Four Orange Caps on Wires

Shallow Dives into Anime, specifically the Harem Genre

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The Summer of Love: The English Dub of High School DxD

We will be jumping into the second half of season one next week with a look at the “Raiser Arc” and all it brings to the table, but this week I wanted to steer the Summer of Love into a topic that many people don’t really discuss: The English Dub, and my overall thoughts and feelings on it. There is a good, a lot of good, and some slightly not so good. So join me after the cut as we jump into our next chapter of The Summer of Love, the dub! This is another long one, so be ready!

To discuss the English Dub of High School DxD, it is important to give some backstory about English dubbing of anime in general. If you grew up in my generation, (late 90s, early 2000s)  then you are very familiar with the 4kids of era; a time in which the american company 4kids entertainment pretty much had a stranglehold on the western anime market. Simply put, they called the shots and every anime that was actually on television had to go through the 4kids “Americanizing process.” Needless to say, this was a bad thing.

Cardcaptor Sakura had it’s entire yuri/yaoi subtext removed and whole episodes removed. Dragon Ball censored and omitted world building, Yu-Gi-Oh became a “so bad it’s good” mess of a dub. Vision of Escaflowne became a shadow of it’s former self. Monster Rancher went from a 50+ episodes series to only a handful, and of course what they did to One Piece. The list just goes on and on. The 4kids era of anime was not a good time for the youthful medium, and frankly the wounds inflicted by this era are still fresh in many minds of my generation.

Things have gotten far better since then, with companies like Funimation, Sentai Filmworks and Aniplex taking over the dubbing market and delivering quality dubs of anime that are true to form and (sometimes) even superior to their Japanese counterparts. Yet despite this massive improvement there are still many who refuse to even give an English dub a chance, whether it is loyalty to the “authentic’ Japanese version, or trauma for the scars of the 4kids era.

Now how is this connected to High School DxD? Well not really that much, but I think it is important for readers to understand why people are somewhat hesitant on English dubs, despite a whole new generation growing up with them. There are old wounds that have yet to heal, and in this era where censorship is a hot button issue, I wanted to explain why.

Anyway, let’s get into the dub itself, and let’s start by talking about the cast.

The Cast

The English cast of DxD is frankly very strong, though it has been a cast that has had a few replacements. Akeno has been voiced by two different actress, as has Asia, and the while voice changes are noticeable, they thankfully don’t differ too much to make much of a difference. What I can say is that Asia and Akeno are both voiced excellently, with Asia being played with that cute innocent perfection, and Akeno with a level of sultry seductiveness that, while not on par with her Japanese seiyuu, gets the job done well.

The biggest voice change though has to be Issei himself, who was voiced by both Scott Freeman and later Josh Grelle, and while the change over in season 3 is a rather noticeable change (unlike Akeno’s voice change in the same season), with many people being initially put off by the sudden shift in voices. I can both say that they play an excellent Issei and bring a-

Wait..what’s this?

Fuck…do I have to do this? Do I really have to bring it up? REALLY?

ALRIGHT FINE…FINE..I’LL FUCKING ADDRESS IT.

In 2015. Scott Freeman, the voice actor of Issei and several other Funimation dub roles, was arrested, convicted and imprisoned for the possession of Child Pornography. Funimation rightfully and subsequently cut all ties with him and his roles current and future were replaced with new actors, hence the sudden change to Josh Grelle in season 3 and later 4.

Anyway, Issei’s work in the English dub marks the first, but not the most significant change in the DxD anime. While the script plays him true to form, Issei’s performance in the dub is markedly more “american” compared to his Japanese counterpart. While it is 100% loyal to the authentic story, there is a lot more ‘sex jokes’ and ‘western references’ that peek out from time to time. I’ll get into this when I discuss the script, but I did find it worked quite well for the story, and both voice actors are able to ‘get serious’ when the time comes, especially in season 4 when Josh Grelle gives his best performance as a harem lead, and this guy has MANY to his name.

However the biggest and frankly best change has to be Jad Saxton as Koneko Toujou, who completely re-invents the character for the English dub. In the Japanese version, Koneko is the quiet little kouhai who seems to only have one single emotion, very much in the veins of the Rei-clones that had a stranglehold the industry for years. The English dub however turns this completely on it’s head. Koneko becomes a motor-mouthed little girl who, while still holding true to the character’s spirit, adds far more to the plot and group chemistry than her Japanese counterpart. I just find Jad Saxton’s Koneko to be a far more interesting character, acting as a sort of the reality foil for Issei for many season, and still willing to call him out on his perverseness even after falling in love with him. Frankly, the difference between the two voices is astonishing, just watch this comparison clip.

The rest of the cast do a find job. Jamie Marchi as Rias is an excellent casting choice, and while I prefer the Japanese voice, Marchi’s signature voice is able to play both sides of Rias’ personality well and she only gets better as the seasons roll on. Kiba, Gasper, Xenovia and Rossweise are all again done very well, but it is only really characters listed above who are the real stand outs.

The Script

Remember how I brought up 4kids at the start of this post. Well I did also bring that up, because the English script of High School DxD does feel very much like a bit of a holdover from that era of anime dubs. There is more than a hint of the adapters putting in their own lines and having some fun with the dialogue than compared to other shows. It was clear to me that the writers were having some real fun trying to adapt this show for an English dub, and while some may grumble by only  being a 90% authentic script, the show does give us some great memorable one-liners like:

“I’m gonna make you eat those words like a kid doing the tide-pod challenge!”

“Cunt-tuckey fried chicken over there is in love with you”

“Forgive dat ass, don’t spank it!”

“Her milk-shakes are all over my yard”

Those are just some of the examples of the fun bit of humor that is injected into the series via the English dub and yes, it is not for everyone and yes, it is going to turn some of the purists off. Yet the voice actors give it their all and when the time comes for the show to “get serious” like with the Akeno break down, Asia story-line, the Issei/Rias fight, and more, those actors absolutely step up to the table and deliver excellent performances. So I can forgive them for having just a bit more fun with a show that is, again, about busty big boobed girls fawning over a perverted idiot.

What I do NOT forgive though, is the “president gaffe,” which undermines a vital and important plot point.

