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Dec 14, 2014
Urusei Yatsura (Those obnoxious aliens) was an extremely popular manga and anime series that ran in Japan in the early 80s. Lately, people have been forgetting about these wonderful classics, and so I figured I'd write a review on one that I really enjoyed watching years and years ago, Urusei Yatsura. Urusei Yatsura is Rumiko Takahashi's first work to receive an anime adaptation (ahead of other classics such as Maison Ikkoku, Ranma and Inuyasha). Needless to say, Urusei Yatsura is a true classic that opened the way for future rom-com anime, and all the meanwhile is a wonderful-highly enjoyable story.
The basic outline of the story
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will seem really stupid, childish, cheesy, boring and "unorignal" at first. But if you take into account that this story was written over 30 years ago, then you'll realize that it was the birthmark of similar stories. And if you compare the anime solely to modern-day shows, then perhaps it won't be one of the best shows you've come across, but Urusei Yatsura set the stone down for these new shows that you enjoy to be created.
Urusei Yatsura is the comedic story of the tumultuous relationship between the Beautiful tigerskin-bikini-clad alien princess, Lum, and the Earth's most lecherous boy, Ataru Moroboshi. Ataru is a pervert whose constantly trying to chase other girls around and Lum has to continuously bring him back into line with her raging jealous temper and tremendous jolts of electricity. But the story goes far beyond that. Urusei Yatsura covers nearly all genres, from romance to science fiction to comedy to parody to Japanese mythology to psychological. Urusei Yatsura incorporates it all into a wonderful, enjoyable story. The outline of the story is basically: The alien race is about to take over Earth, but in order to save the human race, a deal was made between the aliens and the humans. In a race, if a human [Ataru] can touch the Alien representative's horn in a race, then Earth will be saved. At first Ataru doesn't want to do the deal, and would rather have the human race extinct than actually do something he doesn't want to do... But that all changes when he sees that the Alien representative is a beautiful girl - Lum. With the idea of actually being encouraged to grab and grope the beautiful alien to reach her horns, Ataru eagerly does the race and succeeds - thanks to Shinabu, Ataru's one true love who promise to marry Ataru if he succeeded. Upon touching Lum's horns, Ataru yells in glory "I can get married", which causes Lum to misunderstand - thinking Ataru wants to marry her, and so the entire 175 episodes of the story begins.
If you're looking to watch a series that intertwines many side events into one large main event, and the story is connected, then this isn't exactly the place to look. The episodes are episodic, and it jumps around all over the place. The story is honestly really random, and at times makes absolutely no sense. But so what? It was always enjoyable and hilarious to watch Ataru try to run away from Lum, Lum chase him down and a whole load of bizarre events unfold. I've seen people compare this show to the Simpsons in terms of how weird and unorderly the story is, but I'd say they have nearly nothing alike. 175 episodes of 1980s comedy-romance, how lovely right?
The show can be characterized as character-driven, because there is no real plot. There is only characters that create a story each episode because of their love/hatred/annoyance/misunderstanding of each other. The characters are the epitome of your average stereotypical characters. Ataru being the super annoying pervert that he is. Lum being that jealous girl who doesn't want any other girl to be near the guy she loves. And blah blah blah, a whole buttload of other side characters who take their part in the large scheme of things, and then suddenly leave/disappear at some random time because the writers can do that kind of stuff. Throughout the long course of 175 episodes, Ataru and Lum's characters develop a lot-lot, and the audience starts to adjust to their characters, and instead of having a feeling of annoyance towards the characters, the audience develops a sense of bond-love-friendship-understanding with the characters which keeps the entire story not only funny, but captivating and memorable. Sure, Ataru is a pervert who is running away from a innocent, beautiful girl who purely/solely loves him. At first the audience wants him to love Lum back because Lum is so beautiful and innocent, but from Ataru's perverted point of view, why should he love someone if he doesn't actually love her? And Lum... Oh Lum, why must you always shock the poor boy just because he doesn't love you back? It's all just a misunderstanding. Stop stalking Ataru. But over the longass time of 175 episodes, all those thoughts suddenly change-evolve into something like: I love you all. All characters in Urusei Yatsura are annoying at times (like really annoying), but that helps develop their characters into characters that the audience can relate with and like - learn from their annoyance/mistakes. 175 is a lot of episodes. Yes, there are some filler-episodes that help define a character, and yes they can be quite boring at times, but that's the 1980's - long-running series for you. If the load of episodes, turns you off from the show, then poor you, that's your loss. Urusei Yatsura has a quite cast of characters throughout the 175 episodes that you should definitely watch.
The sound and art of the show was composed/drawn in the 1980s, so it's unfair to compare it to romance-comedy-supernatural stories of today. But compare to other shows of it's time, Urusei Yatsura's art is spectacular, and the music isn't great, but isn't bad either. The music of Urusei Yatsura is more of the cute-innocent girly girl yet has a supernatural-alien pinch of sauce style. Especially the opening which is basically a high-pitched girl's voice squeaking, but it's not like an annoying squeaking sound, but more of a cute love sound. There aren't many times in the show (despite being 175 episodes) where music, soundtrack is being played during the show. The character's voicings were wondrous, I loved them, and normally I'm not a big fan of character's voices in romance stories. The character's designs were drawn up by the great, Akemi Takada who also drew the character's for the great Maison Ikkoku. It's no surprise that Lum is considered one of the most beautiful, and greatly drawn characters in anime history. Lum is in her own way unique and beautiful, and she is like a mother-figure to modern-day beautiful super-natural females. The overall art (cities, animals/aliens, characters) is really old-fashioned (reminder: 1980s) but it really added to the livliness of the entire story.
All in all, Urusei Yatsura isn't perfect, and it most definitely isn't the greatest classic out there. But Urusei Yatsura is a trailblazer in anime history, and it remains as a mother-figure show for modern-day romance-comedies, and for those of you that have a lot of time on your hands and want to check out a true classic rom-com anime, then Urusei Yatsura is definitely the one to check out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 2, 2014
This is simply the single most touching and greatest piece of writing I have read in my entire life, and yes I am biased because I am a Korean. But you don't have to be a Korean to appreciate how great this manhwa is. This is a fictional story based off real events during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea.
