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Dec 12, 2008
Have you ever wondered what your dreams possibly meant? How about your nightmares? And have you ever wished there was someone who could help you with them?
Enter Hiruko, a dream-eater demon. He interprets and helps people with their nightmares at the condition that he gets to eat the nightmares afterwards. He doesn’t go hungry, because there are plenty of unfortunate folk seeking his help.
There is no general plot that I can see yet, and every chapter seems to deal with a different client and case, so it’s great if you like oneshots. The cases are all very interesting, and entering the nightmares is the best
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part. The nightmares are well done, with great senses of abstractness and surrealism, and the cleverest symbolism I have seen in a while. These cases all conclude in attention-gripping ways, and include great twists.
There are few recurring characters, but Hiruko himself is very likable. He acts as a psychologist, and is very knowing and quite skilled in dream-interpretation. He says he doesn’t care about anything besides his payment, but it is clear that he’s a great guy and enjoys helping. His clients are all very interesting people as well (since when did boring people need psychs?) and it is extremely enjoyable to delve into their minds and try to figure out their inner psychology and solve their mental mysteries.
The art isn’t the most impressive things ever, but it is consistent and you can tell who’s who. Speech bubble placements are well done, and the paneling is quite ingenious and adds to the overall atmosphere.
If I HAD to find a flaw with Nightmare Inspector, it’d be that the flow of the plot is dependent on coincidences. But that can be turned around, because the coincidences add to it and create a creepy mood.
This has got great mystery and psychology, with chilling horror undertones adequately integrated into the mix. The title already conveys a good idea of its genre. If you’re looking for comedy, this probably wouldn’t make you very happy. But if you’re a fan of mystery, you should definitely check this out.
It just might help you decode your own dreams. ;)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 6, 2008
Let’s start with plot. When I heard that it consisted of an all-girls boarding school and a sword fighting tournament, it all sounded like an excuse for yuri and action scenes. Which is cool, I guess, but I wasn’t expecting much when I picked it up at the bookstore and seriously debated whether it was worth paying for.
It surpassed my expectations. The story hasn’t shown itself to be horribly complex or original yet, but it has its merits. It is completely littered with jokes and puns, and very enjoyable to read, and I’m not even a comedy sort of person. Oh, and yes, yuri
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implications and action scenes. :)
The art was great and consistent throughout. I recognized it from Strawberry Shake Sweet, also by the same mangaka. From the front cover to the back, it’s great to look at and fits the mood.
The characters all vary greatly in personality and character design, so you won’t meet the annoying problem of having difficulty telling them apart in this manga, so there really isn’t much thinking involved. Just casual reading, highly enjoyable.
I don’t regret buying it at all. If you’re into yuri (or don’t mind slight amounts of it… because so far, it really HAS only been implications) and are looking for some good, clean fun (well, good fun, anyhow :P), I would definitely recommend you pick this up for a casual read.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 16, 2008
This was, overall, a pretty enjoyable read. It was funny at all the right places, but without getting too cheesy.
Its weakest point is probably its plot. It’s very vague and doesn’t have any set goals. It also makes numerous references to previous instalments in the .hack franchise, so it can be a tad confusing if you haven’t watched .hack//SIGN or played the games. The conclusion is weak, and left me feeling mildly unsatisfied. But there is some intriguing mystery and interesting twists. However, on the other hand, vague unending plots are the very essence of MMORPGs.
The characters are great. The art is amazing, and as
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expected of .hack, the character designs are original, memorable, and fun. The characters all have interesting personalities, and there is considerable character development in the protagonist. Another character that really grows on you is Kamui. It’s a lot of fun to try to guess what the character’s IRL selves are like.
Legend of the Twilight brings you all the fun of MMORPGs in manga format. You can get immersed in it as if you were the one playing The World (and if they ever develop a game like that, I’m getting it). It’s a bit short, but I think the size is just right for such a plot. Worth every cent I paid for it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 16, 2008
Well, let me start by confessing that fact that I’ve only read the first volume. Not out of a lack of interest, but out of a lack of access. I’m still trying to either hunt down the others or save money and get them shipped.
