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May 14, 2022
As a fan of Sonoda's work from Gunsmith Cats to Riding Bean, hearing that a new OVA was in the works was great and I was steadily waiting for it to release over the years, but unfortunately what we got was quite a disappointment.
It's not bad, far from it actually. From what we got, it seems like a perfect modern interpretation of Riding Bean. Fast muscle cars, realistic depictions of firearms and hot girls. That's Riding Bean to a tee and this OVA is pretty damn accurate to the manga/anime. Evening adding a few aspects from Gunsmith Cats (such as May and Becky who
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weren't in the original Riding Bean from what I recall). It even has some unique references to his previous work (such as Becky making the same face Rally does when she's in the restroom).
Sounds great, right? Well, the key words "what we got" should tip you off that it's unfinished. I'm assuming it was an issue with money and that's a real shame because for the 7 minutes of animation we did get it's actually quite fun, there's action and SOME dialogue between characters and even that weird Sonoda charm.
Story - 3/10
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Basically nonexistent, it's there I guess but that's it. You could argue that an anime like this doesn't really *need* a story beyond an item to deliver, but for what we get it's basically nothing., a bunch of characters talking and some action and...that's it. Hell, the credits are half the length of the animation and that's to thank all the kickstarter backers.
Art - 7/10
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It's good, what I expect from anime these days. It's nice to see Sonoda's 80's designs in a modern style and nothing looks off or bad in my opinion. The CG on the cars (I think) is noticeable *slightly* but it doesn't detract from the anime, and the guns look great and accurate.
Sound - 8/10
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The BEST part of the OVA. It's on point and sounds fantastic, really hope there's an OST release of all these tracks because so far this is something people should watch for alone. Seriously, I was jamming to what I was hearing during the only car chase and the ending credits, even re-listening to it while writing this review.
Characters - 6/10
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While we do not get any time to really get to know any of the characters, you can feel a lot of charisma from Bean himself, and get a small idea how other characters are. Rally being the partner, May being the new recruit, Becky the information gatherer and Percy the detective attempting to arrest Bean. However, I already know how these characters should be and act from his previous work so even what I'm saying here may not be carried across well in the OVA.
Overall - 6/10
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Even then, I'm being quite generous. There's around 7 minutes of actual animation, and then 4 minutes of credits, ending on a cliffhanger and we don't even know what the main plot is. I still enjoyed what I watched with the only disappointing part being how short it is and the cliffhanger. It'd be like watching Terminator 2 from the arcade to the canal chase and ending it there, you got a pretty great scene but that's it and it desperately leaves you wanting more.
Final Thoughts:
Just watch it because it's not bad by any means, just incomplete. If you like Riding Bean/Gunsmith Cats (hell,if you're fan of action of any kind), give this a watch since it's pretty short (for better and for worse) and can be completed in no time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 7, 2022
**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS**
tl;dr: It's a good adaptation that tries to quickly tell the story of the first two games in 13 episodes but misses what made Shenmue what it is. You are free to watch this without playing the games but doing so may make the story, characters and world feel less impactful and interesting.
As a fan of Shenmue since its release (or close to) seeing an anime of it is welcome, but also quite confusing. In my opinion, Shenmue is a game that is about the minutiae of everyday life that you should really experience for yourself at your own pace.
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Even if you can't appreciate that factor, it still is an incredibly unique experience for everything it has to offer. A semi-open world game set in a rural 80's Japan where you can walk, talk and interact with pretty much everyone and everything made in 1999! The game oozes soul from the moment you start exploring the world and it just keeps it up, it's incredible to think a game like this could exist back then and that's one of the things I love about the game.
Seeing an anime of Shenmue feels like it is cheapening the experience, like most (keyword "most") video game adaptations the source material is always the best way to experience it, and Shenmue is no exception. If you are interested in Shenmue in anyway you should always play the games as they are what Yu Suzuki wanted and a majority of fans have experienced. That is to say, watching the anime is by no means a substitute for playing the games. This is an anime made for the fans (and almost made BY the fans) and if you're not a fan you probably won't enjoy this anime that much. It will seem rushed, confusing and overall not something that represents what Shenmue is all about.
However, the Shenmue anime isn't entirely terrible. I feel that it is around a 7.5. The anime gives a cleaner, faster and to the point experience of showing the viewer the story, characters and world of Shenmue. Letting you experience around 40 hours of content in 13 episodes and so far (4 episodes) it has done a good enough job.
