Anime n Stuffs

  Hey everybody and welcome to my blog, Anime and Stuffs! On this page I will cover a variety of things regarding anime. For example, reviews of anime I am currently watching, upcoming anime seasons, and any news I find to be interesting regarding anime. However, the main thing I will be covering out of these topics would be reviews of what I am currently watching. I will be giving my first impressions and opinions on episodes as they release as well as what I think will happen next. When the time comes that an anime is taking a week break, I will review either a series I have watched before as a whole or an anime film instead. It is my hope that you will enjoy what I will be posting and hopefully find an anime that peeks your interest and consider watching in the future. Take Care!  

[huh-gerin]

Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2 Episode 1 First Impressions

Greatness has finally returned in this spring 2019 season of anime. Today the first episode of Attack on Titan’s second half of its third season has finally come and the wait was definitely worth it. This first episode was in my opinion a really good establishing episode for what is to come within this second half of the season. The episode wasted no time in setting things up and got me very invested as to what’s happening and that combined with some good pacing helped in making this 24 minute episode, honestly feel like a 5 minute one. Even in its slower more tamed moments in the beginning, I was never bored because with these calmer moments, the character interactions and character moments prevented these scenes from being dull. 

Additionally, in the calmer moments we got to see a little bit of the stakes here as to how on edge, cautious, and scared everyone was even when there was no danger. So with that said, although these moments were more on the calmer side there still retained this sense of tension, where something could happen at any moment in time. As the episode progresses, that tension just builds and makes for some good scenes and character moments in the long run of this episode as well. Once the Survey Corps gets to Shinganshina, they waste no time in trying to get the operation to retake the wall and in these scenes, there were some really nicely done establishing shots and animation which is no surprise as this is an area where WIT studio, the anime studio behind Attack on Titan consistently does well. 

Furthermore, another aspect of the anime that really added to these scenes is of course the music. The music really helped in adding to the feeling of many scenes within this first episode and the utilization of new versions of music used previously just worked so well in the anime, feeling like it belonged there and nothing else could really fit that spot. I also really liked the op for this season, as they have brought back the same group that has done the first 3 ops and this 5th op retained that same feeling of the first 3 which made it have this nostalgic like feeling. 

Like the first episode of the first half of the season, the first episode here was just the set up for a really good follow up episode, with the first half having the beautifully done Kenny vs Levi portion and the second half, having pretty much a final stand between the survey corps and the Beast titan, Armored Titan, and eventually the Colossal titan, which I’m sure will be done as beautiful or maybe even better than that Kenny vs Levi fight. Even the first episode had some really good animation which I had stated previously, mainly when it came to the traversal, Eren’s transition climbing up the wall to transform into a titan, the quick interaction between Levi and Reiner, and of course those final moments of the episode where the final battle is about to start. Clearly, the anime has its work cut out for them and I’m really excited to see the rest of the episodes for the second half of this season.

[huh-gerin]

Kimetsu no Yaiba First Impressions

As I previously stated in my blog post on what I plan to watch for the spring 2019 anime season, I had said that I planned on watching Kimetsu no Yaiba and after watching the first episode, I have got to say my first impressions for this anime were very good. I can tell that this anime has a lot going for it just from the first episode. Before I get into the episode itself, I want to talk about the technical aspects of the anime first. One thing that really impressed me and had got me investing is definitely the soundtrack and music for the anime. Ufotable did so well as to blending the music into the episode to get different feelings across in the episode. Whether the music be used for tense moments or emotional moments, the way the music was used in these sequences were just so well done. 

In general the sound as a whole was just so well done and definitely got the feelings it was trying to get across succeeded in that goal. For example, to let you admire the beautiful art and scenery the music will go quiet or if a tense moment where ideals clash, the music will go quiet as well and it’s these moments that really got me invested into the anime. 

Another thing that this anime does so well is of course the art and animation, which I had high expectations for given the studio producing this anime is none other than Ufotable. The art was really beautiful and the animation behind the beautiful art was so smooth. From my previous experiences with animes made by Ufotable, the art style was very different in this anime but it still looked so good and I actually really enjoy it. You could definitely tell that Ufotable goes that extra mile to work on every single small detail. Now moving on to the story and what went down in the episode itself. 

Regarding the story, from the very little I have seen so far, I am actually really interested in its premises. I think this is mainly attributed to the characters and the interactions they have with each other as I really enjoyed the character interactions within this episode especially towards the end. I think one of the main things plot wise for this season that I’ll be looking forward to is gonna be the main character’s, Tanjirou Kamada, change over time given that within a day so much had been taken away from him and how his current way of thinking and his old lifestyle does not mix well with this new path he is taking. 

As for the characters, I think that even Tanjirou’s family is gone physically, I think they will play a big part in Tanjirou’s motivation force and the same goes for his sister, Nezuko Kamada, who is now a demon. Furthermore, with Nezuko being Tanjirou’s only family that is still alive, I think their interactions will be very interesting in the future since there is a possibility that she might succumb to her demon side, which makes me very interested as to what Tanjirou will do. Overall, I really enjoyed this first episode and I definitely was left impressed. I can definitely see this anime going places if they play their cards right, which I have faith in Ufotable to do as they have already proven themselves in this regard. This anime will for sure be one I see to the end and I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here. 

[huh-gerin]

One Punch Man Season 2 First Impressions

Now that the first episode of One Punch Man Season 2 has come out, now we can get a glimpse as to if our worries for the season would come to be. For me personally, I would say that they did not and that this first episode was not too bad. I think for this it would be better to start off with the technical aspects of the anime. From the very beginning you could tell the quality was not gonna match up with the amazing first season of this anime. The animation definitely was not as smooth when compared to the first season but if I’m being honest, that’s kind of an unfair comparison given the production of that first season. 

