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Apr 14, 2015
As we know school romantic comedies are not a new concept in anime, neither are kids with “superpowers”, but recycling these dull ideas is what makes this anime unique. The easiest way to describe it, is to imagine a medley of cliched genres, characters, and plots thrown into one single anime. But the author somehow takes these overused ideas, and turns it into one of the greatest rom-coms ever.
The anime itself is quite a mess of ideas honestly, it's a pretty weird concept. It takes place in a school called Fumizuki Academy, a school where grades dictate which classes you are put in. The
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classes are lettered A through F, A meaning you’re a genius, and F meaning you’re not he brightest crayon in the box. The lower the lettering of your class, the more inferior your classroom equipment is. For example if you’re in class A, you would have comfy padded recliners, and in class F you'd be sitting on broken stools. You get the idea. Thus the premise of the entire anime is pretty much for the class F troupe, which the story is mainly focused on, to try to reach the top of the ladder by taking over classroom A.
And how would they do this you might ask? The answer is right in the ever so creative title, they of course, summon the beasts. Now don't confuse this with animes like Pokemon, or Yugioh, the beasts we’re talking about are actually created by holograms of some sort. The “beasts” are pretty much tiny chibi avatars of the students who control them. And they are integrated into the “ranking system” of the school. So similar to the classrooms, the abilities of the beasts are also limited by the grades of the summoner.
Now as boring, and as difficult to understand as that seems, if you put those elements all together with a complete imbecile as the main character, you get some top quality entertainment.
Our protagonist, Akihisa Yoshii, is nicknamed the ultimate idiot, and guides us through his misadventure of slapstick comedy, in which he helps guide his class through the struggles it to get to the top, complete with all his girl problems, and “lucky” endeavors he incurs upon everyday.
As a wise fellow once said, “no rom-com is complete without a charming cast of characters”, this anime definitely is no exception. In fact it's arguable that the strongest point in the anime. Despite it’s large cast of main characters, Its not hard to distinguish the characters from each other since they all have unique skills and personalities. But these characters at the same times display little to no character development, which isn't really surprising because if you watch this type of comedy there usually isn't much.
Overall, I enjoyed the anime quite a lot and regardless of its flaws it still made me laugh a ton. It's aimed at more of a lighthearted feel, so don't go in expecting some deep, and intricate plot. And as far as the romance goes, there really wasn't much development, I think it included romance more for comedy than a subplot. And with only 13 episodes the anime leaves off with quite the cliffhanger but is quickly redeemed by its sequel, Baka to Test Ni. It's honestly a pretty dumb story but as far as entertainment goes, this is probably one of the best.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 5, 2015
Slam Dunk is considered a pioneer of sports anime. All from its witty jokes to its inspiring speeches, it’s a masterpiece from the 90s. It teaches many valuable morals of life such as establishing strong bonds with each other, and to never give up. It’s an anime that’s been a part of my childhood, and I knew from its first episode that it would be hilarious.
[Story]
The plot was centered on our self-centered protagonist Sakuragi Hanamichi, a 189cm tall, 16 year old, delinquent who hates basketball. And in order to impress a girl, he attempts to play the sport, fails miserably at it, and even
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managed to pants the opponent who was the captain of the basketball team as well as the girl’s older brother. But even after all that, he still somehow managed to get on the basketball team.
The anime itself is mainly set in the Shohoku High School. It’s the home to the Shohoku basketball team, a team that isn’t considered a threat in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan. Mainly due to its lack of skilled players, the team is really a one man team, consisting of the team captain Akagi Takenori, or Gorilla as Sakuragi likes to call him. But with the new year rolling in several new players joined the team including the superstar first year Rukawa Kaede, and our protagonist the self-proclaimed genius Sakuragi Hanamichi. The entire story pretty much revolves around the idea of making it to the nationals, since it’s been the dream of the 3rd years on the team.
Now that I mention it, dreams, and goals of all the characters really play a huge role in the anime. It’s been the major reason for a lot of the determination, passion, and character development in the show. I love this aspect because I find it relatable since in real life we all have dreams of our own, and it inspires us to work hard to achieve them. It’s also this aspect of the show that makes it one of the best slices of life animes ever.
[Characters]
The anime focuses in on a huge cast of characters, not only the Shohoku basketball team but also players from other teams as well as Sakuragi’s troupe of nutjobs. Now having a large cast of characters can be a definite problem if not done right, but Slam Dunk takes its characters and uses them to its full potential. All the characters possess intricate, diverse, and likeable personalities. But the most important reason I love this anime was the immense amount of character development the characters portrayed. When the Sakuragi first debuted, I can’t say I enjoyed his character a lot because he seemed like a really arrogant, and selfish person, but by the end of the anime, he learned how to rely on his teammates, and treat them with respect, and because of that he became one of my all-time favorite characters in anime.
