi series. Plot is non-existent outside of the basic setup of the events occurring in each episode. It's just there to facilitate the copious amount of fanservice you'll be getting. That said, unlike the first season which only loosely followed the manga, these episodes apparently do a better job of following chapters from the source, so there is that. However, at times this works to viewers who didn't read the manga's detriment as there are some references to the manga with no context for those unfamiliar, such as one of the new characters, Celine, who just sort of randomly appears with no back story or explanation at all. Due to the lighthearted nature of the show this doesn't really have that big of an impact, but it does lead to some confusion. I honestly was torn when it came to whether or not I recommend these OVA. The biggest factor against me recommending them is the sheer difficulty of just being able to watch them. Simply obtaining them requires a good bit of work that the average person outside of Japan likely wouldn't want to deal with, especially for a show that can't be understood unless you are fluent in Japanese. But at the end of the day, even if you can't understand what's being said, the lack of a serious plot and the fact that the show is hyper-focused on fanservice means you don't don't necessarily need to understand it to get what you're looking for out of it, and for how solid the fanservice is, I do think it's worth the trouble if you're a fan of the series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Oct 30, 2019
Akagami no Shirayuki-hime
(Anime)
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Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
I will say that the shining point of this show is easily the art and sound. Both are excellent and fit the show perfectly. As per always, I watched the dub for it, and it's decent. Not terrible, but not great. I find Brina Palencia to be a bit wishy-washy, and while she generally does a good job here, there are a few lines (mostly when Shirayuki is thinking to herself) that are kind of iffy. It's nothing too terrible, and all the other characters are fine, but it can be noticeable. The plot is focused ... more on Shirayukis slow discovery of her feelings for Zen more than anything else. Again, I felt it didn't do a terrible job in that department, but it also wasn't spectacular. It made me smile at times, but it certainly wasn't anything that could really tug at my heartstrings. What I found to be a bit of a shame was how the show eventually put Shirayukis role as an herbalist to the back burner. I honestly found the times when Shirayuki was dealing with issues in this manner to be really interesting, and felt there was a lot of potential there. Unfortunately, these times only happen around the first half of the show and kind of peter out in the latter half. What I did like a lot, however, was that rather than making her a damsel in distress, they made Shirayuki a pretty strong, independent character. Most of the predicaments she finds herself in, she takes care of herself with Zen typically only showing up to ensure she is okay. Despite this strength, she still has a cute and innocent side to her that I also like. This quite easily made Shirayuki the best part of the show for me, and it's pretty evident that was the intention...the show is named after her, after all. The whole "she's special because of THAT HAIR" thing does get over-used, however. They made sure the general population of the show had brown or black hair (and blonde and white for nobility) to make her hair stand out, but even so, the problem for me was that they really couldn't convince me her hair is anything special in a medium where characters have naturally hot pink hair just by repeatedly saying it is for no other reason than it just is. She is pretty, for sure, but the incessant harping on her hair color really just felt kind of silly. Overall, I did enjoy the show. It's nothing I would write home about, but it was entertaining, and has a really good lead in Shirayuki. If you like strong female leads, it's worth a look, and while it has its flaws, it is a serviceable romance as well. If you've gone through the bigger romances out there and are looking for something to stave off boredom, give this one a shot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 12, 2013
Evangelion Movie 1: Jo
(Anime)
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I'm typically not a fan of remake movies. Either they change far too drastically, turning into something that's little more than a shallow representation of what they're supposed to be, or they turn out being elongated recap episodes with a few extra scenes here and there. These are common issues with just about any remake really. But every once in a while a remake manages to shine and elevate itself into the "worth watching" realm. But Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone doesn't do this. No, YANA surpasses that whole tier and emerges as the only remake I can think of that I'll safely say
...
SURPASSES it's source material in many ways.
