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Oct 3, 2014
- Before reading any further into the review, I recommend that if you can't stand (disgusting) rape, (cruel) torture, (disturbing) suicide, and some gay romance, then this manhwa is not the right story for you. This manhwa is not for children, or pure-minded people. (^o^ makes me wonder why I read it) -
This manhwa is certainly a "different" romance story, in the way that it's not a cute, funny and honest romance, but rather a dark, toxic, and violent romance. It’s a series that doesn't make love seem like the beautiful happiness that people often dream it is (Like I dream about how romantic, pure
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and happy love will be for me in the future, but...); love is capable of giving you hope and filling you with the warmth of happiness, but simultaneously capable of bringing you to your knees in the greatest despair you've ever felt. The harshness of reality is tragic and painful. Let Dai is a tragic tale of forbidden love and unforgivable betrayal between two tragic boys.
Set in a neo-Seoul, an area ruled by young punks and pleasure seekers, a psycho-pathic teenager named Dai lives in the embodiment of the city's beauty and cruelty. As the leader of the vicious "Furies" gang, Dai seduces everyone who lays eyes on him, only to use them to his own barbaric nature (torture). When an honest schoolboy named Jaehee rescues a beautiful girl from being mugged by the Furies, his encounter with the furies plunges him into a downward spiral of unbridled passion and unfathomable pain. From his brutal gang initiation, Jaehee wavers uncomfortably between revulsion and fascination. And eventually in Dai he sees a tender, caring friend one moment and a heartless sociopath the next, leading Jaehee to start having a strange and unhealthy desire (gay love) in Jaehee that he could never before have imagined. But that love story isn't the entire story. The theme of "harshness of reality" is symbolized throughout the manhwa through the portrayal of what the affect of a person's environment or society on a person's behavior (bad behavior). Even if a person doesn't want to act a certain way, sometimes it's inevitable; the situation/environment calls for it: inescapable evils of reality. Is there truly a right/wrong way to live? To wrap it all up, the ending of the manhwa is just... (insert cliff-hanger + super sad word here).
So if you're wondering how that kind of gay love story could possibly be any good, I'll say that the story is tragic and rather attention-grasping with all it's plot-twists. I'm sure lots of guys are turned off by the gay-love, but to any girls out there, it's truly a romantic, touching and surprisingly innocent love between two very "troubled" boys that just melts your heart and makes you tear up from time to time. The story was sad to the point where I had to stop reading, and relax my mind in order to prevent my emotions from overwhelming me. Dai and Jaehee's romance opens up the path of debate for what the concept of "love" is, and the path of right/wrong. It's honestly also a coming of age story where the two main characters, Dai and Jaehee realize the harshness of reality, and what they must do in order to achieve their dreams. Exactly how predictable is life? Throughout the manhwa, there are moments where completely unexpected turns cause the entire plot to just... take a 360 flip. Truly a piece of poetic art; the plot is surprisingly amazing.
The story seems to primarily focus on the 2 main characters, Dai and Jaehee, but that's not fully the case. The point of view is cycled among like 5 - 6 characters: the teenage boy (Jaehee) who pursues a gay relationship with Dai, the girlfriend who rejects her femininity after she’s been gang-raped by the Furies gang (Eunhyung Song), the best friend who bandages his enemies even after he’s been beaten senseless because he refuses to release his idealism (Dai), Eunhung's sister who has feelings for Jaehee but is never able to show her true emotions (Yooneun Song), and a close friend of Jaehee who falls in love with Eunhyung, but tragically fate tears them apart (Naru Hagi). Perfection in developing the character's character and emotions.
The art is pretty neat. I loved the portrayal of the characters, especially Dai. The art provides all sorts of realistic descriptions, and that sort of realism really drives the darkness of this comic home and makes the entire story seem more disturbing, dark, and tragic. Keep in mind that this manhwa was written from 1995-2005 so don't expect the super beautiful, bright art.
This is one of the most intense, dark character dramas you’ll ever read. If you’re mature enough (why did I even read this...?) and you want something emotional and quite disturbing, this manhwa is certainly one that does things that most pieces of writing wouldn't dare to even attempt. But, for those of you that proceeded to read this review after reading the warning at the beginning of the review, I'm going to assume that you guys are all okay with the disturbing things in the manhwa, and I'm going to full-heartedly recommend you to read this truly dark and touching manhwa.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 1, 2014
Diamond no Ace isn't completed at the time of this review, but I wanted to write a positive review on the anime so maybe more people would watch it. Diamond no Ace is one of the most enjoyable anime I've ever seen. Of course you must be wondering how watching an anime about baseball could possibly be so enjoyable. I'm not much of a baseball fan or sports fan for that matter myself, but Diamond no Ace succeeds in drawing the viewers into all the excitement of the sport with all it's dramatized action.