I already wrote the synopsis on the page, so I don't find it necessary for me to write it in my review. My thoughts on the manhwa is very simple: "Greatest of All Time". This manhwa literally has everything great + realism. The Korean Drama
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is even better than the manhwa (surprisingly instead of cutting out some scenes from the manhwa and having bad-pacing, the drama actually elaborates the plot and adds in even more exciting side-stories that intertwine into a grand wholesome story; Masterful Pacing). Read + Watch --> Gaksital
The art in the manhwa is unfortunately not the greatest, but that's probably because it was written in 1974. This isn't saying that it's bad, because the art does give it a sense of realism which is wondrous.
I recommend you watch the Korean Drama adaptation of this manhwa because it is the greatest show I have ever seen. I've re-watched the show more than 10 times. Yep. It gets a ∞/10 every time. I made this review super short on purpose; Stop reading this stupid review now and go read the manhwa. If reading old things aren't your favorite thing to do, then watch the amazing Korean Drama: Gaksital aka Bridal Mask. It is my favorite show in the entire world~ Exciting, Compelling, Captivating, Romantic, Touching, Powerful, Thought Provoking, Tragic, Brilliant, and Legendary.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 30, 2014
The end of Neon Genesis Evangelion was perplexing to say the least. Many people including me were left scratching their heads, confused and unsatisfied with how the series ended. Primarily because nothing was explained, and there was no climax to the story, it just ended with main character, Shinji Ikari facing his own psychological fears after basically everyone around him dies. Quite the metaphysical approach, but it wasn't a good ending because everything the entire series built up never went anywhere, it was just left somewhere... There was no actual ending to Neon Genesis Evangelion. Like what happened to Adam-Lillith-Angels? The plan that Gendo Ikari
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created (instrumentality), will it actually be the savior mankind or will it be the bane of our existence? What exactly is instrumentality? SEELE Vs Nerv, how will it play out? Obviously Anno Hideaki got lots of complaints and even threats, and his response to it all was the Mind-fucking ending to Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. That is the true ending, and a somewhat satisfying one to the Evangelion series. After watching the End of Evangelion for the 5th time, I think I have a pretty good understanding of it, but that's not to say I understand everything that happened because that's literally impossible. A lot of things were left ambiguous so that the audience could decide for themselves how it all truly ended.
The End of Evangelion is starts after the final Angel defeated, and now NERV is ready to initiate the Human Instrumentality Project which is supposed unite all of humanity with Lilith and bring about the Third Impact. Meanwhile, the SEELE organization is planning a full onslaught of NERV, planning to exterminate anyone related to the Eva project. Meanwhile, Gendo Ikari, the creator of NERV and father of Shinji Ikari has a whole different plan in his mind, and he's already begun. As SEELE invades NERV headquarters, Rei and Gendo are already gone. Shinji, our protagonist is in catatonic state. Asuka is in a state of unconsciousness in the hospital. All the meanwhile, the Third Impact finally takes place, bringing the world to a brutal and crushing end and consuming all of humanity in an orgy of corporeal dissolution and horrific death. And yes, the fate of all humanity-the world rests in the hands of Shinji Ikari is suffering from (the most powerful word that means "the highest amount you can get") psychological depression. Shinji is just so fucked up, in so many ways that it's so depressing and crazy. So how does it all work out in the very end? That is the story of End of Evangelion.
As you'd know if you've seen the Evangelion series, "Evangelion" is not about giant robots fighting other giant robots (Angels) or teenagers complex romance story. Oh nonono. "Evangelion" is really a parable about the most disturbing aspect of human existence: the pain of isolation and psychological depression. One of the greatest things about the movie though is it's pacing. The movie itself is only 1 Hour and 30 Minutes, yet so many things happen (of course, because of this, not everything is concretely explained but people like me who like to think for ourselves and create an alternate ending that fits our beliefs, enjoy that). The first half of the movie seems like fighting and killing, but behind all the action is what I believe Anno intended: Reduce Shinji to rock bottom; the highest point of psychological trauma and self-depression as a human being can possibly have before becoming crazy - which Shinji honestly is. But not only Shinji, but Asuka too. Once Asuka goes back out to the battlefield, she just becomes completely insane. Asuka is pushed to the lowest of pits by the end of the movie that it's depressing. She's a scared teenager who puts on a tough girl act. A mere child whose been abandoned by her mother, and believes that going out in the world means going out alone and dying alone. There is a narrative explanation during Asuka's battle with SEELE's created Angels that claims that the Evas have embodied with souls of humans, the pilots’ mothers. Of course, this doesn't make sense at all... But this is Neon Genesis Evangelion is it not? Anyways, because of this, Asuka's psychological mentality completely takes a turn once more, but there's another twist after she learns that and fights. Her battle is definitely the most exciting battle in the entire Evangelion series, but what happens at the end is pure disgusting and disturbing to watch. By the end of the first half of the movie, probably about 90% of the characters are dead. Then in the second half of the movie, "Third Impact' initiates and Shinji's time to pick between Instrumentality and Reality finally comes upon us. The entire thing takes place in Shinji's psychological mind. And, this is something that you the audience must experience for yourself before I spoil anything at all but this basically explains for the most part Shinji's deep psychological mind, each character's true feelings, what instrumentality truly is, and the final decision that Shinji makes. Through "deep" sayings by Rei and Kaworu - Adam and Lillith, Shinji will come to his senses and makes him understand his existence and the value he gives to everybody around him. The end is shocking and confusing to say the least, and I enjoyed this movie to the max, because this movie wasn't afraid to ask/give thoughts on philosophical questions such as the end of the world; humanity, meaning of life, psychological depression, human suffering, and so much more. The movie actually had me confused and thinking deeply. That is what made this movie so great (because... The movie itself had a ton of plot-holes and unanswered questions, but it's fun to use what the movie hints at and create your own story/ending, right?). Whether it's a masterpiece or not is solely on how you the audience interpret all the themes in the movie, but personally I do believe this movie is a masterpiece, not only within the anime community but for all stories.
Needless to say, the art and the sounds were magnificent. The design of the mecha/Angels are different than what you'd expect - unique. The use of christian symbolism seemed random at times considering Christianity wasn't/isn't a big thing in Japan, but it made the entire series "seem" more symbolic. With that said, the use of actual symbolism and pure art was genius although I still don't understand why there was a live footage scene of people at a movie theater during the movie... The music in the anime were great. Simply amazing. The voice cast was great as well. Hideaki Anno was very strict with his voice cast, and hence lots and lots of recordings were taken before actually being finalized. The sub and the dub are both great. Each character's voice fits accordingly to the characters; especially Shinji and Rei~ Loved it.
