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Aug 16, 2017
It would be very hard for me to write a proper review and sum up all flaws Valvrave has, but instead I will write a transcript of what the executives at Sunrise discussed when making this anime. Or at least what I imagine went on in those studios.
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- Producer: Okay, we need to make a new mecha anime that is not a Gundam or Code Geass spin-off. It must become the new big thing, so we must attract as many people as we can. What do those pesky teenagers like nowadays?
- Writer: Hmm, didn't those vampire Hollywood movies make a lot of money? Vampires are
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definitely trendy right now, we need one of those. But not one of those old, scary vampires mind you, but a sparkly, gay one. And lets have the vampire pilot the mecha, why not?
- Producer: Sold! Any other pitches?
- Writer: Girls! We need to introduce a bunch of girls who like our main character. We need several types of those: one has to be caring and lovable, another has to be strong and determined. We need to make those otaku waifufags happy. Oh, and one of them has to be an idol too. So, there's a harem of girls who all fantasize about our vampire. Also, everything needs to happen in a school. Kids love school. Let's have the characters declare their school and independent country and start a war or some shit! Kids will love it!
- Producer: Yes, yes, I can see this becoming very popular definitely. I would definitely invest in this project. What about villains though? Who should these vampires fight?
- Writer: NAZIS!
- Producer: Nazis?
- Writer: Yes, Nazis. Space Nazis. People love to hate Nazis. It's impossible to make a military anime unless one of the factions is Germanic. But that's not all. We also need a Char Aznable-like character with a hidden agenda who can think 10 episodes ahead. People definitely love this type of characters, I'm sure of it.
- Producer: Great job! Now please write a detailed script of each episode so we can start production immediately.
- Write: Nah, it's okay, we can start right now. We can make shit up as we go along with each episode.
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And that's it. I can't understand how a bunch of people got together and decided to make Kakumeiki Valvrave. It is a trainwreck of bad writing and bad ideas that actually got worse and worse as it went on. At first I started watching this because I hoped it would become some kind of "so bad that it's good" anime, but the bad writing became cringeworthy. It's as if the writers decided to take every possible cliché from every popular anime and mix them together to create this. Valvrave has every possible genre in it: it's a space harem vampire mecha war anime set in a school, with tints of horror and mystery every here and there. The only thing that saves this anime from being a 1/10 is the decent animation, since some studio heads decided to splash their budgets on this polished piece of turd. I can't wait for the inevitable fidget spinner mecha anime that Sunrise will probably decide to make a couple of years from now.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Sep 19, 2016
First year university student Rintarou Okabe is a self-proclaimed "mad scientist" who conducts experiments in a small apartment in Akihabara with his bizarre group of friends using home appliances. However, when the microwave he is experimenting on is somehow turned into a time machine, the life of Rintarou Okabe takes a darker turn.
That is pretty much a rough synopsis of Steins;Gate, one of the most hyped and well-received anime of the 2010's. It is a complex and entertaining sci-fi thriller, with a realistic and scientific depiction of time travel, and with a rich cast of well-developed character. Or is it?
Steins;Gate fails to be what I
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have described above, although it tries to. Although the story is presented with dull colors and an atmosphere of mystery, everything falls apart due to pandering. Steins;Gate panders so much to the otaku audience that it is too hard to take it seriously. All the characters are caricatures, especially the female ones. You have a tsundere, an airheaded cosplayer, a moe maid, and even a ladyboy. And that's what hinders the plot.
The story of Steins;Gate could have been good if it was kept purely a time travel thriller. However, plot integrity is sacrificed to display the wide array of female characters, and have Okabe go on "dates" with most of them. At some point, the anime becomes somewhat of a dating sim, and the time travel becomes a tool to have him date all the girls. Apart from this, the plot also many inconsistencies, which I'll mention below.
*THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPHS CONTAIN SPOILERS*
First and foremost, I want to say that the entire plot of Steins;Gate comes from Okabe's idiocy. He manages to create a time travel device that can send e-mails to the past, and for some reason, it seems a good idea to him to let every person in his clique use it, including here people he barely knows. The whole plot afterwards includes Okabe undoing these actions, which would not have happened had he been smarter.
Secondly, since the entire plot is about "undoing", there is hardly any development to the story or the characters. Whenever something important happens, it can be simply reversed or undone. In the end, the finale of the anime becomes the beginning, making the whole story pointless. None of the events which we have seen has actually happened, and in the end, nothing's changed. Pointless.
