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- BirthdayMay 22, 1990
- LocationMacon, GA
- JoinedNov 9, 2015
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Feb 15, 2024
This show has so much potential. The story is excellent, the characters are interesting, and the art style (when it exists) is cool. It is also the most lazily animated thing I have seen in a while. The first season suffered from similar problems, but it was not as apparent. It appears that the people who made this season either didn't care, weren't provided with the funding they needed to make an animated show, or didn't have the time to produce a finished product. At certain points , it becomes a power point presentation.
I wanted to like this, and I liked the first season
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a lot. It just made me sad.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 19, 2024
There are great elements to this movie, as there were with the series, but also as with the series there are some complicating factors. It's really gay (and genuinely gay too which is refreshing for Japan), but the element of cloudy attitudes toward consent could really complicate the viewing experience for some. If we are to assume that these are two adults who have had a conversation about their boundaries and have previously agreed to the type of sexual activities they engage in, cool, do your thing, but if that is the case then we should really see that conversation and have their consent made
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explicit. Otherwise, we are simply left with one person saying "no" while the other person continues having sexual contact with them, which really just feels uncomfortable and off-putting.
This IP is cute in some places, sexy in others, and really problematic in the rest. If they could just get rid of that last element, they'd have a great story on their hands.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 14, 2018
I truly enjoy approximately three things in this world: swordfights, anime, and musical theater. Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight (hereafter SKRS) is those things in equal measure. I was doomed to love it from the get. Having said that I am biased, I still think this show is objectively really good, and if you like shows like Revolutionary Girl Utena, AKB0048, or Mawaru Penguindrum you will absolutely love this show as well. If that sounds good stop reading this and go watch it, you can send me a muffin basket in thanks later. If you need more convincing, allow me to explain why you should just
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go ahead and watch it even if you don't expect you'll like it much. It might surprise you. Maybe even shock you. It certainly did me...
OMINOUS!
Story:
At a prestigious all-girls performing arts school, a group of extremely talented students are all in friendly competition to become the Top Star in their class's production of a play called Starlight. Only sometimes the completion isn't so friendly. Sometimes, inexplicably, a terrifying and incredibly sinister giraffe shows up and makes these young performers fight each other with real weapons while they do full musical theater song and dance numbers. Think Chicago meets House of Flying Daggers. We also see these 9 girls in their normal everyday lives, honing their craft and maturing as people and as performers. SKRS has elements of multiple genres: music, action, mystery, psychological, slice of life, shoujo ai, and good old fashioned sci-fi. The story manages to somehow blend these disparate elements seamlessly. The only reason that the score is not a 10 is that it is some times annoyingly cryptic or doesn't make crystal clear sense.
Art:
Everything looks great, nothing looks mind blowing. Except some of the fight scenes really do look pretty cool, especially considering that they are seamlessly synced with the excellent music. The characters all look great and all look different enough to identify at a glance. SKRS looks beautiful, but it isn't anything new or different in the art department. Props for not using CG at all, it is lovingly hand-crafted and it shows.
Sound:
A primary reason to watch this show. The music is stellar, the voice acting is great and contains some standout performances, and both the OP and EDs are a joy to watch. The fight choreography with the music is without a doubt some of the the most memorable and impressive I have ever seen. The characters get multiple individual singing parts, every episode contains new music, and all the songs help us get to know the characters and their motivations. This show is a joy to listen to.
Characters:
So. Frigging. Good. The character designs are sharp, colorful, and distinct. The characters themselves all feel like real people with established strengths, weaknesses, talents, flaws, hopes, and dreams. They learn things about themselves as they pursue the almost mystical position of "Top Star," and not all of these things will be comfortable or pleasant to learn. They struggle with interpersonal relationships, feelings of inadequacy, easily bruised pride, fear of rejection, and pressure to perform, but none of that dims their love for the Stage. I am genuinely rooting for everybody, and the fact that not everyone can be the Top Star casts a cloud of melancholy over SKRS that makes the highs and lows all the more dramatic.
The main characters, Karen and Hikari, are a classic paring of a sweet cheerful girl with a broody serious girl, and their contrasting personalities make them great compliments to each other. The rest of the main cast is fun as well, I especially like spoiled blue-haired rich Naginata girl Kaoruko and borderline yandere mace-welding side chick Mahiru.
