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Jul 12, 2013
There's a few different types of anime. There's anime that's written to excite, and there's also animes that bring out laughter. And then, there's animes like Aria the Animation (and it's sequels) and Tamayura: Hitotose, where there is only one purpose behind it - to make the viewer smile, and to bring joy to their hearts. I suppose Tamayura, is an anime that you could call heartwarming, and there's no doubt that that's quite the fitting descriptor. Because it really, really is quite heartwarming indeed. Watching Tamayura, brought me so much joy and warmth that no shounen or seinen anime has ever brought me. I
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can’t even begin to describe the warmth that Tamayura poured into me through it’s telling of the stories of a group of friends.
That being said, because Tamayura really is, when you boil it down, a slice-of-life anime, it really isn’t for everybody. If you like your anime girls clad in armor wielding legendary swords and fighting epic assassins and overthrowing evil families, Tamayura is probably not for you. If you like animes where every single episode is a cliffhanger, and you’re absolutely dying to see what happens to the kid ninja next, this anime’s probably not for you. But, if you like to enjoy the stories of the lives of four high school girls, and like to enjoy an anime where you can relax and plaster all your worries away, then absolutely watch this anime.
Because realistically, that’s all Tamayura was meant for. It wasn’t meant to be a massive blockbuster in the anime world, it wasn’t meant to be an adaptation of some famous manga, no, not at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure (no, I’m absolutely sure) that Tamayura: Hitotose, was written for the sole purpose of helping people find good in life. It seems like the entire anime as a whole, constantly aims to show people the positive sides of life, and fill their hearts with warmth as they display possibly the most positive of emotions only to be bested by the final season of Aria.
In that sense, there really is no plot - there is no suspense, no rising action, no climax, no finale, there really is only daily life, a daily life that’s filled with the joy and happiness of four high school girls. In fact, the development of said girls, is probably the greatest achievement if Tamayura: Hitotose. The wonderfully told story of Fuu and her friends, as well as her photographic past, was not only heartwarming, but extremely motivating. Actually, I’m sure that's exactly what Junichi Sato aimed to create - an anime that fills people with joy, hope, and motivation, just like his previous creations, namely Aria the Animation and it’s sequels. Of course, having watched both, it was pretty easy to draw parallels in style. Both animes, have this incredibly peaceful feel that nothing else can replicate. It seems like I could just wash my worries away and immerse myself in the world of Fuu and her friends forever, and remove all the weight off my shoulders.
Unfortunately though, since I watched Aria, I can also see why Tamayura is not as good as Aria. The reason why I brought Aria up, even knowing that reviews should not include other animes, is because it proves my point very well. The place that's “lacking” per se, in Tamayura, is it’s setting. Obviously, a quiet town definitely fits Tamayura very well, but the problem with this is, is that it narrows the audience, as it makes the anime “less interesting” for a certain demographic. But, this goes both ways. Personally, I wouldn’t have changed a thing - while the setting may have been monotonous, and slightly boring, I found that not only did it fit the anime quite well, the way it was described painted a very peaceful and quiet atmosphere, something perfect for Tamayura. On the other hand, having such a normal setting means that the anime has to rely on it’s other aspects to make it interesting - and daily life like the one seen in Tamayura, isn’t always the best medium of choice when trying to create a great anime.
Of course, if I had to name one thing every decent anime needs, is great animation. And Tamayura has good animation. Although not as artsy and incredible as Aria, Tamayura has that modern, smooth, and flowing animation that also comes off as quite peaceful. Of course, like the setting, it’s also quite normal. Which personally, I liked.
The same goes for this series - I quite enjoyed it. It filled me with a soft, warm happiness that no other anime, save for Aria, gave me. To me, it was the anime that I would sit down and truthfully enjoy, no matter what happened to me that day, Tamayura would still have made me smile. And it did, quite often.
So, thank you, Junichi Sato, for putting a smile on my face. Thank you, for an anime that gave me a warm happiness that seems to be easily forgotten in this fast-paced, action-packed world.
