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Jun 28, 2013
From the summary, I immediately thought that Btooom would be a crossbreed of Sword Art Online (which I watched first) and Battle Royale (live action movie, never read the mangas). As I liked BR a lot and thought SAO was decent, I had some expectations for Btooom, which it spectacularly failed to meet.
And the main reason is that both the protagonists are weak minded fools who become dumber and more useless as the show goes on.
Ryota, the main male protagonist, is a mixture of so many conflicting character traits he is like 3 different people. He is rude and violent towards his parents
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punching his stepdad and driving his mom to suicide with his attitude, yet he is kind and tries to talk to everyone throwing a bomb at him. He is a hypocrite spouting his pacifist routine crap - he wants to leave the game peacefully by collecting 7 chips from people that are dead - conveniently ignoring the dead people that he himself killed part. He is the "best" Btooom player in Japan, yet every fight is a "oh so this IS a bomb, I thought it was another toy" discovery for him. He is a shut-in who forsook the real world for the virtual world, yet the only person who is seeking companionship and acceptance, in of all things, a murder game. Yet the most unbelievable trait he has is that he becomes more and more trusting of people in this game of deceit the more he gets betrayed.
The main female protagonist Himiko on the other hand, is at least consistent - she wants to die instead of being raped, and she retains her fear of men until the last episode. However, she spends the first half of the show wanting to die, and the last half of the show wondering why she hasn't killed herself yet. As for her positive traits - resourcefulness, an experienced Btooom player, an agile and athletic person, possessing an ability to read and distrust the other players Ryota doesn't have, yet she doesn't actually use any of them, and is content with being the background eye candy and letting the party almost die over and over because of her unwillingness to actually do anything. She actually stands willingly without fighting back several times in the story because it is far more tiring to try to live than accepting torture and a slow death.
Both Btooom main characters started and ended the 12 episodes in a gray area of undecisiveness, naivete, hypocrisy, retardedness, an inability to learn anything new, and a severe lack of conviction and willingness to act bordering on suicidal fatalism.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Jul 15, 2012
Since I already wasted my time by watching this anime to its end, I decided I might as well do something of doubtful usefulness by writing this list of why Shining Hearts: Shiawase no Pan is an utter and complete waste of time.
Story: 2/10 Character: 1/10
This anime is a pseudo action-fantasy/slice of life, that does really badly at both genres. If you consider it as a slice of life, you keep getting barraged by random mystery plot shadowing scenes every few
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minutes, making you think "OMG GET ON WITH THE STORY ALREADY!" By the time the series gets you to resign on how the story will never advance, it suddenly gets thrown into a hasty, 2 episode conclusion and sudden ending that ruins the slice of life atmosphere.
The show is even worse if you consider it as an action/fantasy, since the story progresses really, really, really slowly. The first 10 episodes are used to introduce new characters that do not really appear in the finale, and the climax is very disappointing, especially with the 10 episode buildup and you just want the story to end already. The final fight scene lasts all of 3 minutes, and the show is over without anything being resolved. In conclusion, this series would have been better off as a 9 episode slice of life + 3 episode OVA. Of course, you would also have to remake the entire story, scrap all the characters, and remake everything from scratch.
Aside from being confused as to what genre it is trying to be, the show also has many other aspects which makes it horrible. One of this is that the characters and setting just plain suck. The ISLAND the characters are on, is isolated. In fact, there are no indications that other people exist in their world. So in a pre-technology village with 100 people, with nothing of value in it, why is there a CASTLE, with hundreds of guards, 2 rulers, and a treasury filled to the brim with gold? Furthermore, around 80% of the main characters seem to have come to the island by washing up on the shore, has complete amnesia, don't seem to care they have amnesia, nor find it strange this phenomenon happens every few days. Why is there an antique shop, and where the hell do antiques even come from since there is no trade at all - the island is isolated remember? And why the hell are there PIRATES in the village? Who the hell do they plunder treasure from, if the village (where they come from) is the only livable settlement in the entire world? Either the creator just randomly adds factors to attract viewers (wow this anime has pirates, it must be good) without any effort to create a logical world, or the animation completely fails in portraying anything of significance to its viewers.
Another point that makes this show terrible is that it is filled, completely, to the brim, with inconsistencies. If any effort was made to answer the inconsistencies however, there would have been no story at all, so I guess the creators can't be blamed for this, right?
- The bakers are very successful. But when the furnace breaks, they have 0 life savings and can't afford to fix it. However, one of the main characters, despite washing up on shore unconscious, with nothing but the clothes on his back and a sword, owns a SHIP, which, because they are on an island in an uninhabited world, is very important, can't sell it, and get money to fund a new furnace.
- The "broken" android who disintegrates an entire fleet of ships with a single laser beam, suddenly loses the ability to do so again when she is finally repaired.