Then there's best girl: Diaba Nana. Her damn hair. Is shaped like bunches of bananas. Everybody calls her "Bananna." I mean what more do you want? She's gentle, supportive, and slightly reserved in a way that made me eager to learn more about her.
Enjoyment:
If you've ever performed at all, the amazing feeling that it gives you will be familiar. The characters of Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight all love that feeling and pursue it wholeheartedly, and watching them do so has been an amazing experience. This show is definitely weird, would only work as animation, and would never get mad outside of Japan. This is the kind of show that reminds me why I watch anime. It is a great example of the medium and shouldn't be overlooked by anyone who wants to really enjoy a great cartoon.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Sep 11, 2018
If the phrase "So Bad It's Good" means anything to you, you will likely get a kick out of Aguu. I most certainly have. Make no mistake, Aguu is bad. It's confusing, ugly, annoying, convoluted, and most of all really really weird. The whole thing blends together into a thoroughly entertaining mess that has to be seen to be believed. If you need a nice, warm dumpster fire to keep you warm at night, this one is a great choice.
Story:
Holy shit, buckle your seatbelts. Evil Purple People who look like the Apple Bonkers from Yellow Submarine suck the talent out of talented people and make
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them into gross little bondage fetus doll things. These people are called "Tailors" and they are without exception a bunch of annoying crazy assholes who monologue a lot. They then stick these gross fetus balls (Aguu) into other people for exorbitant amounts of money, upon which insertion the doll's talent is transferred to the recipient. Also they wear fabulous hats.
People called "Saviors," who so far consist of an old man, an EXTREMELY annoying kid sidekick, and our main character Ai, try to help save the Aguu from their fate as gross fetus balls and beat up the Tailors for being so violent and off-putting.
After Ai's friend Machi has fallen in with the Tailors, Ai and the other saviors chase them around Asia. It's really really dumb, and really poorly animated. Loved it.
Art:
As previously mentioned, completely terrible. Everything is boxy and flat, the color palate is insane (think Barney, all purple and green), the animation is mostly non-existent. It looks like approximately 0 effort was put into the polishing in this show, but I will be damned if it is not really fun to look at. I never know what's coming next, but it is almost always worse than I expect and better than I hoped for. This show looks like ass, but it is at least a funny looking ass.
Sound:
Kinda whatever. The OP makes me feel uncomfortable, but so does the show as a whole so I guess there you go. I haven't noticed the music enough to comment. It seems adequate and forgettable. People's voices are pretty hammy and over the top, but it adds to the camp factor already very much present in the show.
Characters:
Probably the best part? It's absolutely nuts. Seriously, just google "applebonkers." That is, no lie, EXACTLY what the bad guys look like. They are all silly petulant crazy people with a penchant for the dramatic. People's faces are crazy, people are strange colors, their clothes are nuts. Think acid trip fancy dress tea party. Even the non Tailor characters are pretty weird. The characters are what has me rating this show so highly even though it is admittedly terrible.
Enjoyment:
Just the most. This show has cheers me up every time I watch it. It is adorably ugly and stupid, kind of like a pug. Camp and trash may not be for everyone, but it sure is for me and I liked this show a whole bunch. Aguu is not as good as the tragic masterpieces that are Vatican Miracle Examiner or Qualedia Code, each magnificent and flawless trash heaps, but it is really entertainingly hilariously bad and if that's something you appreciate you will appreciate this.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 24, 2018
Let me make it perfectly unequivocally clear that this anime, Black Clover, is a gargantuan pile of hot hot salty garbage. It is also perhaps one of the most successful unintentional comedies it has ever been my pleasure to enjoy. Or is it intentional? After 41 episodes, I still find myself unable to say. That, ladies and gentleman, is the magic of Black Clover.
Story:
Imagine the most basic Shounen anime ever. Congratulations, you have just imagined Fairy Tail. Now make that just a little more seedy, and you have just gotten a good handle on what Black Clover is like. Fairy Tail but with
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more violence and sexuality.
The Clover Kingdom is a country that is ruled by a Wizard King and maintained by his Magic Knights. In dinky little bumblefuck village of Hage, two orphans named Asta and Yuno dream of becoming Magic Knights and one day the Wizard king. Yuno is a magic prodigy, Asta is completely devoid of even the smallest shred of magical power. But of course that is no impediment to a main character, and soon he acquires a sword that is able to totally cancel the magic of anybody else. The two rivals set out on a competitive dick-measuring journey to become Wizard Jesus.