As far as story goes, what you're looking at is a retelling of the events in the series that made up the first three battles with Angels. For the most part, almost everything in terms of the story is kept intact, right down to the majority of the dialogue. But for those who haven't seen the series, the story focuses on Shinji, a 14 year old boy that is given the responsibility of being an Evangelion (basically a giant humanoid shaped mech unit) pilot completely out of the blue. With the human race under assault from massive, monstrous creatures called "Angels" he must learn to master using his Eva and get used to their mysterious creators, a group known as Nerv. There's an added scene or two, and one scene that changes rather drastically, though in my opinion it's a welcome one as it makes Misato out to be a bit more serious and/or stern than she was in the original, but none of it is drastic enough where you'll feel like they changed it too much. This actually leads me to the first thing I feel is a massive improvement over the series; pacing. NGE, in my opinion, was a very slow starting series. I felt like the show took too long to get to the critical points in the plot, and when it did, they were too short lived. This left the show feeling very similar to an episodic, which is, as far as I'm concerned, no bueno. After the sixth Angel (where the movie leaves off at), things finally started picking up, but prior to that, it sort of slogged along to me. What this movie proves is that sometimes, less time can actually work towards a benefit overall. By trimming the proverbial fat, all the extra stuff that was in the episodes of NGE is gone, giving way to strictly the most important plot points involved. And man does it make a huge difference. The movie may only be about an hour and a half, but it's a really great ride. Everything from the action to the drama is non-stop and flows beautifully. If nothing else, this movie is a testament to just how great these events could, and should have been had we not had all that other stuff distracting us. But the incredible thing is that most of the scenes you're seeing play out almost exactly as they did in the series (though, of course, the art and sound have seen extensive makeovers), it's just that they mesh together so much better in this rapid-fire pacing. Still, obviously, whether you see this as a good or bad thing relies on what your opinion of these episodes of the show is. If you thoroughly enjoyed them, you'll find a lot of stuff missing. If you found them to be lacking, like I did, this is a very welcome change. As mentioned, the art and animation have seen some extensive overhauls here. Yet once again, the unique approach that was taken towards these modifications yields a surprisingly refreshing visual style. Basically, as far as characters go, their design is left almost completely unchanged from their original appearance. Meaning if you were to place a picture of the original 90's characters faces next to their equivelant in this movie, the differences are basically superficial. Sure, the lighting, shading, and shadow effects are improved upon, but as far as the characters looks go, they're exactly the same design, right down to the clothes they wear and their hairstyles. What has changed quite a bit is just about everything else. 3D CGI has been added in in quite a few scenes, including those involving the Eva's. Many of the general environments have also been heavily upgraded, as have the fifth and sixth Angels. Both have been rendered in 3D now; the fifth Angel looks slightly more intimidating rather than like a flying sex toy, and the sixth Angel now makes more sense and generally looks cooler as it changes its form when it fires its...whatever beam. Oh, and it's drill no longer looks like a pink beaded vibrator. In the end, for all of you "old schoolers" out there who defend 90's anime characters, this movie should be in your arsenal as it blends the characters of our time with modernized versions of just about everything else, and it works flawlessly. As far as sound goes, I'm going to go right into the dubs vo. NGE's English dub was laughably awful. I'm a huge supporter of dubs, always will be, but if NGE ever comes up in an argument...I'm screwed. It's just...scarring...for the most part. Thankfully, quite a few changes were made which were all huge improvements in this department. As per usually Colleen Clinkenbeard was bought in to take over for Ritsuko, and again, as per usual, she does a great job. Brina Palencia takes over for Rei, and fortunately Rei's robotic tone suits Brina well, so she does a good job of her here. The ever popular Greg Ayres has Kensuke covered, and does some good work there. There are some other newcomers, but none make any notable difference. Oh, wait they bought Monica Rial on too for...PenPen. As is always the case, I don't watch subs, so I can't really help you on the Japanese talent...sorry. For Shinji and Misato Spike Spencer and Allison Kieth both reprise their rolls, and while I had no qualms with Spike's work in NGE, Misato was pretty grating during these events in the series. Thankfully, she does a much better job now, despite many of her lines being exactly the same. Maybe it's just because she's older now and her voice has changed some, I don't know, either way, there's an improvement here. For music and such, it's different than what was in the original series, though it's still nothing memorable. I will have to admit that I'm partial to the ED though; love Utada Hikaru. Freaking Kingdom Hearts man... As far as characters go, you're looking at exactly the same characters as the show, with the same personalities and characteristics. Concerning character development; there is somewhat less of it here. We get less background info on Shinji's friends at school, Kensuke and Toji, though in the context of the movie they play a significantly smaller role in his life. Basically they put Shinji and Rei in the spotlight...kind of; there's significantly more work done on Shinji, but we still learn a decent amount about Rei, which is good since in the process we're given something of a reason to start disliking Shinji's father, Gendou. So, if you're like me and you're leary about wasting time watching remakes and such, I'll tell you right now, this one is definitely worth your time. In fact, I'd actually go so far as to say you might actually get a better understanding of the events featured during this time by watching this movie rather than watching them unfold in NGE. If you've never seen the original, definitely give this a look; this movie takes place from the start of the series to after the battle with the sixth Angel, so you're not missing out on anything by seeing this, and going by todays standards, it more than holds up well.I'm typically not a fan of remake movies. Either they change far too drastically, turning into something that's little more than a shallow representation of what they're supposed to be, or they turn out being elongated recap episodes with a few extra scenes here and there. These are common issues with just about any remake really. But every once in a while a remake manages to shine and elevate itself into the "worth watching" realm. But Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone doesn't do this. No, YANA surpasses that whole tier and emerges as the only remake I can think of that I'll safely say SURPASSES it's source material in many ways. As far as story goes, what you're looking at is a retelling of the events