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Feb 7, 2018
Tension and Tedious are 2 completely different things!
and it's clear Kaiji season 2 feels there is no distinction between the two.
Unlike season 1 this addition just drags...and drags...and drags! on and on and on.
Everything Else in the show is perfectly fine. the score is intense, the animation is crips clean, the voice acting is solid. but the single deathblow season 2 has is it's TERRIBLE dragged out pacing. it's not that noticeable in the first half of the season but it really begins to show during the second half.
And this is where the Tension vs Tedious bit comes into play. The big final gamble of
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the series which starts around halfway the season and goes on all the way to the end. and every episode from this point on consists of only 2 things. 10% of the episode is dedicated to the next "cheat" our pro-/antagonist uses to counter the other. and the other 90% is showing their emotional reaction to either achieving or getting denied their goal.
You can do this for...3...maybe 5 episode since were talking "final boss" in this case. but anything beyond that just makes most of the episode feel like padding. and geez 12 episodes of padding was a frustrating sit. it's not a good thing when I'm yelling "GET ON WITH IT" at my screen. accompanied by skipping trough large portions of the latter episodes without missing ANYTHING important.
I'll go as far as saying this season could easily have been 12 episodes long it was re-cut correctly, while still have enough room to build tension without feeling rushed
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 2, 2018
The is probably one of the prettiest mediocre shows I have ever watched. it's one of those anime I wish I could have liked more, but I know it's been done better in the past.
And it's sad, Kakegurui has all the elements to be a great show. It's intro has our main Jabami going trough a buffet with a fork and knife and all the meals on the table are the opponents in the show. as if she actually means to devour them. great visualization and a very addictive song.
Jabami herself is a very interesting character. while underneath her gentle and polite exterior hides
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a near psychotic and highly intelligent gambling addict. ultimately she means well. winning or losing isn't her concern, She's she loves the feeling of "risk" that comes with gambling and respects people who throw away their logic and sensibility for that feeling of risk. wether she wins or loses she'll look upon anyone who can give her a satisfying experience as a friend.
Sadly I don't have much to say about the rest of the characters or villains. most of em are very run of the mill or one trick pony's.
then again the music and visualization in the show is phenomenal, the bright glowing eyes, the shadows, the overly superior smacktalk, the ugly and distorted gamble faces the characters make when they're losing it, On that note! I'm also very surprised that Kakegurui is brave enough to depict it's female characters with the "ugly" gamble faces. also Orgambles...many many... Orgambles.
I'd say the only thing where it falls flat is keeping the tension high. the first...8 or so episodes really build up the ever increasing stakes of the gambles in question but then it reached a point of stagnation where they couldn't go any further. because once gambles revolve about life or death you can't really go any further. and anything after that feels underwhelming.
just as an example; you can't follow up a game of Russian roulette, with a regular poker game in which a loss means getting expelled from school. You could almost call this the "power-ceiling" for gambling, and unless you can figure out creative way's to make the "lesser stakes" really mean something for your story things start to become boring really fast.
Which is why I still hold Akagi and Kaiji in higher regard as the more superior gambling-anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 5, 2017
Oh Boy...I Wish I liked you More Lodoss...
Ahem, Lets get this out of the way, The art, Sound and animation are for the most part really great. but as soon as we come down the Characters and cinematography, problems start to arrive in Spades.
I see what Lodoss is trying to do with their limited 13 episodes and only giving us the nessesary bits and pieces to link the story together. but because of this it feels like the anime lacks a lot of focuss on what it actually wants to tell. and this effects the relation between it's main cast members the most.
some of the
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characters have pre-existing relationships and are together naturally from the start. others join the group seemingly out of convinience for the story. Both, without ANY naritive reason to stick together for the long run. there is ZERO character chemistry between any of them. it doesn't feel like a group that has been through thick and thin who came together for a collective cause. but more like a DnD-group that the DM threw together for the sake of it.
Another thing that bothers me are the jumpcuts in the episodes. Some of them are place very akwardly and really make you go "Eh Wait? was a part of the episode just cut out?" Which makes everything feel very Choppy. One of the most notable example's of this is an assasination atempt inside a ballroom which instantly jump-cuts the main cast resting and the main character training with someone. WHAT HAPPENED INBETWEEN?