See, there is a very clear reason that Issei calls Rias “president throughout most of the anime’s run.” It helps show the class and social difference between the two characters and how, despite Rias falling truly deeply in love with Issei, her social status and his role as a servant make him hesitant to step up. It is only when that issue comes to a head that does Issei finally start calling Rias by her full name, and it is a great moment to cap off four seasons of development.

The dub however ignored that completely for the first four seasons and admitted that they weren’t aware of just how important it is. While they do address it in the season 4 dub, making an offhand comment that “Issei has been calling her President a lot lately” it doesn’t really fix the problem and remains an annoying nitpick for me. Is it a deal breaker? No, but it is a pretty glaring problem when looking at the series as a whole.

Final Thoughts.

Overall, the English Dub of High School DxD is a great one, and I honestly love it to death. As i said in my primer, I would have watched the series dubbed to do this event, but I wanted to be faithful to the Japanese release. The dub is still my go-to way of watching DxD and I suggest anyone to give it a show after watching a bit of the OG Japanese version. It’s not perfect, but it’s made with love and affection and doesn’t stray too far from it’s routes, but when it does what 4kids never could do to anime. It adds something without taking anything away.

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High School DxD Episodes 1-6: The Raynare Arc

Fuck, it’s good to be back.

That was my feeling the moment I started watching the first six episodes of High School DxD. After almost three years since I first loaded this show up, I’ve come back to the anime that (along with ReZero) brought me back into the genre. I’m six episodes in and it’s been a wonderful ride. Expect more text than pictures this time, I got a lot to get through. Let’s get into the series and it’s first story arc “The Raynare Arc” after the cut.

I must admit I was hesitant in a way to return to this series. I was afraid that my love for the series had been effected by nostalgia and the fond memories it has given me. What if I watched it and found out that it wasn’t that good? That I had over hyped a show that was actually bad? Thankfully that will have to wait another time because so far, High School DxDhas been an absolute riot.

It’s hard to review the first season of successful show, because without this first season you have nothing. You can be as critical of Star Wars: A New Hope as you want, as subjective as you can be, but it doesn’t really matter because it was the movie that birthed Star Wars, you have nothing without it. The same can be said about High School DxD and it’s first story arc which is vitally important in setting up the stage for what is to come.

One of the things I noticed this time around was that our lead character, Issei Hyoudou is able to strike the perfect balance between “guy with a heart of gold” and “pervy idiot” quite well. The first episodes are excellent in setting up that Issei is a bit pf a loser, focused more on wanting to see girl’s breasts than anything else (it’s literally his first line in the entire series). What helps drive this point home is that his first scene where he sees Rias has him sitting in the darkness, a lower level, looking up at the window where she is looking down at him. This scene and the few that follow in these first six episodes are a subtle illustration at the relationship between the two of them. With Rias as the high borne noble, and Issei the lowly commoner, and that cultural and class divide is one of the key parts in understanding how they developed in the next four seasons.

The second key part is the villain of this first arc: Raynare. While her part in the story is rather short and more to serve a plot point: killing Issei so he can be saved by Rias, and kidnapping Asia for the same reasons. Raynare’s place in the story is actually one of massive significance to the development of Issei’s psyche. While I will get into this more with Issei’s character dive in the coming months, it should be said here that Raynare’s ruse as Yuma, asking Issei to be her girlfriend and then mocking and shaming him, is the most important part in who Issei is. It must be remembered that Issei is still a teenager, a horny kid whose first girlfriend is frankly the most important thing that’s ever happened to him. Seeing it fall apart like it does gives in story weight to the reasons Issei never sleeps or really gets with any of the girls, and the payoff in later seasons remains Ecchi and Harem’s best moment to date, but that’s for a later time.

The first six episodes also serve as an introduction to Asia Argento, who is very much the key “secondary” member of the harem, and is quite frankly, the only real serious rival for Issei’s affection. While the bond they share is nothing new by anime standards, it done well enough. Like most characters in DxD, Asia fulfills the archetype of the “nice girl,” but the series thankfully does more with her as the story goes on, especially when Rias and the other start falling hard for Issei. For now though, I was surprised at just how close both Asia and Issei are at the start, and I’m looking forward to how it affects Rias going forward.

Speaking of Rias, I again noticed, and this was to great pleasure, that she is not in love with or even holds romantic feelings to Issei at the start. In fact views herself more as his big sister and master. There are moments where she is harsh with him, but beneath all of that there is a clear sign of friendly affection and view of potential. I am really glad that DxD doesn’t jump the gun too fast with Rias’ feeling for Issei and instead letting them develop naturally from one of her servants to seeing him as something much more. While the boobs are there from the start, I am glad things are going to be earned more than just given, which is a fault of several harem anime.

Finally (finally!) when it comes to the Ecchi, I have to concede a point to fellow blogger Cactus Matt, yes the ecchi here isn’t as in your face as I remember. While High School DxD has#nipsfordays, it’s ecchi and fan service are not as over the top (so far) as I remember. In fact six episodes in I would be so pushed to called High School DxD’s use of ecchi to be “pg-13” at best. It’s not the over the top sexy silliness of To Love Ru, or the raw sexuality of Shinmai Maou no Testament, or Valkyrie Drive Mermaid. What I will say though is that High School DxD does have (and remains it’s hidden strength) a great story and compelling characters that pull you in right from the start.

What else can really be said? Probably a lot more, but there are still six more episodes left of this season and I want to save those thoughts for then. So instead I’ll leave you with some of my stray observations below. Thank you so much for reading and tune in next week for a post on the English Dub of High School DxD!

Additional Observations

The animation for this first season is a lot cleaner and nicer than I remember. Yet it still feels very “basic” but is still effective. I prefer the new animations myself, but watching this again reminds me how good of a job this did.

Akeno Himejima’s pretty much is the creator of the “Ara Ara” meme. You want to play a drinking game? Try taking a shot every time she says it in these first episodes, say goodbye to your liver.

I’ll be getting into Kiba’s character in season 2, but he’s pretty much fine here.

Koneko (the best girl) also does just fine in these first episodes, and she is actually the second girl to show up on screen. I also love how the series has her always eating.

The world and class system is explained quite well, and the world building should be given credit for giving more depth to the DxD world. I remember it getting a bit overboard in later seasons, but now it’s fun.

I can’t fucking STAND Issei’s two guy friends in the English dub, but they are bearable here.

