Anime Title: KonoSuba この素晴らしい世界に祝福を!
Production Studio: Studio Deen
Director: Takaomi Kanasaki
Composer: Masato Kouda
Air Date: Winter 2016
Episode Count: 10
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural
Every anime season there always tends to be at least one show that comes out in which you never thought about watching because it looked like something that you would instantly hate, or just looked completely stupid. And this previous Winter 2016 season was no exception. What at first sounded like a completely stupid SAO wannabe series quickly turned out to be a series in that very "stuck in an video game" trope, but the thing that sets this show apart from all of those
...
series is how it is a parody series that makes fun of that very trope.
==============================================================
~Story 6/10~
The story of KonoSuba is one that begins with the death of the show’s main character, Kazuma. Soon after he is faced with the choice of either going to heaven or to got to a parallel RPG-like world and being like the NEET he truly is, he easily took the parallel world. A few other things occur on this decision making but either way I’ll just let you the viewer see for yourself because it is actually quite funny. So off goes the main character and his not so friendly companion on their way to kill the demon king that ultimately does not happen in this first season.
On the surface the show’s story seems pretty basic, which is entirely true and that it because that is all it is trying to be. Instead of being larger than life, it is just trying to stay short and simple in order for the jokes to be more easily integrated into the show without trying to be forced. As for the rest of the show aside from all the jokes, all the series is consists of mainly: performing daily side quests, defeating the most random of “villains”, and simply just joking around with their newly gained powers of stealing girls panties… yes this show is really really weird and that is why I love it so much. As for all of the criticism I give of the show no matter what problems I have it will not change the fact how I just am love with this simple and easy to digest story with loveable and remember able character due to how simple they truly are.
~Characters 7/10~
None of the characters in the series are overly original, yet I just love how no matter how stupid each character is. They still all work in a very strange harmony with one another. Each of them has a weakness and another person counter balances one another. With this being said, they still can’t ever do anything right without screwing something up and causing more harm than they do good. In short all of them are not the sharpest tools in the shed yet they can still are good enough for the job… I guess.
Kazuma Satou is a sixteen year old pervert who is the main character in this show. There is nothing mysterious about his character, he is an intelligent dumbass. Kazuma just happens to have a ton of luck on his side and is easily willing to do whatever he can to make the situation just a little bit awkward than it needs to be.
Aqua is the obnoxious goddess of water who can cause lots of damage if she really want’s too. This however ends up biting her in the butt and ends up causing more harm than good. With this being said, she also instead would rather be perform her circus ability and make a show rather than help support the group. Personally I find her character enjoyable, but most people really hate this character.
Megumin can be explained in one word “explosion”. As an archwizard she had the opportunity to learn all sorts of different spells yet she decided to put all her cards in one pot and only focus on raising her explosion stat to the maximum, this being said she is a one trick pony. One other side effect with the extremely overpowered explosion attack is how right after using it, she can’t move her body at all for like ten or so minutes. This leads to some pretty funny scenarios of her having to be lifted by another character as he she was just a useless rag doll.
Darkness is an masochist knight. She often tends to have a hard time attacking her opponents because she often misses, at least she is a freaking tank and can take hit’s like they are nothing. There isn’t too much to say about her except for how she is *please forgive my language but there is no other way how to word this* a literal slut and goes out of her way to be put in some literal sticky situations and awkward situations.
~Music 5/10~
The music in this series is just average. Nothing bad but nothing good either. I do not entirely enjoy any of the songs enough to spotlight any of them, tho I do find it cool how each character has it’s own designated song of sorts. Out of these, the most recognizable one would have to go to Megumin in of which you always hear right before her famous explosion spell.
As of the Opening, I personally found it dull and forgettable. One that I personally needed to look up to even remember it in order to make this review. The high pitched voices of the voice actresses just make it nothing more than an easy skip in terms of openings to listen to. You know it is a bad thing when the instrumental version is nicer than the regular version.
The ending on the other hand I find to be an nice and relaxing song... forgettable, but still nice. One that reminds me of a nice farm like setting, something that you could easily see working as an Silver Spoon ending theme. I find it cool how at the end of the theme there is always a letter written by each of the characters explaining what happened in the episode in a humorous way.
~Art/Animation 7/10~
Saying how this show is from Studio Deen it is expected to be nothing less than average animation. Even tho the animation can be sloppy and derpy times, it still has what matters the most… heart.
Although I must say how it is kind of funny how at some points the show might have have really good animation one second, then the next it might be incredibly bad therefore making a certain scene just a little bit funnier than it already was.
~Final Thoughts~
Before the winter season began I personally believed I that this show would be terrible so I instantly just ignored it until a friend of mine begged me to watch it and in turn I tried it and absolutely fell in love with it. The series is just so funny and enjoyable that it is hard to explain. Other than that I find the characters ridiculously funny and love seeing them mess everything up every episode. But oh boy did Studio Deen ever surprise me for making a good series for once… let alone two in the same season, and now we have another great series this spring season in Sakamoto.
In conclusion, this series really surprised me and have taken into long consideration that I will be giving this series an 7/10 and am really looking forward to watching Season 2, whenever that is eventually gonna come out.
~Similar Anime Recommendations~
DanMachi, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Log Horizon, and No Game No Life
For more reviews like this one then feel free to visit my anime review blog, https://magnitudeanimereviews.wordpress.com/
Apr 29, 2016 Recommended
Anime Title: KonoSuba この素晴らしい世界に祝福を!
Production Studio: Studio Deen Director: Takaomi Kanasaki Composer: Masato Kouda Air Date: Winter 2016 Episode Count: 10 Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural Every anime season there always tends to be at least one show that comes out in which you never thought about watching because it looked like something that you would instantly hate, or just looked completely stupid. And this previous Winter 2016 season was no exception. What at first sounded like a completely stupid SAO wannabe series quickly turned out to be a series in that very "stuck in an video game" trope, but the thing that sets this show apart from all of those ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Apr 29, 2016
Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda.