in the series that made up the first three battles with Angels. For the most part, almost everything in terms of the story is kept intact, right down to the majority of the dialogue. But for those who haven't seen the series, the story focuses on Shinji, a 14 year old boy that is given the responsibility of being an Evangelion (basically a giant humanoid shaped mech unit) pilot completely out of the blue. With the human race under assault from massive, monstrous creatures called "Angels" he must learn to master using his Eva and get used to their mysterious creators, a group known as Nerv. There's an added scene or two, and one scene that changes rather drastically, though in my opinion it's a welcome one as it makes Misato out to be a bit more serious and/or stern than she was in the original, but none of it is drastic enough where you'll feel like they changed it too much. This actually leads me to the first thing I feel is a massive improvement over the series; pacing. NGE, in my opinion, was a very slow starting series. I felt like the show took too long to get to the critical points in the plot, and when it did, they were too short lived. This left the show feeling very similar to an episodic, which is, as far as I'm concerned, no bueno. After the sixth Angel (where the movie leaves off at), things finally started picking up, but prior to that, it sort of slogged along to me. What this movie proves is that sometimes, less time can actually work towards a benefit overall. By trimming the proverbial fat, all the extra stuff that was in the episodes of NGE is gone, giving way to strictly the most important plot points involved. And man does it make a huge difference. The movie may only be about an hour and a half, but it's a really great ride. Everything from the action to the drama is non-stop and flows beautifully. If nothing else, this movie is a testament to just how great these events could, and should have been had we not had all that other stuff distracting us. But the incredible thing is that most of the scenes you're seeing play out almost exactly as they did in the series (though, of course, the art and sound have seen extensive makeovers), it's just that they mesh together so much better in this rapid-fire pacing. Still, obviously, whether you see this as a good or bad thing relies on what your opinion of these episodes of the show is. If you thoroughly enjoyed them, you'll find a lot of stuff missing. If you found them to be lacking, like I did, this is a very welcome change. As mentioned, the art and animation have seen some extensive overhauls here. Yet once again, the unique approach that was taken towards these modifications yields a surprisingly refreshing visual style. Basically, as far as characters go, their design is left almost completely unchanged from their original appearance. Meaning if you were to place a picture of the original 90's characters faces next to their equivelant in this movie, the differences are basically superficial. Sure, the lighting, shading, and shadow effects are improved upon, but as far as the characters looks go, they're exactly the same design, right down to the clothes they wear and their hairstyles. What has changed quite a bit is just about everything else. 3D CGI has been added in in quite a few scenes, including those involving the Eva's. Many of the general environments have also been heavily upgraded, as have the fifth and sixth Angels. Both have been rendered in 3D now; the fifth Angel looks slightly more intimidating and significantly less like a flying sex toy, and the sixth Angel now makes more sense and generally looks cooler as it now changes its form when it fires its...whatever beam. Oh, and it's drill no longer looks like a pink beaded vibrator...though for some reason it can't seem to do anything without a chorus of a thousand cherubs singing in the background. In the end, for all of you "old schoolers" out there who defend 90's anime characters, this movie should be in your arsenal as it blends the characters of our time with modernized versions of just about everything else, and it works flawlessly. As far as sound goes, I'm going to go right into the dubs vo. NGE's English dub was laughably awful. I'm a huge supporter of dubs, always will be, but if NGE ever comes up in an argument...I'm screwed. It's just...scarring...for the most part. Thankfully, quite a few changes were made which were all huge improvements in this department. As per usually Colleen Clinkenbeard was bought in to take over for Ritsuko, and again, as per usual, she does a great job. Brina Palencia takes over for Rei, and fortunately Rei's robotic tone suits Brina well, so she does a good job of her here. The ever popular Greg Ayres has Kensuke covered, and does some good work there. There are some other newcomers, but none make any notable difference. Oh, wait they bought Monica Rial on too for...PenPen. As is always the case, I don't watch subs, so I can't really help you on the Japanese talent...sorry. For Shinji and Misato Spike Spencer and Allison Kieth both reprise their rolls, and while I had no qualms with Spike's work in NGE, Misato was pretty grating during these events in the series. Thankfully, she does a much better job now, despite many of her lines being exactly the same. Maybe it's just because she's older now and her voice has changed some, I don't know, either way, there's an improvement here. For music and such, it's different than what was in the original series, though it's still nothing memorable. I will have to admit that I'm partial to the ED though; love Utada Hikaru. Freaking Kingdom Hearts man... As far as characters go, you're looking at exactly the same characters as the show, with the same personalities and characteristics. Concerning character development; there is somewhat less of it here. We get less background info on Shinji's friends at school, Kensuke and Toji, though in the context of the movie they play a significantly smaller role in his life. Basically they put Shinji and Rei in the spotlight...kind of; there's significantly more work done on Shinji, but we still learn a decent amount about Rei, which is good since in the process we're given something of a reason to start disliking Shinji's father, Gendou. So, if you're like me and you're leary about wasting time watching remakes and such, I'll tell you right now, this one is definitely worth your time. In fact, I'd actually go so far as to say you might actually get a better understanding of the events featured during this time by watching this movie than watching them unfold in NGE. If you've never seen the original, definitely give this a look; this movie takes place from the start of the series to after the battle with the sixth Angel, so you're not missing out on anything by seeing this, and going by todays standards, it more than holds up well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 7, 2013
Sekirei: Pure Engagement
(Anime)
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Wow. Color me impressed. After the first season of Sekirei, I didn't really have high hopes for Pure Engagement, in fact, I nearly skipped it all together. Thankfully, I decided against that. While the core elements that were featured in the first season are still present and in full force again, the vast improvements to just about every flaw the show had bring this series up from the forgetable, campy, and cliche harem show it was after season one to a thuroughly enjoyable show. And with that, let's get right into things.
