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[SPOILER FREE REVIEW - UP TO CHAPTER 30]

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is a very unique shounen/comedy/action manga that has managed to make me reconsider about the combination of the said genres. I never go for such manga since I prefer to read an actual story with an intriguing plot etc. I'd rather watch comedy than read it most of the times. But this manga has definitely captured my attention.

The story is pretty simple to follow, since there's just one crucial plot point you need to remember from the beginning (although, I can assure you that you won't forget it, as it is mentioned more times than I ... can count as of chapter 30); the students of class E-3 of the elite Kunugigaoka Junior High School are ordered by the government's representatives to eliminate their own homeroom teacher, which is in fact an alien who destroyed more than half of the moon and plans to destroy Earth as well. The students have one year to kill him, meaning before they graduate next March and before he destroys the whole planet. If someone manages to kill him, that person will receive 10 billion yen from the Japanese government. Thus, the students are rather motivated and the multi-methodic assassination attempts begin at once, all while the alien is teaching them their usual lessons. The alien, however, is almost impossible to murder since he possesses many supernatural abilities that make him a hard target, to amateur assassins like those students no less.

What I really want to emphasize about the story is that even though it's dark and it's supposed to be about students trying to take out someone, it successfully manages to switch in a lighthearted school comedy and do well in both a dark and a light atmosphere. You can have countless random moments and funny interactions between the characters, as well as experience scenes where it all gets very serious. And it does it very well. I mean it's not ridiculously funny or too edgy and dark, it has a certain balance that I, personally, am very satisfied with. It also affects certain social issues, like bullying, discrimination, the importance of teamwork etc. It almost excels in this aspect.

There's not much I can say about the art section other than it is very good. At least for this kind of manga, it portrays the whole enviroment in a way that fits it. The character designs are really nice too and I especially like Nagisa's (the main character). It's pretty awesome.

The characters of the manga vary, since we have to do with lots students, teachers, the alien, the assassins, the agents and more.

The main character, Nagisa Shiota, is a smart and calm boy, who has both a humorous side and a side where you can see him thinking through situations in a collective manner, without losing patience. I think he makes a very good protagonist and his views/thoughts are interesting to read.

The alien is a very interesting and funny individual who serves both as a comic relief and is villain-ish enough to take him seriously. His existence is simply entertaining to watch.

The rest of the characters do as much justice, serve their roles very well throughout the story and they are a vital point of its almost flawless entity. I can't really say I dislike someone thus far.

When it comes to the enjoyment part, I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoy it and that if you're into stories that are both very funny and serious at the same time, then you're going to enjoy it as much as I do. It certainly lives up to its tags and you should give it a try, at the very least.

[The review may change depending on whether I keep feeling the same things about it or not and if I have more to say. Feedback is very much appreciated! ^^]

There are movies that you will watch once and never again. There are movies that are simple casuals you will rewatch occasionally or by chance. And, last but certainly not least, there are movies made from diamonds that you will watch anytime. Movies that you may even watch right after you finished watching them.

And here, ladies and gentlemen, we have Sword of the Stranger. A film that personally lives up to the latter kind of films I mentioned above.

I admit at first, after I finished watching it, I was at loss for words and I wished -still wish- that I'd watched it earlier. Yeah, ... it stood there in my plan to watch list and I was yearning to watch it for so long, since I could see many people recommending it and praising it. It attracted me so much as a historical movie, I swear.

Ehem, I have to turn off my fangirl mode for now. Let's start from scratch to analyse it, shall we?


Story: (9/10)

A little boy named Kotarou and his faithful dog are being chased by a part of the Chinese army for unknown purposes. On his way, Kotarou meets a skilled swordsman that in the movie is referred as Nanashi (= 'no name') and after some things happen he decides to hire this man to 'guard' him from those people that chase him around, in exchange for a precious stone he owns. Meanwhile, that certain army's plans are disclosing slowly, along with the POVs from some other characters.

