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As a long time fans of Doraemon i think any opinion or thoughts about this movie will be biased, but that comes with a price, high expectation. Don't have high expectation because this movie doesn't give you any new story, it's just a renewed recaps of Doraemon's best episodes. Won't tell you which ones.

The thing is, the pacing is bad. Like cardiac arrest bad. Suddenly it's going so fast, and suddenly it's going so slow when there's part that could be skipped. Stand By Me skipped what's important and extend what's not.

That's where the visuals kick in. Bang. I will never feel the same about ... Take-copter after seeing this movie. It's so mindblowing. Doraemon, Shizuka, and Nobita look cute and adorable. Gouda still the badass he is in the manga, and Suneo is still as annoying. Visuals are the best thing in Stand By Me Doraemon because it gives us a new look, a more updated look that keeps us watching the literally same story from the manga version.

If the visual is not enough, there's still the soundtracks and scoring. It captures Doraemon's tone perfectly by using acoustic guitar, and using melodramatic piano tone in the perfect timing. Once again, if you don't like the visual, at least you'll like the soundtrack.
Or the seiyuu. Kudos on the seiyuu. Some moments won't be as great as it was if they change seiyuu into another seiyuu.

Overall, it's a good watch. If you are not a fan, you might love this movie because you (maybe, hopefully) don't know the story.
If you are a fan, it's still nice seeing your childhood relived.

Short romantic-comedy manga have their flaws and of course the have their advantages. The advantages are, it's always refreshing to talk about romance, so romance is one of the best genre to explore and it's always fresh. Flaws are, cliches, ecchis, drama-queen, over-reacting art, over-extended arc, and you will know who's gonna end with whom. Heck, it has more flaw than advantages.

But here i am, writing this review early in the morning. It's 5 am here, in Indonesia.

So my friend about 10 hours before this review gave me this manga. So i read it. One page(Actually it's the second page, but it's still counts because ... that single second page that made me hooked). One page was all this series need to hook me in. It's the art. I don't easily say 2d girls are pretty but this one is a rare gem. Shinomiya Sana standing at the coastline asking you to take her photo made me hooked into this series.

As for the story, well, what can you expect? Like what i've said before, cliches, cliches everywhere. Ecchi too. Still, this series prove to be different. It doesn't have a over-reacting art, doesn't have a drama queen, and this is the most important, it shows that idols are human too. (I didn't mention Shinomiya Sana is an idol? Well now i have.)

I don't blame you if you don't want to read this, because it's pretty understandable. You don't want some cliches, you don't want some mainstream Rom-Com-Ecchi. The last, (this is the most important, almost every rom-com has this) you don't want a series where you have already know how the ending would be.

But still i'm giving it an 8. At 6 am.

It all started with my usual habit of checking top anime and top manga sections and i found something unusual. "Chikan Otoko/Molester Man". What's this? I thought it was a hentai manga. How come a hentai manga ends up with a ridiculously high rank? It even surpasses Slam Dunk -Best manga i've ever read. Time passes and here i am writing this sentence. Yes, i am giving it a 9.


Story (9)
A 2chan-er is misunderstood as a stalker/molester by a girl because he is walking behind that girl with an you-know-otaku/molester/stalker-face. For those who have read much hentai manga or such, you are wrong. It's not ... going to happen. Your imagination is too wild, get rid of it. Why is that? Simply because the story is based on a real one, and let me tell you this: Even though it started as a cliche, but it doesn't develop and end as one.
(+) It's unique. It's great. It's greater to know this happen to a shut-in in real life.
(+) Funny, highly enjoyable
(-) Try giving this story to "ordinary people", who is not an otaku or 2chan-er. They would have a hard time enjoying the jokes, and the reaction.


Character (9)
Since the characters in this story are just "Mr. Molester", "Miss Understanding", "Kansai", and "Loli Jugs" let's take a deeper look one by one:

Before we review the characters, you must understand, all of them are fictional nicknames. You know, for privacy since these characters are based from real ones.

Mr Molester: A student. Part-time worker. Otaku. And -this is the most important, because it adds a certain sensation to the story- a 2chan-ner. No it's not a man-made character, it's real. It's your typical shut in, have no friends let alone girlfriend. A great luck is needed for this guy to get a girlfriend. But. I have stated how great this story beforehand, haven't i?

Miss understanding: The main cause of series of "great" events that happen 'ere. A cute, long-haired, seemed-to-be-frail-and-intelligent types that work part-time at a family restaurant. At the beginning of the story it is shown she has problem with stalkers. I can't reveal much more, i'm afraid it would spoil the joy of seeing this character develops, and because the story pattern can't be expected.(It was based on real life)

Kansai: Waht. Yeah read it right. Making a character name from her accent, how cool is that. "Kansai" is Miss understanding best friend that helps with miss understanding stalker problem.Works at the same place with miss understanding. A lively and a tomboyish type. Again, i can't reveal much more, i'm afraid it would spoil the joy of seeing this character develops.