I can see why Record Of Lodoss War is considered a classic by it's tone, style and aesthetic, but it's terrible jumpcuts and lack of character development makes it ultimately a very mediocer show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 23, 2017
After watching Slayers I think the easiest way to say it is this.
"Slayers is one of those anime that I WISH I could have watched as a kid."
It was one of those classics that was part of the great anime boom of the 90's. just a year before DBZ made it's debut in the west. And while it may come across as cheap because of it's obvious budget restrictions. Slayers is very self-aware on multiple levels and try's to make the most of what it does. and frankly it does a lot of things better then most modern day shonen.
For Example: lets take ..."Bleach" A
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Shonen that feels the need to throw buckets of dialogue and exposition about HOW attacks work and WHY someone was able to dodge a certain attack. which just break the flow of the scene instantly and just makes me shout at the screen. "FIIIIIGHT ALREADY!"
None of that in Slayers. if there's combat, IT'S JUST COMBAT and details surrounding the scene are handled either before or after the matter at a campsite or an Inn. Which isn't only more satisfying to look at, but makes more sense. Nobody interrupts a life-threatening fight scene to explain how an attack works or extensively compliment their adversary on how smartly they dodged their magic-super-beam!
Slayers DOES things and SHOWS things. and only explains things if it needs to! I don't need to know how Lina's Dragon Slave works. I see what's happening right there on the screen. she uses an incantation that summons the forces of dark magic and launches it in an all destroying ball of energy. I don't need a single word of exposition to come to that conclusion.
The same is done with the jokes in the show. it's the 90's so we're bound to get some more cringy material here and there but they never linger on them for too long. making the fast pacing work for the jokes that do work. the lesser are more easily forgotten and the more memorable ones have more impact.
Moving on to the Characters.
How do you even put this...our main character Lina is special (especially in this day and age). In a current anime world where Moe is the norm and self confident girls in anime are either blank slates, tsundere's and other stereotypes. Lina is one of those Spunky happy go lucky types that you rarely see anymore.
She has a few stereotype staples like the "Food-lover" gimmick but she is very multilayered beside that. with genuine emotional shifts and opinions. She's a greedy treasure hunting adventurer, but would shove all of that aside if a hairy situation requires her expertise. even her Goofy moments are balanced well with moment where she's alone in her bedroom processing and monologueing about how to handle a situation they have to face.
Goury on the other hand is relatively simple. but contrasts Lina pretty well. I've alway's felt that people who watch the show actually experience it through Goury, he's a simpleminded warrior that regularly needs explaining about whats going. so as Goury is getting information so are we, which creates a natural form a exposition. he's capable, and likable but not really deep. I would have liked to see him a little more worked out.
The remaining main cast members are quite enjoyable as well. and they don't play into the obvious pitfalls like making Zelgadis Lina's Rival. I was especially worried about Amelia being the whiney little brat type but...she's actually pretty fun to watch. she's may be the over enthusiastic kid in the group BUT she isn't useless! not as powerful as Lina but still is a capable mage that can hold her own.
I would say only the villains hold a bit of a weak spot, you don't really get to know them as well as the rest of the cast and they leave a lackluster impression. even when certain heartfelt moments take place on the villains side. it...doesn't leave a strong enough imprint for one to really care. then again drama isn't the strong point of Slayers.
And that also ties in with the Story of Slayers. because...well there isn't a real grand scheme or goal for our cast collectively, It's more problems they face on the way and try to overcome. making things feel a bit episodic...but they're not. which is actually quite smartly done, every episode usually has a problem that occurs and is solved. but also ties in with the overarching plot. not everything though sometimes it's just complete filler, still...it's enjoyable filler.
And that is probably Slayers greatest strength. even if you know the episode has nothing tied in with the overall arc it's still fun to watch. without giving to much away I was very skeptical about the episode where Lina would get married. the whole setup just screamed "dud-filler-episode" and I was proven wrong, they played it out great!
In overall Slayers is a fun ride for anyone interested in a classic DnD, Medieval Fantasy adventure.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 8, 2016
(writing this review just finishing the 16th episode.)
You know when a show is really good? when it can pull you in and pour gasoline on you to blaze up your emotions. And boy do we have a roller-coaster on our hands here.
