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- BirthdayApr 8, 1992
- LocationBonn, NRW, Germany
- JoinedApr 30, 2013
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Jun 26, 2019
"Party is over."
Yeah, you bet your a** this party's over alright...
It has been already 4 years since I last picked up my pen a.k.a. keyboard, to actually write a review. And while I originally intended to do a review on an anime I actually like, followed by a 5-Part JoJo review, I somehow just felt this one way more. Which is pretty ironic, because well, it's about a boy who doesn't really feel a whole lot, you know?
DISCLAIMER: No, this is not a trollpost, and I appreciate comments and encourage discussions. Also, this Review should (to my recollection) contain no spoilers. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER#2: There wasn't really
...
a need to edit this after the ending, but I didn't want it to be preliminary. *Shrugs*
So, I heard, the best point to start is at the beginning, so lets do just that. When I took a look at AniChart for what I wanted to watch in 2019's winter season, Dororo was something that literally jumped at me. The story sounded promising, I love the setting, and heck, even Studio MAPPA had a bit of credit for me at this point, because I really enjoyed Zombieland Saga the season prior, and even their Kakegurui adaptation didn't suck a**. If I had taken a look at what other atrocities made their way out of this hellish pit, I would've probably skipped this one and wouldn't have to write this. Well, my fail.
Like I said, the setting is naturally great. We have the Sengoku Jidai, including demons/yokai and the whole plethora of japanese folklore. This is like a treasure trove of story telling. But sadly, the anime didn't do a whole lot with it. This story could've used a Cthullu monster instead of japanese demons, or even some evil scientists, who dish out free money for donating children to them.
The same can be said about the story arc. On paper the story sounds simply amazing. However, if we take a closer look at the story and condense in simple words what happens, most of this amazement goes flying. Because, this is what the story turned out to be: Roadtrip, in which the maincharacter kills the villain of the day to gain a powerup, before facing the final boss. For a game in the year 1996 this would have been pretty interesting. Because in a game we ourselves are the ones doing the fighting. In an anime, this is absolutely repetitive and unengaging. This isn't however the final nail in the coffin, because we might have still good characters, right? Wrong.
Unfortunately, I can't say that the characters had any more favorable treatment than the story. Because, lets face it, the characters are that flat, I feel sorry for the sheet of paper I would have to compare them to. Hyakkimaru sounds on paper, just like the whole story, interesting. That guy has so many chances to develop in all kind of interesting characters. He could become a villain, a hero, everything in between. But instead, by not giving him a way to convey emotions (Inner monologue would've been a good idea, because hey, that guy still can THINK, right?) MAPPA made Hyakkimaru into nothing more than a robot, who kills demons. Title - Namesake Dororo isn't any better. Contrary, even worse. I couldn't describe it any better, so I just quote Karhu's review: 'Dororo [...] is a generic brat who is at best uninteresting and at worst annoying' My sentiments exactly. From a writers standpoint, I feel like Dororo's only reason for existence is as a mouthpiece for Hyakkimaru. Are theside characters any better? No. Of course not, why would they? At best, the sidecharacters are cliché but halfway decently executed, at worst, they are as much of an annoyance as Dororo.
But hey, perhaps we can still save this anime with MAPPA's production values, right? Again, no. Unfortunately, MAPPA attempted to not just air one, but two anime in the Winter 2019 season, with the other one being Kakegurui xx. Of course as someone, who doesn't work in the industry I can't say with any confidence how much this affected Dororo (and Kakegurui xx for that matter), but Dororo's Art and Sound is far from stunning. The characters look to me like a discountversion of Naruto: Shippuuden's more samurailike and older characters (Like Madara or Hashirama). The animations are somewhat fluid for the most part, but taking a look at especially the fightscenes I can clearly tell that nobody at MAPPA ever thought of the implications of having two wakizashi as arms. The scenes are random and badly choreographed and just hurt to me as ex-Kendoka. However, one thing I HAVE to give credit for are the backgrounds. Sure, it isn't even close to the level of the likes such as Mo Dao Zu Shi, but the backgrounds sure enough are decent.
As for sound design, I could pretty much just go ahead and copy the Art part, and replace the art terms with sound terms. The seiyuu didn't do much to impress me, with Suzuki Rio, Dororo' seiyuu, as extraordinarily annoying (however, I don't blame her, I think that she got hired to do that). I absolutely hate the opening and ending songs. Sure, 'Kaen', the opening song by Ziyoou-vachi, is extremely popular. I am aware of that fact. And if you like it, fine, listen to it all you want. However, thinking about it from a rating standpoint, how much does this OP actually fit the anime? The short but nonetheless shocking answer: 0. I don't know who came up with this, but when I think of Sengoku Japan I certainly don't think of high screeches, which yell FAAAAIYAAAA into my ear. I think of something like Wagakki Band. The second opening, fittingly titled 'Dororo' doesn't fare much better. I already mentioned, how the character artworks feel to me like discount Naruto Artworks, right? Well, same thing. ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION did an awesome job with Haruka Kanata back in the day when Naruto was all the hype. And even now, Haruka Kanata's Bass Line is just so darn awesome, and the song still exudes energy and excitement like I exude sweat after 3 hours basketball in a gym with bad aircirculation. 'Dororo' however doesnt. In fact, I think that this is one of the weakest songs I heard by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION ever. And once again, mirroring the Art department, the classic japanese BGM reminds me again, why I picked up Dororo. Thats what I wanted, a good combination of historically acurate Sengoku Jidai merged with the japanese folclore, supported by those classic japanese sounds of Shakuhachi, Shamisen and Koto.