I’ll definitely look forward to Tamayura: More Aggressive.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 2, 2013
There’s a certain kind of excellence that I always pursue to discover within an anime - one that doesn’t have categories for scores, but rather, lives by one rationale - the desire to achieve and execute a goal. If I can see such a desire within the production team of said anime, I don’t have to rely on 1-10 scores or categories to judge an anime - I’ll simply know that it will be good, because the people behind it, are passionate souls with a love for what they do.
Of course, I’m not here to rattle on about my definition about a “good anime” but
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rather, to tell you my opinions of one that does fit the above descriptor - Suisei no Gargantia.
So, naturally, I can’t simply give you my requirements for a good anime, and not apply them to Gargantia. The question is, obviously, did I see such passion within Gargantia? Absolutely. In fact, It’s been awhile (three months) since an airing anime caught my attention in the same manner that Gargantia did. As soon as I watched the first episode, Gargantia struck me with potential. And to an extent, that potential was pretty well met.
At the same time though, it’s kinda hard to just label Gargantia as an anime with a passionate production team, because if I did do that, this review would not only be very short, but very uninteresting. Gargantia, isn’t just an anime with a passionate team, its an anime with an excellent setting, an excellent story, an excellent cast, and excellent art and sound. In almost all aspects, Gargantia is an excellent anime. A very excellent anime indeed.
I can still recall that first episode - that amazing setting and plot, and that creative cliffhanger at the finale of the first episode of Gargantia. If there’s one thing that I’d pick out as my absolute favorite aspect of Gargantia, it would have to be it’s setting and story. The premise is interesting - the remnants of humanity years after the abandonment of earth by the majority of earth’s population. Although Gargantia takes a more relaxed pace in it’s first few episodes exploring Ledo’s daily life following his arrival to the now-water-filled Earth, Gargantia really picks up the pace halfway through it’s season. Now, although it’s refreshing to find an anime like this that isn’t entirely story driven, I’m kinda more partial to Gargantia leaning more towards the story side of the spectrum, and distancing itself from the daily life style that it took in it’s first few episodes. That being said, although only half of Gargantia was focused on it’s main story, those six episodes, were still very well realized. Not only was the climax of the story actually pretty suspenseful, it threw some fairly interesting plot twists along the way that made the storyline much more involving and interesting. Although I could see the argument that Gargantia's plot was somewhat underdeveloped being thrown, I’d have to somewhat disagree. The first half of Gargantia didn’t only prove to illustrate Ledo’s daily life upon Gargantia, it also set a few things in motion that eventually led to the perpetration of what I would refer to as the main story. And even though the latter half, the “main story” was somewhat packed, I still found the pacing of the entire anime quite good. Gargantia wasn’t rushed, nor was it too slow, and the progression of events was written out quite well.
This, was well voiced through Gargantia’s well-animated medium. One thing that instantly struck out to me about Gargantia, other than it’s story, was it’s style. The animation style of Gargantia is as per usual of most modern animes, quite good, with fairly fluid battle animations and excellent artwork. However, Gargantia takes it to a slightly higher level, and possesses a uniqueness to it’s animation style that isn’t present in many more recent animes. Not only is such a style unique, but it’s also fitting to Gargantia alone, and compliments the anime as a whole. In my own opinion, that is how “perfect” animation artwork should be done. It shouldn’t just be a sterile way to paint a story with some characters, it should be an entity on it’s own, with it’s own expressive abilities and it’s own message. Gargantia’s animation is a good example of that. The drawing style of Ledo, compared to the style of the rest of the earth inhabitants, is a very good example of this. In this case, it’s the stark difference between the sterile, white-haired, pale skinned Ledo, to the naturally darker, more colorful antics of the inhabitants of Gargantia that really paints a message all in itself. See, that, is animation that adds to the anime.
