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Just as man in Plato's Allegory of the Cave departs into the world I have returned to the world of JapAnimation after a long and fruitful digression into literature and film. As Arnold Schwarzenegger says in Terminator 2 I will be back and im back! Reading book and watching movies has taught me much of The World (jojo), namely how much more art exists outside of animation… and how much better it can be. Although many book and film exist few are as good as Neon Genesis Evangelion. The thing I hate most about Eva (as I will be calling it) is that every person ... who talks about it says the same things, to the point of copying the wording and language. Some of these reviews and analisis could would get anime critics kicked out of university for copyright infringement and plagiarism. It’s all “anno was depressed” this and “be an individual that” we’ve heard it all before.

Where Genesis really shows off is with how its story is a direct allegory to the Odyssey by Homer. Just as Odysseus must overcome obstacles set in his path to return home, Shinji Ikari must get in the robot and overcome 12 celestial beings to return to his normal life. What Shinji doesn’t comprehend is that the monster are reflections of his own Freudian psychotic state and insecurities as an abused adolescent who doesn’t know where to go or who to be. This subtle allegory is something most anime fans would not notice as Hidiaki Anno was a big fan of books and the films of Andrei Tarkovsky just like me.

What Shinseiki Evangelionreally espouses is the power of human will and spirit, it’s a celebration of our powerful race and its ability to overcome all, internal or external. At the end Shinji chooses to reject instrumentality and embrace free will and choice. Anno rejects the postermodern idea that we are all slaves to our environment and suggests that humans are autonomous beings capable of change and choice. It’s weird to me how many SJWs seems to love Shinji for being a p*ssy although in the end he debunks the core of feminism, post modernism, and other leftist foundational ideas. Love it or hate it the statement EVA makes is reactionary, just goes to show how dumb they are.

All in all新世紀エヴァンゲリオン is an art piece that transcends its medium and will be remembered for generations to come. My only hope is that is cemented for the right reasons and not because of some dumb buzzwords elitists make up to make them feel smart and good about themselves.

Moral of the lesson, if you like eva, lain, texh… these kinds of animes. You’re not really smart, quit posturing and pick up a book. Start with the greeks and work your way up, kids.

Like a mighty phoenix I rise from the flames to bring you this review. Like a good neighbor Time Stop Samurai is here with a brand new review. When you think about overrated garbage what comes to your mind? Aria the Origination? Monogatari? Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso? When I see the phrase one title rises above the rest, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (YKK) or as its known in English Yokohama Shopping Log. YKK as I will be calling it, is an ephemeral slogfest that tries to be deep while being a thinly coated moe pandering slice of where nothing happens. This show panders to ... people who get off to girls doing nothing yet want to fit in with the “big boys” on anime discussion forums like 4chan. This manga if I can even call it that is about an automaton named Alpha who runs a café after her master left whom went on an odyssey. What is his raison d’etre? What happened to him? We never find out, this manga weaves many plot threads but fails to tie them into a coherent plot. It’s just a mess of meaningless and mundane drivel. Alpha is an android of sorts, however she doesn’t act any different from a human. The writing is lazy because rather than giving her a believable robotic personality the mangaka settled for something more simple. The manga also features little to no dialogue, most of the panels are just scenery shots which are inherently shallow. Like all the “slice of life” manga of its kind YKK lacks any tension or suspense, the exorbitant amount of banalities make it hard to get invested to the story. It’s superfluous yet also empty and meaningless, an empty shell, ruined potential.

Artistically YKK is a mess, the character proportions feature long grotesque limbs, reminiscent of those in CLMAP anime/manga. The paneling is awful and fails to give readers a good sense of location. The character designs are inappropriate, none of the cyborgs look robotic, it’s easy to mistake them for humans. The backgrounds of the manga are not good either, if you want real good backgrounds go read Asano Inio.

