- Last OnlineYesterday, 5:14 PM
- GenderMale
- BirthdaySep 8, 1997
- JoinedSep 16, 2018
Also Available at
@RubberNGum (Twitter)
merukuro (Discord)
RSS Feeds
|
![]()
Feb 20, 2024
God gave this manga a tired romantic subplot that goes nowhere and drags on for hundreds of chapters because he knew it was too powerful and needed something to hold it back.
The story starts off insane. The premise alone was enough to sell me on this. The characters fight the Loch Ness Monster at some point. The Dover Demon is a real alien and becomes a recurring supporting character. There's an anatomy mannequin that is alive for no discernible reason and he lives with the main character's grandma who is one of the most unapologetically horny designs I've seen in ages. They call an exorcism
...
band and when they show up they look like a glam rock band straight from the 80s. The author decides to put whatever batshit insane idea he had that day into the story and you're just like "yeah that makes sense".
The characters are so likable and have such good chemistry that by the time the insanity of the story settles down and it becomes a regular shounen you don't care because you just enjoy seeing them interact that much. Every member of the main cast could be someone's favorite character and I wouldn't blame them one bit. If only the story actually had the balls of having the main characters who are clearly and obviously into each other actually get together and stop wasting page time on things I've already seen a thousand times before.
Nothing is perfect, I guess.
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
Aug 20, 2023
This show is pretty pogchamp for zombie genre fans and the animation do be pretty. However, it gets hit with delay every other week to the point where you kinda lose interest in what's going on bc last episode was 2 weeks ago and there's already a new delay announced after the one you're watching, killing all the hype. Watching this as it's airing is an absolute chore so if you're interested just wait for it to be finished.
The premise is the strongest part of the show. Characters are fine and likable enough. Action is pretty to look at. Comedy doesn't always land but most
...
of the time it does, pretty funny show. I want Shizuka to choke me out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Nov 9, 2021
This is a classic remade for a new generation that was banking on audiences being a lot smarter than they actually are. This review contains heavy spoilers so read at your own risk.
Dragon Quest: Dai is a classic 80s manga that was one of the most successful mangas of Weekly Shounen Jump at the time, alongside Dragon Ball, which is saying A LOT because the 80s and 90s of Jump was when the magazine almost went bankrupt and a few outstanding series like Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk and, of course, Dai, saved them from that fate to become the titan it is
...
today.
DQ: Dai was an outstanding success not only because it's Dragon Quest, Japan's biggest gaming franchise, but because it is peak shounen. You have your protagonist who never gives up and wins every fight thanks for the power of DETERMINATION and friendship, and his band of friends who naturally include former enemies. More following:
Story: 9
Sure, DQ: Dai's story might seem cliché and boring to folks watching this in the 2020's, but remember: this manga was written in the 80's. Chances are, your favorite shounen series was heavily inspired by this series and Dragon Ball. Dai is your average happy-go-lucky shounen protagonist who soon learns he needs to step up and mature insanely quick to become the world's greatest hero and save the entire planet from Hadlar, the Dark Lord who his master, Avan, once defeated years ago but failed to kill, and his even more busted final JRPG villain Vearn (who is kept in the shadows for the majority of the series).
If this feels familiar to Final Fantasy to you, it's because Dragon Quest is arguably the biggest JRPG series in the world, and the plot of most Final Fantasy series draws heavily from it, even if it quite never took off in the West. Japan sure does love it, though...
Along his journey Dai meets his fellow Avan Disciples, Popp, Maam and Hyunkel, as well as other characters that will support throughout the series such as Beast King Crocodine, Princess Leona and the fighting mouse, Chiu. All of them have their own defined personalities and skills they bring to the table.
The rest is your typical JRPG fare, but again, I must stress, Dragon Quest and, by proxy, Dragon Quest: Dai, laid the groundwork for every modern JRPG series you enjoy today. This story follows all the familiar beats but it executes it so well it's part of the reason those beats are familiar to begin with.
Art: 9
Alright, the elephant in the room: the CG battle scenes.
Present from Episode 1, to ease the viewers into knowing they will be there in every big battle scene, from Dai to the Papnica Council's Killer Machine to Dai vs Hyunkel and the absolute best choreographed scene in the series, Dai vs Baran, the CG battle scenes are an absolute sight to behold, assuming you're not one of those mentally impaired weebs who write off any and every CG as bad because... the internet told you so, I guess.
