Note: This will be a review of both seasons, plus the movie.
Overview:
When it first aired back in the 2000s, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" (much like the 1995 movie that inspired it) gained a huge amount of acclaim for its deep, philosophical themes and great cyberpunk action, with even those who weren't fans of anime praising it. Two decades on, however, and the series is beginning to show its age, with multiple parts of it not holding up as well as they used to. That's not to say that it’s a bad series now- far from it, in fact. It's just that it
...
falls a little short of being the ingenious masterpiece it was once hailed as.
Story (8/10):
"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is set near-future Japan, where cybertechnology is now widespread and many people have been converted into cyborgs with prosthetic bodies. Unfortunately, this new outbreak of technology has also allowed a whole array of new crimes to be committed, many of which can't be solved or tracked by the police. Enter Public Security Section 9, an elite law enforcement agency led by Chief Daisuke Aramaki and commanded by our protagonist and heroine Major Motoko Kusanagi. Together with former solider Batou and former police officer Togusa, along with a host of other members, it's up to these special ops agents to investigate these cybercrimes and terrorist plots, as well as any other conspiracies that are too much for ordinary people to handle, and they're generally willing to resort to any means necessary in order to do so.
The series has two seasons consisting of 26 episodes each, and each season has its own separate overarching plot. However, not all episodes tie in to the arc of a given season, which is generally highlighted by the type of episode they are, shown in the title screen near the beginning of each; in the first season, the stand-alone episodes are called, well, "Stand Alone", while the arc-important episodes are called "Complex", while in the second season, there are three types of episodes- "Individual" episodes tie into the primary arc of the series, "Dual" episodes tie into the secondary arc (which is related to the primary one) and "Dividual" episodes are stand-alone. Most episodes do a fine job at fleshing out the world of "Ghost in the Shell", as well as providing some good development for the various members of Section 9, though some far more so than others. The main plots of both seasons are also very intriguing and will often leave you wondering just where they're going to go and how things will ultimately end.
However, while the story is certainly interesting, it can also be very confusing at times. The characters have a habit of engaging in these deep discussions that require knowledge of obscure philosophies in order to understand, meaning quite a few conversations will make no sense to the average person. Treating viewers like they know nothing is insulting enough, but if you ask me, treating them like they know everything is just downright patronizing. It doesn't help that a lot of these philosophies are at the core of certain characters' motivations, meaning you'll sometimes find yourself scratching your head and wondering why certain characters do what they do. Furthermore, of the 26 episodes of the first season, only 12 tie in to the overarching story, which is a problem since the "Stand Alone" episodes, while not bad by any means, are nowhere near as interesting as the "Complex" episodes. And while the main plot does take over the season completely in the final quarter, the overall ending to the arc is very anti-climatic, with much of the conflict being resolved off-screen and only told to us in passing. Thankfully, the second season goes out its way to fix all of these problems save for the first, with more episodes that tie into the overarching plot and a more satisfying ending. The movie continues down the same path, wrapping things up with what really feels like a fitting conclusion to the series as a whole.
Art & Animation (8.5/10):
"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" was a relatively early project of Production I.G., and it shows as it is a great-looking series, especially for the time period, with a highly detailed art style, great character designs and CGI that's highly effective without ever being too obvious. Even so, there are a few shots where rough edges become apparent, especially in the first season and it ultimately doesn't look quite as good as some of their more recent anime like "Psycho Pass" or "Guilty Crown". Even so, the visuals have held up remarkably well over the years, and I would definitely say it looks a lot better than most of Production I.G.'s other early projects, particularly "xxxHolic".
Sound & Dialogue (9/10):
If there's one thing you can expect from a cyberpunk story, it's great music, and "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is no exception, especially considering it's composed by Yoko Kanno, who is almost as good a composer as Yuki Kajiura and Hiroyuki Sawano. There are a lot of great tracks that play over the series, and I honestly find it hard to pick a favourite, though "Replica" from the movie is definitely among them. The two openings (both of which are sung by Russian singer Origa, who sadly is no longer with us) are fantastic and the ending themes are great as well, especially that of the second season. Besides the music, the voice acting is excellent as well, with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn stealing the show as Motoko Kusanagi (particularly when compared to the rather flat performance delivered by Mimi Woods in the movie), though the dub cast is solid all around, whether it's Richard Epcar as Batou, the always-awesome Crispin Freeman as Togusa or the late William Frederick Knight as Aramaki. As a whole, the sound design is definitely the best part of the series.
Characters (8/10):
As with most of my reviews, I will start with the protagonist, namely Motoko Kusanagi, who's usually just referred to as the Major. The first thing to note about Motoko is that she's not your typical run-of-the-mill cyborg- rather than having a body consisting of both organic and synthetic parts, her body is entirely synthetic, with the term "ghost" referring to what somebody human even when their body isn't. This essentially makes her one of the robot girls that Japan seems awfully fond of, and like a robot, Motoko is very unemotional and will resort to any means to get the job done. She hacks systems, kills people and generally breaks laws that her organization is above, all with zero hesitation. However, all of these things are done with the explicit intention of saving people and keeping the public safe, and Motoko is a surprisingly kind person when not on the job, and views her co-workers as close friends, with her relationships with Batou and Aramaki being particularly standout examples. The second season also delves into her past while also connecting it to the overarching plot, which helps to humanize her even further than before. Overall, Motoko is easily my favourite character, being very likeable, badass, complex and an all-around fantastic protagonist. Hell, pretty much the only problem I have with her is that she tends to overshadow the rest of the cast, and even that's nowhere near to the same extent as some other examples I can name.
Next up is Batou, the male lead of the series who is known only by his last name to the point that his first name is never revealed. Like Motoko, Batou is a cyborg with an entirely synthetic body, though he tends to show a lot more emotion than her and is pretty abrasive, though it's never to the point of being obnoxious and he clearly cares about his comrades. This is most evident in his relationship with Motoko and how he takes care of the Tachikomas, a squad of A.I. think tanks with the personalities of curious dogs who assist Section 9 on missions and can even be ridden in as vehicles. What's more is that while Batou may seem like a dumbass at first glance, he's actually anything but, being highly intelligent and an expert hacker, as well as surprisingly philosophical. A former soldier, Batou has his past revealed in the first season unlike Motoko, though sadly the episode that focuses on it is one of the worst episodes of the entire show, if not THE worst. While I definitely didn't like Batou as much as Motoko, he's nevertheless a very likeable and badass character with plenty of awesome moments to his name.
Next in importance to the Major and Batou is Togusa, a former police officer who, like Batou, is known only by his surname. Togusa is very much the odd one out of the team; not only is he not a cyborg like Motoko and Batou but he also has a very different career background from the rest of the team and, most significantly, is happily married with two children, making him the only family man. As a matter of fact, his unique background is precisely why he was recruited into Section 9 in the first place, as it makes the team less predictable and allows him to approach things from a unique angle. However, his comparatively easy life also means that he can often be pretty naïve, and he's frequently blindsided by the bizarre cases Section 9 specialises in dealing with, though he gets better about this as time goes on, possibly a little too much better. Rounding up the main cast is Chief Daisuke Aramaki, the only other non-cyborg of the team. While Motoko Kusanagi may be the team's field leader, it's Aramaki who's really in charge and he frequently guides the group during missions, being a stern but fair leader who goes out of his way to ensure everyone's safety. Sure, his advanced age and lack of cyber enhancements means he can't contribute anything in terms of combat or hacking, but his charisma, guile and political savviness nevertheless make him an indispensable part of the team, and it's no exaggeration to say that the plots of both seasons would have gone very differently without him.
Unfortunately, while there are a good number of well-developed characters in the series, there are others who get next to no focus or development at all. First, there's two members of Section 9, Pazu and Borma, both of whom have barely any meaningful dialogue and no standout abilities when compared to the rest of the team. And while Pazu does eventually get a focus episode, Borma never does, and his explosives expertise are only relevant in one episode late in season 2. Furthermore, despite playing such an important role in his story and character, Togusa's wife and children ultimately have little to nothing in the way of personality or even names for that matter. They just exist to give a reason as to why Togusa is the way he is. Hell, the friggin' Tachikomas, the above-mentioned think-tanks of Section 9, have more focus and development than any of the characters I just mentioned and they don't even LOOK human! In almost any other story, I would have let something like this slide, but in a series where what it means to be human is such a major theme, it's a serious problem, especially considering there aren't even that many characters to begin with.
Enjoyment (8/10):
Given that this is a series that seems heavily inspired by "Blade Runner" and other similar works, it's safe to say that the world of "Ghost in the Shell" is not a happy one, with gruesome deaths and horrific crimes aplenty and bittersweet endings being very much the norm. Yet within all the chaos comes plenty of fantastic action and some surprisingly good comic relief as well, with Batou and the Tachikomas providing most of the latter. The series also has plenty of brilliant set-pieces (helped by the amazing music), which help draw you in even when things are at their bleakest.
Overall:
"Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" is a series that is sadly past its prime. While it may have been incredible back in the day, other anime and games like "Psycho Pass" and "Deus Ex" have since combined the basic formula with stronger characterization and tighter, more coherent writing, and now the more questionable parts of the series are just a lot harder to ignore. That being said, while it may not have been as great as it once was, this is still a series that comes highly recommended, especially if you're a sci-fi fan, as it has great visuals, outstanding music and voice acting and some truly fantastic set-pieces.
Score:
8+8.5+9+8+8=41.5/50=8.3/10
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Dec 30, 2024 Recommended
Note: This will be a review of both seasons, plus the movie.
