Ask away - I'm a 27 y' old otaku and I would almost call myself a NEET if I didn't spent 8 hours at work every day. So it's not like my time is so valuable.
No reason to feel rude - like I already noted we do have a difference in tastes and that's just it.
Higurashi is kind of supposed to not make sense in the beginning and it is revealed later on as to why things are so screwed up as they are.
It has been a while since I watched Corpse Party so I don't exactly remember how it was but I do remember that I liked the game 100 times more. Maybe you could give a shot one time - who knows, you might just like it.
That last sentence sounds like I'm going away to a foreign country or I'm being shipped to war :D
No wonder - if I haven't played the game first I would have likely hated it too. They're jumping around so much it makes you dizzy.
I don't really remember everything now since it has been a while that I've seen it but I'm pretty sure they did explain everything. If not in the beginning than later on.
If you like explanations then I think Mahouka could be good for you. There is magic there yes and this magic is scientifically explained. It's explained a lot. With a lot of difficult words and concepts -they do make sense mind you if you're smart enough to understand them. Sadly I'm too dumb to get everything they've introduced and I'd have to watch it again to sort things out but it still remains on of my favourites (you know despite me not getting 1/3 of the explanations).
Oh it definetly gets ridiculous - playes teleport, they can fly and they can shoot kamehas from their fists, I was half expecting one of them to go shadow clone jutsu... Not to mention some players can enter super sayan mode. Now the funny thing is that pretty much all of the moves are a WAY-OVER-THE-FUCKIN'-TOP versions of real life moves that I did find players performing in real matches.
But some moves seem like they do make sense and are explained but the execution is just so flashy... Now I like flashy so I did have fun watching that. An example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lk3j6CYJ2A I'm reffering to the vanishing drive part - they explain it that to pull this off he draws the oposing players attention to the ball and then moves around while tossing the ball to himself. It is a thing that regulat basketball players do all the time but of course they don't suddently teleport behind a guy but this teleport is a representation of the enemy losing focus and sight of the player.
And then there is the bullshit category - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L3ibt590KE
The explanation is that by twisting his hand and adding another layer of centrifugal force he grants more power to the pass. And while in theory that's true - I still don't understand how did he make the ball levitate for a couple of seconds while he was charging his Chi.
I watched all 3 seasons in like a week - it really sucked me in. Main reason would probably that there is real and valid progression which is something I value.
Higurashi no naku koro ni, Umineko (altough the anime is incomplete) and as for higurashi there are multiple seasons but you could even start in the middle since... Well actually the less I tell you the better. Danganronpa - unfortunately the game is way better and the anime only covers one route of the first game. Probably the best and most hardcore sick shit I have ever seen was in Corpse Party - this is absolutely insane and you can get the chills even sitting in a well lit room with 4 other people. Sadly - the anime kind of butchered the game (again...) and it's rushed like hell with a lot of stuff just not where it was supposed to be. Might be worth a watch I guess.
I'll give you one of my favourite quotes from the game:
"I felt her blood going down my throat, quenching my thirst. And her meat was supple and satisfying. But that blood and that meat was once my friend. Up until just a few hours before, I'd been talking with her. As I feasted, I just kept thinking, this food used to be a person. Before I tore it apart, it all worked together to sustain a life. And every time I thought about that, I just started crying...and I couldn't stop."
The things you learn about people...
Still - I've skimmed over your list a couple times and I'm not sure if I should be recommending anime to you since our tastes seem to be quite different. Not that I find that to be weird - my best friend likes completely different anime than I do so whenever we recommend something to each other it's like a lottery. And well - I've been sitting in anime and games for over 20 years now so I'm pretty sure that my mind is corrupted beyond redemption.
Oh you don't have to worry about that. I'm a hedonist after all so there is no way that I would do something that I don't enjoy. And it just happens to be that exchanging opinions and friendly banter is just what I enjoy. And having fun/trolling and making friends in MMO (especially when I'm drunk) games whenever possible.
Besides these short comments are nuthin' - this one has around 800 words (maybe around 900 which this additional parahraph). I have a friend with whom I exchange comments once in a couple weeks (well he was on "hiatus" until recently) and for example the last one had 5500 words. I like to write - that's why I tried writing reviews. It sucks that I have no talent for it but I still enjoy it even if most times I do it just to amuse myself ^_^ And I ocasionally write reviews of games for friends - I posted one of them online (here http://www.metacritic.com/user/Werchiel) but since they only allow 5 thousand characters I had to cut it short and I couldn't write everything I wanted so I wasn't very happy about it. I had this problem at school too - I had to limit myself since going over the limit would cost you points.