Rainbow is a story taking place right after WWII, of 7 kids going through their day's in a correction facility. due to either criminal behavior or unfortunate circumstances.
Starting off I was pretty worried about Rainbow having a cast of 7 people in it's main roster. which is quite difficult, considering you have to get us attached to each individual in the group for
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everything to really matter. And while some members of the group get a little less attention they still have an active and heartfelt role in the group. I was convinced some where just going to act as padding but I was thankfully wrong.
If I did have some issue on the characters it would have to be the "villains". Don't get me wrong they're not written bad at all, but they come a across just a little too cartoonishly "evil" at some points, which just felt a little over the top for this kind of series. I'd have like to see a tad more of a realistic take, or at least some redeemable qualities to make them a bit more human.
One of the strongest aspects of Rainbow is it's atmosphere. there's a lot of suspenseful moments that reward you greatly. the gritty and dirty feeling inside the prison feels very genuine and you know any positive moment can easily backlash to something else. Which just keeps you on edge numerous times. even if you know what's coming you're still eager to see how it play's out. Aside from sad and content I even got Angry at the results of certain scenario's. It made me realize how invested I was
in the moment.
Lets see what else..., Animation and Music...pffttt it's Madhouse we're talking about here! They don't have to prove themselves. it's all solid in this department!
So far the only "bad" thing about the entire series is episode 13. and that's only because it's the re-cap episode. For the story it's trying to tell and the way they tell it the anime is practically flawless up to this point.
I just hope they can live up to my expectations for the second half.
but even still I don't see myself scoring Rainbow with anything lower then a 9 at this point.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 10, 2015
The oddball of the Gundam Franchise.
G Gundam is probably the most child friendly Gundam Series there is.
As a kid I alway's felt I watched these shows in the wrong order. because I saw Gundam Wing when I was 14 and G Gundam a few years later.
While it tries to give us a serious story like most Gundam series It's sometimes hard to keep that serious tone. This is because each country has their Gundams Gimmicked towards somethings that (usually) relates to their country. This causes them to range from serious, creative, to silly and absolutely bizarre designs.
G Gundam sadly did seem to suffer from
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a bit of a tight budget, the Mid 90's wasn't a good spot for anime, and it shows, the pacing in certain scene's feel weird, color scheme's are fairly akward, repeative super-move animations each episode & rather rusty hair and uniform designs.
But to it's credit G Gundam knew where to spend it's money on, while they clearly cut back on the things I mentioned above they did put money in the actual fights and supermove animations. which are the most important. Because you watch a Gundam series for Robot fights. so they did good putting the budget in that direction. The best example of this is when a fighter enters a Gundam and we get the transformation animation where they put on their uniform, which is very creative and unique, but with the payoff of a very ugly and weird uniform design itself.
Yet somehow G Gundam has this weird charm over itself. and I think a lot of that is due to a soundtrack that was clearly too good for the shows budget. each time a super attack gets charged up and those bombastic drums or violins begin booming in you're just hooked on the moment!
Ultimately I can't call the show Bad, but Not Good either, it's flawed.
the Plot is direct, the characters are a bit bland but not unlikable.
But for the budget it had it's a fair show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 5, 2015
I'll be Honest, I had the intention of dropping this anime halfway through.
but I continued to watch just to be sure about the shows ending and justify my words for a review. because Watamote is a show that couldhave been So much more!
And i'll state right now that i'll be diving a tiny bit into spoiler territory, but no further then episode 2.
The premise of Watamote is that our protagonist Tomoko is a girl with an extreme case being the gamer/otaku type along with a huge dose of teenage Anxiety, Unable to make any form of social contact with anyone besides close family, she Hates
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the world, she hates people and mostly she hates herself for what she is.
On one hand I see certain things in Watamote that I've experienced myself up till the age of 15, being the outcast, playing games and watching anime on my own all summer break, having no friends around, living in the fear of not knowing how you need to change your life in a meaning full direction.
On The other hand The anime apperantly finds it a form of comedy to NOT have her develop from this depth in her life. There are some legitemate moments where I'm invested in the way scene's are handled. But sadly a lot of the scenes turn into cheap laughs from emberassing scenes. and this is where he shows biggest problem lies. it doesn't know if it wants to be a cheap comedy or an actual progressing story. at one moment i'm facepalming and I pauze the video with the " I'm done with this shit. " line to follow, while an episode later I'm getting invested in the story again.