Overview: When it first aired back in the 2000s, "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" (much like the 1995 movie that inspired it) gained a huge amount of acclaim for its deep, philosophical themes and great cyberpunk action, with even those who weren't fans of anime praising it. Two decades on, however, and the series is beginning to show its age, with multiple parts of it not holding up as well as they used to. That's not to say that it’s a bad series now- far from it, in fact. It's just that it ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 27, 2024
Kidou Senshi Gundam SEED
(Anime)
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Overview:
In 1979, the mecha anime genre as people had come to know it was changed forever, with "Mobile Suit Gundam" blending robot fights with military science-fiction to make a more grounded version of the genre. This spawned a franchise which is still going strong even nearly half a century later. "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED", originally released in the early 2000s, is the ninth installment in this long-running franchise, as well as my first experience with it, and while it does have plenty of flaws, overall I would definitely consider it a worthy entry to start with. Story & World (8/10): "Gundam SEED" is set in the distant ... future, in a time where humanity as a whole has been separated into two sub-species; the genetically enhanced Coordinators and the completely ordinary Naturals. Of course, being genetically superior has caused many Coordinators to look down on Naturals, and many Naturals to envy Coordinators, a conflict that eventually led to a war that, at the beginning of the series, has lasted for almost a year. Since the war broke out, genetic enhancement has become illegal on Earth, with most Coordinators living on orbital space colonies called PLANTs, while Naturals live on Earth and space colonies owned by Orb Union. Enter Kira Yamato, a rare case of a Coordinator living among Naturals in the neutral space colony Heliopolis. One fateful day, however, Heliopolis gets unexpectedly attacked by ZAFT forces, the military of the PLANTs, and Kira and his friends are forced to evacuate the destroyed colony on the carriership known as the Archangel along with Earth Alliance soldiers whom they end up acquainted with, and Kira, being a Coordinator, ends up being their best chance of surviving against the ZAFT soldiers. And as if Kira getting pulled into a war he wanted no part in wasn't bad enough, he soon finds himself facing off against his childhood best friend, Athrun Zala, a ZAFT soldier who believes that Kira should be fighting for them instead of the Naturals. The story is pretty slow to start. Apart from the prologue and a couple of episodes in-between, basically every episode in the first quarter or so involves the Archangel flying through space, getting attacked by ZAFT and Kira having to fend them off in one way or another. While these episodes do a good job of familiarizing and endearing the world and characters to the audience, I nevertheless felt that it could get pretty repetitive and boring, though thankfully things do gradually get more and more interesting as the series goes on, and the second half in particular is much better than the first, with almost every episode in that half feeling like it progresses the plot in some way. As a whole, the series consists of 50 episodes, 48 if you don't include the recaps, which some versions don't even bother to include. That means the most boring part of the series is 12-13 episodes long, which may be way too long for some people. In other words, you are really going to need to be patient if you want to get the most out of the series. If you do manage to get into the series, however, you will be rewarded with a story that's actually very unique and well-written. One of the best parts is the angle it approaches racism from. Coordinators are genetically superior to Naturals and that is a fact, with the former being able to do so many things that the latter can't and do the things they can do so much easier. Yet in spite of the fact that Coordinators are the superior race, the racism many of them show towards Naturals is still portrayed as wrong, as even if Naturals aren't as competent as Coordinators, they're still far from helpless, with many of them proving to be very capable in their own right. Indeed, the only reason Kira is able to get as far as he does is because of the Naturals who help him. The racism is far from one-sided either, with many Naturals envying Coordinators for their superiority, and one Natural in particular being bar none the most despicable character in the entire series. This, along with Kira being a very kind boy who would rather not be fighting, proves that both races are, at their core, human beings, and are just as capable of compassion or cruelty as the other side is. Throw in a truly epic finale and satisfying ending and you have one great story. Just be forewarned that it's slow-paced in the beginning. Art & Animation (8/10): "Gundam SEED" is not a bad-looking series by any means, with battles of epic scale, great special effects and well-drawn character models and environments. Nevertheless, the fact that the series is more than two decades old really shows from time to time, with numerous rough edges and tons of recycled animation footage, especially during particularly hectic combat sequences. These problems are especially notable given that the series was animated by Sunrise, the same studio that animated "Inuyasha" and "Cowboy Bebop", which initially aired during and before the initial airing of "SEED", yet the visuals of those two shows have aged far more gracefully. Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): "Gundam SEED" has some really good music. The series has a total of four opening themes and three ending themes and all of them are worth listening to, with "Moment", "Believe" and "Although We Were Always Together" being my personal favourites. There's plenty of good music that plays during the episodes themselves too, though no particular tracks come to mind. The voice acting is also really good; I watched the series in the original dub done in Canada and it was great, with the performances of Matt Hill, Chantal Strand, Samuel Vincent and Mark Oliver (the voices of Kira, Lacus, Athrun and Le Creuset, respectively) being my personal favourites. Overall, I would consider the sound design to be the best part of the series. Characters (7.5/10): Kira is quite accurately described by Athrun as someone who's kind and smart but doesn't think anything through. He's very intelligent, being able to come up with some good strategies and being an engineer student before Heliopolis was destroyed. Being a Coordinator, he's also very intelligent, being able to rewrite the operating system for a complex war machine in under a minute. However, the series is all too happy to remind us that, genetic enhancements or not, he's still only human, and so participating in battle very quickly causes his mental health to take a plummet, being haunted both by the people he fails to save and those he's forced to kill. And if you thought killing would get easier for him overtime, you'd be dead wrong, as it absolutely never does, which is ironic since his name means "killer", and was used as a moniker by one of the most notorious mass-murderers in the history of anime. He's also pretty easily manipulated, with one character in particular taking advantage of him and him being too blinded by grief to realise it. As a whole, while he does make some pretty bone-headed decisions over the series, Kira nevertheless remains a character that's very easy to feel sorry for, and he remains very likeable throughout the whole series, even considering his pretty substantial character growth. My favourite character, however, would have to be Lacus Clyne, a very popular idol singer and the daughter of one of the chairmen of PLANT. She doesn't even appear until the seventh episode, and even then, her appearances throughout the first half of the series are quite rare. As time goes on, however, she proves herself to be far more important than she initially seemed. When first introduced, she comes off as a rather quirky girl, as evident by her stripping without issue in front of Kira not long after they first meet. Eventually, however, she proves herself to be incredibly smart and one of the only Coordinators to not look down on Naturals in any way, shape or form, instead trying her hardest to see the good in everyone. However, while she's just as kind-hearted as Kira, if not more so, she's also a much better judge of character than him and a lot wiser to boot, with her questioning people as to what they're fighting for is something of a running theme. While she's not a fighter like the other three main characters, she's no less capable than they are, and without her, the series would have gone in a very different, and undoubtedly much darker, direction. In general, Lacus is just adorable, with my only real complaint about her character being that I wish she could have gotten a bit more screentime. Next up is the second most important character of the series, Athrun Zala, who serves as Kira's main rival. While technically enemies due to being on opposite sides, there's never any doubt that Kira still sees Athrun as his best friend, and the feeling is definitely mutual. In fact, Athrun's main goal early on isn't to kill Kira, but to capture him, being convinced that he should be fighting for the Coordinators due to being one of them, and is convinced that the Naturals are using him to fight their battles despite Kira's insistence otherwise. Sadly, this results him being rather racist towards Naturals, though he never takes it to the same level as some other characters in the series, and overtime he begins to question if the path he's on is really the right one or not. His character arc is overall quite similar to that of Suzaku Kururugi from "Code Geass", though of course I can't say anything beyond that. The fourth and final main character is Cagalli Yula Athha, a girl whom Kira crosses paths with early on but doesn't get fully acquainted with until later. While not a Coordinator like the other three main character, Cagalli is still a very capable fighter and leader, though she's not above making some very rash decisions. Personality-wise, she's very brash and a massive tomboy, but also surprisingly kind-hearted, if not to the same extent as Lacus or Kira. While ultimately lacking the same amount of depth and development as Kira, Lacus and Athrun, Cagalli is still a character I found myself liking a lot, and she stands as the prime example of how Naturals can be just as awesome as Coordinators when push comes to shove, as well as providing a fair amount of comic relief in a series that has almost none. Even discounting the main four, "Gundam SEED" has a pretty whopping cast of characters, some unambiguously good, some antagonistic but still sympathetic and some truly evil. Examples include Kira's friends from the Heliopolis, who escape on the Archangel with him and serve as support roles, since they lack his fighting abilities. In particular, Miriallia Haw and Sai Argyle contribute a lot with their emotional support and brains, respectively. As for the Earth Alliance soldiers, there's Mu La Flaga, a seasoned veteran who acts like a mentor to Kira and proves to be surprisingly integral to the plot despite not being a central character, and Murre Ramius, the commander of the Archangel and the one who drags Kira and his friends into the war in the first place (due to them witnessing a top-secret military project i.e. a Gundam), though it's not a decision she makes lightly and she treats them as nicely as possible, even becoming something of a surrogate mother to them (to Mu's surrogate father). Sadly, there's also a number of characters I either didn't like very much (excluding villains, which are generally very good) or just weren't fleshed-out enough for me to form an opinion of them. A prime example is Kuzzey Buskirk, another one of Kira's friends from Heliopolis. Aside from his ridiculous name, the only way Kuzzey stands out is that he's more likely to doubt Kira than the others, and he ultimately gets no real focus or development, unlike pretty much every other Heliopolis student. One more thing I should say is that the series has an absolutely massive body count, even considering the type of series it is, so it's highly likely that a character you like won't live to the end. Enjoyment (7.5/10): It's obvious from the first two episodes that "Gundam SEED" is a very dark and heavy series, with death and destruction aplenty and tons of emotional turmoil, and it only gets worse overtime as the characters we've come to know get killed off one by one. There's also very little comic relief to lighten the mood, even if it is there. Nevertheless, while the series can be very grim quite often, it's never to the point of being unbearable, as the series manages to keep a hopeful tone throughout, and ultimately, you get the impression that things will somehow be alright in the end, not to mention, the mech battles are always entertaining. Overall: "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED" is a very good series that should appeal to most fans of the mecha genre, particularly the more gritty kind. The story is deep and interesting, the music and voice acting are well-done, the action scenes are great and the characters are likeable and well-developed. It's no "Code Geass", that's for sure, largely thanks to the slow-paced beginning and dated visuals, but it's still a great show that I am proud to call my first "Gundam" series, and I am definitely going to check out some other entries in the franchise in the near-future. Score: 8+8+8.5+7.5+7.5=39.5/50=7.9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 21, 2024
Tokyo Ghoul:re
(Anime)
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Note: This will be a review of both parts of the series. It will also contain some spoilers for the original series.