Not that I'm being profesional about it since after writing a review you should let it sit for a couple days maybe even a week and then revisit it - I can allways find things to fix this way and improve the quality. But I don't do that simply because I don't really care THAT much - after all it's just for my own sake.
I also meant to ask you about Bakuman but honestly it's so hot and I slept like 2 hours last night so I'm going to be really lazy and just copypaste my review from a couple years back
Let's get things straight - this series is amazingly good. I want you to have that in mind as you read on since I would like to write about all 3 seasons and not just this one - I would like to sum up my experiences with the entire package.
This whole adventure started when two men decided to share their dream (albeit for a different reason) and follow it through no matter what obstacles they face with their unwavering resolve. What followed was one of the best plot-driven stories I had the pleasure of enjoying.
Story
I should start by pointing out that for me there are two things about the story that must succeed in order for the plot to be interesting. Number one - the story itself has to be interesting. Number two - the way it's presented must be interesting - this includes pacing.
And Bakuman does both in a superb manner. We have two men trying to create the best manga that ever existed - personally I was allways kind of interested in the process of manga creation and I admit even though I don't know how the market really works - the way it was presented here made me want to try and make a story myself (that is despite the fact that my drawings would horrify people...) - it's not easy and your goal isn't just laid in front of you - but it pays of if you mange to actually do it.
Now I believe the reason why pacing is so great is because it's so uneven. At times we will spend and entire episode with our characters thinking over one issue but then there are also episodes with 3 timeskips a few weeks each. This helps us focus on what's important at the moment.
Sometimes the focus is on micro - when they discuss what to change in a chapter of their work. Sometimes the focus is on macro - when we have multiple timeskips that show how their changes influence the popularity over a larger span of time. With this we can look at the story from two different perspectives and it's not boring.
Art
I don't think many people would argue but the art was really really good. Maybe not Makoto Shinkai good but still - right below that. Also please note that if it was made in a Makoto-like style I would probably rate it lower since the art is very fitting for the characters (I had a slight problem with the gag/parody animation but only a minor one) and it trully is a pleasure to the eyes.
Sound
It rarely happens but I actually enjoyed every single one of the openings and endings and the music in the series itself was were it was supposed to be. It wasn't something that would grip my heart but then again - this isn't a story about musicians. For the most part I'd say it did the job it was supposed to do.
Characters
Oh yes - this is the main reason I loved it so much. Characters for me are absolutely the best part of the series - it doesn't mean it's perfect of course.
So let us begin with our double protagonists - Takagi and Mashiro.
They are the driving point of the entire story obviously but for me what steals the show is the chemistry between them. You can really see how they try their best and how they support each other over the span of all three seasons.
There were moments where I thought "what he's doing is stupid" but then I reflected - maybe I wouldn't do it but Mashiro would - it's very fitting for his character.
If I were to choose my favourite however I'd pick Takagi - I loved his resolve. In every single season he did things that made me think "he's awesome". The only problem I had with him is I believe he should really pay more attention to his wife.
As for female protagonists - Kaya and Miho.
Miho was the weakest of all the characters in my opinion - I found the concept she thought of "not seeing each other" as being silly but I must admit it really was a sweet thing. Not to mention I can't even imagine how I would feel if I was working for something so hard for so many years - I believe that feeling would probably be worth all that wait. Probably. Yeah... probably. She had a weird feeling for me nonetheless but she grew on me and while I had a problem with her in the first and second season - I was totally fine with her in the third.
As for Kaya - I think she's my favourite character here. Partly because she's so invisible in the third season. It's allmost like the story wouldn't even change at all if you take her out of it. But it only makes her greater in my eyes since I couldn't wait when she shows up. Her emotions towards our male protagonists, her cheerful cheering (pardon me for that) and the dedication she puts into helping them makes every scene with her in it a real feast. I think the real strength of her character is also what we don't see - as her support for our mangaga duo is only seen on the surface as it would seem.
I won't write about every single character since it would take too long so I'll just try to summarize it real quick.