It is the prototypical hero's tale, a young determined country bumpkin rises up against all odds and becomes OP as fuk very quickly. Lots of fights, some playful with friendly rivals and some against crazy people who can make lizards out of jelly, ensue. It is comforting in its simplicity and derivativeness. Nothing that requires you to think for a second.
Art:
Started off completely terrible. Really boring and bland, and kind of lazy with a lot of repetition. As the show went on it started to improve dramatically, to the point that the fights in the later arcs actually look really cool. Even the look of the slapsticky comedy moments improved over time, although they still look shitty enough to be lovably awful. The art is a small part of what makes this show such a campy gem.
Sound:
Oh boy. Here we go.
There is one central element of this show that simultaneously makes me hate and love the fuck out of it; it is what both repulsed me and kept me coming back for more. There is no way around it. The voice of the main character, Asta no last name, is the single most annoying sound that it has ever been my pleasure to endure. It is so mind mindbogglingly irritating, it haunts my dreams at night. If it is a genuine attempt to do a serious voice worthy of the protagonist of a long running Shounen battle anime, it is the single worst performance since Ashley Simpson did that hoedown on SNL. If it is an intentional joke, either by the voice actor or the director, it routinely makes me laugh so hard I cry.
Asta screams 100% of the time. He thinks his biggest curse is that he has no magic, but it is really that he has no inside voice. This cat quite literally ends most of his sentences with WHHHAAAAAAAAAAA! Swap him out for Waluigi, nobody would kind the difference.
The music is mostly average, but the OPs have been getting better and better. The first was eminently forgettable, but they have improved to the point where I watch them every time. The endings are universally not worth the time.
Characters:
From the get, the first thing we learn about this world is that everybody sucks. They are all maddeningly childish, most of the time they are being huge dicks to each other, nobody has any concept of personal space, nobody behaves like a human being in the slightest. While this pissed me off royally at first, I have reached a level of Stockholm Syndrome with this show that has left me rather warmly disposed toward almost everybody. Asta is a total spazz, screams all the time, is very dumb, an has no consideration for other people's feelings barring the rare times he can pull himself together and focus. His sword cuts through anything, it is Kryptonite and everybody else is Superman and also made of paper. Yuno's crazy-strong power is air, and that is fitting because he is also completely invisible as far as a personality goes. He wants to beat Asta and become wizard king. It is the only thought he has ever had, it is the only emotion he has ever expressed. Also there is a girl who is there named Noelle, who has water powers and confidence issues and likes Asta and that's about it.
Side characters are so aggressively quirky that I kind of expect to side with any villain who manages to do a nice thorough job of murdering them all. I do have to admit that I kind of love them for it though. Special shout outs to Charmy, a chibi whose magic is to conjure sheep and who is basicaly moe-blob Gluttony from FMA, Luck, a sociopathic child made of lightning and bloodlust, and Sally the mad scientist evil girl who makes salamanders out of Jelly.
Enjoyment:
Why'd you have to go and make things so complicated? I really should rate this show a 2 overall, because objectively it is poorly made, annoying, and is covering ground that has already been much more competently trodden by a million shows before it. But the amount of fun I had watching Black Clover leaves me giving it a 10 in enjoyment and an overall 9 for the experience I had following its story's devastating fall down the world's longest flight of stairs. I laughed harder watching this than at anything I can call to recent memory. It is so hilariously inept that is really should be seen and cherished for the shiny, polished turd it is.
In conclusion, if the phrase "so bad it's good" means anything to you at all, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not watching Black Clover. As Asta always screams, his magic is not giving up, and I am so glad he inspired me not to give up on Black Clover just because it was terrible. I am eternally grateful that he did, and my life is richer for the experience.
Now, to finish in true Black Clover style, WHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 1, 2018
Golden Kamuy is that rarest of things among anime: a pleasant surprise. It combines elements of action, slice of life, and military anime into a period historical drama that is both harrowingly tense and a whole bunch of fun. For the characters and action alone this show is worth watching, but the small window it gives us into the history and culture of the Ainu people makes this show a must-watch.
Story:
In the frigid northern reaches of Hokkaido we meet Saichi Sugimoto, a legendary veteran of the recent (1904-05) Russo-Japanese war who is said to be nearly immortal. It is good that he is apparently immortal,
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because pretty soon everybody and everything starts trying to kill him. Sugimoto has decided to search for a hidden cache of stolen Ainu gold, which does indeed seem like a really good idea. The problem is that a bunch of other veterans have had the same really good idea, and let us just say that they do not much appreciate the competition. A shocking amount of violence ensues. I may or may not have failed to mention that the location of the treasure is tattooed on the backs of 24 escaped convicts, and that the convicts do not take to kindly to being hunted down and skinned...
