~Yet Another Anime Review~

Tutturru! There are a tons of people that review anime. I am not the biggest otaku but I like to write about what I watch.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Review: SAO II (Episodes 1 - 5)

If you think SAO was bad, think again, because SAO II has broken the boundaries of failure that the first season set. The first episode wasn’t particularly special in any sort; the cheesy romance between Kirito and Asuna is still there; the haphazardly fanservice thrown randomly and forcefully into the series is also still there. The animation and OSTs are still solid, however.

A new character is introduced, namely, Shinon, and we get a look at her –oh that’s so devastating omg I pity her, such cruel world we live in- past. Our mighty heroine steals the gun of some bank robber and shoots him thrice to protect her mother when she was nine. She became traumatized for life, and whenever she sees a gun or a picture of a gun, she suffers from a panic attack. Heck, the mere gun hand gesture inflicts a crippling panic attack on her. However, it’s entirely and totally cool for her, and no reaction whatsoever when she browses through a gun catalog? Kewl. OH AND DID I MENTION THAT SHE BIT THE ROBBER’S ARM AFTER HE KILLED SOMEONE? BECAUSE YOLO, Y’KNOW? Everything about her story is forced and doesn’t make sense; aside from the hand gesturing like a gun, after the first shot, everyone turned a blind eye and let Shinon shoot the robber two more times without interfering to stop the robber, or even Shinon. However, as it seems, guns don’t affect her inside the game, and she totally believes that by winning some tournament she can overcome her real life trauma… yes, you go girl!

Moving on, Kirito is going to play Gun Gale Online because the government asked him to exploit some guy who whenever kills someone in the game, they die in real life; because obviously, he didn’t get trapped before in a game, and had to save someone in another, so it’s cool to risk it and play again, eh? K.

They were skeptical and wondering how could someone die in real life when they’re killed in the game. BUT IN THE FIRST ARC PEOPLE GOT TRAPPED INSIDE THE GAME AND THEY CAN'T LOG OUT AND IF THEY DIE THEY DIE IN REAL LIFE HOW DID PEOPLE MISS THIS FACT?! WHAT THE ACTUAL DUCK?! It’s either I missed something regarding the new head gear they use or people are stupid. Even if it’s the former, why are they acting like the probability of it happening doesn’t exist? I don’t stand corrected for that reason.

So, Kirito finally goes into the game; and surprise surprise, gender bender. He gets a female looking avatar. Some random guy goes crazy when he sees his avatar because it’s rare, and offers to buy it, and when Kirito confronts the guy and tells him he is actually a guy, he offers more to buy it. Apparently, it costs even more when it’s a male avatar not a female one, so there you go all feminists in the world, rejoice, you can go psycho on the anime because it’s sexist. Jokes aside, let me get this straight, are the avatars picked randomly? Or is it because Kirito transferred his character from another game so he has good stats and whatnot? Both ways, it’s a fail; if it’s the former, it’s quite known that MMO players like to customize their characters despite it being a tedious procedure, even if some don’t, having the avatar picked randomly totally makes the game unfair, let alone that such games depend on luck for a good part of it, so having luck play a role in even that? Heck, who would want a newbie to be better than him because he got lucky when he had just started? Meh. If it’s the latter and it’s because he transferred, then why doesn’t he have enough money, anyway? Makes no sense, eh? And obviously, those who hired him didn’t even bother to tell him it’s the last day to sign up for the event, and they didn’t even give him enough time to get used to the game and know his way around because obviously he will meet another chick just when he goes into the game and add her to his harem collection, yay.

And there you go, we spend an entire episode shopping for guns because let’s face it, girls love shopping, and you, as a viewer, should respect that. What else do you wanna watch? Fights? They have been there, they have done that. Now, Shinon, who’s supposedly a veteran, and has been preparing for the event, waits until the last minute to sign up, because… well, I don’t know the reason but oh well.

Finally, Shinon finds out that Kirito is actually a guy when they were in a locker room to change into their fight clothes. Wait… you don’t just open your menu and equip your battle array and voila? Basically, the entire scene serves no purpose other than pulling a little fanservice that makes no sense, and some forced humor.