Clearly the High School DxD world never figured out how to properly create a bra. The nipples are pretty much always poking out through the shirts in every scene. #nipsfordays.

I love during Asia’s “death” scene, she’s got a boob hanging out. Made me laugh at the sheer silliness of it.

The villains of DxD have always been a weak point, but Freed the crazy exorcist is a perfect balance between funny and frightening.

Issei gets impaled by a spear like five times this arc. At least someone gets penetrated AMIRITE?

There has been some good foreshadowing of the upcoming arc and Rias’s feelings about marriage.

So far the story even in it’s “filler moments” doesn’t waste time developing the characters and their relationships which is proof of good storytelling in my books.

I love how Issei calls Rias by her name (yes I will get into that dub mistake) when they first meet, but almost instantly switches (and sticks) to calling her President from then on. This is a massive plot point in later seasons and I’m glad it’s done early on here.

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Don’t @ Me: Ten of my Anime Opinions

New topic time! Welcome to Don’t @ Me, where I rattle off a list of anime opinions that I have. From the hip, with little actual thought put to them. These are raw opinions that could change tomorrow, or never at all! Most all of it’s an excuse to do an easy blog post and keep things up to date. My first ten are after the cut!

1. Fanservice shoved into an anime where it doesn’t belong can ruin a good series (Fairy Tail) but Fanservice, in general, has pretty much kept the anime industry alive through the all the highs and lows. Tits and ass move merchandise, accept it.

2.  Neon Genesis Evangelion’s impact and effect on the anime industry is marrow-deep, and it should be praised for that. It still doesn’t forgive the fact that Shinji Ikari is an idiotic main character and the story is so far up its own ass it should have choked to death.

3.  People hate Sword Art Online because it got too popular way too fast. It’s ok to not like Sword Art Online, and it’s ok to lambast the ripple effect it has had on anime and the Isekai genre in general. Sword Art Online is a cornerstone anime for a whole generation of fans and it deserves respect for that.

4. Darling in the Franxx’s 21st episode completely pissed away any of the goodwill it had by chickening out and not committing to the “making babies is important” message of the story, which was actually an intriguing and interesting thematic thread whether you agreed with it or not. That is the worst thing about that show, not the “make babies propaganda,” not the Ichigo character, not the fact that it was Evangelion fanfiction.

5. I fucking HATE Shinmai Maou no Testament, but its depiction of its ecchi fanservice is probably the best in the entire genre and it has my respect for that. But it is also a “me too” cash grab trying to chase High School DxD‘s success, but refuses to do any of the groundwork in creating memorable characters and an interesting story.

6. If Netflix wanted to, they could completely dominate the western anime industry by dumping all those millions to get Japanese studios to create new seasons of favorite shows. “Haruhi Season 3″ or “Devil Works Part Time Season 2” exclusively funded and on Netflix would almost certainly cripple Funimation and Crunchyroll.

7. One Piece will probably end up being the stronger story and manga, but Naruto’s character arcs and themes are very well done, and it should be praised for taking risks with some characters and not keeping to a status quo. (LOOKING AT YOU FAIRY TAIL)

8. Mobile Suit Gundam either needs to reboot the Universal Century timeline or put it to bed for good. It’s not interesting to new viewers, depends too much on decades-old anime that haven’t aged well, and is way too complicated to really give a damn about.

9. Fate Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works should have had the courage to either keep the Rin and Shirou sex scene from the Visual Novel in or completely rewrite it. After everything they go through in that story, the fact that they don’t fuck is more ridiculous than a blonde hair guy using swords as projectiles.

10. Another World with my Smartphone was actually a pretty fucking good Isekai story in comparison to some of the stuff we’ve gotten in recent years.

This was fun! I’ll probably do this again sometime soon! Please feel free to share on your blogs some of your “from the gut” anime opinions!

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Shallow Dive: Wise Man’s Grandchild

I normally wait until my three episode check-in to give you my thoughts, but every now and then something comes along that just can’t wait for it. I have never dropped a series harder than I dropped this one. I can’t even find the words to describe it, so enjoy a slew of Jontron clips that accurately sum up my feelings, beginning to end, of my views of the show Wise Man’s Grandchild after the cut.

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Shallow Dive: The Rising of the Shield Hero First Cour

The Rising of the Shield Hero has its entire premise be fuelled by a false rape allegation made by a woman. While it works in the sense of the plot, the overall execution is sloppy and doesn’t do the first episode any real favors. Frankly, Goblin Slayer did the whole “controversial opener’ far better. You either agree with all of that, or you don’t.

Ok, now that I’ve ripped off that bandaid, let’s talk about the best anime (so far) of the year. My thoughts on the first cour of The Rising of the Shield Hero are just after the cut.

If Isekai Slime has taught me anything, is that I need to be careful with heaping praise on a show that is only halfway done. While Slime started strong and had great moments, the remaining second half was never able to recapture those highs and overall seemed to meander to the finish line. I still like Slime and I love that first half, but I fear I should have held back my praise just a little bit until the whole picture was done. Yet once again I find myself in a difficult position because so far, Shield Hero has been an EXTREMELY fun ride.

In a sense, Shield Hero and Slime can be seen as sister series, in that both are adapted from light novels that are already completed, and both represent a standard Isekai experience but polished to a mirror shine. Yet while Slime was seemingly content in being the usual “shut-in loser becomes the god-king” story, Shield Hero opts to try something new within a familiar formula, and though Shield Hero has all the markings of standard Isekai, Naofumi’s journey has so far been different enough that it helps the show stand out.

While Shield Hero is not the Isekai break-down that has propelled ReZero to a masterpiece work (and a second season!) in my eyes, Shield Hero is at least not afraid to throw a bit of mud in the face of expectations among viewers. Naofumi’s struggles and how he deals with a nation who has turned his back on him are interesting (and controversial), but so far are things that have not been seen in mainstream Isekai anime before. His bitter attitude, to the point mannerism and overall distrust of everything around him, help set him apart from the myriad of other leads and helps paint a stark contrast between him and the other heroes, who believe that they are in a world that makes them gods.

