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Sep 9, 2010
I really feel I need to make a review of this anime. This is purely based on the first season, since I haven't watched the second season yet. I've watched and read a lot of harem anime/manga, some are good, but most are just shallow, comedy-filled, mindless ecchi fanservices anime that I can't stand watching and decided to drop. But this one is clearly different, I'd say that this is the best harem story I've ever watched/read to date.
Whilte Album's story is very good, it's more deep than most harem anime. This story is very realistic for a harem anime (then again, harem itself
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isn't very likely to happen in real life, but still much more realistic than most others). It's much more deep and portrays how complicated a human can be. The story is played very well, the events that happened can really affect the audience emotionally. Mostly made you grief, rage, or angry, but that's the point of this series. This was not meant to be those happy-go-lucky anime in the first place. Though this is mostly the reason why this series got less than 7 (by the time of writing), most people just hate this series because they do not understand it.
Art is pretty nice, I loved the character designs. Backgrounds are well drawn. And there are times when the art changes to beautifully drawn pastel color animation. Character's thoughts are written in texts on the screen so people can see what is actually going on inside the said person's thoughts.
Sound is also another plus. Nice VA, there are no annoying voice in this series. Songs are also good, most of the songs has lyrics that actually connects with the story itself. I find that these songs are also affecting me emotionally while listening (reading the karaokes' actually). I wasn't really a fan of Nana Mizuki or Hirano Aya but overall I really liked the songs here.
Characters are where many people find this show to be terrible. I disagree, characters are the strong point of this series. Most characters are flawed, either they do things irrationally or some other flaws. Which is what makes many people hate this. Though I say, that makes them more "human". We see characters who do things that we wholly disagree. People bash on the characters. But really, are you sure you won't do the same when presented with the same situations? White Album is a series that really shows how complicated, weak, foolish, and irrational human beings and human relationships can be. Humans are not perfect beings who always manages to do the right thing 99% of the time. When being pressured, burdened, presented with many problems, most human will do foolish things even if they know themselves that it is wrong. And this aspect is really portrayed very well here.
I really enjoyed the series, even if at times I feel angry or mad at some characters, I can't never bring myself to hate them, since I know that I myself might do the same when given the same situation.
I've said that I dropped many harem anime, the main reason is because most of those are filled with stupid, mindless fanservices that really bores me to death. Fortunately, that kind of thing doesn't exist here. There is a few hot kissing scenes, but they are not mindless or played only for comedic effect, they actually contribute to the story and character developments.
Overall, this is really underrated series. An deep, complicated, relatively realistic romance harem story that really brings out the human flaws in characters to the best. Though for some people, this is not their cup of tea, which is why it's rated low.
Flaws are inevitable in human, that's precisely why we have the backspace key on our keyboard.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 16, 2010
Well I was pretty surprised to know that Break Blade got a movie! Talk about being out of date. I've read the manga and quite liked it, though in the manga, mecha battle scenes aren't drawn very well, it gets kinda confusing. So I was pretty excited to watch the movie, to see what the mecha battles will be. And this movie really doesn't disappoint me in anyway.
Story: 7
Kinda typical story, a boy who can't use any magic in world where everyone can use magic, but somehow can activated a Golem that no other person managed to activate. Even if it's typical, I think it's
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played quite well. This is only the first movie so I can't say much about the plot, but I've read the manga so basically I know the story further than what this movie has shown, and I'll say that if the next movies continue to follow the manga, it will turn out to be good.
Art: 9
This is where I was struck the most. The animation is pretty good, the mecha battles are done pretty well. Though the mechas movements aren't nearly as fluid as Gundams, but I think it's done on purpose, since the Golem technology in this show isn't very advanced as how it is in other mecha shows. (This was not said in the movie, but it was said in the manga.) Designs for the mechas are interesting. They're not as flashy as other mecha shows, yet they're designed pretty well. As a mecha maniac I liked the designs of the mechas here. Character designs are average, though I quite liked it. At least there's no excess of moe/bishoujo/bishounen (they do exist, though at an acceptable dose.) Overall a good art, both in animation and design department.