I truly believe that End of Evangelion is just Hideaki Anno's way of sticking up his middle finger and saying "Fuck You" to the entire world.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 30, 2014
Pokemon gets a 10/10 for being my (and most people's) entire childhood. It was without a doubt my favorite show/game for a couple of years~
But seriously, what anime franchise (everything like games included) is as successful as Pokemon? Flashback 10 years, you'll remember that whether you were in high school, middle school, or elementary school, everybody had a gameboy to play Pokemon games - Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow to Pokemon Silver and Gold, to Pokemon Fire-red and Leaf-green to Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire to whatever came after that up all the way to today. And they're still making new Pokemon Games and being top-sellers.
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Pokemon united kids together, because everybody wanted to trade with each other or battle each other; Pokemon had a positive effect on society itself. The original TV show itself was a mega-hit. I remember as a child having to watch it every time a new episode came out, I would have to watch it, there was no such thing as skipping new Pokemon episodes because I had to see what would happen next. Would Ash catch that Caterpie or Weedle?! What about that Pidgeotto?! WOAH is that an Onix?! Ash and Misty sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G? Will Ash ever evolve his Pikachu?! All he needs to find is a thunderstone! The show always had me drawn in, 100% attention into the Pokemon world. I was so into it that I remember my goal in life was becoming a Pokemon Master, and more than half the time I day-dreamed, I dreamed about being a Pokemon World and being the best trainer in the world with a team of Lugia, Ho-ho, Mew, Jirachi, Blissey and my favorite Pokemon ever - Squirtle! And this was all just from the show, if we include the Gameboy games of Pokemon, I was addicted. I played Pokemon every day for a couple hours, no exception. If my parents wouldn't let me I remember crying and annoying them until they finally let me play. Ah, that was the life.
The story should be obvious to everyone so... I'm not even gonna bother explaining even the basis of it, because if you don't know what Pokemon is about then I feel very bad for you. Where was your childhood? And if you're a child right now, you should probably interact with current popularity news and your other friends, because Pokemon was the hot stuff in my childhood days, and it's still one of the hot stuff in today's days. You know those awesome looking animated animal-like creatures from games? yeah those are from Pokemon (or ... YuGiOh, Digimon, and other stuff) but the cool ones are Pokemon.
The art is magnificant! Come on, who thought of all these designs for Pokemon; the classic ones that is. I've seen some newer Pokemons and they were pathetic. There was like an Ice-Cream Pokemon... Everyone know that Stunfisk Pokemon? That thing is just.. oh my goodness, the creativity in Pokemon and originality is unfortunately all gone. Well, that's not including Diamond and Pearl because although I never watched that show, there were some pretty neat loking legendaries such as Darkrai, Dialga and Palkia - I like their designs. Shaman is adorable as well. But the classic original Pokemon is better; it has the greatest designed Pokemon (creatures in general) ever. Remember Charmander - Bulbasaur - Squirtle? You have to admit those were some adorable Pokemon that evolved into some of the coolest animated "monsters" ever; Charzard - Venasaur - Blastoise. The legendary birds? Zaptos, Moltres, Articuno? And Ho-Oh & Lugia? They were some epic looking dragon-like birds. The designs of the "map", the "world" of Pokemon was somewhat similar to our reality, although not really. But nonetheless, I loved the forests, the waters, the caves, the mountains, the buildings, the streets, the haunted mansions, the skies, space - everything! I always imagined myself being in that beautiful Pokemon world... Imagine the sorrow that washed over me when I grew up to realize that going into the Pokemon world and actually physically having a Pokemon was impossible (unless you train you like train a cat to talk human language, walk like a human and scratch at command because then you'd have Meowth). The characters in Pokemon are all uniquely animated, and I believe the characters are perfect for kid's liking. But seriously how many Nurse Joys are there...? Well who cares about that, the more important matter is, why has Ash not aged a single year or matured a bit even though like 20 years went by since he started his Pokemon journey. Whatever, I firmly believe that Pokemon still is the best animated animation ever, purely because of it's entire cast of beautifully designed Pokemon.
Sound? The pesky annoying voice of Ash is just so annoying to listen to and it always rings in my head. But that's what made him so memorable and special to me. Pokemon truly was the highlight of my entire childhood, and in all honesty, it all started with the opening song; "Gotta Catch'em All". The lyrics to that song inspired me to become a Pokemon master. I'm gonna say something that some of you will understand, and haters will hate. But my favorite song ever is still the Pokemon opening song, "Gotta Catch'em All". I loved it to the point where today, I might tear up from time to time listening to the song, reminiscing about basically my entire childhood. The voicing of each character was memorable and all, I think... But a true memorable aspect of Pokemon besides my favorite song ever, the opening, is the voicing-or sound or whatever of each Pokemon. Pika-Pika = Kawaii. Each Pokemon had such a unique, and distinct sound from a different Pokemon (there are like what 1000 Pokemon?), that's an impressive feat.
The characters, ah yes the characters. Every single one is quite memorable. Ash Ketchum, my idol, my hero, my childhood dream character. Misty, Brock and all those other people like Professor Oak, and Gary. And most importantly out of all of them, Team Rocket - Jesse & James. How could I ever forget any of them, I will always have a place for them in my heart-childhood memories. All the Pokemons, I guarantee I could name more than 90% of the Pokemons before Diamond and Pearl despite not having played or watched Pokemon in a couple of years (planning to watch some again though, to relive my past).
Although sometimes it's good to grow up and act maturely, sometimes it's also good to re-live your childhood and remember the good times you had in your life as a child and reminisce them. The past may not be as important as your present, but it's what makes up your present, and what will make up your future. If you're an adult, you'll understand what I mean. If you're a teen, then enjoy your youth while you can, and if you're a child then go watch Pokemon, but also do it in an appropriate manner - Parent's permission. But remember kids, it's also healthy to play it without your parent's permission and rebel. Deceiving and arguing. Playing and watching Pokemon. What beautiful experiences they are~ Looking back on my childhood, Pokemon truly was something special. It's a part of my (& others, I'm sure) life forever~
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 30, 2014
School Rumble is one of the most wackiest but enjoyable and funniest anime I've ever seen. A pure school comedy-romance anime that had me smiling the entire time with it's hilarious jokes and animations of unrealistic character acts/facial expressions. If you want to just watch an anime that's not anything you have to pay attention to, but just sit back, and get a good laugh out of, then School Rumble is the perfect anime for you. No real plot. Just an episodic series that does build up the character's relationships throughout, but the show is purely comedy. What makes it better is that it doesn't
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use "ecchi" in order to create the comedy.