If there was one place that didn’t shine as bright as the other aspects of Gargantia, it would probably have to be the soundtrack. Although the opening and endings of Gargantia were good, and some could say, better than most, they weren’t anything really special and incredible. Yes, they were good, however, they weren’t as good in quality as the rest of the anime itself. Although the BGM escapes this, it doesn’t do so by much, as such quality is almost expected of an anime in this modern day and time.
To make up for it’s somewhat lackluster BGM and opening/ending, Gargantia actually has a pretty awesome cast. And it doesn’t end there - the development on said cast, is really quite good for a 13-episode anime. In addition, unlike the story, which was biased more towards the latter half of the anime, the character development is excellent all the way through, only stunted slightly by the fast-paced nature of the latter half. Of course, I really can’t talk about character development without mentioning the alien Ledo, as we can’t really forget about the fact that Ledo is essentially a stranger in a strange, strange land. Not only is he a stranger, he’s also a cut-out soldier with one unquestionable goal in mind, and possesses values that are very far from the values of those on this new, flooded earth. I think the development here, and the conflict, is quite obvious. It’s amazing how much development is made within Ledo’s character alone in just 13 episodes. Even more amazing, is probably the development of the surrounding characters - the members of Gargantia, and most interestingly, Ledo’s machine caliber, Chamber. To be honest, I’m actually partial on the “development” of Chamber as a character, as it was one of the more random aspects of Gargantia. It was pretty unexpected, and although I praise Gargantia for actually developing Chamber as a character, I know for a fact that I won’t be alone if I decide to go along the path of deciding that it was probably a bad idea. There’s another example of this, however, for the sake of not spoiling Gargantia for those who haven’t watched it, I won’t digress into that.
What I will digress into though, is my dissapointment with Gargantia. Hell, don’t read that wrong, I wasn’t disappointed with Gargantia whatsoever as an anime. It was awesome. I was disappointed that there was only 13 episodes. I know I’m not alone when I find myself wanting more, more of Ledo, more of Amy, more of Bellows and more of Pinion, and I know for a fact that I’m probably not (probably) alone when I cry myself to sleep at night digressing over what I’m going to do now that Gargantia’s over. Wait, pretend you didn’t read that last part. That’s personal. In all seriousness though, the one thing that Gargantia needs, is a second season. It has so much promise as a legendary anime, and so much more content and possibilities that it could so easily explore that a second season seems only logical in my opinion. Not only would it be awesome, it would also probably be pretty popular as an anime, and I for one, fully support the creation of a second season, for I know that I’ll see the same amount of passion in it as I did the first season. Because as it stands, the story of Gargantia has only begun. There’s so many more things that I want to know, not only about Ledo, or the history of the Gargantia fleet, but about the history of Earth within the world of Suisei no Gargantia, the fate of the Galactic Alliance and the war, and the development in communication with the Hideauze.
So please, passionate staff of Gargantia, please, use that creative genius to the greatest extent and bring us more of this incredible anime.
I’ll be waiting, Gargantia.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 29, 2013
To be honest, I still don’t really understand Oreimo. Even after the second season, there’s still things that I’m unsure of. At a glance, the title suggests a story between a sister and a brother, but the thing is, looking back at two seasons of Oreimo, I really don’t think that definition fits all too well.
Here’s the thing - yes, it is a story about a sister and her brother. But that’s not all - Oreimo isn’t just that. Oreimo doesn’t just explore the relationship between a brother and a sister, Oreimo divulges into everyday life, in this case I suppose, the everyday life of
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an otaku schoolgirl struggling through her slightly different lifestyle. It’s also the story of a very average brother trying to do his best to protect his beloved sister - in which their relationship, has long fallen apart. And again, that’s not all. It’s also the story of friends, friends joined by a common interest, friends joined together to enjoy life, and solve each other's problems. That, is Oreimo. Daily life. Of an otaku, or rather, several otakus and their non-otaku friends.