Sugimoto soon realizes that the harsh wilderness of Hokkaido will be an even bigger problem that the army of unpleasant people trying to shoot and hit him with things, but a deus ex machina in the form of a young Ainu woman named Asirpa appears and takes an interest in Sugimoto's hunt for the gold that was stolen from her people. Asirpa is an experienced survivalist whose competence and wealth of knowledge perfectly compliments Sugimoto's terrifying hardiness and physical prowess. Together they set out to take the stolen Ainu gold for themselves.
Art and Sound:
Both good, neither amazing. It looks perfectly clean and is very well animated, and it also definitely feels cold. They did a good job of conveying the harshness of the winter. The voice work is also great. A special shout out goes to the Ainu language that we get to hear. Apparently they hired an Ainu Linguist to make sure it was legit, and that kind of attention to detail is super impressive IMO.
Characters:
Awesome.
Sugimoto is relateable, complicated, and most of all a total badass. Asirpa is strong, endearing, and just as capable as Sugimoto at putting up a fight. Together they are a perfect team, and they seem to know it. They are pretty clearly interested in each other, and because I like them both I totally want them to get together. I can't wait to see what happens with them. I suspect it will be tragic because the show is kind of like that, but if it is it will be super fuckin tragic and full of feels and I'll probably cry. So that's cool too.
My favorite part so far has been getting to meet the Ainu characters and see them cook, worship, hunt, and live their lives. It feels like whoever wrote this really cared about showing aspects of the Ainu culture in a way that is both educational and fun to watch. There has been as much food porn as a really slow episode of Shokugeki no Souma, so that's awesome too.
The majority of the rest of the characters are either tattooed cons or hardened and borderline unhinged veterans of the 7th division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Anybody who survived the war and the harsh conditions of Hokkaido has got be one grizzled bastard, and they do not disappoint. Special shout to their commander who is especially grizzled and especially a bastard. He's the guy with the scary face. You'll know who I mean when you see it.
Enjoyment: I am absolutely loving this show so far, and I cannot recommend it highly enough. I suppose it contains too much violence for a young kid (although I totally would've loved it as a kid just sayin) but otherwise anybody who wants to have a pretty kick-ass time and learn some stuff about the history and culture of Japan at the same time should watch this show.
WATCH GOLDEN KAMUY YOU GUYS IT'S REALLY GOOOOOOOD!!!!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 31, 2018
This show is worth your time. It is a dumb-fun action romp, but it is also more than that. It is a portrayal of queer people in a way that is fun, humanizing, sympathetic, and, almost miraculously, in an way that is not in the slightest bit preachy. If you like stupid action and also like gay characters and stories, you could do a hell of a lot worse than Hakata Tonkasu Ramens.
I will be completely forthright and admit that I went in Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens (hereafter HTR) both expecting and wanting to hate-watch it. Even starting to watch this show with a clear bias
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against it's being good, I will be damned if it did not completely pleasantly surprise me by being a really enjoyable experience. I expected the show to be dumb, fun, and crappy, but what I found was that it was only the first of those two things. I love things that are dumb and fun, and as such I unironically loved watching HTR.
Story: Only sort of. There isn't really a strong plot, but what there is instead is a whole bunch of character development and world building. In short, a hit-man named Lin comes to a new town full of crazies and murderers and finds out that it is actually the coolest town ever. Hakata is a city where everybody seems to be allowed to kill anybody they want to with essentially no repercussions and also does so professionally. Lin meets and befriends secret samurai detectives in cute sweaters, terrifying little girls, mushroom-shaped 1337 hackers, camp gay revenge dispensers, and clumsy and petulant ninjas. There are also some subtle homosexual overtones, in the way that an episode of Rupaul's Drag Race also contains some subtle homosexual overtones. This show is gay as a peacock and all the better for it.
Art: Not great. Actually pretty bad, which kind of drags the show down a bit. The character designs, barring one in main character Lin, are nothing to write home about, and the action scenes frequently go off model. The whole show in general looks a little crunchy. The fact that I still liked it anyway is a testament to the other strengths of HTR.
