Archive for 2016
Akame Ga Kill Review
Akame Ga
Kill is worth watching and kinda unique. It spans 24 episodes which are
decently paced. The story revolves around a group of assassins trying to
overthrow an empire in a fantasy world. The plot is great. The art style is
traditional. The character development is alright. The dub not so good. This is
one of those shows where the less you know the better, but if you want more
relatively vague details read below.
Story
"Once upon a
time, a boy and his 2 friends left their village seeking to make a name for
themselves and send money back to their village. After getting to the capital
however, the boy discovers that what he thought the capital city was like and
what it is, were two very different things"…
It’s a
little difficult to talk about this story without spoiling it. At its core it’s
a harem anime, with an ‘overthrow the government’ plot (similar to most mecha
shows), with a bit of Game of Thrones thrown in (saying how will ruin it).
The
characters in the show are all great, most being a particular trope, but having
a pretty unique twist. In terms of character development, the main protagonist,
and a few others have great development, the majority however don’t, but for
decent enough reasons (telling you will spoil it).
The first
few episodes or so introduce you to the world that the show takes place in
whilst giving insight into some of the characters.
The pacing
of the story is pretty good and the show tells a full complete story. There is
potential for a spin off show, but explaining how will once again spoil it.
8/10 (5
being mediocre, 10 being awesome)
Art Style
The art
style is traditional, with no real over the top super stylized effects. I did
feel like some of the fight scenes could have done with some better effects,
but that’s just a matter of taste. Scenes that had some particularly
emotionally intense moments did have a distinct difference with art style that
did help elevate the scenes being presented, but those last only a couple of
seconds at a go even though they will leave you with an impression.
6/10 (5
being uninspired, 10 being unique)
Sound, Music
and Dub
The sounds
for the show were ok, with nothing really outstanding. The music though was
amazing. This has one of the most unique soundtracks I’ve heard in a while,
containing oriental, Bollywood, African, and even industrial tracks that really
get you psyched for what’s about to happen. The dub was serviceable, but really
badly translated at times with some lines not really making any coherent sense.
The actual acting is also not that great, except for the main character, who is
just ok. This is actually one of those shows where I would strongly recommend a
subbed version.
6/10 (5
being mediocre, 10 being awesome)
Conclusion
You should
watch this show. Even though it’s a harem anime at its core, its plot is insane
to a point where you will actually have to think about whether it really is a
harem anime. If you are not ok with gore or violence, then don’t.
7/10 (5
being ok, 10 so good that you will create your own costumes for each character
and cosplay as them for the rest of your life)
Nanatsu no Taizai/Seven Deadly Sins Review
Seven Deadly Sins: Lion’s sin of pride, Serpent’s sin of envy, Boar’s sin of gluttony, Goat’s sin of lust, Grizzly’s sin of sloth, Fox’s sin of greed and Dragon’s sin of wrath.”
Action without reason or thought is just a testosterone-trip; complete with flashy powers and fights that drag on for way too long. So, it’s interesting to see an anime that suffers from these clichés and more – but also utilizes them to their fullest extent, giving rhyme and reason to them, and making the show a whole lot more fun and meaningful than was expected.
8/10 (0 being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Story
The core plot is simply the adventures (and misadventures) of an unlikely team as they traverse the land, looking for other members of a mysterious group known as the "Seven Deadly Sins”. While traveling, the ‘team’ comes across other past members, gets into fights with various characters, help people out, chat, joke and just generally try to have fun and do what is just while working towards completing their ultimate objective of reuniting all seven and reclaiming the land. The series has a great grasp on balancing the humor, the drama, and the action. One never seems to overpower the other.
The soul of this show though, is divided into two aspects: the fights, and the character development (which often ties into the aforementioned aspect). Most of the main characters (and many of the side characters and antagonists) get their time to shine and be developed. Character dialogue, actions and interactions, as well as fantastic back stories for many of the characters really flesh things out and add a sense of purpose and reason to the story.