In that aspect, it’s not hard at all to call Oreimo simple. It really is, just the daily lives of a sister and her brother, and the people that surround them. There’s no intense magical girl fighting (at least, not *real* magical girl fighting), emotionally depressing family problems, no sword-wielding monster-slaying chicks that cross between worlds, no insane amount of unrealistic harem situations, no no, there’s none of that at all. Oreimo, is simple, yet enjoyable. Why? Because it speaks to it’s audience. I found myself divulged in Oreimo in the same way that Kirino was obsessed with Meruru. In the same way Kirino has her collection of Meruru figurines, I have my own personal collection of anime paraphernalia that I treasure and admire. Hell, even I want to go to Akihabara.
I suppose such a pretense leads to a few issues - like the fact that Oreimo slightly lacks focus. Although it’s undoubtedly true that Oreimo spends a lot of time focused on the brother-sister relationship between Kyousuke and Kirino, it also spends a lot of time exploring things that are slightly random. It’s like every once in awhile, Oreimo simply benches the brother-sister relationship backstory, and focuses on other aspects of it’s story. Of course, I’m not really complaining, because if it had not done that, it really would have been solely a story of a brother and a sister, and nothing more. And I for one, believe that such a story probably wouldn’t have been all too interesting. Because it’s not like this lack of direction really affects the anime at all - it’s not like we’re lacking character or story development, every single “arc” within Oreimo, does develop both the cast and the story. Everything somehow ties back to one main idea in the end, and there are no useless episodes.
In fact, if there was one thing about Oreimo that I really appreciated, was the cast. i don’t think I ever found myself in absolute hatred of a character after finishing the finale of Oreimo. In fact, I was pretty attached to the entire cast as a whole - they were fleshed out pretty well, and although in some places were underdeveloped, all in all, they were pretty well done. I suppose if I had to label a single problem to Oreimo, it would be that some of the characters, are slightly underdeveloped. If I were to label them, theres no doubt in my mind that I would have loved to see more of Kanako, the Akagi sister-brother pair, and a little more of Saori, although she was actually pretty well developed. I suppose to an extent, this lack of development is acceptable, since if Oreimo were to really develop all of these characters, the story really would have lost focus and became random to the point of being bad.
But, I’m not really complaining, because realistically, not only were the characters fleshed out pretty well, they were also drawn pretty well. The animation is pretty well done, although something like that is to be expected of an anime produced in 2013.
The other well-produced aspect of Oreimo, is more than likely the soundtrack. Like the animation, it’s to be expected that an anime produced in 2013 should have a good, acceptable soundtrack, and Oreimo is no exception, but to be honest, although it was well produced, there was nothing really special to it. The opening, on the other hand, is a great choice. It would have been bad for Oreimo to have broken the style of the opening theme from the original, first season of Oreimo. Although I do have to say that I’m not too sure about carrying over the concept of a different ending for EVERY episode from the first season of Oreimo was too good of an idea. I really think that it would have been better to just have another ClariS song as the ending. But then again, the ever-changing ending animation was pretty interesting, and I don’t doubt that a decent amount of work was put into it, because instead of pasting the same ending animation on every episode, Oreimo has a different ending animation, and song, for every episode, which I found mildly interesting.
Realistically though, between Oreimo 1 and Oreimo 2, I can strongly say that nothing has really changed. For me, Oreimo 2 is only better because it’s a continuation, and I get to see more of the Kirino that I’ve enjoyed for two seasons straight, and get to explore more of the relationships and stories of friends surrounding Kirino and her brother.
So, I suppose that Oreimo is one of those animes that never try to be overtly flashy. Oreimo didn’t try to provoke anything overtly powerful within it’s viewers. It merely set out to explore the lives of it’s cast, and in doing so, pleased it’s audience quite well. It’s the kind of anime that doesn’t need anything more other than more episodes to do the same thing it’s been doing for it’s entire life span. But the thing is, having said all that, Oreimo isn’t the kind of anime that you just bench once it’s done. Some would disagree with me, but I know for myself at the very least, Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai is the kind of anime that I probably wont forget, and given the choice to stick Kirino on my back windshield, or any other anime character, I’d probably pick Kirino.