When comparing the art and animation quality of both seasons, it’s clear that Madhouse’s animation blows out the animation done by J.C. Staff, which is why it is unfair to compare the two. So with that said, if you lower your expectations then I’d say J.C. Staff did pretty well with what they have been given, definitely better animation than what Studio Pierrot did with the Tokyo Ghoul Re anime adaptation, which as we all know was such a disappointment. When it came to my viewing experience, it definitely took me a minute or two to get used to the new animation but after I got used to it, I quickly paid no attention to it. I think that besides the animation, the anime still retains its charm that it had in the first season when it came to telling the story of Saitama. With that said, now we’ll segway into what I thought of the story aspects for this episode. 

In regards to what little story we got this episode, clearly something big is coming if the Hero Association it trying to work together with villains to stop this incoming threat, which definitely gives us something to look forward to. I was left wondering what this impending threat could be and will be thinking about it until whatever it is shows up in the anime. Furthermore, several new heroes have been introduced this episode which definitely helps expand the world of One Punch Man. 

The main person however that was introduced this episode was King, Class S hero rank 7, who was portrayed to be a very strong hero. I really enjoyed his character as he provided this interesting situation of what happens when you take credit for someone else’s work and then get put up on such a high pedestal where you can’t handle what is then given to you. King also provided some great comedy this episode which is always welcome when it comes to the One Punch Man anime and another thing I really enjoyed this episode were his interactions with Saitama himself. 

His interactions with Saitama were really funny in my opinion given how awkward and on the spot King was when Saitama just showed up in his apartment after he ran away. In regards to the other characters introduced, it’s clear that they will be utilized later in the series like team Fubuki, some other A rank heroes at that villain conference, and Garou, so I’ll talk about them when they come up later in the season and when we know more about them as this episode mainly focused on king. 

One thing that was really interesting was the whole Genos situation at the end of the episode where he vows to keep getting stronger and track down the killer of his parents. I really enjoyed seeing this because it really fleshes out Genos, showing this revenge side to him and it’s definitely another side to his character that we will get to see soon hopefully. The last thing I wanted to briefly talk about was the opening for this season, to be honest, I really enjoyed it as it was very reminiscent of the first opening which was very iconic for the anime. Overall, this anime is looking pretty good so far given it’s drop in quality of animation but if you are willing to look past that then we’re in for a pretty good ride this season hopefully.

[huh-gerin]

The Promised Neverland Season 1 Overview

If I am being honest, I am quite sad that the season finale has come to pass as I have really enjoyed this show up until the very end of the season. The season was filled with rich storytelling, character development, and world-building. The Promised Neverland has come to be one of my favorite animes of the winter season for a wide variety of reasons. Before I get into the season as a whole, I want to talk about the episodes I haven’t covered yet, which is episodes 10-12. 

These three episodes in my opinion were some of the best of the season because of what went down and how it was told. There were many twists and turns in these three episodes alone that had caught me off guard that I had not seen coming at all. Within these three episodes we got a glimpse of how the kids acted, mainly Ray and Emma, when all hope was apparently lost after losing someone important to them who was inevitably shipped out. This turned out to be another subversion from their real plan, to escape. It’s twists like these that have me really enjoying this show because you get to see just how smart and thought out these plans are, predicting several events and moves that will take place in the future. Over the course of these three episodes we got to see just how mature the younger kids are, mama’s backstory, and the kids escape, all very well told and portrayed within the anime. 

Now we’ll be moving on to my thoughts on the season as a whole. Starting off with the story, I found this escape arc to be very interesting and kept you on your toes the whole way through. I found a Death Note kind of feeling between the kids and the mama of the house both trying to outsmart each other to carry out their own plans. The story I feel had a really nice pace to it and felt very isolated in a way as most of the season took place in and around the house. This really gave off the feeling of being trapped with the kids in this small area waiting for your demise to be shipped out to the demons. Throughout the season you always  felt this sense of unease through mama’s presence and or the fear that she may be lurking just around the corner.

I found mama as the main antagonist for the season to be very interesting and a great rival to the children. You could tell she really loved the children even though she knew she was sending them to their deaths because she was in their shoes once, which I think just adds this whole other layer to her character that just makes her so interesting as an antagonist. As for the children, mainly Ray, Emma, and Norman, they all have their own unique personalities, ideals, and ways they go about the escape. These differences between them and seeing how they interact and think is what makes them so interesting as characters to me. Regarding the more technical aspects of the show, I thought the art was really well done and nice throughout the whole season. 

I think the main standouts with this is really the facial expressions of the characters and the scenery/backgrounds as they are very well done in terms of how they were animated and drawn overall. I think the music used for the anime really fit the tone as well and never really seemed forced or felt out of place. The opening and the two endings I think are really good I find myself listening to it every so often, mainly the endings because I really like Co Shu Ni’s music. Overall I really enjoyed this anime and it is definitely one of my favorite animes from this winter season. The story had me very invested and I can’t wait to see where the story will go and how the kids will be on their own in the wild. Luckily, season two has been confirmed for 2020 so it’s not too long of a wait and hopefully time will fly. 

[huh-gerin]

What I am Looking Forward to for the Spring 2019 Season of Anime

As the winter season of anime comes to a close, the spring cherry blossom season arrives and it’s filled with tons of new anime. Looking at the spring lineup, there are plenty of interesting anime  out there, some new and some returning. With that said, what will I be looking out for to watch this season? This season of anime has some pretty big names coming back, so let’s get those out of the way first. 

Returning with the second half of its third season is of course is Attack on Titan. I’ve been looking forward to seeing the continuation of this anime as we were left knowing that big things were coming. The anime really left you with the craving for more and to see where the anime will go next. Knowing what is going to happen, I’m really excited to see certain chapters from the manga animated as some crazy events are about to go down. I’m sure the anime will just keep getting better and better from here as WIT studio has proven time and time again with every new season. From the music, to the animation, to the voice acting, the studio just keeps raising the bar for themselves and somehow surpasses it every time. 