Pure engagement basically picks up where the first season ended, and the plot remains ... unchanged. Minato and his corp of buxom female warriors are still participating in the Sekirei Plan. Personally, I liked the whole idea to begin with so seeing things were unchanged was nice if you ask me. Despite that fact, Pure Engagement does a much better job with the plot by adding in three twists to it that do an unbelievably good job of keeping things fresh and interesting. The first addition is the introduction of two new Sekerei to Minato's posse. The new members are a bit obvious, but what is impressive about them is the amount of work was put into them as opposed to the other members of the group; I'll go into more detail in the characters section though. The next twist is a sudden change in the rules of the game about a quarter way into the season. Basically, Minaka declares that any Ashikabi who doesn't have a win under their belt will be forcibly eliminated from the game and their Sekirei will cease to function. This was a brilliant alteration to the plot for two critical reasons; first of which is it's enabling battles to finally be pushed to the forefront. One of the few things that I actually liked about the first season were the battles between the Sekirei. They were surprisingly well done and the unique powers each of them posessed made them pretty interesting to watch, but there simply wasnt enough in the first season. Not the case this time around. Due to this new implementation, the many Ashikabi that have been trying to avoid participating in the game are now forced to play if they want to continue living with their partnered Sekirei. Thanks to this, not only do we see more fights in general, but we also get to see quite a few new Sekirei abilities. Admittedly, we only see most briefly, but it does a more than good job of keeping things new. Secondly, the rule also brings about a little bit more of a focus on monogamous relationships as it seems the majority of other Ashikabi only have one Sekirei, and since the majority of these new players have been hiding in order to not lose their partners, it's obvious these newbies are in love with their Sekrei. Thankfully, the show actually embraces this fact, and it's stated more than a few times that this is the case. The result is Minato and the gang fighting for a much greater purpose; to protect the Ashikabi and Sekirei who have grown to love each other. In turn, fights have much more importance now that we know the sad truth to why they must battle. Thanks to all this, we also are given a reason to truly hate Minaka and finally see him as the villain he is meant to be. It's all done extremely well and gets quite emotional a few times; it's really some decently powerful stuff. The third event I'm not going to go too far into since it's essentially the ending. Suffice to say, like the change in the games rules, this final event is extremely well done as well. My issue with the first seasons ending was that it really didnt feel like an ending event for the most part, it was more like a mid-season plot arc than anything else, and didn't even really have a whole lot to do with Minato and company. Not the case this season. This time, not only is it about the main group, their actually sort of turned into targets. Once again, it enables a greater focus on fighting, and some of the best battles of the entire series occur during this time. Now let's talk about characters. Once again, this area has also been improved upon, though not as greatly as the story was. The problem is that the original members we met in season one aren't really touched up on enough, and generally remain about as generic as they were in the beginning. That's not to say there weren't any improvements on them at all. In fact, I'll even go so far as to say that "nerdy boobs" and "the loli" that I mentioned in my review of the first season will get promoted to finally being decent characters and grace them the privelage of being called their names, Matsu and Kusano, respectively. Where Matsu was little more than a creepy computer geek who bafflingly wanted to grope every other female in her proximity, this season she becomes a rather powerful, quite brilliant tech wiz. To get who she is in this season, think Oracle from Batman. We also learn a lot about her past in this season as well as her number in the Sekirei "ladder" which, I won't lie, actually took me by surprise. As for Kusano, she has changed quite a bit more. First season she rarely talked at all, instead communicating with an anoying set of squeeks and chirps in tandem with equally annoying generic anime facial expressions. Now, all I can say is she's freaking adorable. That's largely due to her spot on vo work...well at least as far as the English dub's Tia Ballard is concerned; she seriously nailed it this time around. As per usual, I don't watch subs, so I have no clue how her Japanese vo is, sorry. Also, the show makes her relationship with Minato normal, making sure to point out that she sees him as a brother as opposed to a romantic interest. On top of all that, she plays a much greater role as a character towards the second half of the show, and actually turns out being instrumental during the final two major story arcs. As for the two new members of the crew, I really don't want to reveal too much about them, as they are extremely interesting. Most who watched the first season likely know who the two are already, but for those who don't I'll keep it a surprise. I do want to say though, the work done in terms of their backstory and character development is extremely well done. Both of them we discover are very prominent figures in regards to MBI and the game in general and both are quite powerful for very special reasons. As for the art, it's similar to last seasons, but I will admit that I felt it was improved upon at least a bit. Character designs are far more consistent this season with the girls looking to be somewhere between relatively normally proportioned (once again, aside from their rack) and "Barbie Doll" unnatural. So, yeah, they look like what you'd expect when