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Jun 28, 2020
"Director Fujiwara Yoshiyuki has too much confidence that he can match the weighty issues here with the struggles story. He can't. Or at least he can't with this cast."
- YESTORAKS, GeeKon Magazines
The typical Fujiwara Yoshiyuki anime (Vanguarg G, GJ BU) can be classified by a few words: contrived, insipid, and predictable. Yesterday wo uttate ,while not the worst work Fujiwara Yoshiyuki has done, is a limp misfire. There are moments during the course of the anime when it looks like it might be headed in an interesting direction, but those hopes go up in smoke during the last act as everything aligns itself for the
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tearful, feel-good ending. The central problem with the anime isn't that it deals with several hot-button topics, but that it addresses them with a shocking lack of emotional honesty.
This is the synopsis make me want to facepalm:
Rikuo Uozumi has all but resigned himself to a bleak future, aimlessly working at a convenience store in Tokyo after graduating from college. His monotonous life is interrupted when the peculiar Haru Nonaka makes a lively appearance, frequently dropping by his workplace to befriend him. When Rikuo learns that an old college friend and crush, Shinako Morinome, has moved back into town, he reaches out to further their relationship. Unbeknownst to Rikuo however, Shinako is carrying painful memories from her past that were holding her back from accepting his feelings. Meanwhile, as Haru continually opens up to Rikuo, he discovers that she, much like him, is living by herself and wants to step out of her comfort zone into an uncertain future.
The prickly interaction between Rikuo and other character that will be conflict is predictable. Rikuo brings with her the winds of trouble.
That ambiguity is what makes parts of Fujiwara Rule interesting at times. When one considers how poisonous the accusation is, and that it might be issued as a means of revenge, it gives the anime a bit of an edge. Unfortunately, "edgy" is not one of the three nouns I used above to describe a Yoshiyuki endeavor. Eventually, things are resolved definitively and in a manner that's far too pat for a movie with this many deeply troubled characters. At a minimum, Rikuo is in desperate need of counseling, but in a Fujiwara movie, all that's needed to set her right are a hug and a tearful apology. If it was this easy to reconcile dysfunctional families, we would all be living happily ever after.
Fujiwara is a crafter of fairy tales and trusting him with material that demands a darker tone and a defter hand is a mistake. Not that Tanaka Jin script is well-written. The dialogue is mostly awful, a subplot featuring a bunch of cheap girl conflict is painful, and the ending is unacceptable. But Fukiwara's involvement does nothing to improve upon the screenplay.Yesterday wo uttate will most likely be recalled as the movie that resulted in Morgan Creek CEO James G. Robinson rebuking Lohan for her poor work ethic. There's certainly nothing else about the production worth remembering.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jun 24, 2020
"A hell paradigm - two brain-scrapingly terrible genres are mashed up into one ultimate torment of the soul"
- YESTORAKS, GeeKon Magazines
The more writers, the worse the film. This rule may not be an infallible guide to Trigger screenplays but it works perfectly in the case of 'BNA'.
To produce something as emphatically unfunny as this, the script's seven-man team must have whipped themselves into a state of mutual delusion. Or maybe they just gave up, hoping the voice cast's celebrity value would insure against inanity.
Moroshi Sumire, Hosoya Yoshimasa, Koyasu Takehito and other else are among the stars who lend their voices to this anime talking menagerie,
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and their combined talents fail to make the slightest difference. For animal lovers, the only consolation lies in the fact that the human members of the cast are made to look even sillier than the furred and feathered variety.
Yoshinari You is the director and he reliably mistimes every pratfall.
Throughout history, humans have been at odds with Beastmen—a species capable of changing shape due to their genetic "Beast Factor." Because of this conflict, Beastmen have been forced into hiding. Anima City serves as a safe haven for these oppressed individuals to live free from human interference.
The anime mix of digital critters and real animals results in far too many shots of this beast or that one standing alone in the shot, mouth moving, cracking jokes.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 24, 2020
"The writing is unfortunate, attempting clever repartee between the attractive stars, but just succeeding in making everyone slightly embarrassed with rushed and perfunctory."
-YESTORAKS, GeeKon Magazines
Arguably, expectations may have been set a bit too high for The Tower of God, the first cinematic adaptation of Webtoon celebrated series, a self-proclaimed magnum opus which began with a webtoon actor, SIU. A project which was taken years to reach realization, the distinction would eventually fall to Japanese writer, Erika Yoshida who famously (not really) be as a Scripter in Double Decker and be as a Series composition in Namu Amida Butsu, etc.