Furthermore, the slow pace and “filler” episodes between waves have been excellent in building up character and atmosphere. Like Slime before it, having 25 episodes gives this show time to establish a world that too often other anime either ignore or blitz right through. The relationship between Naofumi and Raphtalia feels real as it can be in a show like this, with enough time spent building it up that it can feel understandable why she is so loyal to him. Both she and the adorable Filo are so far fun characters that help lighten up a show that could have just been Naofumi being an emo edgelord the whole time. Additionally, the show has a killer OST that feels lifted right from a golden age JRPG game, and the use of game mechanics feels built into the world and not something that was just thrown in there for kicks.

Twelve episodes in and I am loving The Rising of the Shield Hero, but I am withholding full judgment until the second half concludes, though I am confident it is not going to suffer the same lack half that Slime did. So far the show hasn’t had it’s “Shizu moment” and there is plenty of room left for it to hit greater heights. It is fully possible that Shield Hero fizzles out in the next half which would be a shame for an anime that is already going to end up on several “best of” lists at the end of 2019. With my expectations firmly in check, I head into the second cour hoping to continue the great ride I’ve had so far. If you have not watched this show because of the (admittedly sloppy) first episode, I highly suggest you give it another chance. This is a really great Isekai anime and deserves to be more than what it’s pilot episode tries to do.

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Don’t @ Me: My Ten Anime Opinions: Naruto Edition

Welcome to Don’t @ Me, the time where I give you ten (or more) opinions on anime that raw, from the hip and to the point. This week I dive into one of the famous “Big Three” shonen series that dominated anime for much of the late 90s and early 2000s. Love it, hate, or just believe it. Let’s get into my opinions on the series Naruto after the cut.

1.  Sasuke Uchiha’s motives and attitudes throughout the second half of the story are much more easy to believe and empathize with when you remember he’s a 15-16-year-old kid, with a 15-16-year-old’s view of the world. Yes, it’s stupid, but if you had all the shit happen to you at that age, you’d probably have a very narrow viewed black and white view as well.

2. Itachi Uchiha’s plot twist is done exceptionally well and doesn’t feel like an asspull or a move of editorial interferences. Itachi was much better as the “self-sacrificing Dark Knight” then “Edgelord evil cause I’m evil”

3. The complete abandonment of the secondary cast (save Guy, Shikamaru and Neji at the last minute) is a major blow to the second half of the story. It is not Bleach’s exceptionally secondary characters, but Naruto had a great cast of people that are frankly just wasted.

4. I’ve made the “friend zone” jokes about Obito as much as the next guy, but his entire back story and how he turns evil is fucking heartbreaking and well done. Not so much the last minute heel turn to good.

5. Sakura Haruno is the worst female character ever created in any piece of anime or manga ever. Of all time. I am not making that up or overselling it. She has ONE amazing fight scene and then proceeds to cry and bitch and moan for the entire rest of the series. Even the author admitted he “had no idea” on what to do with her.

6. “Talk no Jutsu” is kinda dumb because of how many times it manages to work, but Naruto’s main enemies (Gaara, Nagato, Obito, and Sasuke) are all twisted reflections of himself, and by beating them and winning them over, Naruto overcomes his own flaws and becomes a better person

7. Furthermore, while Naruto Uzumaki will never be as iconic as Goku, as memorable as Monday D. Luffy, or as “cool” as Ichigo Kurosaki, but he is the only one of those who actually goes through an entire character arc from an annoying young shit of a boy to a well adjusted and reasonable man. Seeing Naruto from where he starts, to where he ends is a real treat and is one of the best things about the series.

8. Eight-Gates Might Guy is probably the only thing that has ever lived up to the “hype’ and is one of the best moments in not only Naruto but all of Shonen History.

9. Unlike Fairy Tail, (and some could argue One Piece), Masashi Kishimoto was more than willing to shake up the status quo and change the nature of the series from time to time. Characters who needed to die for the story to move along stayed dead, and there were no pulling punches when shit had to start going south. I respect him for that.

10. The story needed way more fanservice or just any really. I’m just saying! I mean fucking flash some cleavage or something at least once and a while. JESUS!

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Shallow Dive: Fate Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly

This shallow dive is going to be a bit different because to discuss this movie the way I want to, I have to get into major spoilers of the film itself and overall plot points of the main Fate timeline. So before the cut, I’m going to list off the main points that people will probably want to know about the flick, then get into more spoiler stuff afterward.

This movie is absolutely amazing and Ufotable has done it again. Well worth the wait and is the payoff we needed.

Yes, this movie has a “sex scene” in it and it is done in a tasteful way that strikes a perfect compromise between adaptation and tribute to the original visual novel. I expect a bit more skin in the blue-ray release. I applaud the director for having the courage to acknowledge the O.G Fate visual novel.

Illya’s role in the route has been scaled back significantly so far. Obviously, the director wanted to have the entire focus be on Sakura and Shirou. I (and I’m a huge Illya fan) agree that this was probably the best way to go. I’ll have more to say on this once I’ve read the Heaven’s Feel route.

There is only one real action scene and while it is animated BEAUTIFULLY, it is a bit hard to follow sometimes.

This movie, along with Presage Flower is absolutely not for first time Fate Fans. I said that in the last review, but it goes double here. You need to have at least watched Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works to fully enjoy this film

Alright, after the cut let’s take a dive into the second movie of the Heaven’s Feel trilogy: Fate Stay Night Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly.

I once said that I believed that it was Illyasviel von Einzbern who was the “great tragic character” of the Fate Franchise. After watching this movie, however, I feel I might have to eat some crow on that. While Illya’s own history is rife with and loss tragedy, it is not the raw naked nerve that is the history and life of Sakura Matou.

Sakura may be the third heroine of the Fate route, but she has been a character that has been criminally underused in the greater Fate Universe. Simply put, before this movie she didn’t have much to make her stand apart from the other two heroines. Saber is pretty much the mascot of Fate with her iconic design and fighting abilities, while Rin Tohsaka has slipped into the shoes of Final Fantasy’s Cid and is the most recurring character, as well as being one of the best female heroines in anime. Sakura, however, doesn’t have much going for her aside from being the “quiet kouhai with big boobs”

Until this movie.

If you’ve watched Fate/Zero you have a gist of Sakura’s history: the little sister of Rin who was given to the Matou family to be raised as a magus, because the mage laws forbid any family from raising more than one magical heir. While her parents in Fate/Zero attempt to justify this by saying that it was to protect her, Lost Butterfly reveals that their giving of Sakura to the Matou family pretty much doomed their youngest daughter to eleven years of absolute hell.

