- Last OnlineYesterday, 6:27 PM
- GenderMale
- BirthdayJan 26, 2002
- LocationAcademy City
- JoinedFeb 4, 2016
Also Available at
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Mar 21, 2020
My most favorite game (from my most favorite franchise) receiving an anime adaptation is a blessing. To top it all off, it's an adaptation of the chapter featuring one of my most favorite anime characters of all time. Even with these standards set before I started watching, they were all exceeded by the end of its run.
I'll admit, I started FGO before the English server came out, so I was playing in a server where I couldn't read the story. In return, however, I've been playing the game for more than 4 years now and it's a big part of my daily life. I've also
...
started picking up the story on my own recently, all the way to the Lostbelts. For this Babylonia chapter though, the anime is my first time going through the story.
The reasons why I loved this show are all the same reasons why I love fate in general: the lore, the action, the noble phantasms and the OSTs. However, this time, we don't have servants fighting in a battle royale. Heroic spirits unite to save humanity. Power levels are off the charts. Co-ops create interesting character interactions. Also, seeing new sides to characters we already know led to a combination of nostalgia and awe. This is the best Gilgamesh yet in all of Fate's anime adaptations. Thanks to FGO's setting where our protagonist travels to different eras, we get to gain insights into different characters' lore that are not possible in the standard Holy Grail War set up. This time we get Gilgamesh as the wise King of Uruk in his own land, in contrast to his archer form that is summoned to the modern times that earned his disgust.
The story is what probably exceeded my expectations the most. The twists and turns of the story surprised me as I was expecting a fairly linear plot of defeating the bad guys and getting the grail. How different histories and mythologies interweave in the plot was amazing for me. As for the animation, it's consistently good most of the time and some key scenes are done beautifully. All of these elements accompanied by the epic OST brought me to tears several times.
Now I do also understand that the writing was weak at several points, and the pacing became rushed by the end. Additionally, Fujimaru as a self-insert game protagonist doesn't make much of an exciting lead. However, I guess the overall incredible amount of enjoyment I got from this anime, thanks to being immersed in Fate for a long time, is why I give it a 10.
Now I wait for the final singularity, Solomon!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
 0
Love it
 0
Funny
 0
Confusing
 0
Well-written
 0
Creative
 0Show all
![]()
Dec 29, 2019
I have to say, a really great finish to this show. This could have been so much better if the show wasn't messing around in the 1st cour. From the get-go, the show had a promising plot, with a very interesting take on pyrokinetic abilities. Not to mention, it's backed by a great production team that matched or sometimes even surpassed the likes of My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer. The first cour Opening-Ending theme combo is the best this year and the 2nd cour's opening is a banger as well. So what went wrong? While being plagued by shounen tropes is a given, it
...
was hampered even more by dry comedy, unnecessary fan service (ruining characters like Tamaki) and anti-climatic fights.
However, those problems lessened in frequency throughout the second cour and eventually the show started addressing key plot points. That's when things got REALLY good. At some point, Fire Force became the show I looked forward to the most during Saturdays. Good news is that the second season will be in spring!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Mar 31, 2019
I think what's amazing about anime is its potential to turn a ridiculous premise into a masterpiece of a show. Such is the case with Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. The two greatest geniuses of Shuchiin Academy, student council President Miyuki Shirogane and Vice President Kaguya Shinomiya falls in love with one another. However, to fall in love is to lose, and both of their prides are too great for that. The result is a battle of wits to make the other person confess their love first. Yes, Love Is War.
Throughout the course of the show, the two face off in a series showdowns: from a
...
10-questions guessing game to simply making the other eat cake. The ridiculousness of their refusal to simply confess and the absurdity of their ability to predict each other’s moves blends into a psychological romcom never seen before. The two make up one of the most hilarious couples in anime.
