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Jun 24, 2013
One of my first memories of anime really catching my attention for the first time was when I was about 10yrs old and I was in a video rental place and they had the original Ghost in the Shell movie playing on the TV. I was also obsessed with the Metal Gear Solid game for PS1 and something about what was on the screen just really struck a nerve. I immediately asked my dad to let me rent it, and my love of anime had begun. I had seen anime prior to that, but that was the first time I knew it was animation
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from Japan. I was hooked. Ghost in the Shell has remained one of my favorite series ever since, in fact not even considering just anime it is one of my favorite Sci-Fi series ever. So when I saw there was a new GitS I was happy to say the least, but also a bit skeptical.
Story(8): Overall I think the story was well done, it was very much like what I would expect from Ghost in the Shell. That being said, it wasn't amazing or anything, it was like a stand alone episode from SAC(which really isn't a bad thing). It also becomes clear early on that Kusanagi isn't with section 9 yet, and the story is basically her first encounter with them. I know a lot of people may have an issue with the backrounds of the characters not being the same as in SAC, but this is an alternate version and I don't see that as a negative. All the things that make Ghost in the Shell great are here and done well, espionage, realistic sci-fi elements, action. I was overall impressed with it.
Art(8): My first impressions from the trailers were that the animation was "ok". After watching the whole movie I have to admit the animation is very good. It does seem to not have quite as much detail as SAC or the original, but it shows a lot of promise during the action scenes and the details of the cyborgs. There's a certain scene where Kusanagi is in a fight and her limbs get ripped off slowly and her cyborg parts start to show, very reminiscent of the original film, and it looked great. As for the art style/character design changes, I wasn't as effected by them as I expected. I think they were very well done, just not what we're used to. I'm sure some people wont be able to get over this change though, for me it wasn't a big deal.
Sound(8): I usually don't have too much to say in this category, but Arise had good sound quality and voice acting. All the sound effects for guns, hacking/computer noises, cyborg noises, ext sounded great. The music was also rather good, although I've seen people saying they dislike it. I personally thought it was good. The voice acting is great, I believe the voice actors for most of the cast from the original 96' film returned to play their roles, although I admit I watched the dub of the original so that wasn't a big deal for me. They did a great job though.
Characters(8): The characters we already know pretty well, and while Kusangai seems to have a slightly different personality the rest of the crew seem very much like themselves. I know for some people "change=bad", but I got over it quickly and adapted to the slight differences in the new section 9 members. I will mention that some of the side characters were rather bland and not very memorable. I can't wait to see these new takes on the characters we love developed further in the next three movies.
Overall/Enjoyment(8): I have to say, I enjoyed it a lot. More then I expected to, I expected it to be a decent Sci-Fi anime but not live up to the GitS name. It wasn't quite as good as SAC or the original, but it very possibly could manage to be in the next three movies. I really thought it was well done, and I was impressed with the action sequences and keeping the espionage moments interesting and on par with previous GitS outings. Overall, I could not be happier. This is exactly what I've wanted recently with there being a lack of good seinen anime. I can't wait for the next movie to come out.
I'm still fairly new to reviewing, so sorry if I'm not as professional as some of the people on here. I don't cover the plot much, because it's a 55min movie, just watch it. No point in just repeating the description in my opinion. Hope my review was helpful.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 31, 2013
Asura starts off with a very graphic backstory as to how the main character came to be, showing his gruesome birth and exactly what he had to go through pretty much immediately after being born. Lets just say Asura didn't have a great start in life, and because of that he basically became a wild animal who can't speak. The movie is fairly short so I'm going to do my best not to spoil anything, that is why I'm not going to go into too much detail about specific events.
Story(6): While this is probably the movies saving grace, it doesn't exactly "save" it. The
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story is about a boy who is left for dead by his mother in medieval Japan where starvation is the norm, and people often have to resort to cannibalism to survive. Having to survive on his own, he basically becomes a wild beast. Who will kill and eat anything, including humans. Early on he meets a monk, who for the first time in his life shows him compassion. The rest of the movie is basically him trying to survive in a small village where everyone sees him as a monster, while he's tries to become more human. Overall there where some distracting plot holes, like how did he survive as a newborn left for dead, but it was a fairly well told story with an ending that I think saved the film from being completely mediocre.
Art(6): The art is similar to the new Berzerk movies, in that it's a mix of digital 3D animation and hand drawn. Much like the new Berzerk I didn't even notice it was done in this style when seeing the trailers. It can look really nice during certain scenes, but scenes with subtle movement can tend to look awkward in my opinion. Maybe some people like this style, but I personally am not a fan. The movie might have actually benefited from being in a more traditional hand drawn style, cause I actually found it distracting at times.
Sound(6): Everything about the sound was just ok, the voice acting was ok, the score was ok, just ok. Nothing memorable. If anything the voice actor for the main character I thought over did it with the whole "wild beast" thing. I don't think that was his fault though, I'm sure he was directed to do it that way. I just think they could have been more subtle/realistic, about that.
Character(6): This was one of the things about the movie that was a bit disappointing. It is a character driven story, but the characters are just not that likeable. The monk was probably my favorite character, and he didn't get much screen time. The story relies very much on your feelings for the characters, and I just wasn't attached to them.