Well, unfortunately I only got the decent Soundtrack, which feels to me like haughty laughter. 'We could've made the anime you wanted! Are you not entertained?!'
After writing all this I probably don't need to mention, that I didn't enjoy this anime one bit even though I looked forward to the first episode, right? Well, duh. I will watch the rest of this trainwreck and hope to find at least something of value, but I highly doubt it. I have one last thing to mention though: Through the whole anime I got the feeling, that the main reason for this whole anime is a (not so) subtle critic of the Sengoku Jidai and praise of the modern times. In that way Dororo ties into the same line of anime such as Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop. Most poeple who watched Bebop and Champloo probably also like Dororo. And as you might guess, yes, I hate all three of these (Champloo not as much, but still...). I absolutely despise such messages, because they tend to be uninformed and preacherous. Of course, the Sengoku period had dark phases, and so did every other period of human civilization (including today), but strangely enough all those idiots tend to target the european and japanese medieval periods first.
But ranting aside, here's the WTLRAH;DRATS (Way too long rambling and hating, didn't read all that s**t) a.k.a. TL;DR: Good Ideas condensed to generic boredom, no use of it's unique chances, cheap production values except for Backgroundarts and Backgroundmusic. Highly unenjoyable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 2, 2015
With the end of the year 2014 its finally time to also close one of the darkest chapters of my entire life. A chapter which is known as Trinity Seven. Really. I don't even know why I went all the way watching it to the end. Still, its an interesting experience.
Even though its just something along the lines of 'Whew, now I really can point my finger on an anime that is actually... bad.'
Back to serious mode. Obviously I'm still going to be fair with this anime.
First of all, storywise. What does this anime have in store for us?
The mainstory is reasonable simple and catchy.
...
Our MC Arata looses his cousin Hijiri to a magical phenomenom. So far so well. Thats nothing too bad, it explains what we should have to expect for the next episodes. But why do I dislike the story so much then? Simple. That phenomenom is called 'Breakdown Phenomenom' and is just the first of billions of mechanics which is fired in your face with the speed of a minigun and the power of a railgun. Followed up by Themas and some latin words, sudden english imputs like Limit Breaks, irish legends (Brioriac and Fragrach), etc. The setting of this anime just sucks so hard. Nothing really gets explained in a roundabout way, and even after 12 episodes the only thing I got is that the thema is supposedly the exact opposite to your character. But its not like this is all which sucks storywise. The story is mainly a gauntlet of boobsfondling scenes, slice of life, and obvious plottwists. Just awfully done.
So overall, I rated the story 3/10.
Next are the artworks. The character designs aren't too bad, even though their colors are a bit pale. Also, I always got annoyed with their faces. They look mostly emotionless, and if you leave away the hairstyles, identical. The backgrounds are no awardwinners either. They are good enough to stand their ground. They aren't too sharp, but are rather colorful. A strange contrast to the grayish-pale characters. Lastly the battlescenes. Swordattacks are the usual black-screen/cut style ones. Uhh... really good, I guess? Nope. The magic isn't that much better, mostly laserbeams and glowing stuff and such.
Which brings me to 5/10 for the Artworks.
The sound is the best part of Trinity Seven. By far. Lets start with the voice actors. Matsuoka Yoshitsugu aka. Kirito returns. Matsuoka-san isn't new to ecchi by any means, as he also voiced the MC of Mangaka-san to Assist-san to. His performance is as good as ever. The rest of the cast isn't really memorable, but they depicted their characters good enough. The OSTs of Trinity Seven on the other hand were mediocre. As for battle soundtracks we have some mechanical/techno/futuristic kind of music, which reminds me of a worse version of Xenoblade's Mechanical rhythm. The rest of the time the BGM fits the situation without being memorable.
Finally the OP/ED. Seven Doors by ZAQ is a fairly good song, which made it into my 2014 favorites. It got me hyped up for the following 20 minutes and is one of the sole reasons I continued to watch.
7/10 for sounds.
Finally we arrived at Trinity Sevens' achilles heel. The characters.
If you wonder what exactly is bad about them? Probably everything.
The Initial character designs are rather flat. None of the characters feel fresh or new. I've seen not completely dense MCs before, and the rest of the Trinity Seven reeks of stereotypes.
I don't even remember whether the girls have backgroundstories or not. As for the interactions between the characters, those aren't any better. Most of the slice of life parts circle around groping boobs, or how lewd Arata is. Whew. Amazing... Finally, the character development. Basically the females all fell for Arata. Thats all the development I got. Thats rather disappointing.
For the last of the obejective categories I go with 4/10.
And now the last one. The enjoyment.
Well, you can see on my profile how I rate enjoyment. So lets just say 3/10.
Overall 4/10.