However, the rest of the cast doesn’t fall short either. The two are accompanied by the unpredictable student council secretary, Chika Fujiwara, and the emo but observant treasurer, Yu Ishigami. Chika in particular plays a large role early on, often ruining the plans of the two, and sometimes makes us wonder if it’s intentional or not. She gained a massive following after the now legendary Chika dance, which was beautifully animated in the episode 3 ending. Ishigami is mysteriously missing throughout the first half of the series, but comes out in the second half as a character that is all too relatable. Easily hurt and just wanting to play games, he rose up to become one of the community’s most favorite male characters of the season. Last but definitely not the least, there’s also Kaguya’s personal assistant and the best gril (fight me), Ai Hayasaka. I think everyone can connect with this character a lot, given how disappointed she is at how stupid the situation Kaguya is in right now, just like us. She’s also the coolest person in the cast, being able to have different disguises and being Kaguya's support at all times, whether during her antics or during her saddest moments. Basically, this small but lovable cast is one of the strongest points of the anime.
What takes this show to a whole other level though, is the visuals. It's may not have the best of animation, but it definitely features the best of direction. Despite the limitations with production, Mamoru Hatakeyama and his team was able to elevate this manga adaptation with an array of cinematography and animation techniques. Character actions, reactions, intentions and even monologues are exaggerated, supplemented or wonderfully accompanied by the amazingly directed visuals. Despite being a work under A1 Pictures, the show follows more of the iconic Shaft style that Hatakeyama has years of experience on.
If there's any flaw with this anime, it's the same flaw that attacks all comedy anime: not all gags and skits are gonna work out. This is especially evident in the later episodes, where sometimes I would personally feel tired that Chika interrupts once again, or a stalemate comes out as usual. Everything is saved though, thanks to the end of episode 11 and the finale. The show takes a pause from all the gags to show us why Kaguya was an ice cold person in the past. The show reminds us the common downside of being a daughter of the elite: you're separated from your peers. The heartwarming part of the finale is when the focus shifts from the two for a very short moment. Kaguya wanted to see the fireworks with everyone. We see the student council simply as a group of friends for the first time, at least before Kaguya just stares at Shirogane instead of the fireworks. This change of pace made the return of the comedy segment in the second half more memorable, and the show ends as stupid as it started. Kaguya and Shirogane still misunderstood each other, and neither refuses to take down their pride.
At this point, the only capital crime of this anime is to not have a season 2. This is a fresh breath of air among the slew of subpar romcoms and harems that have come out in the past years. For now, I'll be reading the manga I guess.
To think a psychological romcom would be a possible combination for a great show. Amazing.
P.S. The opening theme is an absolute banger. Nice touch by the team behind this to get Japan's King of Love Songs to sing it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Mar 30, 2019
You can't really fully enjoy this anime without playing the game, regardless of whether you've watched season 1 or not. This is the kind of anime where seeing your favorite character get screen time already makes your day.
Nevertheless, my hopes for this season was for all 5 bands to interact with one another, with the bonus of RAS joining the fray. Safe to say that the show did this to a certain degree.
One interesting move is advancing everyone by a year, with some interesting turn of events. For example, Rinko became the SC president for Hanasakigawa and Hina either ended or saved Haneoka HS by
...
being the boppin SC pres there. While the show had its concert-style premiere and finale episodes, along with single-band focus episodes early on, the best part without a doubt was the cultural festival. It was during this part of the series that my hopes came true. The all-star band assembled by Hina, and different interactions spawning from the collab between the two schools were great. Throw in the emergence of RAS plus the resulting Otae drama, and we had ourselves a very entertaining anime. Not everything in life is fine and dandy, so I'd like to thank Yukina, Chu2 and Otae for bringing in even the slightest bit of complexity and negativity to the show.
The animation, which was controversially done in almost full 3D, was a double-edged sword. The consistency of the designs were a step up from the horrifying animation in S1, and at best the CGI was very pleasing to see. At many points however, side characters were animated in 2D or the CGI looked a bit too robotic or flat. This made a lot of scenes feel off or awkward. As for the sound, nothing wrong much here. With all due respect, the BanG Dream franchises puts out really good songs. Maybe just better build up to the songs are needed, as spamming the songs like in episode 1 and 13 made me feel like I was better off watching the live concert.