Enjoyment(6): I really can't say I enjoyed the movie that much, but it kept me entertained enough that I kept watching. There are some pretty climatic moments that keep you interested, so you never feel bored. At least I didn't
Overall(6): Overall, the film is watchable. I don't feel like my time was wasted watching it or anything, so if you are interested in it I say give it a shot. The ending really helped make it a 6 and not a 5 though, I just thought it had a good message however somewhat cheesy. I'd like to mention that I have never rated anything on MAL a 10, so my 6 is pretty much most peoples 7.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 25, 2013
Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman is an anime that is based around the mascots of a pachinko game. That would not sound particularly appealing except for the character designs were done by Monkey Punch(Kato Kazuhiko), the artist behind the Lupin III series. If you are familiar with Lupin you probably noticed the similarities in the art style and even the characters looks. Also the anime had Satoshi Hirayama, someone who has worked on a few Lupin movies working on it. So, with such a recognized artists being involved with this anime why do so few people seem interested in it? I will try to answer that with
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this review, but I just want to point out that despite the similarities this is NOT just Lupin in 1800s Japan.
Story(6): The story is fairly straight forward and not very original. It takes place in 1800s Japan, where a crew of "get backers" try their best to help out people in need. No matter what the problem is, or how dangerous, they deal with it. The leader of this crew is Roman, who is shown fairly early on to have a suit that pretty much gives him super powers. The suit has to be used sparingly though, so it is only used when things get serious. A few episodes in it is shown that there are some western naval forces off shore, and the story basically revolves around explaining what they're doing there and what their objective is. I would define this anime as an action/comedy, it is about half serious moments and fighting half comedy bits. This is where I felt the anime really lost a lot of its potential. There were very obvious issues with pacing, and lacklustre attempts at comedy. The writers attempted for it to be an action/comedy, but in my opinion they failed. The comedy falls short, and quite a few episodes are wasted on them trying to get laughs. For me the show felt at its best during the more serious moments. During the last few episodes it was clear that the time spent on failed comedy attempts could have been used for more back story and character progression. I know what they were going for, and I don't think the comedy should have been taken out completely but it just fell short. The serious moments still had a kind of parody type comedy to them, since a lot of the things that go on are just ridiculous. Kind of like JoJos Bizarre Adventure, how it isn't a comedy but some of situations that occur just make you laugh. Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman could have been improved greatly if the writers tried incorporating more of that style humor.
Art(8): I'm a sucker for Monkey Punch's art style and character design. Without a doubt the show looks good, it has that 80s-early 90s look but with the modern polish which I love. The animation during the action scenes is done very well. While I'm sure not many people would say it is bad, I'm sure there are some who just aren't a fan of this particular style. I happen to really like it.
Sound(6): Well, hard to really say all that much about the sound. It was good, the voice acting was very well done(apart from some amazingly bad engrish), and each character had a lot of personality. Never noticed any really bad sounding effects or anything like that, although I admit I don't pay that close of attention to that stuff. I enjoyed the OP and ED a lot. That is about it.
Character(8): Like the art the characters where one of the best things about the anime. Each character was likeable and had tons of personality. Everyone I've heard says the main character is just like Lupin, I don't completely disagree but they are different in a lot of ways. It isn't just Lupin with a beard in 1800s Japan, he has his own personality. One character who is very much like a Lupin character is Okuni, who is just like Mine Fujiko. There is also Suzuki who is very similar to Goemon. Still they both have their own personalities and differences, they're not just clones. The rest of the cast plays a big part too, especially the members of Romans inner circle who help him. Including Romans little sister Koharu, who is a prime example of good female character design. She is extremely cute and loveable, based completely off her personality and design not ecchi fanservice or panty shots. Then there is the rest of the gang. Gennai, a perverted old man who invents all the gadgets the crew needs. Hans, a German doctor who also has found a way to create zombies that he uses for assistance. And finally Kanade, a shrine priestess, who also like Koharu is a great example of good female character design. They all secretly work together to help others, no matter what risks it involves.
Enjoyment(7): I enjoyed the anime, it never really felt like I was forcing myself to finish an episode. The only thing that caused me to give it a 7 instead of an 8 is the lacklustre attempts at comedy, and one or two episodes that I felt were just not done well at all.
Overall(7): It's not perfect, but what pains me the most is the potential of what it could have been. Still, to anyone looking for a fun short anime that thought this looked interesting I would recommend you give it a shot.
Thank you if you read all of my review, this was my first attempt at doing a written review for an anime. I hope it was helpful.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 25, 2011
I own 8 volumes of this manga and thats because thats all they sold so far in america. I agree with the other reviewer that this manga is very worthy of having reviews of it im actually somewhat surprised that this is only the second. Well i don't review much so sorry for the ranting. As for the manga i gave the story 6 because there is not much of a plot(so far), its more just random situations that are hilarious.
The art i give a 9 because its wonderful i love the way the artist makes us of patterns. For characters i gave it
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a 9, i almost gave it a 10 but i dont give out 10s ever.The characters are the main appeal to this manga they are all so different and interesting you cant help but relate to at least one of them(you can easily find out about the characters so i left that out). For enjoyment it gets a 9 because it kept my eyes glued to the pages and was always good for a laugh. I almost always finished each volume in one sitting could have read more but wanted to space it out. So for the overall it gets a 9, highly recommended by me. You will probably like this manga if you like dark comedy, i came across it because i loved Welcome to the NHK and this was always recommended through it. Well this was my first review on MAL i hope it was helpful.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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