I love what I’ve seen so far though. The mangaka seems to be trying to provide an unbiased view on things like sexual harassment, drugs, and suicide. The cold, brutal, truth, so to speak. None of that Moral Ed stuff where they practically brainwash you and tell you exactly what to do in what situation, but the things that really happen
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to teenage girls, and from their point of view. It’s a bit melodramatic at some points, but the characters are great and easy to sympathize with.
It’s a collection of short stories, each handing a different issue, so there’s not much I can say about the plot. But if you like oneshots, then this is great.
It’s something you should read if you can ever get your hands on it. I’d recommend this to just about anyone actually, because it’s awareness stuff people should know about.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 16, 2008
Whether you love it or hate it, you can’t remain indifferent to Elfen Lied. It’s a highly memorable anime, and a definite must-see.
It’s only fair to warn you - it’s not for the faint of heart. There’s a lot of gore and blatant nudity, all displayed in the most casual matter. Still obviously fanservice, but they manage to pull it off without looking like they’re trying too hard. The violence is mind-blowing, and being completely ripped apart limb-from-limb happens to be the most common cause for death. In short, they forgot how to censor. A bold move, and it had me really close to exiting
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my window within the first few minutes.
But I didn’t, because then the plot kicked in. And it’s one good plot. Highly original, predictable in some places, but still holding some great twists. It’s a tight plot too, and the characters tie together quite well. Pacing is perfect.
Characters range from average to amazing, and from simply detestable to lovable. The writers do a great job of attracting your sympathy to the right places. Lucy seems almost justified in her murderous attacks. Her psychology and background are well-explored, and more than once you’ll find yourself taking her side over the humans and their unfortunate cruelty.
The animation is alright. Music sets a decent mood. The OP is rather creative, although I admit I found myself skipping it a few times, but only because I wanted to get to the action. An instrumental version of “Lilium” is played as background music, and it gets stuck in your head. Good thing it’s a beautiful tune. The ED sounds a bit out-of-place, being J-Pop, but it’s still a good song. Voice acting is great.
I loved this show. It kept me on the edge of my seat, absently wondering who was going to die next and tensing whenever Lucy’s eyes narrowed, yet hanging on to every word of the dialogue and the plot development. Elfen Lied is highly enjoyable, raises interesting psychological questions, and plays well on the viewer’s emotions. A true masterpiece.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Nov 15, 2008
This has to be one of the messiest anime I’ve ever seen. Starting in a traditional high school setting and then suddenly throwing in mecha-fied Shintoism, this manages to make itself yuri. Okay then. And I guess it’s not supposed to make much sense, since all of the citizens in the town manage to go into denial about all supernatural happenings. Right.
Despite this awkward first impression, I enjoyed it. :)
The fanservice gets kind of annoying after a while, or in my case, within the first five minutes. But if fanservice is what you want, then you won’t be disappointed. Otherwise, read on.
The odd plot
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evolves at a pretty fast pace, so you won’t be bored. And at the very end, all of it is revealed to be a pretty tight plot, with a completely unpredictable and emotional ending. It really got to me. Good if you love twists. Yes, it actually makes sense at the end. Logical sense, that is. Nothing will make it feel any less weird, but on the other hand, that makes it rather unique.
The premise is pretty generic and boring at first. Same old save-the-world thing. But what really moves the plot forward are the characters. Yes, I dare declare this a character-driven plot.
So in that case, the characters must be great, right? Unfortunately, half the cast is completely useless. The antagonist cast, that is. Aside from Tsubasa and Miyako (kinda), the Orochi are completely boring. Best I can say for them is that Girochi’s jacket and chains look cool on him. You also have this useless Yukihito guy hanging around at the temple, doing absolutely nothing besides accentuating Souma’s boringness. So how does this plot work? With the main characters, of course. The antagonists are only present for the sake of having other mecha for Souma to bash. Himeko, Chikane, and Souma are the real focus of the anime. Souma means well, but he really doesn’t do much besides go with the flow, so let’s forget about him, okay? ;) That leaves us with Chikane and Himeko. If you happen to immensely dislike the BOTH of them for whatever reason, I’m telling you right now, don’t even bother watching this show. It doesn’t work unless you sympathize with the two. If you love them, then every other detail can easily be overlooked in the end.