My overall issue is that by the end of the season, RAS hasn't formed yet (poor Rokka) and the focus was ultimately on Popipa again. Hopefully season 3 addresses this (delayed to 2020 though).
Sure, in the end it's just promotion for the mobile game, but there's nothing wrong with enjoying it if you're already a big fan of the franchise.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Mar 29, 2019
This is my official return to the isekai genre thanks to the promising premise, great PV and recommendation from friends. Not to mention, this was announced to be handled by studio Kinema Citrus, whose last two works were my AOTY 2018 Revue Starlight and the thrilling Made in Abyss.
The series made a bold move by kicking off with a 48 min premiere, but definitely a right one. The first few minutes present a very generic isekai world, so generic that even the characters sent there knows what's up. In fact, the 4 people summoned fell under very standard classes, albeit the last: spear, sword, bow
...
and shield. However, the story takes a turn when our MC Naofumi (the shield hero of course) is betrayed by everyone, leading into his journey of revenge and darkness. Kinda edgy but nice.
What makes us sympathize with him though is how cruel the world was towards him. Nobody really vouched for his innocence until he at least got along with the weapons shop guy. Naofumi starts to do some things unconventional to heroes: keeping level 1 monsters, threatening people with it, and eventually buying a slave (god the controversy that followed in MAL). What's nice about this is how he doesn't view this new world as a game anymore, unlike his three other peers. Being a hero doesn't matter, it's about getting the job done and going home. A more realistic outlook on things.
So without delving deeper into the story, Naofumi would care for the slave, Raphtalia (a demi-human) until she could fight for him, given that he can only defend. One of the cores of the story is their bond, and how Raphtalia will eventually choose to fight for him out her own will, not because she's a slave. How does this happen? Well, for starters, deep down, Naofumi is a very nice guy. He never really treated her like a slave, and more like a daughter. The overall plot revolves on these two, and how they deal with the cruelty of the world, the evil waves, and of course, leveling up. Not gonna explain it much because it's something better to see for yourself. It gets a bit more complex than that of course.
While the first few episodes were outstanding, the characteristics of isekai that I never really liked (but a lot of people do so don't worry) cannot be avoided. That along with rushed pacing in some episodes made it drop in quality IMO. Guess the original source works better as usual.
At this point, I'm not the biggest fan of the direction the story is headed, but overall a very entertaining watch. I can't help but root for Naofumi to kick the asses of the people who made his life hell. If you haven't watched it, please do try it out. A lot of people really like it, so I'm guessing the reach is wide.
Or just read the manga/light novel of course.
Most importantly, Kevin Penkin's OST elevates this anime to a higher level that it's supposed to be tbh. The guy's just that good.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Mar 29, 2019
If there was any other new show this winter 2019 that the community was hyped for aside from Shield Hero, it's definitely this one. The difference? IMO Yakusoku no Neverland lived up to its hype, while the other kind of fell short of that.
I think the main difficulty in reviewing this anime is whether I spoil what happens at the very first episode, which is crucial. I realized though that the genres and the poster itself is a dead giveaway, not to mention that the twist is barely scratching the surface. So for those who still want to be surprised at episode 1, you can
...
stop when the spoiler tag appears.
This show btw, is handled by the studio CloverWorks, aka the good part of A1 pictures that separated from them. I'd like to take note how good directing was vital for an anime like this, and Mamoru Kanbe (Elfen Lied) and the episode directors did just that. The elements of fear and anxiety was conveyed not only in the fairly well-done facial expressions of the characters, but also in the positioning, lighting and pacing of the characters and the story.
Maybe a minor flaw is how the aforementioned facial expressions falls flat compared to the even better facial expressions in the manga. These comparisons circulated fast in the internet so even anime onlies would see them. In terms of character design, imo some of the kids' eyes look kinda weird but that's hardly a problem in the long run. Heck, anime eyes are weird in the first place so that's ok. Lastly the CGI corridors, which was kind of a double-edged sword, takes some time to get used to. While it allowed framing continuous movement across the house, the blending of 2D and 3D takes some time getting used to as usual. Overall, I'd give the animation and other visual aspects of the show a solid A.