Something I realized after doing some research was that the characters in the anime were actually based on real life basketball players in the 90s. Which is really cool because if you know basketball players, and watch the anime, you'll begin to figure out which character is which player in real life.
[Art]
Now for the biggest gripe people would probably have about this anime, I’m not sure about others, but I tend to hate outdated art styles, and if I hadn’t seen it when I was younger I probably would’ve never watched the show. The show was made in the mid-90s, so it’s typical 90’s art style, if you’ve watched other shows like Neon Genesis Evangelion you would probably be familiar with it. It’s usually a bit rugged, and rough since the art was hand drawn. And the character designs aren’t what we’re used to today, they actually look more lifelike. But it turned out to be not as much of a problem as it seems when I rewatched it, because you get used to the art after a couple of episodes. But if you seriously have major problems with watching animes with old art this might be a problem for you.
[Sound]
This show has the most amazing OP and EDs ever, they're old school Japanese pop music. They are absolutely excellent, they go along with the show so well, and complements the feel of sports. I've read some of the other Slam Dunk reviews and I think they deserve a lot more recognition that they're given. The BGM were pretty compatible with the anime, I'd really like to comment more about it but to be honest there wasn't much of it. Compared to modern sports animes Slam Dunk pretty much has a very little amount of BGM, but you'd hardly notice it since it has tons of sound effects.
[Overall]
Overall though, Slam Dunk is amazing, no matter if you're watching it back in the 90s or right now. The art style might be a bit rusty but the amazing story and characters definitely make up for it. And if the thought of watching a sports anime turns you off, then watch it for the comedy, I'm sure you'd enjoy it anyways. I'd throughly enjoyed re watching the series recently and it seems just as amazing as it was 10 years ago, it's truly a masterpiece, a masterpiece that inspires people for decades to go out and play some basketball.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 26, 2015
What does it take to create a dating SIM which will cause people to laugh and cry, but also touch their hearts? This was a question our main character asked himself, which sparked the beginning of the roller-coaster of laughs we call Saekano.
I’m sure when we were younger you’ve all had dreams and goals you wanted to achieve when you get older. The anime tells the epic adventure it took our MC, Tomoya Aki, to achieve his goal of creating a game, complete with all the girl problems, and sexual harassments he receives each day from his devious co-workers.
While I was scrolling through the
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notoriously long new anime section of an unnamed website “how to raise a boring girlfriend” caught my eye, then I thought to myself “better take some notes.” At first glance Saekano looks like an average rom-com anime, and being your normal rom-com lover I decided to give it a try, and let me tell you I was definitely in for a treat. Saekano is one of those anime’s that you just can't get enough of, not a single episode has left me without tears rolling down my face from laughter.
[Story]
The story kicks off on a sunny spring day in which the wind blows the hat off of a fair maiden, which of course Tomoya was there to pick it up for her, and give it back. That event was what inspired Tomoya to make a dating SIM, he also envisioned that, that exact event would serve to be a flawless opening scene with the maiden as the main character. And as far as we know the “perfect girl” doesn’t exist, because Tomoya later finds out that in reality the maiden wasn't very “fair,” in fact, apart from her beauty, she’s just about the most ordinary girl ever. She was so ordinary that Tomoya didn't realize that she was in his class. The plot is centered on our protagonist Tomoya Aki and his associates, the busty, but intelligent Utaha senpai, the flat but ill-mannered Eriri Spencer, and of course the ordinary girl, Katou Megumi. Saekano takes a slow start, as it takes several episodes for Mr. Aki to convince his unwilling companions to aid him in making his game. But after that the pacing of the anime is quite steady. It’s sad that this anime is limited only to 12 episodes, which for me is definite con, because there could’ve been so much more character, and plot development.
[Characters]
The characters are definitely where the anime excels the most at. Each of the female protagonists, with the exception of Katou, have an ornate, and well developed backstory with Tomoya. Throughout the plot the author slowly elaborates more on the characters as if slowly giving us puzzle pieces to give us the better picture. But due to the anime only having 12 episodes, we never really get to see the full potential character development from all the characters.