Another problem I had with the anime is the ability called Reading Steiner, which is a very important element in the story. For some reason, Okabe conveniently retains his memory whenever he jumps from one timeline to the other, although nobody else does. How come? We never really get an explanation for this, making this ability a deus ex machina, which is a sign of bad writing.
*END OF SPOILERS*
So, to conclude, Steins;Gate has a lot of shortcomings, and doesn't deserve the hype and the praise it gets. However, it still remains an entertaining piece of fiction, whose strong point is mainly the dialogue. I especially enjoyed the banter between Okabe and Kurisu, for example. Furthermore, despite all the plot holes and convenient plot devices, it still has an interesting usage of time travel, although it fails to utilize it perfectly.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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May 7, 2016
2015 has been a pretty good year for Gundam fans, with both "Origin" and "Iron-Blooded Orphans" being interesting additions to the franchise. However, I believe that the achievement for the best entry to the Gundam franchise in the recent years should go to "Thunderbolt".
Right from the start, "Gundam Thunderbolt" sets itself apart from other Gundam anime: it doesn't focus on large-scale battles or pilots single-handedly shifting the tides of war; instead, it chooses to focus on how war can affect a soldier's life, and especially, on a personal battle between two pilots of opposing sides.
The main characters of "Thunderbolt" are Federation pilot Io Fleming and
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Zeon pilot Daryl Lorenz. They have completely different personalities, and yet their goals are the same. Much like the film "Enemy at the Gates", "Thunderbolt" shows the personal fight between these two characters on the battlefield, without ignoring the supporting cast of characters and the rest of the battle. In only 4 episodes, it manages to perfectly juggle several elements and ideas, ending in a high note.
The art and animation of "Thunderbolt" are great. Since it was only 4 episodes, I guess the budget per episode was higher than usual, and it definitely shows in the final product: "Gundam Thunderbolt" is one of the most visually beautiful anime in the last few years. The soundtrack is also pretty nice, especially the jazz music that was incorporated in the fights.
So overall, I think "Gundam Thunderbolt" is a great anime. In only 4 episodes, it manages to achieve more than other anime with triple its runtime, telling an interesting war story, with well-developed characters and beautiful visuals.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 29, 2016
First off, there is nothing original about Fairy Tail. The author just takes concepts and ideas from other battle shounen manga and rehashes them in Fairy Tail in a dumber way. Of course, to hide this thing, he also adds a lot of fanservice. So, whenever there isn't a fight going on, Fairy Tail will look pretty much like your average softcore porn cartoon. The story of Fairy Tail is fairly simple: the main protagonists go somewhere, encounter a villain who initially beats them up, then Natsu gains a power-up and wins. Repeat this formula endlessly and there you go, you have created a successful
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way of milking the cash cow. Of course, other battle shounen anime use the same formula too, but at least they make the story flow better.
Another flaw of Fairy Tail is the lack of characterization. Simply put, the characters are not interesting enough. Most of them lack depth or personality, especially the females, whose personality flaws are compensated with giant breasts.
The good parts of this anime are its art and soundtrack. I have nothing against them. The fight scenes themselves are good, so is the color palette and the music.
So, overall, Fairy Tail is a very generic battle shounen that doesn't try to break the mold: it present the usual tropes found in other anime & manga of the same genre while adding some excessive fanservice.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 21, 2016
Glass no Hana to Kowasu Sekai is a 60-minute long animated film directed by Masashi Ishihama and produced by A-1 Pictures. Frankly, what made me watch this film was its relatively short length, so I'll describe its positive and negative aspects.
Positive:
(+) The art and animation
I guess this is the section most of the budget went to. The backgrounds of this anime were simply gorgeous. The colors and details were amazing. The animation was also smooth and high quality. I didn't especially like the character designs, mostly because I dislike anime with little girls, but objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with that either.
(+) The soundtrack
The
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soundtrack of this anime was comprised mostly of piano pieces, which fit well in most of the scenes. Overall, I liked the soundtrack a lot.
(+) The concept
Despite the flawed execution, the concept of this anime was pretty good. The events happen in a virtual world, where the main characters, who are anti-virus programs, delete corrupt files. Basically, imagine if the agents in Matrix were cute magical girls. I have to admit, the idea wasn't bad at all, but it could have been better, for reasons which I am gonna explain below.