And Death Gun makes his cameo appearance in front of Kirito, ladies and gentlemen. However, is the way he talks supposed to be… intimidating? And supposedly makes the scene more… intense? All what I saw is that they made him sound like a retard with zero social skills and speech problems, and I can probably surmise he wasn’t hugged enough as a kid from the way he talks, yes, totally.

There you go, lightsabers, a guy with a mask and a cloak. Next on SAO II: Kirito, I am your father. Stay tuned.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Review: Inferno Cop *No Spoilers*

Every once in a while you stumble on this gem that was lost in the abyss, overshadowed by other overrated anime that the average joe tend to watch and discuss, and you reach it before it’s lost in oblivion, and then, it changes your life drastically without a prior warning.

At a first glance, you might be inclined to think that Inferno Cop looks like Ghost Rider. Appearance wise, the resemblance is understandable, but let’s face it, Nicolas Cage can’t act, his movies suck… and you can’t, no matter the circumstances, compare his works to this unparalleled masterpiece.

An old organization that goes back to the beginning of life. Through centuries, they have been trying to take over the world, and almost succeeded; they had members in every cooperation and organization. However, they were defied by a cop who strives for justice. He would go through hell, literally, to achieve his goals and just objective. On his pursuit, he unravels the truth about the universe and life as we know it.

Inferno Cop deals with very few characters, they reoccur and reappear intermittently throughout the anime. It’s amazing how they managed to fit all these events and spectacular character development in such a short anime, and make you fall in love with every single character. They kept it short yet ample and elaborate, without leaving any important details to pass unnoticed.

The anime provides and prioritizes the shock factor, you can’t help but say WTF –in uppercase letters and lots of exclamation marks- each episode. It’s full of conspiracy and deceit, and once you begin to conceptualize the events, and think you have found the key to the ultimate truth, and that you’re smarter than whoever wrote the script, think again; a plot twist occurs. The creators of the anime refuse to hand it to you that easily. They strictly follow Van Dine’s Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories. Hence, they have to show how superior Inferno Cop is to you, the viewer.

Inferno Cop sets itself apart from your regular cliché anime by mixing lots of genres, and it worked very well for them in the end. You will sit on the edge of your seat waiting in anticipation from the intensity, and you will laugh, and it will hit you right in the feels.

The art is bizarre and avant-garde. However, it’s fluid and dynamic, and it flows quite well with the characters and the environment. They took extra care to make sure the art is consistent and the quality never drops. The OSTs are fascinating and exquisite, and fit the atmosphere of the anime while never feeling out of place. The VAs were splendid; each character felt distinctive. You can feel their anger, their happiness and their emotions pouring out of the screen and hitting you in the face.

I was in a dilemma whether to give it a 9 or a 10. I spent a long time pondering and contemplating until I decided that it really deserves a solid 10 for being the first anime I ever consider to rate, and will probably be the last; I doubt there will ever be any anime that can top it. Highly recommend; a must watch.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Pre-thoughts: Space Dandy

Note: This was written before the anime aired, but I forgot to post it. You can consider it as a review, nonetheless.

Space Dandy is an upcoming science-fiction comedy anime directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, who’s known for his stupendous, avant-garde works such as Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Moreover, Bones, the animation studio behind it, is noted for its assiduous animation and scrupulous character designs, specializing in zealous, embroidered acting, and has produced high-quality anime like Fullmetal Alchemist, Zetsuen no Tempest, Darker than Black and Eureka Seven.

The story is set far in the future and revolves around an alien hunter named Dandy, who travels across the galaxy to search for undiscovered alien species along with his buddies Meow, a cat-looking alien and a worn-out robot named QT.

Watanabe’s previous works had a soothing, mellow atmosphere with a tad bit of droll elements but serious, rad, profound and succinct tones. It’s quite skeptical if Watanabe and his writers, several of whom worked on Cowboy Bebop, are apt to comedy, and whether or not they could pull it off is still a mystery. However, we could surmise that the first few episodes might not be alluring, and that the show will transcend to the better later on.

