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Sep 19, 2016
It's an anime staple, so clearly it's something to watch if only to get a proper understanding of the current anime climate. However, if you're watching it for that reason...start a season or two ahead.
This perspective is probably tainted by my own biases pertaining to relationships and appropriateness, but there you go.
So...Sailor Moon is centered around romance - specifically romance with large age/maturity differences, vague or outright incest, and the important of True Love (that again is often creepy due to aforementioned features). This is very alienating if these narratives bother you like they do me. This is probably because I come from outside
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1990s Japan, but seeing a bunch of 14 year olds dedicate their lives to older men, and older men projecting their insecurities onto 14 year olds, is not something I enjoy.
Additionally, the many characters are often put into sexually incriminating poses, even in their deaths. Another thing that bothers me.
That said, if those things don't impact your enjoyment of anime in general, then you'll have a better time.
As mentioned before in other reviews, the pacing is wonky. The characters introduced later in the series don't get enough characterization before the end of the season, and when you have to introduce five sailors in one season, keeping that properly spaced is important. There's a lot of filler in the beginning centering the protagonist (who many consider annoying) and then plot episodes get smushed in near the end. It's....not good.
The character designs are creative but the animation was done on a budget, which makes sense for its time. The transformations are memorable, though. The palette is classic, though - muted pink shades contrasting dark blues are truly the way to go. The music isn't too memorable, though. The opening theme gets beat into you, though.
Overall....okay.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 2, 2016
I have way too much to say on this season, so I'll keep it brief. I watched this solo, since my friend and I decided to watch the Precure seasons we haven't watched together, and we didn't watch to watch them all together. She picked Yes 5, Futari Wa/Max Heart, and Suite (which we eventually watched together since she loved it). I picked Smile and Hacha, since I already solo'd DokiDoki and can typically persevere through terrible shows. Anyway. Smile.
My overall opinion is that it a clear attempt by Toei to try and profit off of the PMMM market by using the Yes 5 setup.
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I don't just mean that because the ending was very Godoka (it's also a ripoff of one of the Suite Allstars movie ending), I mean because the show is stuffed with cutesy moe girls who are repeatedly put through heavy traumatizing situations as character development. Which is what PMMM is to a T. It...works, I think.
The story is. Well. Similar to Y!5. Miyuki starts at a new school, she's late. She runs into the fairy - the annoying goddamn fairy - and then gets to school. The main characters are introduced in the most blatant way possible, and then eventually Miyuki becomes Cure Happy and soon brings in her new friends to join the gang. They are fighting the embodiment of hopelessness and apathy. It's pretty standard.
Through the show, the writing largely focuses on humor elements and group dynamics with an extra dose of schadenfreude. I appreciate it, and it works for me. Since they are trying to emulate seinen moe genre stuff, there's also plenty of "cute girls facing painful situations and crying" moments. I mean a lot. I don't appreciate that, it's tiring.
The art means to deviate from the norm. It's way more blobby than the previous art styles, with a mix of intentionally gonky faces for humor. Like I said, it's meant to appeal to seinen aka adult men into fourteen year olds. As typical for Precure, the animation budget is highly disproportional. You'd have gradient shadows and lighting affects with well-drawn characters in one scene, and flat off-model art in another. Additionally, they were experimenting with new ways to fake budget, so some of the animations are clearly just pans across still art? And it's really obvious? There's barely animation in some scenes and it looks awkward? IDK man
The designs are okay I guess. They're definitely going for the team feel, so they're not widely different like the future Go!Pri's, but they're not just alternatively colored clones like HaCha. Cure hair designs get a lot of criticism for the bizarre fashion they're styled in, and...yeah. They suck. It's good that they're drawn in shorts, seeing as they pull a lot of pseudo-panty shots this season around. The transformations are fun to watch, though I wish the magic object wasn't cosmetics. This doesn't bode well for HaCha.