Overview: Everyone reading this likely already knows the bleak, tragic story of Ken Kaneki, a young man who gets turned into a flesh-eating monster and slowly but surely loses everything he holds dear despite attempts to prevent such. Well, "Tokyo Ghoul:re" is the sequel to that story, and far from being a mere cash-grab, stays true to the original "Tokyo Ghoul" formula while also improving on it in some ways. The result is an experience that is overall easier to digest, even if it does ... ultimately suffer from many of the same problems as its predecessor. Story (7/10): At the end of the original "Tokyo Ghoul" series, Ken Kaneki was supposedly killed by the CCG, the villainous faction Aogiri got exactly what they wanted and Anteiku, one of the few safe havens for ghouls was destroyed. Given that the series was stated to be a tragedy, you'd think that was the end of this tale, right? Wrong! Set two years after the events of the original series, "Tokyo Ghoul:re" follows the Quinx Squad, a special group of CCG investigators who underwent a procedure that allows them to obtain the special abilities of Ghouls in order to fight them but still being able to live as normal humans. Mentored by sensitive bookworm Haise Sasaki, the squad consists of the following people; the lazy-but-kind Saiko Yonebayashi, the stoic and abrasive Kuki Urie, the meek and effeminate Tooru Mutsuki and the short-tempered-but-friendly Ginshi Shirazu. Together, these five agent continue to investigate and subdue Ghouls in Tokyo while attempting to take down Aogiri, particularly their leader the One-Eyed Owl, otherwise known as Eto Yoshimura, who works as a novelist under the pen name Sen Takatsuki. Oh, and did I mention that Sasaki is actually Kaneki himself with amnesia? No, that's not a spoiler. They reveal it in the very first episode. One thing you'll notice about "re:" is that it has a more nuanced approach to the conflict between humans and Ghouls than its predecessor. The original "Tokyo Ghoul" did certainly attempt this, but the results were middling at best due to a large number of the Ghouls shown in the series being pointlessly cruel psychopaths who terrorised humans for the sake of it, making it hard to fault the CCG for hunting them down even if there were some good ones as well. In "re:", however, not only are kind Ghouls far from being uncommon, but the CCG is by no means innocent either, with them being revealed to have some truly despicable people among their ranks. As a whole, we have characters of all shades of morality on both sides of the conflict, ranging from heroic to completely despicable. The nuance is also shown with the Quinx Squad, who are all once regular humans who were turned into human-Ghoul hybrids, not too unlike how Kaneki was in the original series, yet still choose to protect humanity from Ghouls, all while learning in their own way that things are far more complicated than what they initially believe. While this second attempt at a grey-and-gray morality conflict is far from perfect, it's still an improvement over that of the original, resulting in a more complex and interesting plot. Unfortunately, the story does suffer from a number of big problems, both old and new. For one, the fact that the series has a two-year time skip is made very apparent by the fact that numerous characters from the original series have ended up on the opposite side of the one they used to be. In some cases this makes sense, like Kaneki being part of the CCG due to having amnesia, but there are also multiple other cases of characters having switched sides with little to no explanation as to why. For example, Hinami, whom those who watched the original series will remember as "that innocent, sweet Ghoul girl", is now a part of the villainous Ghoul faction Aogiri, despite being every bit the kind girl she was before, albeit a lot more jaded. Not helping matters is that the second season of the original series didn't follow the manga, which is likely to leave a good number of people even more confused. Furthermore, much like the original anime, the pacing of the series becomes way too fast for the story's own good in the second half, with many important events being shown briefly at best and mentioned in passing at worst. And while I won't spoil it, the final battle felt pretty anti-climactic considering all the build-up to it, though the actual ending to the series almost makes up for it. Art & Animation (8.5/10): "Tokyo Ghoul:re" has a notably different art style compared to that of the original anime, having a darker colour palate and slightly altered character models. Given the grim tone of the story, this is a change that is very much to the series' benefit, and the characters and environments are also more detailed, as well as there being a lot less censorship. It doesn't look flawless by any means, with there still being a number of stiff animations, amongst some other minor problems, but the visuals are overall an improvement over those of the original, which were already very good. Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): This is unfortunately one area that's a notable step back in comparison to that of its predecessor. Aside from the opening and ending themes, all of which are very good and worth listening to, there isn't all that much notable music to be found in "re:". In fact, arguably the best track is the iconic song from the original series "unravel", which plays halfway through the first season. On the other hand, the voice acting is as stellar as always, with all the voice actors of surviving characters from the original series returning to reprise their roles (with one notable exception) and there being plenty of fresh new talents as well, including Sarah Wiedenheft, Adam Gibbs, Mikeala Krantz and Daman Mills, who voice Saiko, Urie, Mutsuki and Ginshi respectively. Overall, the sound design is great, but it nevertheless shows that the original series had a pretty tough standard to follow. Characters (7.5/10): For the first part of the series, the Quinx Squad serve as the primary protagonists, which allows us to take a good look at things from the side of the CCG rather than the Ghouls, something we didn't really get to do during the original series. Of the four members, my personal favourite would have to be Saiko Yonebayashi, the only girl. She doesn't even officially appear until a few episodes in, and when she does, she doesn't exactly make the best first impression, being a lazy girl who prefers spending all her time cooped up in her room playing video games, which makes her something of a hindrance during mission. Even so, as time goes on, she proves herself to be the nicest member of the squad by a mile, being quick to see the good in others regardless of species, as well as a very capable and badass combatant when the situation calls for it. She's also pretty adorable in general, and provides some decent comic relief and lighthearted moments, something that was sorely lacking in the original series. Then there's the initial leader of the squad, Kuki Urie, who like Saiko makes a pretty bad first impression. But while Saiko is just lazy and childish at her worst, Urie is just plain unlikeable in the beginning, being very rude, selfish, arrogant and uncooperative, something that gets him demoted early on, though it isn't until much later that he finally learns his lesson. But learn it he eventually does, and he arguably goes through the most growth out of any other member of the squad, with his character in the second half being very different, and I most definitely mean that in a good way. Another member of the squad is Tooru Mutsuki, a fragile young boy who is overall the weakest member of the team. As a whole, his character is very similar to what Kaneki was like in the original series, from wearing an eyepatch to cover his Ghoul eye to his kind, sensitive personality and even becoming hardened later on as a result of trauma. But while Kaneki's development was ultimately for the better, the same cannot be said for Mutsuki, as he does a number of very questionable acts later in the series that made it very hard for me to like him. Finally, there's Ginshi Shirazu, who gets promoted to leader of the squad pretty early on due to Urie not being cut out for it. While he has a short temper and isn't particularly smart, with even Sasaki admitting he's not the sharpest person around, he's also very caring and looks out for his teammates, being generally the first person to stick up for others and acting as Urie's voice of reason, to middling success. Even so, there isn't a lot about him that you probably haven't seen before and of all the members of the squad, he is easily the least developed. Out with the new and in with the old. Haise Sasaki may be Kaneki with amnesia, but in a lot of ways, he's very much the same Kaneki we remember, which is likely why the series doesn't bother trying to hide the fact that the two of them are one and the same. He's still kind but fully capable of getting violent to protect those he cares about, and enjoys reading in his spare time. However, Sasaki is a lot more cheerful and outgoing than Kaneki was, which is likely because he can't even remember all the traumatic events he went through. Another character who's very different from what we remember is Touka Kirishima. No longer the angry, selfish teenager she was in the original, Touka has grown into a woman much calmer, kinder, more compassionate and feminine, though parts of her old personality still creep back in from time to time. And there is a load of other characters that we see returning from the original series as well, some of whom have changed a lot since the timeskip and some of whom have stayed exactly the same. Unfortunately, the fast pacing of the series means that a lot of them still end up underdeveloped, and I certainly can't say that I liked all of the new characters either. Enjoyment (7/10): Make no mistake, even with the added moments of comic relief, this is still a "Tokyo Ghoul" series through and through. Naturally, this means there are painful and tragic moments galore, with the series sometimes reaching levels of depression not present in the original, which is absolutely saying something. And while the series does manage to end on a note that's more sweet than bitter, a lot of you will probably find yourself wondering if it was worth all the pain and suffering. Overall: "Tokyo Ghoul:re" isn't just a worthy sequel to the original, it improves on the format of the franchise and ultimately feels more like the story the author wanted to tell in the first place. Sure, the actual story is still rushed as hell and the music isn't quite as good as before, but the more nuanced worldview, new characters, improved art style and more optimistic tone makes this an overall more accessible experience than its predecessor. Score: 7+8.5+8.5+7.5+7=38.5/50=7.7/10 Mean Score: 7.6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 29, 2024
Hataraku Maou-sama!
(Anime)
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Note: This will be a review of the series in its entirety.
Overview: "The Devil is a Part-Timer" is an anime that's pretty much exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, but in a good way. It plays with the isekai genre by having a bunch of demons and legendary heroes end up getting trapped in our world, after which they are forced to adjust to the mundane everyday lives of Earth, a premise that's both original and absolutely hilarious. While it's far from being the most complex or thought-provoking anime you'll ever watch, what it does succeed in being is the one thing that any anime ... should strive to be first and foremost- entertaining. Story (7/10): "The Devil is a Part-Timer" opens with two demons- the Devil King himself, Satan and his second-in-command Alciel- being driven to Earth after a failed attempt to conquer the fantasy world Ente Isla and being thoroughly defeated by the Hero Emilia Justina and her allies. Once there, they quickly learn that they have been reduced to the level of ordinary humans, with them being unable to use any kind of magic or demonic power, due to the lack of magic on Earth compared to Ente Isla or the Demon realm. As such, the two demons are forced to pose as humans in order to survive until they can find a way to return to their own world. Assuming the identities Sadao Maou and Shiro Ashiya respectively, Satan takes up a job at the fast food joint MgRonald's (I'll give you one guess where they got that name from) where he befriends his teenage co-worker Chiho Sasaki, and Alciel stays at home to manage the apartment they rent out. All well and good so far, until the hero Emilia arrives on Earth attempting to finish what she started, only to learn she doesn't have any power on Earth either. Realizing she's in the same boat as the demons, Emilia takes on the identity of Emi Yusa, and starts keeping watch over Maou and Ashiya to ensure they don't do anything bad. Hilarity ensues, but it isn't long before new threats begin to arrive on Earth, which may force these former enemies to set aside their differences. As I previously mentioned, the series is basically a reverse isekai- instead of someone from our world getting trapped in a fantasy world, various figures from a fantasy world get trapped in our world, and are forced to adjust to our way of living, making the series partially slice-of-life. There's still plenty of action, but the series puts just as focus on the characters' day-to-day lives, with Maou and Emi working at their part-time jobs and them and their friends getting into all kinds of crazy antics. In total, there are two seasons (three if you count the two parts of season 2 as separate seasons) consisting of a total of 37 episodes, with the first season having 13 episodes and the second having 24. The first few episodes focus mainly on the conflict between Maou and Emi, but it doesn't take long for it to be made clear that this is far from the typical hero-slays-the-demon story that Emi seems to think it is, with things proving to be far more gray and complicated. The result is a series that's almost consistently funny while also managing to tell a decent story. Unfortunately, there's a definite emphasis on "decent" in this case, as despite the unique premise, there are nevertheless occasions when the series just can't help but fall back on clichés. This is especially evident in the second half of the second season, which has so many familiar story beats that you could find in countless other fantasy stories, to the point that I almost ended up losing interest. That's not to say the final third of the series is bad, but it did feel like a step down in comparison to what came before it, with the first season being the best for gags and the first half of the second season being the best for general storytelling and character development. There's also the fact that, even towards the end of the series, there's still a few plot points left hanging and numerous questions left unanswered, which makes sense considering it doesn't adapt the entire light novel series, but still doesn't stop the conclusion from being alright at best. Art & Animation (8/10): The first season of "The Devil is a Part-Timer" is very good-looking, animated as it is by White Fox of "Steins;Gate" fame. The characters and environments are very well-drawn and detailed and the general animations and special effect are great as well. On the other hand, the second season, animated by Studio 3Hz, looks notably worse by comparison (which is especially bad given that it aired almost a decade after the first) with less detailed character models, somewhat stiffer animations and a notably duller colour palette. The second season doesn't look bad per se, but depending on how much you think visuals matter in the series or anime in general, this is something that you could very well find off-putting. Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): If there's one thing the second season has over the first, it's the music. The opening and ending themes of the first season are both very forgettable and I skipped them both every time, while the two opening and ending themes of the second season, while not spectacular, are a big improvement, with the second opening "With" being my personal favourite. Other than that, the soundtrack is decent but nothing to write home about. What's good all the way through, however, is the voice acting. Jessie James Grelle and Felicia Angelle do great jobs as Maou and Emi, respectively, as do Anthony Bowling as Ashiya, Tia Ballard as Chiho, Alex Moore as Suzuno and Aaron Dismuke as Urushihara. The series has a strong supporting cast as well, including Christopher Sabat, Monica Rial, Alexis Tipton and, in the second season, Sarah Wiedenheft. All in all, I would consider the sound design to be the series' high point. Characters (7.5/10): For the characters, we'll start with Satan, or Maou as he comes to be called by nearly everyone. When we're first introduced to him, Maou's main goal is for him and Ashiya to gain enough magic power to return to Ente Isla. However, it's not long before Maou's comedic traits begin to show, as about halfway through the first episode, he has clearly taken a liking to Earth and becomes determined to be the best employer MgRonalds has to offer, something he takes very seriously. In fact, despite being the Devil himself, Maou does far more to help Earth over the series than to harm it and is rarely anything short of kind and courteous to everyone he meets, with even how he treats Emi being based largely on how she treats him, which tends to be not very well at all. Granted, he does sometimes inconvenience Emi for the lolz, but that’s all he ever really is- an inconvenience. Furthermore, we eventually learn that he wasn't a particularly evil person even back in Ente Isla; when Emi calls him out for his past actions, Maou says that back then, he didn't really understand humans, and while this seems to be just an excuse at first, we later see just how much he really meant that, and that he genuinely didn't know just how much harm he was causing. Admittedly, there are some parts of his backstory that either don't add up or aren't elaborated on all that much, but as far as characters in the series go, Maou definitely stood out as my favourite. The second most important character, and my second favourite, is Emilia, or Emi as she's known when living in Japan. Despite being the Hero who defeated the Devil himself, Emi is, by all accounts, a teenager and so has a rather simplistic worldview. This is shown in her interactions with Maou, with her early on outright yelling at him for not acting like how she believes a demon should, and wondering why he didn't show the kindness he has back in Ente Isla, with the idea that people can change apparently never entering her head. Even so, Emi is also very honourable, as shown by the fact that she refuses to kill Maou on the grounds that he hasn't done anything on Earth to warrant it. What’s more is that she is soon forced to accept that the world is far more complicated than she thought, with even her own allies proving to be far from spotless. While she's rude, abrasive and sometimes annoying, she does have a soft side too, which she especially shows towards Chiho and her co-worker Rika. And really, when around the very creatures you grew up thinking were just bloodthirsty monsters and that killed your father and destroyed your home, why WOULDN'T you be rude and abrasive? In other words, Emi is a rare case of a tsundere whose attitude is completely justified, and her relationship with Maou proves to be consistently dynamic and entertaining. Next down on the character list is Maou's loyal second-in-command Alciel alias Shiro Ashiya, who is also his closest friend and housekeeper. While Maou works at MgRonalds in order to make the money they need to get by, Ashiya stays at home to manage their apartment and finances, as well as researching possible ways for them to get their magic back, essentially serving as the brains not only between the two of them, but of the group as a whole, though he's more than capable in a fight as well (well, most of the time, since he tends to end up out of commission a lot in later episodes). Loyal as he is, however, he and Maou do disagree from time to time (as best friends often do), with Maou often telling Ashiya to chill on the demon theatrics and Ashiya snarking at Maou's tendency to take his job too seriously, which gives Ashiya more depth beyond being a blindly loyal subordinate. There's also Chiho Sasaki, Maou's teenage co-worker who has a crush on him, and who learns of his and Emi's true nature early in the series. Chiho serves as the audience surrogate, being the only one of the main characters who is neither a demon nor a human who came from Ente Isla. While this does admittedly make her less interesting than the aforementioned Maou, Emi and Ashiya, and she can't contribute all that much to fights, she's still a very loveable character who serves to humanize the rest of the cast, providing plenty of hilarious and heartwarming moments alike. Then there's Suzuno Kamazuki, who is initially introduced as Maou and Ashiya's old-fashioned neighbour, but soon turns out to be a resident from Ente Isla, Crestia Bell, an assassin from the church that Emi was allied with before the series began. Initially coming to Earth to finish what Emi started (with her hatred of demons being bad enough to make Emi's look downright tame in comparison, as well as lacking her more honourable traits), she ends up becoming an uneasy ally of the other characters, though like Emi, she still has her guard up around Maou and the other demons. While I did like her character overall, she's ultimately my least favourite of the three main heroines, being neither as developed as Emi or as loveable as Chiho. The sixth and final member of the main cast, and also my least favourite, is Lucifer, who is a separate being from Satan in this series, being a former general of his who went rogue. Like Suzuno, Lucifer starts off antagonistic to Maou, but soon ends up taking residence in his and Ashiya's apartment, under the human name Hanzo Urushihara. However, even after changing sides, his personality is hardly any more pleasant, being a lazy, childish jerk who spends all of his time cooped up in a closest and generally does nothing to help his former boss and fellow general, who essentially take up the role of his exasperated parents. Even so, while he doesn't do an awful lot to help, he doesn't really make things worse for anyone either, and he can be counted on to be a good ally when the situation calls for it. There's a host of other characters, humans, demons and angels alike, but I think I've talked enough about the cast as it is. Enjoyment (8/10): The series starts with the Devil himself taking up a part-time job in a fast food restaurant and only gets more insane and hilarious from there. The first season has at least a couple of laugh-out-loud moments per episode, and while there's notably less emphasis on comedy in the second season, it nevertheless remains fun and entertaining throughout. As a whole, the series maintains a very lighthearted tone, with plenty of funny, heartwarming and awesome moments to go around, and while there are some dark and sad moments too, they are few and far between. Overall: "The Devil is a Part-Timer" is not exactly the most serious thing ever, but that's something that ends up working to its benefit rather than its detriment. Sure, it falls a little short in the storytelling department, particularly towards the end, and the quality of the visuals and sound design is pretty inconsistent, but this is still a series that's well worth checking out if you're a fantasy or comedy fan, as it's very fun to watch and has very likeable characters. Score: 7+8+8.5+7.5+8=39/50=7.8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 25, 2024
Dance in the Vampire Bund
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Overview:
Anime about vampires certainly aren't anything new, and Studio Shaft, the same people behind "Puella Magi Madoka Magica", is well-known for making such anime, having created several over the years. One such anime is "Dance in the Vampire Bund", which unfortunately is pretty average as far as the genre goes. While I did enjoy it quite a bit, it is nevertheless heavily flawed, with a number of good qualities being held back by a number of not-so-good qualities. Story (6/10): "Dance in the Vampire Bund" is set in modern-day Japan, in a world where vampires exist and have lived in isolation for centuries. Until now, that is, ... as Mina Tepes, the ruler of all vampires, announces their existence to the world, with the intention of creating a special district from her people known as the Bund, hence the title. Naturally, however, creating such a haven proves to be no easy task, as humans have believed them to be monsters, and there are many other vampires who believe in dominating humanity rather than co-existing with them. Besides Mina, the series also follows Akira Kaburagi Regendorf, a young amnesiac teenager who learns one day that he is actually a werewolf (yes, they exist in this world too) and the chosen guardian of Mina. Following this revelation, Akira joins forces with Mina as he gradually remembers more and more about his history with her, and they work together to establish peace between humanity and fight back against the forces that don't want that to happen. The idea of the story is quite promising, being about a supernatural race of creatures that are far more complex than believed by the public, and are trying to find their place in a world that fears and reviles them. However, the execution is disappointing; pacing is poor (the first episode is almost entirely about the existence of vampires being announced to the world, with Akira not even appearing until the second episode), exposition is rare and often vague and so many tired anime clichés are thrown at you, from high school to a love triangle, none of which are presented in a way that makes them feel fresh or interesting, meaning that they only serve to drag down the narrative rather than enrich it. The three races' focus in the story is also incredibly uneven, with the vampires getting the lion's share and there only being one major character in the other two races. This is especially jarring considering it's explicitly stated early on that many humans wouldn't accept the existence of vampires, yet we hardly see any conflict between the two races. The only human with any real focus in the series is Yuki Saegusa, who comes into conflict with Mina not because of any fear or hatred of vampires, but because they both have feelings for the same guy (Akira), which really cheapens the story's themes. As a whole, a good chunk of the story is spent on the conflict between Mina and other high-ranking members of her race, which just makes the series feel like countless other vampire stories. The series also ends with pretty much nothing resolved, as none of the series' main villains have been defeated and the ending makes it clear that Mina and Akira's work is far from done. As a whole, the story is just one small fraction of what it could have been. Art & Animation (8.5/10): "Dance in the Vampire Bund" is a very good-looking series, especially considering it came out in 2010. The characters are very well-drawn and detailed and the environments look great as well. That said, the visuals are far from flawless, with a major problem being the gratuitous fanservice, a lot of which involves Mina, who despite being centuries-old looks like a little girl. Most of the time, anyway; there are occasions when she transforms into her older-looking, true form, which is nearly always completely naked save for armour protecting her private parts (and even that's not guaranteed). The series also has this strange effect where the camera goes all over a given character's body and zooms in on them, which is pretty effective in some scenes but just plain silly in others. Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): The soundtrack is generally quite moody and atmospheric, even if no particular tracks that play during the episodes themselves come to mind. The opening and ending themes are great, especially the former which is unlike any other anime song I have ever heard, and good enough that I listened to it at the start of every episode. When it played at the start, that is, as there are occasions when the ending theme plays at the start of an episode and the opening plays at the end, which I can't remember being done in any other anime. The voice acting is great as well; Monica Rial really gets to show her range as the two forms of Mina and the dub has a strong cast in general that includes Eric Vale (Akira), Alexis Tipton (Yuki), Colleen Clinkenbeard, Todd Haberkorn and Patrick Seitz. All in all, the sound design is easily of the better parts of the series. Characters (7/10): For the characters, I'll start with Mina since she's the one the series opens with. As the queen of vampires, Mina acts very much like one would expect from someone of noble birth. She's haughty, aggressive, cocky and arrogant, and not above looking down on others. She's also very shameless, having no problem with others seeing her naked regardless of what form she's currently in. Even so, she does have a softer side too, though she generally only shows it in front of certain people, particularly Akira. Even so, while she's far from being one-dimensional, I overall found her to pretty underdeveloped, especially in terms of backstory, as her relationship with the main villains is never explored in detail, nor is it ever explained why she chose now of all times to reveal the existence of vampires to the world and create the Bund. She also has a tendency to fall into the unfortunate trap of "I'm the protagonist, so every action I take is right while anyone who opposes me is wrong.", which looks especially bad given that she's definitely not above doing some shady things throughout the series. None of these problems were enough to break her character for me, but as far as vampires go, I've definitely seen better. My personal favourite character is Akira Kaburagi Regendorf, from whose viewpoint we primarily see the series from despite it being ultimately Mina's story. Introduced as someone who can't remember anything about himself other than his name, Akira has grown to believe that he's just an ordinary teenager. However, upon meeting (or rather reuniting with) Mina, he learns that he is actually a werewolf and Mina's chosen guardian, and that he made a promise to Mina some time before the series began. As the show goes on, Akira remembers more and more about himself and his history with Mina, and slowly figures out just what she means to him, which makes for a pretty decent character arc, if not a particularly original one. Personality-wise, he's generally a kind person, especially compared to Mina, showing his kind side to the majority of people he interacts with rather than just a select few, though he can be ruthless and definitely isn't above killing when necessary. As a matter of fact, he ends up being the main focus of the last few episodes, during which Mina has been relegated to something of a damsel-in-distress role, which only further cemented which one I liked more. Rounding up the main cast is Yuki Saegusa, a human girl who took care of Akira during the time he had amnesia. And when I say "human", I mean she's completely normal, with no dark secrets or supernatural powers to speak of. While this does allow her to serve as a decent surrogate for the audience, it also means that she can't contribute all that much during fights, and so is always forced to the sidelines. Her main role in the series is to allow us to look at the world of vampires and werewolves through a human lens. Personality-wise, she's quite likeable, being very kind and, while initially being scared of vampires, coming to realise they're not so bad through interactions with Mina, and helps to humanise both her and Akira. Even so, it is disappointing that she isn't given much to do over the series. Aside from the main trio, there's a fairly large supporting cast, including Mina's entourage, Akira's fellow werewolves and other characters that are best left unmentioned. Unfortunately, the series being only 12 episodes long means there's only so much time for these characters to be developed, and ultimately almost none of them, the main cast included, are given a proper narrative conclusion. Enjoyment (7/10): When watching a gothic horror series, there are two things that the audience can expect; bloody action scenes and a grimdark atmosphere, and "Dance in the Vampire Bund" has both of those in spades. It also tackles some really sensitive subjects, including sexual extortion. However, while there is a ton of horror and violence, the series also contains plenty of lighter moments too, particularly in almost any scene between Akira and Mina. Even so, the series maintains an ultra-serious atmosphere throughout, with the moments of comic relief being few and far between. Overall: "Dance in the Vampire Bund" is yet another example of an anime that could have been so much more than it is, which probably isn't helped by the fact that it only covers a small part of the manga it's based off. It has a good concept, decent action scenes and some great visuals, music and voice acting, but these are sadly held back by a cliché ridden story and interesting but underdeveloped characters. It's worth a look if you're a vampire fan, but even then you're probably better off watching "Hellsing Ultimate" or "Seraph of the End" instead. Score: 6+8.5+8.5+7+7=37/50=7.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 23, 2024
Hai to Gensou no Grimgar
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Overview:
"Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash" is a deconstruction of the highly controversial isekai genre, taking the general premise of an ordinary human being transported to another world while removing the "power fantasy" elements associated with the genre. However, where "Evangelion", "Madoka Magica" and many others succeeded, "Grimgar" largely fails, resulting in a series that, while quite impressive in terms of visuals and sound, is actually worse than the very shows it tries to be a more realistic portrayal of. Story (5.5/10): The series is set in the titular Grimgar, a world where it's kill or be killed and the only way to make a decent living is ... to slay monsters. The protagonist and narrator of the story is Haruhiro, a young man who wakes up in this strange world with no memory of how he got there, along with many others in the same boat as him. With no other options open to them, they are quickly pressed into service as Trainee Volunteer Soldiers by a mysterious individual named Chief Britney. Eventually, Haruhiro forms a party from a bunch of people whom nobody else wanted in theirs, and from there the series follows this group of misfits as they struggle to get by day after day in this strange new world. The story has received no shortage of praise for the fact that the protagonist never becomes an all-powerful badass and he and his teammates remain as a group of average-level adventurers who can barely function as a party. Yeah, I don't buy it. What exactly has given people the bright idea that characters have to be on the level of a regular person in order to be compelling? Is it so unbelievable that the people we're seeing the story from are just better at the task in question than others? Believe it or not, the truth of reality is that there can and always will be people who are better than you at certain things without even trying, and personally I would rather follow characters like that fighting all sorts of monsters instead of watching a bunch of nobodies struggling with goblins for two-thirds of a series. It's the characters' personalities and experiences that make them feel real, not the threat of death or how likely they're going to succeed, and that sadly is something that so few people seem to get nowadays. And that leads me to another problem; we learn that not only do Haruhiro and the others have no idea how they ended up in Grimgar, but they have no memory of their lives before they got there. Like, seriously, what was the point of that? It serves no purpose narrative-wise and just seems to have been thrown in for cheap drama, or to avoid the trouble of giving the characters any backstories. The series is supposed to demonstrate how people who haven't played MMORPG games would fare in an isekai world, but even if they had played them, it wouldn't matter because they don't even have any memories at all, and so wouldn't remember playing them. Furthermore, the series is very slow-paced, with the characters often just lazing around for a good chunk of an episode during which nothing noteworthy happens. The series is clearly trying to be a combination of isekai and slice-of-life, but in doing so it fails to be a good example of either genre, lacking both the high-octane action of the former and the lighthertedness of the latter. Granted, things do get a bit more interesting in the final third of the series, but a lot of you will probably have given up on the series by then. I know the thought crossed my mind a couple of times. Art & Animation (8.5/10): Regardless of how you feel about "Grimgar" as a whole, I doubt anyone will be able to deny that the show's visuals are great. The series is filled with impressive detail, though the standouts would have to be the character models, which are really well-drawn in a highly vibrant art style, and are really well-animated to boot. There are admittedly some parts of the visuals I wasn't a fan of (for example, the backgrounds often look like half-drawn canvas paintings, similar to those found in "Nabari no Ou"), but that's just me, and overall, the visuals are definitely one of the show's high points. Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): "Grimgar"'s soundtrack is overall very good. Not the opening and ending themes, mind you, both of which were passable at best, but the insert songs that play during the episodes themselves. There are quite a few of them, with my favourites being "rainy tone" and "Growing", which play during the fourth and eighth episodes respectively and make for two pretty memorable scenes. The voice acting is great as well, even for the characters I wasn't a fan of, though I personally think Ricco Fajardo and Jeannie Tirado (who provide the voices of Haruhiro and Yume, respectively) were the show's best actors. In short, the sound design is just good all around, and is easily one of the better parts of the series. Characters (6.5/10): "Grimgar"'s character as a whole are pretty average. We'll start with Haruhiro, who is established right away as the main character due to being the narrator, in that he's the one who explains various things about the way things work in Grimgar as well as providing exposition regarding various techniques. He acts as the Thief of the group, wielding daggers as weapons and relying on speed over strength. Personality-wise, he is kind and polite but also reserved and sometimes timid. He's likeable enough, but I also found him to be kind of a doormat. Normally, that wouldn't be so bad, but he ends up assuming the role as leader of his party pretty early on. However, I never really felt that he fulfilled that role, as he tends to put up with the detrimental traits of his party members a lot more than he should, apparently not getting that an essential part of being a leader is knowing when to put your foot down. If I were to pick a favourite character, it would have to be Yume, the Hunter of the group who wields bows in combat. Yume acts as the heart of the party, being very kind and cheerful most of the time, as well as rather airheaded, but also not afraid to call out others when they're being jerks. Initially, she's an amateur shot, but her aim improves a great deal over the course of the series, and I would go so far as to say that she improves the most in terms of fighting ability out of everyone in the party. In general, Yume is just a likeable character all around, and pretty much the only member of the party I had no significant problems with. Then there's Shihoru, another female member of the party who becomes close friends with Yume. In contrast to Yume's cheerful and outgoing nature, however, Shihoru is a shy, timid, soft-spoken and overly apologetic individual who lacks self-esteem and tries to avoid attention. She serves as the Black Mage of the group, meaning her skills lean towards offensive magic. Sadly, a lot of her focus is spent on the commentary of her large breasts, which causes her to believe she's overweight even though she's anything but. At times, it felt like the series was treating her like eye-candy rather than a character, and it doesn't help that she never really develops beyond the typical dandere archetype, though I can say I did still like her and enjoyed her friendship with Yume. The third and final female member of the party is Merry, a Priest who joins the party a few episodes in and someone with far more experience than the rest of the group. Initially, she's aloof and uncooperative, often refusing to follow orders or heal the party when asked, and while it does turn out she has her reasons, it doesn't change the fact that she makes things more difficult for everyone since she refuses to see things from the others' point-of-view. Overtime, however, she does warm up to the others, though mostly through them accepting she has her own way of doing things. Next up is Moguzo, the main muscle of the group who, contrary to what his appearance might suggest, is very kind and second only to Shihoru as the most soft-spoken. However, while I do always appreciate characters whose personalities don't match their appearances, there isn't all that much to say about him beyond that, other than he's the main cook of the party. The last character I'm going to talk about is Ranta, who is not only my absolute least favourite character in the series, but one of my least favourite characters in any show, period. To put it in a way you'll understand, Ranta is essentially what happens when you take a typical school bully, throw him onto a remote island and force him to fight for his life, but instead of becoming a better person he chooses to make the lives of everyone else around him a living hell. He's brash, lecherous, unapologetic, often makes ridiculous boasts he can never back up and is a total asshole to all his teammates often when it doesn't make any sense for him to be. To give just one example of how utterly deplorable his behaviour is, in one episode he gets the bright idea to peep on the girls when they're taking a bath (which is objectively a crime), and not only does he refuse to apologise when inevitably caught in the act, he refuses to even admit he did anything wrong. Had Ranta simply been a little more humble, and maybe less confrontational, many of the party's problems would either lessen or disappear completely, but whatever moments of decency he has are few and far between and any good points he makes are completely overshadowed by how much of an utter jerk he is about them. And since the characters don't have backstories, we're given no explanation as to why he's like that. He just is. Honestly, it's a wonder the others don't just ditch him with all the trouble and grief he causes, since while they keep him around with the excuse that he's their best fighter, he's really not that much stronger than the rest of them, so finding someone else of his level can't be that difficult. Enjoyment (6/10): As much as the series tries to put forward a positive message about how humans can adapt to anything, the atmosphere throughout is absolutely grim (no pun intended), with the party often losing more than they gain and even when they succeed, they're sometimes left wondering if it was even worth it. It got to the point where I found myself wishing a monster would just come along and put them all out of their misery- and I feel like an asshole just saying that! Overall: "Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash" is proof that deconstructing a genre does not always make it better. The problem with it is that much like several other similarly overrated shows, it's too focused on being different or realistic at the expense of what actually matters. Limiting what you can do solely on the basis that it's been done before is the perfect way to write a boring story, and "Grimgar" is proof of that, which combined with its sub-par characterization and overly-bleak tone, makes this a series only for those who really want a break from the mainstream. Score: 5.5+8.5+8.5+6.5+6=35/50=7.0/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 23, 2024