Also, things don’t always end up being what they appear to be, and there are many points in the series where completely unexpected things happen that really help make the series more refreshing and less repetitive. But, some parts of the plot are a bit convoluted. Nothing that should detriment the experience, but things can sometimes seem a bit… off.
Lastly, the ending is a bit lackluster, but still thrilling to watch. And, the way it ends leaves it open to the possibility of a new season.
8/10 (0 being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Art
Art in ‘Nanatsu no Taizai’ is of an extremely high quality. Action scenes flow well and character designs, facial expressions, backgrounds, etc. are above par. The greatest thing about it though is that the quality is maintained throughout the series.
9/10 (0 being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Sound
The music in the series is more quality over quantity. There are many pieces that are repeatedly used, but they all fit the times and scenes in which they are used and didn’t become annoying.
All four of the openings and endings are great and add to the series, rather than being something that most people would skip.
Voice acting is also of a high quality. No lines felt hammy, forced or otherwise grated on the ears.
8/10 (0 being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Character
This is where this show absolutely excels – for most of the characters. A majority of them have unique personalities. They fear things, love things and hate things. They cry, they laugh and they have morals, hopes and dreams. The series does a great job of building most of the characters up and making it feel like these are living, breathing people.
The main female character, Elizabeth, has a decent amount of development. But, regrettably, the main male character, Meliodas, does not. He really doesn’t seem to change over the series, and remains – for the most part – an enigma. There is a backstory given to him that helps shine a little light on who he was and currently is, but so many things remain unclear concerning his character that it can be hard to attach yourself to him as the show progresses.
The secondary characters though - who I won’t name or give details for, as finding out who they are and what they are like is a part of the series’ enjoyment – are the most well developed in the entire series. There’s a great possibility of you coming to love a character you previously hated or vice-versa.
8/10 (0 being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Enjoyment
There are a lot of flaws. But even with those flaws, this was still an immensely enjoyable series. It had great fights with meaning to them, great humor, great characters, and some really powerful stories. I was pleasantly surprised with the anime and don’t regret the time I spent on it.We wait for the seconds season Nanatsu no Taizai: Seisen no Shirushi/The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War in August 2016
8/10 (0 being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Fate/Zero Review
Fate/Zero was a tough watch. Mainly because of its pacing. The story revolves around a magical contest (known as The Holy Grail War) where various powerful mage families (and a few randoms) compete against each other to win the Holy Grail. The winner gets one wish. Most of the character development in the show is good. The dub, not so much. The art style is also inconsistent. I wouldn’t recommend watching this, but if you are still on the fence about this have a look at the details bellow and decide for yourself.
Story
Fate/Zero
consists of 2 seasons, 25 episodes in total. Both seasons feel very different
from each other, the first setting up the world that the story takes place in,
and the second, getting the plot to progress. And when the story concludes,
let’s just say you might be left wanting.
It isn’t all
bad though, the strongest part of the series are the characters. Only four
characters are very clearly portrayed as good and evil. Everyone else is grey, and if you are wondering how many
characters there are let me explain, there are over 16. 14 of which are the
contestants and their summoned spirits…
“Summoned
spirits?” Again let me explain, the contestants summon the spirits of ancient
heroes from times of old to serve them in the Holy Grail War (eg. King Arthur).
Here in lies the problem with the show, all the contestants have their own
motivations and back story for wanting to win the Holy Grail War. All the
heroic spirits have distinct personalities, motivations, and back story to
become servants. So there is no way to be able to do all the characters justice
in telling their stories leading to most being well rounded, and others wasted.
6/10 (5
being mediocre, 10 being amazing)
Art Style
The art
style in the show is pretty, but inconsistent. Season 1 has a great use of
subtle lighting effects. Season 2 however is not so subtle, making all kinds of
gains with bloom and depth of field effects. The difference for myself at least was pretty jarring. I find
myself debating over which style I liked better because both are good, I just
wished they stuck to one.
6/10 (10
being breathtakingly awesome, 0 being uninspired and crappy)
Sound, Music, and Dub
The sounds
in the show are pretty standard fair, without a special attention to
environments in each scene. The musical score was also not memorable and only
really helped to enhance 2 scenes in the entire series. And the dub… not good.