Loli jugs: I laughed when i read the name. Loli is Kansai and Miss Understanding best friend that works together with them. She got the name "Loli Jugs" because of her small stature and her great "jugs". Again, i can't reveal much more, i'm afraid it would spoil the joy of seeing this character develops. (This is the 3rd time i write this, because it is like that)

There should be more like "Yamaoka", "Glasses", but, as soon as you read it you'll know why i didn't say anything about them. One clue, it's based on real life, where people come and go.

(+) Brilliant character naming. Try imagining your father calling you molester
(+/-) Again, i can't reveal much more, i'm afraid it would spoil the joy of seeing this character develops. Because it's real life based.
(-) AGAIN, try giving Molester Man to your"normal" friends. They would have a hard time about the 2chan things.


Art (9)
From the beginning i know this is just a side project of whoever that draw this. Then my friend say this,"It was drawn by "whoever" that draws Onani Master Kurosawa." Yes, for those who is lazy enough to click the author in the details section, i will gladly tell you, the art was GOOD. First you will think the art style was too hasty, no nice finishing here and there. But hey, you will shut yourself up and drop your jaw seeing how "THAT'S SO ME" when seeing Molester Man reactions. You will smile seeing how cute the female characters react. That good.

(+)The art is good. not the oh-it's-just-a-scribble-unserious-doujin-project good. It is.
(+) Realistic approach with comical art, if you want to sweat small details like, the hair color. Not like usual Rom-com. (red blue purple green hair colour everywhere)
(-) The art is not neat at the beginning. This may hurts some eyes of the people who doesn't want to sacrifice for a good story.

Enjoyment (9)
Seeing those forum text makes me laugh. That makes me laugh. That makes the people who votes (maybe) 7 up, laugh. But what about another individual?
Seeing how the characters develop and the story progress is fun, mostly because of the molester man reactions who is a 2chan-er, again, it's hard to be understood by your fellow reader who is not a 2chan-er or otaku.
Seeing the how the romance develops, it's heart rendering. I'll tell you that. No less. It's good. If the romance has flaws, it would be that this romance is based from real life. (Calm down, just because it was from real life doesn't mean it could happen to everyone)
And there's a bit of slice of life, which is good, encourages you to do better. Yes i mean you. YOU. Otakus and 2chan-er or any lifeforms lurking in elecrical forums.

(+)Love story is cliche. This is not meant to be a love story. It's real-life love story. It's greater to know it's highly recommended to be read.
(+/-) Otakus, 2Chan-er. This is for you.
(-) If you read it and find it hard to be understood, it's good. You still a normal person with a good community.

Overall
(+) Read-able, heck, it's even recommended.
(-) Just feel happy that you are normal when you don't enjoy this.

Firstly, It is strongly recommended to watch the previous 13 episodes, otherwise, well, it's your loss.

Secondly, i still don't understand why "they" split the final arc. Or i'm the careless one.

Thirdly(i don't even know if this is grammatically right, excuse my bad English), i'm not going to write a long review, not my thing. As the series suggests,"Do what you want to do~!"

Lastly, this review may contain brief spoiler.

Here comes the review.
Kokoro Connects: Michi Random contains the final arc of Kokoro Connect. The main problem is about their randomly transmitted emotions & thoughts.
... God.
Try to imagine your deepest thought transmitted to people you react to.
Love.
Hate.
Disgust.
Gratitude.
Happiness.
Sadness.
I merely mentioned the very basic emotions but imagine this:
On a usual sunny day you meet your so-called-friend, you are annoyed by that 'friend' but you still show your smile. Then your 'friend' said,'How is it going, heard you do blah blah blah'. You try to answer so careful that your true feeling of being annoyed doesn't come out. BANG~! Out of nowhere "None of your business, you punk" have been transmitted from your mind. That. Try imagine that. TRY IMAGINE YOUR BESTIES SAYING THAT.

And boy, Kokoro Connect: Michi Random delivers that aspect. The five main characters, were brilliantly used. Those who really think Aoki useless in the previous 13 episodes would still think he is useless. Well, less useless. Those who think Iori is cute and cheerful, prepare to be shocked. Those who think Yui is just another eye-candy, think twice after seeing this. Those who think Taichi and Inaba are cute, They are. Why did i said all of these? Because in the previous 13 episodes(WATCH IT) you may feel something is missing, and this final arc concludes it.

