#anime 2012

[cherryberrychannel]

Ai no Kusabi fanfiction.

Characters:

Artificial Intelligence Supercomputer: Jupiter

Queen of Rayleigh-186-с: Ebru Guzel

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Film Review: Say 'I Love You'

Film Review: Say 'I Love You' #AVOBlog #review #NLreview

Na het reviewen van de anime Say “I Love You” kwam ik de film tegen, ook gebaseerd op de gelijknamige manga door Kanae Hazuki en is geregisseerd door Asako Hyuga, die onder andere ook bekend is voor Forgotten Dreams.  Say ‘I love you’ volgt Mei Tachibana, zij laat haar tienerjaren aan zich voorbij gaan zonder enige interesse te tonen in het maken van vrienden of het genieten van haar middelbare…

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[hawk-in-a-jazzy-hat]

Anime Review: Psycho-Pass (Season 1)

a.k.a. Okay, Maybe Anime Can be Scary After All.

It’s the 22nd century, and justice has evolved. The citizens of a new, technology-driven Japan are being constantly watched by a new peacekeeping system known as the Sibyl System. Every day the people on the streets have their mental states, or Psycho-Passes, scanned; if yours is too clouded, you are deemed to be a latent criminal and will be sent for rehabilitation, or in the worst case, you will be executed. Here to administer Sibyl’s justice are the MWSPB; a police force who make use of latent criminals known as Enforcers to track down and capture, or dispose of, others of their kind. It’s a harsh but pure justice, turning Japan into one of the most advanced and crime-free countries in this new world. But is it justice? Or is there something nasty crawling beneath this facade of justice? For the new MWSPB Inspector, Akane Tsunomori, it’s a tough job that’s about to get a whole lot messier...

I am so glad I’ve managed to watch so many great series’ recently. :D

Back when I wrote a review on Shiki (http://www.deviantart.com/journal/Anime-Review-Shiki-575827203) I commented that I didn’t think anime as a whole was particularly scary. I would like to amend that statement slightly; I don’t think whole anime are particularly scary. With the exception of Shiki, most genuine scares in anime come from certain moments within them. Say, parts of Higurashi, Pierrot le Fou from Cowboy Bebop, the end of Berserk and the Tucker saga from the original FMA series (NOT Brotherhood, which fudged it up and cheapened the impact, though that’s a rant for another day) were all severely chilling moments within their respective series, but they weren’t the focuses of the series themselves. Probably the closest would be Higurashi, but that’s more of a complex mystery series where the scares only come from the uncertainty of what’s about to happen; once the mystery starts being solved in Kai, the fright level drops somewhat. That comes down to what makes the physical aspect of true horror; the lack of any control or say over what’s going on. Not what you can do or what you do know, but what you can’t do and what you don’t know. What I’m saying is, I genuinely don’t believe that anime really provides the level of suspense and unease that you’ll get in something like The Thing, where you genuinely don’t know what’s going to happen and where the whole show invokes an unsettling feeling.

At least, I would have said that, except that now I’ve seen Psycho-Pass. Psycho-Pass is scary. It is really, genuinely, utterly terrifying stuff and I love it so much.

Gen Urobuchi, master of taking familiar settings and throwing them upside down, has taken the familiar setting of crime, justice and law enforcement, completely dismantled it, plasticised the pieces and then reassembled it in a terrifying new light. Where his other major series’ Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero were, respectably, about the balance of hope and despair and about the ideals of heroes, Psycho-Pass is very definitely about the nature of crime and how it forms our society. One thing this series does right straight away is that it does not pick a side; everything is terrible and corrupt and yet at the same time everything has its own valid point to make. It’s not even just a case of a two-sided argument; I think by the end of the series there are actually three points-of-view clashing with our main character standing in the middle having to make a choice, and that’s not even going into the characters’ individual conflicts or the overall effect on the wider society.

And that is where the main crux of Psycho-Pass’s terror comes from; more than any of Urobuchi’s shows, it feels completely and utterly plausible. Aside from the futuristic setting, this story could take place in any major city and could hit any person on the street, and I wouldn’t be surprised. While nothing is overly explicit, there are scenes of abuse, terrorism, public rioting, public murder, mutilation and police brutality and corruption; all played deadly serious and all completely believable. It’s chilling stuff.

Of course it would be stupid to recommend a show just on the fact that “it’s intense and dark and that makes it good, yo”. Luckily Psycho-Pass is a rarity in that its subject matter and its message are wrapped in a beautiful presentation and a wonderfully realised story. The characters are fantastic, and I can’t think of a single one that I found even slightly uninteresting. Akane is a perfect main lead, starting as a naive proxy for the audience but very soon playing a vital role in the agency and becoming both a highly likeable character and a very badass one; a balance which is difficult to achieve. Kogami started the series as a bit of an edgelord, but quickly developed into a complex and fascinating individual with a hint of humanity which made him just that bit mroe human. Chief Inspector Ginoza also started the series as cold and far too professional, but by the end of the series was probably the most sympathetic and relatable character. Even those who didn’t get much screentime are both highly interesting and have enough hints dropped about their pasts (with, I would add, only one complete backstory is explicitly shown throughout the entire series) to make them very compelling as well.