The story isn't anything unique or original. The plot is basically
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the same as any other sports anime: the main character, who starts off with almost nothing, journeys to become a great player who eventually wins the trust of his teammates and fights to win a championship. Of course along the way he must endure and go through lots of hardships, obstacles and as hard as it may be, develop friendships with his other teammates. That main character in Diamond no Ace's story would be Eijun Sawamura, a pitcher who attends Seido, an elite baseball school. Eijun is a hard-working, determined boy who used to play baseball because he wanted to have fun with his friends, but as the plot develops, he plays baseball in order to become the ace pitcher of his school's team, and become a winner. To add onto the sports aspect of the anime, the plot also takes place in school for a lot of times (some real comedy relief from the seriousness of the baseball matches). The development of friendship between teammates/friends, and rivalries between opponents were masterfully done. The suspense build-up and excitement in the baseball matches were quite shocking to me, because I didn't expect baseball to seem so epic and entertaining.
Personally I think that the biggest strength of Diamond no Ace is the variety of interesting characters and how much time is being spent developing the characters aside from the main character, Eijun Sawamura. Eijun, despite being the focal point of the plot, almost feels like a vessel through which the viewer can see and interact with the other side characters. Because the sport of baseball makes it necessary for a lot of characters, there are a lot of characters. But almost none of the side characters are shown just for a gimpse in an episode, then to be found nowhere the next episode. All the characters have some kind of development and unique trait to them that makes them all memorable. I could discuss in detail about 10 other characters in the anime, but since that'd take too long, I'll mention just one other character: Satoru Furuya, who is Eijun's rival for the "Ace Pitcher" spot on the team. He's very bad at communicating/getting along with other people, and is keeps to himself for the most part. It's revealed in his past that he never got along and was never accepted by his teammates, but on Seido, he finally does get acceptance by his teammates, leading him to show a tiny bit more emotion. His passion for baseball and determination matches that of Eijun, and so their rivalry for the ace pitcher position takes root, but they also seem to development a friendship and sort of respect/understanding for each other. Diamond no Ace's use of characters is easily a 10/10.
The music and art in the anime were definitely good. The openings for Diamond no Ace set the exciting tone to come in the anime. The other soundtracks used during the baseball matches managed to amplify the suspense in each moment. The sound of each hit was looouuuudd!! But that also added suspense. The art in the anime was very bright, colorful, and clear; the art that I like. The baseball matches were drawn to near perfection. The characters were all distinctively drawn. The voice acting was superbly done; it must have been hard for them to be yelling all the time.
My enjoyment aspect of the anime was "high". Before watching this anime, I didn't expect much, I just watched it because it was on the recommendations list for Haikyuu, one of my favorite anime. But, I was to be surprised to say the least. Diamond no Ace switched around from school-life friendships to off the field issues, to the fantastic baseball matches, never failing to keep me interested. I'd tell all sports-lovers to watch Diamond no Ace, and I'd recommend anyone else to give Diamond no Ace a shot (maybe first 10 episodes), because it's definitely an anime worth giving a chance. Hehe, thanks for reading and I hope you do give Diamond no Ace a watch!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 28, 2014
The concept of terrorism is a rather scary and ambiguous one in today's society. Terrorism comes in all sorts of ways; cyber hacking to bombing buildings to mass murdering people. Zankyou no Terror's terrorism was a bit different though. Zankyou no Terror's hype came not only from the fact that Shinichiro Watanabe directed it, but also because of it's new, intriguing terrorism plot. Although I'm not particularly a fan of so-called "deep" anime, I gave Zankyou no Terror a try and due to my lack of psychological thinking, I got rather confused on many parts that seemed to not make sense. Nonetheless, it was an
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enjoyable anime overall.
The story is about 2 teenage boys, and one teenage girl. The two boys, Touji Hisami and Arata Kokonone also known as Sphinx #9, and Sphinx #12, are the 2 terrorists. They call themselves, "Sphinx" and they send riddle question videos to the government, always giving the government a hint to where they planted a bomb. But for some reason, it seems as though Touji and Arata want the government to find the bomb, they have no desire to actually cause an explosion, but rather just a "terror". Meanwhile, the main character girl, Lisa gets tangled up in all of Sphinx's plans and ends up making a decision to join them as an accomplice. On the police's side, there's an ex-detective named Kenjiro Shibazaki who is the only one who can answer Sphinx's riddles, and as the plot progresses he seems to develop an understanding of what and who "Sphinx" is. Then... there's a female American government operative, "Five" who has some kind of connection to Sphinx's past, and is devoted to catching Sphinx and reuniting herself with Arata Kokonoe. And so the anime's entire plot will become a 3-way psychological cat-mouse game between the japanese police, the American operatives and Sphinx. Questions such as "Where will they go from there? What is "Sphinx"? What are Sphinx's motifs? Who exactly are the "bad-guys" in the anime? What is "right"? all arise throughout.