After four long years of waiting, One Punch Man is finally returning for its second season. However, there has been much criticism for what we have been shown. If you are not aware yet as to why, well the second season of One Punch Man is not being made by the same studio that made the phenomenal first season, Studio Madhouse. Instead J.C. Staff has picked up the project and you can definitely tell as the quality of animation has gone down quite a bit. This studio is known for producing popular anime such as Toradora and Food Wars, but after looking at the trailer, it doesn’t seem to promising. Many have speculated that there have been production issues when it came to making the anime and if there is then it definitely shows. I don’t have my hopes up too high for this, but I’ll still watch it and we’ll see what happens from there. 

Bungou Stray Dogs, produced by Studio Bones, is returning for its third season and this is another anime coming out this season that I am really looking forward to. The first two seasons were amazing and I really enjoyed them, the same goes for the movie that was released a year ago. I thoroughly enjoy this story and I am excited to see where this story will go and what new enemies will arise for our characters. Looking at the trailer, it looks like this season will have a much darker tone to it, which makes me even more excited for this anime’s return. Moving on to the new anime for the season, first up that caught my eye is Kimetsu no Yaiba. 

This anime is being made by studio Ufotable and right off the bat I am fairly intrigued. The story has to do with an ongoing battle between demons and demon-hunters, one day a boy’s happy family is met with tragedy when his family is slaughtered and his sister gets turned into a demon. When his sister is about to be finished off by a demon-hunter, her and her brother protect each other and after witnessing this they are sent to the demon-hunter’s mentor to be trained and so begins our main character’s journey as a demon-hunter to fight demons and to find a cure for his sister. The story seems interesting and knowing it’s being made by Ufotable, I’m expecting some some top tier animation especially when it comes to the action. I am also hoping this anime will have some really good music in it as seen in previous works by Ufotable, specifically referring to the Fate series. 

The next anime that caught my eye is called Fairy Gone and it is made by P.A. Works. This anime is set in a world where faires possess and resides within animals, that grant them unique powers. These animals would have their organs transplanted into humans, giving them access to summon the fairy and utilize them as a weapon. These soldiers would be used in war and after the war ends, they have to reintegrate back into society. These soldiers would then take their own paths to reintegrate into society. I find the premises for this story to be very interesting and in a way reminds me of Violet Evergarden when it comes to soldiers reintegrating into society. I think that alone has a lot of potential when it comes to storytelling as there are so many routes that the character could take. 

The last anime that caught my eye is Mayonaka no Occult Koumin which will be made by LIDEN FILMS.The story follows Miyako Arata, who is assigned to the Shinjuku Ward Office’s Nighttime Regional Relations Department, which is tasked to mitigate paranormal and occult-related events. I found the story to be fairly interesting upon first glance and hopefully it is. I automatically get drawn into anime involving the supernatural as it there are so many interesting stories that can be told and hopefully the same can be said about this anime when it comes out. These are all the anime that I am currently looking forward to for the spring 2019 season of anime. However, it is not just limited to these picks, I might check out other anime released this season that gain traction within the community.               

[huh-gerin]

Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel II. Lost Butterfly Thoughts (Spoiler Free)

Last night I was lucky enough to watch Fate/Stay Night [Heaven’s Feel] II. Lost Butterfly in theaters. I’d like to start out by saying how glad I was to make the decision to watch this movie in theaters as it felt like a whole new viewing experience, a way of watching this anime to its fullest potential. Ufotable is back of course with its beautiful animation mixed in with such amazing storytelling. The movie had left me craving more but yet satisfied with what I was given as you could tell the story continues, but had a logical ending to the film. It is known that the Heaven’s Feel route of the original Fate/Stay Night visual novel is the darkest of them all and this adaptation of it definitely lives up to those expectations and I’d like to think it even exceeds them. It was amazing really seeing such a dark story be told in what I think is its fullest potential. I find the words from the voice actor of the main character Shirou, Noriaki Sugayama, in a little video that had been shown before the film to be a perfect description of what kind of movie this is. He described this story to be a very dark one but yet still retained beauty in it at the same time which I agree with fully. 

I feel the two main aspects of this movie that added the beauty to this dark story definitely has to be the art and music of the film. The contrast between dark and gory animation to beautiful art and scenery just works together perfectly for a film such as this one. Throughout the film I got this sense of unease but at the same time I was so invested in the beautiful art and story which I feel just added to the viewing experience as well. The addition of Aimer’s music fit so well into the movie as her music compliments the movie so well through implementation of instrumental versions into scenes of the film in addition to other tracks used in other anime adaptations of the Fate routes. Moving onto the story, I’ll be sure to avoid spoilers as I think you all should see this movie. I really enjoyed the story and the way it was told from beginning to end. I really appreciate Ufotable not holding back in telling this story to its fullest as it is a very dark story and you can tell they want to get that story across as uncensored as possible. Although this movie is the second chapter of three, you definitely get the sense of this being a full movie with a beginning, middle, and end as well as setup for the following film which I really loved because it leaves you satisfied but at the same time you can’t wait to see where the story will then go. 

When compared to the last movie, which was more so on the tamed side with its dark moments, this movie is so much more dark and disturbing and make the dark moments from the first film seem like nothing. The film enhances and improves on the last film which is great to see as the pacing improves and animation improves which is amazing as these movies released one year apart. This movie is a more narrative and character driven story rather than an action packed one. Yes, there is action within the film but it doesn’t take up the whole film, but rather is used sparingly as it was not really needed for such a rich story. As for the action sequences that were in the film, they were just mind-blowing as to how well choreographed, animated, and tense they were. In regards to the characters, each and every character was well-developed and utilized throughout the movie, making it so that every character we meet will play a pivotal role within this story. 

However, with these developed characters, the film mainly focuses in on Sakura’s character rather than someone like Shirou, who some would consider be the main character for Fate/Stay Night. One aspect of this I was really impressed by is the fact that Shirou in a way, depending on how you look at it, represents us, the viewers and how an average person thrown into such a situation could act. Shirou, for me was very relatable within the film because it’s not all about becoming a hero of justice, rather, it’s him making decisions on how he feels about Sakura. Moving on to the more technical aspects of the film. The work that went into this film was really just phenomenal because you can see just how much work was put into this film to make it as amazing as it was. 