- The completely loyal android whose only task is to keep her master safe decides to use the village and castle as a shield to protect her master. Then after a few seconds, changes her mind and decides the best way was to remove the only item that would protect her, bring her into the middle of the enemy troops, and leave her there.
- Rick, the "great swordsman" who lost to a cat burglar, suddenly acquires wings, a sword that fires energy beams, and manages to nearly get killed when he fights too low and gets knocked down by someone on the ground, and that is the climactic fight scene of the entire series.
- The "great swordsman" is the only person who can save their village, manages to lose within 2 minutes of fighting. The fight is actually won by the mage (there's magic in this show?) and by the blacksmith's cannon "I guess being the only person who can save the village" means, being the only idiot stupid enough to become bait.
- The "Robin Hood" character steals from the royal treasury, to donate to the orphanage. This shows that the government in this show is despotic. This image is further strengthened by how the soldiers seize stuff that isn't theirs, randomly decides to try to kill a civilian, imprisons the thief and take credit for funding the orphanage, and how the prince lies and deceives the main character to sacrifice his life for the village. However, the rulers are still supposedly "good", "care" for the village, best friends with the main characters, and loved by all. Right…
Aside from this (yes there's more), the show is littered with a ton of random, one shot characters, that do not do anything for the story. This includes 2 elves (what there are elves too?) that 2 episodes devote to, a girl who makes ice cream (who is a loli of course) who takes up an entire episode, and the very important character the entire summary talks about, the mysterious "girl with amnesia that pirates are chasing". In truth, the "girl with amnesia" is nothing but a minor character with a smell fetish, with 10 lines in the entire series, 8 of which are "this smells good."
However, the VERY WORST aspect of this series is that it utilizes the "we are the game masters, we can do whatever we want" philosophy. There is no set plot, no set story. Instead, things are randomly included into the show, for no reason, and with no explanation. Come to think of it, it is already quite fail how the show can easily make up a story, or make any person suddenly acquire any random skills at an expert level by just saying "I have amnesia, I must have learnt that in a previous life" (and again, almost all the main characters have amnesia). The fact that the creators have to resort to the "there's a different dimension" explanation just to get the story moving just confirms once again how incompetent they really are. It's like saying "we can't kill an unconscious squirrel with a gun, can someone buy us a grenade launcher please? (while standing beside a grenade launcher they just have to pick up)." The ridiculousness includes
- In a fantasy, pre-technology world, there are suddenly flying androids who can decimate entire fleets with her laser, using the VERY CONVENIENT explanation of "there are actually two worlds, I'm from the other one."
- There are suddenly beast men, lizard men, and elves in an otherwise isolated island in an isolated world. Unless the humans in this story can breed with their dogs and cats, where the hell do these different species come from? From the fanservice gods of course!
- In the final battle, magic suddenly exists, which, just watching the entire anime, there is no indication of existing.
Art: 9/10 Sound: 9/10
The art and music is pretty well done. However, like all my ratings, I don't really factor both these in how an anime does overall. I mean, if I wanted fanservice anime, then I'd watch fanservice anime after all. And if I wanted to listen to great music, that is what iTunes is for. The reason I would watch an anime, TV series, or a movie, is because I love reading/watching/listening to great and interesting stories. And that is what I base my anime ratings on. That said,
Enjoyment: 3/10 Overall: 3/10
Watching the show as a "therapeutic" slice of life just managed to piss me off. Because some kind of mysterious foreshadowing is randomly inserted every 3 minutes, I keep expecting something exciting to happen. And watching it as action/fantasy just made me bored to tears.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Nov 10, 2011
Story - Poor. Normally I watch a mystery anime for two things. A sense of resolution, or the satisfaction of a mystery solved. Even the most amateur mystery story can be enjoyable once the tricks are revealed.
But Un-go is different. None of the stories have a decent resolution, because while the mysteries are always solved, they were always covered up. Which defeats the purpose of mystery genre completely. The true genre of Un-Go is waste of time. Because that is what the characters are doing. Searching for truth, but have no real interest in revealing the truth. Hence wasting time.
Furthermore, the plot is
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weak. In the first story, the victim was killed so that he died a hero, while he really was not. But after the killer was found, it was announced that he was a hero anyway to protect his name. There was no point in killing him in the first place. In the second story, the victim was killed because her daughter wanted to be a singer and the victim did not permit her. But the daughter was unable to become a singer anyway because of some random conspiracy by the government against idol bands. Which she was never a part of. So she killed her mother for no reason. In the third story, "omg, the only other person in the room is not the killer, its a curse." How stupid is that? And when the story goes on, it is revealed the victim was killed because he was a spy and broke into the house. But of course the killer was guilty of... self defense and was arrested anyway. And for a crime they did not have proof of. Aside from the detective saying "he did it."
