- Last OnlineJan 6, 11:39 PM
- JoinedNov 20, 2018
Also Available at
RSS Feeds
|
Apr 30, 2020
The opening episodes had me hooked, but the last three episodes left a very bitter aftertaste which overshadowed the intriguing opening. The anime is set in what appears to be a kind of dystopia with carnivores conditioned via their schooling to resist their natural urges and ingrained behaviour. There is never a direct punishment or threat in what appears to be a somewhat authoritarian system,
A lot of the characters are surprisingly unlikable too. This is a shame because the world they inhabit is a very interesting canvass on which to tell a potentially compelling story. To start Louis/Rouis is very japanese with this sort of
...
Samurai spirit, intense behaviour and rigid beliefs; but he has nothing else to offer. His dark past and initial insecurities are never explored in a very compelling way.
Haru is a bizarre and actually somewhat problematic portrayal of the damsal in distress. She sleeps with all the male herbivore students as a way of feeling equal, yet expresses her actual love in Rouis only for her to then pursue sex and affection with Legoshi. She seems to have no real principles or goals, nor any commitment to anything. She will just sleep with whoever comes along and go along with whatever they suggest if they're persistent enough.
The other main female character is Juno, who turns out to be just a cardboard cut-out with no depth or anything interesting about her. She just acts as a rival to Haru for Legoshi's affection and makes the original love triangle into a ménage à quatre. I guess she is supposed to be the socially acceptable option in a society that frowns upon interspecies relationships.
The whole setup is strange because there is usually only one student to represent each species, if you are only supposed to hook up with your own kind wouldn't there be a dog dorm? Or at least a canine wing to the school. At the same time carnivores are prevented from eating meat instead forced on a steady diet of soy, sugar and other carbs. Though every now and then there are acts of violence suggesting the dystopian conditioning isn't terribly effective.
The world doesn't feel terribly 'lived in'. The mice and rats at the school are constantly in danger of being stepped on despite the fact that there are small classrooms with suitably small doors designed for them. Why don't they have their own wing of the campus or barring that a fenced part of the hallway to avoid any accidents? The Black Market is also very strange, it seems easily accessible as a bunch of highschool students manage to stumble into it early on. The authorities know about this place but are either unwilling or unable to do anything about it. The whole thing feels like it should have been fleshed out a lot more.
Overall I think the anime has some interesting ideas regarding segrgeation, stereotypes, animal nature and so on. But these never amount to very much because the story hones in on a weird love story that the anime doesn't really set up. Thus much of the initial interest is squandered to follow a tired and terribly cliched high school romance plot. That's a great shame because I was hoping the Drama Club would act as a microcosm of the larger world and it's inherent contradiction, but it doesn't. There are some conflicts and a few fights, yet they don't reveal anything profound.
Why are the lion Yakuza so pathetic? The world outside of the school is shown to have a dark underbelly that even the mayor fears. There is an actual blackmarket that sells the corpses of herbivores and Louis was initially a child prisoner destined to be eaten. Yet Legoshi a shy, awkward and clumsy introvert is able to essentialyl smash an entire bulilding full of armed Yakuza thugs because of plot armor. The final episodes of season 1 set up this dangerous confrontation with a conspiracy by organised crime, but it is simply resolved by Legoshi beating people he encounters to a pulp while his panda sensai eliminates the majority of the gang members, who are all armed to the teeth (literally and figuratively).
Why would rabbit genes makes you want to die to a wolf? That makes no sense given the inherent survival drive in all living things. Overall the concept is pretty cool, but the implementation is a bit rough.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Apr 26, 2020
Conceptually very interesting with a really cool thematic angle, but the implementation and overall storyline leave a lot to be desired. It's a shame because this has so much potential that was missed. It's crammed full of intriguing ideas and fascinating themes, but is unable to pull it altogether and deliver something cohesive. A beautiful but ultimately confused mess.
The art/aesthetic look is good, the music is haunting and atmospheric, but the story and characters are terribly weak; to the point where it hurts the series and detracts from the viewer's enjoyment. The strange thing about this is they had an intriguing paranormal premise helmed by
...
one of the biggest names in anime backed by a big budget and with a different director for each episode; suggesting all the ingredients for something truly unique.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Mar 14, 2019
Lazy and uninspired sci-fi movie riff in 13 episodes featuring a hollow story with no redeeming qualities.
This genuinely feels like an attempt to cash-in on the Shin Chan brand and not much else. It should be noted that there are a few lazy sci-fi references to justify the scenario but not much more than that (ex.: Ripley fighting the alien queen in a loader is recreated). This is a shame since I really like what they were doing with the main series, thus this just feels like a gargantuan waste of potential.
The story is absolutely absurd and makes no sense even by
...
anime standards. The characters are all fairly one-dimensional and Shin-Chan's stupid behaviour nearly gets one of his friends killed and puts everybody's life at risk. I really disliked the plot and without going into any detail it just seems like the writers couldn't come up with anything coherent or interesting about Shin-Chan and co being trapped on an alien ship, which is frankly shocking and unforgivable.