The voice actors here are experienced for the most part, however they didn’t
really seem to suit the characters. It seems like one of those situations where
actors have no real context of what is actually happening and who they are
portraying. To add to that, the script was not translated very well. Once again
having such a diverse range of characters meant that only a handful would be
given attention to detail that they require.
5/10 (0
being terrible, 10 being flawless)
Conclusion
All in all,
as a stand-alone series, I can’t recommend this to anyone. There really are
better shows to watch. The other series that take place in the same universe as
this may build on this show and be better for it, but as someone who had no
idea about what the Fate universe was about, it has done little to peak my
interest.
5/10 (0
being utter crap, 5 being mediocre)
By Hellsknight Sujay.
Free! Review
Free! is a
show that revolves around a group of swimming obsessed teenagers who want to
try and rebuild their old swim team and rekindle the fun times they had as
kids. The animation and art style are beautiful. The characters are just okay.
The plot is alright for the most part though the show does have some pacing
issues at the start. I’d recommend this to anyone who might want to watch
something slow paced with a bit of sports.
For more
details, read bellow.
Story
Once upon
time, three teenage boys who happened to be childhood friends decided to
rebuild their swim team. What followed next were the trials and tribulations of
trying to create a swimming club in their school, such as finding new members,
organizing facilities etc.
While this
story is unoriginal, the same can be said about the characters who fall into
the usual anime tropes. You have the moody protagonist who is sometimes an idiot, the innocent one, the group leader, the uptight one, the rival, and the
wise old man. A trope that is missing is a love interest, which to be honest,
is kind of refreshing.
Instead of the plot being the main focus, you have a
very character driven story that deals with the relationships between the
tropes, both in how they overcome most of their personal issues and how they
cope with each other.
Rating 7/10 (10 = amazing, 0 = uninspired, unoriginal and boring)
Rating 7/10 (10 = amazing, 0 = uninspired, unoriginal and boring)
Art Style
Kyoto
Animation did the show, and boy is it pretty. The background scenes look
amazing and wallpaper worthy, but the biggest star with the art style is the
water. All the shots with the water look incredible both outside and in with
the use of reflections and distortions that look amazing. Even the character
designs seem linked to the water, with them moving and looking a little awkward
when in school uniforms away from the water and then looking smooth as hell in or
around the water.
Rating 10/10 (10 = beautiful, 5 = uninspired, 0 = bad)
Rating 10/10 (10 = beautiful, 5 = uninspired, 0 = bad)
Dubbed Voice, Sound, and Music
I watch a
lot of English dubs, and this for the most part has some of the same
recognizable voices. All in all, it was just ok, not great, not bad, just ok.
The sound design on the other hand is great with some underwater scenes having
that underwater distorted reverb sound effect that anyone who spends time
underwater will recognize. It’s done really well and adds a lot to the shows
atmosphere. As for the music, the opening and closing tracks were ok, but they
didn’t really stand out to me, nor were they very catchy, the same goes for the
score.
Rating 7/10 (10 = outstanding, 0 = crap)
Rating 7/10 (10 = outstanding, 0 = crap)
Final Thoughts
So this
anime gets a lot of grief for being ridiculously fan service heavy, homoerotic,
homosexual, and such. Personally I didn’t get those vibes at all. Sure there
are lots of scenes where guys take of their shirts, but seriously, why would
they swim fully clothed. Think that would be a little strange, in any case
though I can’t think of a single anime show where guys weren’t shirtless at
some point. That said, the female representation in this show is a little
lacking. It didn’t really bother me, but if you are the type to get bothered by
such things, you may not like this. The only two female characters are the swim
club manager who pervs on the boys every chance she gets and the teacher, both
of whom were really underdeveloped in the show.
Another
strange thing with the show is the severe lack of completion. There are
literally just two tournaments in the show, which makes it feel not so sporty. All
this aside though, Free is worth watching despite having a slow start.