Having broken out into international acclaim as
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a director, Sano Takashi (who be as a key animation of Detective Conan) seemed an inspired choice to helm such monolithic material, which professes to condense ideas from SIU series and meld them into a boiled down sequel of sorts to the whole endeavor. Never fear, those who haven’t taken the opportunity to wade through SIU lynchpin of a multiverse (which bleeds into his expansive and illustrious bibliography) shouldn’t have a hard time keeping up with this somber palette.
Unfortunately, what Sano and contributing writer, Erika Yoshida. What could have been a unique franchise to be shouldered by an effective Sano Takashi crashes and burns all around in him in this rendering, which falls significantly short of the epic scope SIU conceived.
Synopsis:
Troubled brown-hair kid Twenty-Fifth Bam (Voice acted by Ichikawa Taichi) who has spent most of his life trapped beneath a vast and mysterious Tower, with only his close friend, Rachel (Voice acted by Hayami Saori), to keep him company. When Rachel enters the Tower, Bam manages to open the door into it as well, and faces challenges at each floor of this tower as he tries to find his closest companion.
Just imagine....
3 season, more than 300+ chapters and a multitude of exotic settings and alternative realities entered by two near-mythic protagonist, are here transformed into turgid cinematic slop. This anime has a considerable amount of source material to fall back on but we never got a sense of this here. Of course there is more material than any one anime could possibly cover but this one could have done a better job, especially since this is the first manhwa of what will probably be a series. This particular anime threw us right into the story without explaining too much. The answers are on the periphery, however, the anime never gets there as viewers are kept at arm’s length so fans of the manhwa series may be disappointed.
The Special effects light up the screen like gloopy video game flourishes, while a handful of action sequences fail to contribute to the epic scope of what’s meant to be a staggering palette, but instead each tableau looks like just some other place on earth.
Although not the misfire it could have been, Takashi's treatment of The Tower of God is perhaps more sacrilegious than an utterly tone-deaf train wreck because, to be blunt, it’s boring.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 23, 2020
"Hiromu Arakawa Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood yet great entry in this long-running franchise thanks to Yashiro Irie and Romi Park."
- YESTORAKS, GeeKon Magazines
Over the course of 64 episodes, Fullmetal Alchemist has basically turned into the greatest anime where Romi Park voice acted does crazy stunts. Brotherhood, the newest entry,is no exception—and I’d have it no other way. Yashiro Irie—he directed this anime as well as its predecessor 2003 version—seems to have cracked the code to this long-running franchise. In Brotherhood, the story is negligible. There’s enough plot to keep the momentum and the twists keep it engaging. Yashiro seems to be the perfect match to star
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Romi Park‘s unique voice acted take on action.
The difference between the action in this movie and the action in the equally audacious Cowboy Bebop franchise is that in Brotherhood, Yashiro captures the action in a clean and economical way. It’s the reason Cowboy Bebop was so successful. Every action set piece has a narrative pulse whether it be a two on one brawl in a bathroom or an snow fight or a final arc—the best scene in the anime and possibly of the year.
In Brotherhood, we begin three years of searching later, the brothers seek the Philosopher's Stone, a mythical relic that allows an alchemist to overcome the Law of Equivalent Exchange. Even with military allies Colonel Roy Mustang, Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, and Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes on their side, the brothers find themselves caught up in a nationwide conspiracy that leads them not only to the true nature of the elusive Philosopher's Stone, but their country's murky history as well. In between finding a serial killer and racing against time, Edward and Alphonse must ask themselves if what they are doing will make them human again... or take away their humanity. Refreshingly, that main plot, which is set up breezily in the cold open—it features an amusing cameo by Wolf Blitzer—is the goal for the entire film. Unlike the Hunter x Hunter animes which have twisting plots that end up somewhere different than where they started, Brotherbood stays focused.
Romi Park is infamous for concocting crazier and crazier stunts that she voice acted herself. While it seemed like a publicity ploy, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood makes it clear why she’s been indispensable until now. Her screen presence is irreplaceable specifically when she is performing action. Now that she’s found a director that knows how to capture them, the Fullmetal Alchemist franchise has found new life. Don’t let us down Edward. That is your mission, should you choose to accept it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 7, 2020
The only good news for everyone involved: The worst moment in your career is surely behind you.
- YESTORAKS, GeeKon Magazines
Whoa, have you ever noticed how anime talk to each other? Take Murase Ayumu, who just recently voice acted as a bitterly disillusioned teacher in Tony Kaye's american movie indictment of the education system, Detachment. Now he's back in the groves, or at least the stems, of academe in Welcome to Demon High School, a stoner demon comedy with a slightly musty vintage aroma. And this time he's seriously detached.
