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May 10, 2021
I will keep this brief. Spoilers ahead.
I can forgive a lot of things about Shoujo storytelling. Shoujo has two things primarily working against it. One is that there's rarely a good budget like its shounen counterpart, so stock footage, sparkles, and lots of talking are used as storytelling devices. The other is that shoujo tends to be aimed at women and faces more scrutiny than shounen, so shoujo is (largely) emotion and character dynamic heavy.
My issue is that this show starts strong thematically with a frank discussion about the issues women face to this day. It then turns around and has the team fail
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to achieve their dreams because of a love triangle involving two of the girls and a boy from the rival team. So the moral I got from this show is you are either single and alone, or in a relationship and happy, and either way you fail. Because women can't possibly be treated as equals. And that all our actual problems (because relationship woes are the only viable thing) can be solved by a big strong man. Lovely.
Had the girls lost because they were out skilled, that would have been fine. But they didn't. This is a pseudo feminist work that is insulting to its audience.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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May 18, 2018
I started this show wanting to gouge out my eyeballs from the horrible cross cut animation, the ridiculous fanservice, horrible characterization, and other things. However, as I watched this show I found that what is so bad about this show in my opinion is beyond just the surface layer. In China Internet Addiction Reform Camps are a thing, and this anime was based upon a Chinese manga inspired by this very concept.
Before I get to the meat of my problem with this anime, I'll start with the basics.
Story: Awful. It's like someone took all the main ideas from Kill la Kill and Deadman Wonderland
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without any of the self-awareness or depth. The story is hackneyed and several character plots the show heavily focused on were never explained or concluded.
Art: The art is atrocious. There were moments where the characters would be talking and there was no movement on the screen. At all. It was lifeless and dead, with little good. The only time the art was any good was in the opening sequence itself.
Sound: The music, what little there is is fine.
Characters: The characters are a mixed bag of how bad they are. We are introduced to one awesome character who proceeds to do nothing the entire anime except mope around and refuse to help the others. Another is just there for dominatrix pandering, and the rest just make no damned sense.
Enjoyment: At times I found myself wanting to know what happened, and honestly thinking of what I'd do in this situation. But that's it.
Now for my biggest issue with this show. Camps and facilities like this exist in the real world. They exist in nearly every country, especially the United States, China, and North Korea. In the United States, which is what I have personal experience with, these camps and schools are largely Christian based. Every state in the US has at least one facility like this where abuses run rampant, and students have been killed. In Louisiana there is one that guises itself as a Christlike school for troubled girls but in reality teaches them that their psychiatric problems are all their fault, in Utah, a work camp to 'fix hardened' teenage criminals is nothing more than an abusive slave labor camp. My point is, these places exist and to make such a disgusting show that capitalizes on that concept without showing reverence, or being a satire is deplorable.
There were multiple ways to go about creating a show on this material that is not a graphic exploitation of this scenario. Kill la Kill for instance is a parody with these elements thrown in, Now and Then Here and There is honest and reverent in its approach to make an enjoyable action series with child soldiers and rape. So why not this show? Multiple times the women were treated as sexual objects for the audience after they were already in a vulnerable situation, and the show framed its story that even those involved in the camp should receive forgiveness because of their past. No. This show is an exploitative piece of garbage with no respect for the real world issues these kinds of places face.
If you want an actual good modern look into what kinds of places these facilities are actually like, then go watch Jesus Camp or something on the human rights violations in North Korean work camps. I can forgive a bad story, but being completely without respect for these real world tragedies is deplorable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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May 16, 2017
I should start by saying that I am not the audience for this show. I hate comedies, fanservice, pointless characters, and harem series in general. Why did I watch this then? Simply put, a friend purchased this for me and I promised to not only watch it, but skewer it as well. Angela, I am doing this for you.
I will keep spoilers to a minimum, as I am aware that some people will really like to watch this show.
Story 2/10
At the points in which the show didn't turn into Stupid People 101, there were some decent plot devices in this show. The reason behind
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the earthquakes was an interesting one with a lot of potential, but what should we do with that potential? Have an entire episode dedicated to going on a date and stupid slapstick instead of comically exploring the concept of another world. Perfect! Oooh, or we can have a swimsuit episode whose whole purpose is to "train" the MC to not get excited by girls in swimsuits, while sexualizing our loli. Awesomesauce!
I also enjoyed the way in which the relationship between the MC and his sister was portrayed, and how their dynamic changed (or didn't change) as the series pulled forward. It was a nice touch. (Though it would have been better if not for the BS in the final episode).
