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Mar 28, 2013
Now it might sound very cliché that these two teenagers are on a travel to save the world, but luckily the series does it very well in that regard.
I can start of mentioning the two lesser good things about Zetusen no Tempest:
1. Fuwa Mahiro. One of the main protagonists. At times, he can be too much of a hot-blooded shounen character. Rushes straight into matters with simple and brute solutions, fueled by the emotion of revenge. While this is a good counterpart to the other protagonist and his friend, the intelligent and methodical Takigawa Yoshino, Mahiro's personality can be a bit clichéd and predictable at
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times, but he also has his good moments.
2. The first few episodes. While I never got a feeling that the pacing of the these first episodes was never rushed, the plot progressed kinda slow. It's not a big issue, but I feel like there could be a slight improvement here. However, this allowed more time to get to know the characters and the situation of the world. It just would be swell if there was a perfect balance between the amount of exposition and plot progression. But after those few episodes, things start to heat up pretty fast!
Now for the good stuff:
- Story: As already mentioned, the whole teenagers-out-to-save-the-world-thing is old as hell, but the way it was executed was rather surprising and unconventional in a good way. You know those typical solutions of typical shounen characters? The ones where they pull a superpower or something similar out of their asses and suddenly the problem is solved? Well, nothing of that here! Here we actually have characters that fight equally with superpowers and words. While the action parts can be entertaining to watch, it is the clever fights with words that steal the show. Words that are carefully crafted with logic, reasoning and lies can even have the power to the turn the tide of a conflict. That itself is something few animes (and far less in shounen animes) can do well, and well Zetsuen no Tempest does.
- Art: I dare say that the art surpassed the manga version. It has a lot cleaner look and emphasized the characters' personalities better than in the manga. Seeing how the drawer for the manga was responsible for the character design of the anime, it isn't too odd, really. Luckily, the production value of this part is a lot higher than your average shounen anime. And for that, I am glad, for Zetusen no Tempest truly deserves it. As far I noticed, there were no cheap shortcuts for the animation and such. The series has a quality feel to it.
- Sound: The music. Without a doubt, the most surprising part of the anime. Here I was expecting somewhat generic music to accompagny the art and story. But boy, was I wrong. The exception is the first opening song. While it isn't necessary a bad song on its own, but it doesn't match too well of the tone of the anime. My favorite track of Zetsuen no Tempest is without the second opening song ("Daisuki na no ni" by Kylee). It's a catchy and beautiful song with lyrics that fit with the show. Other than that, the show has music that fits with the mood, created with real instruments rather than computer-generated. It really helps set the mood of the moments of the show.
- Characters: I already mentioned the bad things about Fuwa Mahiro, so I'll let that be. But the real star of the show is his friend Takigawa Yoshino. Even just a high-schooler, he is a rather intelligent individual that would rather fight with words and wit than brawn and might. Overall a cool and composed character that is hard to not like. The other characters can be a hit or miss. Just about all characters you meet, are in some way used in future episodes and not just "thrown away" like they tend to do in other shounen series. However, some of them don't add too much than other characters. This is more of a nitpick from my side.
So overall, a great series. Too bad the anime didn't cover the epilogue that the manga had. Let's hope they produce this if many enough people enjoy the show! ^^
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 22, 2010
This anime adaptation is a fucking disgrace to the manga.
I have followed the manga since its very start and have enjoyed it very much. I'll stretch out as far as saying it is a masterpiece, ranking as one of my favorite mangas of all time. Then there is the anime.
As you have already noticed, I'm already annoyed how the anime turned out. I'm gonna rip and analyze one point of the time, and we're gonna start straight on...
Keima: This is the main character. He is, as the title implies, a God. The God of Galge Gaming, or that's at least what he should be. In
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the manga, he was bitchin' cold to everyone else and showed no interests for real girls. Because 2D-girls was his thing, due to his world consisting ONLY of galges. So when he got forced by Else to do all the captures, he simply accomplished his tasks and moved straight back to his galge gaming. He was asocial. The forced tasks were simply business with no personal emotions attached. This made him cool, or perhaps even godlike because he was unlike any other spineless romance comedy main characters. This coolness aura was completely swiped away when he fucking BLUSHED IN THE VERY FIRST EPISODE OF THE ANIME. That might sound trivial to you, but that single element alone killed his cool personality. He was reduced to yet another one of the countless male main characters in comedy romances who blush by every little thing the girls say. He was made weak, and it ticked me off. And also, it doesn't help when he has the voice which sounds like every other pussy male main character in comedy romances. By the way he acted in the manga, which is in a godlike, intelligent way, he should have gotten a voice that corresponded to those characteristics. Maybe something like Lelouch (that's not a perfect match, but you get the idea). But back to the blushing. Keima blushed for the first time far into the manga, and that signaled a character development. But since he blushed in the very first episode, he would receive zero character development. Luckily, he wasn't totally stripped of his personality. One example of that is that he is still gaming most of his time in the anime. But that alone isn't very redeeming.