Noteworthy, this is the first time an English dub will broadcast simultaneously with TV broadcast in Japan. Furthermore, the series will premiere in the United States before Japan.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Character Review: Shogo Makishima "Psycho-Pass"

“You can play any character and yet in the end, you yourself are nobody. Your core personality is null. It’s empty. That’s how you could wear any mask all over your smooth, featureless face and have it fit perfectly.”

Shogo Makishima is a villainesque humanist, and he is the paramount quintessence of a licit villain; one of the best kinds, because from his perspective, his objective is just. He’s blatantly in love with ferocity, atrocity, and all the egregious facets of human nature, and has no qualms whatsoever about witnessing other people’s suffering.

He lives in a dystopian world where the citizens have become so accustomed to the system that they wouldn’t be able to survive without it, that such an arrantly dubious person could walk around without causing distrust from bystanders, let alone killing people amidst the street, says it all. The citizens have turned into mindless sheep; abiding the edicts of the system without questioning it, whilst submitting themselves to carefree life freed of responsibility. Thus, he wants to crush the Sibyl system from the inside out, and that’s his intent, and motive.

“I want to see the splendor of people’s souls. I want to check and see if it really is precious. However, when humans base their lives around Sybil’s Oracle, without ever consulting their own wills, do they really hold any value?”

Shogo is heavily indulged in reading, and has the adroitness to exploit people unscrupulously to do his evil behest through his esoteric literary and philosophical talk, and his gift of narrative and peculiar charisma. Nevertheless, Makishima is as alluring as he is callous, and those who either stand in his way or has grown tired of are destined to death, either with his own hands or through his subordinates.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Review: Serial Experiments Lain *No Spoilers*

Serial Experiments Lain starts off as a weird-paced anime; you feel like lots of characters are psychopaths at first. There isn't a lot of speech, which gives it an eerie atmosphere alongside with the animation. You will find yourself dragged reluctantly hoping to understand, or find out what's going on. After each episode you'll keep asking yourself "Why's this? Why's that? What on earth is going on?" This anime is quite the paradigm of 'mind-boggling'. Whenever you begin to conceptualize things, you get lost again. It's absurd yet fascinating at the same time. They just keep adding questions to the list in each episode. There are very few definite -if not at all- answers given out. Of course there are some things that are very hard to get since the main plot deals with many deep philosophical arguments and you have to open your mind as much as possible so that you can understand a little better. Everything also worked together to give this anime a peculiar atmosphere that, far from detracting from the coherence of the story, actually made it easier to understand. The show's philosophical side is well-portrayed. Although philosophy plays a large role, it actually melds very well with the plot. The characters' development was done quite well. Despite the fact that it only deals with a few characters.

The OSTs are kind of weird. They're executed well nonetheless and fit the bizarre atmosphere. The opening theme is awesome. Overall, this anime is worth giving it a shot. Just try not to watch all of the 13 episodes in one day; your brain might implode from information overload.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Review: K-Project *No Spoilers*

K-Project (K for short) is another fancy anime with no solid plot, setting nor material. The animation is the only good thing about it which feels squandered on this plot. Even though they make little implications here and there and usually these are hints to plot development, it still feels utterly disappointing.

The anime tells the story of Isana Yashiro, a high school student whose life got caught up in a war between The Seven Kings. One day, he goes on an errand to prepare for the upcoming school festival only to find himself being chased by a group of people. It’s revealed later that he was convicted of murder that he doesn’t recall committing. Sounds like an interesting plot with potential and prospect, right? Not really.

The show has spectacular soundtracks that fit the mood of the anime and never feel out of place. The art is astonishing. The animation portrays everything in a well-detailed manner. The fight scenes were amazing and easy to follow although there weren’t many fights which is thwarting. Not to mention, the skateboard scene that got everyone hooked up and on the edge of their seats because of how elaborated it is. This remarkable combination of audio and visuals was of the highest grade. Nonetheless, for some unknown, unexplainable, obscure reason, someone somewhere decided to add a bluish tint to the animation and thought it would be cool.