If the cutesy designs weren't indicative of Toei appealing to an older audience, then the design of the only recurring female villain would be a better indication. Sure, Precure is no stranger to the Evil Cleavage Mistress or her friend Ill-tempered Skin Showing Girl, but the human form of Majorina is way more...emphasized in her curves compared to her predecessors. Possibly Marmo only rivals in titillating imagery, but I don't remember DokiDoki that well. Anyway.
Music is bad. It's so hard to listen to. Maybe the instrumentals are okay, I don't remember. If it's not memorable, then that kind of says how good it is.
The color coded characters start off standard. Cure Happy takes on the typical genki girl persona (even with her Cure name), Cure Sunny is fiery and sometimes forgets to calm down. Cure Beauty's attitude serves as a foil to Pink. The Yellow and Green aren't following the typical rules. Yellow in Precureland doesn't have too much of a established archetype (yellow often joins third and has powers related to light), so Cure Peace kind of occupies her own niche. She's into manga and giant robots and mostly specializes in crying. Essentially, she was MADE to appeal to men, and seeing as she's immensely popular, it worked. Cure March is the second green cure in the entire series and uses the power of wind to her benefit. Although family oriented, she's sporty and dedicated. She's also my favorite and I headcanon her as a lesbian. she gay
The baddies are pretty standard, so the dynamics aren't too mixed up here. I can't give too much away, so I'll just say they're pretty standard.
Candy is....annoying. She's annoying, and I wish she wan't given so much attention. She starts off as a load on the others, but slowly grows more useful before becoming the Useful Character. That's also spoiler area. Her voice is grating, she doesn't add anything, and everyone fawns over her. It's excruciating and she's my least favorite character. Does that mean I hate fun? No, because she's not fun. Her brother is more entertaining.
I gotta admit I skimmed through episodes, and that I wanted to get the series over with, but I didn't hate it. I don't regret watching it. It had funny moments and the character's personalities worked well with each other when humor was involved. Yes, the tension felt artificial at times, and there were several moves made that weren't necessary, and it all had this gooey film of 'write a explicit doujinshi about this' throughout the season. But...I still had fun with it? It's not amazing, but at least it wasn't taking itself too seriously.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 2, 2016
Let's be honest here: I watched this solely to see how bad it was. It fulfilled my expectations and beyond, so I can't say I was unsatisfied.
It is, in fact, atrocious. It was written by someone who had a full bad story to tell, but only had twenty minutes to write what they wanted. The pacing suffers and adds an extra level of bad to the already generic character cast and the terrible cgi. However, this all adds up to a GREAT bad movie. If you're interested in how bad without watching it, feel free to look at the other review. Me? I'm going to
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detail how to watch this for premium enjoyment.
1) Watch at 1.5 speed: You don't want to take too much time out of your day to watch it, but you also need to keep it slow enough to absorb the information, because TDSH won't help you with that. If you want to take the full twenty minutes, go with the normal speed.
2) Inebriation: Everything is funnier when you're stoned or drunk, yeah? This is no exception. It also helps you take in the details for a true TDSH experience.
3) Watch with friends: This is great watching alone, but with friends who are completely unfamiliar with this OVA? Even better. If all your friends are online rather than offline, use Rabb.it or something. If you're really up to the task, watch it alone first, then watch it with friends. You know where all the fucked up parts are - they don't.
This is far more entertaining to watch than Mars of Destruction, which is just bad. Would you probably get more mileage with something good? Yeah. If that were the case though, you wouldn't be on this page anyway.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jun 10, 2015
Kill la Kill is the anime equivalent of being in the passenger seat of a high-speed joy ride during a blind date. It's fast, it's bombastic, it's lots of fun, a kickass radio station is blasting out the best tunes, you really don't trust your date's driving, their pupils are a bit too dilated for your tastes, they keep touching your knee, and you feel both exhilaration and uneasiness when you finally get home. Then, when you decide to go on another date, you find out that they got busted for owning cocaine paraphernalia and uploading hardcore amateur porn to Pirate Bay. Which would probably
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explain why they kept insisting that being naked in front of a camera is "empowering".