The plot will start off a bit slow, but once it gets going, it is rather interesting. I thought the plot was rather realistic with some unrealism here and there (^o^). The realism comes from the theme: corrupt in society today. But how they achieve that theme was quite unrealistic to me... Somehow a psychopathic psycho like Five became the head of the American Governments Operations in Japan which leaves me dumbfounded; there's no way in reality a psycho like that would become a leader, even with all the corruption. There's even more no way that Sphinx could plant all those bombs without being caught. And EVEN more no way that Lisa, an innocent girl would just join Sphinx and not feel worried/scared at all and not tell anybody about them. If I was Lisa, I'd be scared out of my mind! Despite it's questionable problems, I enjoyed watching the anime every week. The beginning of the anime starts off with a bam, as Touji and Arata were being the terrorists they are, and bombing a place. I honestly think this anime tried a little bit too much to be "deep". All the riddles were said to be "symbolic" by many "deep" thinking viewers, but the riddles were plain riddles derived from Greek Mythology. There really was no life lesson, or deep motif behind them, unless I missed something. The anime was kind of confusing to me. Without spoiling too much, one example of complete confusion was towards the middle of the anime when Sphinx and Five were facing off at an airport. Every move that Five made, and every move that Sphinx made were symbolized by a chess move, which made absolutely no sense. It's like, if Touji went to the bathroom to change into a cops cloth, then that'd be considered "Bishop B-6", and if Five sent 5 guards to the bathroom, then that's "Queen to C-2", like it made absolutely no sense; there was no correlation. With that said, there were good moments throughout the anime as well, such as the ending which left me happy in it's on way; leaving me in tears.
The characters was where I had some problems. I liked Sphinx, Arata and Touji; they were the bright spots in the anime. They were developed to the fullest; we learn of their past, their motif, their character, and most importantly their destined goal/fate. If you want to be a terrorist, then follow the footsteps of Arata and Touji, not any other psychopathic monster. Now, the problems started with Lisa, then went on to Five, and when the anime ended I also had some problems with Kenjiro the Japanese Detective's character. As I mentioned before, Lisa shows absolutely no sense of fear when she becomes part of a terrorist group. Some people argue that it's because she has nothing to lose; she gets bullied, she basically has no family since her mother is Coo-Coo and father abandoned her, and she has absolutely nothing in life to look forward to. But, that doesn't take away the fact that Lisa randomly joins Sphinx without hesitation, like really?... But then to add on to that, Lisa's character at first seems like someone you can remorse for, but that's not the case. Quickly Lisa's character develops into a joke. Lisa helps Sphinx do absolutely nothing except make Arata and Touji less lonely. It bothered me how the anime made Lisa seem useless while making the males seem genius and perfect. As for Five, she was just plain annoying and her entire reason for trying to capture Sphinx was pathetic. I won't spoil it, but it really was dumb. And her methods to try and catch Sphinx were cray-cray! It's like she's a government representing villain terrorist, and Arata and Touji are the heroic justice league. Kenjiro's character started with lots of potential, but then the story started to solely focus upon Arata, Touji, Lisa, and Five, leaving Kenjiro's character to rot in the dust until the end of the anime. A waste of a great character at it's finest.
The art was great. Certainly a different type of art then the usual art. But, it fit in very nicely with the anime's overall mood; it portrayed the realism of terrorism. The darkness/grayness of the art in the anime was nice. I felt like the character's appearances were perfect to their personality. Lisa looks like the typical clumsy girl, Touji looks like the typical open yet mysterious boy, Arata looks like the scar-filled hero, Five looks like the psychopath that she is, and Detective Kenjiro looks like a smart, lazy, mature, and in the end, heroic man himself. As for the music, it wasn't superb, but it was decent. The opening sounded mysterious which was nice, and I liked the animations of the opening too. The opening really portrayed the anime well. There were no other great soundtracks, but none of them were bad, and they did fit in rather nicely with the entire "terrorism" concept. The voicing of the characters fit in nicely with each character, especially Lisa, so I praise them for that.
