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Feb 16, 2017
First line bottom line:watch it. You can expect cute girls fighting monsters, heartwarming sister-sister moments between said cute girls, amazing sound and ost, gritty visuals and amazing action animation. (CG is scarce throughout the show) If you'd like a more in-depth analysis continue reading.
I don't know if it happens to everyone or if it's just me but every once in a while you'll stumble across a show that, despite seeing and understanding all of its flaws, you still love to pieces.
While I couldn't point my finger at what was wrong qhile I was watching it, I'm fairly certain that Ga-Rei zero is a good example
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of what happens when the pre-production team is not in sync. Let me explain. The feeling I had when watching was that the characters' realism in their acting was all over the place; at times cliche and completely unrealistic, at times really human and interesting;which is also what bugged me at times when it was coupled with the amazing animation of some scenes.
Speaking of animation, the visuals are amazing. The action scenes are breath taking (which excuses the visually bland dialogue scenes), not afraid of showing blood while not overdoing it and the character designs are charming (my remembering secondary characters' names is proof of that); too bad their development is just outright bad.
The only secondary characters we are given some background of are Kagura's father and thatone line about the Nabus; heck, we even know more about Kagura's mother,who doesn't even appear, then the agents.
My only other complaint is about fan service that, while it's not extreme or overly present, it's still way too blatant for its own good.
The sound and music are amazing, they really set the mood. They even feature the singer from Mirai Nikki op (it was one of the best "ah-ha!" moments in a while).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 29, 2016
REVIEW SUMMARY: . + Original series . + Good action good "romance" good animation .+ Pretty girls with little fanservice .+Amazing OST and sound design .~ Pacing .~Arcs feel to "detached" from one another .~ Meh comedy .- Too short story .- Secondary characters have almost no development .- A F&@%#*G FILLER EPISODE
SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH THIS IS MY OPINION, YOU MAKE YOURS YOURSELF.
It looks like studios are finally realizing that the first episode is what hooks you and the ending is paramount so, having just finished watching, I could be slightly positively biased because of the ending being REALLY satisfying (+1 point to the director).
Nevertheless, I'll
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try my best to be as"objective" as possible.
What made me start watching Izetta?
1) It's an original story made by a studio I never really heard of and a director I never really heard of
2) Promising setting
What had me worried before watching?
1)Cheesy premise
2)Possibly excessive fanservice and "edgyness"
3) *see point 1 of the previous category*
What made me stay?
1)Beautiful character designs
2)Interesting world "mechanics" (alternative version of WWII, how magic works, etc.)
3)OMG THE MUSIC
4)Action (I'll come back to this)
5)Yuri *nghh*
What would I change?
1)Get rid of some of the kind-of-useless secondary characters and expand upon the "useful" ones (e.g. the friendship between Berkman and the "pilot guy", the royal guard, etc.)
2)Since it looked like it wanted to be a military show, I wouldn't have minded some more details on military strategy since it looks like Izetta is the only asset Eylstadt has.
3)More "human" dialogue (which would contrast better with public speeches).
Additional notes.
The sound department did a fantastic job, I would have expected the music to fit the time setting of the '40s but it actually has a "witch theme" which I didn't even know it could actually exist! It's a mix of "medieval" sounding tones with clavicenbalus and strings and more rock tones for the action sequences all glued together by the everpresent and epic sounding choir; you can even hear some electronic vibes in the last episode.
Sound design is spot on and even the magic chime (which had the highest chance of becoming annoying) was managed really good.
As for VAs there isn't anything to really complain about even if Fine's voice, while it fit the character, didn't really perform well in private emotional moments.
The action scenes are really well done, you can feel the speed and the impacts even whith something as silly as a girl riding a cannon. Even if most of the vehicles and "massive" objects are cg you can feel the weight of a tank being hurled at the sky, which is a feat in of itself.
All in all I enjoyed Izetta, her massive boobs didn't disrupted the flow of the story as much as I thought they would and while it didn't turn out to be the strictly politics/military show I thought it would be, I realized that story is not about the war or the magic, but it's about Fine and Izetta and their struggles between being lovers and having the fate of a country in their hands.