The art and animation was just stunning and made to perfection. Even when it comes to things such as cgi, it was implemented really well with the 2d animation for the scenes cgi was used in. It wasn’t distracting in any way as it can be sometimes, but rather it was something you simply noticed that made the scene seem different and then moved on. The art for the film was just beautiful throughout the whole film. There were certain points where it seemed close to photorealistic which is stunning to think about for an anime as it makes you realize just how much work and effort was put into the film. 

When it comes to the action sequences and how they were animated, they were really well done and polished. Seeing the improvement on the fight scenes from Fate Zero, Unlimited Blade Works, Heaven’s Feel I, to now is just astonishing because to begin with they were really well made and Ufotable just keeps raising the bar higher and higher.   Additionally, the soundtrack for this film is simply amazing. It fits so well with the tone of this film and just really adds to the viewing experience, which to be honest isn’t surprising as Ufotable has constantly done such an amazing job when it came to the soundtracks for the Fate series. To think that this film was released a year after the first one came out and they improved on these things is just mind-blowing to think about because even if they didn’t improve on these things, the film would have been just as good and to do something like this just shows Ufotable is going that extra mile. I am really looking forward to seeing the conclusion to the Heaven’s Feel route next year when Fate/Stay Night [Heaven’s Feel] III. Spring Song comes out in theaters. I am definitely gonna have to hold myself off until then by rewatching the first and second movie just so the story stays fresh in my mind.

[huh-gerin]

The Promised Neverland Updated Thoughts (Episodes 5-9)

Like how I did with Dororo, I thought it would be a good idea to give you all an update on my thoughts for the anime, The Promised Neverland, as I have enjoyed this show a lot. As of now a total of 9 episodes have come out and my initial impressions were on the first four. Quite a lot has happened in the five episodes that came out soon after within the anime. There had been a lot of world building, character development, and several roadblocks for the kid’s escape from the farm they are trapped in. 

As of now, still not much is known about the monsters, but I actually really like that because it gives a sense of mystery to them and their capabilities so we don’t have a full picture of what our main characters are going up against. The anime continues the trend of not knowing who you can trust and if anyone is watching. You constantly have this uneasy feeling that anything and everything can go wrong which is great because I love it when shoes keep you on your toes. 

This show does a great job of world building in such an enclosed space by giving us little bits of information about what goes on and what is outside of the orphanage. The way we get this information makes sense to as it’s not just shoehorned in through voice over, but rather the interactions characters have with other characters or things they do. The show has me so invested in seeing this story unfold as there are so many twists and turns where the kids do one thing and then a new roadblock appears. 

A great example of the crazy twists and turns that was so interesting to me was the reveal that Ray was a double agent working with mama to get information and things to use against her. The show does this great thing where they make you think one thing is gonna happen and then something totally different happens. Furthermore, another great thing about this show that makes it so interesting to watch has to be seeing the kids trying to outsmart their mama. Sometimes it’ll work but most times it doesn’t and seeing their plans be stopped makes you think whether or not mama already knows about the things they supposedly got past her. 

Things get even more interesting when it comes to this aspect when the kids and mama come face to face, knowing what the other is up to. Over the course of all the episodes that have come out you continuously lose hope that this plan will work, but it doesn’t fully disappear as the kids always have something up their sleeve that will hopefully work. So far, this show has been one heck of a train ride and I have thoroughly enjoyed every single moment. I find myself waiting constantly as to when the next episode comes out so I can see how the kids will continue to try to escape and with their latest set back on their escape, I am invested in the show now more than ever as this is their biggest set back yet.

[huh-gerin]

Dororo Updated Thoughts (Episodes 4-8)

Quite a few episodes have come out since my initial first impressions of the anime, Dororo. Now that I am all caught up, having watched episodes 4-8, I have quite a bit more on my mind to say about this great anime. The anime keeps up the trend of its great storytelling, character development, and character driven storytelling as shown in the first three episodes which is great to witness. As the story continues to unfold, my interest in the show and the thought of what happens next continues to grow as well. Seeing Hyakkimaru change and regain several parts of his body between the episodes is so amazing to me. 

To go into more depth as to why this is so interesting to me is because you see in front of you how he adjusts and how he has to change in order to make use of his new limbs and senses as in the past he never had to worry about these things. You see how he adjusts to having to feel pain after regaining his leg, learning to hear after regaining his ears, regaining the sense of smell, as well as regaining the ability to be able to talk. As these senses begin coming back to him, you also see a personality and feelings begin to develop as well. However, it’s not only him regaining his senses that develop his personality, but also his interactions with others whether it be the one by him always which is Dororo, the old blind man, or the girl he liked to listen to that he lost, they all play a part in developing Hyakkimaru as well as many others. 

Hyakkimaru isn’t the only one getting plenty of development however, after all the show is called Dororo. Over the episodes you also see Dororo develop as a character through his interactions as well. Mainly his interactions with Hyakkimaru and the effect he has on him. Dororo is a key point in shaping and guiding Hyakkimaru as to not have him come out as a mindless monster but instead a respectable human. 

This was heavily evident in episode 6 when Hyakkimaru loses someone he actually cares about and goes on a killing spree against those who took away the one he held close and those around her. It was Dororo that stopped him and brought him back to reality and accept loss. I honestly love the dynamic between these two characters because they have such great chemistry even though only one really talks. 

In terms of the technical aspects of the anime, the animation and art is still on point and I doubt the quality will go down. You can tell that those working behind this anime are putting their all into this project, which is great to see. Clearly the momentum of this anime is not gonna slow down anytime soon and I can not wait to see where else this great character driven story will go next. 