Most of the characters introduced were very enjoyable to watch and they all had their unique... "quirks". Nizuma seemed completely insane, Aoi and Fukuda focuse on her work, Hiramaru is incredibly lazy - and it goes on. What we get is a pretty wild mix of characters with different views on obtaining the same goal.
Enjoyment
It goes without saying that I enjoyed this series tremendously but I can't convey all of that in just a few simple words. Even though there were moments I found less interesting - I still couldn't stop watching and I launched one episode after another. This is the pinacle example of the syndrom I call "I just started an episode and it's already end credits" where you get so completely absorbed by the story that you lose the sense of time.
I would like to trully recomment the entire series for everyone - you shall not be dissapointed!
It helps being a complete nerd for 27 years. And this series and all of it's universe (it's like 4 different series all in the same universe/setting focusing on characters from different places/countries and seeing key points in their worlds from their unique pespectives) are among my favourites in gaming.
Ah I can actually understand - I did have some issues in the beginning but the way it turns around towards the end of the series honestly impressed me. Still I don't think it's fair to watch most of the series in hope it will get better in the end. In this case it really does but there is no point if you have to torture yourself to get there. It was around episode 20 I think or maybe a little sooner that I've seen one of the best hmmm how should I describe - character moments? When a certain thing happens (even though you hate it I'm not sure if you are comfortable with spoilers so I will avoid them) one of the characters does something that very rarely happens in anime - ane his actions following said event are really the shit. But like I said - it's not really worth it to force yourself up to this point.
I would recommend Tales of the Abyss because the story, the characters and the "seriousness" of the story and it's implications are the real deal. HOWEVER - this anime is adapted from a game of the same title. A game that took me over 40 hours to complete - if we take out combat and exploration this leaves us at around 16-18 hours. And they made a 26-episode anime from it. Needless to say - a lot was cut out, sometimes whole plotlines were castrated and sometimes some were simplified and other times they just cut the story so much that it's hard to follow. Pacing is a real issue here since the story rushes ahead so fast that it quickly leaves anyone who hasn't plaeyed the game in the dust. It's a real shame since it would otherwise make an incredible show.
My attention span and memory is that of a goldfish most times so while I can talk about something when it's mentioned I find it quite hard to just remember a specific title by myself.
Have you seen Darker than Black? It's not on your list but then again neither was GC.
Well it's hard to recommend titles like that - I've been going through my list for the past 15 minutes but some of the titles I don't even remember myself. That's what happens after 500+ titles on the list... But that's not even a thing since my mate has over 2k - now that is hardcore.
I think one of my most loved scenes in Zetsuen was the stalemate on the island when they were negoatiating for like 3 episodes - I loved those. My friend had a long-week discussion with his fiancé because she hated and thought it was boring.
I'm not in shape so to speak recently. I used to check every season and watch 15 series or so while they were still airing and now I barely watch an average of 1 series/week. It would seem I waste too much time replaying older games. But that's what happens - I plyed around a thousand games in my life and some of them were so good that I like to go back - when I do however I don't have the time to play the new ones. I currently have 3 games ordered and just waiting for them to be shipped but I don't think I'll have time to play any of them for another 2 weeks or so. Not to mention a stack of about 10 titles I already have on my shelf still in their original packaging. Yeah... first world problems.
I'm really into sports anime - contrary to real life sports that I find boring for the most part.
Have you given a try to Kuroko no Basket? That one is about basketball (well 'duh) but it goes way higher, it doesn't even go over the top it just skyrockets the fence into outer space. Some people hate on this one but I had a couple laughs when they performed... special moves.
I really loved One Outs altough it's not so much about baseball as it is about psychology. Also one of the series that has a complete badass for a protagonist and that "badassery" does not come from physical strength.
I'm in the mood for a horror/mystery/thriller series but it seems like I've already seen most of what there is in the genre. Oh woe sie me.
I play all kinds of games - it's just recently (about 3 years now) that I have take more focus to jRPGs.
In Cold Steel there is a group of students in a military academy and on their first day they go to the old schoolhouse with their instructor for a sort of orienteering course. Then a trapdoor opens and they all fall down. The protagonist - Rean wants to protect one of the girl and he jumps in front to catch her. In the end she lands her goodies in his face and after they get up he gets slapped and then she proceeds to give him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. But as days pass (you sort of follow the exploits of the class by watching them day by day) she notably feels guilty about the whole situation knowing that it was just an accident and that she overreacted - she tries to help him out answering a teacher's question for example (whether or not it helps is player determined since we get to pick the answer in the first place) and over the course of the days she constantly tries to find a way to apologize which finaly culminates with her just coming out straight and saying that she's sorry.
