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Dec 14, 2012
I'm starting to think that the folk that disliked this anime series simply didn't understand it. I'll be blunt. I'll go as far to say that this series is categorized wrong.
This is not a harem.
This is not shoujo.
It WAS an Otome.
It's not anymore.This is a history and character piece about war. This is a drama. This has to do with coping samurai during the dawn of the Meiji era. It's not a happy go lucky "we all want the girl" series. It can be very sad at times and characters will die.
If this does not appeal to you then look
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elsewhere. Don't bother watching it then giving it poor reviews that say it's "boring" because you don't like Japanese history or can't understand a character contemplating why they are still alive when all their friends are dead.
It's also worth mentioning that the characters that form the backbone of the Shinsengumi squad in this anime are all taken from history and actually existed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinsengumi)
Chizuru still gets so much hatred for being "weak" but people really forget she's not walking around Tokyo in 2012. This is in the 1860's and she's a woman. I'm not sure what part of that is so hard to understand. This is the way it was. Women poured tea, sat in the back and rarely fought. Bashing the character because the show is set in the past is ridiculous.
That being said, this arc had some of the most gut-wrenching, well delivered monologues I have heard in a series to date and I've been watching anime for 20 years. Toshi's piece at the end of episode 16 had me bawling. I'm currently raving about this series and I'm having a hard time understanding why it gets such poor reviews.
This series is sad. I said that earlier but i don't think I got my point across. This second season is wrapping up the war in the only way you know it can end. I probably cried more during this second season than I have watching any other series. The story is fantastic and very enjoyable if you know what you're getting into and can handle the drama.
I found the art fitting and superb. Whether it be a scene with snow or a sword fight, it never fails to deliver. The sound and music is fitting for the era the anime is set in. Very little modern music here and the intro and ending songs are extremely well suited.
The characters do nothing but get better and shine in this arc. Every one gets his time to shine right up until the very end. Even some you may have thought weren't the best. I won' t give away any plot points but they do an excellent job of tugging on the heartstrings here with decisions they make.
The romantic relationship between the male and female leads continues to take a backseat to the war story being told until the very VERY end but, honestly, I'm happy with that. There is very little time or space for hearts and flowers in the war-torn countryside. It IS there but it's not very pronounced and their relationship is very traditionally Japanese. If you're here mainly for a love story with a small dash of war drama, look elsewhere because this is the exact opposite. This is a war drama with a pinch of a love story.
Overall, I got a lot of enjoyment out of this series. I enjoyed the history, the drama, and just the way the story was told. You'll end up blubbering like a baby at the end though. The end is also a little ambiguous as to what happens but if you're like me you'll look to the happy side.
10/10 - Amazingly well done. Too damn sad to watch again.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 13, 2012
I've seen a lot of negative reviews on this anime citing that it's boring, there is too much history, not enough action and so on. Frankly, you're in the wrong section. If you read a description and don't recognize the time periods or groups the anime is using, don't downrate it because you are ignorant of history.
Now, that being said, I thoroughly enjoyed this anime. It's set in a very similar time period to Rurouni Kenshin except Hakuouki is set before and during the revolution. It revolves around a girl named Chizuru who left Edo to search for her father in Kyoto. While there,
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she runs into the Shinsengumi (who you may also remember from Kenshin) and they decide to keep her around because her father is the doctor they are looking for.
There is a lot of criticism for Chizuru's character. That she is a "Mary-Sue" and is weak. This anime is set in 1863 in a realistic Japanese backdrop. I don't think the women's rights movement had quite made it over there yet, folks. Chizuru is already walking the line by dressing like a man and carrying a sword for 99% of the show. Expecting her to suddenly turn into the ultra warrior during the age of samurai vs. bullets is, frankly, unrealistic. Keeping this in mind, I did find her character likeable. She really does do everything in her power to protect those around her and help as much as she can, despite being female. I can think of maybe 2 instances where she was "annoying" and both are easily made up for and forgotten. Chizuru also hides a powerful secret in her heritage that makes her wanted by several different groups hunting her.