The premise is pretty generic at a first look. True. If you have watched a decent number of movies before, animated or not, then the story is not going to impress you and make you feel like "woah, this is original!".

However, I don't feel like I'm overrating this part at all. The base of the story is overused, yet heartwarming in its own way. It's greatly directed. The way the plot unveils itself is truly amazing and extremely interesting to watch. The atmosphere successfully transfers you to a medieval Japanese land, which is a rather harsh world, but with its beauty as well. It captures your attention and even though you might guess what can happen next, you're still into it!

Also, it does a great job at delivering certain messages about life, which is something quite important.


Art: (10/10)

Bones is a studio that has yet to fail me in terms of animation and artwork. Being the studio that has animated popular anime such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Ouran Highschool Host Club, Soul Eater and so many others, it makes a great job here once again.

The artwork is so beautiful, the animation is fluid and the action scenes are perfectly animated. The sceneries were also awesome and I just wish we had more shots of it. I find its style somewhat refreshing in comparison to other Bones' works, especially since it's an anime-exclusive story and not based on some manga to decide on the art style.


Sound: (10/10)

I'm actually listening to the movie's soundtrack while writing this review. And let me tell you, the freaking soundtrack is the best part of the whole thing. It adds a huge charm on it. It's a masterpiece and I'm not exaggerating. Heck, I could write an essay on the countless emotions it causes me while listening to it!

The soundtrack is wavering in vibes of Lord of the Rings and Braveheart. I just listened to the first note of flute and LotR was the first thing that popped in my brain. You know, that familiar flute music that makes you feel like you're flying on a soft white cloud to a magical land and nostalgic to the point of crying? Yes, that's the soul of this film's soundtrack, for me at least. But add to that music a japanese/asian feeling. It's so emotional and dynamic, thus fitting to the movie's setting.

First work I've heard of Naoki Sato and I'm just extremely pleased. I bow to you, mister Sato, for making this majestic soundtrack.


Character: (9/10)

The characters were an almost perfect aspect of this film. They fitted the story and setting and their interactions were fun to watch.

A little bossy kid with a kind heart, a faithful dog that helps its master at any cost, a skilled man with secrets and gentleness, greedy leaders that seek and desire many forms of power... a big variety of people for a historical movie such as this. They were all serving their roles very well and they were captivating in their own ways, showing some of their motives.


Enjoyment: (10/10)

This movie offered me so many things and absolute enjoyment is the outcome of it all. A beautiful story taking place many centuries ago, with amazing characters, visual pleasure and breathtaking music is enough to keep me entirely interested.

Overall: (10/10)

It's a 9.6 actually, but who cares for that insignificant 0.4 that parts it from 10? Overall, it is a movie that you have to watch. Of course, opinions may differ and it might have no appeal to you, but you certainly should give it a try.

Thanks for reading my review and sorry for any grammatical mistakes. Feedback is appreciated! :)

I'm sure most of you had those times that you felt a bit bored or tired and weren't in the mood to catch up with any series, so you were in need to watch a good movie or even a good short series. Not something to change your life or anything of the sort, just something entertaining that would keep you fully interested.

Well, this kind of thing happened to me today and I was free, so I looked on my plan to watch list for a movie. I came across Summer Wars, which I had intended to watch so long ago, but never really ... had the time and its ratings were good too. So, I thought, why not?


Story: (9/10)