(Anime)
add
Recommended
Anime Title: Anthem of the Heart 心が叫びたがってるんだ。“Kokoro ga Sakebitagatterunda”
Production Studio: A-1 Pictures Director: Tatsuyuki Nagai Composer: Masaru Yokoyama Release Date: Sep 19, 2015 Running Time: 1 Hour 59 Minutes Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Music The show must go on! This famous phrase in show business in which it talks about no matter what happen will always begin no matter if someone is left behind.. A story about redemption of a girl who leaves her fears and emotions behind herself while in search for a way making a voice for herself. So sit back, relax, and enjoy my reading my latest review of Anthem of the Heart. ... ================================================================== ~Story 8/10~ The story of AotH is one about how a girl grows to get out of her shell of being alone and secluded. This girl slowly grows from becoming the one person in the class who rarely ever talks, to singing front and center on stage. In the movie a high school class is tasked to come up with an idea for something to do for the school’s festival thing… and the thing that they come up with is a musical. However, lucky for them they decided to take the hard way out by deciding to write their own show. This includes the writing the following all from scratch: script, music, costumes, set design, choreography, etc. Wait...you say that I am forgetting something major? Oh yeah! In the film the girl I talked about above has one little secret. The said “secret” is that the girl is cursed by an egg… let me repeat this… she is cursed by an EGG. The said curse is that whenever the girl talks she randomly ends up getting stomach pain soon after. So to avoid having stomach pain the girl just decided to give up talking entirely and just text everything she is thinking instead. Honestly I think that this idea is just so outlandish, but I do feel that it makes for a very unique and well written character in the long run. ~Characters 7/10~ Jun Naruse is the female main character in AotH. Naruse is silent all of the time and this is due to the fact in how she is afraid of speaking due to the curse that I explained up above. Personally I believe that the egg and the curse is all in her head and is just a way to compensate for her major role in the divorce of her parents, which occurs in the first ten minutes of the movie. However the thing that makes this character memorable is how you slowly notice the character grow overtime and eventually break out of her shell *no pun intended*. Over all, I absolutely fell in love with this character. Takumi Sakagami is an male lead character in AotH. He is an talented musician with a heart of playing the piano. He is the songwriter for his class’s musical, meanwhile trying his hardest to make sure that Naruse is able to have her voice be heard. Takumi is always by Naruse’s side no matter what happens and is also a child of divorced parents just like how Naruse is as well. Takumi is also the kind of guy who is willing to say anything in order to calm down another character, even if he knows that he is lying… he just does not want to talk about his true feelings to others. I believe he was a good character but would enjoyed to see more of him. Daiki Tasaki is an male lead character in AotH. He is a sports jock that specializes in Baseball, and is infact one of the leading members of in his team. Even tho he is a sports guy, he still has a kind heart and is willing to step up and be a leader in his class when it comes to the time of setting up for the musical. He isn’t afraid to ask a girl out, and even if he is rejected he turns around and understands as to why the answer is no. Daiki was a decent character in my opinion, but I feel as if the script writer could have done more with him. Natsuki Nitou is an female lead character in AotH. She is the main leader of the group that wants to start up the play in the first place. In the past Nitou was at one point Takumi’s girlfriend. Over time we are shown how this relationship did not work and the two decided to part ways, but at this point in time they are friends. She is willing to step in for the absence of another character being missing right before the musical performance, and this is quite the brave thing to do last second since it was so unexpected. Other than that, I don’t know much about this character to whom of which I believe is the most underused character in the entire movie. ~Music 8/10~ What can I say about it other than it is slow and relaxing and was cleverly written to not only convey the emotion in the scene but also amplify it towards the audience. And as for the musical pieces, they were very basic. Just re-writing the lyrics to famous songs that I’m sure that most of you know, for example “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” which is mentioned quite a lot in this movie. But this is to be expected for the musical pieces since it is a completely original performance written by a bunch of highschoolers with not much time at all, so it is actually very realistic for this to be the case. Overall, I really enjoyed this soundtrack and believe it fit well with the themes of the movie. My favorite song from this soundtrack is one that goes by the name of “Harmonia”. ~Art/Animation 8/10~ The art and animation is beautiful for the most part but there are a few derp faces sprinkled in here and there but it isn’t obvious unless if you look for them. However the background art for this movie were beautiful and highly detailed, and I would like to applaud A-1 for making such a gorgeous looking film. ~Final Thoughts~ Over all I thought it was an excellent movie that had a few problems here and there but I enjoyed it. However I feel like this movie could have been a better story if it was turned into an twelve or eleven episode tv series instead. I can tell that some people will criticize this movie for being too “melodramatic”, but personally I am completely fine with it and it isn't too overbearing either unlike a little series called Plastic Memories. I was surprised how this movie revolved around a class musical, in which I can deeply relate too because I am a theater kid and is partially why I enjoyed this movie. I feel like the characters could be fleshed out better with the exception of the main character, in which I feel was handled perfectly. Man did I love the scene in which *minor spoilers* Naruse has finally cracked and just lets loose of all the anger that has resided within her for years *minor spoilers ends*. Also I believe the egg was just a figment of Naruse’s imagination and was just used as an excuse for her to not talk in fear of messing up another relationship with a friend or family member, again. I have to be honest with all of you, if this review seemed a bit off or sloppier than most, the reasoning behind that is due to the fact in which I had writer's block and had barely any desire to finish this review. So I decided to just stick with it and push out the review while also trying my hardest to make the best quality product I could. After careful consideration I have decided to give this movie an 7/10, and a recommendation to watch it on your own time. Not exactly a high priority movie to watch, but it was definitely worth watching. And I must say, I was hit by the feels train quite a few times while watching this movie. I also wanted to apologize for my absence on the reviews a bit, I got sidetracked by schoolwork and college visits for the last few weeks. But be sure to check out my First Impressions post of what my thoughts are on all of the first episodes that I’ve seen from the Spring 2016 anime season, in which the post will be released sometime later this week. ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Anohana, Kokoro Connect, & Your Lie in April For more reviews like this one then visit my anime review blog https://magnitudeanimereviews.wordpress.com/
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Apr 29, 2016 Recommended
Anime Title: Bartender
