Back to dreiak's Profile dreiak's Profile

So I am writing this as more of a pre-review then a full one since this is based only on the first episode, that being said I get the impression that this will be one of my favorite shows this season.

I like the fact that there is a more live action feel to this series then you usually find in anime. The main character is whimsical and has a childlike sense of the world, but is somewhat forced to confront the realities of what becoming an adult is like when she is forced to work at an inn. this show also refreshingly doesn't fall into ... a lot of the cliche's with this type of setup. The main character is constantly thinking of her life as a story setting, and being disappointed by reality.

Good music, good visuals/animation, interesting characters, and a believable setting are all a plus. I really wish I could write more for this review, but one episode certainly is not enough for me to say more.

This epside 8/10, the show has a potential to be a 9 depending on where they take the story.

For a plot synopsis, just click the link and read the one on this website.

(I don't write synopsis, they are already part of this website)

Katanagatari is similar in scope to many of the cliche Tokugawa shogunate era anime, or fantasy marshal arts shows (like naruto lol). However before you flame me for even comparing this show to naruto, I have to mention that it has one major deviation from the formula, and that is the shows casual means of inserting seriously seinen material, and messing with your expectations. This I suppose would be the shows main selling point, if you hate shows like naruto, you MIGHT end up really liking this one, if not then perhaps ninja's just aren't ... your thing. I can also say that if you like Gurren Lagann, you will probably like Katanagatari, as I will describe the last episode in only one word: Epic.

Some people are turned off of this show from the stylized artwork, but that's probably the lamest reason to not watch a show, plus the art quality in katanagatari is top notch.

The show is wordy, so if you can't read you shouldn't watch it.

A Music Performance Majors view on Nodame.

I am only going to write this review for this particular season, but what I have to say applies to the entire series as a whole. Nodame Cantabile was a series I was a little reluctant to watch since it dealt with classical music, and even though JC Staff's shows are pretty much my anime crack (not necessarily my fav studio, but I am easily addicted to a lot of their shows), and Nodame had the best ratings on this website from JC Staff shows, I put off watching it for quite some time. After watching the first episode, ... however, I started thinking to myself "why had I taken so long to start watching this?"

I was amazed at how accurate this show was to real music student life. The characters represent a fairly accurate (although anime version) slice of musicians' personalities from my own personal experience. I can honestly say that most musicians are not gay, but there are certainly a higher ratio in comparison to other career study fields, and most musicians have eccentricities. There also tend to be two types of musicians, the talents, and the workaholics. A talented musician tends to have a lot of trouble focusing on one thing until its perfect since they are used to doing everything at an accelerated pace and are not used to having difficulty learning things. Nodame is this kind of character. She has an amazing talent as a pianist but has a very difficult time staying focused and learning to control her playing. I found these types of details to be extremely insightful having finished a music performance degree myself, I was surprised at how accurate this show was at times.

The music is all masterpieces by the masters. In real life you would never see so many of these pieces performed back to back as there is just such a large volume of classical music. Since this is TV, I can't really complain that they didn't play anything remotely obscure in the entire series, but if this inspires anyone to see a concert it is unlikely that you will see any two of the pieces in this show played in the same concert. That aside, I was blown away by the fact that when the musicians are supposed to suck, the music actually reflects that. This means that for the purposes of this show they got a professional orchestra to make the mistakes that the conductors have to correct! Usually, in music TV shows they just have someone say that it sucks without having any actual audible mistake.

Classical music has long been used as the primary medium for manipulating emotions in cinema, and this show also does this superbly. Without the music I probably would not have shed a single tear watching this, but it is near impossible for any audiophile to avoid.

All and all I gave Nodame Cantable a 9 as I consider it to be as good as this show could have been, there is nothing in the series that really makes it groundbreaking, but it is definitely what I would consider a must see show for anyone who likes comedy, romance, and of course music!

So this is an anime that I have no idea how its managed to take me so long to get around to watching. I think I learned about this show only because it was listed under anime recommendations for 12 kingdoms, which was really good, but incomplete (at least until they finish it starting in the spring of 2011 according to info I got from gg).

I knew there was something very familiar about this fantastic looking show right from episode 1, I hadn't even looked up any information and I could tell it was done by the same director as the ghost in the shell ... series. I was completely blown away by this fantasy tale, because albeit having spirits and magic and other typical elements of fantasy it was also believable. It really feels more like a historical tale turned epic then it does purely a fantastical journey.

The fight scenes in this are awesome, and I was reminded of a certain female spear wielding assassin from samurai champloo (who was my favorite non main character in the entire series), however, I was also quite conscious as to the fact that this is not a series that depends on action sequences and long drawn out fights. There is little that occurs in this show that seems or feels completely beyond the scope of possible when it comes to the action, and it is nice that they actually show the fights instead of the typical flashes of light or "flying through space in cool poses" due to the difficulty of animating the complex motions of martial arts.

