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Jul 16, 2020
Angel Beats! was recommended by a friend, when we were talking about sad anime. It had been a while since I watched one of that genre, and I was due for a cry. Little did I know, I would be taken for a ride, a very bumpy ride, and somewhat enjoyable. Additionally, I switch between Angel and Kanade's name.
Story:
I am going to be honest, the story didn't pick up for me until after episode 10 or so. The series did not do a good job developing and fleshing out characters, and 12 episodes is just not enough for me to get invested for when
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characters had to make their leave. Objectively, I understood the impact on the story and their roles within. Emotionally, it did nothing but maybe produced a tear from me. However, at the end, I did cry, rather full on sobbed at the graduation episode. It started with Naoi thanking Otonashi for his gratitude and kindness. Something about men showing emotions always does something to my heart, like cutting a hot knife through butter. The moments with Kanade and Yuri was touching, and I loved Yuri's and Hinata's exit with the hand scene. Simple, but impactful.
I am glad that the organ donation foreshadowing had come into the form of Angel's heart. It was a full circle, and one that I can appreciate. It wasn't a deus ex machinima, it wasn't a magic trick. But destiny, as how that world has worked. I knew Angel wanted to leave and resurrect into a better life. But props to Otonashi for trying anyway. I really cried a lot during their gratitude time together. The ending was a nice little touch for Angel to be humming the sound. My favourite episode is the last episode by a landslide. From the graduation, to the call backs for the other characters, to the honesty between the final characters. I was a little worried as I didn't feel much for the story, but I'm glad it picked up for me, personally when the NPC started becoming the shadows.
Art/Animation & Soundtrack:
The art was very beautiful albeit simple. It's a little humourous to see cute anime girls holding guns, a very glaring contrast. Still, although the colours and design were simple, I still enjoyed looking at the art.
There were many parts during the series where I replayed the scene, as it was either impactful or too fast. Impactful scenes included Hinata's and Yuri's exit, Yuri's monologue in NPC, and Angel's really cute human moments. Fast scenes on the top of my head right now included Angel's version weapons and her fishing catch.
I gotta say I am not the biggest fan of the opening. It's a good decent opening. I don't particularly dislike it nor do I like it. The beginning of the song is memorable, but the rest of the song doesn't carry the same attitude throughout the rest.
The ending song is the clear winner of the show. The lyrics vibe so well with the story, and the sad ending version is so emotional. Definitely one of my favourite ending songs, and deserves a place in my sad playlist for sad feels.
I love "Theme of SSS" so much. The way it had a slow beginning and picks up with the violin (?). So impactful and carried the story during the emotional outburts for the characters. It is a perfect addition that helped push the story for the audience to feel with the characters.
Character:
It is sad that this series only had 12 episodes to work with. I am sure that I would enjoy it a lot more, with the characters if there were given enough time to develop. Regardless, I was still able to feel something with some of the characters, so not all work is lost.
Before I delve into Angel and Otonashi's, I wanted to talk about my favourite side characters, Naoi and TK. TK is just hella funny with his English one liners, the comedic relief he provided. A much needed addition to liven up the mood. As for Naoi, I immediately softened up to him after his backstory and his devotion to Otonashi. He still had his evil-esque parts to him, a constant bully to Hinata, but a dynamic I appreciate as both of them had looked up to Otonashi in different ways. I am going to miss watching those 3 interact.
Yui and Iwasa's were supposed to be impactful for the audience, but because they were not given much screen time, I felt nothing when they obliterated. I wish I was able to feel something when they disappeared. I liked Yui's character a lot, the contrast between her outward appearance and personality. Her dynamics with Hinata was enjoyable and cute, and their marriage scene/afterlife was a nice touch.
Naoi's addition to the story mid way was welcomed, and I loved his interactions with Otonashi and Hinata. As mentioned, I am going to miss those three so much. They made the show so much enjoyable between the bro love, devotion, and humor. Without them, I would be so bored.