All the characters are flat and one-note. There is no real reason to root for any of them and any danger they are put in is eliminated or ignored via lazy writing that relies on deus ex machina to get out of any difficult situation. The Shin-Chan series thrives off of engaging characters and how Shin-Chan interacts with them, but there is never any interesting interaction here.
The main issue is that in the 8 minute episodes there is often very little to laugh about. Given the series is based on using a child as a protagonist to poke fun at adult society and make jokes throughout, this is a bad development. The story isn't gripping or interesting, the scenario isn't explored in any new or intriguing ways; but overall it's just not very funny or entertaining which is a cardinal sin.
If you take Shin-Chan and strip away the humour, the amusing storylines, the charm of the series and its varied characters; you are left with something akin to this. They removed all the strengths of the main series and just added a lazy and poorly written sci-fi plot by the numbers without any heart.
If you're a huge a fan of the series and want any excuse to spend time with Shin-Chan and the gang you might consider it, but for everybody else this is a hard pass. I recommend watching something else instead...
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Feb 19, 2019
'GTA San Andreas: The Anime'
This is an unbelievably stylish "rule of cool" film with a cast of exotic characters and a crazy story that doesn't make much sense. So turn your brain off, strap in and enjoy the crazy rollercoaster ride of super stylish action.
As with all action flicks the story is more of an afterthought than anything else. The opening scenario was great and the set up with a flashback as the cold open was well done. However the film never goes anywhere with any of this despite the very dramatic and tense opening. It feels like a bunch of storyboards or comic panels
...
went missing during development. A deeper backstory is hinted at throughout and characters get dialogue that implies that there may be more going on but nothing ever comes of any of this By the end of the film nothing has really been learned and we arrive back at square 1 more or less. I genuinely think this is a shame because the scenario is very cool and the story actually had the potential to tell us something profound.
The art and animation is simply gorgeous. The camera angles mixed with the fluid ultra violence, beautiful backdrops and fantastic character designs creates an animated spectacle. This is one of the best looking animated films I have watched so far.
The sound is another highlight. The score is well-written, the French voice acting was great, and the sound effects were excellent. Overall I would regard the sound as one of the major strengths of this film. The hip hop and reggaeton tracks fit perfectly with the California gangster setting.
This homage to GTA San Andreas masterfully mixes European and Japanese influences set in a dystopian Los Angeles. A surprisingly satisfying and fun, if somewhat superficial, action flick which I nevertheless strongly recommend.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
Jan 30, 2019
A surprisingly awful show with a cast of ridiculously unlikable characters. I am frankly stunned that this is considered a Battle-Shonen masterpiece and one of the best anime of its era. The Elric brothers are remarkably off-putting egoists outdone only by the terrible military drones that work alongside them and their awful childhood friend Winry, who is frankly unbearable and makes every episode she's in worse.
The entire series is bloated with unenjoyable filler which amounts to a different adventure every episode involving a villain of the week sponsored by the actual arch villain Lust. The conspiracy at the centre of the plot seems fairly
...
uninteresting and it doesn't seem credible that this could have happened under the nose of a military dictatorship with an omnipresent leader IN THEIR CAPITAL CITY without anybody noticing. I don't even want to hear what nonsensical excuse will be provided for this by the end of the series.
Furthermore the central mechanic at the heart of the show and repeated during the intro of every episode equivalent exchange is never actually adhered to. In combat alchemists of all stripes just blast each other with alchemical energy without providing any ammo or sacrifice which is in clear contradiction to other scenes where physical matter has to be transmuted to achieve any alchemical reaction. If you cannot observe the fundamental rule of alchemy you start the show with then what is the point of introducing it as a central conceit and key mechanic? Why do they repeatedly assert the fundamental rule of equivalent exchange if they are going to ignore it? Genuinely bizarre decision.
The animation of this show was bad when it aired and has not aged gracefully. The sound design seems passable although I didn't like the VAs for the Elric brothers in the English dub and the voice actor for Nina Tucker actually made my skin crawl, so I was glad when she disappeared from proceedings.
I dropped this show more than halfway through because I couldn't stomach spending anymore time with sociopath Edward Elric or his special needs brother, Alphonse. I wasn't sure why I was supposed to be rooting for a guy that has joined a military junta, which committed numerous documented crimes against humanity and attempted to genocide the Ishbalan people, for little to no apparent reason. Why would I be cheering for people that voluntarily sign up to a genocidal military dictatorship that is prepared to sacrifice and kill its own personnel while inflicting heinous acts of violence and death against its own population with clinical disregard? This is actually quite strange given that neither brother ever offers any explanation or nuance in regards to this decision.
By the end of it all I was rooting for the villains to kill or maim the main cast.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
What did you think of this review?
Nice
0
Love it
0
Funny
0
Confusing
0
Well-written
0
Creative
0Show all
|