The thing is, why does this anime have everything when nothing really comes to use? It’s full of plotholes, incoherent storytelling, weak characters' development and out of place fan-service. Thus, the plot and characters are way too shallow and discrete. For instance, one must question the entity of Neko “A cat that transforms into a girl”, how the kings are chosen and the concept behind The Sword of Damocles. The anime was in desperate need of flashbacks, more depth to the characters, plot development and more explanation of their relations.

However, in the last few episodes, the series really did seem to ameliorate in the entire plot ambit, the characters started to stand out more and became more dynamic. The second season movie might fix all the mess that this season left behind as it has lots of topics to focus on.

In the end, K ended up as a below average anime with high budget, terrific animation, amazing soundtracks, great VAs but no cohesive/appealing plot with underdeveloped characters and story.

  NB: This review is subjected to change when the second season movie airs.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Review: Guilty Crown *No Spoilers*

Guilty Crown was probably one of the most anticipated anime in 2011 as it has the same director of “Death Note”. Everyone had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, it dissatisfied lots of people. It is just another show with a great premise and supposedly excellent staff behind it that made something mediocre and grotesque. GC is the epitome of “lackadaisical”. The direction is hazy and nebulous, the plot is cliché and the characters are not even likable. You can understand their point, but they just can’t deliver it right. This show is too bipolar in its execution of the plot. It’s full of illogical inconsistencies, character development that contradicts prior developments and plot twists that don’t even make sense. The more you watch it, the more you realize that the whole antecedent of the anime is combining lots of ideas from different anime, making a story out of them and hope it will all make sense at the end. Basically, there’s no originality whatsoever. Not to mention, the excessive use of fanservice. “Shu” who’s supposedly the protagonist of the anime is a useless-good for nothing-wimp who changes drastically because of certain events. However, the creators of the anime forgot an essential thing; they forgot to give him a personality. At the second part of the anime, the student council was in charge of the school instead of the teachers. It’s like as if the teachers magically disappeared and you have “Lord of the flies” drama all over again. The OSTs and animation are literally splendid; they delivered emotions more than the plot did. The execution of the moves in the fight scenes along with the background music was amazing. It's a shame that all these beautiful animation and music are wasted on this show. It's as if they just made the anime to test the unique animation style, and possibly to have a whole anime solely devoted to artwork and music. Leaving all that aside, I did enjoy Guilty Crown. It gets interesting at some point. It was absolutely terrible in the beginning, but it noticeably improved and became exciting to watch, even though it is still riddled with flaws. However, it was too late for the anime to be saved. Overall, even with all the inadequacies and irrationalities, it still was a very good ride with ups and downs. But, it could have been better. I wouldn’t say that I highly recommend it as you will neither gain, nor lose anything by watching it.

[yetanotheranimereview]

Review: Bacanno! *No Spoilers*

"Depending on who you place in the same situation, the characteristics of said incident change kaleidoscopically. In other words, there is one incident. However, there are as many stories explaining it as there are people involved in it." -Gustav St. Germain.

Baccano! is set mainly in the 20th century. Lots of events occur in the first episode and many characters are introduced that it hit you in the face like a brick. The first episode is the starting point that the whole anime revolves around and comprises everything that will be clarified through the rest of the episodes in the form of flashback and flashforward. Thus, the storytelling is a bit jumbled and the events are far from being coherent as it prioritizes being overwhelming and artistic over being understandable. The way they fit all these seem-to-be-unrelated events in different times, places and years in each episode is fascinating. Everything starts to assimilate throughout the anime. It’s as if you’re collecting those bits of events in the past and future to reveal the big picture in the present. This anime visualizes and mixes humor with suspense, tension and action. There is this funny atmosphere around certain characters. Their goofy and whimsical antics are peculiarly amusing. On the contrary, Baccano! is somehow a gruesome anime. Yet, it uses violence and gore the way it should be used, shocking but not around every corner. I recommend watching this anime in English as it’s set in the USA in 1930 so it’s quite normal to hear different accents. The way the English voice actors personated the characters is simply amazing and fits the classic background music more than the Japanese voices.