Production Studio: Palm Studio Director: Masaki Watanabe Composer: Kaoruko Ootake Air Date: Fall 2006 Episode Length: 11 Genres: Slice of Life, Drama, Seinen Have you ever stumbled upon an anime that is so underappreciated, so underrated, and so forgotten. Forgotten to the point where you don’t know a single one of your friends has even heard of it before. Well that case scenario for none other than Bartender. So ladies and gentlemen... sit back, relax, and pop a bottle of champagne while I introduce to you for the first time… Bartender. ... ================================================================== ~Story 5/10~ Before you freak out about the score, let me give reasons as to why. For starters the biggest reason is due of the fact in which the show is episodic. Not episodic in the way of having an overarching plot and having each episode include their own little story, for example Cowboy Bebop and Kekkai Sensen. Instead the show takes a slower approach in which each individual episode has a new patron each episode, each of these patrons have a different backstory, occupation, and ambition in life. Every episode takes its time to have the patron talk about their life goals or struggles meanwhile having the bartender be of aid to them, all of the while introducing both the viewer and the patron to a new type of drink that they may have never heard of before. One additional thing that I find kind of interesting thing that occurs at the end of each episode and that is how the show provides the recipe to the drink being served in the episode. A few problems that I personally have with the show is how each episode is to structured: patron walks into bar, customer explains past, bartender does some life counseling, bartender gives patron drink, patron is satisfied and leaves, end of episode. Another item of concern is how the show can get extremely philosophical at times when it’s just not necessary in certain situations. My personal favorite episode from the series is episode 8. This is mostly due to the fact in which the episode ignores this pattern and how the patron decides to challenge the bartender instead of lecturing about his life story to the bartender. ~Character(s) 7/10~ I’m adding the “(s)” into this category due to the fact in how even tho the show introduces a wide range of characters, but only one of them is recurring in every single episode. And that man is the young twenty-six year old bartender & owner, Ryuu Sasakura. Ryuu is the owner of Eden Hall and is widely considered to be a genius in his occupation, so much so that he was given the nickname/title “Glass of Gods”. Ryuu is cool, calm, and knows how to deal with a large variety of circumstances all while still remaining on the side of the patron no matter how bad the person is… even if they are Donald Trump… One thing that was bothering me about Ryuu he was always shown to be a man who never makes mistakes, someone who is never wrong. Up until two-thirds of the way through, Ryuu had always been shown to be the god of bartending… then you finally learn how he has been wrong in the past. This discovery is a nice thing to add, however at that point it is a little too late to be revealed about something like that especially since most people have already formed an opinion about the character at that point. ~Music 8/10~ The opening to the series is one in which I feel like would have been orchestrated better if it were to be an instrumental opening like Baccano, Cowboy Bebop, and Trigun. The problem with the opening that I feel is that the vocalist for the OP is one in which I am really not fond of, this is to the point where in some episodes that I feel like I would want to skip the opening in it’s entirety. Most people who know me realize how I almost never skip the opening to a series unless if I am marathoning the show, in this case I was not. Overall the animation to the opening was good and gave a clear depiction of what this show has to offer however in my personal opinion, I really was not a fan of the song itself. As for the ending, it is slow and relaxing. The song is a great depiction of what the show’s themes are. The main talking point about this ending theme is not about the song, it is about the visuals playing in the background. Bartender’s ending theme is unlike anything that I’ve ever seen in an anime, and that is in the sense how their is an actual video of a bartender creating the drink that was on display in the episode. One other thing to note about this ending is how there is always a recipe at the beginning of the animation on how to make the main drink being represented in the episode. Overall, I felt like it was an interesting idea and was executed effectively. Lastly, the soundtrack in this show is slow and fits the scene perfectly, so well that you might not even notice how there is music being played in the background. That is exactly how a soundtrack should be fully incorporated into a scene unlike a little show called Grimgar (which is currently airing at the time of this review’s release). The soundtrack is not anything particularly special or memorable, but it works well for the series and that is all you can ask for a soundtrack to accomplish. As for the music itself, it tends to be a combination of both piano/violin and sometimes guitar and that is all it needs to be fully able to integrate effectively with the series in order to elevate every scene in the show. If you had to ask me, I would say that my personal favorite songs from the soundtrack would be the following: Red Eye, Manhattan, Margarita, and Gin Tonic. ~Art/Animation 6/10~ The art and animation in this series is one that might be comparable to Rokka no Yuusha, not in sense of style but in the sense of it being one of the weakest part of the show. Some scenes may be animated beautifully but others might be animated poorly, and it is very noticeable for most viewers. Just wanted to also mention how the bottles and glasses in the series are all cgi'd in. I believe that this is perfectly acceptable since it still looks just as good if it were to be animated. Unlike throwing in tens of hundreds of the same cgi designed character like Arslan Senki had, there are about one hundred different bottle designs one the shelf to be on display. I understand that the art and animation are poor at times but I am not putting blame on the studio who made the show. In reality, I would personally put the lack of production budget for the series at blame. ~Final Thoughts~ Overall, I believe that this is a series that I personally enjoyed but could easily see some people calling the show “boring” and I would not try to defend that statement because it is true for most people. Bartender is a show that I believe is worth watching but only if you have been experienced in watching either Mushishi and/or Kino’s Journey. Since this is a case, I would personally recommend those who are interested to watching by telling them to watch at most three episodes per day. Bartender was a unique & interesting watch and could recommend to others but is not one that I would tell people to watch immediately. One tragic thing that occurred for this show is how it sold so poorly in japan is that the studio ended up going bankrupt a year later, sadly I believe that this might be occurring for the for one of my favorite shows of last year… Rokka. In conclusion, I fully enjoyed this series and would be honored to give it a high 7/10 score. ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Death Parade, Mushishi, Ristorante Paradiso, and Time of Eve. For more reviews like this visit my anime review blog, https://magnitudeanimereviews.wordpress.com/
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Mar 12, 2016 Recommended
Anime Title: FLCL フリクリ “Fooly Cooly”
Production Studio: Studio Gainax, Production I.G Director: Kazuya Tsurumaki, Shouji Saeki Composer: The Pillows Release Date: April 2000 Episode Count: 6 + English Dub Genres: Action, Comedy, Dementia, Mecha, Parody, Sci-Fi Have you ever seen a show in which it is so off the walls crazy that you have no possible idea on how to explain it to anyone? Well the show ova series FLCL can be nothing short of the very definition of this question that I have brought forward. ... ================================================================== ~Story ?/10~ No, your eyes are not deceiving you. As much as I would love to give the story category a score, I can’t muster up myself to even comprehend a score. Unlike most reviews that I have written I usually would write a short summary of the show’s plot. However due to the pure insanity and 4th wall breaking series that is this show I really have no idea on what exactly occurred in the show story wise. But what I can write about is how the show tackles a multitude of different themes over the duration of just six episodes and those themes include the following: maturity, coming of age, sex, masterbation, prostotution, divorce, family values, suicide, heaven, god, religious cults, drugs, addiction, and the list goes on. A majority of these themes were subtly shown, but was never directly mentioned in the show. Each episode of the show tends to be split into two halfs. The first half being mostly exposition and tackles the different themes that I mentioned above, all while being set up for the second half. As for the second half of the episodes, this can be nothing short of being described of action, action, action, the writers of this show are on acid, and action. I personally have no idea of how to describe the plot line of this show, but hopefully you (whoever is reading this) will be able to form your own idea on to what this show is truly about. ~Characters 8/10~ Naota “Takkun” Nandaba is an twelve year old boy who is the main character