Even the villains are highly watchable. Another addition to the fear factor of the series is that nobody is portrayed as a complete monster. Sure, they may do monstrous things, but the show takes its time to explore their psyches and explain why they think the way they do. It’s not an attempt to make them sympathetic, it’s an attempt to humanise them, and this makes them far scarier, particularly earlier in the series. After all, who would make you more paranoid; a horrendous immoral monster constantly hovering above, or the same monster hiding within any of the people you might pass on the street?

I will say, if there’s any true downside to the series is that it either focuses on these guys too much or not enough. There’s a major plot going on which is in itself a thrilling mystery, but up to about episode 11 the series is mostly focused on these random stories with random one-off villains, with just a few hints of the larger plot at work. These stories are also well done, but I feel that there’s very little connection between the more episodic/build-up part of the series and the main plot. Probably due to the series being 22 episodes; I feel if it had been the usual 24-26 they could have made the adjustment a bit smoother. But really I can’t complain about two seperate stories just overlapping when they’re both fantastically well-done stories.

On top of great writing, the series looks amazing as well. It’s Production I.G., who I feel are severely underrated and have done a bunch of really awesome looking movies and shows, including Ghost in the Shell, Eden of the East and the currently-airing Joker Game. They seem to excel in stylized animation and Psycho-Pass may be their best looking show to date; fantastic smooth animation with nary a drop in quality, combined with gorgeous lighting and phenomenally well integrated CG. The artwork and colour scheme is perfect for creating a city that is filled with dazzling lights and friendly faces, but with a sinister edge beneath. 

In addition, the animation pushes the scariness of the show up even more. While physical creepiness often isn’t enough to make a scare, it’s certainly enough to enhance it when done right. The facial animation in particular is really detailed and well done, with Akane’s expressions being the highlight. Psycho-Pass is also a perfect example of the use of the Higurashi Face; the instantaneous flip when a person’s face turns from normal to nightmarish, through fear or anger or pure, genuine malice. There’s a lot of really great scares to be found in the artwork alone; plasticised body horror, brutal acts that leave just enough to the imagination to let your brain fill in the specific horrifics, terrifying uncanny-valley facial expressions and more than one instance of people going pop. This is a seriously squicky series.

The music is great, but honestly you’re not going to notice it. I was so focused on the rest of the show that I can’t think of a single track that particularly stood out to me; by the way, that can be a good thing. The soundtrack perfectly complements the series; enough said.

Psycho-Pass is another case of Urobuchi subverting a genre and hitting the nail on the head. While there is a second season (which I have yet to see) honestly you could take this series as it is and have a truly fantastic watch. Yes it’s intense, often terrifying, and severely messed up on both physical and moral levels, but it’s also a thrilling journey from start to finish with great characters, an exhilarating story, amazing production values and several fascinating things to say on the nature of crime, punishment and justice. It will shake you up, and in doing so it will give you one hell of a ride.

Oh, and did I mention it’s also on Netflix?

My score: 9/10

[animeaak]

Tari Tari 1-13 BD 720p Eng Sub Mkv

Tari Tari 1-13 BD 720p Eng Sub Mkv

Tari Tari 1-13 BD 720p Eng Sub Mkv Tari Tari

Synopsis: Tari Tari is an anime where At Shirahamazaka High School, a special recital is held every year in which music students are able to showcase their talents in front of professionals and other prestigious guests. A third year, Konatsu Miyamoto desperately wants to sing in her last high school recital, but because she screwed up the year…

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[animebibly-blog]

Sometimes ago, Anime Bibly has released the best anime blu ray 2012. This data based on the most selling blu ray in their marketplace.

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Anime Review: Kamisama Kiss

Anime Review: Kamisama Kiss

Kamisama Kiss, ook bekend als Kamisama Hajimemashita, is gebaseerd op de gelijknamige manga gecreëerd door Julietta Suzuki. Het verhaal begint wanneer Nanami Momozono net uit haar huis gezet is. Haar vader heeft haar achtergelaten nadat hij, met dank aan zijn gokverslaving, veel schulden heeft gemaakt. Terwijl ze probeert te bedenken hoe ze nu verder moet ontmoet zij Mikage, een man die zij…

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Anime Review: Kamisama Kiss

Anime Review: Kamisama Kiss

Kamisama Kiss, ook bekend als Kamisama Hajimemashita, is gebaseerd op de gelijknamige manga gecreëerd door Julietta Suzuki. Het verhaal begint wanneer Nanami Momozono net uit haar huis gezet is. Haar vader heeft haar achtergelaten nadat hij, met dank aan zijn gokverslaving, veel schulden heeft gemaakt. Terwijl ze probeert te bedenken hoe ze nu verder moet ontmoet zij Mikage, een man die zij…

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Anime Review: Say "I love you"

Anime Review: Say “I love you”

Say “I love you” is gebaseerd op de populaire gelijknamige manga door Kanae Hazuki. Naast de anime, die in 2012 uitkwam, is er in 2014 ook een live-action film uitgekomen gebaseerd op deze manga. Say “I love you” volgt Mei Tachibana, zij laat haar tienerjaren aan zich voorbij gaan zonder enige interesse te tonen in het maken van vrienden of het genieten van haar middelbare schooltijd. Zij…

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