You might envy voice actors for their wealth and fame, but think about this: At least your total humiliation
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hasn't been immortalized in a feature-length movie.
Not so for voice actor Murase Ayumu, Kimura Ryouhei, Hayami Saori and the other voice actor stars, would-be stars and may-never-be stars of "Demon High School," a mortifyingly unfunny attempt at a stoner comedy. Directed and co-written with almost malicious ineptitude by Moriwaki Makoto which i not care to count., the anime makes its most talented voice actors look like desperate wash-ups. Even the female extras who agreed to go nude in the obligatory shower scene must be sorry they got involved.
That's almost a funny idea, but Naberu Callego "jokes" are either weirdly blank (a stoned teacher, voice acted by Ono Daisuke, throws snacks into the air), incredibly lame (an Asian student with an obscene last name). It doesn't help that NHK and Bandai shoots "Demon High School" like a horror film, using low-angle close-ups that make his characters look like grimacing ghouls.
"Demon High School" almost feels like a list of blackmail-worthy moments. The only good news for everyone involved: The worst moment in your career is surely behind you.
Rating: 4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Feb 14, 2020
As a conclusion to over a decades worth of storytelling, it's got a lot to live up to, and it's about as good as you could really hope for it to be. Overall, I really do like Railgun S better. At the end of the day, Railgun S was just a wildly new experience, it was such a gamechanger and crowd-pleaser. Not only that, Railgun S I think had a better final battle. This final battle, while boasting the biggest ensemble of Railgun heroes we've ever seen on screen, is weirdly dark and muddied in CGI scenery compared to the battle at Stadium (Final Arc
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at Railgun S). Also I hate Kuroko, she's just not that fun and annoying. Okay so those are my criticisms, what did I like about the anime? I guess everything else? The anime has a big emotional core, and a climactic end that is godamn powerful. This anime juggles a lot. Seriously this is like watching someone juggle 10 flaming chainsaws, it's a godamn miracle it works at all. That it works this well is even more of a miracle. It's an imperfect anime in 2020, but perfectly satisfying conclusion to this arc of the Index saga.
Rating: 9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 13, 2020
The whole concept of numbers deciding your time up land is both fascinating and the type of thing you're glad doesn't exist in real life. I think the number thing really fits the story, even if the series seems to have some stuff they really need to clear up. A big problem with Plunderer is its direction. The plot twists become pretty confusing and at the point where I am I have no idea what is what anymore. The plot seems to kind of go too quickly, and its not even that amazing either. Even if the number part is sort of unique to it,
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later making the abyss not a scary thing pissed me off. A big part of the original glamour was its scary factor. If you take that away from it the series just seems dull.
The point where an enemy is introduced is kind of late-ish, and dissapointed me in many ways. The more the manga advances the more confusing it becomes apparently. A supernatural feature made me hope for something bigger but we only got a helicopter instead, like why. I could just go on about the list of dissapointing factors in the plot.
What I like about the plot is its characters. Many of them are likable, even the evil guys. The development is currently quite smooth as well. The only problem here may be how original these characters actually are; Hina for example is pretty generic.
Plunderer needs more relaxing and bonding time instead of throwing the characters constantly into new scenerios. It also needs to clear up on whose an enemy and whose not, though only time will reveal that one. Hina is a different case but the other characters don't get enough time to develop since its all protagonist time.
Rating: 2/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Feb 12, 2020
Majutsushi Orphen, one of my favourite anime since childhood. When i found out and watch this anime, my childhood is ruined.
What was Studio Deen thinking when they decided to make this horrible anime. More or less was it really the studio fault for such disastrous casting of talentless actors which is questionable to what type of approach they were going for, The anime is a downright textbook example of how to not make a big budget epic. Scoured with a Horrendous screenplay, Bad Acting, Laughable Dialogue, horrible filler, really inconvenient plotting and all too embarrassing quick pacing and how could I not mention the terrible
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storie. Pretty much its all surface no substance throughout; ploughing through the popular anime back in 1998. Studio Deen has sunk to an all time low with nothing to gain from this picture alone. Just like Seven Deadly Sins horrible adaptation.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Feb 10, 2020
Dorohedoro is idiosyncratic. In other words, it’s really weird, to the point where there’s nothing else in anime that compares. It’s gory and full of grotesque monsters, but it’s also quite funny. Definitely more funny than scary. Everything is run-down, dirty and overcrowded, yet there’s life around every corner, happily crawling by. Q Hayashida has created a dismal, filthy world and populated it with a bunch of cheerful monsters. That’s really what comes across most of all in this first episode, that Dorohedoro is full of life. It’s a master-class in world building.