Thats why I want to adress episode 2, because it features Tomoko's friend Yuu from her previous school. and both these girls where on the same page. However Yuu developed more socially and Physically compared to Tomoko. But the interesting thing is Yuu, despite her developments has nobody to talk to about her anime/otaku hobby and this pains her. I'm flabbergasted the anime did not take the route to expand on that further. Those two characters using eachother to improve themselves on the fields they are weak in would be a great plot device! the same goes for a number of side characters Tomoko encounters in the serie, there are so many chances to include a likable side character she finaly had the courage of talking to into the maincast to help motivate her but it just doesn't happen. returning us to square one every single episode.
So instead we have to deal with Tomoko going through a nervous breakdown with uncontroled barfing for the umptieth time which just gets boring because it happens to much.
I actually got more interested in the side characters as I kept watching.
I wanted to know more about Tomoko's mom, her brother or her friend Yuu, because we hardly get to see any detail about them.
I wanted to like Watamote but it just doesn't go anywhere. leaving us with ultimatly nothing more then a timewaster.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 20, 2015
Hey gang! remember the powerpuff girls? well how about instead of sugar, spice and everything nice, we'll do something else, we'll keep the sugar but throw in slutty and offensive in for the other two before adding chemical X. lets see what we end up with!
Well thats about the best way I can introduce the smash hit that was PSG.
This is what the american saturday morning cartoon would look like with a thick bucket of anime glazing on top, And it did not disappoint.
PSG features the story of two angels who clearly represent the sins of lust and gluttony, are cast out of heaven for
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inappropriate behaviour. they must defeat "Ghosts" on earth to earn heaven coins with which they can buy their way back into heaven. And this is already one of the most unique things about PSG, our...protagonists...if we can even call them that.
The Angels, Panty and her sister Stockings, are everything but your typical Anime main character, they're rude, lazy, anarchistic, shameless and despite all these traits they are Angels! in comparison to a couple of this series major villains The Demon Sisters, Scanty and Kneesocks which are orderly, polite, (though a tad arrogant) and will alway's follow the Rules (or in their words the RURU!) These switchups make the characters stand out a great deal and in my case made me root for the villains a lot more then I probably should. but thats simply because Panty and Stockings can get so hateful at times. In a comedic way ofcrouse, but still, since they don't care about humanity, or saving the world. all they want is getting the coins get back to heaven and lead their sinful life.
The art is very simple (aside from the fanservice transformation scenes) but in contrast the animation is a RIOT to watch.
especially the chase or combat scene's are astonishingly dynamic and fastpaced, along with beautiful angles. But what deserves my respect the most is that for the majority of episodic villains they switch to a reallife clip where they blow up a handmade statue of the villain of that episode.
It works greatly as a comedic factor and gets a lot of respect from me for the time it must take to craft all those statues.
The Music is incredibly addicting, And I easily have 4 memorable tracks from the ost that made it to my mp3 player. and i'm saying this while it's not even a genre I tend to favor.
In Overall, PSG is a crazy ride that makes use of it's tools the best way it can, It wants to be a saturday morning cartoon, but it's to dirty and rude to ever be one, and it's doesn't give a shit about it! the plot aside, this is a show you watch for the simple reason of " oh geez, what are they going to do next! "
If I had to point out one major flaw, it's the ending. I won't spoil it, but it ends on a major cliffhanger and up till this day we don't have a sequel. it's a typicial case of "oh you want to know what happens next? THEN BUY THE MANGA! " fuck you PSG, give me my second season!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 20, 2015
I saw various clips from Stardust Crusaders before I was even familiar with the whole JoJo scene. so I did the obvious, I started watching the 2012 version of the Bizarre Adventure and work my way up to watching Stardust Crusaders. But in all honesty the prequel was clearly better.
The typical trope in any shonen-type show is a character starting off with a very low amount of skill, but an incredible amount of potential. this is what invests you into watching a show like this, you wish to see the characters evolve, improve themselves, learn new ability's etc.
