- Last OnlineDec 23, 2010 6:18 AM
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- BirthdayNov 11, 1986
- LocationYork, England
- JoinedApr 11, 2008
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May 4, 2008
Ayakashi was a very entertaining show in the end. It took a bit to get started but I found it a brillaint watch, for a show thats about magic powers, like Night Wizard or Prism Ark, but makes it bloody, throws human ethics onto the production floor.
The base story aids this in its presentation. Although the premise is simple, Yuu holds within him a powerful Ayakashi and finds himself the target of villains wanting that power (played superbly by Tomakazu Sugita) while his friends suffer (the first of which was his childhood friend and crush Izumi. As nw Girl Eimu shows
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up to protect, Yuu the story develops nicely along a stadily paced path, with implication's of romance, violence, the price of death, among other themes. Whats intersting about these powers, is that using them, the Ayakashi eats at your own life force, andthe more you use it, the more you get injured, and permanent effects like blindness tart to take place, which offers a more subdued battle show that makes it all the more entertaining. The link between Eimu and Izumi is also nicely developed, taking the series in a nice direction that one doesnt expect making watching the developments very rewarding.
However their are a few niggling problems in story terms that stop this show from being up there with the classic anime. Such developments over the episodes are not linked together effectively and something that doesnt appear to clearly happen, has actually happened (Pam's changing sides seemed to happen overnight) and characters seem to have a tendency to change their minds without much prompting (The Yoake sisters seemingly having the worst problem with this. However most character's are entertaining, if a bit clichéd. Yuu is your typical hero, but he is a bit flakey in his opinion's, Hime is the sweet best friend, Eimu is the stark serious one, all archetypes used before, but played to a mostly decent level that you feel somewhat emotional when character's die. And the show doesnt hold back on innocent sacrifices, which is what sets it apart from other super-power based shows and into the murky realms of Death Note and the like.
And if there is one thing that helps this dark atmospher its the nice Animation. Aesthetically, the art takes a bit of getting used to but really fits well with the piece. The colur palette for character's are varied from piks, purples, light blues to deep greens, but the vibrancy is degraded, and when placed on top of grey morbid backgrounds, really sets up a dark fantasy setting effectively well, without skimping on the attractiveness of its female cast (except maybe Hime, whose desgin seems dull and unattractive). The sound only serves to keep the dark morbid atmosphere and up the tension on a frequent basis and is well used to attempt to make the fight scenes more tense than they actually are. And thats one of the shows other weak points. Despite many conflicts, the battles seem dull and unispired, even if the art smoothly flows through each sequence, its just nothing really happens in 80% of the fights. Still it feels like a minor flaw compared to the show's interesting character developed plot. Wiht the beautiful animation and the appropriate soundtrack this anime is aesthetically pleasing, including one of my personal favourite Ending songs (that i'm listening to as I write this over and over) as it helps really enhance the despair and emotional impact the series can have on its audience and its main cast.
If you want something deep in dramatic tension, with a decent amount of blood and violence (that thankfully doesnt overdo it) with a dark foreboding atmosphere, you can go no wrong with Ayakashi. Its one of the darker tales of its genre, and as animation goes as a whole, its decently executed. Its never going to reach any lofty heights due to being weighed down from uninspired fight scenes and parts of the drama that are glossed over too quickly, but ignoring these little flaws, its a worthwhile 12 episode series that deserves more attention than it has garnered since its release.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 3, 2008
Wind is an example of a show that sounded great in theory and on paper, yet falied to deliver on almost every level. Based on the visual novel by menclave (also behind the masterful ef - A Tale of Memories) the story set-up is quite interesting. Inside a town, every person, bar our hero Makoto, has a special power, whether it be high jumping, calculator memories or sound cancellation, the power is unique to the person. A blimp constantly flies over the town and Makoto meets a girl he promised as a child to marry at school once again. He also meets another
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strange girl that seems not to talk much and be part of a some strange ritual. Alright alot of the story isn't unusual for a visual novel-based anime, yet has enough uniqueness to be interesting.
The problem is that it fails to deliver any potential set-up from the plot, and this maybe due to time constranits, being 12 episodes long, at 12 minutes each. The characters, although enteraining in their own way, and personify the typical arachetypes for a harem show, jump around too much, and suddenly changed their minds on life with very little convincing. The whole blimp and the mystery behind the town is hardly explained, and the concusion to the main problem and *spoiler* the sacrifice ritual to keep the town safe from harm* is quickly concluded with the aformentioned easy changing minds of characters, with no real conflict at all (Hell, even a fall off a cliff for two character's is totally lost due to constraints, and dodgy episode timing. *end spoiler*
That's another problem. Very rarely the episodes seem to have a link up to the previous or following episodes. It's almost like watching a sketch show of different aspects of different character's lives, without ever attempting to conclude anything. One time there at school, with problems about cooking lunch, then we're back in the past, to look at some character'sold life (and i mean really old), then we're at a beach as if nothing happened. There is no fluidity in the story and it feels like the show would have been alot better as just a feature length movie focusing on the main love traingle.