you hear "hot anime girl". As far as the environments and such go, they too seem to have received some extra TLC this time around. Overall, it's still a pretty well animated show. Oh. Yeah; their tits still look surprisingly good too. Sound is once again a weak link, though this time I'd say its the weakest. For the most part music is forgettable, though once again, the op is very well done sounding even more epic than the original, which is nice as it mirrors my feelings for this season as a whole. For the most part, the vo is of the same quality as last season, with the sole exception of Kusano's Tia Ballard, who really stepped up her game this go around. The usual ending theme is kind of "meh", as are the unique ones that play after significant plot arcs conclude. Now, before I end this review I want to touch briefly on the comedy this season. Anyone who read my review of the first season may realize I never once mentioned it. That was for a good reason; it was straight up awful. So much so that it was hardly worth mentioning. Filled with far to many recurrent ecchi humor gags and feeble attempts at generic harem jokes, it was just terrible. Thankfully a lesson was learned and this season is actually quite funny with more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. It does still have a few moments where it falls back on those over used gimmicks, but this time you'll only see them happen once or twice and their done for good. So if you watched the first season and were trying to figure out if Pure Engagement is even worth your time, I'll say yes, it most certainly is. Give it a shot, and I can almost promise you you'll be surprised at how much better its gotten. The season ends with almost a promise that we'll be getting a third season (no idea if that's still really the case or not but...); and this time I'm actually pretty excited to see it. Very well done. Very well done, indeed.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 6, 2013 Mixed Feelings
Sekirei showed some promise early on. The idea seemed pretty solid, the fights were pretty fun to watch, and there actually seemed to be a decent romance blooming. Sure, there was some pretty flagrant ecchi involved, but generally, that should be expected whenever you see the genre tagged with any show. Unfortunately, just as soon as Sekirei starts looking to be a pretty decent show, everything just falls apart.
A lot of people seem to like comparing this show to Pokemon, and while I can agree the concept of a single person who has a group of beings fighting for them is similar to the trainer/Pokemon ... relationship, I'd say that's where the similarities end. Unlike Pokemon, the show does not put a huge emphasis in "collecting" Sekirei. Sure, there are Ashikabi (humans with unique genes that allow Sekirei to "emerge"; I'll be getting into it later) that have more than one, but there's never a point where you feel it's better, or even necessary to have multiples. Even Minato, the male lead, rarely openly expresses an interest in actively searching out for more Sekirei, and in the end only has four. Sekirei also can, and do, act independently, some to the point where we rarely ever see their Ashikabi. Regardless, I actually liked the concept of the show. It might not be a completely unique idea, but there is a certain degree of depth added by the fact that each Sekirei has a unique ability they can utilize during battle, as well as the presence of a sort of tier system that indicates a Sekirei's overall power. Basically, the girls are all given a number. The closer that number is to being #1, the more powerful the are considered. It's a simple concept to be sure, but the show does place a lot of importance on it, in much the same way Claymore did. Unfortunately, as much as I like the concept, its also what enables my least favorite part of the show, the whole harem aspect. While Sekirei can fight on their own, they become much stronger after they "emerge". The only way they can achieve this is to form a bond with an Ashikabi. There's no limit as to how many Sekirei can undergo this bond with an Ashikabi, so long as each of them undergoes the contract, which requires the two to swap mucous. In other words, (surprise, surprise) kiss. As horribly cliche as that is, it's not the part I hate the most. No, that distinction lies with the group of Sekirei that follow around Minato, our resident failure of a human turned ultra-stud for no apparent reason. To understand my dislike, let me shed some light on my feelings about the harem genre. While it would be easy to say if you're watching a show tagged with harem, you should know what to expect, that is in no way true. Sure, there are those shows which contain the stereotypical harems which involve a group of several women who all are in love with the one man. Think: Campione! Girls Bravo. Those are the types I typically dislike. Then there are the shows where the girls are actually realistic enough to see that the guy is a tool and/or simply isn't interested in them. Think: Is This a Zombie?, Love Hina. Those I do actually like since the girls generally aren't living with or around him because they want to, and for the most part, there is only one main love interest the lead has. Sekirei falls into the former, in the worst way. Minato is quite possibly the most useless of all the male leads I've seen in a harem show. He's failed his entrance exams twice, and evidently that's enough for him to outright give up on trying to further his education. But after losing his apartment, and getting his allowance cut from mommy, he's got to get a job...which he is fired from. But hey, he's living in an evidently rent-free apartment that takes in Sekirei, and who can be bothered with things like responsibility what with giant, unclothed tits flying around all over Tokyo? Speaking of giant breasts, let's go into the art for this show. For what it's worth, this is a pretty well animated show. The environments all look surprisingly clean and are generally pretty colorful. The rather impressive level of detail given to the effects tied to the Sekirei's unique powers make the