Basically, if you have a strong stomach for the more sexually exploitative aspects of Seinen, or at least your need for thrill hits harder than your tendencies for discomfort, you might have a good time with Kill la Kill.
I've seen this anime twice: once in Japanese, and once in English. I think I had a more positive experience with the anime the first time around, since I was more unfamiliar with my surroundings, and thus tended to ignore the questionable features that Trigger brings us. Since I knew what was going on the second time, it gave me more opportunity to pay attention to the art - and the obnoxious amounts of panty shots that hid under the veil of girl power.
Sure, it is a Seinen, and it's supposed to be "ironic" (or at least meaningful) fanservice. I don't really understand this trend of doing things ironically or satirically, especially when it gives the exact same vibes as any unironic fanservice. Like, if I crap myself ironically to make a statement about the value of underwear, I still have to go clean up afterwards.
To the actual review now.
The story is action packed and a lot happens in the 24 episodes it has. There's only about one filler episode, and even then it introduces aspects of the series that are important. It's extremely plot twisty, especially near the end of the show. For the plot itself, the idea is heavily intriguing, but half of it serves to justify the skimpy outfits. I mean, it's a good story. It's just dripping with misogyny disguised as feminist empowerment. Embracing the invasion of your personal space and privacy isn't worth praise.
What drew me and made me watch the whole thing twice was truly the visual aesthetic of Kill la Kill. The animation of KLK shows distinctive detail to character designs and a lot of dynamic oomph. If any character looks like the clone of another, it's entirely intentional. Although the show is generally in a shounen style, Jojo lines and all, it often flexes between thick rigidity and bouncy playfulness. The colors are a spectrum, from gritty browns and olives to bright rainbows, and of course an emphasis on the color red. It's visually consistent in quality, largely due to letting episode four act as a visual bootleg (mostly as a gag). This bombastic approach to art is nothing else but appealing, and makes the more squicky scenes of the series palatable. There are moments when the animation is clearly lacking (such as an early sequence where Satsuki runs up a building), but overall it definitely works.
I have nothing but praise for this anime's OST - just as dramatic as the art, the music sets the mood perfectly for every situation. From the draconian crescendo of Satsuki Kiryuin's leitmotif, to the rebellious beat of Ryuko Matoi's theme, and to the ostentatious curl of Raygo's accompaniment, there's nothing out of touch or taste. If anything can pump you up for a good fight or slow you down for a touching scene, it's the OST for this anime. That said, there's rarely a silent moment in KLK - which isn't particularly good for things like flow.
I do have qualms for the motivations behind designing the characters' personalities and motivations, but there are few characters which I actually dislike in terms of development, and I generally feel that Trigger did a good job making these characters lively and genuinely interesting. Even pieces of clothing will make you want to cry (and not because they're goofily designed). I still hold an attachment to Nonon Jakuzure, the little cupcake who sounds like a dying cat. They really make you hate the characters you're supposed to hate, which is both a good and a bad thing.
This anime relies a lot on the idea that showing skin is empowering, or at least not a bad thing at all. But this is achieved through consent violation, almost a majority of the time. Senketsu literally forces himself on Ryuuko, an obvious injury to her personal space. This is seen as a good thing, and she can't get to full power without accepting both his presence and her nigh nudity (and constantly getting called an exhibitionist). Aikurō Mikisugi's early presence in the series also gets excused, even though she's clearly uncomfortable with his behavior and unpleasant habit of randomly stripping. His status as a good guy makes this okay, though, or even supposedly humorous.
However, the villains also repeatedly violate the protagonists' consent, which is shown as wrong. Of course, the blood connection between one of these villains and the protagonists adds extra elements of wrongness, which adds to the evil of the antagonist in question. The violations in these cases are extremely sexual in nature, and although I've seen people claim this is intentionally creepy, I've seen just as many openly admit to finding this hot. It's bizarre that outright incestuous molestation is given the treatment of male gaze. The protagonists repeatedly lose their autonomy and right to say 'no', but don't worry guys - fanservice can be feminist!!! Because they can punch people! Let me remind you that most the protagonists are either underage or barely "legal".