My biggest problem with the anime is honestly not the anime itself, but all the people that call it "genius" simply because it's psychological, and about terrorism, hence leading it to be a "masterpiece". All the so-called symbolism is something that I personally didn't see in the anime, and if I missed something then feel free to message me explaining all the so-called "deep-symbolism". Also, the anime over-exaggerates it's theme of "corruption". I do hear about and understand the corruption of the government, but the government itself isn't a terrorist organization, and there are no terrorists in reality that are exactly honorable and heroic. And with that being said, this anime is certainly an anime that I'd recommend to people that enjoy psychological thrillers but also to anyone that wants to watch an anime that will make their brains think. Despite my confusion in some parts of the anime, the parts that I did understand, I enjoyed. The plot was interesting, art was perfect for the anime, sound was good, characters had some problems but were still decent thanks to the 2 mysterious anti-heroic main characters, and all in all it was rather enjoyable. Thanks for reading!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 27, 2014
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." –Pablo Picasso
Is life a free reality, or a fated game? What happens if you don’t fit into the mold that society wants you to fit in? Can you keep those crazy dreams and beliefs that you had as a child when you move onto adulthood? What's the different between being a child and being an adult? Is great success the most important thing in life? Can you force yourself to just not grow up? What is happiness?
This is the very first manhwa (Korean Manga) that I've ever
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read, and I was very impressed; not like a "that was pretty good", but like a "this changed my life". Although I was reluctant to actually read something when I didn't have to, I gave Annarasumanara a try, and now I'm dying to read other manhwas. Annarasumanara makes my English class' "deep" books seem silly and pointless. The story of Annarasumanara was quite straightforward, yet had a mysterious, genius and very touching aspect to it. Although the main synopsis of the manhwa may turn you off because of the "magic", I assure you that the manhwa doesn't have any supernatural magic powers in it. Annarasumanara is truly a heartwarming story about what it means to be an adult and what must (or must not) change when growing up. It also touches on issues like bullying, social expectations, parental pressure, truly understanding yourself, what you want in life, and what you are willing to/should give up or put up with to be your own form of happy. The magic of growing up.
Background Info: There are rumors about a mysterious magician; one that can make people disappear and change people's lives forever. They say that if you go to the old carnival, you'd see a dashing young man wearing a magician's hat — a man who can perform the greatest magic, but before he does any magic, he will look you in the eye, stare at your deep soul with his grey eyes and ask, "Do you believe in magic?"
So now I ask you, do you believe in magic? If so, What kind of magic? Is magic worth believing in? Could one claim that our lives and this world that we live in are magical as well? If you had one wish, what would it be? The beauty of "magic", is that people can perceive what's truly magical in their own terms; and this "magic" can be the brightest, most happy thing in a person's life, but it can also be what horrors, and misfortunes of a person's life. Perhaps people refuse to believe in anything supernatural, but are supernatural things the only things that are considered "magical"?
The story revolves around Yoon Ai, a very smart girl in her class who struggles to feed herself and her sister everyday. She just wants to become an adult faster so that she can get a job and escape from the poverty and the reality of her current situation. That all changes when she meets the rumored magician, Lee Eul who asks her, "Do you believe in magic." The story then proceeds to show Yoon Ai's develop in behavior and attitude towards living life. Lee Eul reminds Yoon Ai of her of innocent childhood, and of her memories and dreams that she had as a child. But the harshness of reality never lets her go and the story moves forward, showing Yoon Ai's hard choices in life that decide her fate. The plot also delves into Lee's childhood past and his refusal to grow up/failure as an adult, thus creating his isolation from society. Lee Eul and Yoon Ai's perspectives of the world and their fates intertwine with one another, creating the ideal story about poverty as a child, struggle to find a place in society, making friends, and growing up while trying to find your own happiness in this unfortunate world. Whenever you think the story is trying to set a positive tone, you get heartbroken by the tragic events that follow afterwards. Whenever you think that there really is "magic", it gets crushed by reality. It's a deep, dark, emotionally gripping manhwa that has sort of made me depressed with the truth about our society today, in the end of the manhwa, it ambiguously emphasizes that there will be a "light at the end of the tunnel". The ending was absolutely perfect; it left me crying. Every aspect of this manhwa deserves a 10/10, but I'd say the plot deserves an 11/10; easily the best, most interesting and touching story I've ever read about.
