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Aug 1, 2014
I am sure that most of you that I have heard about Amagami SS is because of its unique omnibus format, same as me. The omnibus format is, to summarize, a visual novel-style anime, not only an adaption of a visual novel. A set amount of episodes is dedicated for each arc and after each arc, time is "reset" to allow the story to follow a different route. After watching Amagami SS, I can say that the format is great.
Amagami SS is your typical romance story set in a high school setting and lacking the supernatural happenings that most other stories wants to incorporate with
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varying success. The story stars Junichi Tachibana, an, in most senses, a typical guy that through various events tries to improve his love life. His potential love interests, which the anime cycles through, possess standard Japanese traits. School idols, childhood friend, kohai, senpai, tsundere, most of which many has seen in other series.
Now here is what Amagami SS is great. The story is cliche Japanese high school romance, but it's actually romance! Thanks to the omnibus format, the story can progress where the protagonist and his love interest actually gets closer and every heroine gets a resolution. This is a very refreshing change to the dozens of harem anime where the protagonist is super dense yet every girl wants him but nobody gets him in the end. As such, the story can actually focus on the romance aspect instead of the fanservice. Seeing the resolution of the arcs can be really heart-warming, since every arc has Junichi evolve from his depressive self to someone reliable.
This anime reminded me of how much I love cliche anime romance story, as long as they have resolutions. As an avid visual novel reader, I am also satisfied over the dividation and focus of the separate story arcs. Four episode per arc can feel somewhat short, but every arc contains enough story, development and fluffiness that I can feel it is enough. I do hope one day that the omnibus format will be a more viable option for visual novel adaptions, since we all know what a disaster those can be if they follow a linear route.
So anyone that loves romance, and I mean real romance, and/or likes visual novels, romance or not, and/or wants to try something new, this anime is definitely something I recommend.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 31, 2013
After having gotten tons of recommendations about this anime, I decided to give in and watch it. Immediately I am treated with nudity and gore, with heads flying everywhere and a naked girl walking. While my initial impression wasn't that good (since I am not a huge fan of gore) I got slowly enraptured by the story and the numerous surprises and plot twists along the way. Needless to say, I liked it.
Animation:
During the course of the series, there isn't anything too special about the animation. It has the standard anime face and body, standard shifting of eyes depending on the character's state, etc etc.
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It is especially weak during "fighting" scenes and overcompensates with excessive gore. I found it annoying when the only thing you wait for in those scenes is what limb will fly next. The opening however, with the Renassiance art style, imprints certain images in you that you will not forget. The initial confusion of what those paintings means are resolved in the last episode, which will make you go "aha" even if you had skipped the opening a couple of times.
Sound:
Same as the animation that there is nothing too remarkable, only the opening theme which plays throughout the series several times. It sets the theme for the whole story, so you can't mistake it for something cheerful and comical, which has its ups and downs. The song is neither ominous nor beautiful but a blend of both, as such it's perceived in different way depending on the character. Its melody stays with you throughout the series and it's up to you how you feel about.
Story:
While story seems to be predictable from the start of the first episode, it unravels itself into something else. A more emotional story comes to light as the characters' past are explained and how they are all related, amidst all the hunting and murdering plus regular slice-of-life.
It never leaves its darker theme however, despite occasional bouts of innocent and happy interactions. Since each episode is a mix of all I mentioned, don't be surprised if you find yourself changes expression from grinning to widening your eyes during the 25 minutes it last.
However, due to the mix, I did not feel any attachment to the characters, of how precious their everyday is to those who was deprived from it. As such, the sad scenes did not feel sad at all. By the end of each episode, I always felt compelled to watch the next due to a cliffhanger, which propelled me through the series. A shame that even the last episode ended with a cliffhanger, which makes it up to the viewers to interpret the ending.
Characters:
During the early episodes, the personality of the characters are quite clear. Lucy is a psychotic killer who is hampered by her innocent other personality Nyu. Kotha is a stupidly, kind regular guy who helps everyone. Chief Kuruma is a scientist who sees Lucy's kind as a threat to humanity and must be eliminated. The characters aren't set in stone however and as the plot unfolds, we see more of who the characters really are and how intricate their relationship really is. Suddenly the bad guy isn't that bad and the good guy isn't that good. Everyone has suffered through hardships which they never chosed nor wanted, by the machination of a higher power, be it God or a deranged human. Going individually, Kotha remained as a generic good guy and Yuka the annoying first-cousin-in-love who is always jealous in any situation, no matter how bad. The ones that got most character development is Lucy and chief Kuruma. The motive behind Lucy's murderous nature is revealed, which changes her status from villain to victim. Even Kuruma, who seems to be hell-bent on protecting the human race from Lucy and her kind, has made alot of sacrifices because he tries to live according to his morals.
Overall:
While Elfen Lied lacked in animation and music, the story was absolutely splendid. It offers a dark story, that lacks a stereotypical hero and just connects the characters to a morbid reality which they did not believe existed. It never takes you off for a ride but stays true to its course. As such, you know that you are going deeper into darker territory, where little cheriness remains. The downside is that you feel no love/attachment for the characters and feel no sadness when they are lost, whether they die or dissapears. All in all, it is definitely a good story that you will end in no time, though there is not much else that can be praised besides that.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 27, 2013
I am gonna begin with this: This review will spoil the anime. While I will try to minimize talking about the story itself, just discussing the mood and atmosphere of this anime will spoil to a certain degree. If you wanna be absolutely pure and just head into an unknown zone, turn back. Do not read comments, do not look it up on wikipedia, just watch the anime. Just a word of advice for those people: 2/3 of the series is boring, but you will notice a slow buildup. It's the last episodes that makes this anime worth seeing. If you have patience, you will
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be rewarded.