Lost Butterfly may tell the story of the holy grail war spinning out of control because of the mysterious shadow, it is really about revealing the absolute horrors that have been put on Sakura. In the span of this two-hour movie, we learn that Sakura has been subjected to numerous magical tortures, physically and verbally abused by her grandfather and brother, and worst of all, subjected to the repeated raping and sexual assault by Shinji, who loathes Sakura for usurping his place as the Matou family heir.

All of this has, in turn, made Sakura become withdrawn and emotionally dependant on Shirou the first person who has ever treated her with kindness. What’s worse is that the arrival of the Holy grail war and the rampage of the mysterious shadow is beginning to unravel the final defenses of Sakura’s sanity. Combined with the holy grail war causing Rin, who is apparently indifferent to Sakura, and Shirou to work together and grow closer, this risks taking away the one thing that Sakura has left. By the time the credits roll and the final levee has broken, we see that Sakura has fully embraced her darkness and will be ready unleash a tide almighty rage upon anyone in her way. This entire movie can be seen as escalation after escalation into madness until finally there is nothing left but an unfiltered rage of a woman who has learned to treat the world the way it’s treated her: Pure Hatred.

Frankly, there is so much I want to talk about with this movie, because despite being excellently paced (aside from maybe being a bit too rushed at the start) there is just so much that happens, and all of it so different from the previous route Unlimited Blade Works. One of the best things about Fate Stay Night is that the three routes help fill in corners that would have otherwise been neglected in a single story. Feeding in the subtext and character development from other routes helps fill out the characters that play only supporting roles here. Most notable for this is Archer whose path in Heaven’s Feel differs wildly from his start turn in Blade Works.

Then there is Shirou who is probably at his strongest as both a character and a man in this film. While Blade Works served as a rebuttal to the very idea of Shirou’s Dream, Lost Butterfly shows what happens when the weight of real life comes into conflict with it. Seeing Shirou make the choice to put Sakura over his dream, to abandon his desire to be a hero of justice to protect her, and support her is deeply moving and made, even more, better when you feed in everything from Blade Works into his personality. While I still think Rin and Shirou make the strongest couple, his relationship with Sakura is done extremely well and hits all the right notes perfectly.

And there is so much more. The dream sequence (oh the fucking dream sequence), Gilgamesh, The fight with Assassin, Saber, Rider’s role, everything to do with Shinji. All of it could be posts on their own, and none of it feels forced or tacked on. Ufotable and the directors have pulled off an amazing feat here, juggling multiple balls and being able to handle it with the skill of a master. If there is any minor flaw, it is that Illya’s role is again, significantly reduced, but if that was the price to pay for everything else to work, then I pay it gladly, and I am HUGE Illya fanboy.

I could go on guys, but Fate Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly is not only one of the best anime films in the last five years, it’s one of the best FILMs I’ve seen in that time. It is a success story in every which way, and while not perfect (nothing is) it is solid final proof that Fate Stay Night is more than just a cash cow franchise that lives off waifu figurines. I absolutely cannot WAIT to watch it again and to see everything come to together in the final installment Spring Song, next year. If you are a Fate Fan, don’t miss this movie.

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Shallow Dive: My Girlfriend is Shobitch

Buckle up, I’m going to talk briefly about the portrayal of women in media. Opinions right up ahead.

Anime and Manga have many, many good qualities and despite being part of the fandom for over two decades now I still find myself surprised and shocked by the twists and turns it can give me. While there are more than a fair share of tropes, cliches and similar stories (hello Isekais) I’ve always found that anime more often than not can surprise me with some of its stories, character beats and so on.

One of these is anime’s portrayal and presentation of women and female characters in its media. To make a long story short, I’ve found that female characters in anime and manga are given far more freedom in comparison with their western counterparts. Female anime characters can be funny, cruel, kind, slutty, pure, smart, dumb, warriors, fighters, healers, independent, dependent, competitive, ambitious cliche, original, you name it and anime has probably done it. Most importantly though, they do it with no fanfare, no grand statements, no cynical pandering. They are just allowed to be characters, themselves. Women in anime frankly have nothing to prove

In comparison to the era western entertainment is in now, where everything (fair or not) seems like it has to fight for the cause of representation, it can often feel that characters, females, in particular, are there more to tick boxes and pander to audiences and a twitter feed instead of allowing themselves to be just characters in a story. That is not to dismiss the cause of representation, nor to throw shade on people and creators who take it seriously,  but it has been something I noticed throughout the last few years.

I say all of this because it is a feeling I picked up a lot when I was watching the show we are shallow diving into today. After the cut let’s take a dive into the anime series: My Girlfriend is Shobitch.

I’ve watched several (SEVERAL) harems and ecchi shows in the last year or so, but never did I expect to see something I would call a “reverse” Ecchi. While “reverse Harems” where there are one girl and several boys fighting for her affection are more common. (Ouran High School Host Club is the go-to example). I never thought that a “reverse ecchi” could exist, and while Shobitch might not be that exactly, I do think it is the closest I have seen yet.

Shobitch’s plot involves our main lead Akiho Kosaka being confessed to by fellow classmate Haruka Shinozaki. Accepting the confession and becoming his girlfriend, Haruka soon realizing that it’s not his young libido he needs to worry about, it’s Akiho. What follows next is twelve episodes of Akiho obsessing over everything to do with their relationship and bluntly trying to approach sex and sexual activity in one over the top and innuendo-laced comedy bit after the next

Now while I and many others have seen this plot before (My First Girlfriend is a Gal is the quite literally the male version of this) I have yet to really see it portrayed from the female point of view. Normally when it comes to ecchi it is the male character who serves as the PoV for the audience, which (fairly or not) has been viewed as the norm for entertainment like this. So to see Shobitch switch things up and give us the female point of view, seeing Akiho struggle and work hard to be a “good girlfriend” while coping with her own massive lack of sexual experience and genuine affection for Haruka (which is thankfully mutual) is a nice breath of fresh air. Even more so that is Haruka, the male, who is portrayed as the patient and hesitant voice of reason in the relationship. What makes this work though, is that Shobitch wisely lets its characters be themselves. There is no higher motive, no trying to get “a message” across. Neither Akiho or any other female characters are anything more than that, just characters. They aren’t trying to advance the cause of anything, or try to be a role model to the viewer. They are just people in a story and don’t need to try and justify their own existence every few minutes. While Shobitch is absolutely not realistic, its portrayal of relationship insecurity and the pressures that come with it are very real ideas, and seeing it from a women’s viewpoint, with none of the cultural baggage made what could have been an average ecchi romp into something just a little bit more.