The anime even goes as far as giving more content. Scenes such as the martial arts tournament that occurred the same day Ryo's father was killed at the beginning of the game was added to the 1st episode, Ryo also talks and hangs out with his friends (well Nozomi) more often than he did in the game, more scenes showing Shenhua (the mysterious girl who seems to know of Ryo's impending journey) in her village were added and even backstory relating to the inner workings and discussions of the underground crime syndicate as Ryo interacts with them during the game were added. The anime feels like it knows that it can't replicate the games 100% and instead opts for a faster and skewed perspective on the plot, adding interesting changes to the show for better or for worse.
The animation is decent, fights are few and far between (much like the game) but when they occur they hit hard. Punches and kicks feel and sound POWERFUL and make each encounter quite entertaining to watch, with QTE's also becoming quite the display of Ryo's strength and dexterity instead of loud beeping in your ear as you fail to press A on the Dreamcast controller in time, seeing Ryo fall to the floor wincing in pain due to your own mistake. The art is...fine, it's pretty standard for modern anime of the time and portrays each character well enough to recognize them but it's nothing incredible, it does suffer from the horrible 3D background characters in certain shots, but it doesn't entirely detract from the show.
Voice acting is great. Making emotional and dangerous scenes feel more impactful, serious and is honestly better for it. The Japanese dub for Shenmue even back on the Dreamcast was quite good and this anime even has the same voice actors for Ryo and Lan Di giving the exact same performance as they did 20+ years ago.
As for the story; it feels rushed and it's an understandable compromise, while it does get to the point faster it misses out on the smaller parts of the game. Scenes such as the tattoo parlour and sneaking into warehouse number 8 are removed in favour of speeding up the plot. It's not bad and you could argue removes some of the "fluff" the original game had but it does make the overall pace of the show feel faster and and misses the point of Shenmue being a slower experience. I do also think that when told directly as this anime is doing, the story will seem subpar, perhaps even cliche for the average viewer.
Characters are also a mixed bag. While some are made to be less important than they are. Such as Tom, the man who sells hot dogs in the first episode who is a valuable friend to Ryo in the first game, is regulated to one conversation in the first episode and that's it. Others such as Nozomi (Harasaki), Goro and Fuku-san are given much more screentime in the anime, even going as far as having additional scenes not shown in the games, I actually really like this change since it makes the characters feel a lot more important to the plot and to Ryo.
The music is probably the biggest disappointment for me. I love the original tracks that the games had and wish I could've heard more of them replicated or remixed here, but instead this anime has pretty forgettable tracks I find, serving as nothing more than background noise to listen to while scenes play out. In the Ace Attorney anime, a majority of the music from the games was remixed to play when they would've in the games, it's a shame that Shenmue didn't try and take this approach with the anime and the only tracks from the games that I have heard so far being the main theme and Shenhua's theme.
Overall, the anime is not bad. I will say that if you have any intention of watching this anime you might instead want to look into the games instead and watch this afterwards to compliment it. However, if you're fine with watching it then Shenmue is a decent attempt at adapting the games for the viewer removing "fluff" and getting straight to the point of the story.
Pros
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Mostly an accurate and faithful retelling of the games (with some caveats)
Original VA's for Ryo and Lan Di
Animation is good enough
Additional scenes not seen in the games
Cons
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A small selection of music from the games
Side characters lose a lot of spotlight when they were integeral to the games
Plot has to be rushed so it can fit into 13 episodes
Multiple changes to the story could be seen as differing too much from the source material
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 3, 2018
I've been a fan of High Score Girl since the manga and I think the anime is a pretty good adaption of it overall. The score it currently has really doesn't suit it but it might be because it's not for everyone I personally think it's great due to the atmosphere, story, comedy and of course the retro video games.
The story takes place in 1991 when the main character, Haruo finds the rich quiet girl Ono, playing a game of Street Fighter 2 at an arcade and defeating everybody who challenges her, even our guy Haruo. Eventually through blood, sweat and cheap tactics Haruo steals
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a win off her and in retaliation she punches him right in the face, and that's how this love story start.
Don't let the CGI fool you, this isn't just some cheap anime that's trying to rope you in because it has retro video games (although, that is why I was roped in, and they're great). The anime itself has great comedic moments, heartfelt moments and even some dramatic and shocking moments. The anime can have you gawking at the accurate retro games to laughing your arse off to Ono punching Haruo whenever he gives a cheeky remark to worrying over whether or not Ono and Haruo will play another game at the arcade again! There can be cute moments from Ono being scared of spooky games and there can be uncute moments such as a guy asking to see the bone in Haruo's penis, but that's a story for another time.
