- Last OnlineFeb 19, 8:36 PM
- JoinedJul 8, 2020
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Jun 15, 2022
Looking back at the reviews, I understand why it's score is what it is: on release, and for some time thereafter, it's visuals must have been breathtaking.
However, we've entered an era of animation such that, compared to what we have now, a lot of Kyousou Giga looks unrefined. It's still overall good and I enjoy the sound design and music, but it is no longer good enough to carry a show that is otherwise lacking.
To be honest, the plot is convoluted, the characters are interesting at first but undynamic in the long run, and instead of being on the edge of my seat
...
as the mystery of their world unwinds as with Evangelion or Revolutionary Girl Utena, I just lost interest. I found watching the last two episodes to be laborious.
There are still many fantastic moments and some real gems of episodes, but there is a reason why, despite a strong start and a lot of flashiness, Kyousou Giga isn't a classic. Its luster isn't timeless.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
Jan 30, 2022
This show is an absolute blast. Here's what it has:
- mysterious characters
- fantasy political intrigue
- sex vampire things (lots of sultry scenes)
- solid music, sound, and animation
- a world that feels ripe with possibility
- a fast-paced plot with some twisting and turning
- moments of anime humor (solid pacing w/ both plot and tone)
And you know what? It's just fun. I can see why somebody may be dissatisfied with the show--it isn't exactly ground-breaking. But if you're looking for a sultry and fantastical romp with no shortage of gossip-worthy moments, you'll probably be satisfied by Vanitas no Karte. Come on, we're talking about
...
studio bones here--they know how to put on a show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jan 27, 2022
This show is obviously very good. I give it an 8, but I can see why others give it a 9 or 10. 7, on the other hand, is too low. Here's why:
To me, 8, 9, and 10 means, this show is a cut above usual anime. The reason I cannot accept a 7 on Ping Pong the Animation is simply because Ping Pong the Animation is CLEARLY one of those anime that is just *built different.* The ingenuity in the animation is incredible. The style itself is unique as a hallmark of the show's director, but it also feels throughout that Ping Pong brings
...
out its style's fullest potential. This may be a rarity, but I don't think that there is any show better suited to Ping Pong's style than Ping Pong, nor that any style is better suited to Ping Pong than Ping Pong's style.
As far as quality of story and character go, Ping Pong is most comparable to season 1 of Megalobox. That is to say, they work, but they don't break ground. They aren't really the centerpiece of the show. The substance of Ping Pong is not in the writing.
It'd be a disservice to talk too much about the art and sound to an audience that hasn't experienced the show yet. Experience it for yourself.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Dec 31, 2021
TL;DR 11 good episodes of anime, but somewhat bogged down by the need to catalyze a much larger story. Worth watching to get to that story though.
Disclosure: I don't watch many mech/dystopian future anime. Perhaps for that reason, 86 is the first action anime I've started in the past few months that has caught my attention and held it. Simply put, I found it exciting.
The season depends a lot on tragic moments, devastating revelations, character interactions, and how all three develop and change the show's main cast. As a result, plot takes a bit of a back seat--the season's story isn't ambitious and
...
misses some emotional beats, but deft writing keeps the show satisfying and moving forward episode to episode.
It's difficult to describe the show's characters. With the exception of Lena (female protagonist), none stand out all that much. However, the show manages group dynamics better than most, so from my perspective, the show manages its characters very well. I also enjoy Lena quite a bit. There are moments where maintaining her characterization and role in the show seem at odds and as a result certain moments require a suspension of disbelief, but I saw her character as dynamic in an important, not-easy-to-pull-off way, so I found her well-written on the whole.
The main drag on both the story and characters, though, is ultimately the constraint on the entire first season: so many moments serve as set-up, and certain sacrifices are made in pursuit of that set-up.
This is a bit of a spoiler (shouldn't really be one though)-- a lot of people die. To make those moments impactful, said people are given passing characterization, so at several points, the season is weighed down by a trove of half-developed characters. S2 is richer for it, but ultimately much of S1 seems like an exposition of the traumas which drive S2.