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Quick Thoughts on: Fate Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly

I must stress that this is not my review or shallow dive into this movie. While I have seen a version of this film, I have not seen it in the way that I feel I need to do give it a full and fair look. However as I am a die-hard Fate Fan and the internet so warmly provided me a chance to see this movie, I feel I want to get my thoughts out now while the iron is still hot.

I look forward to watching this movie again two more times (one for the sub, one for dub) and you can’t expect my fuller more complete thoughts later this year. For now though, my quick thoughts on the Fate Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly are after the poster.

As I stated in my review of the first installment: Presage Flower, I felt that the film was 90% set up for what was going to come next and that I hoped part two would get the ball rolling. I can happily say that Lost Butterfly does not only get the ball rolling, but it also attaches a rocket to it and doesn’t let go.

Lost Butterfly and all of Heaven’s Feel are movies for Fate fans who are one or two series deep into the franchise and therefore doesn’t waste any time explaining anything about the world. Since this is part two of the story, we jump right back into the story keep things at a brisk, but well-paced speed. Again, that can be difficult for new fans, but it is clear this movie is made or the people who have at least seen Blade Works or Fate/Zero.

In terms of the plot, Sakura’s route is just as dark and foreboding as I hoped it would be, with more than enough differences to separate it from both Fate and Blade Works, which often felt like they were chasing similar overall story beats. Heaven’s Feel, however, is wholly its own story that takes the Fate world and turns it on its head. While all the characters are present, we get to see the magic of the three route structure on full display as different cast members weave in and out of importance as the story unfolds. This is especially true for Gilgamesh and Archer who are so central to the last two routes but play much smaller roles here. The only real constant is Rin Tohsaka who, while very much a supporting character this time, is still tied up greatly with the events of the plot.

Finally, Lost Butterfly is, at last, the Fate route that managed to find the perfect compromise between the original visual novel, and the Realta Nua re-rerelease. I’ll just go ahead and spoil this, but this is the first Fate adaptation that actually kept in a sex scene, but re-tools it to make it fit more into the story and not feel like it’s completely superfluous to it. It’s there, it works extremely well, and it’s done tastefully and respectfully.

I’ll have a lot more to say about this movie when I get a few more views in later in the year. All I can say now is that Ufotable has done it again. They’ve created another beautifully animated, well acted and excellent adaptation of Fate Stay Night. While Lost Butterfly is lighter on the action, the action that is present might even give Dragon Ball Super Broly a run for its money. The characters are excellent, and Shirou and Sakura’s relationship was way more endearing than I hoped, with a cliffhanger ending that just gets you pumped for the final installment.

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Shallow Dive: Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

I want you to think about a bolt of lightning.

When you see one in the sky you are often filled with emotions and feelings. It’s powerful, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and almost all too fleeting. Once the lightning comes it is as gone as soon as it came and you don’t really think about it anymore. Still when you saw that lightning you were just blown away by how much it affected you, or just how great that experience was.

That is pretty much the series we are talking about today. Let’s waste no time and dive into 2018 series, the sharer of the Anime of the Year: Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

I’ve talked about this show several times both on my blog and others, but I’ve waited to give it a proper overview because I wanted my thoughts to solidify. I tend to stay away from week to week episode reviews because I prefer to get the whole picture, the entire point of the anime before I give my thoughts. I am also glad I gave this show sometime after the final episode because I didn’t want my thoughts on that piece to affect my entire view of the series.

Bunny Girl Senpai was a show that many people didn’t think they would like. One look at the poster could make you think this was another slice of life romantic harem comedy. What people weren’t expecting, and neither was I, was that it would be one of the most thoughtful, well written and just plain good series this year.

The plot is simple. We follow Sakuta Azsuagawa, a sort of ‘go it alone’ Holden Caulfield (with thankfully none of the angst or inflated self-importance) type of guy as he discovers that “puberty syndrome” a sort of scientific abnormality linked to teenage problems, is causing several different girls in his school to undergo strange events. Whether it is body switching, time loops, being invisible to anyone but himself or splitting yourself into two people. Sakuta has to help these girls figure out their issues, all the while trying to nurse and raise his bullied sister Kaede back to health.

Right off the bat, Bunny Girl Senpai had probably the best three episode run of any series in the last five years. If the series had ended right after those three episodes, it might have been completely flawless. The first arc centered around our titular bunny girl senpai Mai Sakurajima felt like an entire movie played out over three weeks. Mai and Sakuta’s romance and chemistry are some of the strongest I’ve seen in years, and both of these characters felt more realistic and endearing than almost any romance I’ve seen in anime. There are none of the tropes or moments that are so often attached to anime romances and despite the science fiction twist, Mai and Sakuta’s attitudes to each other feel earned, touching and most of all realistic.

That is the key word here. Bunny Girl Senpai is a very realistic show. No, not in terms of the science and puberty syndrome, but in the problems and atmosphere of its characters. I’ve said it before, but Bunny Girl Senpai is an anime about teenagers in high school, not an anime about teenagers in an ANIME high school and that is a very important point to make. The problems of the girls are things all girls I expect have gone through, whether it is wanting to escape the spotlight, feeling inferior to your successful older sister, obsessed with trying to fit in, being insecure about your body, or the fear of being abandon by your only friends. These are real problems that are thankfully portrayed by realistic characters in a realistic setting. Most of all, they are able to talk about teenage problems without coming off as pandering or “after school special,” something that is very difficult to do with viewers. To see high school students actually act normal in ANIME, where a high school is so often used as either a springboard for outlandish plots or a walking trope factory was absolutely refreshing to see.