Sound: Love the OP. The song is catchy and emotional and always gets me hyped up. The voice acting is also great, and makes characters that could have been really stupid and cheesy instead seem grounded and relateable. Overall the sound great and fit the show like a glove.
Character: Why you should watch this show. Not all of them are great, although all of them are fun. The ones who are though, namely Lin, deuteragonist Banba, and their relationship, are worth the price of admission on their own.
Let us first take Lin. When we are introduced to Lin we see what appears to be a beautiful young woman in a school uniform and sensible high heels, but we soon find out that, despite what he may look like, Lin is very much a dude and will very much kill your ass dead if you get in his way. Lin lives his his life as a woman, and the fact that Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens chooses to have a person on the LGBTQ and so-forth spectrum as its hero and not choose to make fun of them or (SPOILER ALERT) murder them graphically is such a sight for sore eyes. We grow to know and like him despite and in fact partially because of his many and varied foibles, just as Lin grows as a person as he meets the residents of Hakata.
Chief among these residents (at least in Lin and the story's eyes) is Banba Zenji, a detective with a mysterious secret life and an LL Bean sweater. Banba takes Lin in during a rare moment of vulnerability, and much to Lin's consternation he discovers that he kinda likes it here.
The show ships Lin and Banba from the get, and their interactions are pretty damn cute. Lin is a textbook tsundere, and the fact that he is a man living as a woman makes the interaction between him and Banba all the more rife with incidences for Lin to tsun out over. Banba is alternately cool and adorable as the mood takes him, and really it is no wonder Lin falls for him so hard. I mean, just look at that sweater.
HTR never comes right out and confirms that Lin and Banba are boning down, but come on guys we all know they are. It's great, just have fun with it! At one point Banba's ex girlfriend sits down with Lin and is like "so Banba's totally your boyfriend, amirite?" and Lin is like "nooo I'm totally not a gay" and then she basically looks at the camera with an expression on her face that might as well have been subtitled "GURL PLEASE." Lin doesn't bother to defend the point. He's too busy being dere.
The rest of the characters are more or less successful and fun, particularly mushroom hacker and glasses ninja agent, but all of them feel like they live and belong in the world of Hakata. They all serve to help tell the story of Lin learning to love other people and eventually himself, and as Rupaul says "If you can't love yourself how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?" The entire city of Hakata gives him an AMEN.
If you made it through this overly effusive review, you owe it to yourself to watch this show. You are clearly interested in or at least appreciate gay shit, else you would've tuned out the second you saw the big scary word QUEER (oh my god so spooky!!!). If you are the kind of person who would enjoy watching To Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar but would also enjoy watching one of the sillier James Bond movies, go ahead and watch Hakata Tonkatsu Ramens. I am that type of person, and I LOVED it!!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 7, 2017
The best fantastic adventures take you to cool worlds full of cool characters, and, fortunately for everybody involved, Children of the Whales does just that. Anybody who is a fan of mystery, fantasy, psychological themes, and beautiful artwork should most definitely check this show out!
Story:
A quiet and tranquil ship called the Mud Whale full of short-lived psychokinetics and a handful of boring normies with longer lifespans drifts aimlessly on an endless sea of sand. Barring a few troublemakers the people of the Mud Whale are (mostly) happy in what seems to be a utopian commune of sorts. Unexpected contact with the outside world reveals
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that things on the Mud Whale are not as simple and benign as they initially seem, and soon the passengers of the Mud Whale are forced to confront a world that doesn't much resemble the paradise they know. Chakuro (our hero and the archivist of the ship) and his friends must struggle against the pressure of a vast, hostile, and unknown world if they want to continue to live their peaceful lives.
Art:
It's beautiful, it's perfect, it looks like Linda Evangelista. This show is gorgeous to look at, and a couple seconds should be enough to convince anybody with working eyes of that fact. It has a muted, watercolor look that keeps the atmosphere very tranquil even when some serious shit starts going down. In fact, the mellow art makes the serious shit all the more serious by comparison. The way this show is drawn and animated would reason enough to watch it even if the story was garbage, and as the story is also great you really have no excuse not to.
Sound:
The only part of the show that isn't amazing. It's good, don't get me wrong, especially the OP. It's just not as perfect as the art and the story. Nothing to sneeze at, but certainly nothing to write home about.