The plot itself is ambiguous as well. What is the truth in life, and what is the right way to live life? What each character believes is the "truth" is never fully revealed in the manhwa, despite them choosing their own paths, if that makes sense. The themes presented in the manhwa, are pretty blatantly presented though, which I liked; better than trying to be all confusing and deep. The magic in this story is also a little ambiguous. You are never for certain if the magician really turned Ai’s holey tights into pretty polka-dotted ones (bad, harsh past -> moving on into a "better" life, nor are you for sure if the magician is really has a mailbox that sends a letter to anyone, no matter what. The magic in Annarasumanara is something that you have to believe in yourself, and that only helps send the message of "believing" even further.
There are basically only 3 (main) characters in the entire manhwa. First, Yoon Ai, whose development through her encounter with the mysterious yet childish magician is the entire story. Yoon Ai's past is filled with hardship. Her mom is dead, her father ran away from home,causing her to have to work on part time jobs & deal with the debt collectors who are looking for her dad while looking after her younger sister and keeping her in school. Then there's the magician, Lee Eul whose character is unveiled gradually in an artistic fashion. And finally, Na Il-Deong, Yoon Ai's classmate who seems to have everything, yet there's something important missing in his life. Il-Deong's interactions with Yoon Ai and Lee Eul, open him up into a "new world" in which he finds the missing piece of his life. No other character's were developed in depth, but it really wasn't necessary either, since the entire plot worked perfectly with just these 3 characters; an impressive feat. The characters were very realistic in their own sense. All 3 of them has had a different childhood, from poverty to average to rich, yet all of them are related in a way. The readers can easily connect to each one of the characters. As a child, what did we want to become? When we grow up, did it stay the same? What kind of hardships did you have to go through to go from a child to an adult? Looking back on your past, do you regret the choices you made?
The art was stunningly magnificent. The manhwa has pages without words which still manage to say a lot of things through the beauty of the art. The facial expressions portrayed by the characters express their emotions exquisitely. Furthermore the background is also very detailed and has the unique ability to draw attention to the stunning bits of details. Visually Mesmerizing!
Annarasumanara was needless to say, absolutely enjoyable. There's nothing to not like about the manhwa: the plot was touching, creative, genius and well executed; the characters were interesting, thoroughly developed, and relatable. As a growing teenager myself, I often scoff at and enjoy my present, reminisce about my past, and dream about my future. The art in the manhwa was so beautiful, how can people be so artistic?! And do I believe in magic? I don't believe in the magic powers, but I believe in magical things: family, friends, miracles, and memorable moments that I cherish or immensely regret. I recommend this manhwa to everyone, and I can promise you that none of you will be left disappointed. Perhaps the greatest piece of writing I've ever read. Thank you Ha, Il-Kwon for creating Annarasumanara, for allowing me the chance to read such an excellent piece of writing, and changing my life forever. Truly a magical story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 27, 2014
From the writers of the famous anime, Elfen Lied, they present you "Gokukoku no Brynhildr", in my opinion, a failure of an anime for the ages. Have you ever seen an anime that tries to encompass romance, ecchi, psychological, horror, magic action, schi-fi, drama, mystery, and fantasy all in one and fails miserably? Well, look no further, Gokukoku no Brynhildr is certainly one of those anime. One of Gokukoku's many problems was that it couldn't decide which direction they wanted to go with the anime: was it going to be a mystery with love? Or an anime filled with psychological traumas/problems? Or an anime filled
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with magic action? Or just a pure ecchi series?
The plot revolves around a simple boy named Ryouta Murakami, who has a photographic memory. As a child, he was in love with his friend, Neko Kuroha who believed in aliens, and claimed to have met them. But Kuroha dies in an accident trying to save Murakami. Filled with guilty, Murakami promises himself not to fall in love with anyone other than his first love and also to find proof of the existence of aliens because of a promise he had made with Kuroneko prior to her death. Then fast forward to the present, and one day, a new transfer student comes to his class, who not only looks a lot like Kuroha Neko, but is named Kuroha Neko and to add onto that, she saves Murakami with magical powers. It turns out that Kuroha along with Kuroha's alliance witches are run-a-way witches who were created by a mysterious organization. These witches need strange pills (that only the organization has) in order to survive, or else their skin melts/spews out blood and they die. Oh, did I mention that the organization is sending other more powerful witches to hunt down the run-a-way witches? Therefore Murakami, who wants to protect Kuroha Neko (and also the other run-a-way witches) in order to find out of Kuroha Neko really is the Kuroha Neko he knew as a child, gets entangled into a witch hunt down death chase.