Yuri's character made me feel almost personal, as I am the older sister myself with two younger siblings. She was a good strong character and leader in the show, and I appreciate the show's story for her. The moments between her and Angel's was appreciated and I hope she gets the life she so deserves after Battlefront. She's been strong for so long, it's time someone else be there for her. I am happy that the last few episode focused on Yuri's character to develop, so that the audience will be able to feel the impact of her role in the last episode and her relationships with her members.
Otonashi's character was so intertwined in everyone's story, and it didn't feel forced, mostly anyway. His role into helping the others pass on, with the callback to his previous life, felt appropiate. And his wishful ending to stay with Angel was selfish and welcomed. He did so much for others, it was nice to see him do something he wanted for himself. The juxtaposition with Angel's wish made the scene memorable for me, and her last words asking for him to repeat, so she can leave peacefully. Angel did not do much for me, until really the last three episodes when more humanity was shown.
Enjoyment:
Overall, the show was enjoyable for me to watch. A shame that it had a rushed story development, but thankfully the last three episodes was what saved the show for me. I am going to miss this show. I am not too sure about replay ability value, but a classic to be at least watched once for sure. For those reasons, I am going to be giving it a 7/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 23, 2019
I have a thing for watching anime long after the popularity has settled down. I rather watch and judge it based on my own feelings, rather than riding the hype train and blindly following the masses's opinion. Re: Zero was one of the more popular anime of 2016, and here I am watching it for the very first time in 2019, so go me.
Please read in your own discretion.
Story:
The story is set into a royal castle era and medieval-esque environment after our character, Natsuki Subaru is suddenly plunged after being comforted by a life of availability and easy access. He then falls in love with
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the girl who saves his life - Emilia, and devotes everything he has (though little to offer) to give her happiness and take away her pain. The catch? Every time he dies, he returns to his save point and is offered a chance to try again.
The idea and concept was there, but the execution was mediocre at best. They were many times I was frustrated with how the story was developing. Around mid series would be where I say lost a lot of enjoyment and interest I had in the beginning. It was then our dear main character was I would say borderline crazy, short of madness, and reeked of desperation because of his love Emilia. He had so much going for him, yet he fell for things I knew he would be better at. They were times I wanted to yell at him (and not just once) and even more- to shut up.
There were also parts I found hard to continue to watch after. Many of the dialogue were cringy, and quite frankly, none of the concepts or plot were much original. It can be deemed predictable, and almost distasteful. As I've said, the idea was there, but the execution was poorly done.
The ending was quite anticlimactic. Of course, our main character ends up with his girl. But whatever happened to our other characters? No Rem and Ram reunion? No Roseswall Sama with his peculiar way of talking? No Beatrice with her sass of Natuski's embarrassing outburst and his painful character growth? Nothing heard from Reinhardt after his courtesy duty call or a cameo from Felt? And what the hell happened to the little girl that was away from the group of kids who was not seen later when they evacuated? And why did Elsa disappear and never to be seen again? Who was the group that wanted Emilia's insignia?
The ending felt very pandering and predictable. There were many questions left unanswered, and the conclusion was very much padding and a cop out. It had done nothing to satisfy my thirst, and I'm left wanting for more.
Art/Animation and Soundtrack:
The art was beautiful at times. I found the backgrounds to be very pleasing to the eye, but nothing spectacular. The character designs were also unique in my opinion, to which I say one can easily recognize from where these characters were if taken out of place. There were a few still shots that were not done smoothly, and some animation that felt a few frames too short. Overall, the art and animation complimented the story, if not tried to save it with its horrible development and plot holes.
Aside from the characters, I found nothing in it to be quite original in its place. A few generic shots, reuse of the same animation scenes, and even the colour palette left some room for desire.
The intro and outro songs weren't particularly memorable as well. I did not feel much impact aside from [Stay Alive], one I felt fitting in the story and the only one I felt a strong connection to. It's not to say that the songs weren't done well. In my opinion, I felt they could be much more, but were decent at the very least.