Sounds: 8
For me, sound is divided into 3 parts: Musics, SFX, and Voice Acting. Music is nice, this movie has good opening and ending songs, and good musics throughout the movie. SFX are nice as well, they are made to be quite 'real'. Like, the sound of impact of a pressure gun is not as strong as the sound of impact in other mecha shows, since pressure guns are generally weak after all. I'm no pro at voice acting, but at least there's no annoying voice acting like those overly moe/shy character voice which is quite prevalent nowadays.
Character: 7
Sadly, there's only 50 minutes to this movie. Which means that there's not much character developments. Some cliched yet interesting characters are used, it's not really a problem for me since a cliche can be interesting when played well. Though not much character development, this first movie gives a good base to expand in the next movies. Let's just hope they do expand it well.
Enjoyment: 9
Pretty enjoyable for me. Cliche story that is played quite well to make it still interesting for me. Good animation, interesting mecha designs, and a fair character designs. Nice music, SFX, and VA. Characters that even though haven't developed much, already has good base to expand. Other than those, I liked the setting of the world in this movie. The world is full of magic users, so magic is generally used in everyday life. Even so, magic here isn't really that almighty like in many magic based story. There's no ultra powerful destruction magic or time controlling magic. Here, most of the things that magic can do are common things that can be done in real life. Moving vehicle, shooting pressure guns etc. This is what makes the setting interesting for me. Also, there's not really any awesome weapons here. The only weapons are the weak pressure guns, or the standard melee weapons. Though some may think this is a minus point, I liked it. I got kinda tired from all those high-tech, high destructive capability weapons in many mecha shows nowadays. This makes the world in which technologies are not very advanced and weapons are generally weak much more interesting.
Overall: 8
I want to give 8.5, since this is better than 8, but doesn't really achieve 9. But there's no 8.5 score here so I'll just give 8.
A pretty good show for me. Though I think this is kinda underrated, since not many people seems to give much attention this show. This show is pretty interesting in many ways that even surprised me. Before watching I thought I'm gonna give this a 6 or 7, but after watching, I changed my mind and give better score. Though, I still need to wait whether the next movies will also be good or not. Let's just wait and see then.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 9, 2010
Char's Counterattack is the 4th Gundam animation production. It's a 2 hours long movie, not a series. This movie focuses more on wrapping things up for Amuro and Char.
Story: 8
Story is good, it manages to do so much in just 2 hours time, though sometimes it felt a little rushed. Story is simple, Char finally got fed up with people whose souls are being tied down by Earth's gravity, and decided to make Earth inhabitable to force humanity to move to space, therefore promoting human evolution into Newtypes. The only thing that stands in his way Londo Bell, an Earth Fedration's special forces. It still
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shows some conflicts, and some political issues, like how Gundam series has always been, though not very much because it's only 2 hours long. Now some people said that there's a lack of back story here, we don't get any explanations on how things get the away it is. Well actually many of the back story is implied throughout the movies or in the previous series, you only need to watch carefully. All in all, the ending is the best possible conclusion to end Amuro and Char's rivalry, Tomino does a great job here.
Art: 8
The animation here is done well. As usual, still loses to recent works, but still done well. Mecha design is very good. Units like Nu, Sazabi, and even the grunts like Jegan and Geara Doga are nice designs. This movie has many funnel type units, like Nu, Sazabi, and the 2 Jagd Dogas. Expect a lot of funnel actions in this movie. Character design is still good, as usual. Characters from previous series can still be recognized even if they got older.
Sound: 9
One word for the soundtracks: Epic. Really, most of the soundtracks are very epic songs. It's quite different from the previous series. I even cried when listening to the song played at the last scene. (Hell, I even almost cried when writing this and remembered the scene.) Not much differences in the SFX thouh, still the same old Gundam SFX.