The other aspects of the show:
The art and animation are kinda meh. It's definitely high-budget, and the budget is used well, but the fight choreography is frantic and ultimately a tad unsatisfying. Their obvious constraint is dealing with fights between pretty undynamic machines, so the show does well with what it's got, but taken on a whole, the show's fights and general aesthetic aren't exactly the main draw.
The sound, on the other hand, is awesome. The sound design and music elevate every aspect of the show--despite everything, the fights are still enjoyable, the story is mega-engaging, and the watch experience is extremely enjoyable, and I think a lot of credit goes to sound. Not surprising from A1--literally the only reason I watched SAO until the end was the insanely satisfying sound design.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Jul 4, 2021
In order to present its lens of depression as a deconstruction of personhood, NGA itself deconstructs humanity, offering a post-modern analysis of social existence that stands the test of time.
The plot itself is somewhat incoherent, but the psychological--or, more aptly, phenomenological--drama that forms the core conflict drives engagement and, more importantly, blows the mind.
The art and animation, while dated, is evocative in the extreme, to the point that the psychedelic lucidity of the show's visual presentation demands forgiveness for the frequent lack of motion on screen.
This is an epic, but it requires literary patience, a willingness to rewind, and a base acceptance of the
...
premises off of which NGA operates.
In a word, masterful. In four, masterful but a lot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Mar 27, 2021
When this show started I was like... hey, this is going to be pretty cool.
But then I realized the episode I had watched was just the preface and the show would ACTUALLY follow Shirou, not Tohsaka, which is to say, an idiot instead of a badass, interesting anime girl.
And then they destroyed Tohsaka's character.
AGH. What a downhill joyride.
Let's start with some things I enjoyed.
First, the art is quite nice, and the fight choreography actually blew me away. Furthermore, there are parts of the show where characters break from standard anime tradition in making nuanced points about good versus evil, and there is one
...
twist that for some reason I literally did not see coming.
Now, the bad. And, spoilers ahead.
Let's start with why the good isn't actually that good.
A) The one surprising twist is drawn out over vagueries of language and dreamscapes of implication to the point where the truth is 100% known by both everybody in the show and in the audience by the time our suspicions are blatantly verbally confirmed, completely blunting the epiphany's impact.
B) The show spends an absurd amount of time on the battle of ideals and on how being a "hero of justice" is a stupid, self-destructive, unfruitful way to view the world. In the argument against being a hero of justice, very potent points are made. There are no points made during this exchange in favor of being a hero of justice outside of, basically, "but it's what I believe so strongly that I just can't change."
And for some mind boggling reason.
And it truly boggles my mind.
The anime celebrates the braindead protagonist over the moralistically adept future version of that protagonist who is literally telling him that his ideals will be for naught based on him having lived them out there consequences.
Put another way, after having completely destroyed the idea of being a hero of justice and having outlined shirou as being an idiot, the writers portray shirou's act of ultimately choosing the hero of jsutice route as heroic.
In that moment, in my eyes, all of the potential that this show had been building up completely evaporated.
Clearly I'm still not fully past my disbelief at this narrative choice (which btw was made so much worse by the amount of time dedicated to characters having this philosophical argument over ideals; which is to say, at least an hour of this show).