of the series. Naota is an angsty kid who claims that “nothing amazing happens here” whenever describing his town even tho it is complete and utter chaos. Naota practically practically worships his older brother Tasuku, and he does this by talking to his older brother’s ex-girlfriend all while also being obsessed with his brother’s baseball bat. Over the course of the series you see Naota break out of his shell and learns to grow up… mostly. Mamimi Samejima is an seventeen year old girl who is the ex-girlfriend to Tasuku. She loves to skip class, sexually arouse Naota, smokes constantly and a cigarette saying “never knows best” on it, she is a pyromaniac and loves to worship some god named “Cantido” (which is actually just a robot thing…). Mamimi is the epitome of teenage rebellion. Haruko “Haru” Haruhara is an nineteen year old alien girl. Haru is loud, bombastic, energetic, and unpredictable at times. She is the very reason as to why this show is so off the walls crazy. This character love to play the bass guitar and ride a yellow Vespa. I swear this girl is on acid or some really powerful substance… I just have no idea how to describe her... There is more that I could talk about characters wise, but I have decided to leave the rest for you… the reader to discover more about these characters on your own. ~Music 10/10~ Unlike most anime having a composer and an orchestral soundtrack, this show decided to toss all of that out of the window and decided to have a rock band by the name of “The Pillows” to write and compose the entirety of the OST. This choice of having a band do everything works effectively for the show. Each of the songs never overpower the scene, but instead elevates them to a memorable level. As for the Ending Theme, all I can say is that it random, filled with bizarreness, yet still melds together to make a song that just works well… and that is exactly how the show is. My favorite tracks from the show are as follows: Little Busters, Last Dinosaur, I Think I Can, Runners High, Advice, and the ending theme Ride On Shooting Star. I can fully say that this show’s OST is one that has shot up into my list of favorite Anime Soundtracks. ~Art/Animation 10/10~ First off, the show’s “regular” art style is so beautiful that it still holds up today. The art style fits perfectly for the show’s outlandish nature. The animation of the series holds up very well and there is no animation errors that can be spotted. But the main focus of this category is not about the “regular” art style, instead it is about how at certain points in the series the artstyle changes suddenly. Whether it be by purposely being made to look sloppy, showing manga panels as a form of the animation and tweaking them slightly so they might move back and forth, or by having the art style change to that of South Park… yeah I’m not joking. No matter what style they choose, it all works perfectly and is one extra reason as to why this show is bizarre. ~Final Thoughts~ I decided on choosing this show to review by having a poll in one of the facebook groups that I’m in by choosing whether I should watch and review FLCL or Golden Boy. For all three of the groups that I posted the poll in, FLCL ended up being the overwhelming winner. So I decided to sit down finally and watch this show for the first time this week meanwhile knowing absolutely nothing about the show, you could say I was in for a giant surprise. I took notes for each episode as I do for nearly every review I do nowadays, some of them are serious and some are silly like “Dem eyebrows tho” and “Sporks > Chopsticks” or “this episode talked about family values and divorce”. Nevertheless no matter how many notes I took on this show there still would be so many things about this show that I didn’t understand, therefore I took to youtube in search for some reviews on there to take inspiration from. These videos included GRArkada, Gigguk, HollowOfDawn, and GoatJesus. By taking what I learned from those videos I decided to incorporate some of the ideas into this review. I think you guys get the gist at how bizarre and out there that this show is, so taking that into account and my own enjoyment for the show and mixing it with the amount of laughs that it gave me, I have decided to give this show an 8/10. FLCL is a series that I believe everyone should watch at some point in time in their anime watching career, so go ahead and throw it onto your Plan To Watch list. And the best comparison for this show that I saw someone mention was how it is the grandchild of if you mixed Neon Genesis Evangelion with Gurren Lagann. Now for the final question of the entire show… What exactly is a Fooly Cooly? Well the best answer that I have found is this quote stated by HollowOfDawn. “I guess, Fooly Cooly is what we choose to make of it” - Hollow Of Dawn ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Excel Saga, Kill La Kill, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Panty & Stocking, Punchline, Space Dandy, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Feb 29, 2016
Mononoke Hime
(Anime)
add
Recommended
Anime Title: Princess Mononoke “Mononoke Hime”
Production Studio: Studio Ghibli Director: Hayao Miyazaki Composer: Joe Hisaishi Release Date: July 12, 1997 Running Time: 2 Hours 14 Minutes + English Dub Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama “Life is suffering. It is hard. The world is cursed. But still, you find reasons to keep living” Osa. The story of Princess Mononoke revolves around this one quote. The movie is a coming of age story about life and death, war, abandonment, the cruelty of human nature and the ever lasting impact that it can leave on the environment. ... ================================================================== ~Story 8/10~ The story of Princess Mononoke is a large scale and expansive one. Being about a young tribal prince who is cursed at the beginning of the movie and sets out on an adventure to find a cure, but along the way he meets a mysterious girl who is closely related to the heart spirit of the forest. War runs rampant amongst the neighboring villages and one thing leads to another as it is a race to slaughter the spirit of the forest, and it is up to the tribal prince and the mysterious girl to end the war and save the forest before it is all destroyed by the evils of humanity. As for my personal thoughts of the story, if feels like one that I have seen many times before but is presented towards the audience in a unique yet interesting way, all while being wrapped up in a bunch of japanese folklore & hidden messages left for the audience to find and piece together. I’m not a huge fan of plot, but I don’t have any major issues with it as well. ~Character 6/10~ The movie focuses heavily around the two characters who go by the names of Ashitaka and San. Ashitaka is an seventeen year old boy who is the movie’s main character. He is a prince for the Emishi tribe. As I described earlier he is cursed early on and is set off on his adventure to break the curse. He is a very determined man who won’t stop until he gets what he wants. He is not afraid to back down when in times of danger, and is not afraid to kill any human who is in his way. Ashitaka is also a very curious and kind man who wants to learn as much as he can about the mysterious San. Over the course of the movie Ashitaka plays the link between humanity and nature and wants to stop at nothing to keep them from harming one another, “what I want is for the humans and forest to live in peace”. San is an seventeen year old girl who is the so called “princess” of the series. Early on in her life she was abandoned by her birth parents and was left to die in the wilderness until a pack of wolves decided to raise her as if they were her own. At first in the series she is a fairly tough to show her true thoughts and ideology until slowly over time Ashitaka is able to crack her and reveal her true self to both himself and the audience. San is also a very strong and proud warrior who is not afraid of death, “I'm not afraid to die! I'd do anything to get you humans out of my forest!”