[Art]
In my opinion, the A-1 pictures did a great job animating this anime. They used vibrant colors that really brought out carefree, and cheerful tone of the show. The animation style reminds me of Nisekoi another successful harem anime. The character designs to me were great, they followed the generic character designs of many harem, and romance animes.Don’t really see much cons of this art style unless you dislike the uniqueness of the art style. One thing that stood out to me was the insanely stubby fingers the characters have sometimes, especially while Utaha is typing.
[Sound]
The show had a solid, and well-built soundtrack, with dramatic sounding dramatic scenes, and cheerful music for happy scenes. Not much I can say but the soundtracks were sufficient for the show. Great choices in the voice actor department, what could go wrong Ai Kayano, and Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as 2 of your main characters? The OPs and EDs were lighthearted songs that complemented the show’s tone. They were not especially stunning but definitely not crappy.
[Negatives]
As a mentioned before several times, my biggest problem with this anime is that it only has 12 episodes, and because of this, we didn’t get to see the full potential of character development the show could’ve given us. Nor get to see a more complete full picture. But with the anime leaving off like this I’m sure that there would be second, or even a third season.
The second thing I had a problem while watching the anime was the pacing of the, which i mentioned before was a bit too slow in the beginning. But towards the end of the show the pacing sped up again.
[Enjoyment/ Overall]
Q-What would you happen if you added together an eccentric rich girl, a beautiful female writer, a hardcore otaku, his musically blessed cousin, and an ordinary girl?
A-You get Blessing Software, as well as one of the most well-made and hilarious rom-coms ever.
After watching Oregairu, I fell in love with the rom-com genre. But it’s hard to find a well-made rom-com these days but this anime definitely didn’t disappoint me. I enjoyed everything in this show from Eriri’s hilarious tsundere personality to Utaha’s constant sexual harassments. I know some people criticize this show’s unrealistic plot, but honestly who watches an anime for its realism? Anime’s aren’t meant to be rated for its realistic elements but for its ability to entertain the viewer. And this is an anime that does exactly that. It’s an anime that focuses in on its characters, I’m definitely not saying that the plot is bad I’m just saying that the characters of the anime are the focal point, and make it worth watching. But just remember if you plan to watch Saekano, as their game progresses, hilarity ensues not far behind.
Story-7
Art-10
Sound-8
Character-8
Enjoyment-9
Overall-8
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 21, 2015
Beethoven was a piano genius who couldn’t hear his own music because of his deafness. Arima Kousei is a piano prodigy can’t hear his own music because of the tragic death of his mother causing mental breakdown that casted a deep, dark shadow over music.
[Story]
Your Lie in April starts out as a colorful, and lighthearted anime, but all this contrasts the life of it’s main character, Arima Kousei, which is described as monotone, and dull. The lightheartedness is contradicted yet again as deeper, and much darker past is revealed as Arima falls deeply in love with Kaori. You get a large glimpse of
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his dismal past revealing the actual reason behind why he can’t hear his own music, but his conditions steadily improves as he ventures into his first love. Though only calling him “Friend A” Kaori slowly begins to drag him back into music, as well as showing him a new side of life that was colorful, and vivid.
I enjoyed the story as well the storytelling methods of Shigatsu. The story is told mostly through Kosei’s point of view, and the anime utilizes a unique way of narration, much of the story is told through internal monologues, and thoughts. There are several pros and cons of this method, and a pro is the fact that you can see the character’s thought processes, and the con is that too much monologues can be quite overwhelming as well as annoying at times.
[Characters]
One of the things that made this anime so great was the characters. The anime heavily centers in on the past of the characters, which proves to be an excellent way of characterization. Every single character in the anime no matter substantial or minor is given a great personality. And as far as character development goes, most of the main characters display a considerable amount of it, especially Kousei.
I really enjoyed diversity between the personalities of Kousei, and Kaori. Kaori seemed like the incarnation of freedom, a happy go lucky girl. Yet Kousei is a sheltered person, he seems to withdraw himself from others in order to protect himself. They were polar opposites of each other, yet they were also made to be together.
[Sound]
Amazing put together, the soundtrack to the anime emphasized every aspect of the anime making it so much better. I’m definitely no fan of classical music but, they were essential to the show, as to any music anime, and it turned out I really enjoyed them because the songs were part of the story. Each time Kosei performed a song it revealed to us a little bit of his past. As a person who always skips the OP and ED of an anime, I made the exception for this one since they all were so well written, and complemented the tone of the anime.
[Art & Animation]
Original, would be the word I would use to describe the type of art style in the anime. Personally I thought it was okay but it was fairly compatible with the show, it used a lot of vibrant colors which thoroughly emphasized a lighthearted mood.