She’s just that cute.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 23, 2013
In our modern world, society is essentially the dictator of all law and judgement. A justice system, in reality, is merely a representation of what we as a society believe is "right" or "wrong". People who step outside this box, are often penalized - at the most extreme point, we refer to these people as criminals.
Obviously, the justice system today, has it's flaws. It's not uncommon to see innocent men and women being framed for crimes they commit - our judgment is not perfect.
But what if we could determine instantly, the criminals of the future, predetermining criminals before they commit their crime? Would such a
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system be deemed as "perfect"?
Such a question is something that I absolutely love when posed by an anime - a question or idea that challenges the foundations of our society itself, and challenges it's viewers to ponder upon the question it beholds before them.
Psycho-Pass, essentially bestows such a question upon it's viewers - it poses them with an impossible society - one that possesses instant judgement of criminals prior to their crime, and then explores that system's flaws, asking the viewer to think for themselves what is best. The system itself, is referred to as the Sibyl System, a judgement system capable of placing a number on an individual's criminality, or as the anime calls it, their "crime coefficient". People are then punished not based on their crime, or their motifs, but rather, on their crime coefficient. Such a system is quite efficient - "judgment" comes in the form of a gun aptly named the "Dominator", and based on their coefficient, an individual can be instantly eliminated, or alternatively, paralyzed and dealt with later. This, is the center of Psycho-Pass's setting - a futuristic, dystopian cyberpunk Japan, where everything, including job aptitude, is determined through the Sibyl System.
This, is the setting for the anime - a dystopian Japan in which criminals are instantly judged and prosecuted, and from this, comes the amazing storyline that I found myself so indulged in. I absolutely love the idea of a non-white and black storyline - it makes for such a more interesting story, and allows for viewers to be varied in their position regarding the storyline. At an extreme extent, Psycho-Pass really doesn't have protagonists, nor does it really have antagonists, at least in the general sense. Rather, it has what I'd call "perspectives", different views upon a centralized topic, with both sides possessing conflicting views. Like I said, this is really what makes the story shine - a story that is in fact, not black and white.
Personally, however, what made the storyline so stunning for me was it's implementation of sociology. Like I said, it doesn't just place a black and white situation and portray it through multiple battle scenes, or random storyline elements that don't really make sense, it really asks the viewer a question, one that they can not only apply to the series itself, but to their own lives, and our own so treasured society. Like Serial Experiments Lain, it really challenges our beliefs in our society, and for me, strengthens my ideas of the flaws in our current general justice system. Ironically enough, Psycho-Pass's implementation is done mostly by what could be seen as the antagonist, further adding to my point that Psycho-Pass is not white and black at all. A lot of Psycho-Pass's references to sociology also recognize various authors who have written about society - George Orwell and his 1984, a novel which contained a society with many parallels with the society represented in Psycho-Pass, is referenced a few times, as are the works of Marcel Proust, Phillip K Dick (I'm sure the entire series was based on his short story The Minority Report, actually), and Jonathan Swift and his Gulliver's Travels. This, like Serial Experiments Lain, is a series in which it is possible to write an academic paper on. Psycho-Pass itself is almost like an academic paper, it poses a question, a thesis, and arguments to support it.
Of course, a storyline is nothing without it's characters, and this is another place where Psycho-Pass does relatively well. At first, it seemed like Akane wasn't quite fit to be a protagonist of the story, but I know that for myself, I was very satisfied with the role that she played and the development that went into her character. She was very well realized. Actually, come to think of it, every single character was very well realized, there wasn't a useless half-assed character in sight. Naturally, Psycho-Pass does have characters that play a minor role, but come on, which anime doesn't? Obviously, the minor characters are not really the ones I'm trying to praise here, it's the main roles that really shine in Psycho-Pass. There is a cohesiveness in the relationships between characters in Psycho-Pass that simply gives value and meaning to every single character - the storyline benefits from this, as the majority of characters not only add depth to the storyline, but also meaning, and gives the viewers something to attach and relate themselves to. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Psycho-Pass makes really good use of it's cast, and proves to be able to utilize them to develop it's already-excellent plot. One thing that struck out to me was that it wasn't only the protagonists that I agonized over. I agonized over every single character, they were all so well played out that I didn't find myself disliking any of the characters.