The main aspect of the anime is obviously the retro video games, but as time goes on they take a backseat I'd say. You really get to love the characters and the games just become set pieces, but fun set pieces because you can feel the joy of seeing them just like the main characters. If you're a fan of cute romance stories, comedy and retro games then definitely give this one a try, I'd say it's AOTS just from the first four episodes., there really is nothing like it as well it's such a unique and interesting anime that even if you're not a huge fan of retro games you should give it a watch just for the environment it is set in.
The only negatives I can really give this show is that, the first episode can be quite slow due to setting things up and being a collection of stories but the later episodes don't have this, and another negative could be the CGI although you hardly notice it as you watch it.
Overall, I find High Score Girl to be a unique and interesting anime just because of it's setting being untapped in anime, but it doesn't mean it's a story trying to sell itself with retro video games. It's a cute love story and I think that the games help give it a unique story and plot device to bundle it all up in.
Pros
-Retro games galore from the gameplay to the sound effects
-Cute Romance Story
-Has a lot of funny moments
-Cute heartfelt moments as well, has a few tearjerkers as well
Cons
-Episodes can be slow, the first one especially
-CGI can be an eyesore depending on who you ask
As of now, there are no subs from official groups, but there are some fansubs out there to find, so keep an eye out. I'd give it a 8/10 just because it's really what you can expect from the manga and more. I'm also happy that the score has gone up from a 6.7 to a 7.1, I hope this can at least break a 7.5.
Also please excuse how awful this review is, I just noticed there was none so I wrote one up at 3am, and then it was removed due last week and I just wanted to repost it when the 4th episode came out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 18, 2018
I don't review manga much, if at all. But I feel like something like this could be very good, and while there are only 9 chapters as of now. I think someone finding this might want to see a longer review for a better understanding.
So, I found this manga in an odd way. I wanted to find out what "Houtei" meant in Mahjong and googled it, and upon discovering this and reading the synopsis I instantly started to read it.
To reiterate what the synopsis says, this is a story about a 29 year old loser who despite his best efforts has failed to become a
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lawyer several times. In a drunken fit, he stumbles into the road, gets his by a car and gets sent to another world, and soon gets himself in the middle of a court case where he has to defend someone being accused of hurting a nobleman.
The best way to really describe this would be if Phoenix Wright went to another world and had to defend clients there. It's got everything you could ask for if you're a fan of Ace Attorney. I even listen to the music from Ace Attorney when I read this because it fits so damn well.
Each chapter usually sets up the case in around 10-12 pages, and then has Shiba be somewhere in the picture to defend the person for the remainder. Cases range from generic murder, to petty theft and even trying to skip out on the bill at a restaurant. It can be quite a thrill to see the Shiba use all the law he has memorized to win cases, sometimes referring to them word to word, especially when it's used in creative ways.
The first case he takes on has him trying to defend a single half-elf against a nobleman. Since no one else will take the case, Shiba has to. With no experience in court, a stubborn defendant and an experienced prosecutor, and man is it a ride. I really enjoy reading it just because of the vibe it gives off, it's one person vs the whole court and he pulls through with everything against him.
Another interesting aspect about this manga is the world. Since the world is a magical medieval place with elves and noblemen who we don't understand, it's interesting for Shiba to deal with them on a daily basis. Using Japanese Law to turn the tables on a court case is very interesting.
This is a manga that is pretty special as there's nothing really else like it. I mean sure, you've got Ace Attorney but is there anything else? While it's still early days for this manga, I still think you should give it a read if you're unsure about it. It's 9 chapters long right now, so it's not like you're losing anything by reading it.
Overall, it's hard to really give a big impression of the manga. If you like Ace Attorney, give it a read. If you've never seen/played Ace Attorney but enjoy turnabouts and fantasy, give it a read. I also do recommend reading with the Ace Attorney soundtrack that you can quickly shift through, it give it a little more "Oomph".
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 19, 2017
**Small spoilers ahead, but mostly for the fan service***
I don't review stuff, but I feel like someone who has seen a lot of gambling anime should give my take on the show.
So, I've been a fan of gambling anime for a while now. I had seen it all, Kaiji, Akagi, One Outs, Legendary Gambler Tetsuya etc. So when I heard Kakegurui was going to be the new jaw dropping, nail biting gambling experience in anime form for us gambling fans I was pretty excited.
Man, was I wrong.
Let me get this straight from the start, Kakegurui isn't bad it's just...tainted. It's tainted with cringey fan service,
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it's tainted with weird sexual facial animations and people have orgasms over gambling that are, once again, fan service, it's tainted with dumb characters, a weird plot, fan service everywhere. It's one of those animes that normal people think of when they think of anime.