Fillers: Really? They had 12 episodes to go on and they dared to use three episodes for fillers. That's just a fuckin' waste when you have shitloads of chapters to use from the manga. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE AN ENTIRE EPISODE DEDICATED TO ELSIE. GOD. And if that wasn't enough, some of the episodes with content from the manga were unnecessarily stretched out, like the Kanon-arc. You know what? In the first chapter of the manga, the first girl Ayumi, kissed Keima of her own will. But in the anime, they fuckin' "accidently" fell down the stairs and that resulted in a kiss. That is one of the very many cliches the mangaka wanted to avoid, and here it is in the anime. I suspect that all these decisions on fillers, whether on a smaller or bigger scale, were aimed to please a specific crowd of the audience. And for that, I hate.
Voices and sound: I've already ranted on Keima's voice, so we'll leave that be. However, all the other voices were as I had imagined in the manga, or at least approximately, so that was good. I wasn't too fond of the OP, though. I applaud for making it different than your average comedy romance OPs. I liked the ED more, as it was imaginitive and colorful.
Other than that, they followed the story fairly decent. In general, I liked the animation and the colors the studio went for.
SUMMARY: Fillers, fillers everywhere. Okay, not everywhere, but I had to pull that meme out. Keima was the pillar of the series, and because his personality got butchered, the anime fell apart. Go read the manga. It's so much better.
PS: If you want to dislike my review or whatever, give me constructive critisicm on my page.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 5, 2009
Wow, I just had to plow through all the 27 chapters in one sitting because I found it so enjoyable. ^^ I mean, damn, just imagine the whole manga-resque plot taking place in real-life? Because that's what exactly happened, which just makes the manga even more involving and entertaining. The thing is that half of the vibes you get from reading the manga, is based on this, which not necessarily is a bad thing. I feel like if I didn't know it was based on a true story, the plot would be weaker, yet still a bit original and decent. But like any other adaption
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of a true story, there were probably artistic and plot-wise decisions that were made in order to give the manga a better entertainment factor. Again, nothing wrong with that.
The remaining vibes lie within the characters. We have your stereotype otaku who knows shit about girls and is shy around them (Otakus: Sorry if I got my impressions wrong, but I blame manga and anime for that, haha), who fortunately get a little character development with the help of his "fans" who follow his progress in his thread. And it is these "fans" that kinda steal the show. It's so entertaining to watch them to sway along with the protagonist's feelings, give him advice, cheer him on; just eagerly following his progress on the path to winning the lady's heart. It gets even better to see the faces of the posters themselves instead of just reading their replies consisting of only letters. They're really supportive and you can really catch onto that, which makes it easy for you to also root for the protagonist's success.
The art style is old, but there's nothing bad with that. Actually, somehow, at least for me, it gives off a certain charm to the whole story, which is quite fitting.
So if you have like an hour or so to spare and want to read a short romance manga, Densha Otoko is your choice. You won't regret it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 3, 2009
Two words: Illegal chocolate. So yeah.
(CHOCOLATE? DID YOU SAY CHOCOLATE? CHOCOLAAAAAAAAATE!)
If you don't know what the fuck I was going about just now, you can just ignore that inside joke.
First of all, there's not a lot to say about this anime, which is not a bad thing since every episode lasts like less than five minutes each. With that given, there's next to little character development, which is fine really. It's a comfortable anime that you can just watch without thinking so much. How the plot progresses has already been taken care of the previous reviewers, so I'll leave it at that, because I have
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about the same opinions. It's interesting in an odd and good way, though.