As with any anime, Psycho-Pass suffers from at least some form of minimal flaw, and in this case, it's the animation. It was good, yes, but this is one area where Psycho-Pass could be much better. I know that to some people, this would seem really picky of me to dissect and criticize Psycho-Pass to such an extent, however, I'm sure that I'm not alone. What I'm speaking of here is quite literally the animation. There were some instances where the animation was slightly choppy, and not quite as fluid as I would have liked. Granted, such a flaw is definitely acceptable, because right now, we've only got the aired TV release, I'm sure the animation will improve greatly once the Blu-Ray release comes out. Even if a BD release doesn't come out, the occasionally choppy and slightly derpy animation doesn't really deduct from the anime at all. The characters are still pretty well drawn, and stylistically, the animation gives a nice feel to the anime that really matches both it's setting and plot.
One thing that I truly found enjoyable for myself, was the opening and ending themes. Not only were the songs chosen very fitting stylistically, they were also very fitting in meaning. If you read the lyrics to the first opening, I'm sure you'll see some parallels between the meaning of the song, and the anime itself. Personally, if I were to dissect any aspect of Psycho-Pass's choice of music, it would have to be the final ending. I know I found myself enjoying the final ending theme, however, I also know that it's a fact that the song is definitely a "love it or hate it" kind of thing. Some would argue that it's not very fitting for the anime, and I'd agree with them, stylistically, it doesn't really fit. It's not like it's a bad song, it just doesn't fit like the rest of the OST does. On the other hand, it's a pretty good song, and even if it doesn't fit, I don't think I ever found myself skipping the ending theme.
The actual sound, as in background noises, I suppose, was also pretty good. All the background sounds felt in place, and had a sense of realism to it. Never once during the anime did I find myself noticing either a serious lacking in the background sound's realism and presence. It seemed to be pretty well thought out. The BGM at some points also proved to be very fitting to the scene itself - a lot of the more epic scenes are augmented by their respective BGM's. It gives a bigger feel of suspense.
I know for a fact that this anime was well-received. I also know that sometimes, animes that bask in the light of critical acclaim, aren't really deserving of such acclaim. Psycho-Pass, is not one of these animes. I for one, truly believe that Psycho-Pass has earned it's right to it's critical acclaim - it really was a great anime. And I'm sure I'm not alone in believing so.
~ Note ~
If you, the reader, ever find anything in my review that you would like to revoke, or anything that you either just don't agree with, or maybe just have another opinion on something I said, please, by all means, drop me a comment or a message, criticism is definitely welcome, and if you just want to have a chat, by all means, that's very welcome too. If you're going to deem this review "Not helpful", it would be really helpful, for me, if you told me why, so that I may be more helpful the next time around. Otherwise you're basically thumbing down my review just 'cause.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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May 11, 2013
I've made another review. The original one (the one I wrote at six episodes out of ten) is below.
~ Completed Review ~
Photo Kano was definitely a disappointment. The first few episodes led me on, it suggested potential that was definitely never realized. And that, makes me sad. It makes me sad because Photo Kano was something that I had actually looked forward to watching - that implementation of photography, actually really interested me. The art and character design, were actually appealing. The opening, wasn’t amazing, but it was better than average. It was potential. From the very first episode, I felt some, if any potential.
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Aand, it’s gone.