Character: 8
Characters are mostly good, though some side characters doesn't get enough attention, but overall it's still good. As usual, characters here is pretty much driven only by their own ideals. Which is a good thing, I like seeing characters with good ideals like Char. Tomino really made a good cast of characters. I find myself getting emotional feelings towards many characters here, whether it's like or hate. Sign of a good anime is that the characters can draw many emotional feelings from the viewers, which is what this movie did well.
Enjoyment: 9
An enjoyable movie for me. Though if you want to enjoy this you need to be a Gundam fan who have watched the previous series before this. Story progression is enjoyable, I can't explain much since it will just give spoilers. Mecha battle is typical UC battles: Great battles. Nu vs Sazabi is pretty much one of the most reckless battles I've ever seen. Recent Gundam works are too weapon dependent, while here they even use fists and kicks, they don't care when their weapons got destroyed, as long as the unit can still move, they'll fight. This makes a very interesting battle.
Overall: 9
A good conclusion to Amuro and Char's rivalry, this a very good watch for any UC Gundam fans out there. Highly recommended to watch if you have watched the previous series.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 8, 2010
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, the third Gundam series is made as a direct sequel to Zeta Gundam. It follows closely after the end of Zeta Gundam. Many say that this is the worst UC Gundam (not the worst Gundam) ever made. Well I that's what I think as well, though that doesn't mean that this show is bad.
Story: 7
What made people hate this episode is certainly the humorous story and the many filler episodes. That's what I think as well. Even so, I think that the core of the story quite good. The core story actually have some good conflicts, politics, corrupt government, conspiracy etc.
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Too bad that the filler and comedy episodes are just too many. Like, if this was made to be 15 episodes or so, it would be much better, since the core story only happens at around that number of episodes. The rest is just filler and comedy episodes, that didn't really feel like it contributes anything to the story nor to character development. I still give a 7 (good) since if I only took account the core story, it's actually a good continuation of Zeta.
Art: 7
Maybe it's just me but it seems the art is a bit lower than Zeta. Kinda like the animation quality is abit lower. Protagonist mecha is mostly the same as Zeta with ZZ and Mega Rider as addition, both unit doesn't really strike my fancy. On the other hand, enemy mechas are more interesting, units like Qubeley, Zaku III, Quin Mantha, in my opinion is pretty cool. A matter of preferences though. Character design is still not a problem, although some of the sidekicks designs are a not that good.
Sound: 7
There's only two soundtracks that sticks to my head: the battle theme and 'Anime Ja Nai!' Well yes it's old, even at first I thought 'What the hell is this song?!' But like the 'Tobe! Gandamu' somehow it kinda sticks in the end. Othe soundtracks are just average. Sound effects is still the same as previous ones, not much changes here.
Character: 6
I think this is where this series kinda fails the most for me. Most of the protagonists are annoying. They don't have qualities that a protagonists in a war story should have. Even Bright is disappointing, he is not as strict as he was before. Maybe that's why the characters didn't grow much from being an annoying character. Most good characters are from the antagonists side, like Haman Karn, Ple2, and even Glemy Toto and Mashmyre Cero, the two had an awful introduction but at the end they become formidable enemies. Still, most of the characters are kinda annoying, like Chara Soon, Moon Moon sisters, etc.
Enjoyment: 6
The points above kinda kills the enjoyment for this series. While watching this. all I thought was 'When will something happen?' Really, the filler is just to much. Even the fillers in the original Gundam is still more enjoyable. Though I quite enjoy it when the plot did get a move. Mecha battles aren't quite as interesting as Zeta, though sometimes good battles does happen.
