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Sep 4, 2009
Warning: Inconsequential Spoilers
Detective Conan is a hard series to review because with 500+ episodes, anything one might say about it can be disputed. If you expect a show that reveals itself to you in a timely manner you may as well look somewhere else, this show is composed almost exclusively of episodic and semi-episodic mysteries.
You'll come to the table with a few expectations and if your viewing hinges on them you will be displeased. The tension between Ran and Shinichi will probably never be fully played out. The mysteries of the Black Organization probably will be played out, but they are in no hurry.
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We can only hope they do something climactic with Kaito Kid.
It is a worthwhile show for the right person. DC rewards patience more than anything else, introducing characters at a leisurely pace, but always making use of them in an almost miraculous manner. You'll be shocked the first time you meet Hattori Heiji (spoiler: the first person to figure out who Conan really is), and delighted when you meet his not-girlfriend, Kazuha. When Conan goes to other regions of Japan we meet new police inspectors and when they go back, they're still there.
This is how Detective Conan keeps an edge despite being highly episodic; aside from the suspects, characters you meet are seldom one-shot appearances. The show builds up a vast array of returning characters to delight the audience with.
The animation is a mixed bag. Having been in production for more than 10 years, the quality and techniques have undergone changes for better and worse.
The music is high quality, but with the magnitude of episodes, some of it gets repetitive.
Now, the goods:
If you learn to appreciate the wonderful cast and the mysteries, your previous expectations will be addressed in occasional installments throughout the course of the series. From time to time you'll be given an hour episode, a two-hour episode, or handful of half-hour episodes pertaining to Kaito Kid, the Black Organization, Shinichi's (Conan's) struggles to maintain his relationship with Ran, or a combination of these. This is where the show truly shines... some of these story-arcs are contenders with the best series around. In these episodes, the people behind the show flex their muscles for mystery in a different way - instead of creating a complex crime, they figure out ingenious ways to trick the audience, pulling off magnificent stunts that seem improbable until they reveal all the details that had been staring you in the face. These core story episodes are inspired works of intrigue and cognitive fanservice.
Nothing about Detective Conan is predictable except that we'll be waiting a LONG time for the real answers. Please watch if you have the patience... it WILL be rewarded.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 9, 2009
First, I want to make a note that the ratings for Art and Sound are somewhat tough to call for this particular series; it is definitely showing its age, the color is washed out, the animations are far from pristine by todays standards, but all of that given, there are inspired flourishes that, at times, challenge the stuff you see coming out of computer-aided studios today.
When considering whether you are interested in watching this series, you should look elsewhere if you cannot answer "yes" to these two questions: "Am I patient?" and "Do I enjoy romance?". If you made it past that, you may
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find yourself enjoying this gem from the 80s.
Maison Ikkoku primarily revolves around Godai, a spineless loser, who falls for the new manager of his apartment, Kyoko. Unfortunately for him, within the first handful of episodes, it is made clear (I won't say how), that Kyoko's heart is currently out-of-reach. Aside from the overarching romance, it is also a story about everyday life struggles: paying rent, working, going to school, making grades, etc. What it is most of all is the story of a young man getting beat down by life because he won't stand up for himself... and its downright hilarious.
Constantly dancing on the line of poverty, Godai is surrounded by devilish, meddlesome neighbors, love rivals, and good-for-nothing friends. Even when he manages to avoid their pitfalls, his own indecisiveness usually foils his attempts at getting ahead in life.
When he needs to study for exams, his neighbors invite themselves in for an all-night party, disregarding his pleas for privacy. When he is low on cash, his maybe-unemployed neighbor Yotsuya slithers in from a hole in the wall and steals his food. When he makes strides in his love life, rivals arrive to plunder his achievements. When all else fails, the electricity goes out, he arrives late for exams, or gets kicked out of his apartment.
But to make things even better, despite the seeming maliciousness of all these characters, you'll find redeeming qualities abound, and often a hint of goodwill hidden underneath their malicious deeds. Take excellent situational comedy, hilarious and cunning characters, and pair them with the best veteran voice actors of the decade (check them out, you've heard them in some of your favorite shows), and you have a show thats hard to disagree with on an episode-by-episode basis.
So its perfect then? Absolutely not. Despite all the praise you may want to award it, the show is long, tedious, and occasionally repetitive. Kyoko's inflexibility controls the pace of the show, and makes for some dramatic scenes, but you may find yourself shaking your fist in frustration over it more than a couple of times. Godai's inability to clarify even the most basic of misunderstandings is a source of humor, but again, will inspire no shortage of annoyance, and when Godai's two would-be girlfriends arrive and generate entire new dimensions of misfortune for Godai, you may nearly lose your patience with the series.
But if you make it through that, if you can enjoy the humor, and patiently wait for the romance to work itself out, you will be rewarded greatly. Watching Godai grow as a character is hugely rewarding by itself, combining that with the resolution of certain issues on Kyoko's side, the conclusion of the series proves quite poignant with a lot less of the melodrama you'll get from today's romance anime.
Jealousy, pettiness and spite have never been more beautiful.
P.S. I'm a fanboy
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 5, 2009
Andy, from AnimeNfo, wrote: "Stranger is a martial arts tale of self sacrificing heroism. This premise is far from original, as are the characters. It is nonetheless solid, and combined with all the dramatic brutality one could ask for from Samurai action, the complete package is a joy to watch."
This is about what you can say in the positive review of SotS, if you go much farther you'd be hard pressed to not mention that the plot is dull or talk about the shallow characters. SotS does its job when it needs to; providing us with pitch-perfect samurai action. Plenty of decapitations you barely
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see, a good helping of "hey, I'm pretty tough" followed by "oh shit you killed me without flenching", and some of that good old-fashioned unscrupulous backstabbing and grandstanding. If you want excellent action and visuals, you won't go wrong with Sword of the Stranger.
But if you were expecting a movie with a deep or original plot you've mistaken this movie with something else. The two 'biggest' characters in SotS have backgrounds as follows: The blond-haired guy is a badass who wants to fight someone who challenges his skill and the red-haired guy killed some people in his past and doesn't want to use his sword until he does anyway later. The best character in the whole movie is the second-in-command of the Japanese house, who has ambitions of becoming a territorial ruler one day. He has one of the better scenes in the movie, involving a 'sort-of' coup, but this character and his subsequent rally even at its best (and it is a pretty good scene) feels derivative.
Don't get me wrong, a lot happens in the movie, but most of it fails to make an impact, and the "some guy decides to help a kid for personal gain, when he finishes his job he leaves but realizes the kid is still in danger and decides to help him because he likes him now" aspect combined with a generous portion of cliched animal companionship gave the whole movie an unshakable atmosphere of Disney-esque cheesiness.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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