The CG in this anime looks straight out of an actual Dragon Quest game, but fear not, it's reserved for only the absolute climax of the best arcs in the entire series. There are plenty of arc climaxes that are strictly 2D, so if you see the 3D character models pop up, strap in because you're in for a hell of a fight.
Not to say the strictly 2D scenes are bad, by any means. TOEI Animation has attained a GIGANTIC budget over the years thanks to securing the rights to both One Piece and Dragon Ball, and that coupled with the industry's best scheduling results in stunning climaxes to the many, many arcs you're sure to expect in a battle shounen. This anime already looks pretty good in the week-by-week episodes, but when it's time to face the arc's Big Bad, get ready for a slew of sakuga and satisfying finishing blows. This show's Big Battles never underperform, it's a sight to behold.
Sound: 9
BOKU WA NO BOKU WO AISHINUKU KOTO
This series' music and voice acting is top-notch. The first OP will grow on you over the FIFTY episodes it's used in, and the performances by every single Voice Actor are simply perfect for every character. Atsumi Tanezaki and Toshiyuki Toyonaki as Dai and Popp, respectively, nail every emotional scene they are in. I mention these two in particular because they are the show's core and focus, but Show Hayami as Baran, Tomokazu Seki as Hadlar, the legend Takehito Koyasu (DIO BRANDO if you're not familiar) as Myst-Vearn and Takaya Hashi as the mysterious Dark King Vearn all deliver incredible performances.
The stock sound effects found in every Toei series from Dragon Ball to One Piece to even old-school series like Saint Seiya will barely bother you if you're not trained to hear them, as the sound design during the fights is also perfect for a long-running series like this. It's clear Toei knew what they were doing with this series.
Character: 10
This show executes every single shounen trope to its fullest, probably because it was partially responsible for creating these tropes in the first place.
Dai is your typical shounen protagonist, though him not being obsessed with food and/or screaming at the top of his lungs in every sentence he says like Goku (who, again, was created roughly at the same time as he was) is a breath of fresh air in the genre.
Popp is best described as the original Usopp (One Piece). He starts out as the cowardly friend who will often get on your nerves, but over the course of the series will develop into such a fearless badass that anyone watching will respect him to death at the end.
Maam is the least interesting of the main party, which is fair considering this story was written in the 80s. She is, however, one of the original Badass Women, she will keep her fellow Disciples in check while also acting as a sort of a mother figure to Dai, who never knew his own mother. She can also kick some serious ass in the Big Battles.
Hyunkel is the edgy rival turned friend which inspired countless other shounen rivals such as Vegeta, Kurapika, Sasuke and most recently, Yuno. He is brooding and cool, but also has his own sense of moral, which is appreciated.
Since the last two reocurring party members, Crocodine (a giant crocodile-like monster) and Princess Leona (the group's healer and diplomatic ally) aren't anything amazing, let's move onto the villains.
Dark Lord Hadlar was the Dark Lord who tried to take over the world and nearly succeeded years ago, only to be defeated by the Hero Avan, the main cast's mentor. Naturally, the first thing he does when he comes back is kill Avan to show how much stronger he is. Hadlar is a very strong threat, but he is only SECOND IN COMMAND of the Dark Army, which should put into perspective the stakes of the series. Over the course of the series, Hadlar has an incredible amount of character development, not unlike Popp, and is what I would call the quintesential arch-nemesis, learning from his mistakes and becoming a genuine force to be reckoned with.
Baran is the Dragon Army Commander of the Dark Army and, without spoiling too much, has a very close relationship with the Main Cast. He is also one of those villains who eventually become something more thanks to character development, something that inspired MANY shounens to come.
Finally, the Dark Army Shadow Commander Myst-Vearn, its secret enforcer Kill-Vearn and the Supreme Commander, Dark King Vearn are all intimidating and terrifying in their own ways, partially helped by the amazing performances their Seiyuu give.
Side characters such as the Fighting Mouse Chiu, the Papnica Chief of Guards Baduck and many others who accompany the Party on their way are also very likeable and provide mostly comic relief, but never overstay their welcome.
Enjoyment: 10
I might be biased on this regard, since Battle Shounen is my absolute favorite sub-genre of anime (since I grew up with it), but Dragon Quest: Dai is one of the few ones that matches every beat of a classic shounen story flawlessly.
You must keep in mind that this is an 80s series upgraded to the 2020's standard of animation, and once you do, you should appreciate how much this series did to the genre that no doubt introduced many of us to the world of anime.