Rating 7/10 (10 = amazing, 5 = average, 0 = avoid like the plague)
Rating 7/10 (10 = amazing, 5 = average, 0 = avoid like the plague)
By Hellsknight Sujay
Gate: Jieitai Kanochi nite, Kaku Tatakaeri
Do you love Fantasy? Action? Captivating music? Well-crafted and diverse characters?
I'll try to keep the review as spoiler-free as possible but if I do post one, it was an accident and I apologise in advance.
If you said "Yes" to any of these questions, this gem of an anime is one that you should DEFINITELY catch. (If you said yes to all, you won't fail to orgasm every episode).
The potential in the concept itself already warrants an 8.
However, potential alone is nothing.Delicate execution and engaging plot propels this to a solid 9, further supported by the intensity of the developments that leave you begging for more.
Despite the Fantasy theme, GATE attempts inject Reality back into the plot as well. The focus of the show is occasionally shifted back from the"Special Region" to Japan, and sequences that occur back in Japan can affect the main plot happening beyond the Gate, adding to the realism of this series.
While there are arguably certain flaws in the plot, they shouldn't stop you from enjoying the show at all.
Art [7/10]
While the art isn't exactly magnificent, it's far from bad.
Just don't expect it to be at Kotonoha no Niwa standard.
Despite the animation (which is fine, really), the characters are really well illustrated (up close) and the vehicles of the JSDF (Eg helicopter, trucks) were well drawn and very detailed.
The only fault in the art is that the backgrounds were not taken care of properly. Eg if a character was in the background of a certain scene, details could be missing from her in general
Sound [10/10]
Both the OP and ED were beautiful.
OSTs are as realistic as they could get: the gunshots, clashing of swords, the helicopters; an experience that shouldn't be missed.
The Seiyuus were amazing too! (Especially rory's one)
Opening Theme
"GATE: Sore wa Akatsuki no you ni (GATE～それは暁のように～)" by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets (eps 1-11)
Ending Theme
#1: "Prism Communicate (ぷりずむコミュニケート)" by Rory (Risa Taneda), Tuka (Hisako Kanemoto), Lelei (Nao Touyama) (eps 1-11)
#2: "GATE: Sore wa Akatsuki no you ni (GATE～それは暁のように～)" by Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets (ep 12)
Characters [9/10]
Often said to be the most attractive aspect of this show: The Characters
The anime's main character Itami Youji,is an Otaku and First Lieutenant that most of us can associate with. He's funny and surprisingly caring, a character whom you will absolutely love. Having an MC that viewers can understand, relate to and empathise with is evidence of a great Anime.
Lelei is a smart 15 year old Sorcerer's apprentice that has taken a particular interest in the Japanese language, often acting as a translator for the Japanese soldiers. Her curiosity and cuteness just makes her a lovable character in the series.
Tuka Luna is a teenage elf (isn't as young as she looks) that lost her family and ends up in the care of the JSDF.
Last and definitely not least, Rory Mercury is a (horny) gothic loli demigod that carries around a giant halberd. Her alluring voice and tantalizing demeanor makes you wish that the one she was teasing was you. Yet, she can be unusually deep at times. (If you know what I mean ;)
Of course, there are many other notable characters that all have their own good points, but for the purpose of the review I won't be mentioning all.(One word: DEMIGOD.)
What constitutes aesthetics? What is true aesthetics? Philosophers can debate for years on the true manifestation of aestheticism. Is it Art? Is it Music? Little do they know that the answer lies in an Anime TV series. A series called GATE. The true embodiment of aesthetics .is in its characterisations.
Overall [9/10]
Yes i had to endure the hardship of waiting for Season 2 which finally is here.Currently on Episode 2
There are so many reasons why I just love this series; the Fate references during the Special Forces mission, the Ride of the Valkyries Helicopter scene;In the Preview Video
TL;DR? Gate presents an unprecedented concept to the fantasy genre. If you enjoy shows like NoGameNoLife, SwordArtOnline, Overlord, or fantasy in general, then this is a show that you will certainly adore. Thank me later :)