Negative:
(-) Everything else
Apart from the great art and soundtrack, as well as the concept, the movie fails at pretty much every other department. Despite its short 1-hour length, this movie feels like 2 hours due to the slow pacing and constant information dumping. The characters speak endlessly about the details of their world, but without a proper explanation, everything feels like pseudo-scientific mumbo jumbo. The characters remain mostly under-developed, so you don't really care what happens to them. The action scenes were short, and despite the brilliant animation, you don't really know what's happening, apart from the obvious ugly virus monster vs cute anti-virus girl.
Overall, despite the attempt of doing something unique, this movie ends up being pretty much forgettable and with nothing much to offer apart from the good visuals.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 12, 2016
One of the pioneers of the super robot genre, the Getter Robo saga, which started in 1974, still remains one of the pillars of its genre and a major inspiration for many authors.
The story of Getter Robo is fairly simple: a group of 3 teens are summoned to pilot the Getter Robo, a machine that is capable of defeating the monsters that threaten the human race. Each entry in the saga usually has a different main trio, a different Getter, as well as different enemies, but they all have a similar premise and execution. Despite the simplicity, the plot explores several themes and has
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dark undertones, which make it interesting. Unfortunately, due to author Ken Ishikawa's death, the story remained unfinished.
Initially, the series was drawn by Go Nagai, while latter installments were drawn by Ken Ishikawa. Both art styles are very similar similar, so the transition feels natural. Also, overall, I'd say the art of this series is pretty good.
The protagonists of Getter Robo are quite interesting, as they are not your usual do-gooders. They each have their individual traits and quirks, which get developed as the story goes on. My favorite from the bunch is Hayato Jin, who is introduced as the intelligent psychopath leader of a group of teenage revolutionaries. Just from this description, you can guess that the protagonists are all far from the usual.
Overall, the series is very enjoyable. I love the GAR and testosterone-fueled battles and I believe the series is worth reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 12, 2015
"At the end of their lives, all men look back and think that their youth was arcadia." — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"Arcadia of my Youth" is an essential piece in the so-called Leijiverse (aka the universe in which Leiji Matsumoto's works exist). True to its title, it explores the youth of one of the main Leijiverse characters, Captain Harlock, as well as his associates (such as Queen Emeraldas).
The plot of "Arcadia of my Youth" is very good. Even though it's technically a prequel, it doesn't rely on the other anime of the franchise, but presents a fully fleshed-out story, and manage to tells you
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what you need about the universe without too much exposition. The story and the events taking place have epic proportions, mixing together large-scale space battles with romanticism. There are quite a few dramatic and emotional moments, which, paired with the action scenes, create a good balance. Also, this movie has a great opening scene, which is one of my favorites.
The characters of this anime are mostly stoic, especially Harlock. He doesn't make excessive movements or shout as he attacks; instead, he shows his badass side through his silence. He is the archetype of a romantic hero, who follows his ideals to the point of rejecting society. The supporting characters do not lack characterization either, and they get a steady development.
The art and sound are typical of the era. Considering the time this anime was made, they are pretty good.
Overall, I believe that "Arcadia of my Youth" is a very good anime, and I highly recommend to everyone, even if you are not familiar with Leiji's works.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Oct 11, 2015
Before I start with my review, I have to say that action anime from the 80's and 90's, despite not having much of a storyline, are a guilty pleasure for me. Secondly, I'd like to say the this review is going to have some spoilers. They aren't very important, since this anime is just 45 minutes, but hey, you can't be too careful with this stuff.
Now, without much further ado:
"Dog Soldier" is an anime that promises a lot, but does only a little. Just from the poster, you can notice the character looks like Rambo. Since the main character, John Kyosuke Hiba looks and fights
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like Rambo, one might expect the anime to have more Rambo-ish characteristics. And that's where it falls flat.
The story of Dog Soldier isn't that good, but given the type of anime it is, the story is only there to give the main character a justification to join the battle. John has to save a scientist, as well as retrieve a virus for AIDS, which has fallen into the hands of a arms merchant who intends to use it as a weapon. However, this is not the most interesting part about the story. (spoiler warning) The most interesting part is that Johnny, the scientist, as well as the arms merchant, have once been childhood friends. This revelation would make the character interactions more interesting than a normal "good guy vs bad guy" plot, however, the anime does not manage to pull it off well. Instead, we have too many flashbacks and too many useless dialogue, while the action scenes, which are supposed to be the main part of an anime of this kind, do not last very long. This makes the whole project fall apart in the end, making this anime not good enough.
As for the art, it's typical of the era. However, there are several scenes, especially flashbacks, that get recycles. As for the soundtrack, I have nothing against it.