Despite the flaws the original bizarre adventure had,
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I was invested in Jonothan and Joseph Joestar because they kept showing me new things, and interesting way's to use their powers. however In this series we get introduced to "The Stands" spiritual manifestations which reside in our main cast members and do the fights for them. a very fresh concept, compared to the "Hamon" from the prequel. however the stands never evolve or learn in any way. And up to episode 12 every single fight seemed more like a filler that was just there to slow down the plot. normally these fights are present to make our protagonist stronger so they are ultimately ready to face the end villain of the show. but our protagonist Jotaro does not get stronger. not until he actually battle's Dio in the final match of the show. which means I can watch the first 2 episodes of this show, and the last 2 episodes. and I would have missed NOTHING. that is a such a major flaw I can simply not overlook.
Now on to a more positive note.
unlike the prequel Stardust crusaders clearly consists of a team.
The biggest flaw of shows like DBZ (especially it's movies) is that the fights center around 1 brickhouse of a character and the rest of the cast are just water melons waiting to be splattered open by a hammer. Aside from Joesph Joestar the protagonist of the last series our main casts importance is very well devided. despite Jotaro being our Hero, he is not alway's the hero of each episode. and I approve of this a lot!
Also I have to address that the Exposition level has GREATLY decreased from the original show. And while this had a comedic aspect Stardust Crusaders feels at least a bit more mature then it's predecessor. But that does not mean it's by any means better. Stardust Crusaders just doesn't intrigue me as much as the original no matter how much I'm looking forward to Jotaro and Dio duking it out with Star Platinum and The World.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 17, 2015
The keyword "Bizarre" in it's title is more then appropriate.
And considering the many details the show has it's difficult to find a point to start talking about it to explain everything, but I'm going to give an attempt.
The First thing to address is probably the story and the storytelling of JoJo.
where it basically does everything wrong in such a way that it becomes hysterical to watch and not to mention the big layer of 80's cheese that covers it all.
JoJo tells it's story through the worst way possible "exposition". and not just a little bit. The characters will explain literally EVERYTHING that is happening in
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front of you, and it's not just done in your typical anime fashion. No, Every Character will explain things as if they are pooping out the biggest turd of their life that was been clogging their bowels for weeks. making it hysterical to hear them do so. Jojo's story itself is very simplistic in each arc. protagonist faces an evil that is bent on world domination. and that's about it. however This is the first series I've ever seen that has multiple shifting protagonists. without spoiling to much, I can say that each story arc headlines the offspring of the previous protagonist. which keeps the show very fresh, because of the shift in characters.
Moving on the the art and animation.
One of the things I absolutely loathe is talking during battle scene's.
(Looking at you Bleach!)
because it kills the pacing and tension of the combat. As I explained above Jojo likes to explain A LOT but they manage to keep the pace up despite lengthy dialogues and maintain intense visuals to keep you on your toes during the fights. The visuals are very clean, sharp, and use some very unique color pallets to address dire situations. suddenly placing characters in a complete green pallet against a dark/pink background.
The animation to be fair is very limited and makes use of clever tricks to make a "less is more" kind of effect. flashy backgrounds, shaky cam, etc. which works very well for shows like this to maintain the high detail of characters, yet it makes the fights less dynamic.
The Music is phenomenal, very catchy and colorful, which matches the overall feel for the show. and a lot of different styles come to play, jazz, rock, even dub step. And choosing Roundabout by Yes as a title track!? is to me a strange choice but it works.
To be fair the Characters in the show come across rather weak.
As I mentioned earlier, because of the shifting protagonists we're also time skipping every arc. which only allows 1 or 2 characters from the previous arc to reappear. this makes it very hard to latch on to a character because the time spent with them is so limited. and the expositional nature of the series also pushes you away from a character. we are not allowed to get under their skin and get a chance to feel like they feel. because they will address their emotions the moment they bother them.
This is probably why the protagonist of the sequel, (Stardust Crusaders) Jotaro is one of the most popular protagonists of this series. because he hardly talks at all, he's mysterious, silent, you don't know everything about him and that is what makes you curious about a character.
However, in overall the show was still an enjoyable ride, the combat scene's are every enjoyable and varied, the character designs are incredibly flamboyant and unique. it's all around 80's cheesy fun. that deserves a decent 7.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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