Animation’s pretty cool, although it oddly switches between hard lines and really smooth ones. Oh, and the mecha are shiny and really, REALLY cheesy, but that’s why they’re funny to watch. Background music is great and sets a good mood, but what I really gave the points for are the OP/ED. “Re-sublimity” is awesome and I practically fell in love with “agony”. And the voice acting is superb all-around. The English dub made me cringe though (but Miyako’s awesome). XD
Trying my very best the write an unbiased review, but about the enjoyment – I absolutely LOVED it. The pace was great, even though it shed a lot of potential in further development of the Orochi and whatnot. It kept me hooked and absorbed throughout, and I was left stunned when it ended.
I guess I’d recommend it to people who aren’t picky about their anime making sense and focus more on the raw emotion of a situation. XD Tragic romantics. Also anyone who just wants a change of pace from the usual stuff. Kannazuki is SPECIAL, and whether that’s good or bad is an individual thing. :P
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 13, 2008
Madlax’s similarities to Noir kind of turned some people off, and it really IS like Noir. Except I found it better, and quite different in enough aspects to make it worth watching. It’s not JUST a repeat of Noir. Trust me.
Alright, so the plot started out a bit slow, and that was kind of annoying. At 26 episodes, it drags. But if it had been condensed into 13, it wouldn’t have fit. So 26 it is. It is infuriating how it takes forever for the characters to meet up, but our interest is maintained through means of some pretty cool gunfights. When things eventually do
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start to happen though, Madlax begins to shine. It has a pretty interesting theme and the last few episodes were sad, but it’s good drama. It ended well and had an overall tight plot, despite the unanswered questions. Yes, it is like Noir in the sense that there’s this unsolved mystery and secret organization hanging over the whole thing and pulling the strings, but the mystery’s what kept me interested. It’s different from Noir in that while Noir focused on realism, this went the other way and tried to work on abstract imaginary premises.
Madlax has some great characters. My favourite has to be Madlax herself. I like her character design, I like her voice (Sanae Kobayashi is an underrated voice actor), and I like her personality (hardened by war, but still somehow a gentle person. Go fig. That’s an impressive control of emotions). On top of all that, she likes to fight in cocktail dresses. XD That’s never really explained properly, but it’s not overboard as fanservice, and it is pretty funny to watch. Her gun-wielding skills are far above realism, but then again, the entire show deals with surrealism. Margaret is just a tad annoying, but her voice actor portrays her well, and there’s notable character development there. Vanessa and Eleanor were both characters I couldn’t care less for at the beginning, but they gained my attention as the show progressed. Nakhl (Naharu) is another personal favourite of mine, even though all she does it walk around looking cool. She DOES look cool. The antagonist is hilariously lame. Heck, in short, the cast is great.
Music. It’s Kajiura, enough said. :P Okay, so while this isn’t my favourite Kajiura soundtrack, the OP is great and I love the two insert songs, “nowhere” and “I’m here”. I find it awesome how the titles are exact opposites of each other. Anyway, the sound is amazing, and a great backdrop for the dialogue and action. Watching Madlax shoot people isn’t nearly half as fun if your speakers are busted.
I loved Noir, but I think it was a bit rough around the edges and clumsy with plot development. Madlax has a tighter plot, better animation, a bigger, better-rounded cast, and a stronger conclusion. Worth watching if you like Noir, Kajiura, Bee Train, or gunfights. :) Or really mild yuri implications. I don’t know. It’s a plausible reason. XD
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 13, 2008
I was drawn to this anime because of Kannazuki, to be completely honest. It concluded very well, but I wanted to see more. I guess I got it, because Kaon (Chikane) is as awesome as ever, if not better. Other than that, it was kind of hard to sit through until the very end.
Kyoshiro is basically a blend of all of Kaishaku’s previous works. It doesn’t work to its full potential unless you’re familiar enough with all of them to appreciate the references, since it doesn’t have much plot of its own. Well, it does, and it does make coherent sense, but it’s nothing special.