A just below average harem anime with more potential than turnout.
The production values are rather high, but the execution of the plot, the setting, as well the characters are rather bad.
Feedback is appreciated, as usual.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Dec 24, 2014
I think its quite saddening that I don't have anything better to do than writing a review. On christmas! However, this really needs to be done at some point, and while other people are eating cookies, I'll do this one: Cowboy Bebop Review Mk II. New and improved, rated by my new guidelines!
First of all, yes, I still dislike Cowboy Bebop, and even without rereading it I still remember the opening phrase from my first review. I'll refrain from it this time though, because at some point I stopped caring about whether I like that particular anime or not, I just want to give a
...
fair rating.
Story is for me defined by its Main Plot, the setting used, as well as the execution of the storyline.
First, for the main plot. The most episodes are without any relevance to the main plot. They neither help to develop the cast, nor do they illustrate the setting. They are filler. Nothing more, and nothing less. And to be perfectly honest, I don't think its a viable option to spam filler after filler without even explaining what the anime is about. When I first watched this anime I lost interest after a mere 3 episodes and dropped it (For reference, by now I watched this anime like 3 times only for review reasons). But without filler episodes, what is actually left? A story which couldn't be more cliche. A story of two former friends, who fell in love with the same woman.
Revenge, bloodlust... The usual stuff.
As for the setting: To be honest, I don't have the most experience with science fiction, but I feel like this is one of the worst tries. The Ring travel system doesn't make sense in the slightest, nor do the spaceships. The first thing that comes to mind is Spikes space ship, the SWORDFISH II wouldn't be able to even navigate in space. Much less in the atmosphere. Well, crash and burn, Spike. I guess.
Execution: I think I already mentioned that Fillers before the story isn't exactly the best way to hook the audience. As for the main story, I already said that it's a rather cliched one (everything beyond that would be spoiler). Well, you get the picture.
So overall: We have a B-Movie storyline, sprinkled with fillers (1/3), a logically flawed setting (1/3), and a rather bad execution which never hooked me up (1/3). Overall 4/10 for the story.
Next is the Artwork, which not just considers the Artworks for the characters, but also the background, as well as the fluency of animation (especially during battlescenes).
To be blunt, compared to other anime of that time Cowboy Bebops artworks aren't anything bad. They do their job just fine without being groundbreaking or breathtaking.
The backgrounds on the other hand are rather often undetailed, and I can even recall scenes in which parts of the screen were whited out (without being flashbacks). This leaves the animation, which is as always in Watanabes works, quite flashy, but only style and no substance. The choreography is pretty bad.
Summing it up: The character artworks are up to par (2/3), while the backgrounds and animation are quite lackluster (1/3 for both). Overall 5/10 for art.
For the sound I rate the voiceover (japanese dub only), as well as the OST/BGM, and the OP/ED. So, lets kick it off with the Voices. I don't really like the japanese cast, which, in my opinion, fail to express any feelings their characters might have. Without the video and subs I couldn't imagine whether the characters are sad, happy or whatever. Overall a pretty bad performance. The english cast on the other hand was pretty damn good, and I have to give credit to them, this is one of the best dubs I know. As for the OST I wondered why I couldn't remember even a single track. After rewatching an episode I knew: Because there is next to none OST most of the time. The few OSTs presented are more to underline the plot, but on their own don't really pack a punch. Lastly, the OP/ED Themes. I don't really like Blues to begin with, but I don't really feel like the theme fits Action-headhunter stuff too well. It felt more like some detective story or the like, at least to me. As for the ending 'The Real Folk Blues' fits way better and brings closure to each episode.
Final scores for sound: Bad japanese cast which produces no feelings (1/3), next to nonexistant OST with forgettable tracks (1/3), and a mediocre OP, but okay ED (1/3).
Sums up at 4/10 for sound.
Characters should preferably have some catchy initial designs, good relations with their surroundings, and a good development. which is why I rate characters in there 3 categories.
Initial designs: I don't think that Cowboy Bebop reinvented the wheel with their characters, but they fulfill their purpose. Jet as that cop who left the police to deliver justice on his own, the more or less sexy girl, and the easygoing main lead.
Unfortunately I never felt like they had any relations with each other. None of their interactions with each other, but also with the surroundings felt real to me, because basically they had no counterparts they could greatly argue with.
As for the development, quite honestly, I don't think that any of the characters had great development. Thinking bad I can't recall much of a development to begin with. The Spike from Episode 26 will act like the Spike from Episode 1. Or 4. Or which episode you want to choose.
Same goes for most other characters, with only Faye being the exception.
So overall the characters are rather disappointing, especially since they started with promising designs (2/3). But their Interaction was nonexistent (0/3), and the development was poor (1/3).
Overall 4/10 for the cast of Cowboy Bebop.
Enjoyment. Well, thats something everyone should decide for themselves. For me at least its a 1/10. Why? Because I answered these questions honestly:
How much did I like the seen episodes (0-3)?
How much do I want to see the story continue (0-3)?
Would I recommend it to someone? (0=no, 1=yes)
Would I watch it again, just for fun? (0=no, 1=once, 2=muiltiple times)
Quite honestly, for me the obvious answer is No, no, and No! And No!