[huh-gerin]

Domestic na Kanojo First Impressions (Episodes 1-4)

Domestic na Kanojo or otherwise known as Domestic Girlfriend is another anime that was released during this winter season of anime. It follows the story of Natsuo Fuji, a student who is in love with one of his teachers named Hina. One day he meets this odd girl while out with his friends named, Rui Tachibana, who asks him to sneak away with her from the others. She ends up bringing him to her home and she asks him to do her a favor, that favor is to sleep with her. With that said, there was absolutely no love behind it, rather she wanted to just simply learn and experience it at least once. Following these events Natsuo finds out that his father is planning on remarrying and it turns out the woman he is planning on remarrying is the mother of the teacher he loves and the girl he did the favor for. In all honesty, I was not sure what exactly to expect from this anime.

 Looking at the title I just assumed it was gonna be another cliche high school romance anime. However, after watching the first episode it was clear that this was gonna be a different take on things. I have got to admit, the story definitely has an interesting premise but I feel like it just falls short. I find the pacing to be off and weird and the drama in the anime is fairly lackluster in my eyes. There were certain points where it was drama heavy but it was interrupted several times by side characters giving their input and make comparisons to normal dramas. While at first it was funny and gave me a quick chuckle, as time went on I just found it to be annoying as I just wanted to see what was going on with the main characters and the drama that was taking place. From what I have seen thus far, the story has many different paths it can take and I am very intrigued at where this story will go which is definitely a plus when it comes to its storytelling. 

As for the characters, I found the main character to be fairly bland by himself as his whole personality is pretty much how he wants to be a novelist but when he interacts with others he’s not too bad. When it comes to the sisters, I think the teacher has a pretty good dynamic with her sister and the main character but at the same time can be a little bit cliche when it comes to being the older sister wanting to be a good role model for the others but falls short. Regarding the younger sister, I actually really like her character, she has a great dynamic with the main character and over the course of a few episodes you see her open up more to her new brother and not be as socially awkward. 

Moving on, one aspect of this show that I thoroughly enjoyed was the music. I just found the music to fit the tone of the show really well and it does not seem shoehorned in the background but instead helps the scene flow. Additionally, I also really enjoyed the opening and ending for this anime as they are really sound really nice to the ear and after reading the english translation I enjoyed it even more as it definitely fits the show. Overall, I find the show to be decent and definitely has an interesting premise to it but I’m not sure whether or not I will finish this anime or drop it. More than likely I will give it a few more episodes and see how I feel afterwards.

[huh-gerin]

Dororo First Impressions (Episodes 1-3)

Dororo is another anime that has come out during this current winter season of anime and I have got to say I am fairly impressed. This anime follows the story of Hyakkimaru who is the son of a samurai who had his organs bargained away so that his father could gain an upper-hand in the battlefield, his home to be protected, and for him to rule over his home. Hyakkimaru is then born with no skin, legs, arms, eyes, and cannot hear. Instead, he can see people’s souls and can decipher whether or not they are human or demons from the color of their flame, red being evil and gray being human. 

Furthermore, it also follows a character named Dororo who is a young boy having to live on his own until one day he comes across Hyakkimaru defeat an evil monster that was attacking him. Going into this I did not know what to expect really but from what I have seen, I am very interested and invested in the story and its characters. The anime introduces you to several characters from different areas and backgrounds and all of these characters intertwine with Hyakkimaru’s character in some way or form, making him into the person he is currently. 

For example, one of the more interesting characters is Jukai, who used to be a part of the war and tried to kill himself after acknowledging the atrocities he was committing. Jukai survived and was taken by a foreign ship and learned how to make prosthetic limbs and with this skill he began making prosthetics for those who needed them for free. After the child that he helped and began working for Jukai learned he was in the war, serving on the side that killed his father, he left Jukai. Shortly after, Jukai then found Hyakkimaru as a baby and began raising him as his own and teaching him how to defend himself, releasing him after realizing Hyakkimaru can regain his lost limbs through killing the demons his real father made a deal with. 

Jukai was the one that gave him all of his prosthetic limbs from his legs, to swords for arms, and his face. Seeing such depth go into the characters is something I enjoyed thoroughly as it feels like everything and everyone plays a part in not only the main characters but the overall story as a whole. This in turn made me actually care for these characters and sympathize with them. Another aspect of this anime I really enjoyed definitely has to be the darker tone as it does not hold back in its storytelling and visuals. You see and hear about the casualties of war to its fullest extent and the action is very brutal and does not hold back as well. 

In terms of the art and animation, it’s really good in my opinion. The art has this darker tone to it, utilizing darker colors and overlays which I thoroughly enjoy as it just adds to the experience. In regards to the animation, I find it to be very well done, polished, and smooth. All of these aspects together, well-developed characters, a great and well-paced story, a darker tone, and great art and animation make for a great viewing experience. Overall, I really enjoyed this show, it has me very invested but I am not as confused when it comes to the story like how it was for Boogiepop wa Waranai which makes for an easier viewing experience as well. I am very interested to see where this story goes and will most definitely watch the rest of the season. 

[huh-gerin]

Boogiepop wa Waranai (2019) First Impressions

Boogiepop wa Waranai is another anime that has been released for the winter season of anime and after watching the first three episodes, I am very impressed with what I have seen. At first, I was very very confused, even going as far as watching the first episode a good three times to try and grasp and understand what I was watching. Even then after gaining the smallest understanding I still did not fully grasp the knowledge of what kind of anime I was watching which to me is very commendable as no other anime that I have watched thus far has made me think this hard. 

To make things even more confusing the second episode completely changes things up on you as it follows totally different characters than the previous but as I kept watching the more I gained an understanding of what I was watching. This anime does an interesting thing when it comes to telling its story which I fondly enjoy. That thing is giving the bits and pieces of the story to you from what seems to be different parts of the story and the anime leaves you to piece things together to try and make out the full picture of the story that slowly reveals itself to you. From what I have put together, episode one is the present and episodes two and three take place beforehand when it comes to chronological order of what happens in the story I think. 

This anime constantly kept me on my toes when it comes to what was going on retaining my attention all throughout the episode so as to piece together the story in my head. I often found myself questioning whether what I had pieced together was correct and rewinded the episode multiple times just to either make sure or check if I had missed something. Giving the viewer only portions of the story and leave it up to them to figure out the story I think is so unique when it comes to storytelling in anything really, not just when it comes to anime. In regards to how I feel about the story and plot itself, I found it to be very interesting and different when compared to other anime that I have seen. You get this heavy sense of mystery as to who everyone is, what their background is, and what role they will play within the story.