The Shounen Formula was birthed with series like Dragon Quest: Dai, Hokuto no Ken and Yu Yu Hakusho, and was perfected with Dragon Ball, whose author Akira Toriyama is indirectly involved with this series (Toriyama did the character design for the Dragon Quest games, which this series tries to replicate).
For true shounen fans, this series is an absolute delight. For younger fans such as me, you'll recognize many beats in the storytelling, but knowing this series help CREATE those beats to begin with, this is an amazing series to see unfold. It's a must-see if you like Battle Shounen.
So, yeah. I really love this series, not just for the cultural impact but also by how well Toei Animation captures it in 21st Century animation style. It's not flawless, obviously, as every long-running series should tell you, but it's a trip down memory lane that is enjoyable all the way through.
I wanted to write a review about this show for SO LONG but I purposely held myself back until I was at least at the final arc to do so, to make sure it kept the same amount of polish throughout, and now I can safely say, it did.
This is PEAK SHOUNEN™️ and nothing will ever change my mind. If you are, like me, Shounen Trash and you are proud of it, this is mandatory watching.
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
![]()
Nov 8, 2021
This show is genuinely one of the funniest comedies that has come out in several years, and I mean it.
My experience with this show basically went: The synopsis peaked my interest, the OP song sold me on it, and the gags in every segment (there are 3 per episode) made me love it.
From fighting a naked vampire with vines coming out of his crotch, to tormenting a genuinely evil vampire by unknowingly messing with his soul trapped in a voodoo doll (which was found by complete accident mind you) to fighting VAMPIRE VEGETABLES, the three main characters in this show manage to stay entertaining, hilarious
...
and at times even adorable all throughout. This show has never failed to make me laugh at least once during each episode (6 out at the time of this review).
Story: 9
The story is pretty straight-forward. A competent, yet prone to screwing up Vampire Hunter is forced to take in a Vampire Lord as his roommate/assistant after destroying his castle while fame-hunting. The catch is that Draluc, the vampire, is extremely weak, yet immortal, so he dies at the sight of pretty much anything, even a door being slammed shut too loudly. Ronaldo the Hunter then introduces Draluc to the many quirky and likeable characters around him, including the Hunter's Guild and the Vampire Control Association, all of which are just as likeable and funny as the two leads. Oh, and also Draluc's familiar is an adorable armadillo that will have you admiring his cuteness just as much as he will make you laugh.
The three short stories per-episode structure is perfect for this show. Even if one skit doesn't quite hit the mark, which is fair, the next one might have you pausing the episode because you were simply dying laughing too hard.
Art: 7
Nothing particularly amazing in this regard, but the art is perfectly serviceable for a show that focuses more on making you laugh than looking stunning.
Sound: 8
THE OPENING SONG IS SO CATCHY I CAN'T DESCRIBE IT IN WORDS, ABSOLUTE BANGER I HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO IT FOR WEEKS
Aside from that, the performance by the two leads is high-energy, fast-paced, and absolutely hilarious. Even the more subdued side-characters that get laughs out of playing the straightperson surrounded by weirdos still give a great show.
Character: 10
Every single character is likeable.
The fame-seeking Ronaldo is so enamored by his own greatness, and every time he is forced to put up with Draluc's or his fellow Hunter's antics and is humiliated beyond description is always a joy.
You'd think that the gag of Draluc dying every 10 seconds would get old after a while, but his relationship with Ronaldo and his genuine reactions at how batshit insane the human world is compared to his previous life of hedonistic gaming is always a treat.
Side characters include Vampire Control officials Hinaichi and Handa, a girl that was convinced Draluc was faking being weak until she found out he wasn't and is now stuck with the pair of idiots seemingly forever, and Ronaldo's childhood rival who hates his guts because... his own (vampire) mother is the Hunter's biggest fan.
Other smaller characters include the Hunters Guild, whose Master and his daughter are an absolute treat to behold, Ronaldo's scary editor Fukuma-san who stuffs him inside an Iron Maiden every time he misses a deadline on his famous book series about, what else, himself, Draluc's own Vampire Lord family who are just as funny as he is, and the occasional case-of-the-week including a Vampire who has absolutely no control over his shapeshifting and gets proggressively more bizarre every time he thinks of anything "impure" and a regular vampire being chased by a human stalker who absolutely DEMANDS him to turn her into a vampire out of love at first sight.
Finally, I believe in John supremacy.