[Negatives]
No show is perfect, and this show is no exception. Not really sure why people had such a big problem with the overly dramatic scenes but it’s true there were a lot of drama, especially towards the end. Personally I thought the drama made the show more realistic, but honestly do a couple of 14 year olds need that much drama.
Pacing, one thing I learned after watching this anime was that the author really likes to drag things out, and I understand that this might not be a problem for some people, but honestly, do they really need to spend a whole episode on the past of a supporting character? I really wish they would’ve made the last part of the show longer rather than adding in too much detail.
[Overall]
I really enjoyed this anime as a whole, it took a very clichéd plot, and with it’s added elements turned it into something original. And taking it’s genre’s into perspective, it really excels at each of them except the humor it could’ve been done a lot better. The jokes were poorly placed and overall just caused awkwardness. The anime is a real tearjerker it made me cry twice, and I pride myself in being a real macho person. But as far as masterpieces go, this definitely belongs in the best of the best. It’s an anime that I wished would never end, but nothing lasts forever, except true love.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jan 26, 2015
The writers might as well take out the "duo" and slap in "harem" instead cuz duo just isn't cutting it.
A bland anime with some generic harem characters. Absolute duo may seem like your average action/harem anime, because it is.
Story: 2/10
First off let me remind you that the plot is set in a world far, far away where girls possess all the cup sizes from A to Z cups. So don't be suprised if they turn out to be the only thing worth watching in the whole show.
Absolute Duo is about your average male protagonist who gains a special power and wants to seek
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revenge for his deceased family. Tooru Kokonoe is a teenager who has the ability to materialize “Blazes” out of his soul. But he has no ordinary Blaze his blaze is an irregular, while other people generate Weapons Tooru can generate a shield. (Big deal right?) He then uses his special ability and enrolls himself into a school that teaches him to become stronger (even though he’s a bit overpowered already). At this school he is forced to kick some booty, which then leads the female protagonist, Julie, to realize his existence. She takes interest in him, and by some random chance they are forced into the dorm room, and as the series goes on they become an “absolute duo” which also forges an intimate relationship with each other. The anime throws you a couple curve balls later on, which keeps the story somewhat interesting.
Sound: 7/10
- Great Choice of voice actors, Matsuoka who voiced Sora and Kirito from NGNL and Sao voiced Tooru.
- The OP’s and ED’s so far are pretty great, in my opinion.
- Great soundtracks for most scenes especially the romantic scenes.
- Did a good job of using music for suspense and such.
- They need better soundtracks for action scenes.(not really many action scenes so far tbh)
Characters: 3/10
Most of the characters are a bit bland and unoriginal.
- Tooru- Your average male lead who has a harem, he cares for his peers, and has overpowered combat abilities.
- Julie- Your average shy airheaded dandere who’s a few slices short of a fruit cake, also has good combat abilities
- Miyabi- Your average shy useless character who’s afraid of males and her only job is to piss the audience off. (At least for me)
- Tomoe- Your average female protagonist who doesn’t know what love is, but then realizes she falls in love with the male protagonist. (So let the awkwardness ensue)
- Lilith- A bratty rich girl, who is apparently from England, and also an irregular, she has mastered the fine arts of Engrish.
- Usa Sensei- Their homeroom teacher who has two personalities. (Probably the most interesting character in the show)
Needless to say if all of these females had the brains the size of their bust it would make the show a whole lot more interesting.
Art: 8/10
The only thing that was good in this anime.
- Characters have big boobs.
- Great use of vibrant colors.
- Good contrast between light and dark.
- Nicely animated action scenes.
I’d say 8-bit studios did a pretty great job.
Enjoyment: 3/10
The anime definitely wasn't worth my time. The anime was pretty horrid from it's stupidly broad plot to it's equally broad characters. It's sad to see the anime end up so horribly because it actually had a lot of potential, but the directors or whoever does the screenplay ruined the whole show by making the show 99% fanservice with no plot.
Overall: 4/10
I gave the anime an overall score of 4. Taking all things into consideration I had high hopes for this anime and I'd hoped it wont let me down. But several episodes in, I'd realized that even Jesus couldn't save this anime. The genre and tone seemed to be right up my alley, which is action, harem, and a slight dab of comedy. But after watching this many episodes I think my opinions were most likely clouded. I gave it a chance, but it's a pretty big let down.
Recommended For- People who have watched all the good action/harem/romance anime's and have a lot of spare time. Or if you just love action/harems so much you want to watch it.
Not Recommended For- People who want a action/harem with a good plot, and interesting characters, because I assure you this isn't something worth your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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