Character:
Really really good. Chakuro, our main character, is something of a wet blanket at first, but he grows a backbone as the story progresses and he is forced to start standing up for himself and his family. Lykos, a mysterious stranger from abroad, starts off as an emotionally dead husk and fairly quickly becomes a really badass little girl. Kinda like anime Eleven from Stranger Things. Other characters of note include Ouni, the rebellious angsty teenaged shit-stirrer, Sami, the plucky (almost) girlfriend of our protagonist, and Suou, one of the non-psychokenetic individuals on the Mud Whale who is being groomed to become the next chief of the ship. A plethora of side characters, each interesting and dynamic in their own right, help the Mud Whale feel like a lived-in community filled with real people. This, of course, serves to make the fact that they are about to get their shit kicked in all the more tragic.
Enjoyment/Overall:
This show is great. It is going to be a fun and colorful adventure full of complex characters, tough decisions, and really beautifully animated fights, scenery, and characters. The world is cool, the characters are vibrant, the visual is spectacular, and the episodes have a natural dramatic tension that is very exciting to watch unfold. Fans of other awesome fantasy/mysteries like From the New World (Shinsekai Yori), Dennou Coil, Uta Kata, and Made in Abyss will really get a kick out of this show. If you have no idea what any of that stuff is, watch this show anyway. You'll love it. And then, if you do, watch that other shit too. Cause you'll like that as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 28, 2017
From the start of the season this was the thing I was the most excited about. While it did have its good points, it ultimately became the thing that most disappointed me of the Winter 2017 season. I will now proceed to tell you why in EXCRUCIATING detail.
Our setting is the Kingdom of Dowa: a continent/kingdom made up of many districts, shaped like a bird, and populated by gangly noodle-people. Our hero is Jean Otus, a blond guy who smokes cigarettes, wears jackets, and works in the titular governmental organization ACCA as some sort of district inspector. This is about all we know about
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him. Also he has a sister and a friend with blue hair.
Jean is tasked with visiting the various districts of Dowa and "auditing" them, which consists of 50% looking through file cabinets at papers in a very boring way and 50% coincidentally stumbling into dramatic events that all seem to center around Jean while somehow also not involving him at all. Superficially tense political games and a lot of talking ensue.
Pros:
A.) It looks awesome. ACCA has a very distinct visual style, managing to be both vibrant and relaxed. It has the feel of a watercolor painting: colorful but also a bit ethereal.
B.) Both the OP and ED are great, the first being a fun cool colorful romp and the second a stunningly animated tranquil dance scene.
C.) I mostly really like the characters, with Jean himself being the notable and unfortunate exception. He is either very subtle or very boring, and unfortunately we find out by the end that he is very much the latter. I ended up having to look up his name to write this review, because I couldn't remember if it was "Jean" or "Jin." All the side characters are fun and interesting, so that’s something.
Cons:
A.) As mentioned before, Jean himself. Everybody in the show itself seem to think he is the greatest most interesting shit in the world. Either he is a secret genius who is playing his cards SUPER close to the vest and not showing us any of it, or he isn't and is actually the most boring man in the world whose only personality trait seems to be that he is a smoker.
B.) The pacing is garbage. It is SLOW and feels SLOOWER.
C.) Like Mushishi it is not in a rush to get anywhere, but unlike Mushishi it ultimately never does. The story immediately lags and it gets boring quickly.
D.) It is not in the least bit exciting. There have been moments of charm that have made me want to get more, but they are not frequent enough to make me instantly want to watch another episode.
The biggest problem with the show by the end was that nobody changed or developed in the slightest. They are all exactly the same at the end of the show as they were at the start. The sad truth is that the character that underwent the most development was the coddled prince’s servant Magie, whose development consists of him learning that he likes bread.
A lot of anime get criticized for being nothing but talking, but beside eating bread and smoking cigarettes more or less nothing else occurred in 12 episodes. It was constant exposition that ended up settling up nothing. It is a crying shame because the characters look great and the world is super cool, but the show reminded me of a Kardashian in that it looks pretty and very effortfully crafted but is ultimately unengaging because it is devoid of any depth or interest.
SPOILER ALERT AHEAD
It doesn’t matter anyway because you shouldn’t watch the show, and it won’t ruin anything because there is nothing to ruin, but I though I’d warn you. It seems only polite.