I have got to admit, aside from the great storytelling, the animation is pretty good too and I must commend the soundtrack, op, and ed as well as they are phenomenal and great to listen to as they really fit the series in my opinion. Overall, my first impressions of this anime is very positive, I am for sure gonna continue this anime and can not wait to see where this intricate story goes.

[huh-gerin]

Promised Neverland First Impressions (Episodes 1-4)

When I first came across this anime, I did not think much of it and originally I was just going to pass on it. Recently, I decided to try out this anime and watch the first episode of Promised Neverland. I have had no experience with this series beforehand and I was not sure what to expect at first and once I started it I thought it was gonna just be about a group of orphans living a great life together as friends but man was I wrong. 

Towards the end of the first episode the anime makes a complete 180 in terms of the story it is telling and switches from a story about happy orphans living together to the orphanage is actually a human farm to feed demons and the kids begin planning their escape. Before this twist in story, I began to lose interest, however once this twist happened my interest in the show just skyrocketed. The show does a great job of subverting expectations and is good at giving subtle foreshadowing for what is to come.

Furthermore, as I watched the first four episodes, I was constantly kept on my toes as kids attempt to outsmart their mama, the woman that sells off the children and watches over them. It is a constant battle between them trying to outsmart each other as every time they have something planned a new roadblock appears or they learn of something that will get in the way of their plans. The show portrays it almost as a cat and mouse game with the kids planning their escape and their mama closing in on them.

There have been so many twists and turns when it comes to the kids escape plan. For example, the mama getting help watching over the kids with another adult, tracking devices, and a traitor among the children. It is evident that the smartest children are going the extra mile when it comes to planning their escape, even going as far as training the other, much younger children, when it comes to running away, disguising their training as playing tag. 

Furthermore, I find their goal of escaping with all the kids, even babies, no matter what to be very admirable as it shows how much they care for one another as orphans and live freely. With this anime, it is pretty hard to determine who you can trust among the children as showcased most prevalently during the latest episode as each character does specific actions that makes you suspect them subverting your distrust in them rather than the actual traitor which just adds to the feeling of staying on your toes while watching this show.

 Overall, I really like what the show has put out so far and I am most definitely looking forward to where this show is headed. Hopefully, the same will be said when I start this other anime I am looking forward to this season, Boogiepop wa Waranai. 

[huh-gerin]

Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai Season 1 Thoughts

Released on October 4th, 2018, Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai or otherwise known as Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai, has become one of my favorite animes released in 2018 hands down. At first glance at the show I had fairly low expectations however, as more episodes began coming out and good feedback about the show from the community was going around, I decided to give the show a shot and I am certainly glad I did. To be quite honest, I thought that this show was just gonna be about a cute girl in a bunny suit doing cute things but man was I wrong. 

This show is such a great character driven story and does an outstanding job of developing each of its characters that the different arcs focus on. The show touches on various interesting topics regarding growing up and several social problems we may encounter as we progress through life. It touches on these topics through the main character, Sakuta Azusagawa, and his interactions with different girls affected by what is known as puberty syndrome which causes several abnormal experiences.

For example, being invisible to everybody, living a day over and over again until the desired outcome comes to pass, sudden and out of nowhere cuts and bruises after being cyberbullied, switching bodies with another person, loss of memory, and being split into two different bodies but still being the same person. Puberty syndrome had caused these abnormal experiences as they are linked to whatever personal problem a character was going through and Sakuta works as to help fix and or find a solution to these problems. Pretty much all of these problems that these characters faced are many issues and or insecurities that many people like us may experience during our lifetime which is why I feel this story can be relatable in a lot of ways for many viewers that have either experienced these problems or are currently facing them.

The show does a great job of getting you to understand each character, learn about who they are, and how to they came to be the person they are in the present. In addition, each character has great chemistry with each other which works towards making every exchange of dialogue be very interesting in my opinion as each character has such a different personality. So, overall I really enjoyed watching this anime and I definitely do not regret watching it. This is because if you look at the core of the show, you see very human characters all dealing with their own personal problems and how they end up coming to terms with them. All of these problems are very relatable to today as many of the adolescence have either experienced or will experience some of these social problems, myself included. If you have not seen this anime, I definitely recommend at least trying it out and as for myself, I can not wait for the upcoming movie that continues the story, Rascal Does Not Dream of Dreaming Girl. 

[huh-gerin]

Tokyo Ghoul Seasons 1-4 Review/Ranking

With the end of Tokyo Ghoul Re season 2, that marks the end of Studio Pierrot’s adaptation of Sui Ishida’s manga, Tokyo Ghoul. With four seasons, I thought it would be cool to rank and review each one to see which season is the best and which one is the worst. To kick things off we’ll start with of course the season that started it all, Tokyo Ghoul season 1. 

In my opinion Tokyo Ghoul season 1 is the best out of the four seasons because it remains truly faithful to the original source material. Not only that but the animation and artstyle were really nice and fit the story really well compared to what we get later on down the line. Another thing that this season does really well is of course, the music used in the season. The music really fit the tone of the series and really complimented each scene a song or track was used whether it be to add tension, emotion, etc. To top it all off this season is not as confusing as the other three as this one keeps the story tight and makes sure you have everything you need in order to understand. 

Moving on to season 2, this season I feel is the second worst season out of the four. In terms of storytelling, it’s not that bad considering if you watch it you won’t be as confused when watching this season compared to the others. However, this season does not follow the manga at all which is a big disappointment as later on down the line will make things more confusing as the 3rd and 4th season go back to following the manga once again. A good thing about this season is the art and animation as it remains consistent with the first season and is done really well. Additionally, the music again is really well done and matches many of the themes and scenes during this season. All in all, season 2 could have been really good if it had just followed the source material, but it didn’t, which hurts the season a lot but there is still another season that is much worse.