Although this type of anime not my favorite to begin with, Gokukoku no Brynhildr really made me cringe. First off, so many unanswered questions. Why did the organization create these witches? No idea. Why did the organization want to hunt them down then? No idea. Okay... Then what was the point of the anime? Um, there was none? I mean it's basically another story that has a few glimpses of terrible, boring magic battle scenes, that shows 2-3 witches swinging their arms around, creating huge explosions, with the addition of Murakami being hit on by all sorts of different girls (witches). I absolutely despise ecchi, and Gokukoku no Brynhildr, a supposedly horror, mysterious anime had tons of it. I don't even want to talk about the ending, because there was no climax, the ending made absolutely no sense, and most importantly, it was unsatisfying to say the least. Overall, the plot jumped around too much, without having a focus point leading to it's messy demise.
I didn't dislike the characters as much as the plot because there was 1 or 2 interesting side characters. But the anime sort of threw out random characters out of nowhere, and then got rid of them just as fast. There was no depth to any characters, except maybe Murakami and Kuroha (but not really). The characters were your average ecchi anime characters. There was the main male character who is an perverted boy that is kind towards other female characters, no matter who they are, therefore causing the other girls to fall in love with him. The main female character who is beautiful, yet reluctant to admit her feelings of the main character. The short, funny, flat-chested female character who messes around the main character (Kazumi, the one character I liked). And, obviously the big-boobed dumb, high pitched voice character that the main character is tempted to "touch". The villain and the mysterious organization were nothing really; there was no explanation of them. The entire anime gives us perhaps a 1 minute flashback of the antagonists past that explains absolutely nothing of his intentions or reasons. What happened to the organization in the end? No idea, they just suddenly were dropped at the end of the story, when they were the whole "mysterious" focus. And.. in conclusion, I really dislike anime where they make the characters all have different hair color to distinguish upon them; it usually shows the art team's lack of effort to drawing up diversely looking characters.
The art is okay, but it didn't fit the mood of the anime. The anime was supposed to be a horror, mystery anime that maybe had a glimpse of romance between the 2 main characters, yet the art was so colorful, bright, and "romantic". I know that some people like the Gokukoku no Brynhildr openings, but I personally did not like the openings, because of it's VERY high pitched dub-step kind of music (1st opening was okay). There is no other worth mentioning soundtrack in the anime. The voicing cast did a decent job, hence giving sound a 5 rating, despite it's lack of any good music.
In a simple conclusion: I wouldn't recommend this anime to really anyone.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Sep 25, 2014
Bokura wa Minna Kawaisou is a good light romantic and little comedy themed anime. The story is very unoriginal, stereotypical and blatant. Nonetheless it's a good romance anime that people can enjoy watching, get a good giggle out of, and feel happy about. Of course, I love almost all romance anime, so if you don't like romance anime, then this anime probably isn't going to be that appealing to you.
Anyways, the plot is very simple. It's about a high school freshman, Kazunari Usa who movies into a boarding house and it turns out that the love of his life, Ritsu Kawai is living there too.
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The story focuses on the development of the relationship between these two. Basically Ritsu loves books (a little too much), and is easily bothered/annoyed with other people, especially those that talk too much. She really doesn't show any kind of emotion towards other people, and doesn't show any sign of "love" towards Usa. Usa basically tries everything he has to get Ritsu to notice him, but sort of fails due to his shyness. But that's where the other fun characters who also live in the same boarding complex come into play! Mayumi Nishikino, a psychopathic, lazy, inappropriate, and drunk lady who loves to make fun of Usa for liking Ritsu, says mean things in front to Usa, but in the bigger picture, is always helping/protecting Usa. Then there's Shirosaki, a perverted masochist, whom I always pictured as a godlike figure in the anime, hehe. That's because although he acts dumb and useless, he's actually quite perceptive and awfully helpful in many ways. And last but not least, Sayaka Watanabe, a "pretty" girl who is actually a slut. Pretty funny character though, especially her relationship to Mayumi. All the side characters add excitement, comedy, and enjoyment to the whole, rather slow love relationship between Usa & Ritsu.
The art in music in the anime were mediocre, nothing that stands out particularly. But the opening was nice to listen to; I watched/listened to the opening every episode. The voicing didn't disappoint either, each character's voice fit their personalities. The art was very lively and colorful. Very beautiful city, with beautifully drawn characters, I loved Usa and Ritsu's green hair ^o^!