Now Bunny Girl Senpai does have some faults. The science fiction elements can be hit or miss, and too often the show just has characters explain this through dialogue rather than visual examples. Some of the girl’s story arcs are stronger than others, with the third starring Sakuta’s scientific sidekick Futaba feeling the weakest of them, and the overall plot settled into a “Sakuta meets a new girl, identifies the problem, solves the problem” formula pretty quickly. These, however, are extremely minor when compared to just how perfect the show nails its characters, atmosphere, themes and pretty much everything else. Something frankly this good always ends up short so how, but never in a way that would damage it’s standing.

However, like a bolt of lightning, I wonder if something like Bunny Girl Senpai has a staying power. I won’t lie, it wasn’t a show I thought of much after I watch its weekly installment. I loved every single minute, but after the credits rolled I didn’t much think about. Just like lightning it appears in the sky, blows your mind and then is just gone and you move on with life. Will we be talking about this show two months from now? Five? Seven? A Year? I don’t think we will, and yet this show is one of the best anime I’ve seen since ReZero. Maybe that is ok, perhaps some pieces of anime are meant to simply be like that, doing what they have to do and then fading into history.

Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is, as I have said in this blog post: a bolt of lightning. It’s beautiful, spectacular and deeply moving, and then just like that lightning, it is gone. It is one of the best anime I have seen since ReZero brought me back into this genre, and absolutely deserves its place as the best anime of 2018. A masterpiece of high quality, despite being something I think many will forget about, viewers of this blog and anime fans, in general, should absolutely not skip out on this show.

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Quick Thoughts on Uzamaid!

With the new year here, the anime of the season is all but wrapped up, which means it’s time for my Quick Thoughts on many of the series we are watching. The next on the list is the comedy series Uzamaid!

I’ve said this in my previous looks into the series over the last season, but Uzamaid! had to walk an extremely difficult tightrope in trying to balance the unsettling premise, with the comedy and cuteness of the story. There was no way some people weren’t going to take a look at the poster, or the first episode and instantly drop it. I’m going to get into a bit more on this in my proper shallow dive in a week or two, but that position is more than understandable.

I’m happy to say though, that after it’s twelve episode run, Uzamaid! was successful in its tightrope act. It is both extremely fucking funny, and thankfully self-aware in the creepiness of its premise. Kamoi Tsubume is one of the most comedic and original female leads this year and brings so much hysterical laughter to this series. The extreme lengths she’ll go to spend time with Misha just keep getting stranger and stranger, and the reactions and music the animators and show-runners use never get old.

Yet, Uzamaid! doesn’t rest completely on comedy, and instead opts to also be a touching and heartwarming story about grief, parental loss and the fear of moving on from it. Misha’s situation is something I expect a sizable amount of viewers may have gone through, and its portrayal in this anime is done extremely well. I was surprised just how much the final two episodes tugged at my heartstrings as Misha was forced to confront the fact that her mother really is gone, and that deep down she has always been ok with that.

Overall Uzamaid! was an extremely solid show, with only a little of the “mid-season dip” that other shows suffer. If the premise turned you off (and it’s ok if it did) maybe try to give it another shot and see if you can change your mind. There is more to this story than is suggested, and hell it might just give you a really good laugh.

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Shallow Dive: Goblin Slayer

Goblin Slayer has a rape scene in the first episode. It’s disturbing, eyebrow-raising and extremely effective in showing the audience why someone might devote themselves to killing goblins. You either agree with that, or you don’t.

Ok! Now that I’ve ripped off that band-aid, let’s actually talk about this show. After the cut let’s take a dive into the anime Goblin Slayer.

One of the great things about this seasons’ batch of fantasy anime is that its shows haven’t been about world-ending threats. I’ve watched enough of Japanese anime or played enough JRPGs to know that most stories end up fighting the big bad to help save the world. Those are great, those are fun, but after a while, it can feel quite samey. I, and I am sure many other viewers have wanted a fantasy show where we just seem a small part of the world.

Thankfully goblin slaying is what this show is about. From the main character to the overall theme. Slayer is not concerned with the fate of the land, the death of the demon lord, or the politics of the royals. It is just about one guy, a normal average guy, who is obsessed with killing goblins. He doesn’t care about adventures, or glory, or the world in general. He just wants to kill goblins, always goblins.

To its credit, the world of Goblin Slayer does it’s best to show that goblins are a cruel, almost vermin creature that should be hunted down and destroyed. Their treatment of overconfident adventures and women who fall victim to them are effective and brutal, following the tradition of Berserk (which this show has been both fairly and unfairly compared to) of having a fantasy anime with the softness sanded off. What makes it work though is how dismissive other heroes and adventures are of the titular Goblin Slayer, who shows real skill and potential, but is only concerned with killing goblins, which are considered on the same level as rats.

Yet this premise works amazingly because it shows the viewer that sometimes the greatest heroes are not those who beat the big bad, but who work down in the slums doing the boring and dirty jobs. There is no glory in goblin slaying, but our heroes choice to do that, his history behind his reason and how obsessive drive to do so ends up winning over friend, allies and even admirers. This is especially effective in the relationship with Sword Maiden, who despite being a hero who destroyed the demon lord is terrified and traumatized of goblins, and the slayer’s promise to “slay them in her dreams” is worth more to her than any pledge or glory from anything else.

As for the other characters, the show’s relationship with Dungeons and Dragons is evident in the rest of the cast. The characters have no names, instead just being called their race or class. Priestess is a stand out character, feeling like a harem female lead who accidentally walked into a different show. Her growth from a naive little girl, to someone who is ready to fight and accept her job, is a great storyline, as is the relationship with Goblin Slayer himself. The other characters are effective as well, with Elf Archer being a great concept of a character from top to bottom.

Goblin Slayer is a great show, giving viewers a fantasy story that decides to go and be small, but have stakes that are just as effective and powerful. Yes, the first episode may have turned people off, with good reason, but to dismiss this show completely because of that fact robs viewers of what is a solid and refreshing piece of fantasy animation. No, it’s not the next Berserk (it isn’t trying to be), but in a world where Isekai Fantasy is dominant Goblin Slayer is more than happy enough to remind viewers that hyper-violence isn’t just something Game of Thrones can pull off. Check it out if you haven’t already.