Enjoyment: 10
Honestly the highlight of the week every time a new episode is released for me. Watching a dozen of shows every week, most of them comedies, this one manages to top all of them in excitement. I can't possibly overstate how funny this series is, and how much of a shame it is that it was seemingly swept under the rug and barely noticed by the community at large.
Overall: 9
If you dig fast-paced, high-energy comedies, this show is an absolute must. If you dig buddy comedies where both sides are idiots in their own right and play off each other flawlessly, this show is a must. Hell, even if you just enjoy Vampires at all and are tired of the usual serious flair that plays them up for scares, why not give Vampires played for laughs a shot?
I don't know what else to say, give this show a try right now, you won't regret it.
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
![]()
Dec 4, 2020
Don't be mistaken: This is just a prologue.
The movie adapts "Season One" of the Burn the Witch manga... which is only 4 chapters, with a Season Two confirmed to come at some point in the future. If you're familiar with Tite Kubo of Bleach fame, you will be able to tell that he plans on expanding this series way beyond this first movie.
Story: 5/10.
There are two things you need to know before jumping into this movie.
The first: it's a sequel to the original Burn the Witch one-shot. Yes, not an adaptation, a sequel. The events of the one-shot still happened, but you don't get to
...
see any of it. This is why you're just thrown into the series' world, without any real introduction to its main characters.
The second: the story is incomplete. As I mentioned above, this movie, as well as the first season of the manga that it adapts, is a prologue. It serves to introduce you to Ninny, Noel, Balgo and a few other characters before the "real story" actually begins... Which is very weird, considering that the manga went into indefinite hiatus as soon as Season One was done, so we actually don't have that "real story" yet.
Let's talk about the movie's story, for what it's worth. Two girls work for an agency that handles dragons, both friendly and useful, as well as aggressive and dangerous. They're currently taking care of this really annoying guy called Balgo, and if you want to know why... you have to read the one-shot.
This is bad story-telling. Nothing indicates that the movie is a sequel to the one-shot, and you'll only find out about this if you do research on the series on your own, because there is NOTHING that alludes to why or how they got stuck with Balgo, which raises a lot of questions and confuses the viewer when they start throwing around terms that are explained in the one-shot... but not in the movie. You shouldn't have to do homework in order to understand the basic premise and world of your movie.
Looking over this HUGE flaw, the story is... ok. Nothing special, for a prologue. It's meant to introduce you to the characters and establish the world and it does that fine enough, even if a bit clunky sometimes.
Art: 8/10.
It's Kubo. The man who achieved "Big Three" status on drawing cool shit alone. The character designs are great, which has always been his strong point, and the animation by Studio Colorido is fluid and pleasing to look at. There is a lot of flying around in this, as you'd expect from a show about witches, and it's all pretty well done.
Spells look a bit boring for the most part, with the exception being the spells cast by Bruno, which are very creative in how they're cast and look different enough from the rest, which are basically just light being shaped differently. Yeah it's all a bit samey but it's not what I'd describe as bad, at all.
Sound: 6/10.
The voice acting is good, everyone fits their character and helps the movie sell you on who these people are. The background music was fine, if a bit unremarkable. The same could be said about the ending song, it did its job fine enough, but it's not like it's particularly memorable or something that I'd add to my anisong playlist, for example.
Character: 7/10.
Kubo knows how to write likable characters, even if he doesn't really know what to do with them as the series goes on. He also knows how to write insufferable characters.
Case in-point: Balgo. Balgo is by far the worst thing about this series. Comic-relief characters are hard to write, I know that, and if you're not careful enough, you end up with a character like Balgo, a complete useless tag-along whose only role in the movie is to "be funny". I did not find him funny, I found him incredibly irritating.
Everyone else is good, for what little we've seen of them. The two main characters are your typical energetic-apathetic dynamic, but what I like about them is that neither one of them is your typical hero(ine). They're both selfish, Noel is greedy and Ninny is ambitious to a fault, disregarding rules and even the safety of London citizens to prove herself worthy of a promotion. Their dynamic is nothing new but it was enough for me to want to see more of them.
Other relevant characters include hot-headed, over-confident Bruno Bangnyfe, which is my favorite character thanks to a combination of great character design, cool powers and scene-stealing personality which is a Kubo classic; Macy Baljure, whose only real role in the prologue is to be cute and naive which I assume is to establish that she's going to be changing a lot throughout the series (whenever that decides to start); and Ninny and Noel's boss Billy Binx, Jr., a laid-back and lazy character who is pretty charming considering his small screen-time.