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It starts out really confusing, but should be acknowledged for at least answering all the questions and making sense in the end. Very interesting twists midway too. :) Ending was great, and though predictable, it was still sad. Unfortunately, it was all horribly clichéd, and a complete mess. Whether that’s overlookable or not depends on the individual.
The characters all play on different fetishes, and the excessive fanservice was beyond an acceptable level of annoying, in my opinion. The main character seems to not have any idea what’s going on and speaks to a prince in her head the whole time. I have mixed feelings for Kyoshiro himself. Whenever he does something cool, he just has to go and ruin it by being a complete jerk. Setsuna has to be the character I could most sympathize with. I didn’t like her at first, but she grows on you. A lot of them do. And some of them just don’t, like Tarlotte.
The mecha fights didn’t really grab my attention, but they weren’t bad either. Just... average, like the rest of it. Mecha themselves look pretty good, and I do think how the Absolute Angels all tie together is quite interesting.
Animation is something I can give major points for. The art is really pretty. I’m into bright colours, although Kazuya’s hair is ridiculous (side note: it reminds me of Shana, and it looked awesome on her, but here it’s just way too bright). Music is average, but it fits, so it’s alright.
Overall, I’d recommend it for anyone who’s into any of Kaishaku’s stuff (I’ve noticed through Kannazuki that they tend to be messy plots, but there’s still something charming about them that can’t be explained with technicalities… I guess it really is a matter of taste). Otherwise, it’s fine and can still be worth your time, but you can do better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 12, 2008
What started as a rather average-looking show turned into one of the best things I’ve ever stumbled upon. I first started watching with little to no expectations, and nothing about the first two episodes really struck me as special. I changed my mind.
The plot is amazingly well-done, thought-out, and has just enough twists and revelations to keep you interested without confusing or frustrating you, since the viewer does know more about what’s going on that most of the characters. Only qualm I have with the plot is how it’s kind of divided into two arcs, but in the end the story development turned out to
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really flow. This second part is introduced with a plot device that sounds too obviously like a plot device, but that’s forgivable because it worked and because at that point, each of the characters had become such integral parts of the story that the thought of any one of them being killed off or otherwise removed was unfathomable.
Which brings me to what’s really attractive about Mai-HiME: the characters. Three-dimensional and each possessing their own distinct background story and personality, it’s hard to not find anyone you like or sympathize with. The HiMEs are all identifiable by their weapons and Childs, large robotic animals that remind me of why I ever liked mecha (and apparently, most of them are based of mythology of some sort – pretty neat if you’re into references like that, still neat if you aren’t). Best part is that no one character hogs all the screentime, and none of them are boring, so you get an interesting mix, even if you have some grudge against a certain character. Character development is splendid, since our characters got stuck in situations that commanded sympathy, and were forced to make some difficult choices. And of course, there are some very complex interpersonal relationships. But trust me; it’s worth trying to remember everyone’s names and who’s who to whom. Background characters are used properly too, because they do bring out the main ones without being overly dull.
The background music is simply ingenious. That’s a completely unbiased statement, since I didn’t know that the composer was Yuki Kajiura until around episode 20. Of course, she never fails to impress. The way she manages to express emotion in her soundtracks is amazing. The script was great, of course, but what really got to me and brought me close to tears was the music. The OP is rather average, with anime clichés such as when characters just sit around with the wind blowing around them, but it features a likable song(unfortunately doesn’t fit the second half of the anime though… just a bit too upbeat for the angst I expected and received). The ED is rather average too, but it contains some amazing artwork. The animation is great and consistent throughout the whole show. Colours are bright and creative, but it all blends together smoothly so it’s nice to look at.
What can be said about the comedic aspects of the show: they're actually funny. No excessive hilarity that leaves you gasping for breath, but no annoying awkward facepalm moments either. Mikoto’s naivety is played on quite a bit, and Shizuru says the oddest things. This touch of light-heartedness balances perfectly with the overall tone of the anime, and keeps it from becoming one of those shows that takes itself too seriously. There’s a very broad emotional range.
And finally: Yes, this is a magical girl anime, but it incorporates so many different elements from so many different genres that I can easily recommend it to people who don’t normally like this type of thing. :)
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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