For the three stories shown so far, not a single character has become better off. Not the victim, not the killer, not the victim's family, nor the killer's family. All three crimes can be described as unnecessary. The fact that the crime was done has in no way changed the lives of any of the characters. I'm not even sure if the first 2 killers were arrested because the police told them that the crime is going to be attributed to an innocent scapegoat, for the reason that... no reason. And the 3rd killer was arrested, even when no real proof was linked to him. No, circumstantial evidence, even when strong, is not the same thing. There is NO link at all.
Aside from these, there is no satisfaction in watching the mystery being solved... because OMG OMG there is MAGIC in a futuristic, scientific, post apocalyptic world. But the catch is, only the main character has access to it. And no one even notices it, and just accepts the sudden random confessions. And ignores the random "I want to eat him/eat his soul" comments. There is nothing to make you think, "oh so that's why the main character caught the culprit," or "oh so that's why he's even suspected in the first place." Although it's not hard to point the real killer within 5 minutes of the show for the first 2 stories, because they're both cliched.
The police are bumbling idiots, and the only other detective aside from the main character is a meddling civilian, whom, when the police ask "how can we identify the corpse," answers "do a DNA test." Duh.
Characters - Shit. Main character is an expressionless background character. And his most memorable line is "there is no use in lying, no one can evade answering [my assistant because he has magic]." Big whoop. And he doesn't seem to care one way or another about the truth which is a rather odd trait for a detective. He butts his way into a case, wastes his entire day being a background character, miraculously solves the case, and let the lie be accepted as the truth anyway. Then he closes off each case with "people are ugly inside." End.
The other main character is an annoying brat. He does random stuff that only serves to distract you from the story. He should have been arrested 20x in 4 episodes just for tampering with evidence. And making physically impossible postures just to make the show creepier. But he changes into a woman who can force the truth out of someone. And eat souls.
All the other characters are just as flat. A civilian meddler who is the "best detective," but he hasn't actually solved a single case. Only covered everything with his lies to protect the... Dunno what. And his daughter who's single trait is contrariness. Tell her to do something and she won't.
And the police who knows the main character actually solves cases look down on him because of it. Why should we respect a detective who actually solves cases? No, we must support the meddler who covers everything up because he is more popular. Let us not make the strong-arm police/detective who think he's always right. It's so cliche. Instead, let's just make her have a serious fan-girl adoration of someone who she knows is wrong all the time. Oh, and as I mentioned earlier, how DO you identify someone? By DNA duh.
Give me goth lolis any day. At least they actually have a personality. Even a stock character is better than a main character who is actually a background character. Even those annoying cicadas on trees they show every other episode in slice of lifes are more interesting.
Art/Sound - Annoying. I normally don't comment on art and sound, because story/character/enjoyment are the things I find important. But the sound is ANNOYING. Whenever "magic truth time" starts, the background music suddenly becomes jarring. The first time, I thought my speaker broke. It's really annoying, distracting, and did I mention annoying?
Enjoyment - Blah. I'd rather go to sleep than continue to watch this anime.
Overall - Many words can be used to describe this anime. But the one that defines this the most is... ANNOYING. Annoying story, annoying plot, annoying characters, annoying background music. The fact that they use magic in a detective mystery is annoying. I normally watch a series even when its not that good, but I'm gonna drop this because it actually pisses me off.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Feb 8, 2009
Story: The show wasnt as random as I thought it would be. It keeps on switching between drama and comedy, which is very confusing. There are way too many serious parts, and too few funny parts. If you liked the randomness of the first episode, and want to watch something similar, dont bother watching the rest. With the cast of characters, I feel that the show could have been done a lot better.
Art: The art is awesome, no com...plaints there.
Sound: I think that having different ending songs each sang by a different member of the family is a good idea for their part. The OP
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is also very catchy and perfect for the show.
Character: While they included a very weird returning cast: an electric butterfly, a biological weapon, a talking lion, a floating jellyfish, and a shinigami, they failed to make them funny. Most of the characters just get a few seconds screen time each episode, with no real impact on the story. They also failed to show the story of the homo son, Ouka and Kyouka. Even though Ouka and Kyouka are the 2 characters who came out the most, you know almost nothing about them in the end. The shinigami, who I thought was one of the more enjoyable characters only came out in 1-2 episodes as a major character as well. None of the characters are interesting nor memorable.
Enjoyment: to be frank, I didnt find this anime funny at all. There is no conversational humor like in Minami-ke or Lucky Star, very few randomness like in excel saga, no circumstantial humor, nor any other type of humor at all. Sure, there is a lot of absurdity, but they failed to make them funny. The few jokes and lines they have, are already overused in the first 1/4 of the series. In the end, this show is more like a normal anime story with a weird cast (who still act like normal characters anyway). It had a potential to be a great anime, but fail to deliver.
Overall: If you have time, and nothing else to watch, go ahead. I like the OP the most about the anime. I recommend the following episodes: 1, 8-10, 21.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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