Story: School Rumble does not have any real plot, it just skips around the completely unrealistic comedy life of highschool kids and... a tough delinquent? The tough badass delinquent, Harima Kenji is madly in love with Tsukamoto Tenma, a clueless and innocent girl who looks and acts like a complete idiot. And.. then there's the whole load of side characters who are all mixed in like a love octagon? Or maybe even bigger relationship. Basically, the guys in the story are all somewhat perverts who are all in love with a specific girl, and they try to impress/win the hearts of the girls by doing the funniest things I've seen in a show. Ah yes, this show is the definition of anime rom-com because it's hilariously unrealistic. How I wish my school days were something alone the lines of what happens in this show... Nonetheless it was a great enjoyable watch.
Art: Normally, I don't know how to grade the art in a rom-com show much, but in School Rumble's case, I'm giving it a 10/10 because of how they drew facial expressions and actions of each character. The portrayal of each character was hilarious, I might have teared up many times from laughter! Beautiful, diverse females, and pretty damn funny males. Perfect art.
Sound: GURUGURU MAWARU GURUGURU MAWARU. That opening song really makes me head spin around (heh...), because of how addicting it is! Every time I watched an episode of School Rumble, I looked forward to watching the opening and spinning my head around humming the tune in my head. The side soundtracks were really funny in their own way, and added to the entire comedy of the show. Voices matched each of the character's ... character. Overall the sound was decent, but far from great since there really was no "good" music - piano like other slice of life shows such as Ano Hana.
Character: So many characters and not a single one that you dislike. All the main character females, like 6 with like 10 side always popping up, were hilarious. And the main character males, like 1 (Kenji Harima, the delinquent is overall main character, and he is one of if not the funniest character in all anime!) alongside like 6 side male characters were soooooooooooooo funny. I loved all the characters, always cheered their love relationship on, except for Tenma and Harima because I wanted Harima to be be with Eri Sawachika, they were perfect for eachother! ♥ Tenma was annoying, but oh well, her sister makes up for her.
Enjoyment: I loved this anime so much purely because of how funny and enjoyable it was. All school-comedies should follow the structure of School Rumble. Definitely a must-watch comedy for everyone, all ages. If you're feeling bored and lonely, then go to Youtube and watch the entire series! It has another season too, and although the ending of the anime was "meh", the overall series was great, despite having no plot. Solely an enjoyable show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 29, 2014
"My Romantic Youth Comedy Is Wrong As Expected" is quite an attention grasping title wouldn't you agree? Most romance stories are non-realistic times a thousand. True love rarely exists and people don't always end up (usually don't end up) with the person they think they love. In real life, a hot girl doesn't suddenly like the main character because he's "weak, innocent and kind" like a lot of shows seem to portray. Life in school seems to be so great and wondrous in anime when at times it really isn't in reality. This show takes full advantage of taking a different route than most romance
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comedy stories do by adding more realism and pessimism into the characters/story.
The story follows the most pessimistic, cynical and biggest misanthrope anime character I've ever seen in anime named Hachiman Hikigaya and his life in school. He is a loner and he doesn't have any friends, not that he wants to have friends to begin with. He believes that everything in the world is made of lies and he doesn't want to take part in anything related to the world (wtf right?...) But he ends up being forced to join a club - Volunteer Service Club - and it all goes from there. The story isn't your usual romance-comedy since it doesn't focus primarily on romance but more on the main characters view of life and the world - which is something along the lines of "This world sucks". An intriguing aspect of the series is it's themes of life: its important not to always tackle every problem with a kind attitude as Hikki's foil (every character is a foil for each other really) the extremely kind Hayato Hayama finds out. When he enters the club meets the club's single member, a girl named Yukino (more somewhat foils). The two immediately dislike each other yet it is clear even at the start that they are very similar in attitude but go about their problems in entirely different ways. The conflict between Hayato, Yukino and Hiki is clever and well constructed as they both foiling roles as they always take different paths to solving problems. Hiki being the cynical and lonely person that he is slowly discovers that there's more to life than just being alone... Or maybe not. Anyways blah blah blah Hiki's (and others) portrayal of life is basically the story.
A lot of anime characters fall into stereotypes, especially in a high school setting. The main character is usually some innocent pure guy who is loved by 2 girls. He has that one chill or crazy best friend who joins in on the love square. The 2 girls, one is usually some mean girl who'll end up with the main character because they "complete" each other since one is mean and other is nice. Then the nice, kind girl will never convey her feelings to main character, and eventually end up with the main characters best friend or something... However, the characters here are different. Hachiman Hikigaya, is a lead that is one of the most interesting and realistic. He is a pessimist, he sees the worst in people, he hates life and is the true definition of a loner/misanthrope. He has no interest in others and for the most part ignores everyone. How wonderful right? What really makes this series is Hikigaya as we see the world through his eyes. One of my favorite aspects of his character is that he's genuinely kind on the inside, sort of. He'll sometimes purposely make himself the bad guy or take the fall for everyone else despite not caring. There are some characters that know about this so it's not all annoying that he does this for no reason kind of thing. The other female characters foil him perfectly. Beautiful chemistry between the characters. There's like a new character introduced every episode, and each one is pretty unique but... I'll leave it at that.
The art and sound of the anime were decent. The voicing cast was decent and the openings were decent. There really was no music in the show though so meh... And the art was definitely high quality for a rom-com show. But the characters all look decent but the lack of details make them very plain. And compared to other high-quality rom-com shows like Sakurasou, this wasn't as colorful and bright but I didn't mind it because it was a pretty dark, pessimistic story for a rom-com. Hiki's dead fish-eyes were funny though, they fit his character well~ ^o^
I really enjoyed watching this anime, to the point where I watched it all in one day (sad I know). It really had my attention primarily because I could sort of relate to the protagonist (in the sense that sometimes although I'm not depressed or cynical , I think about how pointless life can be and annoying/disgusting some human beings can be) which is really rare in an anime. The other characters are all enjoyable, the comedy is funny for the visuals is worth looking at (yes, there are beautiful females). Despite having beautiful girls and being a modern-day romance comedy, there is no fan service which really was refreshing to see. This story is a great watch for romance-comedy lovers and cynical people in general.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 28, 2014
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou is my favorite romance-comedy anime from the past couple years, for a couple of reasons. At first glance, the show seems like the usual perverted fan-service-shit everyone’s grown accustom to these days as the first two episodes are filled with a beautiful clueless girl walking about blindly and nakedly around a teenage guys house with lots of ecchi moments (original huh)... However, I decided to not drop the series and I'm glad I didn't, because upon watching more of the show, I found that the story goes on it's own path, away from the generic rom-coms story (pretty well-written for
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a rom-com). Whereas many romance shows will focus solely on a friendship/love bond within like a love triangle or square, that takes place in school-some workplace and has tons of ecchi to keep perverted audience members interested, Sakurasou does beyond that. Something about this show halfway that caught my attention was that it's bright and cheerful when it should be (even more-so than other romance stories), but at the same time it contrasts itself perfectly with dark sides of life-romance that most generic rom-coms don't do. Sakurasou's story is actually a story, not an episodic romance drama that's controlled by the characters, which is a nice change of pace from romance anime nowadays.