Quote of the show:
"If my life could grant Fine's wish, then I think I would go to the stake with a smile".
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 31, 2016
** Please watch the ONA before reading this review. Don't get biased by the reviewers **
I had high hopes for this and while the end result didn't meet the expectations, I wouldn't mind being a backer for a full lenght movie.
In my opinion the big mistake made by the creators is, indeed, relying solely on crowdfunding; nice concept, but very impractical.
but let's stop with the "what if" and review the actual ONA, starting with what I liked (be positive yay)
It is visually stunning, from the static art to the actual animation it's nearly flawless.
The character designs remind my of ufotable's (especially the ones for
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God Eater) and anyone who knows me knows that I FREAKING LOVE ufotable's designs.
As for the characters themselves, that's where the problems start, as they're completely generic and we're given no background whatsoever. I get it that the runtime is very short, but we've already had proof that yo can make a lot with little time so taht's no excuse for skipping character development entirely.
Story-wise.. what story? When the ending credits start to roll we know as much as we did in the first minute about the world, flowers, pandoras, etc.
This looked more of a teaser or a prelude to the real story. This makes you want more but at the same time makes you question your decision of backing the project.
That said there are a few direction decisions I really liked, for example:
-American soldriers actually talking American voiced by American VAs
-Exploiting the viewer tendency to "trust" the character with most screen time just to kill her and making everyone realize she was not the real MC
-THE FREAKING SOUND DESIGN OMG.
All in all while I am disappointed I still find myself wanting more so, if they'll ever start another campaign for a full movie and find some sponsor to help the funding, I'll be happy to back it
Thank you for reading!
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 18, 2016
Review summary:
Pros: Those feels; ...and the award for "Cutest girl of 2015" goes to... ; Actually-interesting protagonist-kun; my eyes are so pleased right now.
Cons: Setting?; who the hell is him/her?! ; Those feels (again); wild episode one uses: CLICKBAIT!
Hi all! Hope you're having a good time 'cause I'M GONNA RUIN IT! Well, actually, despite what everyone is saying I don't think you have to be "looking fir trouble" to watch and more importantly, enjoy Plastic Memories.
Like a good dish, a movie/series has to have every kind of flavor in it: some lovey-dovey sweetness, a sprinkle of up-beat salt, a bit of sour jealousy
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and some bitter moments; and while this show is a bit more on the bitter side, it feels fresh, enjoyable and complete (it's so rare to find a show with an actual ending).
Plastic Memories succeeds in taking you through an emotional rollercoaster making you care and empathize with the characters, until you understand you really didn't know them as much as you thought and you are ready to say goodbye.
Despite what the synopsis might suggest, the show is much more focused on the main characters' overarching story than the single retrievals which, while being touching and all, feel a bit detached and of secondary importance instead of being actual cause for reflection and development for the protagonists; but this is just a small remark on my side.
Character-wise, I think Isla gets to be the most adorable girl in this year of anime goodness. Gorgeous-looking, awkward enough to make you go "aww" but not so much it gets "nauseating" and while she still falls under the loli-dandere trope, she still feels complex and.. "real".
(Almost) every other character is just the same; you still get your usual assortment of tsunderes, genkis, cool guys and overly-violent bosses but the more you watch, the more you "uncover deeper layers" of their personality, which feels really really good.
The only real criticism I have character-wise is that, because of all the depth in most character, some of them get very little screen time, so much so that I can't remember some of their names. This, in my opinion, happened to Sherry, the doctor-maintenance guy and Ren (I actually needed to look through the character list to find it) who we know really little about.
Visually the show is awfully good, the animation felt like it got better and better throughout the season with a really good "quality management" going from simple dialog scenes to full sakuga when needed. This, together with the music and sound effects sets the mood extraordinarily well, especially when those subtle expressions make you understand a character's feeling, much like in Kyoukai no Kanata. The only thing that got me "upset" is the big change in quality between episode 1 and the few following.
Character designs are unique, colorful and appropriate to their personality and I think this is the show with the least amount of fan-service I've ever seen; which is a plus of course.
Now it's time for my biggest criticism to the show: this "Giftia-thing".