I love the game for how it handles characters and their development as well. There are 9 people in the class + their combat instructor/homeroom teacher and all of them have really compeling backstories that you get to experience on your own sometimes just observing and sometimes influencing a character and actually changing the way they feel and think. It's commendable how well it is done so I just cannot wait for the sequel that comes out in a couple weeks (already got it preordered too).
And while I'm at it - a friend of mine asked me how I felt about the ending to the first game so I made him this - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9v7EPtdBGdwaGV6UXB4Q1NPSGM
That's pretty much what the ending does to you - it crushes you and makes you wait another year for a sequel.
Kazuma - I always liked the badass type of characters. That's pretty much why most of my favourite series (not counting romances which I like just as much but they are in a different cattegory) are series like Mahouka or Chrome Shelled Regios - one of the things they have in common is a powerful protagonist. Worthy of note - I don't just consider a badas a character with physical (or magical) strength or combat prowess. I believe inteligence is just as strong a forte.
(you can insert a joke about how I'm compensating right here)
There was a channel in my country called Hyper back in the day and it was mainly a channel about games (it ran from 8 PM till midnight) and they would air a single episode of an anime a day. So I did catch a few episodes of Vampire Princess Miyu or Slayers or Castle in the Sky (okay I don't remember the name but it was something like that) and there was also RTL7 and Dragon Ball that we all used to watch in elementary school.
I wanted to recommend shinsekai yori but I see you've already watched it. You may want to check out Guilty Crown - it does seem to fit your likes. It has also one of the best soundtracks ever - I still listen to it to this very day when I'm in the office. Since you enjoyed Zetsuen no Tempest I think that you will enjoy this as well.
Aight' enough stalking - time to get back to work.
Whoaaa - that's a late reply I did not see coming :D
I see that not only in anime but also in games of let's say "islandish" origin. Like the old "going down/up the ladder" thing.
I'd say tropes in general are a bad thing since that's why they become a trope however I think it has additional impact if they actually go for it and they do it right - maybe even baiting you in the process.
There was something like that in a game called Trails of Cold Steel where in the beginning I thought it was the kind of thing we were reffering to earlier however they settled it in a great way and looking at the whole picture I'm glad they did it.
And with Kaze no Stigma I must admit it was in fact one of the first series I have ever watched (my total series watched was probably a single digit back then) so I have a special place in my heart for this one. Especially since it pretty much defined the kind of protagonist that would become my favourite in the years to come.
Another one here to thank you for your review in psychic school wars.
You literally wrote all of the thoughts I had while watching the movie. At the water scene I was like "is this symbolism? This is symbolism right? Am I supposed to feel something now?" Anyways, very confusing movie and a very good review.
Something you might've missed though, that I think at least explains why he was there at all (the transfer student, I'm bad with names) is that the fox was him. His father went back in time, fell in love with hasegawa or whatever her name was, went to the future, had a child, named it *insert transfer students name*, went back with him in time to prevent hasegawa from going with him to the future (because she was unhappy or some shit)
The best thing of this is, hasegawa wanted to fuck her son. Lmao. Targaryans approve.
the kid made me so uncomfortable! i'm glad they kept his words/actions away from shota territory but still... it had shota implications which is a whole different level/type of creepy. ((also that ending that face? the kid is def gonna fuck up some shit while you sleep))
oh yeah but thanks for the nice words glad you laughed ^^
Aparently the forums stretches it so that it's not readable - I'll put it on my profile instead.
This is the kind of tangent that we're not supposed to think about. It's like a "thing" that a lot of creators use in many anime. But it can be put to good use (like pretty much anything) - and it was done this way in Kaze no Stigma where Ayano did in fact take a few swings at Kazuma but since he is a total badass (pretty much the biggest monster in terms of power in the entire series) that everytime he just easily dodges it (and sometimes counters it in a flirty way like kissing her on the nose) - that was okay. But when the character gets hit over and over again - I imediately lose all my interest in him.
I love the main hero of Trinity Seven and it's 50/50 there - he does get hit but he's like "well it was totally worth it since I got a good look" or something like that.