Overall: 6
Hmmm, when I gave this score, somehow it seems like this is bad. Actually, 6 is fair, which means it's not bad, it's still above average. With the many flaws it had, it still has a good point, namely the core of the story plot which serve as an excellent continuation of Zeta. That alone made it worth to watch. I thought of dropping this series at first, but I persevered, and after I finished it, I'm glad I didn't dropped it, since I got to see a good story (when I only take into account the core of the story), which wraps Zeta nicely, and sets up a good base for Unicorn's story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 7, 2010
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is the sequel to the first Gundam series. Many Gundam fans think that this is the best Gundam series ever made, and I can see why. This series certainly lives up to the Gundam name, and much better than the first series.
Story: 10
Zeta Gundam's plot is a bit different than the first Gundam. While in the first Gundam the main focus is Earth Federation vs Principality of Zeon, here the main focus is war between different factions inside the Earth Federation itself. The portrayal of war here is much better, with a good dose of politics, conspiracy, conflict etc. It's certainly
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got a heavier and darker plot than the first one so don't go expecting light plot with mecha battle everywhere. And the good part is that there's really no filler episodes. Each episodes builds to the story, or develops certain characters which will in turn affect the story itself. And it not to mention it goes on for 50 episodes. It's highly recommended to watch the first Gundam before this, so you can get a better comprehension on what's really going on throughout the series. Also, one thing to notice is the weakness of 'Plot Armor' here. There's a lot of character dying here and there throughout the series, which is a good thing, since it makes the portrayal of war much more realistic.
Art: 8
Much better than the first Gundam, here the animation is quite good. Still bad when compared to the recent animes, but the animation is already flowing fluidly. No stiff movements whatsoever. This might have the best animation for it's time. And the drawings is also better than the first series. Mecha design is great, I really wonder how the designer designs all those transforming MSs that not only looks cool, the transformation sequences can be reproduced quite anime-accurate in the Gunplas. They must have put a lot of thought on the designs and the transformation sequences. Character design still good, as always. You can see many characters from the first series, only they got older.
Sound: 7
Unlike the first Gundam, sadly, there's not really any soundtracks here that is remarkably good for me. Although they do fit the scene, but somehow I don't really like them. OP&ED, is different in the Japan release and US release, I prefer the JP release one. SFX is not that much different than the first Gundam, you can still recognize the same mecha sounds, or the beam rifle shots. Voice acting is pretty much no problem. But some said that the english dub is pretty bad, so consider getting the subtitled one.
Character: 9
Zeta is one of the Gundam series that has the most character depth and development I've ever watched. Many characters undergo heavy development throughout the series. This is what makes it interesting, rather than seeing a static character that is pretty much the same from the start to the end. You can notice that the main character, Kamille, undergo so much development that he changed from a short-tempered emo boy to one of the best member aboard the Argama. Here you can also see the effect of character ideals. Many characters here will do anything to achieve their ideals, including switching sides etc. Even because of that, Char and Amuro can be friends here.
Enjoyment: 10
With much better battles than the first series, and interesting characters, this series is really enjoyable. This series has a lot of transformable units, and that adds to the enjoyment. Battles become more interesting as Kamille transforms his Zeta again and again to conform to the situation he's in. Also, here the grunt units are pretty formidable, even more so than the first series. It's not rare to see Kamille and Quattro struggles against grunt units, sometiimes even almost got killed, which makes it pretty fun to watch.
Overall: 10
I can't really say much here since I've pretty much said everything above. This is an excellent series, very enjoyable to watch. If you already watched the first Gundam and feels that it's good, then you should watch this ASAP.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 6, 2010
Mobile Suit Gundam. Every anime fans (even some who aren't anime fan) must've heard of this metaseries. Gundam is a metaseries that have one of the largest fanbase in Japan. Not that big outside, but still has a considerable size. This anime is the original which started off the metaseries, which will later become a popular culture in Japan. Many people feel that this is a very good anime, though unfortunately this just doesn't cut it for some others. Now I'm one of the former, and I'll try to review this series based on my opinions.