Up next, is season 3 which is the start of Tokyo Ghoul Re. I feel that season 3 is the second best season out of the 4 seasons even with its flaws. Right off the bat you could see the drop in quality of animation and how fast paced the season goes. Furthermore, since this season is going back to following the manga, if you have not read the manga you will be really confused as to what’s happening in the anime. However, if you have read the anime you know exactly what’s happening which helps make the anime a bit more enjoyable. Like previous seasons, the music is great, but I am sad to say that I can not say the same when it comes to art and animation. Storytelling is decent when it comes to staying true to the source material, but it is just really rushed.

Lastly, Tokyo Ghoul season 4, otherwise known as Tokyo Ghoul Re season 2 in my opinion is the worst season out of the 4 that were made. There were so many things wrong with this season. For starters, Studio Pierrot tried to cram 100+ chapters into a 12 episode season, which in turn makes this season really rushed. For instance, in the first episode a whole arc had been skipped just to get to the Kaneki and Arima fight by episode 2. Continuing the trend from season 3, the art and animation is pretty bad and looks almost like a slideshow of pictures which is mainly prevalent in the ending of the last episode. The music is still really good this season which seems to be the one thing Studio Pierrot gets right. There were a few decent moments in this season however they were few and far between which is definitely no where near making this season good. This season overall was just one big trainwreck which is very disappointing to the many fans of the series. Overall, the Tokyo Ghoul anime adaptation could have been so much better but it did have a decent start but as time went on the quality just dropped tremendously. With the first season being the best, followed by season 3, then 2, and lastly, season 4 being the worst one. Keep in mind this is my personally opinion, however I’m sure all fans of Tokyo Ghoul can agree that hopefully another studio will pick up the series and give us the great adaptation this amazing manga deserves. Thanks again for stopping by and I’ll see you guys in my next post!

[huh-gerin]

Tokyo Ghoul Re Season 2 Episodes 11 and 12 Thoughts and Opinions

Hey everyone, I am back from break and today I will be giving my thoughts on the last two episodes of Tokyo Ghoul Re Season 2. If there was one word to describe these last two episodes it would obviously be the word, rushed, as these episodes were very fast paced in terms of storytelling and skipped a lot from this final arc. Before we get to episode 12 let me get episode 11 out of the way first. Personally, I thought that this episode was not that bad. Yes, it was rushed in terms of storytelling and some things were missing but overall the episode was decent. It focused more so on two certain events from this arc, those two events being, Amon vs Donato and Yomo vs Uta.

These two events played a pretty big role in the manga and it was nice to see it adapted fairly well even if it was a tad bit rushed. They had quite a bit of emotional impact and the anime did a fairly good job of retaining that emotional impact within this episode. I find that the animation was improved somewhat this episode compared to the many other poorly animated episodes of Tokyo Ghoul Re seasons 1 and 2 which is surprising as it is usually action that is animated poorly.

Lastly, this episode also made me actually feel something emotion wise as the backstories and reasons for these fights are very intricate and emotional. Now that we have episode 11 out of the way, now we can start talking about the last episode of the Tokyo Ghoul Studio Pierrot adaptation.

Episode 12 was really rushed and there were many aspects of the story that were shown that had little to no build up whatsoever. Before we get into what went wrong with the episode, let me get what was done fairly well first.

The only thing that I thought was done decently was definitely the final fight between Kaneki and Furuta. Like the previous episode, the animation for this portion of the episode was pretty decent compared to the rest of the Tokyo Ghoul Re seasons.

Additionally, the episode did a pretty good job at implementing the chapters that had broken away from the fight to show Furuta’s goals and his relationship with Rize even if it was a little rushed. This ultimately added that extra layer of depth to the fight and added meaning as well which was nice to see. The last thing regarding this fight I wanted to commend it for definitely has to be the voice acting. Overall the series has had some really good voice acting and that was one of the things I thought stood out during this portion of the episode as you could feel the raw emotion coming from their voices. Now on to what was wrong with the episode which is quite a bit. As I had said earlier, the episode was really rushed and had skimmed over quite a few things as well as show certain things that had little to no build up whatsoever throughout the series.

To be specific, the episode finally touched on the whole dragon Rize part of the arc which seemed out of place to show this episode as it had no build up from any of the previous episodes of the season. With that said this part seemed shoehorned in just to show Rize once more and adapt pages of the manga without worry of even explaining the situation which I find to be very disappointing. Moving on to the next part of the episode that was disappointing which I am sad to say is the ending.

I found this part of the episode to be poorly done and lazy which it should not be as it is the ending of the series. Not only was it really rushed but the animation quality dropped tremendously and it felt almost like just a slideshow of pictures. Many parts of the epilogue were skipped or just skimmed over which is disappointing because even if it was a little, it gave us insight and information as to what had happened after the events of the dragon incident. Overall I found the ending of the series to be very disappointing and next week I will be giving my thoughts on the Tokyo Ghoul anime series as a whole, seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4.

[huh-gerin]

Tokyo Ghoul Re Season 2 Episode 10 Thoughts and Opinions

Compared to the previous two episodes from this season, I find that this episode did better in terms of pacing. The episode still did suffer from the usual problems shown in previous episodes in both this season and last season. However, compared to other episodes, the problems are not as prevalent within this episode itself. There were a few parts in this episode that were taken out or changed and if those parts were kept in, I think the episode could have been a lot better due to these scenes. The parts I am referring to is the change of how Kaneki was found, in which Urie, Mutuski, and Saiko met up with Touka to extract Kaneki from dragon as well as dragon trying to protect Kaneki from them. 

Not only that but we do not see the physical impact dragon had on Kaneki’s body. In the anime he was shown with a normal body and scratchless whereas the manga depicts him to have a body-like kagune in a way. Even after Kaneki was extracted and he woke up you can still see the effects of being dragon had on Kaneki.