Overall: Well 3,6 is pretty... bad. I don't like it, but if you do... Feel free to do so, thats called taste.
Tl;dr: Forgettable story with lot of flaws and filler, acceptable artworks, rather weak OST and voiceovers, and a weak character development.
I'm always open for feedback, thanks in advance!
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Dec 19, 2014
I promised to some friends that some day I would do a review on Samurai Champloo.
And well, since the dough for the Nikuman is still rising, I might as well do this now. So, where to start?
First of all, if you visit my profile you'll find out rather quickly that I'm not a big fan of Watanabe Shinichiro. Or his works. Still, I try to rate it as objective as possible. So, lets get started already.
The first point on my list would be the story aspect, which I split up in three sections (something I'll do for every category, be prepared): The actual story, the
...
setting used, as well as the execution of said story.
Story 2/3: As you know from the synopsis, Fuu is searching for a 'samurai that smells like sunflowers'. Why she does that is left in the dark at first, but is a pretty promising start. It leaves a lot of options where to go with the story, and grabs your attention. On the other hand, this plot isn't anything special either, we have seen this plot before, and I can guarantee, we will see it again.
Setting 1/3: I am a weaboo. And I f'n love japan, I love the Sengoku era, I love the Meiji era, so what could possibly go wrong, right? To be honest, while I like this time setting, I never felt like Watanabe made much use of it. It might as well have played in renaissance europe, or in space, or in medieval america or parts-unknown. It wouldn't make any difference to the story except the samurai being a knight, panther warrior, astronaut or whatever.
Execution 1/3: Just like in Cowboy Bebop Watanabe nearly spends no time on developing his characters or story, but instead focusses on pointing out the differences between that time depicted and our own time, which he describes as better (Sidenote: Our time is not better than the past, each time has its own problems to tackle. But this is a discussion for some other time).
The story is mostly episodic, with moreoften than not episodes, which absolutely do nothing to the overaching plot. So overall, lots of episodes felt to me like a total waste of time.
So the overall story score is 5/10 (No, this is no error)
The Art. This section contains the character designs, the Backgrounds, as well as the fluency of animation (especially in battlescenes).
Character designs 1/3: To be honest, the character designs are the worst part of this anime, because quite frankly, they look unproportional. Especially Fuu's and Jin's heads.
I feel like Jins head is way too thin for his body, while Fuu on the other hand has a rather broad head. Your typical head would be like 1/3 of the shoulders, but Fuu's head is big enough to fill over half of her shoulders. Jins head on the other hand is thin enough to only take 1/4 to 1/5 of his shoulders. This looks really weird (for reference, I took ep 25 7:17 as example).
Also, in contrast to the background the characters are quite pale, with their skin being nearly white. The characters are (thats hard to describe, I hope I can get this across correctly) outlined pretty sharply, so they look like cut-out figures running over a paining. Which is a rather good transition...
Background 2/3: ...because the background seems like a drawn painting which uses oil colors. Well, I'm not much of an artist though. Why is it not full score? Because I miss some clear contures. Even on distances like 10 meters or so, most objects are depicted as rough outlinings.
Animation 2/3: This is probably the point I pondered on the most. So I will start the simple part. Outside of battlescenes the animation is just as good, as you'd expect. It isn't mindblowingly good, but it does it job. But now the fightingscenes... (again, I took ep 25 as reference) For some of the scenes I were pondering whether this is 2 or 3 points, and for some I were pondering whether I give 1 or 2 points... First of, the battle scenes are rather americanized. What does that mean, you wonder? The battleanimations certainly look flashy and all, but to a point where they sacrificed realism for action. Pretty much the same way as Hollywood does on a regular basis. As a kendoka myself, I obviously disliked that fact. Scenes I remember clearly are for example running on the sides of buildings, cutting whole stones with a kama, or single animated strikes with 3 or more after images of attacks. Don't get me wrong, other anime do this, too. But those aren't set in a (pseudo)realistic Meiji-era japan.
Thats not too shabby for the art works at least, 6/10.
The soundscore is pretty obvious. Voice acting (since I nearly never watch dubs, I'm just rating the japanese ones), BGM/OST, and OP/ED.
Voice acting 2/3: With Saber as one of my favorites one would think, that I throw all rationalism out of my window right now, but unfortunately I dislike Kawasumi Ayako in her role as 'Damsel in distress'. It doesn't really fit her image, but obviously she's a good enough voice actress to make it at least work. Nakai Kazuya on the other hand is just as great as always. I mainly remember him from Gintama (Hijikata), and well... there is absolutely nothing I could criticize here. He hits the role of Mugen perfectly. Period. Sato Ginpei on the other hand is rather unexperienced, and for his particular role he works pretty well. He doesn't seem to emotional, but I can't remember Jin having emotional lines to begin with... Same for the rest of the cast, they definitely do their job good enough to not drag down the anime, but they don't blow off my head either.
