LucidDreamScape's Profile - Reviews

Last OnlineMar 28, 2018 7:36 AM
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JoinedAug 3, 2016

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Nov 15, 2017

Sword Art Online: Extra Edition (Anime) add

Not Recommended

TL;DR: Wasted time.

Sword Art Online, I'll be amazed if no one using this site does not know what SAO is, it's the 3rd most popular anime on this site, possibly the most contested anime of modern times, was so many people's first anime, more than likely had a huge hand in making Crunchyroll as big as it is now, we've all heard the praises, the critiques, the apathy, yada yada yada. And this special episode isn't even important to SAO as a whole, it's pointless and you will be wasting time by watching it, especially if you've seen the series already! So why would you ... read a review about a pointless special RECAP episode of the first season of SAO?! Why would I write a review in the first place!?

Honestly to past the time. So! SAO: Extra Edition recaps the entirety of the first season/first 2 arcs of SAO. The in-universe reason for the recap is because of some agent guy asking Kirito his perspective of the events while he was trapped in SAO, and the way the conversation goes just shows you how boring it is to watch two people talking to each other can be, especially since it's information you should probably know. I see no reason why someone new to SAO would start with a recap, and I see no reason why someone would rewatch the recap over the series if they are a fan. I know recaps are just a thing anime does, usually it seems to be made to indicate "we got a new season coming!" and it may be nice for someone to just relive their experience watching a show they like in one burst instead of watching a long series over again if they don't have the time.

However, this is more than just a recap, it also has brand new footage that is unrelated to the recap. The in-between footage consists of the SAO girls swimming in a pool... and it is titillating if you're a young teen and you want to see these specific cute girls, wearing swimsuits, getting literally wet, and if you "NEED" to see them in motion and talking as well. The sexual fanservice is weak for pretty much everyone else. SAO isn't an ecchi series (as much as some infamous scenes want to push that boundary), and the animation isn't all that impressive to get me "into" seeing these girls swimming, plus I can probably find porn online of these girls anyways, in much more sexual art, with the only issue being that it won't be animated (which some scenes aren't all that "animated" anyways) and they won't be speaking with their voice actors as I watch. I can imagine them with their voices instead though. Now, why go into so much detail about the fanservice? Because the actual special puts so much emphasis on it! The poster has the girls in swimsuits! Of course I have to talk about it.

So, if you're ever watching this special, and you really want to see the girls in the "real world" swimming in a pool, skip the recap stuff. If you want to see the girls in the "virtual world" swimming, then you're in luck because there is 20 minutes left, and part of that 20 minutes are exactly what I described. Just add Kirito's and Asuna's daughter into the mix, who is the size of a pixie and looks like a young child. Don't mind the police sirens outside your home if you chose to watch this special.

Now to get into some specific aspects about this special rather than what you are shown. The animation is of the same quality as the series, so it's typical A1 Pictures quality. If they're a scene where characters are sitting and talking, it's lifeless, dry, and terrible. If there's an action scene, it's quick, and I mean that literally, as in the animation looks more "quick" than "well done". The art overall is basically what many see as the "standard anime look" of modern time, and the environments look fine to bland, even the beach and pool scenes. The voice acting is fine overall, no performance I would say is phenomenal, mostly because the material given isn't something I would say is Oscar worthy, but everyone sounds like what they're supposed to sound. Technically, there is nothing one can say is "bad" but also nothing one can say is "above average". It looks average.

This special also has a little side-story, a "gaiden" if you will, about the cast of SAO just doing a side-quest. I have an issue with this, because I would have rather wanted this to be special episode. I would have rather watched a bunch of dorks play a side-quest with decent enough animation and art direction over bland sexual fan service that does nothing for me. And if you don't care for the characters, then the rest of the special is still pointless, and will probably get on your nerves depending how much you dislike the cast. If you like the characters, then you will enjoy your time watching these characters do something as pointless as a side-quest.