The movie also introduces the Top of Horns, the rulers of the Wing Bind association, but their appearance is very brief, only serving to, again, assure the viewers that the story is only at its beginning.
Honestly I would give it an 8/10 if Balgo wasn't so damn annoying.
Enjoyment: 7/10.
It's fun. That's all I can really say about this series so far, really. It did get me interested in seeing the rest of the story, which I guess was the purpose of the movie. It feels incomplete because well... it is. In a way this movie is just a big advertisement for Burn the Witch Season 2, whenever that decides to show its face on Weekly Shonen Jump. On its own, I'd give it a light 7/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
![]()
Nov 29, 2020
I want to start by saying that this is my first review. I never really wished to write reviews here bc I usually don't have anything else to add to shows I watched than what other people have already said, but this show... This show is bad, guys. I see people giving it 9s, 8s, hell even a 7 is too high for it imo. So I'll try my best to put into words why I dislike this show. Spoilers, obviously.
Story: 3/10.
The story's premise is pretty simple. People with super powers are bad, the government wants to get rid of them so they round them
...
all up in a remote island to be killed one by one. Nothing amazing, but I can work with this, as long as the execution is well done. Well, it's not.
The story structure basically goes: Arc about Hana killing a newly introduced character that has never been seen before, then an episode about a confrontation with Kyouya, then another arc focused on a random student, rinse and repeat forever. It took them 9 episodes to introduce any sort of variety, but it was far too late. It's boring and repetitive and it's just not fun.
At one point a student whose power is to produce poison from her body fluids is killed by.... being poisoned. It makes no sense.
Art: 6/10.
Really nothing special to be said. It looks passable, but there really isn't any moment where I was like "hey this looks pretty good". At least it doesn't look bad, for most of the time.
Sound: 5/10.
Sound effects are perfectly serviceable. Both the OP and the ED are super forgettable. Background music doesn't really do anything either.
Characters: 1/10.
The show REALLY wants you to think that Hana and Kyouya are geniuses playing an intricate mind game with each other, not unlike Kaguya and Shirogane, or maybe (if the writer is really full of themselves) even Sherlock and Moriarty. Well, they're not. They're both actually pretty stupid, all things considered. Characters are either bumbling idiots or, in the case of Hana, an asspull goddess with incredibly thick plot armor.
Several scenes are dedicated to Kyouya making "logical deductions", where he seems to be on the right track, before suddenly he disregards everything he just said for no other reason than "plot". Side characters are simply stupid. The perfect example is Shibusawa, the second victim, who by time-travelling, follows Hana directly to the scene of the first murder, sees her right there with the victim, knowing full well she was the last person he saw before going missing, standing next to a cliff... And shrugs it off? Then later she convinces him to accidentally kill himself by time-travelling into a pond while being unable to swim. Amazing writing.
Once the show starts introducing students who are openly antagonistic towards Hana, like a blackmailing rapist and a psychotic student who managed to avoid death and uncover her true goals, Hana starts to constantly one-up her assailants with contrived bullshit and mental gymnastics and we're expected to accept that she deduced not only the exact way their powers work, but also how to counter it and kill them in a way that won't arise suspicion from Kyouya, of course helped by the fact that said assailants are also dumb as rocks and keep doing things so unbelievably stupid that it's almost laughable. In the necromancer arc she deduces the student's entire life story from a drink being spilled on them in a movie theater once.
As of writing this review, episode 9, the show just introduced the first character that seems to have an actual functioning brain, but as I said before, too little too late.
tl;dr: Every character in this show is braindead and it hurts the enjoyment a lot.
Enjoyment: 6/10
The show is bad, but I consider myself someone who can enjoy bad media. I like trashy slasher movies, and this is basically one of those, except instead of Jason chasing horny teens through the woods there's an anime girl trying to prove to you how awesome and smart she is, while only being able to kill anyone because everyone else is stupid.
Also I would be lying if I said that the show didn't have it's few moments, for as bad as it is overall. Some of the students are somewhat likeable, if you ignore, again, how they're stupid as hell, and there are a few interactions that could really work, if they were in a better show.
Overall: 5/10
This show is bad. But it's not unwatchable bad. It's the kind of bad show you pop in once, watch it in amazement at how bad the story and characters are, and then immediately forget about it once it ends. If you like that sort of trashy show then by all means, give this a watch, you'll probably have some fun out of it, but if you're looking for an actually well written series, skip.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|