BGM/OST 0/3: I think I should mention this first - I.am.not.a.Hip-hop.Fan. Now it's out. Nonetheless. Anime like Peace Maker Kurogane prooved for me that Hiphop-Meiji is a viable combination, if used correctly. And as you already can guess from 'if used correcty' I don't think that Samurai Champloo did a good job with it's OST. Rather than supporting the themes or situations of the anime, the OST just went off and did its own thing. To put it simply, I felt like watching an anime, while at the same time having a random Hiphop CD in my CD Player. The music and the pictures were never in sync, at least thats what I feel like. Especially as fighting themes the BGM used felt really misplaced (I don't even need to write this anymore, but again ep 25).
OP/ED 1/3: As mentioned earlier, Hiphop and Meiji is viable. Unfortunately I seriously disliked the OP 'Battlecry'. So much, that at some point I started skipping it. However, even though it is not my taste, I feel like it fits the anime. The EDs on the other hand are more to my taste, even if just by a small margin. Still, I rarely listened to any of those, so I won't dwell to long on this.
Of course, the score went a bit down because music taste is subjective, but I think I tried my best to stay more on the objective side of things. Overall 4/10 for the Sound.
Next is the characters-section... Short spoiler, I never came to like any of those characters.
However. I rate for the initial character design, their development (both characters and relationships), as well as the relation/interaction between the characters.
Initial character design 2/3: The anime starts with a cast of three completely different characters. Ditzy Fuu, mysterious Jin, and wild Mugen. They all have their points of interest, vived backgrounds, and are overall well rounded. Again though, without blowing your head off of excitement. The same goes for the introduced side characters. the episodes in which they appear deliver adequate information on their backgrounds, as well as reasons etc.
Development 1/3: I... just wanted to write something witty, but I can't come up with anything! To be honest, if I compare the start and end traits of the characters and relations I reach just one conclusion: Next to nothing changed. Don't get me wrong, they definitely developed, but I don't feel like they would act different from before.
Relations 2/3: Well, I already mentioned that all of the maincharacters act and think completely different. This obviously ends up in pretty interesting interactions as well. Unfortunately those interactions are as old as anime. Or even older. None of the situations are new or groundbreaking, but they are not bad either.
So overall, its 6/10. (I don't want to compare the cast of Champloo and Bebop, which is pretty much identical)
Finally, my Enjoyment. This is the only section which is, and always will be, completely subjective. I decide on how much I liked what I saw, how much I want a continuition (or in ongoing anime how much I look forward to the next episode), whether or not I would recommend it to friends, and whether I would woatch it again (and how often i would watch it again).
So, much ado about nothing...
Did I like it? No.
Do I want a continuiton? No.
Do I recommend it? Depends on who asks me, but I wouldn't recommend it to most people I know at least.
Would I watch it again? Please.
So, Enjoyment ist pretty much 1/10. I can't remember myself even smiling once during this anime.
But here's the point. I don't really feel like rate something bad, just because I dislike it.
For the overall rating I won't use my own Enjoyment, but an average of 5 pts.
Just for reference, an enjoyment of 1 would result in an Overall score of 4.4, the maximum enjoyment would result in an Overall score of 6.2.
As usual I appreciate feedback to improve my reviews.
And now, my dough is done, time to eat.
Oh, tl;dr:
Story 5/10 - Mediocre story of a girl searching a certain person.
Art 6/10 - Fluent animation with unrealistic movement
Sound 4/10 - Good voiceacting, but no synergy of sound and picture
Char 6/10 - Well round cast, without much development.
Enjoy depends on watcher.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 18, 2014
Yes, you can believe your eyes, I really rated One Piece a 6.
But please! Wait before spamming the 'Not Helpful' Button.
I'm myself a fan of Shonen Anime, so I should happen to like One Piece, right? Right?!
Nope, not really. But let's delve a bit deeper.
Story: 6/10
The definitely most promising about One Piece is its absolutely unique setting.
The sheer vastness of the world makes this anime outstanding. And even better, in that kind of setting nearly everything can happen. Adventures on the ship, tropical islands, deserts, or some snowy winter paradise.
However, despite this promising world, each and every damn arc is exactly the same, over and
...
over again!! Our crew gets to island XYZ. Some evil enemy appears and beats up everyone. I mean, look how scary this boss is (more to said boss in character by the way). After being beaten up however, the Nakama get a powerup, and defeat the boss. Repeat. And again. Aaand again.
Art: 6/10
I won't mention something about the unique Art-Style. Everyone has read up on that one already. Some might like the cartoonisch, and also childish, artworks. I don't BUT I wouldn't cut 4 points for such a reason. So what about those 4 points? Battleanimations. This single word is enough. One Piece has one of the lousiest animations in terms of battle of all time. Repeating scenes, classic cut scenes, everything. Just in the last fight I watched Zoro had a fight, where he parried an attack with his three swords. They change the camera angle, and suddenly Zoro holds only two of his three swords, with the last one being in his Saya. And the sad thing is, this isn't every once in the while, those mistakes are common occurences.
Sound: 8/10
First of all, the OST/Backgroundmusic. Even though some OSTs were misplaced, the most of the OSTs are pretty good and fit the desired atmosphere.
Second, the Voice acting: I won't hide the fact, that I like Zoros seiyu Nakai Kazuya. Ever since his first appearence in Gintama, he has been one of my favorites. The other voice actors did their share of work as well, I especially like Luffys, Namis and Choppers voices.