Originally, I was going to blame the series’ lost potential on what I thought was a stupid idea. Doing one character arc per episode, omnibus style, is just a horrible idea. Everything gets so packed together and compressed that it’s just a massive outflow of information and emotions, and nothing is really developed, information is just being thrown at you. Ironically, this came to mind not after I had finished Photo Kano, but halfway in, at the sixth episode. Seems like my prediction was right. It was a bad idea. This series, is a great example of an anime that had too little time to voice it’s story, and I know for a fact that had Photo Kano been given more time, it wouldn't have turned out as bad as it did. But with nine heroines, what can they really do? Two episodes per heroine, like what we say with Amagami SS+, would be alright, but that would make the anime 18 episodes long. And that would have been great, if they had 18 episodes to work with. But they didn't. And that’s a shame.
Because the story was a good concept. I know that’s ample praise for a story that spawned from a dating sim, but it had decent potential as a story - it was just poorly executed because of a lack of time. Granted, it’s not an awesome story, but it wasn’t terrible. The photography element is really what made the anime interesting for me. It’s mildly rare to find photography posing itself as a major plot point in any anime, so Photo Kano caught my eye. What’s unfortunate about this though, is that the element of photography, is rarely seen properly expressed in the anime. It’s like it’s an excuse for the anime to show lewd scenes of Kazuya’s lady friends. It’s really only there to connect the hero to his heroines, in some form or another. But then again, I suppose this is exactly what Photo Kano wanted to do, and in this, it serves it’s purpose well. As a guy with a soft spot for cameras and photography, I was kinda disappointed in the fact that photography isn't really a main element in this anime, it just kinda opened up the stage for the love stories between the hero and the heroines. The thing is though, it’s not like the arcs were even that good - they were just average, like the rest of the anime. The love stories were at best, rushed and executed poorly. And although it’s mildly bad to stuff a character’s arc in a single episode, it’s even worse to introduce said character in their debut episode, finish their arc, and never show them again. And it’s not like these were short-but-sweet stories either, they were basically supercompressed versions of what they should have been, a very summative conclusion of a story that should have really lasted two to four episodes. What makes it worse, is that even if these arcs did last two to four episodes, they would be alright at best.
And that, is pretty unfortunate, because the way that these said heroines were drawn, is actually quite good - they’re all really cute (sorry) and adorable (again, sorry), and I really feel like I want to set them as my wallpaper. They’re all well realized. But then again, this is 2013, and it’s not uncommon to see an anime that has been drawn quite well. The BGM and theme songs were alright too, and like the animation, were pretty average for today’s time. The opening didn’t really strike me as being excellent, but it’s not terrible. The ending, is pretty generic, but I suppose that’s alright. It’s hard to judge an anime on it’s music, as if you screw that up, you’ve failed hardcore. The same goes for the BGM, it’s alright, but nothing more.
If there was one thing that was generic, it has to be the cast. Lets face it, every single friggin anime has a childhood friend heroine, and Photo Kano isn’t any exception. Let’s do a quick checklist. Cute imouto? Check. Tsundere? Check. Quiet girl who rarely smiles? Check. Childhood friend? Check. Athletic, over the top, enthusiastic sports chick? Check. Shy girl with massive tits? Check. There you have it, the most generic friggin cast of heroines I have ever seen, at least at face-level. They’re not too bad once they’re developed. Oh yeah, totally forgot, I can't remember anything about them because Photo Kano merely threw facts at my face for nine episodes. But what I find definitively weird, is the fact that despite having a really generic cast, I still enjoyed them. I still liked the execution of their respective stories.
In conclusion, it’s pretty easy to quickly summate Photo Kano. It’s a poorly executed slightly-above-average story. That’s all it is. And had it been given say, a nice 25 episodes, it would still be slightly above average at best. And what’s unfortunate is that it didn’t get 25 episodes. It got 13. What emphasizes it’s poor quality, is the fact that it had a decent start. It led me on, brought my hopes up, and crashed them down. But what I still can’t understand, is why I enjoyed it too much.
Maybe I’m just a pervert.
...
...
Naaaah.
~ Original Review ~
I feel like I'm enjoying this show way too much for what it is.