Overall, this anime could have been much better, but it fails to deliver on the action scenes, as well as the character interactions, resulting in a lackluster final project.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 23, 2015
First off, I have to say, this manga is not my cup of tea. I probably would have never read this, but some friends convinced me to. Since it's also a manga that recently got very popular, I decided to give this a shot hoping it was actually gonna be the masterpiece everyone says it is. Boy, I was so wrong. Now, where do I begin...
Story
First off, let's start with the story. I have to say, the story is pretty generic, the kind edgy teens to crazy for. Have some Shinji Ikari-type teenage wimp become a human-eating ghoul and then start writing about his dilemmas
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about distinguishing good and evil, his human and his monster side. So far, it's okay. The story has been done countless of times before in fiction (with Parasyte being the first manga that comes in mind). Add some Kafka-esque philosophy to make it look a bit more mature. Now, after you did all this, mess everything up.
Yeah, you read it right. Tokyo Ghoul had a good setup. Maybe not the most original, but it was acceptable. The problem is, it messes everything up afterwards. I don't know what caused this. If I had to guess, I'd say the author's inexperience was the downfall of Tokyo Ghoul. Instead of focusing on the main storyline, the author choose to stray several times from it, focusing on side characters that, in the end, are irrelevant. Such is the case of the ghoul investigators. We have countless scenes of them talking to each other and "investigating" ghoul activity, especially the actions of Kaneki and his ghoul friends. The question is: do we need all this dialogue? Let me answer that for you: No, we don't. We already know what Kaneki and his ghouls are doing. We don't need the investigators' deductions, because we already know what has happened. That makes everything irrelevant. That's it for now. I will address the problem of irrelevance later on in the "Character" part.
Art
The art is mediocre. For a manga as popular as this, I expected something better. Well, I didn't expect the author to rival the art of Kentaro Miura or Hirohiko Araki in his first try, but he could at least try to be better than your average doujinshi. He could get away with bad art if the story was good, but unfortunately, it isn't. I guess that's another thing the author has to improve.
Characters
The bane of Tokyo Ghoul: it's characters. I have to say, my favorite character in this manga was Kureo Mado. Yeah, he was your average psycho villain, but at least, he had a purpose, something other characters don't have. Almost every character is there without a clear purpose. Now, it would be okay if they were only there as side characters for just a bunch of chapters, but no, they converse throughout the whole manga. In fact, there are so many characters, that around the middle part of the manga Kaneki, the main character, becomes irrelevant too. He appears just in the main fights to fight strong villains, but apart from that, nothing else happens with him. Your average ghoul investigator probably has more lines than Kaneki, which is a problem.
Overall
This manga is a bit better than average, but nothing more than that. It has so many character that it loses its focus and makes the whole plot a mess. The art could have been better, especially in the violent scenes. An okay read, which is doomed by the author's inexperience.
P.S. If you want to enjoy this manga more and read it faster, skip almost every lengthy dialogue between the investigators. You won't miss anything.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 25, 2015
After the dreadful ending of "Naruto", many fans were left wondering if the series could get any worse. With this sequel, Kishimoto has proven that it can, in fact, get worse.
After the ending on "Naruto" left a bad taste in my mouth, I wondered whether I should start reading this or not. As an old fan of the series, as well as since I had nothing better to do, I decided to read it. The story starts off right after chapter 700 of "Naruto" and focuses mostly on Sarada Uchiha, the daughter of Sasuke and Sakura. I won't go into much detail, but Sarada, after
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looking at a picture of Karin, went on a quest to find out who her real mother is. The whole premise sounds like one of those cheap soap operas which your grandma probably watches.
The art style is okay, there's nothing bad about it, and there's nothing too exceptional about it either, so there's no point writing much about it.
As for the characters, they haven't changed much. Naruto is still the usual idiot, Sakura is still rages about everything and Sasuke manages to become even more unlikable. The new character, Sarada, has all the bad personality traits of her father: she is insecure, and looks like she'll decide to "destroy Konoha" every minute. As for the villains, Kishimoto has chosen to create some new ones. However, due to his limited creativity, they are (spoiler) still related to the Uchiha clan, even though there are countless other villages and families to choose from. Anyway, the goals of the main villain are stupid, and they are overall very forgettable.
After the Pain arc, my enjoyment of "Naruto" has fallen more and more after each chapter. I thought this manga would capture once again the spirit of the beginning of "Naruto", but at this point, it is so bad that it becomes funny.
Overall, after having read 9 chapters, I'll rate this manga a 4/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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