If the special just front-loaded the recap, have less swimming scenes (maybe just leave some for the AFO portion), and a bigger chunk dedicated to a little tale of Kirito and his pals just adventuring, that would have been better and not been a waste of time. But nope, it's not that, it's a pointless, bland, boring, hollow, soulless, pandering special that isn't very special. Yeah.

Decent 1 outta 10.

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Nov 14, 2017

Sonic★the★Hedgehog (Anime) add

Mixed Feelings

TLDR: It's cute. It's fine. Great OST.

Sonic★the★Hedgehog, an OVA based on the super popular, and with each passing year, super divisive Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. This OVA was a failed pilot for a possible anime series staring Sonic, back in his classic design, however it sold poorly pretty much everywhere, and I don't entirely understand why. This is not me saying "This OVA is amazing!" rather I'm saying "There's no obvious reason for poor sales". Then again, as someone who's seen this OVA years after it's original release on YouTube, I can't tell you the details on how Sonic was perceived back in ... 1996 Japan, US, and Europe.

The OVA feels like it's 2 stories back to back, which it is, and it flows well enough but you can feel when there's a shift to "the next episode". The plot is simple, the characters aren't deep, not do they really have a major change in development. It's simple and kiddie because it was supposed to be a simple kids show, which it accomplishes at doing. If you're not a Sonic fan, nothing here will really interest you maybe, but if you are, it is neat just to watch different interpretations of the characters. Sonic being a rude-boy, but like, really rude-boy, Tails being a lot more assertive towards Sonic while being a scamp as well, Knuckles wearing a hat and being a treasure hunter, the latter aspect he attributes in future titles, and Eggman... being what you think of when you think Eggman honestly.

The universe this OVA inhabits does seem to be distinctly different to what Sonic is, from back then to today, with the concept of 2 planetary regions, the "Dark World" clearly being a decayed version of modern time, but still the world being rather mundane compared to the wacky zones of the series up to then. If anything, it's sort of a precursor to what Sonic's world would become in the years up to come, except instead of modern society being a post-apocalyptic land, Sonic has adventures (pun intended) in a more mundane modern world.

The animation is, once again, fine. Nothing really stand out bad, but it is a post-80s/early 90s Studio Pierrot show, so don't expect their best, which is rather disappointing. Since this is only an OVA, you should expect the animation to be better than average TV fair of the era, but since it's just a pilot, it looks TV fair of its era. While there is some sequences during the battles between Sonic and Metal that look rather spectacular compared to the rest of the product, I wouldn't define those segments in the super famed important word "sakuga". If the animation was better, more akin to the Sonic CD opening, or for a modern comparison, the Sonic Mania opening, then I would say this OVA would be worth watching for the animation alone, but sadly, it's just 90s TV level.

However, what really elevates the OVA is the music, and if there is one thing Sonic is known for... one of many things the franchise is known for, it's the music. It's a mid 90s eletronic eargasm, it just sounds SEGA. You know the sound, just pop in Sonic 2 into your Genesis, Virtua Fighter 2 into your Saturn, Space Channel 5 into your Dreamcast, and just listen to the music... you know that feeling. Honestly I wish this pilot was successful if only to get more music. They're all very catchy and memorable, in a good way, there are tracks you want to listen to over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, until you get sick of them after a million listens.

I also watched this dubbed, and as far as 90s dubs go, say it with me, it's fine. Years ago I wasn't a fan of Eggman's voice, but I like it better now than I remembered. Sonic's voice hit the right amount of attitude, but it can probably get grating for some viewers (especially since the VA is an Irishman, and he was trying really hard to not let the Irish accent come through). Tails is really something, he sounds like a little twerp, which makes sense, but it isn't the best voice he's had, and it's possibly not his worst...
As for everyone else, nothing remarkable honestly.

Closing thoughts, it's fine. It's cute. And I would have rated this a 5, but I gave it a 6 because I am a Sonic fan. Look at my profile pic in case you could't tell by now. I'm being more lenient than I probably should be, I'm admitting that right here and now, but I can't deny this OVA has a charm about it, and there's this lingering feeling of "what could have been" if this OVA was made into a series, and I think I can guess why this wasn't a series.