It's the main point to the show but I can't get around to join the terms "android" and "soul" together: just how and why can you love a robot? And how and why can a robot love you? The "how" question is "how mechanically can you "phisically love" a robot" but this can be answered with "It's platonic" which seems fair enough; it's the "why" question that bothers me.
They explain it by saying that giftias have a "soul"; which seems to me like a lazy "magic-like" answer. I feel like they could have explained it a bit better, but, hey, that's just me.
Final considerations! I thoroughly recommend this show to anyone who needs a break from the generic action/cliche anime and wants something a bit more "on the human-side" and, on a last note, while this is structurally speaking a tragedy (starts from a simple situation, which gets more and more complicated without an happy ending) it will give you many happy moments and it gives you time to get to terms with the inevitable ending (you know how it will end basically half way through the season) so that you are ready to say goodbye and carry on. This is one of the few shows (both anime and live action) that made me actually laugh and cry without cliche and predictable tricks.
P.S.
This show is a great example of anime for more mature audience because of neither sexual themes nor excessive violence (good to show to anyone who keeps saying that anime can't be for adults hehehe)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 1, 2015
If you're reading this looking for recommendations and such then you have my approval, go and watch Steins;Gate. The story is engaging, the animation is outstanding and you'll love the characters by the end of the episode.
Just don't drop it before the 5th episode since it takes that long to get going.
Still here? Ok time for a more in-depth critique UHAHAHAHAHA! (you'll have to get used to this).
Without repeating the full synopsis, Steins;Gate is the story of "MIRAI GAJETTO LABU" (future gadget lab) a small group of people inventing useless gadgets, that so happens to create a time machine. The lab leader Okabe Rintarou
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will have to face all the consequences of time travel such as paradoxes, butterfly effect and such.
Technically, this anime is outstanding. The staff had a really good concept and story to work with and instead of screwing it all up, as has happened too many times in the industry, they succeded in mixing beautiful character designs, awesome voice actors (even though "Tutturuu~" was becoming pretty annoying) and beautiful music with one of the best animations I've seen so far.
It's all nice and dandy but there are still downsides I want to address.
First and foremost: Run-up
I like it when a show gives me time to get comfortable with setting and characters before get going with abstract and complicated theories on space-time, but 5 episodes is way to much, even more considering it's set in Akihabara of 5 years ago (2010) which is quite easy to feel immersed in being an ordinary city-scape.
Protagonist-kun
Closing to the resolution of the story, it becomes quite obvious it comes from a visual novel where, based on the player's actions, one of the characters falls in love with the protagonist.
The direction decided to take most (if not all) of the possible "game-routes" and animate them giving hints of your usual harem anime. That said, it's quite subtle and they all fit fine in the grand scheme of the story. It just slightly bugged me.
LOUD NOISES!
Everyone of the 3 "main-main" characters has a signature noise that's repeated till it gets annoying (Mayushii's "tutturuu", Rintarou's laugh and Daru's "jan"). This combined with self embarassing situations ("IT'S SO KUURU, YOU SONOFABITCH") made my-"hyper-empathic"-self want to skip ahead few minutes not to see/hear it.
All in all, as you might have guessed from my ratings, I give Steins;Gate a huge thumb up and recommend everyone watches it, it's fun, it's great conversation topic, and it'll keep your brain working, plus it has just my kind of humor.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 25, 2015
This is my first review (yay!) so please bear with me.
I finished reading Variante in a week time... Which means i really liked it!
Even though the story isn't that original, what struck me was the psyche of the characters, especially the main ones,which portraied masterfully, inspiring deed thoughts about life and righteousness of the methods used seeking the truth.
About visuals, there were times where I stared at some panels just admiring the expressions and details. The gore was a bit excessive at times,so much so, I couldn't even make out what was going on, fortunately these panels were enough far apart from each others not
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to make it annoying.
As for downsides, the story is the weakest point of all; likely due to the low number of chapters, interactions between the characters feel rushed and unrealistic (at the end I was like: "Oh! So there was a love story!").
In the end:
+ points: amazing art style - points: predictable story
Really good character introspection. Unrealistic interactions
Action, blood and gore YEAH!
So, if you want a short, powerful read with action but still like a bit of psychological thriller this is for you.
Thanks for reading!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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