SPOILERS INCOMING NOW
Let's talk about the story now. This was a rather fresh idea compared to new gen shounen jump titles. Psychological horror isn't common in shounen in the first place. Episode 1 did a great job of showing the peaceful and loving atmosphere of the orphanage. It actually starts to get suspicious though, when they start taking tests. This itself was also misleading, as I assumed the premise was that of a human experiment. When Conny's time to leave the orphanage arrived, that theory of human experimentation was kind of lost. Thankfully, Norman and Emma, two of our three mains, go after her to give her plush toy. We can find out now, yay!
yay? or yikes?
The fact that they were being shipped out to demons to be served as high-quality meat is horrific, and I'm glad the PTA never complained about this beforehand. But it only gets better from there. Episode 2 explains how their brains are the main target, thus high IQ means high quality, hence the tests. Well I'll be damned. The obvious choice of action of course is to escape, and that's what this first season revolves around.
What's amazing is how some bland episodes in fact had plans going on behind the scenes. The show misled not only the Mom, but also the viewers. Along with that, challenges of betrayal, ever-increasing revelations, and the dread of impending failure to escape took a toll on its characters.
The characters by the way, is a tough one to gauge. The three main characters were given incredible focus and a certain degree of complexity: Emma, Norman, and Ray. Ray in particular was the most unpredictable of the three, and his backstory supplements the reason why. The Mom and sister Krone aren't one dimensional characters either, the story conveys how even the ones who appear evil to us have different sides to them. They all went through something in life leading to their present actions. My minor issue was the other kids. Yup, even Don and Gilda. 12 episodes of course, isn't enough to explore everyone. The story itself doesn't exactly need to explore them fully, but touching up more with the other characters would allow us to sympathize with more characters outside of the main three.
Overall, I think the only major flaw with season 1 is as I've said at the start: It's barely scratched the surface, at least from my perspective. 9/10 isn't a definitive score for the series, as a season 2 is underway. Looking forward to where the kids are headed to, and the mysteries that they will unravel.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Jun 29, 2018
As a person who has not read the manga, my review is solely based on the anime.
I watched this show very late, considering it's 2018. Jokes, memes and negative comments on this show are everywhere these days, but I still decided to give the show a try. To be honest, the show was actually entertaining to watch most of the way. The problem's that it was seriously flawed all throughout and those flaws led to anti-climatic deaths and a very poor ending. Among the flaws, the biggest of them all were the characters.
1. The show's titled Akame ga Kill, and Akame's the poster girl for
...
it. For some people (like me), they even may have been drawn to watch the show because it would center around Akame. Instead we get Tatsumi, a generic male protagonist. This was fine honestly, I thought we'd still get some major development for Akame throughout the series. Instead, she was downgraded to a generic cold-blooded killer that we've seen in so many anime. While, they touch up on her backstory, I didn't get to truly feel her personal struggles since they focused too much on Tatsumi. There were even times where she hardly appears in an episode. Basically, there was a lot of potential for Akame as a character, but we got a bland assassin instead.
2. The deaths were anti-climatic because the anime didn't develop the characters properly as well as poor pacing of the story. To avoid spoilers, I can't give a concrete example, but a simple one should suffice. One of the characters was briefly introduced in the first few episodes, and they brought in his/her backstory a few episodes later. Just as I was getting settled in with his/her backstory, they kill her on the very next episode. Bravo.
3. The final fight was well made, but I couldn't really feel the "epicness" going on because once again, poor characters. The two fighters never really had a direct conflict against each other. It's like they just fought in the last episode for the sake that they're good vs evil and for the sake that it's the last episode. The same could be said with most of the fights throughout the show. Though I felt Tatsumi's despair over the state of the capital in his fight against a certain Imperial Arm in episode 23, his opponent responded by being a stupid generic villain and just fired b e a m s all over without listening to what he said.
A lot of more examples could be given but I would like to avoid spoiling the show. (tho I did slightly spoil it)
If you like the shallow shows with "dark themes that makes it looks badass even though it's just edgy" and decent action, then I recommend that you give this show a try.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