Last, but not least, the opening and ending section: I'll start with this. Later on, the openings get far too long with 2:30 each. Stick to the common 1:30 damnit! Well, whatever. Most of the openings and endings blend in really well with the overall tune of the show. I don't really like the openings and endings, but they fit, which is the most important point.
Character: 7/10
Can't really say, that I really like any of the characters (besides Zoro and Nami, but thats just personal oppinion) but they have their reasons of existence. Way worse than the main crew are the completely forgettable enemies. They have puny reasons for being evil, are completely incompetent, and worst of all, some of them even turn face (wrestlingterm: becoming one of the good guys) after being defeated.
Enjoyment: 5/10
What can I say? Some of the jokes were okay, but serious matters are painfully dump to watch, because the series is just completely unable to stay serious. Also, for a battleshonen, the battles are awfully bad. Well, at least I'm able to crack a wry smile. Every once in a while that is.
Overall: 6/10
Many think of One Piece as one of the Big Three Battle Shonen, together with Naruto and Bleach. Since I haven't seen Bleach yet, I won't compare those two, but there is no problem with comparing it to Naruto, right? Overall, Naruto wins by a large margin. Its battles are better, the soundtrack is better, the art is more detailed, the series can stay more serious, and whats most important to me: The whole skill system is more complex, but also way superior to One Pieces Devils Fruits etc. An example as ending? Okay: Why for example do Devils Fruits Users not loose their powers in rain? Due to Oda because its moving water. But at the same time they loose their powers in rivers. And strictly speaking: Oceans are moving waters as well. The only unmoving water I can think of are swamps.
If you got questions or feedback, its highly appreciated.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 23, 2014
Welcome to the 13 minute classic - Mangaka-san to Assist-san to The Animation.
Story: 7/10
The story in itself isn't anything special, of course. It follows the perverted, young mangaka Aito Yuuki, which, because of his lack of zeal, is about to miss the deadline once again.
The story is pure comedy, so I don't really mind if its not worked out perfectly.
Art: 7/10
Cute character designs, as well as good backgrounds and just as good animations definitely help making a good anime. Just like in this case. The colors are lively, the qualitiy is consistent, nothing to rant about.
Sound: 8/10
Kugimiya Rie in action. I think I don't need
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to tell much. But since I like her, I'll do so nonetheless.
The CVs are top notch. The seiyus of Kirito/Sora, Kagura/Louise/Shana, Haqua/Yotsugi/Yukino as well as Tsukihi/Index just deliver. Newcomer Noto Arisa does a good job as well.
Next, openings and endings. The opening "Junsui na Fujunbutsu" stood out and perfectly sets the mood for the 13 minutes to come. The ending on the other hand, while still a good song, is rather unmemorable.
BGMs suffer from the same cause. Good, but unmemorable.
They do complement the anime though.
Characters: 8/10
The characters aren't new at all, instead, they're pretty much archetypical, yet still really likeable. The interactions between the characters are hillarious, but the characters miss a bit of background story. There IS backgroundstory, yes, but not that much. But then again, its an comedy anime. My personnal favorite Sena got me to the 8 points though. The second-best role of Kugimiya Rie up to date, with only Kagura being even better, but not as loveable though.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I ended up laughting every episode, so why not 10 points? Because this anime also holds the hardest borderline experience of all anime. (***SPOILER***) Beware of Episode 8 (***SPOILER END***) It really gave me the creeps, but at the same time made me jealous...
Overall: 8/10
Definitely a great comedy anime to calm down. Having just 12 episodes á 13 minutes predistines it as a filler to calm down, or when you want to relax on some busy days.
Recommended for nearly everyone, who doesn't mind a fair share of ecchi and dirty jokes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 23, 2014
Oh yeah, Ping Pong: The Animation.
I know I'll get reports and dislikes for this one,
but please bear with me, since this is my oppinion.
Story: 4/10
The story of Ping Pong is probably one of the poorest executed versions of 'Cliche-Sports-Story Mk I'. There isn't even much I could spoil. What do you expect of the most cliched sportsstory?
Take a while and imagine. I'll give you a hint its the same principle used in next to every shounen, as well as probably every sports anime.
I don't have much of a problem with such a storyline in itself, but if the story is like that, you'd need some
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other points to make up for it. And I simply couldn't find anything to make up for it. There is no comedy, no fanservice, no action scenes or anything else which made up for the classical storyline.
Art: 1/10
The original manga is actually from 1995 while the anime aired 2014. Still, at that time anime like Detective Conan or Dragonball also aired. Why would I be ever pleased with that art? In a way this style is really unique. Yes, I definitely haven't seen something like this before.
The background arts -> boring
The character designs -> ugly
The animations -> simply pathetic
If you want an idea of what I mean by ugly character desings, just click one of the pictures above in the characters section. Most of the characters look like they didn't want to spend more time then necessary on the characters. The characters are merely some rough outlines, with some strokes as facial expressions. This can't obviously be enough.
As for why the animation is simply pathetic: I noticed it rather early in one of the table tennis games. The ball nearly went to the ground, but they got it back on the table. In a straight line. From UNDER the table. One of the greatest physic fails of all time.