The biggest shortcoming of the show, in my opinion, is that it could have been clever in its way of portraying love. According to this series there is basically one kind of love: romantic. Anyone who has lived more than five minutes knows that there are many types of love; the love between friends, from parents to children, sibling love, and more. Suggesting that there is only one, and it is romantic is just plain ignorance. It could have even played off of this idea of different kinds of love in the regard of putting some girls in the friend-zone and then there being slapstick there.
But nope, instead we get a panel of adults playing dating simulators and bragging about their 100 waifus. Great job anime. You successfully killed my brain cells.
Art 7/10
The art in this show is good, for the most part. I say this because while the colors are vibrant and the designs are nice, it was extremely generic. Put 10 other harem series in a blender, and you'll get this. It looks nice though. Especially on clock girl and the Kotari.
Sound 4/10
If a sad song plays, you're supposed to feel sad. If a happy song plays, you're supposed to feel happy. If it's dramatic it means a character moment is going to happen that will be forgotten in the next episode.
What I mean is, the music is passable and does its job, but that's it. The Op is somewhat of a saving grace, but even that is rather dull. It's passable, but just barely.
Characters 2/10
Oh, this thing had characters? All I saw were nicely colored pieces of cardboard.
Seriously. I just finished the show and have no idea what the character's names even are. The only one I remember is Kotari, and that's because they say her name like 100 times in the last episode. Purple was the clueless alien girl with enthusiasm, handpuppet girl is the loli, clockwork girl (who is my favorite) was the Yuno Gasai, Flame girl was [spoiler, but still cliche as heck], stone-faced white haired girl is the character with a tragic backstory, male commander guy is the pervert, second-in-command chick is totally on drugs, oh and there's a sexualized little sister. Great job anime.
All of my exaggerated whining aside, we as an audience get no backstory on any of these girls except the stone'faced white haired girl, and that's her purpose as a plot catalyst. Kotari, the younger sister, is about the only other one who gets any development (or even any information about her) explained at all. It's such a shame ebcause this show could have been a clever sci-fi romance harmen comedy, but instead it chose the formula of cute girls, boobies, and explosions. Ugh.
Clockwork girl is awesome though. She is best girl.
Enjoyment 4/10
As amusing as it was to text my friend about all of the stupid things going on in this series, those texts only provided a minor distraction. I found myself annoyed at almost every character interaction and plot point in the show. With the only saving grace clockwork girl (who has like 15 minutes of screen time), I found myself trying to distract myself from the atrocity laid before me. The art was a nice touch and some of the design were good (clockwork girl), but I just hated this show.
Final thoughts
Date A Live is another one of those shows that comes out of the woodwork to satiate the appetite of people who like this genre. There is little remarkable about it besides clockwork girl, although the well animated visual novel had its moments. The show could have been clever and had some actual meat to its cotton candy fluff, but i didn't. It was just another forgettable title in the sea of anime that are made to cash-in, without much to actually say.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Apr 17, 2017
*I included as few spoilers as possible
There are few anime who, after I finish watching them, I have to scratch my head. Even fewer make me simultaneously want to review the story itself and post it online. Sunday Without God is one of those irksome shows.
Story 4 (This show really is a cute girl doing cute things)
I picked this series up because its premise sounded amazing. I am a sucker for religiously-inclined series, and this one seemed to fit the bill perfectly. The show's two opening arcs were nothing short of amazing, if a bit campy. The series explained the setting while also bringing to
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light the conflicting views of safety and security in this new world, and how each person seeks to attain them. It was beautifully done with the only issue being the complete campy-ness of everything. This show is slice of life, make no mistake, it is not extremely dark like the opening or themes would have you believe.
My problem comes in two forms; one is the tone, and the other is the ending. The tone of this, as I said is very slice of life, but its concept is much less than so. The slice of life aspect of this show ruins many of the themes because it is like the show itself is not taking itself seriously. I could not tell who this story is for. The people who like slice-of-life will be off-put by the random and graphic violence, but those who like darker themes will be put off by the storytelling that is reminiscent of bubblegum, cotton candy, and rainbows. Maybe there is someone out thee who this show is perfect for, but the tone, to me especially, seemed way too varied to really take it seriously.
The ending... is another matter. This is one of those shows where everything literally stops mid-story without any resolution. Unlike similar shows such as Kino's Journey, the series doesn't even give you any final words. It. Just. Stops. This would be okay, if the viewer were not left with a dozen questions. The show does not explain the nature of the wishes God gives the world or how what happened at the end of the final episode, even happened. I could have ignored the tonal shifts, but the horrible ending and the fact that the final two arcs were so similar to one another (same settings and themes) dragged this score down at least 3 points.
One last thing to note is its poor execution of Chekhov's gun. I can't give specifics, but there are events and things that happen that do not come up again, even though a big deal was made of them to begin with. It happened more than six times in this series, and really brought down the overall message, as well as the characters.