Character:
I really wanted to like Natsuki Subaru. He had so much potential in the beginning. But lost it after being selfish and not really redeeming much of himself later on. Sure, he saved the day and became a hero. But I need to see more growth to prove this guy really changed for the better. He frustrated me to no end with his stagnant growth mid series. All I could think to myself was: "Pull it together. It's not the end of the world if she doesn't like you, and if push comes to shove, you can always return to your save point". It was obvious the main character is somewhat of an idiot and only learns after consequences has been laid. Regardless, that shouldn't take away from his arc later in the series, where he somewhats begins to grow the shell of a man, but still has much to learn if he wants to wear it.
Emilia as a character was just a-okay. I didn't feel much for anything of her. In fact, you could say the series focused more on Rem's and Ram's background then of on the main girl. I deem her to be a cute, naive, but powerful girl. I prefer girls who stand their ground however and Emilia is still much of a child if she really plans to be the ruler.
I found Rem and Ram to be the most interesting of the bunch. Rem deserves better than to be number 2 in someone's heart. And I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious of Ram's potential if she still had her horn.
I wish the story delved in more in Reinhardt's history. It was obvious from episode 3 that he was strong. But the story is not about him, so I digress. And while I'm at it, I would like to learn more of Julius. Why, you may ask? He's cute and mysterious. Though I hated his fight with Natsuki, it's clear he was meant to be more than a character who's main protagonist is insanely jealous of for merely being polite to a candidate of the throne.
Enjoyment:
All in all, I did enjoy the series. Even with the cop out ending, massive plot holes, and painful story development, I found myself eagerly watching, and quickly moved onto the next episode. The animation and soundtrack was decent, and I did find some scenes memorable.
Overall, I give the anime series a 6.5. If the ending didn't feel like it was pandering to the audience with what they wanted and serving the bare minimum, perhaps I would consider it a full score of 7. But alas, that was not the case, and Re:Zero, though enjoyable, found myself wanting more, with nothing to feed from.
Thank you for reading this. All thoughts are of my opinion.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 13, 2018
Sakura-hime Kaden is a fairly old manga series, one I have chosen to finish after 6 years (2018). I read the series when it had first come about, and wanting to explore the nostalgia, decided to pick it up again. This is a story of a girl with a legend accompanied by an underlying theme of a slice-of-life, if you will. Throughout reading the story, readers will find themselves thinking of life, whether it be the story set in this manga, or their own. Full of romance, action, and fantasy, Sakura Hime will leave you with feelings and knowledge, so much that you might not
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know what to do with it in the end!
Nonetheless, all 55 chapters have set up in ways that pull the reader with its twists and turns, and occasional cute, fluff, or angst moments that leave you wanting more between certain character interactions.
Read at your own discretion.
Story:
The story is set mainly in Sakura's perspective, however, if the story allows it, characters will be given moments, or even chapters to allow their thoughts to be read for the readers. These moments allow the readers to feel closer and delve more into their mind, and form a bond with them. I enjoyed these breaks, as they had allowed for more diversity in words and mannerisms of speaking from different characters, rather if the story was set solely in Sakura's eyes. Mind you, I read the series all in three days, not allowing myself to really think about the story, and rather go the next book, to fulfill my questions and curiosities that emerged from the previous chapter. The story itself has many holes that later fills itself along the way. There is nothing "life-changing" or "new" so to say in terms of concepts that the story explores, but needless to say, it does the job well done; to give the readers a sense of belonging in the character's lives, to be able to read their struggles and troubles in their own life and let the reader think for themselves in a way. I give this story an 8 because it is nicely written (although translated) and is able to convey emotions with the dialogue. I have felt what the characters felt in a sense, and if a story is able to use words to invoke feelings from me, then it already has a high rating from the start.