. My biggest problem with the characters of this movie is how they all seem to be very flat and are more or less just used more as a plot device instead of feeling like an actual person. Ashitaka feels like someone to whom I will forget about not even a month from now; San is someone to whom seems too flat of a character to even care for them. I’m sorry for sounding a bit negative, but the fact in which all of the characters have a huge lack of character feels like a huge problem when it comes to this movie. ~Music 8/10~ The orchestral pieces in this movie are very well crafted and fit the mood of the movie very well. Some of the pieces may be elegant and simplistic, when others may be loud and bombastic, meanwhile some of them may be quiet and mysterious. With that being said I feel as if the soundtrack all melds together and is hard to differentiate each track from one another, that is my one major complaint with the selection of songs. If you were to ask me which track from the OST was my favorite, my immediate response would be “Ashitaka and San”. ~Art/Animation 9/10~ Being for a movie made back in the 90’s and is from an era where anime back then was still being hand drawn, I would have to applaud Studio Ghibli for making a beautiful piece of art that still holds up today. The artstyle is still retains the classic look that Ghibli is known for. I love seeing how every single blade of grass, piece of fur, leaf on a tree, and every single Kodama (little white spirit ghost) were all drawn individually by hand. I love how reflective the water is and how there are some very unique character models for certain people/animals. But the one major complaint that I have with every studio ghibli movie is how all of the human characters retain the same facial structure as one another, this is one of my major issues with ghibli movies is how they all look the same… none of them stick out from the rest. But all and all, a great movie made by hand. ~Final Thoughts~ As you could have guessed by the tone of the review, I personally did not enjoy this movie as much as most people might have. I took a moment after watching the movie and contemplated for a bit about how I realized how I have seen this movie before, and then I came to the realization in which I had watched a very similar telling of the movie before in the form of Pokemon 4Ever: Celebi - Voice of the Forest. I don’t know if it was because of that pokemon movie that made me not enjoy Princess Mononoke as much because I grew up with the movie, or if it just happened to be the case of me not feeling deeply invested with the characters. All and all this was not my favorite Studio Ghibli movie ever. However Princess Mononoke is a good movie in terms of story telling and is one that I would recommend others to see but is not one that I would say is a “Must Watch”. I am going to be awarding this movie with an 7/10. It is one that should be watched but I would not say is high priority. ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Mushishi, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Parasyte, and Pokemon 4Ever… yeah I just went there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Feb 20, 2016
Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki
(Anime)
add
Recommended
Anime Title: Wolf Children “Ookami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki”
Production Studio: Madhouse Studios, Studio Chizu Director: Mamoru Hosoda Composer: Takagi Masakatsu Release Date: July 21, 2012 Running Time: 1 Hour 57 Minutes + English Dub Genres: Fantasy, Drama, Slice of Life If you had the choice between being a wild animal, able to carve your own freedom in nature, or a human, bound by society, what would you choose? This question that I just brought forth is answered in this beautiful coming of age story about a single mother who has to take care of two children that are faced with this decision in life. ... ========================================================== ~Story 10/10~ The story of Wolf Children is a fairly simple yet elegant one. Being about a single mother who is put in a position of having to raise two children on her own, the thing that sets this story apart from most others is how these children have the ability to transform into wolves. It is up to the mother to find answers on how to raise these children on her own, whether it be by the means of moving to the countryside in order of avoiding the chance of being discovered in public or by educating them by the means of drawings in a sketchbook and telling them to recite a chant “I’m gunna be a little girl/boy all the way home” while at school so they don’t transform during class. However as time progresses the two children decide what paths they want to take in life. My personal thoughts on this story is how I believe that it should be watched by everyone who has either raised, raising, or aspires to raise a child one day. The amount of realism portrayed in this movie helps to keep the viewer grounded in the narrative, keeping you laughing one minute and crying the next. The story itself is by no means original, but it is an interesting spin on the “raising a child” type of movie. ~Characters 10/10~ This movie focuses around a mother (Hana) and her two children (Yuki and Ame). Hana starts off at the beginning of the movie at the age of nineteen college student who soon meets the man of her dreams, named Ookami. Ookami later on in the movie decides to reveal his true self to Hana and she undeniably accepts him for who he is. These two later decide to have kids, and one event led to another that rendered Hana to soon become a single mom who is left to raise the two children on her own. Hana is the type of character that will go out of her way to do whatever she can to give her children the best life possible. She is willing to move to a rural area and learn how to plant crops for the first time, while also was working diligently to repair the torn up house that she had purchased. Hana is kind-hearted and is not afraid to admit to her children that she doesn’t know how to do everything, and it is this aspect of her personality that makes me want to aware her with the “Best Mother in Anime” award. Yuki is the oldest of the two children and is the narrator of this movie. Yuki is very energetic and outgoing girl, she isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty and roll around in the mud. In her childhood years she loved to be the center of attention and tended to throw tantrums when everything didn’t go her way. While growing into her kindergarten years she always wanted to become someone she that was not. During the movie Yuki was willing to stand up and defend her brother Ame whenever he was getting bullied at school. Ame is the youngest of the two children in the movie. Ame is extremely shy and fearful during his childhood years. He is the type of child who would always stick to their parents like a magnet and would rather stay in his current situation where he is most comfortable, in a sense he is the “I want to go home” type of child. During his elementary years he was always the kid who would get bullied and ultimately always got in trouble at school and being sent home hallway through the school day became the norm. The thing that makes this movie stand out among others is how overtime the viewer is able to witness these children’s view on life take a complete 180°. This occurs around the age of ten. When the two children end up deciding on their path on life. It is with this drastic change in personality that is both stunning and extremely realistic for most children going through their teenage years. Since these children are also wolves, they naturally mature at a far faster rate than more other children. I love seeing the two break out of their shells and find a path in life. ~Music 9/10~ This soundtrack is absolutely breathtaking at times. The thing that stands out in this OST the most is how it is specifically placed in different scenes to not only set the tone but also amplify it as well. Whether it be a slow and elegant song like “Meguri”, or an fun and adventurous song like “Yonhon Ashi no Odori”, or even a childish like song such as “Taiyou Wo Motta Hi”. This selection of music is very well put together, and some of the songs are upgraded versions of other songs in the soundtracks to match as if how the children are maturing, so is the music. If you were to ask me what my favorite song was from this soundtrack, my response would be “Yonhon Ashi no Odori”. As for the Ending Theme “Okaa-san No Uta” by Ann Sally. My thoughts on this song is that is made in a way to feel sort of nostalgic. It gives me shivers whenever I hear it while also being reminded of how far those two children have changed over time and how quickly time has flown by. It is the ultimate feels trip of a song that can make me think back of not only these children’s past but also my own and how far I have come. ~Art/Animation 10/10~ I am going to go straight forward and say how every single still frame of this movie could be considered a work of art. The detailing in this movie’s BluRay version is absolutely breath-taking. If you were to take the time, you would notice how every single brick, flower, tree, rock, tile, and blade of grass all have a unique yet detailed design to them. As for the art style it is simple yet elegant, the character design is a more flat tone to it. When the backgrounds are a moving piece of art. It is a very difficult detail to describe but instead of explaining, how about I show you? At the bottom of this review you will see multiple different examples of what I am trying to explain. And all of these photos are of screenshots that