The story revolves around the main character Sorata Kanda, who is forced to shift from a normal dorm to an eccentric dorm called Sakurasou, filled with delinquents, in order to keep his pet cat. The very (insert weird/annoying words here) personalities of his dorm roommates make Sorata tempting to leave, but then suddenly a super hot girl named Mashiro Shiina moves into Sakurasou. And... Mashiro seems to lack any common sense or knowledge of anything really - except painting/drawing which is she a master "artist" at. Anyways, Sorata is sort of forced to take care of Mashiro and help her out with the everyday tasks of life. Gradually, the dorm begins to become more livable for Sorato when more friendly and not-too-weird residents move in. And so... our romance triangle/comedy/touching-story begins.
Personally more than anything, I found Sakurasou No Pet Na Kanojo to be one of the most genuinely fun and touching shows to watch. This was a beautiful romance show that ranks somewhere near the top of my top anime list and you don't see someone like me whose into deep, psychological, horror, historic say something like that. More than anything, Sakurasou No Pet Na Kanojo is a story about the bond made between friends and all the wild times and the real and unexpected emotions that come with them. A big theme or concept in this story is one of "dreams" during youth. Mashiro asks Sorata (and others), "What do you want to be?" Everybody has their (probably outrageous) dreams and they may very well vary from age to age. As a child we probably wanted to be a Pokemon master, or a superhero. As a teen maybe we wanted to be a world famous actor, or artist or basketball player. In college people change courses/majors quite often in order to find something that suites themselves. What a person's dreams are will come to define that person's identity as who he/she is. But many people end up giving up on their dreams because they believe that "it's too hard", or "I can't possibly do it". Hope is something that's hard to come by unless there's some kind of motivation or reason. The main protagonist Sorata is like that. But he finds his motor, and sense of hope in Shiina Mashiro and this "story" of this rom-com truly reached out and grasped my attention/heart. You know how people always say practice makes perfect and hard-work always pays off? Well is that honestly true? The show serves as a simple but great watch and has its own morals to share at the end. Reminds me of my high-school, college days. A great, tender feeling indeed~ If you want a purely enjoyable rom-com then Sakurasou is the one to watch. The ending leaves the show "unanswered". I hope there's a season two, but as of now it doesn't seem like there will be which is very depressing considering they left it a cliffhanger with no concrete pair-ups and an introduction of a new character at the very very end.
Out of all the slice of life anime series I've seen, Sakurasou definitely has one of the most memorable and adorable set of characters. Shiina Mashiro is probably my favorite female character from a romance series. At the beginning Mashiro seems like shes just there for fan service but as the story progresses she helps others find and reach out for their dreams. She maintains the happiness, purity and innocence that children should have during their youth. She seems all dumb (she's pretty clueless) but she honestly does have a deeper understanding of life/the world. She learns common sense and the meaning of friendship and love. She is the driving force of the other characters as well as the show itself. Sorata gets a lot of hate - blah blah blah for being dumb sometimes, but that's so oversold. Sorata is who he is, and he stays true to his character throughout. The other characters all played specific funny roles and added lots of enjoyment/comedy to the show. Although.. Yuuko Kanda was a pretty stupid and useless character... Anyways, a lot of shipping pairings will be shattered, but oh well that's what romance stories do. The developing friendship chemistry (and romance) between the characters was just beautiful to watch. As I'm writing this review I'm starting to realize just how much I really liked Sakurasou's set of characters. I wish real life could be this simple, innocent and fun.
The sound in the show were pretty good. I don't really like all "cute"- openings very much, but both of Sakurasou's openings were enjoyable to listen to - I liked them both. The endings were decent as well. The voicing crew did a marvelous job with each character's tone; fit their personality and looks perfectly. The dynamic voicing of each character certainly brought more "life" to the characters. It might sound cheesy, but I could feel the emotions that the characters wanted the audience to feel~ Heh... Anyways the animations were out of the roof, very colorful. J.C staff truly animates romance stories well. Bravo. Production quality was consistent throughout the entirety of the series - backgrounds were well portrayed. The weather as well - lightning which was beautiful - nature was beautiful - fireworks were beautiful - Animals were beautiful - Mashiro's art was beautiful, And... Shiina Mashiro was beautiful~
What more is there to say, someone like me who doesn't even like romance stories that much absolutely loved this. I'm sure those of you who love romance stories will love it even more than I did. I'd probably give the series a 10/10 if it wasn't for that unsatisfying ending, but don't let that stop you from giving this show a try, it's in my opinion the best slice of life story I've seen in a long time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 27, 2014
Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai (We Still Don't Know the Name of the Flower that We Saw that Day) is an anime for everyone, all ages, all genders. If you don't want to have an invisible person cutting onions in your house, resulting in tears, then I wouldn't really recommend this anime for you because I gotta say, this was pretty sad...
Story: 8/10 - A group of six childhood friends drift apart after one of them, Meiko "Menma" Honma, dies in an accident. 10 years after the accident, Jinta, our main character, lives as a recluse and refuses to
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go back out into society (he blames himself for Menma's death). Then one day, he sees Menma's ghost (or does he... we'll get back to this later in the review) and he finds out that Menma can't rest in peace until her wish in life is granted. Jinta gathers his estranged friends together once again, believing that they are the key to fufilling Menma's wish. The other 4 childhood friends reunite with Jinta, though, reluctantly. However, things grow increasingly complicated when his friends accuse him of not being able to get over the death of Menma (but is Jinta the only one that can't let go of the past?). Later in the plot we find out that the other 4 members blame themselves for Menma's death and hidden feelings for other members of the group are rekindled. Along with feelings of bitterness from Menma's broken mother, the group struggles as they grow from trying to help Menma move on, to helping themselves move on. The pacing was rather good, once you get past the first episode which was rather a slow-start but it's necessary to understand the situation surrounding the anime.