High school student and math genius Kenji is invited by his secret crush, a senior girl named Natsuki, to join her in her great-grandmother's birthday celebration, which is a big family occasion and many of her relatives will be there as well. The reason she took him with her though is to pretend to be her boyfriend and it caughts him a bit of guard, but he goes along with it. Meanwhile, the internet is a bit more capable than we know it and there is a program, named Oz, that is actually able to affect the real world in the case that it is hacked. That happens in the movie and thus real world collides with the digital one in a dangerous way, leaving Kenji and Natsuki's family to figure it out.
The story is quite simple and easy to follow. It has a few emotional moments, comedy and a lot of action, but the latter one applies mostly to the last part of the film. However, the plot isn't the movie's strongest point and that's not a bad thing, since to me it appears that this wasn't really made for the purpose of providing a mind-blowing story, but rather to transfer certain messages to the viewer THROUGH the story. Yes, maybe most of the times that's the purpose; messages that will affect your life and way of thinking. In this movie, this aspect is really strong.
To me the purpose of this simple movie was to move me and to remind me that, no matter what the members' differences are or whatever bad happens, a family always comes together to back up and support its members. Even if it's the end of the world, staying together and cooperating to figure things out is more important than anything for a family. Realising that towards the end made me tear up a bit and that means a lot.
So, don't expect any kind of deep original plot, but rather a simple and moving one with many, prominent or not, messages.


Art: (10/10)

The animation and artwork is a collaboration of many studios, with perhaps Madhouse being the lead one, and God, it was amazing! To be honest, I thought that Studio Ghibli had helped with that a little bit, but I was surprised to find out it didn't. So, yeah, I watched it in high definition and everything was so clear, I could see every little detail. I personally loved the realistic movements of the characters, their expressions, everything was animated so oh so well. Pure eye candy.


Sound: (9/10)

I can't say much about the soundtrack other than it was simply brilliant. It has tracks that divide in two categories: calm, melodic ones and action/battle ones. The calm ones gave off a kind of 'summer' feeling, they fitted the atmosphere of family gathering and such, while the action/battle ones, well, were used in the scenes where agony was reaching its climax and in the network's fights. A great soundtrack for the movie.


Character: (10/10)

Ah, here we go. When you have a humble, kind, math genious boy and a normal girl with her huge family being the characters of a story, then it's natural that types of character vary. Of course, not all members of the Jinnouchi family are shown into depth, but there are sure some that stand out and are pretty interesting to watch.
We see Kazuma, one of Natsuki's cousins, who prefers to stay in his room with his laptop, going on Oz and participate in the Martial Arts Championship there. We also have Sakae, Natsuki's 90-year-old great-grandmother, who is a very fierce woman, gets things done, she's the absolute boss of the family. She's a very strict person, but she's respected and she actually has more soft spots in her heart than you might initially think. A fierce, lovely old woman. And the last to stand out, Natsuki's uncle, Wabisuke. He's very distant from the other family members and no one seems to like him.
The rest of the family members are really fun to watch and my best guess is that they serve mostly as comic relief and, well, to live up to the 'united family' message I mentioned. But yeah, it's heartwarming to see those little children running around the house and having fun with bubble baths, the mothers cooking in the kitchen, the dads watching TV and doing stuff together and the family dinners. They all give off a nice feeling that will make you smile.


Enjoyment: (10/10)
I was so into it, really! I laughed at the funny parts, I cried at the emotional or sad parts, I was at the edge of my seat when there were action scenes, the network fights, the anxiety if someone would make it or not... Truly enjoyable!


Overall: (9/10)

This is a really great movie that will make you smile and probably remember all those amazing moments you had with your family as a child or as a grown up. And there is action, comedy and great characters. An awesome summer movie that I totally recommend!


Thanks for reading my review, I apologise for any grammatical mistakes and I hope I helped you if you had any doubts on watching this movie. Feedback is greatly appreciated! :D

Firstly, I'll say that I was not familiar with the whole Saiyuuki series until very recently, so anything beyond Saiyuuki Gaiden is completely unknown to me. I'm reviewing this particular manga without comparison to the other Saiyuki ones, so... yep. Ok, I guess I'm clear. Now we shall start this review!

Apparently, the story is a prequel to the original story, which personally made me happy for some reason I can't really explain. Maybe because it's a story with 34 chapters that explains or narrates events before the original ones? Or because I like prequels in general? I don't know.

To be honest, I was highly ... intrigued by the premise, even though it's not the most original one. (Yet after reading, I can say it is original in its own way). I'll try not to spoil anything.