battle scenes pretty flashy and fun to watch too. Character design is...inconsistent in general. It's really wierd; one moment, the girls bodies look pretty much realistic (aside from their impossibly gargantuan racks of course), and the next they'll look like walking, talking hourglasses. And I mean that literally, there are several moments in the show where one character will go from having a believably proportioned body in one scene, to having a six inch waiste the next, only to go back to normal later. It's actually creepy in a way... But I digress; you may be wondering why boobs made me think of the art? Well...I can't lie, the boobs in this show are shockingly detailed in comparison to those I've seen in other ecchi shows. And with mixed shame and pride, I have to say, I've seen my fair share of animated boobies as the ecchi genre is a guilty pleasure of mine. There's just something about their nipples, it's kind of hard to explain really. You'd have to actually see it to really know what I'm talking about. Sooo...ahem...yeah... ANYWAY, back on track, sound isn't special really. Aside from the op, which is actually really uplifting and pretty epic sounding. I've heard a lot about the Japanese vo work being pretty bad despite having some pretty big names attatched, and while I can't comment on that, I can say that the English dub isn't bad, though it's not great either. There's a few well known names involved, and they do decently, but that's really about it. If you're trying to figure out which way to watch, I'd recommend you just go with what you usually prefer. The worst part of this show is hands down the characters. To sum them all up in one word, I would say "generic" would fit the bill nicely. You have the overly devoted, and overly loyal airheaded boobs, the hard-ass, pushy boobs, the nerdy boobs who for some reason wants to fondle all the other boobs, the catty twin set of boobs, the tomboyish boobs, the loli (and that's as awkward as it sounds when you consider she's a Sekirei that becomes emerged during the course of the show and that means her and her Ashikabi kissed in a way that enabled their mucous to come in contact), and the utter drones of men they serve (except the tomboy, who's Ashikabi is actually a girl). And the girls all adhere to those labels to a tee. There's absolutely nothing dynamic about them and there's really no depth to any of them, in fact, in the case of the loli, she actually degraded as a character in my opinion. Before emerging she's depicted in an almost mystic way, reaching out and speaking to Minato in his thoughts, yet once she becomes one of his Sekirei she suddenly barely speaks and starts randomly wearing animal costumes, communicating in what is supposed to be cute sounds and facial expressions. Overall, I'd really have a hard time recommending this show to anyone; there's simply not enough going for it. Sure, the concept behind the Sekirei Plan is kind of interesting, and the fights are enjoyable to watch, but in every aspect of this show, I could easily recommend other series that does it much better. In fact, if you're into the whole harem thing, I'd actually recommend the previously mentioned Campione!; as much as I disliked that show, it still has a lot more going for it than this show does, and it's got more than a few similarities.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 15, 2013
Kino no Tabi: The Beautiful World
(Anime)
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If I were to describe Kino's Journey in one word, it would be relaxing. There is a very calming atmosphere that permeates throughout every single aspect of the show; from the artwork to the many characters met during the course of Kino's trip, right down to the sound and music.
The first thing to get out of the way is the episodic nature of the shows plot. The show isn't devoid of an over-arcing plot; as a young girl, Kino takes a traveller visitng her city to her family's hotel. The traveller happens upon the discarded remains of a motorrad, a talking motorcycle and decides to ... rebuild it. During this time we learn that all children in her country, at the age of 12 are considered adults and are forced to undergo an operation that physically removes a part of the brain that contains childhood. After asking what would happen if she didn't want to undergo the operation she is forced to flee the city with the newly rebuilt motorrad (who she named Hermes) after her own family tries to murder her for simply asking. As interesting as that may sound, the show never truly goes deeper into that tale for any more than a single episode. Kino every once in a while will make mention of her past and towards the end of the show it's revisited in a way, but it isn't the main focus of the series. As the title suggests, the show is about Kino's...well...journey. It's about the people and places she comes across on her travels. So, with that in mind episodic makes a lot of sense. Personally, I was a little worried about that fact; I'm not a huge fan of those types of shows since I find it tough to really form a strong connection to any characters due to the constantly changing nature of the settings and stories. But like Cowboy Bebop before it, Kino's Journey very successfully pulls it off. Like CB, every single episode manages to produce extremely memorable stories and unforgettable characters. Indeed, you could take any one of the episodes and easily turn its plot into a full series of its own. Don't misunderstand; I'm not saying the stories should have been elaborated on or are not satisfying, they're just that well done. In fact, much like Tsubasa Chronicles many different worlds, you'll likely find yourself excited to get a chance to see the cultre of the next country Kino finds herself in. WIth that in mind, the show does put something of an emphasis on Kino's own self discovery, though, unlike most, I never felt like it was the central idea of the show. To me, it was more a tool that was used to tie things together. As far as the characters go, they're all extremely well done. As mentioned, the many faces you see are quite memorable