I personally took while watching the movie. ~Final Thoughts~ If anyone was unaware, this was my first time watching this movie and that was just a week before this review was even made. Whenever I think back at this movie, I want to just watch it over and over and over again. This movie just so happens to have hit every single note for me. Whether it be for: my love of children, living in the mountains, or by relating myself towards Ame. This movie just happened to hit all the right notes to not only peek my interest, but also drag me into the movie and allowing me to watch a long time lapse of someone else’s life. Personally the thing that amazed me the most about this movie is the extremely complex yet simplistic directing choices that were made for this film, and the way how this movie is the ultimate definition to the term “Show Don’t Tell”. The best example of “Show Don’t Tell” in this movie is how not once is the word “love” mentioned. But instead of saying that Hana loves her children, the movie portrays it in a way of showing us many different ways in how she does in fact love her children. Some of these examples is how she is willing to move to the countryside, warn her children of the dangers if they turned into wolves in front of others, and even by just repairing the house and planting a garden. If you want to see one example of many brilliantly directed scenes in this movie, then click here to see a more in-depth analysis of how this movie used the famous Later Tracking Shot. This movie has always been sitting on my Plan To Watch list, but I just never got to it until now. And boy am I glad that I finally decided to give it a shot. I am awarding this movie my second ever 10/10 rating, and has positioned itself into my #2 favorite anime of all time. I can’t express this enough, if you haven’t seen this movie yet. Stop whatever you are doing and go watch it. Also, this movie is a great way how to introduce your family into anime. Side Note: This movie’s English Dub is one of the best that I have ever seen. ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Barakamon, Girl Who Leapt Through Time, & Usagi Drop (which you can find my review of here) ~Upcoming Review~ Stay tuned next week when I review another movie that I’ve been sleeping on for awhile, Princess Mononoke.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Feb 14, 2016
Zankyou no Terror
(Anime)
add
Recommended
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
Anime Title: Zankyou no Terror “Terror in Resonance” Production Studio: Studio MAPPA Director: Shinichiro Watanabe Composer: Yoko Kanno Air Date: Summer 2014 Episode Count: 11 + English Dub Genres: Drama, Psychological, Thriller ... Hope is the one thing that can be a motivating factor for any character or story; the story of ZnT is no exception to this statement. Zankyou no Terror is a story of terrorism and may help explain the thoughts and emotions that inspire the acts that are committed. ================================================================== ~Story 8/10~ The story of Zankyou no Terror revolves around two teenage terrorists (who go by the name of “Sphinx”) who happen have a dark/grim past and over time the viewer slowly learns about who these people are and what they strive to accomplish throughout these acts of terror. Throughout the series Sphinx likes to play a game of cat and mouse with the Police Department in the form of riddles as to where their next target is. These riddles are usually attached Norse Mythology all while being broadcasted for the entire city of Tokyo to see in the form of an youtube video. This trend of riddles continue all the way up until episode 5, in which the introduction of a new character throws a wrench in Sphinx’s plan and causes them to slowly turn from antagonists to protagonists. ~Characters 6/10~ As I explained up above there are two characters who go by the name of “Sphinx”, the real names of these two characters are “9” and “12”. I will not be describing their past nor will I explain as to why they have numbers as their names. “9” is a boy who is somewhere between the ages of seventeen and eighteen, he is the mastermind behind Sphinx. 9 is the man who plots the attacks and is also the one who is research to give clues to the police department as to where their next target will be. The personality of 9 is that he tends to be cool, calm, collected, and is extremely intelligent not only in his knowledge in mythology but also in his skills of computer hacking. He also suffers from PTSD. “12” is also boy who is between the ages of seventeen and eighteen, he is not the kind of character who is afraid of getting his hands dirty. He is fully willing to plant the explosives to wherever they need to go. The personality that 12 has is one that talkative, is a jokester, he loves to mess around with other people’s business, and he does all of this while also being highly intelligent as well. 12 also is deeply in love with their accomplice Lisa. Lisa Mishima is a sixteen year old girl who at first was just a clumsy and shy high school student at the beginning of the anime. Over time you soon learn how she was bullied at school & how she grew up in an extremely over-protective household. Nearing the end of the first episode Lisa’s world was about to be turned upside-down, and this is because Lisa was given a choice: either die or become Sphinx’s accomplice. Realistically she chose the second option. Lisa soon became 12’s love interest, she’s a terrible cook, and she is willing to do anything Sphinx tells her even if she is afraid. But one problem some people have with her is the fact that she really does not serve a vital role in this anime. Kenjirou Shibazaki is a fifty-one year old man who is a highly skilled and intelligent detective. He is seen as a lazy and aloof, and lacks the motivation to work… until he is asked to be a part of the Sphinx case, this is when he is willing to pull out all the stops and decode all of Sphinx’s riddles even if he is too late. Later on in the show he is seen to be used as a plot device in a way for the viewer to learn more about Sphinx’s past, and this is another major problem why some people may have about this show because he really does not change the direction of where the plot is heading. “5” is an girl who does not have an age listed but can be assumed to be seventeen or eighteen due to how she and the members of Sphinx share a similar past to one another. She is an employed government operative who works for United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation and is also highly intelligent but her methods in how to toy around with Sphinx is nothing short of evil. She has no remorse for human life and is even willing to use people as pawns for her giant game of chess. Most people who I have personally talked to blames “5” as one of the major reasons as to why people dislike ZnT. “5” fails as being a good antagonist of the series because she doesn’t give any reason as to why she is attacking Sphinx in the explosive manner that she does, the best way how to word my problems with this character is how she is evil just for the sake of being evil. ~Music 10/10~ The opening theme to Zankyou no Terror (“Trigger” by Galileo Galilei) is one that starts up on a fast yet calming note. As the song progresses it gets faster and faster and quickly begins spiraling out of control and later turns into chaos. The tone of the song is calms yet extremely details, this gives off an impression that Sphinx knows exactly what they are doing and how to get away with their actions in a calm and precise yet highly thought out manner. As for the ending theme to Zankyou no Terror (“Dareka Umiwo” by Aimer) is all about Lisa over time has lost sight of where her life is heading, it is filled with suffering, being over-protected, and just her losing the will to live. The song starts off calm in the beginning but just like the opening theme, it progresses over time and becomes alarmingly fast, this is when the the internal struggle of Lisa is most prominent. In the animation of the song there is a black crows that is staring down at Lisa but later on flies away, in my opinion this black crow represents the people who used to bully her. The crow is always watching Lisa’s every move and is always beating her up but once the crow flies away so do the bullies themselves, Lisa is no longer bullied but at that point it is too late. But near the end of the theme, Lisa reaches her hand out in a sense of last resort and luckly a hand comes down and frees her of her suffering. This hand I would assume is represented to be 12, freeing her from the past life that she had. Finally for the soundtrack, it is used to portray a multitude of emotions. Whether it be to portray a sense of terror (as represented by the track named “Fa”), panic (“saga”), or to give off a sense of relaxation and sincerity (“walt”). The