I never understood how inflicting physical pain can be a sign of affection. I get that it's an introvertic thing (I'm an introvert myself) to have difficulty expressing emotions and feelings but substituting those feelings with something completely oposite is just stupid.
"I really despise the fact that violence is displayed acceptable by female anime characters simply because she's doing it since they're 'close' and 'joking'. It's not funny, it will never be funny, and personally, I would never want to be friends with someone who smacks me every chance they get."
This is a quote from your review of Nerawareta Gakuen. I completely agree with this statement - do you mind if I use this in my signature?
All Comments (19) Comments
No reason to feel rude - like I already noted we do have a difference in tastes and that's just it.
Higurashi is kind of supposed to not make sense in the beginning and it is revealed later on as to why things are so screwed up as they are.
It has been a while since I watched Corpse Party so I don't exactly remember how it was but I do remember that I liked the game 100 times more. Maybe you could give a shot one time - who knows, you might just like it.
That last sentence sounds like I'm going away to a foreign country or I'm being shipped to war :D
I don't really remember everything now since it has been a while that I've seen it but I'm pretty sure they did explain everything. If not in the beginning than later on.
If you like explanations then I think Mahouka could be good for you. There is magic there yes and this magic is scientifically explained. It's explained a lot. With a lot of difficult words and concepts -they do make sense mind you if you're smart enough to understand them. Sadly I'm too dumb to get everything they've introduced and I'd have to watch it again to sort things out but it still remains on of my favourites (you know despite me not getting 1/3 of the explanations).
Oh it definetly gets ridiculous - playes teleport, they can fly and they can shoot kamehas from their fists, I was half expecting one of them to go shadow clone jutsu... Not to mention some players can enter super sayan mode. Now the funny thing is that pretty much all of the moves are a WAY-OVER-THE-FUCKIN'-TOP versions of real life moves that I did find players performing in real matches.
But some moves seem like they do make sense and are explained but the execution is just so flashy... Now I like flashy so I did have fun watching that. An example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Lk3j6CYJ2A I'm reffering to the vanishing drive part - they explain it that to pull this off he draws the oposing players attention to the ball and then moves around while tossing the ball to himself. It is a thing that regulat basketball players do all the time but of course they don't suddently teleport behind a guy but this teleport is a representation of the enemy losing focus and sight of the player.
And then there is the bullshit category - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L3ibt590KE
The explanation is that by twisting his hand and adding another layer of centrifugal force he grants more power to the pass. And while in theory that's true - I still don't understand how did he make the ball levitate for a couple of seconds while he was charging his Chi.
I watched all 3 seasons in like a week - it really sucked me in. Main reason would probably that there is real and valid progression which is something I value.
Higurashi no naku koro ni, Umineko (altough the anime is incomplete) and as for higurashi there are multiple seasons but you could even start in the middle since... Well actually the less I tell you the better. Danganronpa - unfortunately the game is way better and the anime only covers one route of the first game. Probably the best and most hardcore sick shit I have ever seen was in Corpse Party - this is absolutely insane and you can get the chills even sitting in a well lit room with 4 other people. Sadly - the anime kind of butchered the game (again...) and it's rushed like hell with a lot of stuff just not where it was supposed to be. Might be worth a watch I guess.
I'll give you one of my favourite quotes from the game:
"I felt her blood going down my throat, quenching my thirst. And her meat was supple and satisfying. But that blood and that meat was once my friend. Up until just a few hours before, I'd been talking with her. As I feasted, I just kept thinking, this food used to be a person. Before I tore it apart, it all worked together to sustain a life. And every time I thought about that, I just started crying...and I couldn't stop."
The things you learn about people...
Still - I've skimmed over your list a couple times and I'm not sure if I should be recommending anime to you since our tastes seem to be quite different. Not that I find that to be weird - my best friend likes completely different anime than I do so whenever we recommend something to each other it's like a lottery. And well - I've been sitting in anime and games for over 20 years now so I'm pretty sure that my mind is corrupted beyond redemption.
Oh you don't have to worry about that. I'm a hedonist after all so there is no way that I would do something that I don't enjoy. And it just happens to be that exchanging opinions and friendly banter is just what I enjoy. And having fun/trolling and making friends in MMO (especially when I'm drunk) games whenever possible.