and a lot of work was put into making the viewer fall in love with them despite the very limited time spent with them. Unfortunately, that leads to one of the few issues I have with the show, and that's with Kino herself. In keeping with the relaxed nature of the show, Kino is a very calm and reserved character, and that makes sense. The problem though is that she sometimes comes across as emotionless, and at times, melancholy. For example, in one episode, she witnesses the slaughtering of a group of completely innocent people. During that whole event, she remains expressionless and silent. Afterwards, she does ask why the people allow and are okay with this, but through the entirety of the conversation to the end of the episode, she remains emotionless. I understand why that is; they wanted the viewer to be more concerned with the current country and the feelings of its people rather than with those of a single character who is an outsider, it's just that sometimes it leads to her seeming a bit cold. Art is another strange case. The show almost completely lacks any vibrant colors. The most common colors you'll see are brown, white, and tan, and anything else is washed in pastels. Under normal circumstances, I'd say that sounds pretty awful, But in this case, it actually works very well as the soft colors perfectly compliment the overall calm of the series. Still, other than that unique aspect, there's nothing really too impressive and some of the characters actually look a bit odd. It's not nearly enouh to say it's poorly done, but you'll likely notice it nonetheless. And now we get to sound. I'll say it right now; the work that was done with sound and music is by far my favorite part of this show. The most ironic part about that is that, as far as music goes, the show actually lacks in it. In most cases, I'd be totally adverse to that, be it a video game, a movie, or anime, music is a very important part of the experience for me. The result of it's absence in Kino's Journey however, is a greater focus on sound and ambience. And in that regard the show excells. Honestly, it's somewhat hard to explain. I guess the best way to put it is that the lack of music that you'd normally hear in the background makes you more aware of all the other sounds that you can hear. The crunch of snow beneath Kino's steps, the metallc clinks and clanks as she practices quick-drawing her gun, the sound of wind rustling the leaves of a tree; being able to hear them with such clarity is a surprisingly unique experience, and the effect is more powerful than you may expect. When there is music playing, it's all very soothing and generally consists of just a single instrument, and it's subtle enough that you can still hear the ambiance with next to perfect accuracy. In the end, Kino's Journey is a show that caught me completely off gaurd. On paper, it seemed to be made up of all the things I disliked in most anime. It was episodic, the art and animation looked bland, and the premise seemed cliche. But after watching just the first episode, I was completely and utterly captivated with the show. So even if it seems like a show you wouldn't like, I'd urge you to give it a shot if you can, you may be surprised.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 28, 2013 Recommended
On paper, RideBack has all the pieces in hand that make up an excellent show. The RideBacks themselves are a rather intriguing take on mechs, the premise seems as though it should be epic, the art and animation are impressive, and the soundtrack is one of the best around. Unfortunately though, the success that the show could have attained is never reached. Don't take that to mean it's a bad show however, it is good. It's just that it could have been a true masterpiece if they didn't falter in a few crucial areas.
The biggest issue in my opinion lies in the shows lack of ... explaining the central plot. Basically, the story takes place in the future, where a military organization called the Global Government Plan, or GGP, is rapidly obtaining power, seemingly with a goal of ruling over the entire world. Romanov Kallenbach, the commander of the GGP, has decided to implement the use of new, military grade RideBacks as police units; but they prove to be nothing more than a heavy handed way for the GGP to display their dominance. Opposing the GGP is the Borderless Military Alliance, or BMA. This organizations goal of preserving the countries government and way of life puts them squarely in Kallenbach's crosshairs, and they're officially dubbed terrorists. A prominent(?) member of this group, a man known simply as Kiefer, along with Tenshiro Okakura, the head of Musashino University's Rideback Club, both have a past with Kallenbach as they created a special "RideBack Squad" when they worked together in the GGP before the group became what it currently is. And that's about all I can say I'm absolutely certain of. Beyond that, the show doesn't make anything clear. For example, the show never makes Kallenbach's motives clear. Why is he going to all these extremes? It's clear that he doesn't have peoples safety in mind since the first time the new "White Rider" police RideBacks are put to use in the field, they murder a petty street gang member who willingly gave himself up. So maybe he's trying to set himself up for a coup to take control of the GGP himself? Nope; to the very end he follows his orders like a good soldier would. The only thing left to assume is that he just...takes his job really, really seriously, contrary to what his characters attitude and personality would suggest. But the vagueness doesn't come close to ending there. We're never told exactly what the GGP's goals are. We can assume they want to rule the world, but it's never actually said; in fact events eventually start to hint heavily that that isn't their intention at all. In the end, I found the only real reason I saw the GGP as a bad organization was becuase the show simply presented them in that way, other than that, I really can't say with certainty that they're actually evil in any way. This in turn reinforces the idea that Kallenbach's