What am i worried:
I was worried about Dorohedoro being a little too CG heavy, but aside from a few scenes,
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it’s well animated and really captures the dingy, lived-in aesthetic of Q Hayashida’s manga, not to mention the oddball chemistry between guys like Caiman and Nikaidō.
Is the storytelling coherent right now? Probably not at the moment, no. I wouldn’t blame anyone watching this feeling a little… bewildered. That’s certainly how I felt and I’ve collected a lot of Dorohedoro‘s manga, but have faith, dear reader, things are explained… eventually!
Dorohedoro’s debut episode was certainly something. Combining a pulpy premise with a cyberpunk walled city get-up, Dorohedoro is bound to be one of the most unique shows to come out this season. Not afraid to mix in grotesque violence with some run-of-the-mill corny dialogue, the show is a bit of an oddity to say the least.
The show opens in the chasm of Caiman’s open jaws, as one of two apprehended thugs looks like he’s about to get turned into a snack. That is until a mysterious figure emerges from Caiman’s esophagus, only to stare down the thug and exclaim that “he is not the one”. (Episode 1)
Attempting to save his endangered friend, the other thug emits a black smoke from his fingertips, which is uncannily deflected off Caiman’s scaley exterior. After Caiman realizes the thug in his mouth is no longer of any use to him, he releases his jaw only to dice up the boy with his combat knife. In a moment of confusion, the other thug conjures a door and slips away into another dimension.
As it turns out, these two thugs were sorcerers who exist separately to the world Caiman and Nikaido inhabit. While our two protagonists live in the ghettos of “The Hole” the aristocratic-like sorcerers are essentially a gang of delinquents who make trips to “The Hole” to practice their sorceries on the locals as if they were lab rats.
RESULT:
There is a littlebit issue. In terms of the visual execution, the show is mediocre at best. With a reliance on shoddy, cell-shaded CG used in places that I can only imagine were to fill up the production schedule combined with its choppy framerates, a lot of the show’s critical moments didn’t deliver in the way they should have.
On the narrative side of things, the episode is certainly a bit disjointed. While it’s not uncommon for some of these quirky shows to use unconventional storytelling techniques, Dorohedoro has already relied on using a flashback for a minor event from a minor character no less. The flashback felt extra cheap considering it didn’t event flashback to anything we had actually seen. Perhaps this was used to place some semblance of importance on the character in question, but all around it felt like a cheap way to communicate some level of importance tied to the event, without properly conveying what the even was.
Overall, the episode kept me captivated for the full 24 minutes and it was even over before I had realized how long I had been watching. If anything, that is indication enough that I will happily keep watching this show, and recommend it to anyone who has their curiosity piqued by the premise. I’m looking forward to the wild ride MAPPA is about to take us on.
Rating: 6/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 6, 2020
If you can get past the chibi art style and the fact this is a pure fanservice crossover series, there's a lot to enjoy here. Every character is written like themselves (and every VA has returned to reprise their role, both in the Japanese and English dub even). And it's just a lot of shenanigans of these characters being put into a school together. While it's definitely a comedy, it's also not too unserious. There's a grounding and developments between the characters and situation here that get fleshed out. This might not make it a laughs-per-minute type of show, but it does play into making
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the characters more interesting to watch interact with one another. And since each of the four animes crossovered here have notable characters with big personalities, that's a good thing.
(small Season 2 update, a fifth show has been added into the cast in S2, Rising of the Shield Hero, but all the same points remain to its addition, the Shield Hero characters all have returning VAs and are written like themselves.)
Not everyone's going to like it; as this crossover is rather shameless it might make some roll their eyes at this, and if you happen to only like one or two of the shows and actively loathe the others you may not appreciate aspects of this show since it does a surprisingly good job at capturing the "downtime" atmosphere of each show in moments with it's characters (Konosuba's characters downtime moments feel like Konosuba, Overlord character downtime moments feel like Overlord, Re:zero and Tanya the same), and not all may appreciate seeing these aspects blend and play off one another. Like if you like Konosuba but hate Overlord for example, you may not appreciate Konosuba moments getting interrupted with an Overlord type scene, or even the two of them blending in some weird sorta' hodgepodge.
However, if you're a fan of most or all of these shows and their downtime moments and characters, there's a lot of fun in seeing them all interact and how they all weirdly work together. And even if you haven't seen all of them, this might be a good way to get interested in a few series (all four of which coincidentally are available on Crunchyroll at the time of writing), and the characters personalities are all established pretty solidly fairly quickly, so there may be enjoyment even for those not in the know-how. The Sgield Hero was kinda great. If you want to watch crossover anime, tgis is the place.
Rating: 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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