In a way, if I allowed myself to think of the story before already going to the next volume, the story can be predictable. Many of the answers can be found with thinking with how the plot progressed and set itself as. There were only a few, though strong moments in the series that had shocked me because of its sudden placement in the story.
In regards to fillers within the story, often they were placed to introduce or familiarize the characters to the readers, as later, they are found to be very, very important in the end. Deux ex machina is a concept not new to the story, but I find its usage to be permissible in the story. The ending left me somewhat unfulfilled, as I found it a tad bit too short. However, it did technically answer most of my questions spurred from the story.
Art:
The art is very, very nice and detailed to look at. The cover art was the first reason why I even picked up the series. The meticulous details to the story were a nice bonus, and they were times that I felt the art were able to express the strength of the character's words. I think the art style fits perfectly to the story, as the story heavily benefited from the panel art. There were definitely some panels that I wanted it to be in full colour form. Some images from the series still stick in my mind with how fantastic they are drawn to be as.
One downside to its art is that some characters can be quite too similar. They were multiple times I had to reread panels and match their voice to the correct character in my head. The important distinction between characters were their eyes and hair style, but even then, it could be hard for me to distinguish one character from the other. As for the backgrounds, they were drawn amazingly, and many times I was awed with the details of the background, whether it was of nature or buildings, as it was set in the Heian Era. One thing to note is that, if there was something off about a character's design, it meant that something had happened in the story. Attention to detail, a trait I appreciate and rate highly in the series.
Character:
I am not going to lie, it is quite difficult to write about characters without giving too much of the plot. What I will say however, is that throughout the series, you should familiarize yourself with the characters in present, as more and more will be introduced later on. All of them grow in ways that might be unexpected to you, but will leave you wanting to read more about them. The interactions between certain characters were nicely written, and there were some that I wish more dialogue was written between them. Nonetheless, the characters were given space to grow within themselves and present to you with their journey in their life, so I hope you enjoyed reading their story as much as I did. I was left with strong impressions of the characters, and I can only hope that their stories touched your heart as much as they did with mine.
Enjoyment:
I am picky of how romance is done with the story. Often times, it can be too much, too unrealistic, or downright disgusting in regards to how authors explore romance with their characters. However, in Sakura's story, readers are exposed to different kinds of love between the characters. Romance love isn't the only topic explored in the series, but rather friendship and family love as well.
There are A LOT of characters within Sakura's life, all of which the readers will be given a chance to learn about them throughout the story. There were no characters I found myself to dislike, but none that I particularly liked strongly as well. As readers, you will be find yourself siding with one character, but liking the "enemy" and vice versa. The character interactions between certain characters are just super cute, and I found myself rooting for more friendship love rather than the romance love. However, that is not to say the main lead wasn't cute as well! As there were romance love, there were also tragic love stories, but I found the end to be fulfilling in the sense that all characters remained where fate allowed them to be. All the characters grew throughout the series, and I feel somewhat motherly, to part away from them now that the series has ended. They lived their life to the fullest and now they will live happily with how they lived and presented their life to me, and the readers.
Enjoyment:
This rating is the only one that I feel I am qualified to write in. I have enjoyed this series immensely. and will definitely pick up physical copies when I have the means. The art has influenced my own artwork, and i have always envied the details put to work, and the story that was able to make me feel things as a reader. I have experienced it all, from love to anger, from shock to peace while reading the series. I would definitely recommend this series if you don't mind the topic of love being explored in different genres, and the time to appreciate the story and its characters in its whole. I will reread the series if time allows it; Sakura Hime has given me more reasons to think about love and my life, and I thank the story writers, author, artists, and the team for creating a work that I have enjoyed front to back.
Overall, this story is an 8 because 10 is a perfect rating, and 9 is a close-to-perfect rating. Realistically, 8 is the best and highest score I would give, because "perfect" is subjective, and my meaning of the word will change over time.
Thank you for reading, and I hope my review has given you some incentive to pick up the series and read of Sakura Hime and the struggles explored in the story, whether it be hers or the characters involved.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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