regime, if you will, is something of a splinter group...but again, he follows orders from the top brass the whole time so... The BMA on the other hand is much more clear cut. They make it very clear that they're fighting to keep things the way they have been, the way the people want it. Unfortunately, were not told exactly who the BMA is fighting for. "Borderless" would imply they fight for the world, but they make no mention of that at all...rather than think too much on it, I just resigned to the assumption that borderless means they don't limit themselves to the borders of any one country. Those are just a few parts of the plot that are left unclear though, as you watch you'll end up having tons of questions that just never get answered at all. It's truly unfortunate; the story bears many similarities of the ever popular Code Geass; a globe conquering, corrupt, military organization contested by a group of rebels who aim to keep things the way they are, and given the things the GGP put Rin, our lead, through she would have made an excellent champion of justice on the side of the BMA...sadly though, that doesn't happen. Speaking of Rin; she's actually an extremely well done character. I'll even go so far as to say she's one of my favorite characters. Before the events of the show, we're shown her past as a famous ballet dancer. The daughter of a likewise famous ballerina, Rin is hailed as a prodigy, her future and success assured...until she sustains an injury in her leg while performing one night. Though she eventually recovers and should be able to get back on stage, she is left rattled and unsure of herself, effectively ruining her career. Succumbing to this fact, she decides to go to college, where she happens upon the schools RideBack club, and a unique RideBack called "Fuego". The club quickly realizes that Rin is a natural on the bike, displaying skill and control on it nearly on par with Tamayo, a fellow club member who also happens to be one of the best RideBack racers in the country. If that seems pretty unlikely, you're right, it is. But what makes Rin such a good character is her acknowledgment of that fact. See, hers is a story of self discovery. She realizes right away that she somehow has a natural talent for these robot/motorcycle hyrids, despite not even knowing of their existence until she started classes at the school, and she can't figure out why that is. Why is it she can control Fuego, when Tamayo, one of the best riders there is, has so many problems with it she claims the machine to have terrible handling? Why is it she feels something akin to a connection between herself and this machine? Why does she get a feeling of excitement amidst chaos and danger when she's on Fuego? It's her quest to find these answers that is the main draw of this show. If you ask me, the plot would have been much better had they decided to focus on Rin's personal journey to get these answers. I get that they were sticking to the manga's story...but it's hard to ignore the potential that was missed here. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast isn't nearly as well done. At all. The only other characters that get anything close to a backstory are Kiefer, Okakura, and Kallenbach, and even then, it's minimal. Once again, it's a shame as there was quite a bit of potential in all three of the aformentioned characters as well as in Tamayo and her brother, both the children of a prominent polititian...but again, they missed that opportunity. Back on the bright side of things, the shows art and animation are superb. As is evidently the norm, it all bears a striking resemblance to the stuff Kyoto Animation puts out; it isn't quite as good as their stuff, but it's close, really close. What I do like is the shows avoidance of making the female characters ridiculously moe. They're much more...normal looking here, which is refreshing since all these studios seem to think the only way they can make a female is if they all look and sound 12 years old. Aside from that, environmental and lighting effects are well done and not over used, as are the use of camera effects, partcularly during the high-intensity scenes, which all look great as well. Out of everything though, I was most impressed with the way they did the RideBacks themselves. A motorcycle that has arms sticking out where the handlebars should be sounds pretty wonky, and if you were to imagine it before seeing this show, you'd probably think it would look ridiculous, but they pulled it off flawlessly. Short of a couple of scenes, they addition of arms looks and feels completely natural, and by the end of the show, you could even say it looks pretty cool on most of the various models of the vehicle you see in the show. Even more impressive is their bi-pedal forms. The moment I first saw Rin and Fuego stand up, I was instantly reminded of Final Fantasy VI's Magitek Armors (more specifically, the rendition shown on the modern artwork for the games logo, look at Final Fantasy VI Advances box art to get what I'm saying), just with wheels. Finally, the shows soundtrack is also very well done, particularly the opening and ending. The general theme is a very techno-ish sound during most of the action scenes, aside from the bouts between the GGP and BMA which take on a fitting military sound. The emotional scenes take a minimalistic tone generally sticking to a piano piece. All the other music is pretty run of the mill, but there's nothing that sounds bad. Honestly, RideBack is a show I wouldn't recommend passing up. Despite the mess it made of it's plot and the general lack of character development, Rin's story and the art and animation manage to make this show rather memorable. Halfway through the show I realized that I could really care less what happened between the two opposing factions, and usually I'd say that makes a show a clear failure, but that wasn't the case here. I kept watching because I wanted to see how things would turn out for Rin. I wanted to see her get the answers to her many questions.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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