The bulk of the rest of the cast is made up of bishonen and random soldiers. This anime is often classified as a "reverse harem" but I really don't see that. These guys do not fight over her, nor are more than 1 of then attracted to her. If having one female character and lots of males qualifies at as a harem then fine, but if you're expecting fights over the girl you're in the wrong section again.
The relationship between the heroine and the male lead doesn't even heat up until well towards the end of the 1st season and into the second. This is about 4 years in the anime. Make no mistake, this is definitely a character and history piece. At the end of it all, Hakuouki is about the overthrow of the Shogunate and the people it affected. It explores their relationships, their characters, and how far they are willing to go to survive in an era where samurai and ronin are a dying breed.
I found the story outstanding. I enjoy character and history pieces and this is one of my favorite settings. The Art is well done and they actually animate the sword fights instead of just showing that one still shot of the character swinging his sword. The music is, obviously, not modern at all but it fits this piece fantastically.
The characters are a tad weak. Not so much the female lead, but in the males. However, this could be attributed to there being 10 males for every 1 female in this series. Most of the male characters end up staying in the background even if they are named because there just isn't enough time to get to all of them. To be honest, I confused 2 of the main male characters with each other until close to the end of the first season. They aren't annoying or unlikeable, quite the opposite, but they just are not very memorable.
I enjoyed this anime a lot. I sat and devoured the first season in a sitting and am now working on the second. I am looking forward to the relationship between the male and female lead to finally blossom and I hope they have a happy ending!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 8, 2012
I've sat and tried to figure out what is so special about this anime. It really doesn't bring anything new to the table. You have your awkward girl, the hot guy who seems to like her, and some competition for his affections. Pretty standard formula.
However, this anime actually accomplishes it WELL. Where it stands out is how dead on and absolutely accurate it depicts falling in love HARD the first time. Even if you've been in love several times, you'll find something in Mei and Yamato's relationship that may bring tear to your eye.
Mei is a good character. Several female leads in this
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sort of role invariably fall into the "Mary-Sue" trap and end up just being an empty shell. What makes Mei stand out is the decisions she makes and how she reacts to the situations around her. Throughout watching all the episodes, I watched Mei make the same decisions I would of as a girl in her position in high school. She is realistic and very easy to sympathize with.
Yamato's character could have easily suffered from the same sort of stigma that befalls his character archetype. The typical, popular, good-looking guy. This could have easily turned into a 13 episode version of the movie "She's All That" but his character keeps it from doing so. Yamato actually comes off like he has an absolutely beautiful soul. He strikes you as that rare individual that is good inside and out and instead of "making over" the heroine in his popular image he seems like he was looking for someone like her all along. Then he works to get others to see she's actually a good person the way she is.
Their budding relationship is realistic as well, save for the part with Yamato's little sister. That part came out of left field but I digress. Watching them learn from each other and grow is entertaining and you want nothing more than to root for their happiness while watching. The show leaves you with warm fuzzy feelings inside that stick around for a while.
The art is gorgeous and the music complements it perfectly. The intro took me a bit to get used to but once I did I found it very cute. Overall, even if you're the type to shun the typical "romance, shoujo, slice of life" anime - PLEASE try his one. It's worth it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 5, 2012
Fushigi Yuugi gets some passes because of it's age and because of the nature of the shoujo genre in the 90's.
This being said, the main character is still utterly stupid and unacceptable. The characters are a real shortcoming in this anime. Miaka is not a heroine. She is a cipher for the viewer to place themselves in. Even when she finally attains the ability to defend herself she ends up being AWFUL at it. Her main jobs in the anime is to serve as a global taunt for the enemies, eat food, and be the cipher/object of the reverse harem's affections. This is literally
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all she does for 50 episodes. It blows me away how characters like Bella Swan are so rejected and torn apart by most fandoms but characters like Miaka are acceptable.
The characters I found most interesting weren't even the "good guys". Yui had the potential for MASSIVE development in the series due to her experiences but she was never really given any chances. She's vastly ignored for a part of it and ends up getting defined by one bad thing that happened to her. At that point, she isn't really a person, as much as she is "That girl that had the bad thing happen and now she's bad too."