Zankyou no Terror
(Anime)
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Overview:
I think it's a pretty safe bet to say that nobody in their right mind LIKES terrorism. In fact, when I was in school, I wrote an essay detailing just how much I hated it, from all the lives it's ruined to how little one ultimately has to gain from it. However, a fundamental part of humanity is that everyone does things for a reason. "Terror in Resonance", an original anime directed by Shinichiro Watanabe of "Cowboy Bebop" fame, is a thriller that looks at terrorism from a perspective rarely even considered- that of the terrorists themselves. Story (7.5/10): Set in modern-day Japan, "Terror in Resonance" revolves ... around a series of mysterious bombings that start occurring all over Tokyo. These bombings are caused by a terrorist duo calling themselves "Sphinx", who regularly upload videos containing cryptic riddles, which as it turns out are the keys to preventing the bombings. After initially not taking the videos seriously, disgraced ace detective Kenjiro Shibazaki is called in to investigate the bombings and stop Sphinx. What nobody knows, however, is that Sphinx are really a pair of teenage boys known simply as Nine and Twelve, who look like anyone else their age and are hiding in plain sight among Tokyo's citizens. One day, Lisa Mishima, a troubled teenage girl, ends up getting caught up in a middle of one of Nine and Twelve's terrorist attacks, and ultimately agrees to become their accomplice in exchange for them saving her life. The series then follows Nine and Twelve as they continue their bombings, Shibazaki's attempts to stop them and Lisa struggling to deal with the decisions she's made. The series starts off like a standard thriller, with the only difference being that the identities of the culprits are known from the start and we see things primarily from their perspective, with the detectives' side of things being important but not focused on nearly as often. A few episodes into the series, however, it starts to become apparent that there is far more to these mysterious boys than meets the eye, and that while their actions may be villainous, they aren't THE villains of the story, with all of the decisions they make being done in order to make a point to the world, though to say what that is would end up giving away the entire story. This also has an effect on the detectives' side of things, as overtime Shibazaki's goal shifts away from stopping Sphinx and more on uncovering the conspiracy that led them to their actions. All of this makes for a story that evolves considerably and has plenty of twists to go around, which will often leave you wondering what's going to happen next. Unfortunately, while the story may be interesting, it is far from flawless. For starters, I never really felt like everything tied together properly, with the main characters often running into obstacles that only really serve to hinder their objective rather than add anything new or exciting to the plot. This is not helped by the series only being 11 episodes long, meaning that there just isn't enough time to flesh-out these ideas, making them ultimately come off more as distractions than anything. What's worse is that Nine and Twelve's past is only ever revealed in bits and pieces, with the conspiracy that created their existence supposedly dating back nearly 70 years but is only ever explored in the bare minimum of detail. Even so, the story does manage to wrap things up quite well, and the ending just about makes up for the bumps in the middle. Art & Animation (8.5/10): "Terror in Resonance"'s visuals are an early product of studio MAPPA, who since then have gone to make numerous highly popular anime, including the final season of "Attack on Titan". And while the show's visuals may not be quite as good as those found in their more recent anime, they're still well-above average, with very well-drawn character models (give or take a few rough edges), beautiful environments and fantastic special effects, particularly those of the bombings. Overall, the show's visuals are definitely one of the main highlights. Sound & Dialogue (9/10): "Terror in Resonance"'s soundtrack is superb, as it is composed by veteran Japanese composer Yoko Kanno. The opening theme "Trigger" is a song that is very haunting and perfect to start an episode of a series like this, and the ending theme "Dareka, Umi o" is truly chilling. My absolute favourite track, however, would have to be the beautifully somber "Von", which plays during one of the late episodes and singlehandedly makes the scene it plays in one of the most memorable in the entire series. The voice acting is great as well, with Aaron Dismuke being the highlight as the childish but ruthless Twelve, though Christopher Bevins and Robert McCollum (who provide the voices of Nine and Shibazaki, respectively) definitely come close seconds. In short, the sound design is the best part of the series without question. Characters (7/10): While Nine and Twelve are both working towards the same goal, personality-wise the two are opposites in many ways. Nine is stoic, mature and no-nonsense, Twelve is cheerful, childish and mischievous. Nine prioritizes their mission above all else, Twelve is more laid-back and takes time to do other stuff. Nine doesn't trust others and dislikes the idea of bringing in people from the outside, while Twelve doesn't really see what the big deal is. Naturally, their conflicting personalities means that the two often have a clash in opinions, though it's rarely to the point of arguing. Furthermore, while they may not always agree, there's never any doubt that they care for each other a great deal, and when they're on the job, their teamwork is pretty much flawless, with Nine serving as the mastermind who comes up with the plans for the duo and Twelve being the more active of the two, being skilled at operating vehicles and stealing things. In other words, Twelve's the muscle, Nine's the brains. Overtime, we learn more about the duo and their motivations, though this does come at the cost of making some of their early actions come off as weirdly out-of-character for them, giving the impression that the writers were just making things up as they went along. If I were to decide which of the two I preferred, it would have to be Twelve, as he has more of a character arc and I liked how he sometimes shows he wishes to be more than just a terrorist, unlike Nine who seems to be just resigned to being a mere messenger. Next is Kenjiro Shibazaki, a former ace detective of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department who was demoted to its record division for insubordination but is brought back in to solve the Sphinx case. Even early on, it's made clear that Shibazaki is the show's most conventionally heroic character. Rather than being an Inspector Javert-esque character who ends up obsessed with catching Sphinx to the exclusion of all else, Shibazaki is just as focused on understanding the terrorists as he is on stopping them, and is one of the first people to realise that something doesn't add up when it comes to the bombings. While he's not the most interesting detective character, he's likeable if nothing else, and if anyone in the series can be called a "good guy", he can. There's also Lisa Mishima, whom I can't say I liked very much. The story portrays her as someone lonely and miserable as a way to make us understand why she would end up joining a pair of terrorists, but she instead comes off as a whiny brat who blames everyone but herself for her situation, even though Nine made it clear to her early on that she is responsible for the path she takes. It doesn't help that she's pretty much useless, with nearly all of her attempts to help out failing miserably at best and backfiring horribly at worst. In the end, the only thing she contributes to the series is being someone for Twelve to cherish and protect, which ultimately serves to enhance his character more than it does hers. If I were to name a character I really didn't like, it would have to be Five, a mysterious FBI agent who joins the hunt for Sphinx a few episodes in and has some sort of connection to Nine and Twelve, both of whom greatly fear her. While it's pretty clear she wasn't meant to be liked, the real reason I didn't like her was because she ends up turning the series from a realistic terrorism thriller to something more akin to "Death Note". This proves to be very much to the show's detriment, unlike Lisa, who while not particularly relevant to the plot, didn't really take anything away from it either. Even worse is that her relationship with Nine and Twelve is barely even explored, to the point that it's never completely explained how they ended up on opposite sides to one another despite sharing identical circumstances. In general, one of the biggest problems I had with the series (if not THE biggest) is that it focuses too much on the story and not enough on the characters within the story, with the majority of them existing to serve their roles and little else. For example, most of the detective characters only really exist to assist Shibazaki in his investigations, with him being the only one with a known first name. Enjoyment (7/10): Considering this is a series about terrorism, it should go without saying that "Terror in Resonance" is a very dark and bleak series, which is evident from the very first episode. Our protagonists are a pair of terrorists who go around bombing buildings, yet they still manage to be among the most sympathetic characters, with almost all the other characters being either incompetent or just plain corrupt. There are some lighter moments to be found, but they are few and far between and the series ultimately ends on a bittersweet note that puts a particular emphasis on "bitter". Overall: "Terror in Resonance" is a unique series that is unlikely to appeal to everyone, but those who aren't turned off by the premise will probably end up liking it. While its short length does work against it from time to time and the characterisation leaves something to be desired (especially that of the female characters), this is still well worth a look if you're a thriller fan, with a good story, great visuals, exciting set-pieces and fantastic music. Score: 7.5+8.5+9+7+7=39/50=7.8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 18, 2024
Amagi Brilliant Park
(Anime)
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Mixed Feelings
Overview:
"Amagi Brilliant Park" is an anime that's particularly hard to categorise. It's not really an isekai, since the fantastical world it takes place in actually exists on Earth. It's not really an adventure series, since the majority of the story takes place in a single location. However, it's not really a slice-of-life series either, as the crazy antics the characters get up are a matter of life and death for the majority of them. The end result is a series that doesn't really know what it is, and while certainly enjoyable, it never really makes the most out of any of its parts. Story (6/10): The series ... opens with Seiya Kanye, a highly intelligent but very egotistical teenager, getting forcibly dragged to the titular Amagi Brilliant Park by a young woman named Isuzu Sento. And by "forcibly", I mean she literally points a huge, ridiculous-looking gun at his head and even fires it to get him to accept. Once there, however, Seiya quickly learns that this is no ordinary amusement park- rather, it's staffed by fantastical beings (including Isuzu herself) who hail from a magical realm called Maple Land. Soon enough, Seiya meets Princess Latifah, the ruler of Maple Land who informs him that the park has been underperforming for the past several years and if they don't mange to get 250,000 visitors in the next 3 months, the park will be forced to close its doors forever. And if that's not enough, all of the park's inhabitants thrive off a life force known as Animus, which on Earth can only be obtained by the visitors having fun, which means that if the park closes, all the beings who live there will disappear forever. After a fair amount of reluctance, Seiya ultimately accepts the position as manager of the park in order to attract the visitors they need to by the deadline. The problem with the story is that it ultimately fails to be engaging. The fact that the premise is about a guy trying to prevent an amusement park from closing means that it could easily be an in-depth study about how difficult it is to run a business, but sadly that's not the case. The strategies Seiya comes up with aren't huge, revolutionary ideas that only a genius like him could conjure up. No, he comes up with really basic business strategies that anyone with even the slightest amount of knowledge in the field could come up with, like closing the park temporarily for renovations, extending the opening hours, reducing the prices on everything and forcing the staff to clean up their broken, ugly and frequently dangerous attractions. The fact that such fundamental ideas never once occurred to these fantastical beings just begs the question as to why the park didn't shut down years ago, the obvious answer being that we'd have no story then. Even beyond that, however, the whole "save the park" plotline is only front and centre in the beginning of the series and near the end of it. In-between that, the majority of episodes are just self-contained stories where the main cast run into some kind of strange inhabitant of the park or get in to some other kind of crazy situation. While an episodic format isn't inherently a bad thing, the problem is that the episodes vary wildly in quality and I never felt like it was executed seamlessly, since some of them ultimately contribute nothing to the story as a whole. Don't get me wrong, though. There is some good storytelling to be found here, particularly near the end of the series where some major revelations are made. Even then, though, the main conflict of the series is ultimately resolved in the second-to-last episode, with the last episode and OVA just being pointless filler episodes, making me wonder why they even existed at all. Art & Animation (8.5/10): "Amagi Brilliant Park" was animated by- wait for it- Kyoto Animation, and it shows as it is a really good-looking series. The characters are all very well-drawn with a ton of variety in the designs and the environments look fantastic as well. Even so, the animations are somewhat stiff in places, and overall it falls a bit short of standing aside KyoAni's best efforts, including "Kanon", "Love, Chunibyou & Other Delusions" and especially "Clannad". Even so, there's no denying that the visuals are the show's greatest strength. Sound & Dialogue (8/10): "Amagi Brilliant Park"'s soundtrack definitely isn't anything special. The opening and ending themes are both fairly forgettable and while there are some decent tracks that play during the episodes themselves, there weren't any that I ended up desperate to know the names of or anything. The voice acting is kind of hit-and-miss as well; Adam Gibbs, Molly Searcy and Cindy Lou Parker (who sounds suspiciously similar to long-time veteran Monica Rial) all do great jobs as Seiya, Isuzu and Latifah, respectively, but there are some other voices I really wasn't a fan of. Prime examples include Moffle, Macaron and Tiramie, three characters who have high-pitched childlike voices even though they're explicitly confirmed to be adult men. Adult men who look like cute animal mascots, sure, but adult men nonetheless. Characters (7/10): One of the first things we learn about Seiya Kanye is that he has a superiority complex, meaning he constantly brags about how awesome he is. Naturally, this gets on the nerves of a lot of people, including Isuzu, and it's implied to be the reason he doesn't have any friends before working at the park. Even so, while he can certainly be annoying at times, I didn't find him insufferable, especially since many of his reactions to things are less him being egotistical and more how a human being would react e.g. not instantly agreeing to help save the park after the less-than-ethical ways Isuzu attempted to recruit him. Furthermore, he does warm up to Isuzu, Latifah and the rest of the park's staff quickly enough, with the exception of Moffle, and the feeling is mutual there. The real problem with him is that several aspects of his character, like him being a former child actor, are almost completely unexplored, which is bad since it's heavily implied that that's the very reason he's so messed up. Additionally, he obtains the ability to read minds pretty early on, but he uses it so rarely that I honestly forgot he even had it for a while. In short, while he's certainly not a bad protagonist, he ultimately comes off as a poor man's Lelouch vi Britannia. If I were to choose a favourite character, it would have to be Isuzu Sento, a former member of Maple Land's Royal Guard and the acting manager of the park until Seiya took over. Much like Laura Bodewig from "Infinite Stratos", Isuzu can easily be described as a female version of Sousuke Sagara from "Full Metal Panic!" (which makes sense since the novels of both series were written by the same person). In the same vein as Sousuke, Isuzu is a skilled and stoic soldier who has been dropped in a casual environment and due to her upbringing, suffers from severe social ineptness and usually resorts to her weapons to deal with any problem she faces, which is used for both humour and drama alike. In fact, the very reason she threatened Seiya with her gun to get him to save the park is because she genuinely didn't know that was a less-than-appropriate way to ask for someone's help (that and she was desperate and had to get him to accept no matter what). Naturally, her lack of social skills makes her a terrible manager, hence why she gets Seiya to take over. While she can be very blunt and violent and often makes things worse with her actions, I overall found her easier to put up with than Seiya, since she often doesn't know when she's being rude or offensive, unlike Seiya who knows full well he's being rude but doesn't care. As a whole, though, she comes up as little better than a shadow of her male counterpart, lacking both the complexity and development that Sousuke had. The third and final main character is Princess Latifah, the actual manager of Amagi Brilliant Park who is unable to perform her duties due to her poor health. In contrast to Seiya's narcissism and Isuzu's bluntness, Latifah is consistently a very kind and friendly girl, frequently showing more concern for the mascots working under her than she is about any of her own problems. Unfortunately, she doesn't get nearly as much focus in the story as either Isuzu or Seiya, with the true importance to her character not being revealed until towards the end of the series. As for the rest of the park's staff (and there's an awful lot of them), some get their time in the spotlight, while others are pretty much just there and contribute very little. On the other hand, there are some characters that I felt got way too much screen time, most notably the three main park mascots Moffle, Macaron and Tiramie, all of whom I found to be very annoying. And while Moffle becomes a lot more likeable as the series progresses, the other two are little more than annoying, perverted comic relief, with Tiramie in particular frequently proving to be more trouble than he's worth (though he does end up on the butt end of many jokes in the series, which helps to balance this out). All in all, the cast of characters is not great, which is an unfortunate consequence of having so many of them in a 13-episode anime. Enjoyment (7.5/10): The stakes of the series may be extremely high, but "Amagi Brilliant Park" is a comedy at heart. While some of the humour wasn't really to my liking, a good portion of it was, particularly any of it that involves Isuzu in some capacity. What's more is that while the series isn't afraid to get dark at times, particularly towards the end, it nevertheless maintains a hopeful tone throughout, and you almost never have any doubt that things will turn out alright in the end. Overall: "Amagi Brilliant Park" isn't really like any anime you've seen before, but that comes at a cost of it failing to put forward any genuine identity. While the visuals are great and there are some pretty hilarious moments, the soundtrack is completely average, the characters range from likeable-but-underdeveloped to just plain unlikeable and the story is nowhere near as smart as it could have been. All of this results in a series that is fairly difficult to recommend, and as far as KyoAni works go, this one ranks among the bottom of the list. Score: 6+8.5+8+7+7.5=37/50=7.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 17, 2024
Shingetsutan Tsukihime
(Anime)
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Overview:
"Lunar Legend Tsukihime" is notable for being the first anime adaptation of one of Kinoko Nasu's stories, being first released way back in 2003. In sharp contrast to ufotable's highly regarded adaptations of "Kara no Kyoukai" and the "Fate" series, however, this particular adaptation has a very negative reputation among fans of the novel it's based off, to the point that a good number of fans would rather pretend it never even existed. While I personally think that's a bit of an overreaction, if only because I haven't read the novel myself, it is nevertheless easily the worst Nasuverse anime I have seen. Story (6/10): "Tsukihime" tells ... the story of Shiki Tohno, a 17-year-old member of the prestigious Tohno family, who has been living with his distant relatives for the past eight years after being involved in an accident that cost him some of his memories and enables him to see "Death Lines"- lines by which things, living or not, will eventually break when they die. Naturally, being able to see death everywhere he looks quickly got to Shiki, and he was exiled by his father due to his injury. Presently, Shiki has been able to avoid seeing the lines due to being given special glasses by a mysterious sorceress, which is pretty much the only reason he's been able to live a normal life. One day, without warning, he is summoned back to the main Tohno household by his younger sister Akiha, who has recently taken over as head of the family. He returns as asked, but on the way, he encounters a young woman with blonde hair and, in a dreamlike state, kills her. On his way to school the next day, however, he encounters the woman again, alive and well, and soon after learns her name is Arcueid Brunestud, and that she is a vampire who is hunting another one of her kind in the city. Realizing that his curse could be of some use after all, Shiki decides to team up with Arcueid in order to better her chances at defeating the vampire she's after. While the premise of the story is certainly a unique one, the series sadly only manages to scratch the surface of its potential. The original visual novel had a total of five different routes, while the anime generally only focuses on one of these. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the series is only 12 episodes long, despite being released during a time where the vast majority of anime were 24-26 episodes at the bare minimum. The result is an anime that moves way too fast for my liking and almost never slows down, often jumping from one plot point to the next with often only the tiniest amount of warning or build-up, and several confrontations being pretty anti-climactic. In fact, Shiki ends up killing a major antagonist really early on, to the point that I had a hard time processing that said villain was gone for good. More problems arise when the series attempts to incorporate elements from multiple routes, creating various scenes that are barely or never elaborated on. Gaps regarding the main mystery of the series (Arcueid's hunt for vampires and the backstory of the Tohno family) are eventually filled in, although it piles on so many twists and revelations that they become a cheap dramatic device for pushing the story forward (if that, given that numerous twists don't really lead to anything down the line), and often causing the series to lose focus. While there is some good storytelling to be found, mostly in regards to the growing relationship between Shiki and Arcueid as well as a number of good character interactions, the series ultimately ends without things ever feeling adequately resolved, and overall the story struck me as one that just does not work as an anime. Art & Animation (7.5/10): Visually, "Tsukihime" doesn't look great, but it doesn't look awful either. The character models and environments are well-drawn and detailed for the most part, and the dark palette does fit the tone of the series quite nicely. However, the animations and special effects can be pretty lacking and the series has a whole doesn't look very good in poor lighting, which is especially bad considering that most, if not all, of the main conflict takes place at night-time. Overall, I would definitely consider this to be one of J.C. Staff's worst efforts, though that's probably to be expected considering it was also one of their first. Sound & Dialogue (8.5/10): If there's one thing that makes "Tsukihime" worth sitting through, it's the music. The series has plenty of moody, atmospheric tracks that perfectly fit the gothic feel of the series and really serve to emphasize the scenes they play in. My absolute favourite, however, would have to be the opening theme, "The Sacred Moon", which I listened to each time I started a new episode. For the longest time, I thought that an anime opening wouldn't work without lyrics but this series proved me dead wrong, and the ending theme "Rinne no Hate ni", while not quite as memorable, is great as well. The voice acting isn't bad either, with Steve Staley and Michelle Ruff delivering the best performances as Shiki and Arcueid, respectively, though Wendee Lee's Ciel and Julie Ann Taylor's Akiha are certainly adequate as well. Overall, the sound is easily the best part of the series. Characters (6.5/10): From the moment Shiki returns to the Tohno mansion, it's clear that he has great difficulty adjusting to their old-fashioned way of life, which makes sense given that he had lived a normal life for the past eight years. He's very uncomfortable with being treated like nobility and even tries to get the maids of the household to not call him "Master", to limited success. However, while he's