In the 80s someone with a big vision and big dream poured what had been growing in his brain into a masterpiece, that soon would be acknowledged as a worldwide masterpiece. That person is Katsuhiro Otomo. The masterpiece is Akira.

Akira takes place in the future, in a place called neo tokyo. Neo because Tokyo before was "destroyed" by a person whose name is the title. Akira could do the destroying because he was number 28, a codename for government experiment in brainwave, mental research etc.(not my expertise area)

Where are the other numbers?
This is what the story revolves in.

Kaneda and Tetsuo are the high-ups of ... usual gang-rider in Neo-Tokyo, got into accident that looks unusual, Tetsuo got wounded, and finally brought by the so-called-police.
Now please tell me you can't figure what happens next and i will slap you in the face, two times.

Indeed the start of the story was both unfathomable and amazing at the same time, but what makes the story great is what happen next. It's realistic.
Why the numbers could do that?
Why Tetsuo is like that?
What is Akira?
All will be answered as realistic as possible, but remember this is a sci-fi story, so be prepared to be as imaginative as possible. Who knows in 2038 Tokyo would look like that? Tokyo could look better or (please no)worse than Akira version. If i may compare the philosophical part of Akira it would be close to 2001: Space Odyssey and Evangelion. Akira, if i may say, is the more enjoyable version of them both. I found myself wanting more of this while reading this, unlike two others.

Here comes the part where Akira stand out the most. The background and the surrounding art. It's TOO GOOD. Believe me, it's made in the 80s but the art still look superb and superlative than most of nowadays series. The explosion was made diligently. You could see almost EVERYTHING of the exploding building, from the glass to the foundation.
Okay, i have to admit that the character design was not eye-pleasing, but when you take a closer look at the character design, you could imagine them living in your brain. Every wrinkle of the Colonel, the curves of Kei's body were so realistic that i have no hard time imagining it was real.

Let's just hope the movie adaptation is as massive as the manga is.
If not, just remember how epic this manga is.

"Because wonderful things are infinite."

Aria is widely known as a relaxing manga, often recalled as a boring manga by most of the reader. Let me tell you upfront, there is no mesmerizing action scene, no thrilling scene, no cool scene. Only scene that relaxes you that exists here.

Not only relaxing, it gives you a great lesson on life. A lesson to appreciate things that you have, things that you adore, friends that will be there for you, wonders that happen everyday in your life, and even small things like "How useful your left hand is". And the amazing thing is, you don't feel rushed ... or feel forced to read it if you yourself has a wonderful heart.

"The world appears wonderful only to wonderful people."

In short, it tells you about how wonderful your life is. And you will be thankful because you read this manga if you open your mind and your heart.

Thank God all the story was told in a great artwork. Kozue Amano Neo-Venezia represents Venezia but with some futuristic touch that doesn't annoy the essence of Venezia itself. In fact it gives a better atmosphere to the story.
The characters were not as much as another manga. That makes every character worth your time. How open-minded and "life-appreciating" Akari is, how childish Alicel is, how strict but in fact a crybaby Aika is. Their development in characterization is so natural and easily absorbed and still you will sometimes be surprised in what they're going to do next.

I have never read a manga so relaxing, so adorable, that when the end comes, i don't want to let it go. I wanna embrace the twelve volumes tightly and don't wanna to let them go. But then hey, i remembered a final quote that will end this review:

"If you're stuck in the memories of those times, you won't be able to appreciate all the wonderful things that's happening right now, so don't be thinking 'That time was fun' because you should be thinking 'That time was ALSO fun'. Yeah i think that really wonderful things can't be compared with one another, but being able to find the fun that's happening right now is the best way to enjoy the present. That's why you should try your best to value the present since it's going to change sooner or later."

One final advice from me, read it. Read it and start finding new wonderful things that is happening right now around you.

P.S: After you read this, enjoy the anime. It gives you a certain sensation that i think is better than the manga.

Aria's calmness and peace strangely have been a very effective charm on me, because i usually like to think, guessing the plot while watching any anime or movie. Just this once i don't want to guess how the story would end. I let myself drown in the last piece of Aria puzzle of relax, and i was happy that i let myself drown.

The Origination is the third part of manga adaptation which titled Aria too, and the Origination is one of the most conclusive last piece i've ever seen in my life as an entertainment enthusiast. Another most conclusive part is Lord of the Rings: ... Return of the King.

The story develops more in the daily life of Mizunashi Akari reaching her dream becoming an Undine.
I suggest you who wanna watch Origination watch the Animation and Natural firstly, because Animation & Natural give a very strong story and emotional foundation to Origination.