The plot was tragic, enjoyable, original and rather deep. This anime was rather realistic and the Menma's ghost is very debatable. Was Menma really there as a ghost? Or was it Jinta & company's imagination of Menma because they were unwilling to accept what had happened 10 years ago in their childhood? Menma being a ghost and trying to move onto the after-life is just a reflection of the other 5 childhood friends moving on from their past and moving into the future.
When we were all children, we had that group of best friends that we'd always want to have a play-day with and ride swings, play pokemon, watch cartoons with and start a tree-house club with. We, individually always wanted to be the center of attention in that group and be the "coolest", "leader-like" person in the group. The childhood flashbacks in this anime shows all these things and what being a child really is (very realistically in a non-realistic story).
If I knock the story for one thing though, it's that the sadness (until the very ending) was pretty forced. The ending made me cry a lot but throughout I was left scratching my head as to why the characters were crying so annoyingly so often. But... It all pays off in the end.
Art: 10/10 - Have you ever seen anime like Nagi no Asukara, Fate/Zero and Angel Beats? What do they all have in common? Spectacular art. AnoHana is part of that exclusive club of godly art. The art is just beautiful, in the way that it portrays how realistic the characters (& their feelings too, you'll see what I mean) are. The characters are just... WOAAW. The art is a well-deserved 10/10, nothing more to talk about.
Sound: 10/10 - This has some of the saddest music you'll ever listen to in an anime. You think the piano music in Clannad, and Angel Beats are sad? Well they are, but I think that AnoHana is even sadder, yeah that's right. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful with the elegant sad whispering sounds, tranquil piano pieces, and melodious violin music. After watching Ano Hana, and going back to listen to the opening theme, will bring back the memories and feels you are sure to experience/have experienced. The opening is just so sad! The ending theme is arguably the saddest ending I've ever heard. It'll play not only at the end of each episodes, but towards to end of the anime when we reach the climax, and if you have a soul, you cannot not ball your tears out (even if you don't have a soul, this'll make you cry).
Character: 8/10 - This is where AnoHana flourished. Each of the 6 childhood friends have a past, a present, and a future (that they want). The anime despite being only 11 episodes, went into rather thorough detail about each one of them, explaining what they felt 10 years ago, how they feel now, and what they are longing for. Young people dealing with a devastating loss... Masterfully written. But the 6 childhood friends aren't even the only characters the anime delves into. Menma's parents were obviously affected by Menma's death and are bitter about it, and are obviously going to be upset once seeing Menma's old 5 friends hang out laughing while their daughter's dead. Families Dealing With Loss...
Enjoyment: 9/10 - I was not always 100% captivated, and my eyes were not always attached to the screen... because I had to wash my face multiple times, and then curse the onions that were somewhere in my room, because I couldn't stop my tears from flowing down my face. The plot was simply amazing, and I got to re-think about my past childhood experiences, my childhood friends whom I'm no longer with, and think about all the things I had to go through in order to get to where I am today... And how I'm going to move onto the future. One of my favorite quotes of all time is "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." This quote doesn't have much to do with AnoHana itself, but it has a lot to do with the future, which is something the characters in AnoHana have to look to, instead of holding onto the unchangeable past. The only knock I'll give this anime is that the sadness was kind of forced by the characters who were crying almost every episode, but I have a weak-heart (not really) and I had no choice but to cry with them. But once again, yes. Some sadness was forced which was a tad bit annoying at times.
Anohana is no doubt one of if not the saddest anime I have ever watched. But at the same time... It's also one of the most uplifting. The story it tells is so painfully real—so emotionally raw—that it will cause even monsters to cry. As loss is a universal part of the human condition, I would recommend AnoHana to absolutely anyone who is prepared for a good cry, and a one way ticket to feels-ville.
"Telling stories and laughing with friends: precious moments you'll never forget."
Friends are the most important people in your present, and they will be the most important people in your future. Live happily~
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 27, 2014
As I'm aging everyday, I felt the need to reminisce about my childhood past, and so recently I decided to re-watch a whole bunch of Disney movies as well as Miyazaki (Studio Ghibili) films. (By the way, did you guys hear that Studio Ghibili is no more? Depressing news for future generations). The movies brought me to tears, and I couldn't help but feel an urge to write a review on how significantly emotional and magnificent Miyazaki's films are. Spirited Away is definitely by far the most popular of all Miyazaki's films considering he won a countless number of awards for the movie and it
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made more profit than Titanic in Japan at the time. For parents I'd definitely recommend you watch this movie with your children, and children of all ages, if you haven't seen Spirited Away yet in your life, I'd definitely urge you to watch it before you grow too old to enjoy it's purity, because watching it from a child's point of view will leave a tender childhood memory in your life. Watching it from an adult's point of view will make you appreciate the movie (as well as other Miyazaki films) in a whole new light and bring back touching memories.
The story of Spirited Away doesn't exactly seem all that children-like, because of it's mysterious and somewhat complex plot. It's about a 10-year old girl and her journey into a supernatural world filled with spirits --> witches, ghosts, divine deities, a human-spirit-dragon and more, in order to rescue her parents who have been turned into pigs. Throughout her "Alice in Wonderland" - like adventure, she has to find her identity, remember her name, remain her purity/innocence while all the meanwhile remembering what it means to be a human being/a child. Unlike most anime directors or any filmmakers for that matter, Miyazaki doesn't conceal the nightmares/terrors of childhood, which actually yield their own disquieting beauty. He respects the deep silences of his story, as well as its cacophonies. Very young children are apt to be frightened by this film but still enjoy the film if watching with a parent/older figure, proof being myself. But as children grow older and re-watch Spirited Away, they'll come to appreciate it's stunning beauty in story, art and sound.
What Spirited Away does with it's characters is truly magical. Unlike most anime, Spirited Away successfully portrays it’s characters in a more personal and intimate way. Obviously Anime characters often come off more like set pieces in a story than real, breathing people who control their own lives. But in Spirited Away, for all it’s insanity and typically over the top anime mysticism, the characters are surprisingly quietly intimate. This allows the audience to connect with, sympathize with and actually care to watch for Chichiro. But there are other characters too of some whom are symbolic characters and serve to teach the audience a lesson, of others who are there for kid's enjoyment - comedy, and others who develop into an important piece of the plot; everyone has some kind of important role to look out for. With all these positives said, there wasn't really a character I really loved, but the development of Chichiro really made her a special character.