Now onto the review itself:
The animation is up to the same standard as most anime. Meaning it's good, just nothing exceptional. The body proportion of the characters aren't exaggerated (except for the mandatory oppais) and the architecture of the surroundings aren't noteworthy. One thing that for me makes School Days stand out animation-wise, is the fact that all characters' hairs are dark, instead of having varying colours. As such, to identify the characters visually, one has to concentrate on the hairstyle and facial features. While the hairstyles are varied for each character, I find almost all female characters having the facial features. One thing I do praise is how certain characters' eyes changes at the end, reflecting their state and emotion.
The bgm tracks is quite plain and generic and once again, there is nothing noteworthy about it. I liked the insert songs however, but since I don't understand Japanese, I couldn't thoroughly enjoy them. The opening song got painful to listen to after a while though. It wasn't because it was horrible, just... misleading.
Lastly, the story. Like I said in the beginning, 2/3 of the anime is boring. But also, you begin to loathe the characters, making it even harder to continue watching it. While it begins like a normal high school anime, it changes after a couple of episodes to a more mature story. It was boring to watch the beginning, since the interactions between the characters had no feeling. It wasn't funny, it wasn't sad, just plain. However, I noticed that the relationships changed and the story had a certain direction, which made me keep watching the anime (that and its reputation). I was glad I did because the story drastically, but not surprisingly, changes in the end, from plain to sick. The ending is actually gratifying and was enough for me to rank this anime higher than I was going to in the beginning.
And this last part is half rant, half review, ignore if you wish: I hate the protagonist. This guy embodies almost all the bad characteristics of a main character, heck I would go as far to say the bad characteristics of a guy. From the second episode onwards, I shouted profanities and just wanted to jam a certain drill-shaped sword into his head. Yet his outward personality and appearance doesn't reflect that at all and I felt no character development either. I did not like the other characters either, in fact, there is no favorite of mine in this anime.
So to sum it up: This anime gives me (and probably others) mixed reactions. I hate the story, I hate the characters but I don't hate the anime itself. If you think about, this story actually reflects something that has and is happening in modern society. If the creators' goal was to make you absolutely loathe what's happening (and you should!) then they did a f-"BLEEP" good job.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 22, 2013
Title says the most. When I saw the picture of the series, I was like "rainbows and unicorns and fluffy dolls". I couldn't be more wrong.
What compelled me to watch this show and revise my thoughts was the combination of Aniplex (for great animation), Yuki Kajiura (for wonderful music) and Gen Urobochi (for splendid story). That combination never failed.
At first, I thought the animation was a bit "sketchy" instead of fluid. Aside from the scene before the opening, the animation looks like it's sketched on a notepad. However! It's actually because of a reason in the story, specifically related to the bad guys. When I
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see them, I feel a sense of dread and horror like when you descend into madness. A twisted version of wonderland. Kudos to Aniplex.
The music is absolutely wonderful. It always sets the right mood for the right scene, whether it's sad, happy or dreadful, and listening back to the bgms makes me remininsce the scenes. I especially love the music during the ominous versions, when you feel like all hope it drained from you. Yuki Kajiura is probably my favorite musician right now. Oh, and Kalafina's "Magia" is going right into my playlist!
Lastly, the story. Like I said in the beginning, the cover is absolutely misleading, so are the few first episodes. It was first like a normal Sailor Moon anime where a young girl without confident begins to see wonders of magic and wants to be a part of it. And then BAM! Real world takes over and it only continues to spiral into madness from there on. While how the story progresses is not entirely original, it is rare enough to take you by surprise. There are definitely some sad scenes, though due to me having seen sadder animes, I didn't really feel teary. The only thing I can complain is the ending actually. While it's not what I expected, I found it somewhat lacking, like they just realized they are on the last episode and just had to throw something in.
Overall, this is one of the best series I have ever seen and I recommend it for everyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 22, 2013
A series about androids in the human society. However, different from the normal "man vs machine" movies, it's more like "machine becomes man". A very touching story that tells about how social stigma forms against androids and how to overcome them.
The animation is smooth and different from other animes that their proportions are more real-like, instead of the normal big eyes or long arms. What set Time of Eve apart is the camera angles however. The camera moves around alot, depending on the mood. For example, when tension builds, the camera shakes and shifts between characters at a fast rate. Although the show has an
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older format of video, it doesn't disturb the sense of details.
The music is absolutely splendid, both musically and its performance. The bgms sets the atmosphere right, but what, once again, sets Time of Eve (from what I recall as I write this review) is that the music abrubtly stops, which throws you into a different kind of mood. This creates some comical scenes, but for most part it's more about revelation, when the character or characters realize something that breaks their beliefs. As a side note, while the song was not featured in the anime series but in the theaterical version, the song "I have a dream" (composed by Yuki Kajiura and performed by Kalafina, my favourites) is beautiful. I suggest listening to it after watching the anime.
Lastly, the story is quite unique. Society has begun using android in their homes and regards them only as appliance. To become attached to androids is a taboo, since it only leads to delusion. However, as the series progresses, the protagonists find find themselves in a dilemma when androids starts acting like humans. Is it a fault in their programming or their genuine feelings? A delusion or truth? Should it be accepted? Although the series is only 6 episodes long, not a single second was wasted. Maybe due to the short time, the author seems to have put in a long of effort to make every second count, which I felt he succeded in.
All in all, this anime definitely tops my list, since it doesn't provide cheap entertainment only but "tells a story". I feel that this anime is a class of its own and it's hard to find other animes to compare it to. I am not saying that it's the best anime I ever seen, more like I have never seen an anime like this before. I would not recommend this to everyone though, only to those who can appreciate a deep and thoughtful story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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