Art 9
The artwork in this is gorgeous, in that hyper stylized moe kind of way. I don't have many complaints save for the fact that there were awful uses of CG and the characters often did not quite blend with the gorgeous backgrounds provided. Otherwise, I thought it was great.
Sound 6
The sound is usually really good. The opening sequence is ear-catching with its swelling choir and snippets of English phrases and the ending is one of my favorites of all time. But other than those two, nothing really stands out. None of it is bad, but it's not great either. The music is also not very versatile. It tells you exactly how to feel and when to feel it- with no interpretation left to the viewer. If it's sad, you're supposed to be curled up into the fetal position bawling. If it's happy, you're supposed to be skipping and laughing. Etc.
Characters 5
Sunday Without God is a mixed bag when it comes to its characters. Sure each of them have well-thought out motivations and solid interactions between one another, but those interactions and motivations do not match up most of the time. A character's backstory will be presented and a few personality quirks alongside that, then, the character just goes off and does random things that have nothing to do with their personality in the first place. I'm talking about the fact that the village that raised our main character is brutally murdered, and what does she (the caring and loyal Ai) do? She of course goes with the man who killed her village. Makes perfect sense! There are numerous instances of this, and it got very annoying very quickly.
The biggest travesty to the characters is that they all act so happy all the time. I get that the main character is that way, I will not complain there. But many of the others are just happy for happiness' sake. It's unreasonable to think that in a post-apocalyptic future that no one would be experiencing extreme depression or despair- that's just not possible. This campy feel added with the slice of life tone, just ruins much of the interactions of the characters.
Enjoyment 5
Overall 6
Overall, I don't regret purchasing this series. It's not terrible. It has many very touching moments and the colors and animation are very pleasing to the eye. I just didn't like it from a technical standpoint. Despite my negativity, this show is not awful. It definitely has some problems in it, but for what it is, it's not bad. I just hoped for more out of a series with such amazing animation, a great premise, and an opening sequence that was inventive.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 28, 2017
I had the privilege of seeing this film awhile back in theaters. I grew up in a rural area and recently moved to the city and was excited to see an anime film in theaters. I should have picked a better movie.
The story 3/10
The story is about the life of the daughter of the famous painter Hokusai. As can be guessed from the period of time this film is from, not much concrete fact is known about her life. Instead of going to the route of The Tale of the Princess Kaguya with artistic liberties, the movie jumped around to the different facts known without
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tying them together. Every element was disjointed, save for one (which I'll get to shortly). It tried to have something grandiose to say about religion but came across as a neurotic mess of a freshman's first week of "Into to Religious Philosophy." The one competent element was an interwoven theme of sickness and death, but that was thrown out without resolution as well. Then the story ends with some text about her life's end without showing it. Come on movie. You're better than this.
Art 8/10
The art is obviously quite good. It reminded me of Ghibli's animation style if it was drawn in a more mature way. The backgrounds are colorful and the movements crisp and clear. It even incorporated some images from some of Hokusai's most famous paintings into the backgrounds. It did have jarring CG used throughout the film, so I knocked it down a few points.
Sound 2/10
The sound is awful. I mean awful. When the movie first started in theaters I honestly thought the theater staff had accidentally played a commercial or something over the movie. The last I checked, the Edo period didn't have electric guitars. For a movie whose animation so focused on capturing the atmosphere of the Edo period, the animation did a poor job of standing up to the animation it is presenting. Even the slower pieces were of classical pianos and such and they just did not match the animation nor the tone of the movie.
Characters 4/10
It could be that I went to the theater with the expectation of this being a sort of biopic about O-Ei. But I was severely disappointed in the depiction of all but one character in this film. Who is O-Ei? Who is her mild love interest? Who is her father? Who is the male prostitute? With how this story is told, none of these questions are answered. Another thing to note is that this is supposed to be O-Ei's story. It is supposed to bring light to this woman who was underappreciated by history and do her justice, but this movie does the opposite. The closest character we get to understanding is the younger sister, but even she is ambiguous. I again am aware that not a lot is known about these characters. But many personal details about Jiro Horikoshi in the Wind Rises were fictitious. The movie could have benefited from the screenwriter taking some creative liberties and writing a character for Miss O-Ei, rather than making her character seem like a woman with bipolar disorder. I do not mean that in a negative light. She is all over the place, and the rest of the characters serve to fit archetypes rather than people. Such as the pervy friend, the clueless love interest, and the absent father.
Enjoyment 3/10
This movie had me sighing and rolling my eyes a lot. I felt like so many of the ideas were half-baked, the characters shallower then a baby pool, and the music was atrocious. I tried to like and see this film for a piece of art, but I simply cannot. The idea was amazing and everything was there for this to be a great, well-told film, but it failed miserably.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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