Because really, the plot is pretty average, the humor isn't really funny at all, and the development of the characters is just straight-up not there. It's pretty average. So, I guess you could assume that the rest of the anime is pretty bad too - which is where you'd probably be wrong. For some reason, it's really quite well animated, everyone is drawn really cute, and everything flows pretty nicely. Not only are the characters drawn really well, it's not the stereotypical fanservicey type of art where you basically have a face and various styles and colors of hair, the characters are genuinely drawn pretty well. The soundtrack's alright as well, it's not bad, but in some places, I've found myself surprised at how decent it was.
But, I suppose, I should have seen this coming. This is an anime adaptation of a dating sim, and really, the only reason why you would be playing a dating sim, is to stare at really well drawn cute girls that you would probably never get a shot at anyways. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that Photo Kano is full of moments where I felt like I was literally playing a dating sim. But if there's one thing that I am surprised about, is how much I found myself enjoying those moments.
I'm not really sure what I enjoy Photo Kano, really. Maybe it's the fact that I can see so much of myself in the main character. Then again, that's probably a selling point - the dude is practically an everyday normal guy, anybody could paint themselves onto him. That being said, I suppose you could call this a fault, because like Photo Kano itself, the guy really just doesn't seem to have anything interesting about him. That's probably why the most interesting thing about him, is actually that he gets to take lewd pics of all his cute high-school classmates.
I suppose I should be called a pervert then, because I've enjoyed all I've complained about in the above.
But really, what else is there to enjoy? Because let's all admit that any plotline adapted from a dating sim is probably going to be bad. It's a shame too that it's not all to great, because the idea of using photography as a central theme is something that hasn't been tried very often, and when pulled off right, could probably make a decent storyline. It's too bad they didn't seem to even try, because the photography element is what really makes this anime what it is, or rather, what it could be. If Photo Kano was actually well produced in terms of a story, it would probably be known for highlighting photography in it's storyline.
Of course though, we're only halfway through, so it could get better. Hopefully the storyline takes a departure from its current generalisms that Photo Kano has attempted to build it's storyline on thus far, and makes use of the unique nature of it's central theme.
But unfortunately, with the direction it's taking, it seems like Photo Kano is going to take the approach of telling the story of every single girl in the anime one by one - and what's bad, is that we're 6 episodes in, and we've only done cute Niimi-san, and to an extent, the student council president. That basically means the show is either going to skip half the cast, or do one girl per episode - which is going to be terrible. However, it does mean that we'll probably get to the main character's little sister soon - which I'm sure will please some viewers. She cant be that cute, right?
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 30, 2012
There is no easy way to categorize Serial Experiments Lain.
In fact, the fact that Lain cannot be generalized, is the only way to generalize it.
Serial Experiments Lain, is a manifestation of the idea that the line between the Wired, a communications network (that is the best fitting description), and the real world, is blurring. It's an incredible anime that takes a shot at an idea that is far beyond it's time - remember, this anime was created in the nineties. In today's context, in our current century, it tries to tell us that the line between the Internet, and the real world, is blurring. And
...
does it ever tell us. The simple ambiguity of the storyline - the countless ways you could interpret it - combined with the powerful imagery and epic character development, creates an anime far ahead of other anime's of its time intellectually. Serial Experiments Lain, is nothing short of a masterpiece, a work of art, a contemporary thesis paper. And that statement, is not only a metaphor - various institutions have accepted and created contemporary studies on Serial Experiments Lain.
Lain's skill in portraying idea, is what led me to absolutely love this anime.
However, it isn't for everyone. Put frankly, its intellectuality may be too much for some people - at times, Serial Experiments Lain can be downright confusing, and there is no doubt that it deserves more than just thirteen episodes to portray its powerful message. At times, characters feel somewhat underdeveloped due to the shortness of the anime, and frankly, it deserves more time. Basically, Lain is only for those who can manage it, who can comprehend its full meaning. Otherwise, it'll just be confusing.
Regardless, Serial Experiments Lain is an information-rich dive into a developing idea of our current time. Although it is older, its relevance to current times, is undoubted. If you can handle it, it is a must watch for any science fiction/cyberpunk fan.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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