With all that complaining, the saving grace to the show is that it actually looks pretty nice. The backgrounds have alot of 3-D rendering that rival Gonzo works, and the character's look cute and colourful Characters move realistically and it at least made the time i wasted watching the show easy on the eye. The Sound was nothing brilliant and mostly forgetable, but did nothing to enhance the atmosphere, ending up falling into clichés of the genre. Voice acting was solid rendition's of the character's, who are actually an interesting bunch, especially the waitress sister's, and the white haired girl (sorry i can't remember there names after general loathing of the show I felt it best not to need to keep it in mind), that only falls flat because of a dodgy script and the worst time constraints I have seen for a show.
Overall, this show was a waste of my time (although it doesnt last long so luckily it wasn;t as much of a waste as 52 episodes of Kiba). The decent set-up was ruined by poor directorial choices and makes the series fall flat on its face. If anything the show does make me wan't to play the visual novel to see a group of character's not so mutilated by an animated version that doesnt even give the time of day to care about its creation. The only hope for the franchise is if SHAFT pick up a TV remake after the success of ef - A Tale of Memories and show this bunch how anime is done right. Don;t waste your time on this tripe, no matter how gorgeous loking the tripe may be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Apr 13, 2008
Welcome to one of the most relaxing anime's you have ever watched! I was pleasantly suprised about how this series turned out. I expected it to be an average slice of life with nothing special, and thoroughly enjoyed the series.
Even though the series is slow-paced, its never dull or mlacking in any way. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Each episode follows the trials of our 4 main heroines through the course of a day. That means no magic battles, no mushy romance, just staight up good, enjoyable slice of life, and all the bettter for it. What makes it a winner
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is its mix of comedy and heartwarming moments. From Hiro's constant worry over her weight, Miyako's obsession with food, Yuno's cutesy whining, Sae and her sister problems and everyones favourite cosplaying teacher, the series continues its run of constant laughs and entertaining views of the lives of these girls. And even though there is very little overriding plot, the development of the characters as they grow, and how the themes develop is a blessing on what could have been a total snorefest.
Animation-wise, you know what your getting into watchinbg a SHAFT series. Limited plot, but visually represented in a beautiful, yet simplisitc way. A perfect blend of bright colours, live-action photography and the pure moe of the characters make watching the show a treat to the eyes. The character's look distinct and cute, and the chibi deformations are used effetively and neither are over the top or underused. The soundtrack may be the shows weakest factor, but its by now means bad. Background music gives a calming effect, and moves elegantly from daft over the top during comedy to gentle, moving pieces when the need arises. The Opener and Ender Songs are perfect examples of this, with Sketch Switch acting as the fun, chirpy happy tune thats so addictive, it gets better every time you listen to it. Mabae Drive, on the other hand, is calm and sweet, perfectly complementing the series' moral and sweeter side.
There is very little to complain about in Hidamari Sketch, as it is a beautifully quaint show. Sure it never hits those comedy/tearjerker highs that other series experience, but what it does, it does extrememly well. Needless to say that the show itself is part of a small niche audience and if you don't like slow slice of life, you wont like this. But I feel You will miss out if you miss this series. Its an underappreciated gem, not helped by the fact that it was released around the same time as another 4 girls at high-school comedy slice of life, namely Lucky Star, which recieved much more critical acclaim being KyoAni (but in my opinion Hidamari Sketch is the better overall series). Watch this show, and it shan't disappoint.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 11, 2008
There are 3 main aspects that make a high-school harem love comedy work. 1 is pretty girls, the second is chracter drama and the third is comedic moments. Whereas Tokimeki Memorial hosts the first two, it is severely let down by the comedy.
The attempted comedy in this show is very over the top and stupid, and while this may work for some, it fails to hit my funny-bone on more than a few occasions. Support characters, such as Aoba's friends are full of idiocy, yet lacking in any real substantial humour. The sports societies and their presidents are one off lame jokes, and by far
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the worst is the chicken, Hiyoko, who, despite attempts to become the supporting entertainment that Da Capo's Utamaru brings us, fails to be comedic on any level.
That said, its nice that the development between Aoba and his 3 main heroines is nicely paced and the nice guy with three main girls routine never seems to get old on me. Romantic scenes are full of drama and makes the series some what watchable if you can ignore the comedy aspect, although I could never understand why Sayuri was so popular because she feels and looks rather dull and uninpiring(And I have a personal hatred for those cheesy Sayuri Legends that pop up in episodes which try to be funny and heartwarming yet fail on that behalf). Another great character was Inukai, Aobas lazy classmate, whose story started incredibly well and was very dramatic, yet, in the end its a shame he didnt get more screentime.
Visually, the series isn't top notch, but is competent enough to allow us to enjoy watching the show. The girls are all attractive and cater to many tastes, from Pink-haired firey Kasuga, to the slender Ayame (my personal favourite, there is plenty for the young otaku to lust over. The audio is forgetable but never intrusive on the main action, yet opener and ender songs feel lacking in life.
Overall, Tokimeki Memorial wasn;t a total waste of time. Its nice that the main story developed rather realistically and was full of drama and heartbreak. I'm also glad that there was no flip-reverse 180 turn at the end of the story, otherwise I'd be ranting about that cheesy 1980's style end (although it was still a pretty over the top ending. I can't help but feel somewaht cheated afterwards, with the fact that, for one there was nothing new that you have''t seen in other harems before, and again, the lack of hilarity filling the episodes (I had more of a feeling of embarassment than laughter by the end.) Still if you're looking for a harem to fill your void between seasons, then Tokimeki will not disappoint, as long as you don't enter with such high expectations
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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