Story: 8
The core of the plot is actually quite
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simple: War between Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon. Pretty simple? But the whole story itself is not so simple. Throughout the series, you will learn more about the war, and it's not as simple as "good guys vs bad guys." The good guys aren't actually that good, and the bad guys aren't actually that bad. Both side have a solid reason for fighting, and this is the part that made the story interesting. Even each character has various reasons for fighting. Though there is a bit of disappointment in the middle, where there's a lot of filler episodes. This is probably due to the fact at that time, Gundam has a pretty low rating, so it got cut from 50 episodes to 26 episodes, then somehow got extended to 43 episodes. I think it will be better if it didn't got cut in the first place.
Art: 7
It's a 1979 anime, so the animation is pretty bad (though I believe it's pretty good for the time.) Even so, the mecha and character design, though old, is quite good. The mecha design is very distinguishable from each other, and is actually quite good despite being old. Even some of the enemy grunts have quite good designs, which is pretty widely known to this date, such as the Zaku. Character design is also good. Nowadays there's a lot of animes that have characters that look like each other, or characters that looks like a character from another anime. That's not the case here. I've never seen any other character that looks like Amuro Ray or Bright Noa in another anime. Also, I think it's just me, but somehow I find myself not noticing stock animation very often. They do exist, but somehow I notice them less often here than in recent anime works.
Sound: 9
Okay many people will disagree with me on this, but for me myself, the soundtracks are actually quite good. Gundam is one of the very few series that I watched without ever skipping the OP song, not to mention for a whole 43 episodes. Sure it's very old and sounds cheesy, but somehow it's pretty addictive for me. I can't get that "Moeagare x3 Gandamu!!" lyrics out of my head for a whole month after watching this. The soundtracks during the anime itself is also good. They build a good atmosphere for the scene, and some are also quite addictive.
Not only soundtracks, the SFX is also good. It's pretty classic that once you watch this, you will recognize the sound if it's played somewhere. I myself recognize many of the same SFX being used in Macross up to Macross 7.
Character: 8
Characters are quite good, though the very minor ones are not. Most characters have a good development throughout the stories, especially inside the White Base since they're just amateurs at the beginning. One thing noticeable is that each character has pretty solid ideals. Being on one side doesn't necessarily means they have the same ideals. This is why there's a lot of conflicts on board the White Base, and the reason for Char's actions throughout the series. Minus point is that the subject on romance pretty oddly carried, but romance really isn't the focus in Gundam.
Enjoyment: 9
I really enjoy this series, for reasons stated above. Especially the battles, although the animation is bad, but they're pretty interesting. Grunts actually put up some fight, unlike more recent works where numerous grunts got destroyed with 1 attack without putting up any fight. Also, as godly as the Gundam is, it still struggles in many battles, especially in the beginning when Amuro is still a rookie.
Miscellaneous things I took into considerations:
-IT"S MECHA! Yeah I'm a mecha maniac, which is why I love this series. This is also the the reason why some people disliked Gundam, since they hate mechas.
-Helps me to better understand the story in later series, like Zeta, ZZ, CCA, and Unicorn.
-No bishoujos/bishounens/overly moe characters. I really hate animes that only uses bishoujos/bishounens/overly moe characters as the selling point.
-Technologies in the series, although fictional, still seems plausible to some extent. It's still fictional, but much more realistic than many other mecha animes.
-After watching this I noticed a lot more parodies in animes/mangas. Yes Gundam is one of the most often parodied anime, like in Sgt Keroro, Hayate no Gotoku, Full Metal Panic, and even Ghost in the Shell.
Overall: 9
So yeah this is an old anime. My parents haven't even met each other when this anime is aired. Still, this is a pretty good anime, IMO even better than many of the recent animes. Though it's true that this anime is not for everyone, you should give it a try, unless you're a mecha hater, or if animation is very important to you, or if you seek romance. But if you're not, then by all means go ahead and give it a go. I am glad myself that I've watched this anime. One thing of advice, if you do watch this, you might want to look more info about this series in the internet, there are many interesting things that aren't covered in the anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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