 Additionally, the organization, V, has supposed to show up already yet they are still nowhere to be seen and with only two episodes left I am sure it is most likely safe to say that they are not gonna show up. There was also one more thing that was not shown yet but I’ll wait until next episode to talk about it since it’s a pretty big spoiler, especially for anime onlys. In terms of what worked this episode, overall this episode was a bit more focused on one certain subject for the episode which is really good in my opinion. 

Additionally, personally I enjoyed the art and set pieces of this episode. Specifically, I am referring to the portions of the episode where Kaneki is unconscious and is speaking with Rize in that endless sea filled with the people Kaneki unfortunately killed while in his dragon form. Storywise, I found the Rize and Kaneki interaction to be done fairly well even though there were a few things missing. Not only that but I’m glad studio Pierrot made an effort to make reference to when Kaneki and Rize first met and the throwback to when Kaneki first became a ghoul.

 Moving on, the other part that I thought was done really well was Kaneki’s first time after becoming dragon exploring the outside with Urie and Saiko. This was mainly due to the character interaction as they felt very real as shown through each voice actor’s performance during this portion of the episode. Not only that but also the plot details shown during this portion regarding Furuta’s broadcast as well as the reveal that humans are becoming ghouls through that investigator Kaneki, Urie, and Saiko found eating another human in my opinion were done fairly well. Lastly, the last thing I wanted to cover was of course, Kaneki and Hide’s reunion. In general, I think this section was okay in regards to adaptation. The background and colors I thought were really nice and fitted this scene perfectly however, I feel that the art and animation for the characters could have been done so much better, especially with Hide. The design for Hide after showing Kaneki what he had done in the anime looked very awkward in my opinion when put next to its manga counterpart.

Compared to the manga, the scene overall showed so much more emotion through the art when compared to the anime in my opinion. So was this part ok? Yes. Was it good? To me it could have been so much better. In regards to the episode overall, the episode was better than some of the more recent episodes in my opinion. There were things that were missing that took away from the episode but for what was actually shown it was fairly decent in my opinion. With only two episodes left in the season, I am interested to see how the studio will cram the rest of the Tokyo Ghoul series into these last two episodes.

[huh-gerin]

Tokyo Ghoul Re Season 2 Episode 9

Tokyo Ghoul Re season 2 episode 9 for me was very lackluster. I found this episode to be very bland and boring compared to some of the other episodes from not only this season but last season as well. Studio Pierrot had done a poor job of adapting this episode and it is very evident that they did not really care to make this episode. A lot of simple things that needed to be adapted were done very poorly, from little things like character design to how certain scenes played out. Additionally, compared to the other episodes this season, the animation and art were just terrible. Not only did the episode suffer from issues like these but storytelling issues were present as well mainly due to the changes the studio had made during the previous episode. 

You would think that since the anime is its final arc the storytelling would slow down a bit so that they can make the most out of it, but no, the anime is still moving at the fast rate it has been on since the beginning of Tokyo Ghoul Re season 1. This in turn makes the anime adaptation so confusing for anime onlys since there are so many characters, plot points, side stories, foreshadowing, and detail put into the series. There was very little in this episode that I actually liked and that is mainly because this episode for me was just all over the place. 

The only parts I somewhat tolerated was the scene regarding the ghouls and humans finally teaming up, Tsukiyama’s voice actor’s performance, and Nishiki and Kimi’s reunion. The ghouls and humans agreeing to work together could have definitely been set up together but for what we got, it works. The music fit the tone and I found the voice acting to be spot on and impressive as always. I want to give props especially to Tsukiyama’s voice actor as he went all in this episode and I feel it definitely paid off even with the bad animation and art this episode. You can tell he put all of his effort into this and you could feel the emotion he was putting into this character.  Nishiki and Kimi’s reunion was also really nice to see as well. Besides a few plot details changed up in this scene, this scene was adapted from the manga fairly well. Now in regards to my specific problems with the episode.

For starters, the art for the episode I found to be very poor and lazy and this is mainly evident through the character design. I found a lot of the character designs to be inaccurate when compared to the manga and I know this could be seen as nit picking but the way I see it is that these simple details just show that the studio could not even fulfill a simple task such as this. There were also scenes that were supposed to be more emotionally impactful but were not due to the way they were portrayed and or there was no build up to it.

A prime example of this is Hide’s declaration that he likes Kaneki. Originally, Hide was supposed to say that he loves Kaneki as he is his best friend and that he wants him to be happy, but instead all we got was Hide saying the line “Because I like the dude.” Compared to “Because I love him,” this has less of an emotional impact and it is such a lackluster statement. Not only that but they went over Hide’s motivations in the span of practically five seconds which was very disappointing as this portion was much more interesting in the anime. Next, I wanted to talk about how the change made in the previous episode affected this one for the worse. Originally, no one except Furuta knew that Kaneki was dragon unlike the anime where everyone already knows it is Kaneki. This added a sense of mystery for the group as to who dragon really was but that is nowhere to be seen in the anime.

The last thing I wanted to cover was the whole Mutsuki vs Saiko and Urie. As a manga reader, yes this scene was very impactful but in terms of the anime, it seems out of place. Due to the fact that the anime pretty much skipped over Mutsuki’s whole backstory and what goes on in his mind, this scene seems a bit out of place and unreasonable in terms of the anime’s story. This encounter simply does not work for the anime because Mutsuki is seen as the one who was the cause of dragon being born and he wants to fix it. Mutsuki has no reason for attacking Urie and Saiko because he made dragon, it would have simply made more sense if he had just met up with them to help, or Urie and Saiko coming across him mentally broken due to what he did.

Not only that but they did not do Mutsuki’s kagune justice as in the manga his kagune had such an intricate design, whereas the anime just has him with a few tendrils. With all this said, luckily the voice actors for these characters were able to somewhat save the scene because of their voice acting. Like all the voice actors, they put their all into the scene and getting across the message as well as emotion needed to make the scene as impactful as it is. I doubt the anime will get better as we get closer to the end so we can only hope another studio picks up the series and adapts it correctly.