The artwork and animation is not going to be questioned, superb as usual, as the sound is.

What's more developed here is the characterization, you'll see more emotion in Origination, more past revealed, and that gives you a warm feeling that the world is filled with wonderful things.

Seemed naive maybe, but i enjoy the conclusion of the series the most, it gives you a certain feeling of I-Don't-want-to-let-go with the series.
This is my shortest review on Aria series, because i can't describe how great and heart-warming this series is, and definitely one of the best i've ever watched.

I find it hard to write a review about a sequel that has a similar tone with the prequel. Yeah, same characters, same premises, same conflict type.

But still i find this sequel is better, and i'm going to tell you why soon.

The first thing that i noticed about this series is the amount of the episodes. 26. Meaning it is doubled from the prequel, Aria the Animation.

And yet i give it a better score, and yes, i'm going to tell you why soon.

Then, i browse the net, seeing about The Natural popularity and the hype about it. The Natural is not as hyped as the ... first one.
And yes, as you guess, i still give it a better score, and YES i'm going to tell you why.

The main story is still the same. The chronicle/adventure/ordinary life(Choose one or even, choose all of 'em) of Mizunashi Akari to become a great Prima Undine with Aika and Alice, continues. The difference between the Animation and Natural, is off course, the story. Natural has a better story pacing, making it easier to be absorped.

The 26 episodes that seemed so long before i watch it now seems like a treasure to me. Believe it or not, the story does slap me lots of times, giving me great new dogmas and new perspectives more than Animation.

Everything is compiled in a still good-looking animation that is not going to lose to the Animation, and i believe it won't let us down in the Origination.

Characterization has more depth. That's not so surprising seeing the amount of the total episodes of this anime. Still, every character has it proportional portion, be it supporting character or main character

One of the most supreme thing in Aria the Natural is the Sound(ONCE AGAIN).
Yeah, visual is not enough, this is what makes the anime looks better than the manga version, even though the manga excels in graphical visualization.
26 episodes means twice from Animation, and it mathematically should be twice the eargasm.
Seemed like the sound development were very serious with this anime, because the OST of Natural has made me dozing off lots of time, especially the ED song.

Finally the greatest thing is, i didn't feel ANY sleepiness when watching Natural, yet i don't feel rushed too, which is an improvement seeing how many episodes are here.
Alas, watch this, and you'll find yourself once again trapped in the charm of Neo-Venezia in a bigger, better means.

Aria is Italian and in English it means air, looks, and expression. I'd like to translate it myself as, atmosphere. Atmosphere, yes, because this is the main thing that Aria sells.

First,
Let me tell you upfront, aria is NOT for you who is a die-hard fans of action, tension, thrill, and suspense.
Second,
Again, read the first.

I'm telling you guys this because Aria has none of them. Like i said before, Aria sells the atmosphere.

Aria tells the story of Mizunashi Akari and her adventure becoming a Prima Undine. Almost every ecounter, conflicts, and adventure is meant not to amaze you, but to make you realize how important ... small things are, and relaxes you at the same time.

The visualization of Neo-Venezia(Yes, Neo, because the real Venezia is sunk here.) is very sublime, so imaginably fitting with the sci-fi concepts that Kozue Amano presents.

The great visualization is accompanied with amazing scoring and sound tracks. As i'm writing this, the ending song of Aria, Rainbow, is playing in my head.
The opening song, "Undine", is very hypnotizing, hits me in the very heart of mine. I dare you, when you hear "Undine" you will think of Neo-Venezia and it's beauty.

Not that this series is perfect, i almost fell asleep too many times watching this, which is not a good thing, but hey, i fell asleep not because it was boring, but because it's "Aria", which makes it a good thing on the other hand.

Watch this with your heart wide open and feel the magic of Neo-Venezia, and then you'll see small things around you differently and appreciate them more.

Mode Note: This review was written for the first volume, Sword Art Online: Hoshinaki Yoru no Aria.

Quite surprising no one has reviewed this novel yet.
It's surprising because the story takes place one month after the SAO incident, tells you about the premature condition of the main characters in SAO.
Well, i have to say the story has a quite surprising turn, Kawahara Reki has a very brave decision to tell us the condition one month after the SAO incident.

The surprising part is, level 1 hasn't been cleared.

Those who have read the main story must receive a quite strong shock in their brain.
The story setting gave a ... very special effect for the characters. You will see what makes Asuna become 'Asuna the Flash', Kirito to be 'Kirito the beater', and the some other characters.

Overall as a fans i did quite enjoy this novel, but that's because i have read the first two volume of the main story, and suggest you to read it as well before you read this one if you want to know what makes me write this review.