Some say that the literary themes of Kill la Kill went over my head, but I don't care. Fact is, the repeated normalization of consent violation, both overtly and covertly sexual, actually keeps people from watching this show. Like, it is a humongous issue that I only manage to stomach because I've been heavily desensitized. It's not just disgustingly misogynistic and hurtful, it's alienating. Despite the fact that I have a lot of good things to say about it, I can't enjoy it as much as I possibly could, due to the blatant sign on the door saying that I'm not welcome. Or at least, I and others are only welcome if we can tolerate a metaphorical hand creeping up our knees.
Mind you, I wouldn't show this much anger if people didn't insist that it is feminist, and just admitted they like looking at the body of an angry seventeen year old girl. Much like any other attempt at reclaiming a Seinen that I've seen people do.
Besides that, I did find Kill la Kill enjoyable. I can only give it a six, because of what I've mentioned above. If it weren't really gross, maybe it'd be a seven. Again, if you can stand all the crap this show has to offer, please watch it. If you can't, please don't, I care about you too much.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 8, 2015
(spoilerish)
I'm not gonna lie, this was a terrible show that I enjoyed sitting through. But it. Was terrible.
If you're unfamiliar with Precure, I'll give you a rundown: Toei Magical Girl Cash Cow about girls who fight evil by utilizing powers bestowed onto them by little floaty creatures that are usually some brand of sugary cute. It's standard shoujo, extremely formulaic, and often features stories of friendship and Girl Power (tm). Think Sailor Moon, but with new stories and continuities every season. You're free to look up the movie poster for Pretty Cure All Stars Haru no Carnival♪ if you want to know the beast
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you're dealing with.
Mind you, standard Mahou Shoujo isn't a /bad/ thing. Don't let any fans of the Seinen variations tell you otherwise. Is it feminist inherently? No, of course no - arguably, it isn't feminist at all. But, in it's purest state, there is nothing wrong with little girl animes for little girls. The issue comes in when producers underestimate the intelligence of their audience, or get a bit too creative while also trying to appeal to their audience. And failing. Badly.
DokiDoki! Precure is the latter case.
This season mixes the creative minds behind The Visions of Escaflowne and One Piece, to create a truly bizarre hybrid of shoujo and shounen that comes out incomprehensible and disappointing.
DokiDoki! Precure revolves (and I do mean /revolves/) around Aida Mana and her friends Hishikawa Rikka and Yotsuba Alice, and additionally big-name idol Kenzaki Makoto after she warms up to the gang. As Precures, they fight the Selfish, who are...selfish. This season's visual theme is Poker. I wish that was an exaggeration. Everything else you can probably look up. Technically, every episode in this 49-episode season is plot related, which means you have to decide for yourself what's filler and what's not. I did not know this coming into DokiDoki! Precure.
The Plot is pretty much about a single person. Who is actually three people. Yeah, we're at that level of convolution. In a time of trouble, the individual divided her soul into two parts, and her body reincarnated as a freakish baby. The majority of the plot points revolve around at least one part of this trinity, and it really is exhausting. Due to this focus on this character & triad, every other character's development suffers. Unless that character is Mana, of course, as this series suffers from serious Pink Shoujo Protagonist syndrome (the pink protag is a huge, powerful mary sue that nobody ever faults, even if they are acting like a huge jerk). We're sorry, Makoto. You didn't deserve this treatment.
The animation is extremely variable, but the art is bogged down by busy character designs and dead eyes. You see, they decided to go with a design theme of asymmetricality, but they just didn't know when to stop. It's something you just have to ignore while watching, so if you're really particulate about art, stay far away. You can tell exactly where they allocated their budget, and man, is it unequal. There are /visible/ animation bumps and valleys, to the point of disorientation. It's like being in a car with a teenager learning how to drive, who's too afraid to get in an accident, so they're constantly slamming on the breaks every second. When it's good, it's REALLY good. When it's bad, it's REALLY bad. If you care about design aesthetics, stay away from Doki. For your own sake.