far from being prim and proper, he's nevertheless a very kind and polite person to most people he meets. Well, most of the time, as he has a mysterious other personality that takes over whenever he encounters a supernatural being, though he initially has no memory of when he's in this state, let alone any control over it. Unfortunately, while he's far from a flat character and has more than a few awesome moments, I found that quite a number of aspects of his character were either underdeveloped or never properly explained, up to and including the origins of his other personality, especially since it's explicitly confirmed to be not of Tohno origin. Even so, everything I mentioned before means that he still stood out as my favourite character My second favourite character is, without a doubt, Arcueid, the titular "Moon Princess" who is both a vampire and a vampire hunter simultaneously. While the story is told from Shiki's perspective, it primarily follows Arcueid's quest to hunt down other vampires, a quest Shiki gets dragged into against his will after he temporarily killed her, weakening her in the process. As such, it's as much her story as it is Shiki's. While she is very ruthless in combat, outside of it she displays a surprisingly innocent and playful personality, which stems from the fact that she's never had what you would call a "normal" life, having spent her whole life either hunting vampires or hibernating. In fact, several parts of the series involve Shiki and Arcueid just hanging out and doing things that Arcueid deems as "useless", which makes for some pretty decent character moments. Even so, her character arc really isn't anything I haven't seen done many times in other stories (the "Fate" series included), nor is it executed in a way that makes it stand out from other examples. Another notable character is Akiha Tohno, Shiki's aforementioned younger sister, who is generally very strict with him and expecting him to adapt to the Tohno way of life. She's also a rather judgmental person, having a tendency to hate people very quickly before she's ever really gotten a chance to know them, a trait I was definitely not a fan of. However, while she isn't the nicest person, there's no doubt that she cares for Shiki, and overtime she softens up a bit and even shows willingness to compromise if it'll make him more comfortable. There's also Ciel, Shiki's senior in school who appears to be at odds with Arcueid for some reason, though I can't really say anything else about her without giving away some kind of spoiler. Neither of these two character are anywhere near as fleshed-out as Shiki or Arcueid (which aren't particularly high bars to clear), but they're likeable enough and I can't say the series would be better off without them. Beyond these four, however, the other characters are pretty weak, with there only being Akiha's two maids Hisui and Kohaku and Shiki's classmates at school, none of whom were all that interesting. The villains are pretty bland as well, with the first one in particular proving to be completely irrelevant to the story and serving as nothing more than some really powerful foe for Shiki to defeat. Enjoyment (6.5/10): It should be obvious from the genre alone that "Tsukihime" is most definitely not for the faint of heart, and the series proves that from the very first episode, with even the sudden appearance of Arcueid after Shiki kills her being very unsettling, and the series only getting darker and grimmer from there. While there is some moments of levity, like the episode where the cast go to an amusement park, the dark tone permeates throughout, culminating in an ending that is bittersweet at best. Overall: While "Tsukihime" is a decent anime on its own terms, as a Nasuverse anime it's nothing short of a disappointment. The music is certainly great, but it unfortunately falls short in almost every other department, be it the story, characters or visuals. Gothic horror fans will enjoy it, but even they're probably just better off reading the novel (specifically, the remake that was released in recent years). Maybe I'll check it out myself one of these days. Score: 6+7.5+8.5+6.5+6.5=35/50=7.0/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 12, 2024
Seiken no Blacksmith
(Anime)
add
Mixed Feelings
Overview:
"The Sacred Blacksmith" is an unfortunate example of a series that, in the hands of a better writer, could have been great, if not brilliant. It has some interesting ideas with a lot of potential, but the execution of these ideas are shaky at best, resulting in a series that is rather clichéd and predictable. While I personally enjoyed it quite a bit, unless you're a huge fan of medieval fantasy stories, I would recommend thinking twice before checking it out. Story & World (6.5/10): "The Sacred Blacksmith" is set in a world that appears to be modelled after medieval Europe, which several decades ago was ravaged ... by a horrific war where many people used a powerful weapon known as the Demon Contract, where humans sacrifice their bodies to become powerful demons. Eventually, people realized the damage the contracts had caused the land, with the surviving nations making peace and banning the use of the Demon contracts. Presently, in the city of Houseman, former noblewoman Cecily Campbell has recently become a knight, like her father and grandfather before her. After being beaten by a mad veteran of the war, her family's sword breaking as a result, Cecily ends up getting saved by a mysterious young man. He is Luke Ainsworth, the titular 'Sacred Blacksmith', who is able to forge katanas using magic with the help of his equally mysterious assistant, a young girl known only as Lisa. Impressed by Luke's katana, a weapon she has never seen before, she decides to have Luke forge one for her, though he's less than willing to do so. Soon after, Cecily encounters a woman named Aria, who is actually a Demon Sword that can take human form. The series then follows these four very unlikely allies, as they gradually learn that despite having ended nearly half a century ago, the war still influences the land even to this day. "The Sacred Blacksmith" has some pretty good worldbuilding, all things considered, with the history of the world being revealed early enough in the series. We also learn that despite the horrific nature of Demon Contracts, demons themselves are not inherently evil, which is shown no better than with Aria, who is nothing but kind, helpful and heroic. Furthermore, most Demon Swords are unable to take the form of a human, with Aria being seen as the exception rather than the norm. Unfortunately, while the worldbuilding is certainly adequate, the actual storytelling leaves a lot to be desired. For starters, it's pretty predictable. It's obvious from the very first episode that Lisa is not a normal girl, with her pointy ears and the fact that she can enable Luke to forge weapons out of nowhere being dead giveaways. However, exactly what is so unusual about her isn't revealed until the last arc of the series, and when it is revealed it's treated like some sort of shocking revelation, almost like we ourselves hadn't figured out by then that there was something up about her. The series is divided into three arcs, each of which last 4 episodes. While this does ensure that the series never stays in the same place for too long, the arcs themselves feel pretty disjointed from each other, with the second arc in particular having almost nothing to do with the first and third even if the story told in the arc itself isn't necessarily bad. The series is also surprisingly unadventurous, taking place entirely in Homesrun and the area surrounding it, with various other parts of the world being mentioned but never shown. Most of these problems can be explained by the fact that "The Sacred Blacksmith" is originally a series of 16 light novels, with the anime only adapting the first three, ultimately ending with very few plot points resolved. But with the anime having first aired a decade and a half ago at this point, and the animation studio Manglobe having since disbanded, it's extremely unlikely that we will ever see the series continued. Art & Animation (8/10): Visually speaking, "The Sacred Blacksmith" looks nice enough. There's a number of good character designs that are all well-drawn and detailed and the environments look adequate as well, even if there are also a good few rough edges and some gratuitous fanservice, including a few uncensored shots of Cecily's breasts, which is probably the only reason the series has a Mature rating. The special effects are great as well, particularly the one when Luke is magically forging a katana. As a whole, the visuals are certainly good, especially for their time. Sound & Dialogue (8/10): There really isn't much to say about "The Sacred Blacksmith"'s soundtrack. It's not terrible by any means, but there really isn't any track in it that I care to remember. The opening and ending themes are also totally forgettable, and I skipped both of them pretty much every time. The voice acting, on the other hand, is great, with Cherami Leigh delivering the absolute best performance as Cecily, though Blake Shepard, Anastasia Munoz and Monica Rial (who voice Luke, Aria and Lisa, respectively) are no slouches either. That said, Colleen Clinkenbeard and Brina Palencia both felt pretty underused, with their characters only having a few lines of dialogue each, if that. As a whole, the sound design is good, but I've certainly heard better. Characters (7/10): While Luke is the show's namesake, it's clear from the first episode that the real main character is Cecily, though that admittedly takes a bit of getting used to. When the series begins, Cecily has only been a knight for a month and it shows, with her needing to be saved no less than three times over the course of two episodes. There's even one point where she beats up Luke for something that was more her fault than anything, though thankfully this only happens once and she's quick to apologise. After teaming up with Aria, Cecily becomes progressively more badass and competent, a great example being in the second arc, where she goes from struggling with three powerful enemies to singlehandedly defeating those same three enemies by the end of the arc. As a whole, Cecily serves as the show's "emotional centre", albeit more brutally honest than most; specifically, she calls out more than one character for obsessing over the past, as while she knows it can be overwhelming, they should focus on the present since that's what's most important. Considering Cecily herself lost her father to an illness before the series began, it's likely that she's had plenty of experience with that way of thinking, which if anything makes the message stronger since it means she knows what she's talking about. In short, while I didn't like her much at first, overtime she became my favourite character, not that there was much competition. Next up is the man himself, Luke Ainsworth, who is, to put it bluntly, an asshole, being highly dismissive of Cecily from the moment he meets her for pretty much no good reason. It's one thing to refuse to make a weapon for her, but coldly telling her she's not cut out to be a knight is definitely crossing a line, especially when he does so after knowing her for only a day at most. Furthermore, despite the series being named after him, the amount of focus he gets in the series is surprisingly small; he barely appears in the second arc and it isn't until the last arc that we finally learn how he became the way he is. And yet when his past is revealed, it turns out to be not quite as awful as he himself remembers it to be, making it hard to know exactly how much he was meant to be sympathised with. All of that being said, he does have a fair number of awesome moments and loosens up a fair amount by the end, so I certainly can't say that I hated him. Then there's Aria, who as I already mentioned is a Demon Sword that can take the form of a human, with all that implies. Despite being treated as a weapon by most people, Aria is very much a living being, having her own personality, wants and dreams just like everyone else. Naturally, this means that Cecily treats her more like a friend and partner than a weapon (not unlike Lucy's attitude towards Celestial Spirits in "Fairy Tail"), and can't stand to see others treat her like a mere object or tool. Sadly, while Aria does get a fair amount of focus early on, her importance gradually diminishes as the series progresses, and by the last few episodes she's pretty much relegated to the background. On the other hand, Lisa goes in the opposite direction, being little more than Luke's assistant until the final arc of the series, where we finally find out who and what she is, meaning anything genuine about her is a huge spoiler. Besides the main four, there are quite a few supporting characters, some of whom earned my respect, some of whom were just there and some I didn't really like at all. As a whole, though, there really isn't any character I'd call "fantastic". Enjoyment (7/10): The fact that the story deals with the aftermath of a war means it stands to reason that it would have some pretty upsetting subject matter, and it proves as much from the very beginning, with the first villain being a veteran of the war who's been driven insane because of it. That being said, it's certainly not all doom and gloom, as there's quite a bit of levity to balance out the darkness (even if the comedy may not be to everyone's tastes) and the action scenes are highly entertaining if nothing else. Overall: "The Sacred Blacksmith" had a lot of potential to be a truly great series, but ends up being a sad but all-too-common case of "what could have been". The story is interesting but all over the place, the visuals are good but not fantastic, the soundtrack is completely forgettable, the characters take a while to warm up to, the comic bits are passable at best and the action scenes are good but ultimately nothing special. It's not terrible by any stretch, but there just isn't any particular reason to recommend it, as there are plenty of similar, but better anime to watch. Score: 6.5+8+8+7+7=36.5/50=7.3/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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