choice of music is nothing short of awe-inspiring, breathtaking, and brilliant. This soundtrack is used in a way that leaves a certain type of atmosphere on the viewer to cause them to be deeply invested into the show. Also the soundtrack has a wide array of insert songs, all of which are absolutely brilliant. If you were to ask me what my personal favorite track from the show was, I would have to respond by saying “birden” or “is”. Zankyou no Terror debatably has one of the best soundtracks in the year 2014, the only other OST in my opinion that comes close to being as good as ZnT’s would have to be Shigatsu. ~Art/Animation 10/10~ All I have to say about Zankyou no Terror’s artstyle is how ingenious it is, to be heavily focused around the color grey, black, and white. It leaves an impact of the harsh and grim reality that the show is trying to portray. The use of lighting in the show is on point. And the animation at time might be short cutted by cgi instead, most prominent in heavy machinery (planes, cars, and fighter jets) and a select few of scenes when there is a mass of people in one single frame. But there are two scenes in this anime that are so beautifully animated & directed that I would personally place in my all time favorite scenes in anime. And that included the motorcycle scene and the ferris wheel scene. ~Final Thoughts~ I first watched this anime back when it was first airing in June 2014, and I personally consider this show to by my first seasonal anime. So basically this show has some major sentimental value to me. I remember loving the show back when I first saw it, but I do remember having a problem remembering who Lisa was & hating 5’s personality. The engrish in the series is a major problem but was fixed once the dub came out. If you haven’t pieced things together yet, I just rewatched this series in english dub and my thoughts on the dub is that it was really well made. I feel as if I enjoy Lisa & 5’s english voice actors more than the japanese, so in return I started to enjoy the characters more. However I feel as if the japanese voice actors for 9, 12, and Shibazaki work a lot better for the characters instead of the english VA’s. None-the-less, I enjoyed rewatching this show just as much as I enjoyed watching it for the first time. I understand that most people have a lot of problems with this show, but some of those problems were ultimately fixed in the english dub. I am officially awarding this series with the rating of 8/10 and an enjoyability rating of 9/10. ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Death Note, Eden of the East, Monster, & Psycho-Pass ~Upcoming Review~ Stay tuned next week when I review Wolf Children.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Feb 7, 2016
Usagi Drop
(Anime)
add
Recommended
Anime Title: Usagi Drop
Production Studio: Production IG Director: Kanta Kamei Air Date: Summer 2011 Episode Length: 11 Genres: Slice of Life, Josei Family is the key to happiness. And the anime that is the very definition of this phrase. And if you the reader one day dreams of becoming a parent one day, then I highly encourage you to watch this show before you do. ================================================================== ... ~Story 7/10~ The story of Usagi Drop is centered around the character Daikichi whose maternal grandfather passes away in the first episode. At the time Daikichi’s grandfather was currently raising a little girl who goes by the name of Rin, who ended up shortly becoming an orphan and had nowhere to live… until Daikichi steps in and offers to become the legal guardian of Rin. You could say this was a huge commitment for Daikichi concerning the fact in which he was currently single and had never had any prior knowledge in how one might raise a child. ~Characters and Their Interactions 10/10~ As how I previously noted above, the two main characters in this anime go by the names of Daikichi and Rin. Daikichi is a thirty year old bachelor who is also a hard working businessman that struggles to balance both his time at work and his time to take care of Rin. Yes he is new to parenting, but he does try his hardest to give Rin as normal of a life as possible. Whether it be by taking Rin to a daycare or by leaving her at his mother’s house, Daikichi somehow finds a way to have someone looking after Rin whenever he is at work. Rin is a six year old girl whose origin is not very well known but is ultimately one of the sweetest characters that I have personally ever seen in an anime. She is in fact someone that I would gladly adopt if I had the chance. Rin is a child who is as happy as one could ever be, but at times throughout the show she ends up dealing with the pain of losing her former father figure. The most important aspect that this show excels at the most is the realism in the characters. The characters do get nightmares, they do get wet dreams, yes they do get sick, and sometimes they goof around with one another. An example of this is when Rin is sitting on a tall chair or porch, you will always see her swinging those feet as fast as they can go. As for Daikichi you may end up seeing him stumbling around with his words whenever he is in an uncomfortable/nerve-racking situation, or you might see his hair messed up with a un-properly tied tie all because he was running late for work. The thing that makes Usagi Drop memorable to me is the incredible amount of attention to detail that is put into animating this series. ~Music~ The opening theme to Usagi Drop is a more upbeat and happy song, it is there to evoke a sense of joy into the viewer all while making it a song that is very oriented towards young children. The choice of using an child oriented song is quite ingenious because the show is all about how someone should raise a child. As for the ending theme it is there to evoke a very nostalgic memory of the viewer’s past. It is there to for the viewer to look back and notice how far the bond between Daikichi and Rin have progressed since the very beginning of the show, all while also making the viewer have the desire to come back and watch one more episode. Finally for the soundtrack, it is very slow and relaxing. Which suits the show very well since Usagi Drop is a slice of life series. The timing of each track is masterfully placed to the point where it not only matches the tone of the scene in which it is being used in, but it also elevates that scene into something even more memorable than it would have been without the track in the background. And if you were to ask me what my favorite track was, I would respond back saying how Wakare 2 is my favorite song from Usagi Drop’s soundtrack. ~Art/Animation 10/10~ First thing that I have to say about the art is how it is visually stunning. For the first 5 or so minutes in each episode the artstyle of the show is very pastel looking; it is as if the show appeared to be a moving work of art. But as the episode progresses the artstyle slowly yet seamlessly morphs into a flatter texture while also being slightly more realistic in design. As for the animation of the show I can not notice any animation errors or choppiness, so it passes with flying colors in this category. ~Final Thoughts~ I originally watched this anime by conducting a poll in an anime community that I was apart of, I added it to the list and was skeptical about it at first but to my surprise it ended up winning. So I stuck to my word and watched it shortly after and all I can say is that this show sucked me into the world and made me feel as if I was a part of this bizarre father/daughter type of relationship. I started the show at the beginning of the day and just continued watching it all the way until the final episode and it just flew by as if only five minutes had passed when in reality four hours passed by. And as I was writing this review I went back and rewatched the first episode just as a refresher but to my surprise about two hours later and I had re-watched half of the show all by accident. The ending of the show makes me compelled to ask for more, but what lies after the anime’s ending is the highly controversial ending in of which creeps me out everytime I think of it. Even tho I was disgusted by the ending of the manga, that stilled didn’t take away any of my joy that the anime gave to me. I am officially awarding this series with the rating of 9/10 and an enjoyability rating of 10/10. This show also currently remains in my Top 5 Favorite Anime that I have seen up until this point in time. ~Similar Anime Recommendations~ Barakamon & Wolf Children ~Upcoming Review~ Stay tuned next week when I review Zankyou no Terror.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Jan 30, 2016
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
(Anime)
add
Recommended
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, animated by Studio Bones back in 2009 and is 11 episodes in length.