I only write reviews for shows that I don't think have enough publicity and deserve some more attention, since any of the more popular shows usually get plenty of reviews, and I feel it a waste to write more of the same on these series. I hope that this review will inspire some people to watch this great series, for any fans of ghost in the shell who are writing in anticipation for the third season, you may want to check out this show while you wait :P

First a disclaimer, I wrote some crap at the bottom that should be read first, but it ended up being more then I planned so I put the review portion up top and an explanation for some people on my thoughts of how some series of this nature get conflicting reviews.

This is a slightly episodic (with some story arcs, or at least events from multiple episodes tied in) series. However, it really should be approached more like a fusion of slice of life anime, and action. If you don't like slice of life, you probably won't like this anime, or at a bare minimum you ... will be bothered by the structure of the episodes.

I endorse this anime (as I would any that I personally write a review for) mainly for the fact that it was very enjoyable. I wasn't expecting to be moved to tears, or have some life altering moment watching this series, my only expectation is that the show is interesting enough and entertaining. I have found myself kind of moving away from high octane action shows (which used to be somewhat of a staple), and perhaps it is like an acquired taste. I really ended up liking the supporting characters (since paragons really aren't all that interesting, but unrequited lesbian love is), and got a good many laughs out of this series.

So this is what I guess is a somewhat unpopular view for how to rate things. But on the topic of entertainment (especially when I read what other people have to say about shows like this one) some people tend to have difficulty just watching things and basing them completely on their own merits. Meaning that when I review, I try not to constantly compare one series to the next unless what I feel the "intent" of the shows are consistent. (the intent of this show I feel is somewhat misinterpreted, its not JUST action/super-power, its also slice of life, which got misinterpreted as "filler" in my opinion, but in the entire series a lot of what happens occurs between or within slice of life applications).

To that extent this series I feel is somewhat underrated on MAL since a lot of what I read about on this site referred to this show having filler, a term which I think people like to use all too freely. I felt it was necessary to write a review from the standpoint of someone who does not mind when shows are not necessarily geared to be 100% serious or follow tight story arcs. That being said, I also don't read all the manga/light novels and whatnot, so I don't judge anime based on how it follows the original.

LOL, lastly I don't write any of the plot summery or that kind of bull in my reviews because you can just freaking click on the link and read it yourself if you really need to. Redundancy FTL, I notice how much people like to talk plot specifics in their reviews. I only offer my perspective to highten my own sense of self satisfaction, hah you read it now you can't unread it if you read this far!

I knew this show was decent going into it, however, I was STILL surprised at how good it was.

What made this show for me was the relationships between all the characters (Mainly the relationship between Ryusuke and his sister Maho), and the story. This is one of the few music animes I have watched that has an overall story arc, and a real ending, instead of some cop-out crap.

This is the kind of show that will make you feel like you should go out and buy a guitar, although the show is really more about passion then it is specifically music. Something that I have ... learned from my own life, and something that I was surprised to find a central theme in this show, is living you own life on your own terms and not being confined to what other people or society tells you you should be doing. To wrap up a life lesson that took me a lifetime to learn personally was nice to see.

Some people are somewhat turned off due to the production value of the animation being too low, however, I was not really bothered by the "low detail" as it never looked bad enough to drag down the story. My only other peeve is that what you are supposed to feel for each of the songs has to be explained by the characters since most of the music (even the songs that are supposed to be "not as good") are played by the same band in real life. That being said, the song "Moon on the Water" is central to the main characters, and is awesome despite having engrish moments, if you listen to the music as a whole and ignore the grammatical issues you will really enjoy the BEAT CRUSADERS interpretation of BECK.

This anime is too good to overlook because of the few things that keep it from getting a 10 in my book.

This show was one of those shows that seemed like it was going to be great, builds up, and then kind of lets you down to a certain extent.

The animation, art, backgrounds ect regarding the production value of this anime are great, as was it's predecessor cowboy bebop. I would have ranked this anime much lower if this were not so, as is most of the value comes from the fact that this is a great looking show. Unfortunately, the production value was not matched by the stories progression.

The first half of the plot is good enough, there is a steady build of tension, and ... intrigue, however, halfway though events start to make less sense. Normally my reviews are completely story free, but I will make a minor exception to explain here: When Robin STOPS being hunted, I kinda had a WTF? Why did the script writers decide they were gonna back down just when the story gets interesting. Futhermore, the direction the anime was headed seemed like you were going to get a really epic sort of story, and the ending was just kind of not spectacular. Its kind of like having anime blue balls. For a show that is 26 episodes long it is NOT NECESSARY to hold back at the end so you have somewhere to go from there.

If this is a "true to the manga" (if there IS even a manga, I dont know, because I haven't looked into it), I really feel like they should have changed the ending to reflect the fact that this is not a serial anime. That being said, this anime still gets a solid 8 for its interesting parts, and high production value.

I was expecting a lot more from this show due to its high rating, and popularity, and the fact that it was recommended to me, however, there are a great many things I am picky about, and many of those peeves were things in this show. That being said this series is still worth a watch, it just wasn't up to par with the hype for me, so I will elaborate.