The music, for Precure, stands brightly. Hiroshi Takaki did the BG music (the wikipedia article is inconsistent on who did the music, and lists Hiroshi Takagi. Which is physically impossible), and did a heck of a job. Although some of the tracks are somewhat bland, the transformation music blares triumphantly and memorably. If there was any music in Doki I didn't like, it was Kenzaki Makoto's idol songs. Oh, she's an idol, by the way. Her singing isn't...great. Besides that, Takaki managed to make something good for something that probably didn't deserve his composing.
Now, onto the main reason why I wanted to shit out this review: Cure Ace.
I'll start by saying that she's...extremely attractive, in my opinion. Yes, your character design is excessively busy and doesn't make much sense geometrically, and you kind of resemble an arrowhead for some reason, but I'd still take you out for dinner and treat you in a respectful manner. However, that's kind of the problem. The character who is Cure Ace? A ten year old who ages up in transformation.
Now, a lot of magical girls have age up transformations. A lot of magical girls have age up transformations into overtly sexualized women. However, those are typically in Seinen, where it's at least logical for that genre. Mind you, Cure Ace's outfit is more going for beautiful than ""sexy"", but her demeanor during attacks and transformations shows a flirtatiousness that's out of place with her comrades. Out of place for someone who's actually /ten/. It makes things extremely awkward, from seeing her at one moment applying magical lipstick and blowing out a death kiss, to drawing a picture of her mom for an elementary school project and refusing to eat carrots. Like, it might have been one thing if she were a high schooler, much like Cure Moonlight from Heartcatch, but...she's a little girl.
This seems just like whiny feminist complaining on my part, but she gets almost all the animation bumps. Her transformation sequence is honestly one of my favorites, and her attacks are fun as hell to watch, but WHY does she get so many animation bumps? As a character, she's extremely obnoxious and show stealing, and pretty much all attention is directed to her after her introduction. Her extremely shounen introduction of showing up out of nowhere, blasting the guts out of a strong opponent, then leaving immediately. She constantly bosses around the other characters, and takes credit for their character non-developments. So, clearly this treatment isn't due to her lovely personality.
It should be important to note that the writers originally planned to have Mana in a relationship with a man twice her age, but the female writers smacked that idea down fast. With that in mind, the coquettish focus on Cure Ace, reveals not only pandering to the adult audience of Precure, but a strange preoccupation with the sexualization of girls. This probably leads back to the idea that girls should follow gender roles and tolerate the advances of creepy men (Joe is a creep, I will always stand by that). However, maybe I'm just reading too much into it. We could talk about the character Regina, who stole almost as much time as Cure Ace did, but we'd be here longer.
The story has convoluted plot twists, the characters are poorly developed, the art lacks consistency and flow, and the people in charge seemed to care too much about what they wanted (or what they thought the audience wanted) to actually produce something good. Is the show enjoyable though? Honestly, it's a guilty pleasure. Are there episodes I will always skip? God yes, even with all the plotty episodes. Are there characters I thoroughly wish didn't exist? Several. Would I sit through Dokidoki! again? Maaaaaybe. Is it the worst Precure? No.
The season didn't become awful until half-way through, which gave enough time for the characters to endear themselves to me. It lacks the hammered heteronormativity of Yes Precure 5, and not everyone is annoying like in Happiness Charge. Although there was a definite 'darker and edgier' feel, it didn't really cut out the show enjoyment. Belo and his evil gang were entertaining, and though their schtick was tired after a while, they kept me going. So, yes, I did enjoy Dokidoki! Precure. Even though it's a pile of crap.
And since it is an enjoyable pile of crap, I'll give it a 4.5/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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