Sure, this might be intentionally by the drawers. Or it might just as well be a crude mistake.
I personally prefer realistic and fluent movements.
For reference also a reason why the background arts are boring: In the first episodes, the main characters gym is presented. Fair enough. In the later episodes, the rivaling school has the exact same gym. Well with everything which was green in the main heroes gym being purple...
Summed up, the rather low quality of the anime completely distracted me from everything else.
It took several hours for me to get used to it, and by that time the anime was already half over.
Sound: 4/10
The voice acting was basically mediocre. The only voice I even remember is Wengs. I'm personally a fan of using original languages with foreigner characters. And well, Weng, or his seiyu, pulled that one off pretty good. Next, the BGM: unmemorable.
And I mean unmemorable. I watched one of the episodes again, just caring for BGM. And theres next to none to begin with. This one might be for style reasons, making the actually existing ones more important, but those that actually exist are just mediocre tracks sadly.
As for how they are mediocre. They sound generic and could be used in every anime. They don't connect to what the anime wanted to present, or at least thats what it feels like for me.
Last, we have the opening and ending, which both were, to be honest, absolute forgettable as well. Just as the BGM, if there wasn't the video, I would never even imagine that this would be Ping Pongs Opening/Ending, which is really sad.
Character: 4/10
And once again Kong Weng is the guy who saves up some points.
Both his background, as well as his character was well fleshed out and, to top it off, realistic.
I really disliked both main characters, because both only have one or two memorable traits.
Their backgrounds get described every once in a while in some talkes other characters have, and to be honest, those backgrounds are, just as the story, used a hundred times, again.
This is one of the mainreasons I didn't enjoy Ping Pong at all. Everything seems just like we've all seen it before, with nothing which elevates it out of the masses.
The character development, especially Smiles, came off rather forced.
Pecos on the other hand, was the classic shounen development. Its a reasonable one, but once again an abused one.
At least the side characters are, compared to other anime, acceptable.
They have some traits that make them enjoyable, backstories that might make them interesting or developments, which make them more vived. But, here as well, these are the classical ideas, used just another time.
Enjoyment: 1/10
I only laughed once in the whole anime. And thats because of a scene where the arts nearly killed me. I personally hated this stuff, but since its a Top 100 I wanted to give it a shot and also have it completed.
Overall: 3/10
In my opinion one of the poorest anime I've seen so far, and I'm at 100 days of watching anime.
Maybe you're better off trying it for yourself, because I absolutely disliked it and can't possibly recommend it. Maybe you'll come to like something, I absolutely didn't.
If you're interested in sports anime however, just go with Kuroko no Basket. If you're interested in good character development, go with one of KEYs works, either Clannad, Little Busters!, or Angel Beats.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jul 23, 2014
To be completely honest, I never really got warm with Mushishi.
Nonetheless its still a pretty good anime.
Story: 7/10
Mushishis plot is completely episodic. Yet, every episode still is unique in its own way, with varying endings, plots and characters. Like a 20 minute movie.
Art: 8/10
The backgrounds of Mushishi are really outstanding and probably one of the best backgrounds I've seen so far. The character designs on the other hand are mediocre at best. Besides main char Ginko everyone looks the same. The Mushi on the other hand have great and varying designs, making all of them really unique. Animations are fluent and nicely done.
Sound: 8/10
The best
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thing first: Again the background. The OST has an awesome spiritual ring to it, which outlines Mushishis idea. Same goes for the ending songs, which are unique, yet similar to each other and blend in with the anime. As far as the opening goes, I think "Sore Feet Song" is a pretty average song, which still manages to fit to the anime just as well.
Character: 6/10
Which characters to begin with? There is only Ginko. And well, to be honest, he's basically just this good-willed anime main char, as seen times and times before. His background is only mentioned as sidenotes every now and then, which is more interesting though. Definitely better than just telling us 'Well, that's his background, deal with it.". A real character development is missing as well, at least for Ginko. The minor characters of each episode develop by coming in contact with Mushi.
Enjoyment: 6/10
I already told you, I never warmed up with Mushishi, thus rather disappointing enjoyment.
Still, its quite the sentimental and deep anime, so if you like that kind of stuff, go for it.
Overall: 7/10
Not my kind of anime, yet still a really good show.
Recommended if you like anime with deeper meaning.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 17, 2014
No Game No Life is probably one of the most discussed Anime of the Season,
so I'll say it clearly: This is my own oppinion, and it might differ from yours.
Story: 8/10
The Main Idea of living inside a game isn't new by any means.
But in contrast to most anime Shiro and Sora, our main Heroes have absolutely no interest of returning. I put a Liking to the idea. Its not the most complex story of all times, in fact its linear but nonetheless its a really good one.
Art: 10/10
It takes you exactly 17 seconds to realize that these artworks are awesome.
The picture of NGNL on
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MALs site is evidence enough. This style is something new and never seen before, but at the same time it reeks of greatness. Just as a short description of the style - very bright and vibrant colors, almost neon. Action scenes are fluent, character design is awesome.