If you like romance comedies, then this anime is one that you might want to check out. I really enjoyed it despite it's obvious, unoriginal plot. Kind of a relaxing anime, that isn't very serious, and there's absolutely nothing scary or confusing about the anime. Such a cute and sort of innocent anime!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 25, 2014
I recently watched the popular show, Durarararararara!! and I have to say, it was quite enjoyable, with a few flaws/annoying parts. Durarara is a very unique show that contains a whole lot of different genres mixed together; romance, comedy, supernatural, mystery, and even some action here and there. I've never seen a show hop around all over the place, in terms of plot. In this review, I may blab nonsense, but I'll try to explain why I like Durarara.
In order for me to describe the plot, it would take forever because there's just so much happening in Durarara to a whole load of different main
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characters. So I'll sum it up using Mikado Ryugamine (mainest of the main characters, I think) as the focal point. Mikado Ryugamine longs for an escape from his dull everyday life and seeks something to make his young, short life stand out from the rest, resulting in him moving to Ikebukuro, a "crazy" to say the least city in Japan. He hopes life in one of Japan’s most trendy commercial and entertainment cities can satiate his thirst for excitement and a little danger. But soon he discovers Ikebukuro is more than up to the task. An inhumanly powerful bartender, a skilled underground informant, a mysterious motorcyclist dubbed the Black Rider, an aggressively enterprising Russian sushi chef, along with all sorts of gangs are the least threatening people when there are more sinister plots simmering just beneath the surface of this urban jungle.
There really was no general plot to the story, each episode the perspective changes, meaning that the episodes are told in 1st person, by various characters. Certainly there were moments when I wondered, "Where's the story headed?", but in the end it was all answered. Each episode had a specific parallel supernatural mystery that initially appears oblique, but in the end all the mysteries are cleverly intertwined with one another, leading up to a satisfying ending. Durarara has quite a few cleverly surprising revelations and twists that had skillful misdirection, which constantly keeps the viewer guessing. Yet when expectations are heightened, the series likes to pull back, lower the tension, and make the climax seem unimportant. A thing I liked about the series is that it recognizes the important role that internet chat rooms, online associations, cell phones, and text messaging have in teenagers’ social lives. Yet it also finds opportunities to tap into that adolescent pastime of discontent with the mundane everyday. I can't relate with the overall story, because it's so unrealistic, but I can definitely relate with the main character's feelings. With that said, there are also a few things I didn't like about Durarara:
- Bad pacing; some episodes (20+ min) were dedicated to unimportant characters, and not on main characters.
- Plot is supposed to be dark, and mature, but it came out to be too bright, and naive.
- A couple moments when viewers are left to think, "This doesn't even make sense..."
- Way too much narration
- Main Character was annoying, and not very heroic, though the anime tried to portray him as so in the end(personal thought).
Characters is where Durarara shined best. The great appeal of Durarara is its diverse and colorful mix of personalities of numerous characters. During each episode, there's strang conversations on a chat in the computer, about the developing plot. I'll explain the mainest 5 characters in detail, but there are many more interesting characters that are thoroughly developed in the anime.
Mikado Ryugamine, the mainest of main characters is a polite, soft spoken boy, whom at times can be quite childish and naive. At first he is scared of all the chaos happening in Ikebukuro, but as the series progresses, Mikado gradually becomes more and more assertive, and eventually becomes able to able to accept the chaos that life throws at him without attempting to run away. With that said, despite his kindness and naivety, Mikado is much more ruthless and manipulative than he appears to be and is very capable at using intimidation to reach his goals.
Masaomi Kida is Mikado's best [childhood] friend, and is a resident in Ikebukuro. He is one of the reasons Mikado moved to Ikebukuro, and while Mikado is in Ikebukuro, Masaomi acts like a big brother, protector. He is a rather cheerful boy (in public) and is always enthusiastic about picking-up girls, but seems to be a failure at it. As the series progresses, it is revealed that Masaomi's enthusiastic, happy-go-lucky demeanor is actually a mask of his true, much less secure self. He appears to agonize over major choices much more than any other character in the series, although he falls just short of being paralyzed by his fears. His background is explained in depth, and his true nature was a surprising twist in the plot.
Anri Sonohara is a introverted and quiet girl, whom Mikado falls in love with. As the series progresses, she retains her shy personality, though her interactions with Mikado and Masaomi serve to pull her out of her emotional shell and she becomes much more expressive and shows a caring side to those close to her. The friendship she develops with Mikado and Masaomi was a treat to watch, something I could sort of relate with. Another character that the plot uses as a crazy, surprising plot twist.