Besides these short comments are nuthin' - this one has around 800 words (maybe around 900 which this additional parahraph). I have a friend with whom I exchange comments once in a couple weeks (well he was on "hiatus" until recently) and for example the last one had 5500 words. I like to write - that's why I tried writing reviews. It sucks that I have no talent for it but I still enjoy it even if most times I do it just to amuse myself ^_^ And I ocasionally write reviews of games for friends - I posted one of them online (here http://www.metacritic.com/user/Werchiel) but since they only allow 5 thousand characters I had to cut it short and I couldn't write everything I wanted so I wasn't very happy about it. I had this problem at school too - I had to limit myself since going over the limit would cost you points.
Not that I'm being profesional about it since after writing a review you should let it sit for a couple days maybe even a week and then revisit it - I can allways find things to fix this way and improve the quality. But I don't do that simply because I don't really care THAT much - after all it's just for my own sake.
Ah I can actually understand - I did have some issues in the beginning but the way it turns around towards the end of the series honestly impressed me. Still I don't think it's fair to watch most of the series in hope it will get better in the end. In this case it really does but there is no point if you have to torture yourself to get there. It was around episode 20 I think or maybe a little sooner that I've seen one of the best hmmm how should I describe - character moments? When a certain thing happens (even though you hate it I'm not sure if you are comfortable with spoilers so I will avoid them) one of the characters does something that very rarely happens in anime - ane his actions following said event are really the shit. But like I said - it's not really worth it to force yourself up to this point.
I would recommend Tales of the Abyss because the story, the characters and the "seriousness" of the story and it's implications are the real deal. HOWEVER - this anime is adapted from a game of the same title. A game that took me over 40 hours to complete - if we take out combat and exploration this leaves us at around 16-18 hours. And they made a 26-episode anime from it. Needless to say - a lot was cut out, sometimes whole plotlines were castrated and sometimes some were simplified and other times they just cut the story so much that it's hard to follow. Pacing is a real issue here since the story rushes ahead so fast that it quickly leaves anyone who hasn't plaeyed the game in the dust. It's a real shame since it would otherwise make an incredible show.
My attention span and memory is that of a goldfish most times so while I can talk about something when it's mentioned I find it quite hard to just remember a specific title by myself.
Have you seen Darker than Black? It's not on your list but then again neither was GC.
Well it's hard to recommend titles like that - I've been going through my list for the past 15 minutes but some of the titles I don't even remember myself. That's what happens after 500+ titles on the list... But that's not even a thing since my mate has over 2k - now that is hardcore.
I think one of my most loved scenes in Zetsuen was the stalemate on the island when they were negoatiating for like 3 episodes - I loved those. My friend had a long-week discussion with his fiancé because she hated and thought it was boring.
I'm not in shape so to speak recently. I used to check every season and watch 15 series or so while they were still airing and now I barely watch an average of 1 series/week. It would seem I waste too much time replaying older games. But that's what happens - I plyed around a thousand games in my life and some of them were so good that I like to go back - when I do however I don't have the time to play the new ones. I currently have 3 games ordered and just waiting for them to be shipped but I don't think I'll have time to play any of them for another 2 weeks or so. Not to mention a stack of about 10 titles I already have on my shelf still in their original packaging. Yeah... first world problems.
I'm really into sports anime - contrary to real life sports that I find boring for the most part.
Have you given a try to Kuroko no Basket? That one is about basketball (well 'duh) but it goes way higher, it doesn't even go over the top it just skyrockets the fence into outer space. Some people hate on this one but I had a couple laughs when they performed... special moves.
I really loved One Outs altough it's not so much about baseball as it is about psychology. Also one of the series that has a complete badass for a protagonist and that "badassery" does not come from physical strength.
I'm in the mood for a horror/mystery/thriller series but it seems like I've already seen most of what there is in the genre. Oh woe sie me.
In Cold Steel there is a group of students in a military academy and on their first day they go to the old schoolhouse with their instructor for a sort of orienteering course. Then a trapdoor opens and they all fall down. The protagonist - Rean wants to protect one of the girl and he jumps in front to catch her. In the end she lands her goodies in his face and after they get up he gets slapped and then she proceeds to give him the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. But as days pass (you sort of follow the exploits of the class by watching them day by day) she notably feels guilty about the whole situation knowing that it was just an accident and that she overreacted - she tries to help him out answering a teacher's question for example (whether or not it helps is player determined since we get to pick the answer in the first place) and over the course of the days she constantly tries to find a way to apologize which finaly culminates with her just coming out straight and saying that she's sorry.