This series is what my username is based off of and is also where my profile picture is from. This show is one of the few that has dragged me in from the very beginning until the very end, and I was completely in love with each and every aspect of this show. Partially due to my love of geology which is what I plan to pursue as a major in college, and mostly because of my love of world building. And now, on with the review! ================================================================== ~Story 8/10~ The story ... of this show is just as the title implies, there is an earthquake at the beginning of the series with an magnitude of 8.0 that strike havoc in the city of Tokyo, Japan. Meanwhile the remaining part of the series picks up with two children that go by the names of Mirai and Yuuki that were off on their own when the quake had occurred and as the viewer you watch the two later unite with an older woman in her early 30’s named Mari who ends up helping the two travel back to their home in order to reunite with their parents. But of course there are some obstacles in the way of these three in which they must overcome so that they can meet up with their family once again. ~Characters 10/10~ As I had previously mentioned above the main cast of characters include the following: Mirai, Yuuki, and Mari. Mirai, this 13 year old girl is a real brat at the beginning of the series but as time passes by she slowly becomes more and more mature for her young age. In the beginning of the show Mirai didn’t care about what her little brother Yuuki had to say when considering what to get for their mother’s birthday, but over time she slowly grew more and more attached with Yuuki to the point where she was worried even when he left her for just one moment in order to go get food or to go to the bathroom alone. Yuuki, the 8 year old boy who always made me want to reach into my monitor and give this kid a giant hug. Having to go through a catastrophic event at such a young age must have been traumatizing. This boy reminded me of my younger self in a way, always being needed to have been looked after and taken care of while also being someone who kept a smile on his face no matter what was going on in the world around him. Mari, the 32 year old mother who was brave and nice enough to take in two children that she just met and treat them as if they were her own children. Someone who always went out of her way to protect Mirai and Yuuki whenever an aftershock was to occur and to help provide food, water, shelter, and a sense of direction no matter where they were in the rubbles of Tokyo. ~Music 6/10~ The opening theme is a fun rock song but isn’t memorable in the slightest. However the ending theme is calm and relaxing and just brings up a sense of joy in a show that can be quite saddening at times, but over time the song slowly represents a memory of how far the characters have come since the beginning of the show. As for the soundtrack, I don’t remember much of it so there isn’t much to talk about it. ~Art/Animation 7/10~ The artstyle is extremely realistic and detailed, tho the show doesn’t have an extremely high budget so there are some derp faces here and there but that is not a big concern since it isn’t impacting the series in any way. There is some cgi in the show but it is used in very short and small increments, nothing majorly important that would take you out of the show like for example the Fate/StayNight 2006’s CGI Dragon. The animation is fluid throughout the show but never did anything groundbreaking that is worth pointing out. ~World Building & Character Interactions 10/10~ From the very beginning of the show you can see people going to work or eating in a restaurant and doing other common day to day tasks until the initial quake occurs and then the city is near the verge of collapse within an instant, you can see pipelines bursted, electrical wires dangling, bathrooms flooding, and entire buildings destroyed while having hundreds upon thousands of people running for their lives in seek of shelter. Every street you look down there is a new structure that was just a hollow shell of what it once was, every way and which you look you can see people crying out for help, and every park you visit you will find free food and water distribution stations organized by the Japanese Government and/or from other emergency non-profit services such as The American Red Cross. Inside every church or school building you will find people who are offering blankets, food, and a place to sleep for the night while also having a rooms dedicated for those who are mourning the loss of a loved one. As for the character interactions, they are the most realistic and detailed that I have ever seen before in an anime. Complete and total strangers are helping out one another whether if it is to search through the rubble of an aftershock, or volunteer to help distribute supper or help wheel patients to the ER Room, and some who even to help guide other people by simply giving directions on where a certain building is located. There isn’t a single person causing drama in the show because everyone has one goal in mind and that is to stay alive. ~Final Thoughts~ This show was originally my replacement series to fill the void that was left behind by Zankyou no Terror, however it not only filled it but made it even larger than it initially was. A series with extreme detail and research that was taken into consideration when making an extremely realistic series such as this one needs to be acknowledged and applauded for their hard work and dedication. For being someone who already wanted to study the field of geology, this show did nothing less but strengthen that desire. Long term short this series is nothing short of a masterpiece, but it is a shame at how this show went completely unnoticed to the general anime watching audience. I am awarding this show with an 9/10 and it has currently maintained its position in my Top 5 Anime List that I have seen up until this point in time. I just wish that I could find a series that is even remotely similar to this one. P.S. You are going to need a box of tissues because you will be crying like a baby while watching this show, unless if you are someone who has no soul or sympathy for human life.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all Jan 19, 2016
Ushio to Tora (TV)
(Anime)
add
Recommended
Ushio to Tora... Gotta be honest, I have a far different opinion on this series compared to what some other people might say about it.
========================================================== ~Story~ The story of UTT is quite simple, it mostly focuses on our two main characters: Ushio and Tora. It shows the long history of this world: how the spear was made, it shows what Ushio's family history is like, how the world has advanced over time, the history of Tora and all the other monsters in the world. But for the first half of the show it is quite simply an "monster of the week" type series which I personally ... am totally fine with, but for the second half of the series most people might have a problem with but personally I enjoyed it even more than the first half... which this second half is where the story actually gets started and talks about the several things that I mentioned above. ~Characters~ The cast of characters in this series is vast and severely underdeveloped and this is where most people have the biggest problem with the show, but the thing that makes me completely fine with it is how this show is a journey where the two main characters travel from town to town. It is with this large amount of traveling that makes me completely fine with it, because the two main characters might end up meeting many different people along the way in which they serve their main role in the episode or two that they star in... and then Ushio and Tora move onto the next town where they end up meeting the next person. (One other thing about how people complain about the episode where they have girls comb Ushio's hair... it is mostly there in my eyes just to give more screentime to those character whom we have never seen since the episode they starred in.) As for the main characters: I love them... but of course they are not the most well written characters, but they work well with this world and more important with each other. You can tell throughout the entire series that there is a love hate with one another, they pass jokes around with one another, they make fun of one another, and even fight/argue with each... but in the end they are always willing to get each other out of trouble, no matter the circumstances and over time you can tell how they are growing closer to one another as the episodes go by. Also... Tora is best boy of the year. ~Comedy~ The jokes in this series as I mentioned above, it is mostly just back and forth fighting between our two main characters: Ushio and Tora. And is mostly there for the sake of being comedy relief and in my opinion, it works really well. Every so often it is poorly timed, but it only exists for maybe a quick one liner or so, just long enough for the character to make fun of the situation and then later snaps back into reality and becomes serious about the situation once more. But just remember comedy is entirely subjective, but personally I really enjoyed it. ~Music~ The Soundtrack isn't amazing but it isn't terrible either, but it does work extremely well with the show. The opening is very 90's focused and I feel as if it helps get you in the mood for the type of show that this show is, it isn't the best opening ever but it does work really well with the context. The Ending themes, they are both really well made songs but personally I have a lot of fun with them but... I feel as if I will forget about them by the end of Winter 2016 season. ~Art/Animation~ The art makes me feel as if I am watching an 90's shounen, which is exactly what the show should feel like, because it is an 90's shounen except it is made in the current modern time. The animation itself is solid, it is always consistent, and there are no animation derps or horrible cgi... if there even is any in the first place. ~Dialogue~ It is not anything extremely thought provoking or memorable for the matter of fact, but it works for the type of series that Ushio to Tora is. But if I was to make one critique about it, is how the writers of the show really need to learn about "Show Don't Tell". Here is a screenshot I took that was near the end of this season, but I felt like it needed to be addressed http://i.imgur.com/zK7YmoM.png ... It mostly shows how there is a female character who is upset about an action that was made by another character's actions, but instead of showing the raw emotion that the character is feeling through different facial expressions or body movements or even just make her her yell about what her thoughts are don't just flat out say "I am angry", because by saying that you are telling that you are angry yet on screen you do not appear to be angry at all. In the long run, I remember seeing this show listed on anichart just before the show aired and I wasn't expecting much, it looked good but I wasn't entirely positive about whether I would love the series or hate it so I went in not expecting much (this also occurred with Rokka no Yuusha & Arslan Senki). In which I ended up being extremely blown away about how much I loved this series, and ended up noticing how I continuously loved the next episode more than the last and this cycle continued throughout the entire series. This series was one of the few where I was counting down the days till the next episode was released. BUT one thing I had to mention is how even tho this show got mixed reviews, I still raved on about how much I loved it and this ended up pissing off a few people because it just ended up being a coincidence about this show got mixed reviews (where this is also the case with Arslan Senki). It isn't my fault about how much I love a series, if I really enjoy something I will talk about it... shouldn't that be common sense? Anyways, I am really excited to see where this story is heading with the upcoming Season 2 that is going to airing in Spring 2016. But no matter the problems I have with the series the positives far outweigh the negatives. And in this case, I give Ushio to Tora my first 9/10 for any series I've seen that aired this year... and also has earned a spot on my Top 10 favorite series that I have seen to date.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Informative
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0 Show all |