The first, most obvious, peeve is that the voice acting and animation quality on this just are not up to snuff. Even if you watch the japanese voices, the acting is terrible in comparison to ... everything else I watch (but then again I have not watched 1,000+ series' that some people on this site have). It kind of reminds me of watching a soap opera and how it seems mandatory to use inferior camera and sound recording equipment just so people can tell its a soap based on the filming and voices, content asside.

Second peeve: Samey death sequences.... I Loves me some gore, doesn't matter if its cruel like higurashi or ludicrous like hellsing ultimate, but in elfen lied everything is disembodied limbs that have been sheered clean off every time. I know vectors and blah blah blah, but the gore just wasn't interesting. I was promised supple blood bathing in this series, and everyone hyped up the gore, so I was pretty disappointed by that too.

Third peeve: forced nudity. Ok, so don't get me wrong, I love boobs, and love nudity, but the nudity in this show is like having your face get raped by it. Its like the 2nd twilight movie "I'll protect you *rip off shirt for no reason* -screaming fan girls want to rape wearwolf sexy abs-" It was painful to see the plot getting soiled by forced nudity, it wouldn't have bothered me at all if in some way it fit the mood or elevated the story. But in the case of this series I think it exists simply because it can.

There is one good thing about this series though, that pretty much has convinced me that this series could have been a 9-10 if it were re-made, and that is that the actual story has some good moments, and manages to grab hold of some actually decent plot hooks and pluck a few heart strings. If a studio were to remake this series and fix its weakness' which are all pretty superficial this anime would have the potential to rank up there with shows like TTGL (which isn't my fav, but i consider it upper echelon, its well made, and super popular).

On a side note, realistically I dont think the chances that this will happen are very good though. So I give elfen lied a 7 overall.

DOUBLE SIDE NOTE: the intro theme is freaking awesome! too bad I don't rate anime purely based on the intro music :(

Watching this series felt like I had found a diamond in the rough. It was hard as hell to find a live torrent of this in .mkv and decent resolution but my effort was well worth it.

This show is a breath of fresh air if you have been watching a lot of the more popular animes such as myself. Now what to say about this?

I guess the best way to describe what to expect is this, the humorous events that occur are really only half of this show, the other half is actually watching it. I have never seen an anime that requires so much ... attention visually. I found myself constantly pausing to try to catch stuff that was happening in the backround, or written on papers/blackboards/signs, ect... Its not really NECESSARY but if your OCD like me you will want to know.

This is a really well crafted anime, which means that everything just sort of fits together perfectly, and that mixed with its witty and fresh humor, and artistic direction make this anime one I endorse as a must see!

all that being said...
...WRITING THIS REVIEW HAS LEFT ME IN DISPAIR!
there are sure to be people who don't find this review helpful, soon users from all over the internet will be watching this show and left disappointed because they think I over-hyped it. My name will become synonymous with bad anime! [gets noose]....

This was the first anime I ever watched that made me completely re-evaluate what was possible in an animated medium. Not only that but despite the improvements in computers and technology that have allowed anime to become more visually astouding, cowboy bebop managed to achieve the same levels of detail and motion of modern anime over a decade ago.

Do not approach cowboy bebop as being anime. It is animated, but really it is more like live action then a cartoon. The creators of this show did not skimp when it came to fully animating fight scenes, space battles, or even some of the more idle ... moments. There is never a moment where footage is recycled or cheesy backgrounds go flying by while characters strike a pose, nor are there any chibi or emoted moments.

Cowboy Bebop is also best if not rushed through, there IS an overall story arc, but most of the episodes are self contained, and do not really require rapid succession. Also when you complete this anime you will surely feel that the show is concluded, and that a sequel or serialization of the series is unnecessary. This show is good enough to re-watch and still find the same enjoyment as the first time you saw it.

Usually its difficult to fully decide how to rank anime since there are many ways to do it, such as by overall plot (i HATE cop-out endings which are typical of most shows.. curse you school rumble!), quality of art/animation/ visual excellence, music, voice talent, dub (if applicable), characters/character development, and something that is sometimes neglected is depth (how much do you have to allready know to fully enjoy an anime). However, Cowboy Bebop excels in every one of these areas, so it makes it easy for me to give this show 10's across the board, it truly is a masterpiece, and is not as difficult as EVA to fully appreciate, as it does not require you to wikipedia info on Jewish Mythology, Kabalism, Sephiroths, ect. and can be watched in English without sacrificing any aspect of the show, which also makes this show a great candidate for newbies to serious (non serialized) anime.

ON A SPECIAL NOTE:
Yoko Kanno is quite possibly one of the greatest film composers, and wrote a ludicrous amount of FULL LENGTH music for this show. If the quality of the anime isn't enough to get your rocks off there are about 8 cd's worth of top notch music, (mostly jazz, blues, and gospel) all origional work composed for this series which I also recommend to you audiophiles. The Seatbelts are awesome...