I love the game for how it handles characters and their development as well. There are 9 people in the class + their combat instructor/homeroom teacher and all of them have really compeling backstories that you get to experience on your own sometimes just observing and sometimes influencing a character and actually changing the way they feel and think. It's commendable how well it is done so I just cannot wait for the sequel that comes out in a couple weeks (already got it preordered too).
And while I'm at it - a friend of mine asked me how I felt about the ending to the first game so I made him this - https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9v7EPtdBGdwaGV6UXB4Q1NPSGM
That's pretty much what the ending does to you - it crushes you and makes you wait another year for a sequel.
Kazuma - I always liked the badass type of characters. That's pretty much why most of my favourite series (not counting romances which I like just as much but they are in a different cattegory) are series like Mahouka or Chrome Shelled Regios - one of the things they have in common is a powerful protagonist. Worthy of note - I don't just consider a badas a character with physical (or magical) strength or combat prowess. I believe inteligence is just as strong a forte.
(you can insert a joke about how I'm compensating right here)
There was a channel in my country called Hyper back in the day and it was mainly a channel about games (it ran from 8 PM till midnight) and they would air a single episode of an anime a day. So I did catch a few episodes of Vampire Princess Miyu or Slayers or Castle in the Sky (okay I don't remember the name but it was something like that) and there was also RTL7 and Dragon Ball that we all used to watch in elementary school.
I wanted to recommend shinsekai yori but I see you've already watched it. You may want to check out Guilty Crown - it does seem to fit your likes. It has also one of the best soundtracks ever - I still listen to it to this very day when I'm in the office. Since you enjoyed Zetsuen no Tempest I think that you will enjoy this as well.
Aight' enough stalking - time to get back to work.
I see that not only in anime but also in games of let's say "islandish" origin. Like the old "going down/up the ladder" thing.
I'd say tropes in general are a bad thing since that's why they become a trope however I think it has additional impact if they actually go for it and they do it right - maybe even baiting you in the process.
There was something like that in a game called Trails of Cold Steel where in the beginning I thought it was the kind of thing we were reffering to earlier however they settled it in a great way and looking at the whole picture I'm glad they did it.
And with Kaze no Stigma I must admit it was in fact one of the first series I have ever watched (my total series watched was probably a single digit back then) so I have a special place in my heart for this one. Especially since it pretty much defined the kind of protagonist that would become my favourite in the years to come.
You literally wrote all of the thoughts I had while watching the movie. At the water scene I was like "is this symbolism? This is symbolism right? Am I supposed to feel something now?" Anyways, very confusing movie and a very good review.
Something you might've missed though, that I think at least explains why he was there at all (the transfer student, I'm bad with names) is that the fox was him. His father went back in time, fell in love with hasegawa or whatever her name was, went to the future, had a child, named it *insert transfer students name*, went back with him in time to prevent hasegawa from going with him to the future (because she was unhappy or some shit)
The best thing of this is, hasegawa wanted to fuck her son. Lmao. Targaryans approve.
oh yeah but thanks for the nice words glad you laughed ^^
This is the kind of tangent that we're not supposed to think about. It's like a "thing" that a lot of creators use in many anime. But it can be put to good use (like pretty much anything) - and it was done this way in Kaze no Stigma where Ayano did in fact take a few swings at Kazuma but since he is a total badass (pretty much the biggest monster in terms of power in the entire series) that everytime he just easily dodges it (and sometimes counters it in a flirty way like kissing her on the nose) - that was okay. But when the character gets hit over and over again - I imediately lose all my interest in him.
I love the main hero of Trinity Seven and it's 50/50 there - he does get hit but he's like "well it was totally worth it since I got a good look" or something like that.
I never understood how inflicting physical pain can be a sign of affection. I get that it's an introvertic thing (I'm an introvert myself) to have difficulty expressing emotions and feelings but substituting those feelings with something completely oposite is just stupid.
Sorry for the wall of text :P
This is a quote from your review of Nerawareta Gakuen. I completely agree with this statement - do you mind if I use this in my signature?
i loved the ART it was perfect
but it was awful and Disappointing