Sound: 10/10
'This Game' by Konomi Suzuki, as well as 'Oracion' by Ai Kayano are truly outstanding songs with high recognition value, and fitting perfectly to NGNL. To be honest, I'm hearing 'This Game' on loop almost everyday. I had goosebumps when I first heard it.
BGM wise NGNL is also top notch since every BGM hits the emotions it has to.
I don't need to mention it, but the Voice Actors fit their characters perfectly.
Character: 8/10
Now starts the hairy part.
I know a lot of people resent the characters of NGNL. Well, I don't.
Sora is an absolutely realistic NEET with way to much recognition value. I think thats one of the reasons people hate him. Because he's just like us male Otaku. A bit perverted, but completely confident in his skills.
Shiro on the other hand is, as a genious, really hard to identify with. Well, thats kind of planned though. If he wanted to make a more approachable sister, Kamiya Yuu would simply have done that.
As far as the minor characters go, all of their backgrounds are fleshed out, and there seems to be no reason to rant whatsoever. They have perhaps not that much development, but they certainly fullfill their role and are really likeable.
Enjoyment: 10/10
Each and every episode I were on the edge of my seat.
Watching NGNL was the absolute highlight of my week. Full points desu~
Overall: 9/10
Sure, these aren't the best characters or story of all time, but both are decent.
Decent enough to recommend this anime to a choosen number of people.
I think I need to describe what the 'choosen number of people' is though.
I read a lot of the NGNL reviews and I'm afraid, most of the people dislike how Blank always wins. To put it in the critics terms: 'How they pull victory out of their ass.'
To be honest, none of Soras or Shiros actions are real surprises. I happen to be quite good with reading people, as well as planning several steps ahead, and, well, I personally understand why they do what they do. It's not a plothole, rather the watcher needs the instinct and skill to follow our main heroes actions.
So, back to the main topic of 'choosen number of people': If you know a lot about strategy and the likes, for example by reading Sun Tsus 'The Art of War', if you know how to predict people as described in James Clavells 'Shogun' (executed by Yoshi Toranaga, a fictional version of Tokugawa Ieyasu), and if you can pay attention to minimal details, as recommended in detective stories like Detective Conan or Sherlock Holmes, you can understand the story.
If you also happen to like some fanservice, good as well. Since there are also some humorous parts, you should be able to laugh and not take everything seriously.
If you happen to have every of the aforementioned traits I seriously recommend you to watch NGNL. For everyone else its on own behalf.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 17, 2014
Time for my first Review!
It should be obvious, but I'll say it nonetheless:
This is purely my opinion, agree or disagree as you like.
Well, right the first thing I have to say is excluded from that rule though.
Gintama is, without fanboyism, the absolutely best Anime there is.
Why is that, you wonder? Well, read on then.
Story: 9/10
Gintama has no consistent story, instead it has short arcs and standalones
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(which I usually don't prefer) BUT each standalone episode and each arc in itself are hillarious.
Gintama can do whatever they like. Science Fiction Arcs, Comedy Arcs, Shonen Arcs, even more Comedy, Crossovers. But why are there just 9 instead of 10 points? Because of one of Gintamas Weaknesses (It has exactly 2, by the way). It takes rather long to get going. A friend of mine introduced me to some random episodes, rather then watching from the start, so I liked it after a few 2 or 3 episodes, but if you watch it in order it might take up to 50 episodes to get rolling.
But afterwards it only gets better and better. It's like f(x)=x²
Art: 10/10
Awesome Battleanimations!
Best facial expressions in Anime History!
Awesome Ideas! (Those who already watched it, I'm talking about the Popularity Poll Arc)
Everything in this Anime just looks awesome to the point.
Sound: 10/10
Let's start with the Seiyu-Part.
There we have Sugita Tomokazu, the genious of all ages.
He, on his own would suffice to give 10 points, but no, we also have the Tsundere-Queen Kugimiya Rie in her probably best form.
Sakaguchi Daisuke as straightman Shinpachi completes the Set of awesomeness.
And yes, these are only the Main Chars of the Yorozura. The rest of the bunch is just as awesome.
Opening/Ending-Part.
Every single one of the Openings made it to my favorite track list.
SPYAIR, Does, Hearts Grow,... They all did a great job.
Each and evey opening fits the anime perfectly.
The endings are just as good, and are great closure for every episode.
BGM.
Even though I don't know their names, all of the BGMs have been burned in my brain. Just awesome.
Characters: 10/10
I absolutely love each and every of Gintamas Characters!
As standalones they probably wouldn't work, but they aren't standalones.
Sorachi Hideaki did a phenomenal job. Taka-tin, Shogun-sama, Dragon-Taicho, Ill Smith... And these are just some hillarious sidecharacters.
Enjoyment: 9999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999/10
There is no measurement for my enjoyment of Gintama.
Which episode I watch doesn't matter. I'll laugh. Hard.
I'll probably die laughting one day. Not, like I'd regret it though.
Overall: 10/10
Surprise, right?
Well, I talked about TWO weaknesses, right?
So here's the second one:
Gintama gets funnier the more Anime One has seen.
So basically, this should be the last anime you see before you die.
Because then you have seen the Pinnacle of Anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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