Honestly, the story is great and the characters were animated/imaginative, not-realistic creations of truly "realistic" beings. But for Miyazaki's films, what can be said more than the animations and in my opinion, the greatest soundtracks in any films ever. Spirited Away's animation was nothing short of masterful; High quality doesn't begin to describe how simply stunning Spirited Away's art is. The setting of Spirited Away has a very traditional Japanese feel to it while mixing in elements of modernity as well. The animations gives the audience a sense of fresh realism in a fantasy world. And the music. Oh my the music. Joe Hisaishi, you are the greatest movie-soundtrack composer ever and without having to say, my personal favorite movie-soundtrack composer. One Summer's Day? Always With You? Sixth Shop? Dragon Boy? Your great music knows no limit. For those of you who have seen Spirited Away know what I'm talking about, and for those of you who don't... Well then go to YouTube and listen to the pieces I just mentioned. The music definitely enhances the emotions felt from each scene, and makes the movie an all the more memorable experience/memory. The voice acting added a sense of realism into characters, especially Chichiro who genuinely sounded like a fightened 10 year old child. The beauty of the sounds in Spirited Away cannot be described in words.
If you want to purely enjoy this movie and/or haven't seen the movie yet, then I recommend you skip these upcoming paragraph and skip just to the very last paragraph. because I will be analyzing the whole load of themes and symbols in Spirited Away, which is truly a childrens movie, while not actually being purely a childrens movie. There are just so many themes in Spirited Away beyong the surface of a magical masterpiece.
1. Chichiro aka Sen was stripped of her name. But what does a name really mean though, it's just a 2-couple of words assigned to you at birth right? You can just change it too right? Well, in Spirited Away, the character's names are their quest for freedom. Sen Chichiro must remember the qualities that make her who she is and remain true to them despite her name, the one word that defines her as herself, has changed. In Spirited Away, names are of fundamental importance in the spirit world, and those in power keep their control by stealing and changing names. Only those characters with the inner strength to hold onto their names and identities can free themselves.
2. What defines a person as good or evil? In Spirited Away, every character morally ambiguous; they're a mix of good and bad qualities and actions.Those who seem good at first, such as Haku and No-Face, have their share of evil qualities, and those who seem bad in the beginning, such as Zeniba, and Lin, show signs of good in Chihiro’s escape to freedom. Chihiro herself is pretty unpleasant at first until later when she reveals her better nature only after she becomes Sen. Spirited Away’s blurred line between good and evil is a much more accurate reflection of the real world outside the film. In the end, evil is not vanquished but pushed aside as characters make choices that weaken bad influences. Sen’s acts of goodness bring out the latent good in those she encounters; just like real life right?
3. Growing Up, and entering the world of adulthood. What does it mean to be a child? What separates a child from a teen from an adult? The shock of entering the working world is a theme rarely dealt with at this age level, which gives Spirited Away a mark of distinction. At the beginning of the movie, Chichiro is just sitting in the backseat doing nothing while her parents drive, and she just follows other spirits instructions. But as the story progresses, she starts to make decisions for herself and instead of idly doing nothing, she has to enter the working field and work diligently. Though hard work is not the only element of the spirit world that transforms Sen into a stronger, more capable person, it certainly helps her learn to deal with problems maturely.
4. Human Nature's greed. At the beginning of the film greed is on full display as Chihiro whines and complains to her parents (children's greed for attention) meanwhile, Chihiro’s parents’ greed leads them to eat a whole ton of (unpaid) food that eventually turns them into pigs. Literally every character in Spirited Away is greedy from a small scale to a large scale; Haku being the "good-guy" character and all is greedy for power to match Yubabu, the evil witch's power, and Yubabu is so greedy for total control of the spirit realm and gold/gold/gold, eventually leads to the destruction and chaos in the story. She even loses what she covets most as retribution for her greed. In every case, greed makes characters oblivious to what is truly important, preventing them from reaching their full potential as people and spirits. This is a reflection of human society no?
5. Life and Death. Water represents entrapment and freedom; life and death. Chihiro's realizarion that the previously dry ground is now a huge body of water of which she cannot cross. Reflection that you can't run away from fate- Life and Death. In order to survive in the spirit world, Sen works at the bathhouse, which depends on water for its livelihood. In the course of Sen’s work, she rescues a polluted river spirit by pouring liberal amounts of water over him - life. Sen nearly drowns in the process, but the spirit places her in a protective bubble that keeps her from harm, and this and other acts of kindness play a role in her liberation. But beyond just the use of water, the constant struggle between living and dying - and what it means to be alive (a magical thing) and what it means to be dead (who knows what this means) is on full display.
This movie is truly wild runs of children's imagination/fantasies all put into one film; I personally believe after watching nearly all of Miyazaki/Studio Ghibili's films, Spirited Away was the single mof innovative and imaginative story by far. Growing up is a beautiful thing, and this movie is a pretty personal movie to me. My entire analysis of all Story, Art, Sound, and Character for Spirited Away can be summed up in entirely one word: "Beautiful~" And this movie, as a child, as a teen and now as an adult never ceases to remain as one of the most enjoyable movies ever.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 25, 2014
Revolutionary Girl Utena is a hidden gem within hidden gems. A rather strange anime indeed but everything about this story just spews out greatness. There's just so much happening all at once, it's almost as if there are 6-7 different stories happening all at the same time, and then as the show progresses, each story intertwines with another. There's no doubt that this anime was highly influenced by Ikeda Riyoko's Rose of Versailles, one of my favorite tragedies ever; both have a strong female lead growing up as a male (focus on gender-roles), take place in a historical (royal) setting, are quite theatrical (Shakespeare-like almost),
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incorporate inexplicable roses and have a intriguing/illustrious story. Utena tells a coming-of-age story that explores two big questions in particular (in all, there are several several more): can one stick to childish ideals that they had as a child in order to defeat an opponent who embodies adulthood? And can an "pure and innocent" female with pink hair and flower symbolism back in the days escape her duty/role as a female and instead take on the role of a male/prince?
Revolutionary Girl Utena revolves around Utena Tenjou, a girl who dresses like a boy and dreams of becoming a prince when she grows up. The reason she wants to be a prince? Because she was so "impressed" by a Prince who had given her a Rose Crest ring and told her that they'd meet again in the future. Utena grows up attending Ohtori Academy, a very strange high-school where people fight for their ideals, and to achieve a rumored celestial something. Throughout the course of the story, Utena is forced into battles with the Duelists in order to claim the Rose Bride, which is said to be the key to becoming a prince and obtaining something eternal (celestial thing).