A little heretic boy with golden eyes is brought to Heaven, lives among deities and a certain one, Konzen Douji, is ordered to take care of him. The boy is nameless, so he begs Konzen to give him a name. He names him Goku, because it's "simple and easy to remember" as he said. According to the characters referring to him at times, "Goku" means "the one who is able to see the unseen". However, because of his golden eyes, Goku is considered an heretic and Heaven cannot but mistreat heretics. He's bound to roam around as he likes but with heavy shackles on his wrists, even though because of his lighthearted and cheerful character he doesn't really mind. He tries to make friends with everyone he can, including young prince Nataku (also an heretic), Marshall Tenpou and General Kenren. On the other hand, Heaven is a place where peace should be absolute and it is constantly attempted in order to keep the balance and serenity between the deities and everyone living there. So, as not to stain their hands with blood and become 'unclean',the deities of Heaven have chosen one person to deal with such matters. (I won't say who is that person.) Also, even though it's Heaven we're talking about, there are still some certain people lurking in the dark, who want to exploit other people and situations. (that's my sliiightly more detailed version of the summary)

The story never ceases to be interesting throughout these 34 chapters, especially on climatic parts. It's not complicated, hence making it easy to remember definitions or certain details. It flows quickly and well due to its really good characters, which I will analyse later. It's actually so good that you wish there was more.

The artwork is very well done. I like miss Minekura's character designs, their expressions are really awesome most of the times (ie. the cunning look of General Kenren with a cig on his mouth, that look never disappoints me). I can only say that it could be better or, perhaps, clearer. I mean there are times when the backgrounds or the characters are somewhat not clear, drawn kind of sallowish. But other than that, the drawbacks of the artwork are actually trifling, not a big problem whatsoever.

And now, let's move on to the characters. Yes, they are really good, perfect for this kind of story. With the various character traits, the interaction between them is quite interesting and fun to see, since they differ so much. The character development though is wavering between none and slight, due to the shortness of the manga and, supposedly, because it's a prequel. (I can only assume the development is more prominent in the original series which still publishes chapters? Dunno.)

Goku: Our main character. He is supposed to be the typical cheerful, kind and optimistic child that tries to be as friendly as possible to anyone he meets. He's a bit naive and his personality kind of annoys the most serious people. You might get the idea, since that's a really overused prototype of a personality. However, no matter the cliché, there's a sense of originality in Goku for reasons that are considered spoilers, therefore I won't expand on them. Personally, I look forward to read the sequels and see how he's doing.

Konzen Douji: He's responsible for Goku, as he's assigned to take care of him. A minor god who feels heavily bored with the unevenful life in Heaven, as he's very busy with documents. He's impatient and at first he considers Goku somewhat of a nuisance, since he's a cheerful boy that wants attention. He's the 'please-stop-talking-to-me' type of guy. In the whole manga, he's the one who changes the most between the main characters, as his views change when he's influenced by other characters and the impacts are visible on his personality and attitude later on.

Kenren Taishou: He's a General of Heaven, he's close friends with Tenpou and he's a happy-go-lucky guy who wants to have fun and doesn't care about laws, hence often being a person to conflict with others. He has an affection for the Lower World. He's a sarcastic and humorous guy with hints of kindness too. Also, he has a heavy sense of common sense, as he seems to be a bit sensitive towards sights of cruelty to others and is willing to fight in order to stop such actions. One of the most likeable characters in the manga, 'very adorkable' is what I like to call him.

Tenpou Gensui: He's a Marshall of Heaven and he's a huge bookworm, as in his house there are mountains of books surrounding him. He, like Kenren, likes the Lower World. He is a calm person, weird at times and funny, especially when he's with Kenren together. (the funny bros)He's that character that is probably half comic relief and half 'sh*t is going down", since at times he can become really aggressive in order to protect something important.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Overall, it is a very promising prequel of a possibly great manga. It's truly enjoyable and I'd recommend that you should read it, especially if you like fantasy and action as genres. Also, if you want to read a short, moving and interesting story with good characters, then that's just what you need.