Also, if you're a victim of sexual assault, I suggest staying away from this anime. I dropped the series a couple times throughout because of how poorly and insultingly that subject is dealt with. Unless you like it being implied that you're damaged goods.
If you're looking for a lighthearted "girl out of place" type anime, I suggest trying something like Inuyasha and staying far away from this. It has not aged well.
Story: Has real potential but gets totally botched by bad characters.
Art: Fine. I with there had been more animated combat.
Sound: Fine. Nothing stand out as good or bad.
Characters: ...Awful.
Enjoyment: While I did complete the anime, I would hesitate to say I "enjoyed" it. More so I was hoping the heroine would redeem herself for 50 episodes of shame. She never did.
Overall: Mediocre
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Dec 5, 2012
If you don't like Chibi-Usa just stay away. You really won't miss much. They get new attacks and new wands. Just go straight to Stars, which was amazing.
I'm of the opinion that the creators of this anime royally messed up when they attempted to have 2 main female characters in a shojo anime. I am not saying that Nakoto messed up the manga. From what I've read and understood the Chibi-Usa(s) presented in the anime and the manga could pass for different people. The way Chibi-Usa is implemented in the anime however is just intolerable in my opinion.
It's not a good idea
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to present a main character (Usagi) and have the audience watch her grow and change and become attached and then essentially "replace" her with a new model. The arc may as well be called "Sailor Moon Super Chibi-Usa character development." That and she still hasn't really gotten over that Lolita thing with her dad. It's not cute. Luckily, she ends up falling for a horse instead..
Just....go watch Stars.
Sound and animation is good, aside from those random episodes where Masahiro Ando was the art director. I tend to skip his episodes if I can if it's not too plot relevant. He's the one that draws then all undefined and way too round.
Story is...honestly it's bad and full of filler. And when you finally reach the meat of the plot it's about a girl falling in love with a pony and...just....no. It still has that magic of Sailor Moon in it somehow though and that makes it bearable.
Characters...anyone who appeared in the first season was fine then and is fine now. Everyone else needs work.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 4, 2012
Just a warning to those who might actually have knowledge of Ghost Hunting and the Paranormal - the first episode is going to annoy the hell out of you. It's starts out with one guy who seems to be a legitimate scientific researcher and then once word gets out that there might be "activity" 5 (I'm not kidding, FIVE) "sensitives" appear out of nowhere and start claiming "I feel things!" "I don't feel things!" "She's fake, I'm legit!"
If you feel about "sensitives" the way I do it's going to annoy the living shit out of you. The scientific researcher is
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the only one that is remotely likeable and the main female protagonist basically serves as a cipher/fish out of water character for the viewer to channel though. She has very little personality.
The petty pissing contest between the "sensitives" continues into the second and third episodes. The most annoying of which is the main character's classmate. She's a 14 year old who thinks she can compete with professional exorcists who have been doing this for decades. Meanwhile, the female protagonist begins to believe it's HER fault there is a ghost because she was telling scary stories...
Everyone in this anime is egocentric beyond comprehension. It's downright obnoxious. It's like children squabbling on screen over who can be the center of attention of the forces they don't understand. Ironically, that captures what a lot of what amateur ghost hunting boils down to pretty accurately.
It's also worth noting that a school principal in Japan was able to get the Vatican to send a 19 year old catholic priest for an exorcism. I got a chuckle out of that.
Long story short - if you have knowledge of real world haunts and paranormal activity, you might wanna pass on this one. It's just going to annoy you. I'm currently trying to get through episode 4. They are on a new case so I thought it may get better but the main female lead is beginning to get as obnoxious as the aforementioned 14 year old sensitive with all her new found "knowledge" so I think I'm probably gonna drop this one. The series also attempts to carry on a slice of life/romance between the main character and the researcher and it feels awkward and out of place to me. Like the series is trying to do too much at once.
If you know nothing of the paranormal and none of what I said bothers you, then take this series with a grain of salt and enjoy!
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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