I'll give a quick run down of the story, but it's basically about a girl who comes to this rich school that makes their students gamble and if they lose too much they become a "housepet" which is just like being a slave to the other students. You're treated like trash and in some cases have your entire lives written out for you down to the smallest detail so that you'd be able to pay back the school whatever you owe them if you can't currently. (Such as getting married, being a housewife and having three kids before you're even 30)
If you have good taste and have seen/read Kaiji or Akagi, then you're probably dismissing this as trash and, you're right to do so but I wouldn't say to completely disregard it. The good part of this anime is still that the gambling is quite interesting (at least to me), and while you know Yumeko is going to win you want to see how she's going to win, if she's going to cheat or if there's going to be a random turnabout that no one saw coming (in a similar way to Akagi), the music is surprisingly good as well (well, not the OP and ED those are awful), it's not Kaiji/Akagi tier (but who could beat Tanuchi?) but it's good in its own right and surprisingly Yumeko as a character is actually a bit interesting due to being unpredictable in ways. Sadly it all boils down to one thing as a viewer.
Can you stomach all the fan service?
Okay, maybe I'm implying that the show is like 5 minute of gambling and 15 minutes of fan service for the whole show, but it's really not. Instead you're getting fan service being thrown in for no real reason at random intervals. One episode had the main character pretend to be a cat, get down on all fours and start meowing after she became a housepet for the first time. Another episode had her and some random idol start singing on stage together for a minute and a half, and man the amount of times people sensually whisper in each others ears while blushing is too much.
It's just confusing and cringeworthy stuff. Imagine if in Kaiji, he started to dance whenever he won a gamble and pretend to play an air guitar, it's just weird and ruins the mood of the show.
To add onto this, the plot barely deals with anything like death or loss of body parts (well one episode had her betting her fingernails). If you lose, the worst thing that could happen to you is becoming a housepet and having your life written out for you, and it's not even that bad since in many cases you can just pay off the debt because, surprise surprise, you're the kids of rich people (although many of the debts are very very high and are too much for the parents, it's still POSSIBLE to pay off the debts). If you're the kind of person who wants there to be a big consequence behind the gambles instead of just gambling for fun, then you're not going to enjoy this even if you do find the gambles interesting.
Yumeko as a character is like a watered down Akagi, she's kinda unstoppable and is gambling for pleasure more than the feeling of total destruction and I will admit that I do enjoy her being unpredictable and them smiling in the face of the loser, but on the flip side she'll always so a weird sensual thing of facing the character head on with glowing red eyes and telling them to "pay up" whereas Akagi never gave a crap and would've left by now. The side character whatever his name was is just some dude who I guess the viewer is meant to represent and does nothing but tell Yumeko "No don't gamble :(((( " if anything he should've been the main character. I'd rather see him go up against impossible gambles and cheat his way out of it a la Kaiji.
To sum it all up, pick one out that you feel represents you.
1) Have you seen Kaiji, Akagi, One Outs, Tetsuya and read a whole array of gambling manga, are you here for the gambling?
Give it a shot, you might enjoy it. The fan service is awful, but the gambles in of themselves are interesting. Well, if you don't already work out the cheating behind some of them.
2) Have you seen the above, but want a show that's thrilling, nail biting, jaw droppingly intense?
Give it a pass, sorry man but you're not going to like this. The gambles mean very little, and the fan service just worsens the whole experience.
3) Have you see the above, and can stomach fan service?
Give it a watch, if you enjoy fan service, this show is chocked full of it along with gambling.
4) Have you not see the above, but want to watch some gambling?
Stop what you're doing, and watch Kaiji because that's the superior gambling anime, with One Outs trailing behind for people who don't know Mahjong. This show barely touches what makes gambling so great.
5) Did you actually look at/watch Kaiji/Akagi and think "Damn, this artstyle is ugly, and the story is boring, man this is awful"?
Yeah, this is your anime right here. You'll enjoy this stuff 100%.
6) If you've truly got nothing to watch, and like gambling?
Give a few episodes a go, you've got nothing better to do if you've seen it all and just want to see something new, it might be your thing.
Now of course, everyone has their own opinion on this stuff. Maybe I've missed the point of what has made this great, maybe I'm comparing it to a masterpiece and in comparison it sucks. Who knows, personally I don't think Kakegurui is bad, the art is nice, the music is good, the gambles are fun to watch (mostly) but it's just not as good as other gambling anime out there that you could spend your time watching. If you've got nothing else and think 12 episodes is worth your time, go for it, otherwise if this is your fist gambling anime or Kaiji is still on your "Going to watch" list, do yourself a favour and watch Kaiji instead.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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