It's nothing remarkable, and as I said, it's fine. I guess there just wasn't enough interest created by the OVA for it to anything more. Maybe it was marketed poorly. Maybe the Sonic franchise just wasn't as popular during 1996, as the last major release was in 1994, the Saturn was out worldwide by 1995, and there was no Sonic game released on the Saturn, save for a re-release. Maybe if it was better, and people did buy it, Sonic would have had a well done and beloved series that started in the 90s, or it would have been a short lived train wreck, who knows? Yeah.

Decent 6 outta 10

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Nov 14, 2017

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV (Anime) add

Not Recommended

TL:DR version: Pointless. Pretty, but pointless. Pretty pointless.

Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV is the supplementary CGI movie prequel story to Final Fantasy XV, and if you don't know what Final Fantasy is, then I'm amazed how you were able to watch weeb trash and not know what the FF franchise is. Anyways, this film was made to tell the story of how the city of Insomnia fell and how the Kingsglaive (fancy super knights) and the King failed to save it, for in the game you don't witness the events personally. The real reason why this film was made was so Square Enix to get some ... extra cash for a game they've put so much time and development into, that if the game wasn't a financial success, the company would have been in the red by now. Also to reuse some scenes that were made for the game, but did't fit into the narrative very well during who knows which version of said game.

Now Lucid, you say that the film is a prequel to this game, and from the description that you gave it, this story seems like it's of some level of importance, but you called it pointless, why so? Well I'm glad you asked! Nothing in this film really expands on the story or world in any important way, at all. Everything you learn in the film can be learned in the game itself, and it doesn't really flesh out anything important to enhance the experience of playing the game.

You see, a prequel has to do these 2 things to be considered something worth watching. It must properly flesh out the story and/or world of something that you watched, read, or played. It has to be that puzzle piece that you had no idea was missing, and once you fit that piece in, it fit very well into the overall picture. And 2, it must stand on it's own as a story. If it's just more fleshing out and world building, that's fine, but it's something one would really tell someone else to sit through unless they really liked this other thing they sat through.

I am "glad" to say that Kingsglaive fails at both. I've already described why the film doesn't really do anything to help with the story of XV, but as a stand alone story, it's a really boring action film that looks pretty, sure, but I can't feel anything for the garbage characters or generic plot this film is trying to make me like. More on the boring action, everything is so overblown and over the top, you really lose any sense of pleasure early on, and everything afterwards is just on the same level, therefore being unimpressive. And the characters are so underwritten that I can't really care if they're in danger or not. The OG Gundam animation is dated as all hell, but anytime Amuro fights Char, I am hyped because the series has built up those two characters so well, that I want to see them fight, even if the animation is super weak by modern standards.

And I talk about the action so much because that's what this film has going for it really. There's not much to talk about anything, so best to talk about the 1 thing it really wants to show off, and it fails at doing that. Really, there was 1 time I enjoyed my time watching this movie, and it would be spoilers so I shouldn't really say. Still, it's not like I would even recommend anyone this movie, so I won't say "Watch this one short action sequence, it is so worth the rest of the trash that this movie is!"

Well, the other thing this movie wants to show off is how pretty it is, and while yes, the CGI animation is impressive, and will probably age well thanks to the style not really aiming to be realistic, the art direction is very colorless and cluttered. You will mostly remember the colors black and white, and dark grays. And particle effects, lots of them. Now I'm not saying that having a less colorful aesthetic is inherently bad, far from that, but this movie doesn't really pull off the look it wants to go for.

Once agai, really boring and pointless, looks nice, not offensive. Oh yeah, I watched this in English, and some of the English speaking actors were either given terrible direction or are just bad. The lip flaps (save for the final scene after the credits) were impressive, but still, weak dub. Can't say I saw the Japanese, nor do I really want to. Yeah.

Light 2 outta 10

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