My favorite character, Izaya Orihara. Izaya is a powerful, skilled, and snake-like informant, who is actually much more than just an informant. He claims to love the human race, excluding Shizuo Heiwajima whom Izaya likes to start fights. He greatly enjoys putting people in miserable or chaotic situations in order to observe their reactions. He plays chess in a bizarre fashion and the undiscloed rules he plays seem to be a metaphor for the way he lives his life. Izaya throughout the anime seemed like a "god" figure, because he always helped/protected people, but in a manner that makes him seem like an evil "tester". Anyways, very enjoyable character to watch for.
Shizuo Heiwajima is renowned as the strongest man in Ikebukuro. Shizuo apparently doesn't really like violence and has misgivings about his own strength; unfortunately, he has a very short temper and when angered, his body "acts on its own" and he beats everyone up. Shizuo is a very funny character who uses violence to cancel out violence... or when he's just pissed off... or if he sees Izaya. Shizuo Vs Izaya was a constant battle throughout the anime that was really fun to watch.
Celty Sturluson is a Dullahan, an unseelie fairy from Ireland who came to Japan looking for her stolen head (yes, she's headless). Celty's personality is, ironically, one of the most normal and down to earth out of the entire cast. Celty was certainly a character I personally did not enjoy. Celty, a badass who starts off with mysterious potential ends up becoming a useless, weak, and headless babe (always one in an anime...) who falls in love with a scientist.
And that's just the start of it, the list goes on and on, showing how much in detail Durarara focused on "characters". There should be at least one character that the audience can relate to. So, if you're wondering why I wrote useless information in my review, it was to represent how diverse and strong the "characters" were in Durarara.
I thought the opening songs of Durarara were also unique and nice to listen to; I never skipped the openings while I watched the anime. The "jazz"iness in the anime certainly fit the mood of the anime throughout. The voicing was superb, each character's voice fitting their respective personalities. Izaya's voice, quiet yet manipulative and ominous, Shizuo's voice powerful, and deep, Mikado's voice, innocent and normal. The art was solid. The depiction of Ikebukuro is very accurate to the real city in real life actually. Each character had their own uniqueness. Overall very solid. The art style was certainly a bit different from the average anime though, in a sense that you have to watch the anime to understand.
Final Verdict: I like it, so I'd recommend others to watch it as well. Heh, thanks for reading!~
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 25, 2014
I know this movie is almost 30 years old, but I recently re-watched it and I cried reminiscing about my childhood and thought I should write my first review on it. Tenkuu no Shiro Laputa aka Castle in the Sky is tied as my favorite Miyazaki movie alongside Princess Mononoke; my 2 favorite movies as a child.
The story of Castle in the Sky is about, you guessed it; a castle in the sky. There's a legend about a floating island castle, called "Laputa" that contains all the riches a person can ever dream of having. The main male character, Panzo believes that the castle exists,
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and dreams of one day following his deceased father's footsteps, and finding the castle for himself. The only problem is, he doesn't know where the castle is. Then there's the main female character, Sheeta whom Panzo finds falling/floating down from the sky with a shining sky blue necklace that has some sort of relationship to Laputa's location. Panzo and Sheeta begin a friendship, perhaps love relationship and they decide to go on a journey to find Laputa together. But they run into trouble with, and clowny pirates, the greedy army along with some mysterious men led by an even more mysterious man named, Muska.
Really the art and music is stunning. The theme song of Castle in the Sky: Laputa may actually be my favorite piece of music ever! Seriously, please listen to that song! It makes me tear up every time I hear it! Furthermore the voicing of each character was perfectly matched, nothing unusual that pops out. The portrayal of Laputa, the castle in the sky, was absolutely beautiful! I actually teared up thinking about how I'd never be able to see the castle in real life. The connection and peace between the the robotic beings, and nature (trees, wild animals, plants) on the Island was absolutely beautifully portrayed. None of the characters were drawn like weirdly; every character's looks were unique and memorable. And normally I hate robots, but I felt this weird connection and pity for the dying breed of robots on Laputa. I loved all the characters, except Muska (who is the villain, so my hatred for him is a good thing). The stupid army was really funny, as were the pirates. Panzo and Sheeta are your average Miyazaki main characters, absolutely tragic and lovable!
I think this is the best animated story in the world.. Honestly there's nothing to dislike about this anime and so much to love. It's truly a heart-pounding adventure story about friendship, loyalty, greed, and people's connection to nature. The anime starts off innocently and happily, but it quickly becomes darker as the evil ambitions of the antagonists make themselves known. The characters, good and evil, are all fully developed and interesting to watch. I remember watching this over and over as a little baby, and I still have a vcr tape of Castle in the Sky ^o^. If you haven't seen this movie yet, then I think no matter what age you are, you should watch it at least a couple times in your life. Thanks for reading my first review!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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