As I previously stated this manga is nothing more than thinly coated pandering, let me elaborate. YKK makes excuses for fan service by making it fit into the world. In order to exchange information the automatons must mouth kiss. This is nothing more than an excuse to increase sales and pander to otaku scum who lock themselves up in their mom’s basement and read 18+ doujins. Was there no other way for the robots to exchange information? And why must all but one be female? It’s very similar to a harem if you think about it.

But in the end, nothing really matters now otakus can read this pandering while thinking they are somehow smart. Contribute to society you degenerates, earn a Engineering degree and build bridges and robots instead of jerking off to them.

If I were to tell you that I though JoJo part 1 was the best in the series you would probably think I was some mediocre pretentious pseudo intellectual reviewer who has no idea what he is talking about , but it was ME! Speak The Weak!!!

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 deconstructs the shounen genre through its dynamic story line that bends clichés and tropes in order to craft a unique in a manner that only Hirohiko Araki (JoJo mangaka) could. The story focuses on a rich boy named Jonathan Joestar (JoJo) who lives with his father, George in England. One day Jojo's father ... takes in an orphan named Dio Brando because Dio's father who passed away saved George's life! To Jojo's surprise Dio wants to ruin his privileged life and take the Joestar family fortune all for himself! What JoJo does that most shounen don't is portray a rich privileged character as a protagonist and the poor tragic character as a villain. Dio started from the bottom and when he got to the top he abused his newfound power to wreak havoc (not to mention act like a total badass)!

Unlike other shounen works JoJo part 1 also features a wide array of characters each with their own role in the series, no character in the Jojo series, part 1 in particular is forgettable. Who could ever forget famous lines like "Even Speedwagon is afraid!" and "It was me! Dio!!!" and even "WRYYYYY". Though its wit and general badassery Jojo part one offers a one of a kind experience that none of the other installments can even try to imitate. Jojo part 1 also incorporates a unique fighting system called hamon, I don't want to go too in depth about it though because I want to avoid spoilers so read it for yourself to find out.

The art in JoJo is perfect similar to the rest of it, it pays homage to the other classic shounen manga of its time such as Fist of the North Star while also maintain its own unique manly style, unlike the later parts which make use of a much more feminine and ugly style which is inspired by fashion magazines instead of classic works in the medium of manga.

The characters in JoJo are as I mentioned before unforgettable and extremely badass, there are no dense, intensive protagonists, no disgusting fan service, and no boring moe pandering. Only men in their most masculine state.

JoJo Part One is a masterpiece that defined the shounen genre and kick started a series that would go on for many years and attract a wide array of fans, sadly the work does not get as much praise as its deserves despite being one of the best works of literature in the shounen demographic.

Elfen Lied, an amalgamation of despair, love, redemption, discrimination, and hope. The tale of a Diclonius named Lucy, the prejudice she received, the inherent sorrow to follow. This work of art questions humanity in one of the most thought provoking ways, by looking at the dark side of humanity. That's the preface of the review, so lets just jump in!

Lucy, being a conceptual masterpiece, has two personas full of juxtaposition, due to head trauma. As a Diclonius, we are told she sees human's as prey and will murder them. But is that really the case? I question whether it is actually because of the inhumane ... treatment of her in her youth (applicable to all Diclonius), in fact, I would argue that is actually the case. Reiterated many times throughout the series, Elfen Lied shows just how low human's can go, as well as how high the Diclonius can reach. This stark contrast only magnifies the themes of the show.

Superficially, Elfen Lied is a deconstruction of many anime tropes and doesn't necessarily use this to its advantage. Kouta's character acts as a love interest and a source of hope for Lucy. I think it would be fair to say, a bland harem having character like him, is a perfect foil for Lucy, embodying traits such as forgiveness and understanding, while representing something else entirely for Lucy. The story starts off with a rather convenient meeting between Nyuu and Kouta.

Technically the anime doesn't excel, not to say it looks terrible. The soundtrack is beautiful and fitting, just go listen to Lillium. To conclude, Elfen Lied is a masterful work of art touching on the lows of humanity, yet still filled with hope. I'm feeling a strong 10/10 on this one.

TRANSITION if you gave this cartoon a watch

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