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Quick Thoughts on Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

.There is going to be a lot said on this anime series in the next few weeks. Youtubers, Bloggers, and Reddit will have much to say on the quality, characters, and story of this show. I myself have much I want to say on what I believe the long-term legacy of a show like this will, or won’t have on the anime fandom. Right now however are my quick thoughts on what is the hit anime of the season, and my tie for Anime of the year: Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

So the big question. Did Bunny Girl Senpai manage to stick the landing?

Yes and no.

The final episode was good, great in many cases. Mostly because the characters we’ve followed all season are well developed and extremely endearing. The resolution of Kaede’s story is bittersweet and most of all realistic, holding true to the overall main thesis of Bunny Girl Senpai. It’s anime that has discussed realistic problems that real, realistic teenagers go through. While it was done with elements of science and science fiction, with some landing better than others. Senpai’s ability to be an anime about High School, but not an anime about an ANIME high school was its greatest strength. That carried through all the way from start to finish.

However, I can’t deny, minutes after watching it, that the final episode felt like they jammed two different story arcs together. Kaede’ story is wrapped up in the first half, and then the last is dedicated to Mai and Sakuta working out a minor relationship issue. All of it is good, touching and works well, as expected from this show. Yet it feels very much like they weren’t able to cobble together enough money (or plot) for an additional episode and just dumped it all into one. If they had been able to space out these two stories, then this would have ended perfectly. There is also the issue of Shoko and the foreshadowing of her role in the story, though thankfully there is a film coming that will carry things on.   Overall it’s a bit of a bummer considering how well this final arc was shaping up to be.

Rascal Does not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is a truly wonderful and beautiful piece of work. I’ll be getting into whether or not it will have a long lasting legacy in a week or two (once my thoughts are finally solidified), but it shares the top spot for my anime of the year easily. Many fellow anime fans have fallen in and out of love with this show over the 13 weeks, but it has been a wonderfully calm, almost melancholic 13 weeks. This is a very, VERY well done piece of anime, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, changed that at once.

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The Clip Speaks for Itself

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Quick Thoughts on Heaven’s Feel: Lost Butterfly Trailer 3: Saber Alter all up in this!

Oh man, Oh man, Oh man.

This November, I did a month-long look into every facet of the Fate Franchise, and that included my thoughts on the first of the Heaven’s Feel movie trilogy: Presage Flower.

I recently watched the movie again (dubbed this time) and while I enjoyed it far more on my second viewing, my thoughts on the film remain the same: Presage Flower is 90% set up for the following two films. So it was my hope that the second entry: Lost Butterfly jumps right to the meat of things. The second trailer allured my fears somewhat, but now looking at our third trailer, I feel much more at ease. My thoughts after the video.

Oh man…

This movie is shaping up to be everything I was hoping for. With the pieces in place, Lost Butterfly looks like it’s going to crank things up to eleven and then some. I know what takes place in the Heaven’s Feel route; the darkest and in-depth of the three, and I cannot wait for it come to life. With rumors that the director pushed heavily to include the erotic scenes (that have been cut from the novel’s re-release and pretty much scrubbed from the Fate canon), I am confident that this is going to be true to form adaptation, as best it can be, of the route.

I don’t do hype, but I am excited as hell for this movie. I cannot wait to see the story of Sakura Matou start to reach its zenith, cause hoooo man…shit is gonna get real. Regardless, Fate Stay Night, Studio Ufotable, and Aimer are a match made in heaven.

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Shallow Dive: The Last: Naruto the Movie

Shipping, or “who makes the cutest couple” is a staple of almost every fandom. People just love taking two characters and pairing them off romanticly. This is taken to some extremes sometimes, especially in anime, where if two characters just happen to look at each other, they are destined to be.

Shipping Wars are also common both in the West and in Anime. Twilight was notorious for its Team Jacob and Team Edward fangirl fights, and many sitcoms often had viewers arguing over who deserved to be together. When it comes to Anime, well just how many fights have you witnessed or partaken in yourself. Don’t lie now. (IchikaxCharlotte for life).

Rarely though, do we get an entire film that seems almost dedicated to addressing and confirming a certain ship. So after the cut let’s take a dive into The Last: Naruto the Movie.

I’ll be honest. This movie isn’t about the plot involving the moon, the Hyuga, or any of that. The plot, the entire point of this film is to wrap up and the biggest remaining plot-thread of the Naruto series: The Naruto and Hinata Romance. That’s what this movie is, and everything else is simply B-story. It’s good B-story, but still B-story. Your enjoyment of this film is wholly based on how important Naruto and Hinata’s relationship was to you.

Naruto and Hinata’s romance, (or lack thereof) was one of the biggest leftover plot points after the Naruto manga wrapped up. While the outcome was confirmed in the final chapter, how it happened was never detailed on in the manga itself. Whatever the reason it was clear Kishimoto was juggling too many balls in regards to wrapping up the plot, and the Naruto/Sasuke story, and clearly didn’t have time to deal with it. So this entire movie is basically built around Naruto coming to the realization that Hinata has always loved him and accepting that he loves her too.

Naruto is a series that is too long to try and get into on this blog, and the character development of both Naruto and Hinata would take pages upon pages to unravel. What I will say is that while Hinata has had years of manga chapters to flesh out her feelings to Naruto. Naruto himself only has this movie and it feels at times that we are getting a cliff notes version of it. Really, the moment Naruto discovers how much Hinata has been ‘in his corner’ throughout the series, he almost instantly falls head over heels in love with her, which can feel a little rushed when you compare to Hinata’s own arc.

However, again this movie’s enjoyment is wholly based on how much that romance meant to you throughout the run of Naruto. I was a huge fan of Hinata’s character and her story arc and I couldn’t help but be happy that she was getting what she’s wanted for so long. And even if it is rushed, Naruto’s feelings and how they are handled are adequate enough that it doesn’t derail the story. I also loved how both his and Hinata’s conversation with Sakura helps put things into greater context, and tastefully puts the Naruto-Sakura ship to bed in the most respectful way possible.

The Last: Naruto the Movie is the reward for the Naru/Hina shippers who have waited to have the story finally told. If you didn’t care for that, then it is an above standard (canon) movie that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and has great music, fighting, and a good enough story. If you were a huge Naruto fan and haven’t checked out this movie yet, then give it a look, and if you are Naru/Hina fan, then go watch it again.

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My Reaction after dropping 60 Saint Quartz to get Ishtar, failing, then getting her on a Summon Ticket