The entire series is divided into four separate story arcs. The first arc (Student Council Saga, episodes 1-13) focus primarily on character development, how Utena ended up having the oh so important Rose Bride (Anthy Himemiya), and the beginning of the mysteries lurking under the outline of the story. The second arc (Black Rose Saga, 13 - 24), more characters are introduced, the most important one being an 18 year old school psychologist who uses Black Rose Crest Rings to manipulative people. The third arc (Akio Ohtori Saga, 25-33) is the psychological trauma aspect of the show, where betrayals and truths are slowly unraveled. Promises are broken, friendships are severed. This is literally the Neon Genesis Evangelion-part of the story if you will. And the final arc is where the conflict, and entire point of the story escalates up to it's climax; and all the dark secrets are revealed.
Okay so this is a pretty tricky story to write a review for because it was just all over the place, and it's difficult to pinpoint the main storyline. Honestly though, this series was more of a live dramatic theater play than an anime story. Constantly the show is "telling" the story, "not being" one. You'll see what I mean by this when you watch the show. At the surface of the story, it'll seem like this is just another magic-school-tournament story with repetitive fight scenes, but oh no. That's just incorrect to it's maximum incorrect level. Although it may not seem like it at first, once you finish it, you'll realize how deep the story is, and how much of an impact it'll have on your psychological understanding of the world/human nature. The beginnings of each episode constantly make no sense. They jump from this scene to that scene, without explaining what happens in between until later. But as the story progresses, the writers did a fabulous job connecting each minor detail with each other to form a "bigger-picture"-plot. All in all a great story.
The character development was genius. One of the many things I loved about this anime was it's amazing cast of characters and the way they were used to portray a specific theme/archetype. In each arc, different characters were focused upon which really created a bond of understanding between the audience and the characters. Many others begin as stereotypes but flourish into complex beings during their respective character arcs. The most important character next to Utena would be the comic relief, Nanami whose capriciousness heads deep into slapstick terrain but stops just short of overbearing. Her theatrics represent her superficial behavior with substantial intentions. Other important characters include the male antagonists (for most part), Touga, Saionji, and Akio, who through callous psychological and emotional bullying almost cease to be human and become more and more like symbols of human vice. If they are not slapping their female cohorts into submission, they are coldly seducing them for their own gratification. They blend in quite remarkably with Utena’s melodrama/characterization. But moving on...
Utena’s an interesting character for a variety of reasons, but it all starts with the basics. As a little girl, she lost faith in the world when tragedies unfolded before her. Was there truly a divine being that watched over us? If so, then why is tehre suffering? Shortly later, a prince comes along and and gives her conviction, gifting her a [symbolic] ring and promising that they’d meet again, just so long as she doesn't lose her bravery and nobility. (Sound like a common fairy tale yet?) So captivated by the prince, she decides to become a prince but is that really a good idea? So goes the fairy tale the show comes back to time and again. Though the words remain the same, the message never does – in a show obsessed with performance and perception, the meaning of words can shift even as their base nature remains consistent. Words like “prince,” the traditional storybook male savior, a word that ultimately comes to signify both less and more than its stated definition. From the beginning, Utena’s desire to be a “prince” points to the serious bone this show has to pick with traditional gender roles. Even the show’s ornate style contributes to this effect – the flowery framing that’s typically a hallmark of “female-oriented” manga and anime is here used to convey traditionally “masculine” power, such as the seductive power of a potential male prince, or Utena herself. Utena is consistently cast in “masculine” terms, from her chosen form of dress, to her adoring female fans, to her athletic prowess and skill as a swordsman. However, to Utena, all these choices are a perfectly legitimate expression of self. In fact, whenever anyone expresses surprise about Utena acting like a “traditional” girl and “performing” girl, Utena responds with a defiant “but I am a girl” – to her, her standard behavior and representation is a completely valid expression of “girl.” Which all points back to the show’s obsession with spectators and performance – in the context of a show that emphasizes how much we all “perform” our personalities, the arbitrary, “performed” nature of gender roles is that much more apparent. Basically others insist on calling out her ‘weaker’ girlish facets to humble her but in the process deny the possibility that she is an inseparable compound of both. Her battle of identity (becoming what others wish vs remaining true to oneself) eventually becomes more salient and more interesting to follow than her duels.
Okay so the story is good and all, and the characters were all masterfully developed, and are all perfectly created characters. But they're not the highlight of the show, nor are they the reason why I like this show to the extent where I'm a fanboy. The greatest part of Shoujo Kakumei Utena is it's constant ambiguity (themes). The show presents to the audience countless numbers of psychological conceptions, societal values, human nature, through use of motifs/symbolism. Seriously, the amount of symbolism is overwhelming, and it's not like a "all up in your face symbolism" like Neon Genesis Evangelion, but it's subtle which makes it all the more impressive. Themes of Nobility and Strength. Gender Roles. Eternity of Youth. Freedom/World Revolution. Corruption of Power/Human Nature. Forbidden Desires. The series also focuses on sex, although it doesn't use any explicit imagery. Incest becomes a major theme, and the series explores it from numerous perspectives; loss of innocence (sexual and otherwise) also becomes very important. At its core, though, Utena follows the story of a friendship-turned-romance between two girls who never expected it; director Ikuhara has even said that the love between the two is the most important thing of all. I won't get into detail about each concept though because it'll be much better experiencing it for yourself than reading about it.
The art and sound are both magnificent in this series, although they aren't exactly the best. The art I think the show tried to use "old" art a little too extremely to make the show seem more "classic"-like (which it is btw). But I did really love all the portrayals of symbolism/art paintings, the beautiful castles/backgrounds, fancy uniforms, and each character's design, especially Utenas. Soundwise, this show is very well voice-acted, and the soundtrack is probably one of the best orchestrated I've ever heard. Seriously though, this show had probably the most appropriate voice actors - characters connection I've ever seen. Furthermore, the music fits the atmosphere well, and the songs they play during the duels added quite the "epic" feeling. There were those church-like chorus soundtracks that created a mysterious and sinister tone when necessary. Openings weren't great and all that memorable, but they certainly weren't bad; I will admit that I skipped the opening after like episode 7, but that's because I was crazy about watching more of the great show. All in all, I liked both the art and sound; somewhat high quality.
Stop wasting your time now, and go watch this series, it's one that you should definitely watch~
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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