OKAY END OF SPOILERS
Now, a list of quickies:
1) Tohsaka's tsundere levels are turned up sickeningly high
2) Saber's character is traded in for basically a damsel in distress type thing that turns incredibly annoying after like 5 minutes
3) The exposition is hilariously boring, on par with SAO
4) There's a point where things are set up as being utterly hopeless but because the watcher knows that there are more episodes left in the season, the stakes built up thus far around certain actions are basically all thrown out and the watcher resigns themselves to awaiting a deus ex machina that comes not once but like 4 times in one episode
5) The anime has no interest in keeping around the likeable characters and continuously forces annoying ones in our face instead
6) Nobody has a character arc outside of the man increasing his power level and the woman getting weaker
7) very uncomfortable, although not very graphic, sexual assault scenes
8) let's be honest the premise of the show itself is kind of dumb
9) they introduce villains one by one like individual story arcs but that's at the cost of creating an overall cohesive narrative of conflict running through the show
10) tohsaka and shirou go 90% of the show without really earning any "victories", creating a void of untapped tournament-arc potential (meaning, this doesn't have any of the fun aspects of tournament arcs)
11) I only ever felt suspense around whether or not shirou was going to stop being an idiot and he never did
12) there was one twist villain that seemed very consequential but the twist's consequences were limited to a single episode, which felt... lazy
13) SO MUCH TALKING IN THE MIDDLE OF FIGHTS I know it's a big thing in anime but this show takes it to ridiculous levels
14) the school setting was kinda fun and it was completely abandoned as the story ramped up, and the show completely failed to fill the void of likeable people/circumstances left by the change in setting
15) despite all the exposition, without watching fate/zero, this anime's world seemed comically shallow for being imbued with such a degree of implied magical grandeur
Ok, that's about it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Mar 8, 2021
Ok let's be honest the full appeal of this show is cute lesbians and that is it. But, these lesbians happen to be the cutest lesbians, so that in of itself was enough for me.
That is the entire review. But they need more words, so let me elaborate: there is very little depth to this show other than making you feel like an adolescent girl finding her sexuality in her first love, and if you're looking to feel those flutters, this is for you.
Furthermore, the experience is very much improved by watching all episodes back to back, without a break. If you took a
...
break to clear your head and to realize that basically nothing was happening, the experience of watching this show would be greatly detracted from.
So, if it's a rainy day, the type that makes you want to read a book, but then you remember you don't have the attention span to read, but you do have the attention span to watch 5 hours of anime, this is a good pick up.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Feb 25, 2021
Horimiya makes Toradora look like garbage.
I'm watching this for the romance, not to see how a group of friends navigate funny situations for 20 episodes, and they gave me the goddamned romance.
Thus, I am satisfied.
I will say, I care very minimally about any character outside of the two leads, the art is beautiful but the animation itself... well, it FEELS like an adaptation of a webcomic, which is probably purposeful but perhaps not the best idea, and the sound is good enough, but just that.
HOWEVER: The writing around the two main characters? They feel like actual people, which is legitimately a brand new thing
...
for me. Granted, I haven't watched a ton of shows in this genre, but every show I HAVE watched (except for Your Lie in April, which I think is a masterpiece) features infuriatingly obtuse leads that think the pinnacle of romance in high school is holding hands.
So, it gets a 7. It isn't anything THAT special, but it doesn't have the usual moments of frustration, so... yeah. This anime is good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Aug 16, 2020
No show has ever resonated with me so deeply. Sure, there are better anime. But I have never felt so beautifully punched in the gut as I was by the subtle tensions, melodramatic realities, and emotional journies that Your Lie in April sneakily slides into every moment.
If you are looking for a slice of life anime that will keep you on the edge of your seat, one that will make you laugh, cry, love, and feel the beauty of music in your bones along with the show's characters--then you cannot go wrong with this show.
I'll be honest, my forays into this genre are limited.
...
My top anime before watching this were HunterXHunter, Death Note, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. In fact, I dare say all three of those share something in common with Your Lie in April: steady, unyielding narrative fluency, in a march toward a conclusion one can only truly appreciate in hindsight. Layer on top of that character arcs that are absolute masterclasses in balancing past, present, and future with dynamic relationships; scenes so gloriously animated and scored in tandem with the emotions of the story that it's hard to not weep at every piano performance; and themes that are at all times relatable and lofty, deeply personal and acutely societal; and you have, if you'll allow me to make this bold claim: A masterpiece.
This is my first review on this site, but I felt it necessary to capture the feeling this show left me with when I realized I had reached it's end. Reality had become secondary to the world of this anime, and I was reeling in my search for the greater meaning that this show demands from the audience. Steel your mind if you dare embark on this journey, reader--you won't ever forget it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