Most of the previous complaints I have about this show disappointed me, but this one pissed me the f off. The only “bad” people in this show are brown, and the only brown people in this show are “bad.” The show also does a great job of very pointedly not calling them “Arabs,” which just serves to call attention to the brown skinned, oil wealthy, immoral, racist elephant in the room. Literally the only people of color of any significance in this entire postulated world are portrayed as greedy manipulative villains. In the end they choose to just go away and sit in the corner so all the white people can resume their blissful perfect lives. I will also add that I, myself, am white as the driven snow. I am not saying this out of any feelings that the show has attacked me personally. It was so blatant that it made me, not a target of the seemingly intentional demonization of a group of people, feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable. Do better guys. We are better than this.
So Jean is, in fact, playing a long game, but unfortunately that long game turns out to be Monopoly: the most tedious, dialogue heavy, longest game of all. His master plan is literally designed to ensure that nothing will change, and that the huge amount of narrative debt that the show has built up after 12 episodes of stoic talky political drama is entirely unpaid. Every single problem presented throughout the run of the show is wrapped up in a neat little bow with no bloodshed or ill will. Except, of course, on the part of the brown people, but as we have previously established they do not matter due to the fact that they are brown because they are evil and evil because they are brown. It is so painfully contrived and saccharine that it made me a little embarrassed to watch on behalf of the writer.
As if to drive my point home, the last line of dialogue in the show is “We really haven’t changed, have we?,” with the feeling that it is being delivered directly to camera with a cheeky wink. No, ACCA, you have not. But I have. At the beginning I kind of liked you. Here at the end I have nothing but disappointment and pity left for what you could’ve been.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 15, 2017
I am willing to bet that most people have never heard of Dennou Coil, because it flew completely under the radar. A lot of really popular anime premiered or were airing in 2007, among them the popular noodle fest Code Geass, quirky Gurren Lagan, and engaging Baccano, and as a result this show did not receive the recognition that it truly deserves. Dennou Coil is basically what you would get if you crossed a heady tech anime like Ghost in the Shell or even more comparably Serial Experiments Lain with something contemplative and mellow like Mushishi, another beautiful anime story that
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shares a lot of similarities in tone with Dennou Coil.
Dennou Coil is a critical examination of the increasingly central role that the Internet plays in our lives as young people of the 21st century. In particular this is an examination of the Internet with a capital “I”, that is of the internet as an entity instead of simply a tool for human use. Told through the eyes of several children, all of whom are avid users of special glasses that let them visualize the Internet all around them at all times, DC asks what happens when the things that we experience online start to become more real to us than what is happening in the physical world that we actually inhabit. Ethical and societal questions like the sanctity of the life of artificial intelligences, the use of controversial technology in medical therapy, the way that reality both shapes and is shaped by urban legends, and the positive and negative effects of the proliferation of the Internet are examined through the eyes of children who are simultaneously incredibly naive and on the cutting edge of brand new and exciting discoveries.
Yasako and Isako, the two leads, are two young girls who act as foils to each other while at the same time struggling with a lot of the same issues. The trusting and generally cheerful Yasako struggles with strange and confusing memories and with the challenge of interacting with unexplained and unsought phenomena, while the brooding and isolated Isako forces her way ahead into unknown and potentially dangerous territory with a complete lack of regard for her own safety, for reasons which only become apparent as her story takes shape. Both girls, however, are more intimately connected with the secrets of the Internet and the Glasses than they know, and they mystery that they delve into begins to sweep them away with it as the stakes grow higher and higher. Their friends and families, each with their own relationships to the Internet and the Glasses, begin to fear for Yasako and Isako as they sink deeper into a strange world from which they might not be able to return in one piece.
What starts off as a charming and childlike monster of the week show gradually evolves into a many layered mystery that somehow manages to be both relaxing and tense at the same time, if that were possible. The pacing can definitely be slow at times, but it is in the service of a gradual and masterfully executed buildup that culminates in a nearly flawless climax. The characters are all realistic both in personality and looks, and is one of the few anime to actually depict Asian children with realistic proportions, hairstyles and coloring, albeit still with the inevitable anime eyes. The lack of mintberry crunch hair and non-stop action may make Dennou Coil seem boring to some at first; but if you sit back and let the show tell you its story you will soon become engrossed in a world that is really very much like our own. Masterful atmosphere, soundtrack, character arcs, and storytelling make Dennou Coil a must watch for any fans of Mystery or SciFi who want to see what the best of both genres has to offer. Dennou Coil was never dubbed, so subs are the default choice. The voice acting is a high point of the show, so this is more of an asset than a detriment to the viewing experience regardless of your option on sub vs dub.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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