The anime may not last so long, but you'll most likely get much joy from so little screen time. And if you don't like the first few episodes, at least you wouldn't have wasted too much time. So check it out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Sep 3, 2009
This is without a doubt the anime's Chuck Norris. Hands down.
The anime world already have plenty of series that involve assassins. Golgo 13 is one of them and stands out. The story consists of a new arc per episode, which can be a good or a bad thing: The good thing is that you get variation, in terms of new interesting characters and new settings. Golgo can use everything from a pistol to more badass weapons which I will let you experience yourself. It's pretty nice going from environments such as cities to jungles, watching Golgo smack some real pwnage into his targets. The bad
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thing is that there are no real plot; no red thread that follows through the series, which for some can cause an inconsistency. There are some episodes that can be linked together very loosely, but other than that, you're in for a spin of standalone moments of deadly Golgo-ownage. Just don't expect Golgo to have character development. He's just living to kill for money.
The plot in each arc tend to be targets that Golgo has been assigned to kill. The cool thing about this series, is how they are performed. It's not just the matter of just pulling the trigger for him. He also needs to perfect conditions as in finding good spots to assassinate from, reconnaissance and such small things that make the series so awesome. He might even be the hunted sometimes, which is a good slice of variation. You can't go wrong with a smart, silent and a badass assassin, right?
The art may be rough for some, but it suits pretty well for me, due to the themes that the show represents. You get Golgo, a lots of guns, badguys and sea altogether, which I believe the rough style is quite fitting. I can't get enough of Golgo's look that can kill, haha. The sound is pretty nice too, with the OD sticking out. It's just as badass (I believe I've used that word too much now, but for all the good reasons) as Golgo. The ED doesn't stick out for me so much apart from the ladies, haha.
I absolutely recommend this series, as long you don't mind the standalone arcs. Too bad the sub-groups are taking their time on the episodes, though. If you guys are reading this, I thank you for taking time to sub this badass anime.
PS: Don't walk behind Golgo if you value your life.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 30, 2009
Mod Edit: This review may contain spoilers.
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Shit, where do I start, man. Well, here's the thing: I've been watching anime for over five years, which means that I've seen several romance/harem series (everything from Maison Ikkoku to Love Hina). Most of them have the same traits, but in order to poke out a bit from each other, they'll have to be in different settings. The question is if it's different and well enough executed in a fashion that captivates the viewer. And I'll let it out straightaway: Princess Lover fails epicly at that. By looking at the title, you know that you're already fucked:
Uh, so
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the main character, Arima is going to succeed Arima Group Corporation, and by the sounds of it, it looks like it's like the biggest company in the world. And who's gonna take over it in near future? A teenager that knows shit about business. Who in the world would give away such a big responsibility to a relative they barely knew just like that? I can go on and on about this plot convenience, but hey, I'll spare you for that.
Because succeeding the corporation is just a lame excuse to enter a rich girls' school (okey, there are also boys there, but we barely get to see them). And of course, who do we meet there? It's the pink-haired girl whom he saved and his fiancee. And to answer your question straightaway: Yes, they do have big breasts. And yes, the pink-haired girl hugs Arima all the time with her gonzanga breasts. She's your typical cheery girl with a cheery voice with a hand that likes to wave awfully a lot. And the fiancee? She's your typical, somewhat-shy girl who speaks little. And when she does speak, she speaks kinda without emotions. She has coincidentally fencing as a hobby, which coincidentally matches with Arima's kendo, so they have by chance some common ground, I guess. With other words, we've seen these type of personalities before. A lot. So what personality are we missing now? Tsundere? And yes, there is a tsundere girl in the series. You'll know it straightaway when she pops up for the first time (hint: she has a slightly annoying/whiny voice, which all tsunderes have, so I guess that's alright). Did I mention that we also have a big-breasted maid? The anime industry sure knows what we like. And Arima Teppei is your average male main character.
And that's not the best part yet (and by that, I mean the worst). The thing is with harem series, is that the plot can't be all fluffy and boobilicious all the time; it also needs some drama. Without telling too much: It's fucking ridiculous when you get to it. If you by any chance come to episode 7 or 8 (I don't quite remember which one), you're gonna have a fuckin' laugh. I swear, the plot progression from there might be the most retarded one in harem anime history. It's clearly not to be taken seriously. I don't know, but I sure facepalmed a lot during that particular episode. And by of what I've heard; the series is based off of an H-game, so that kind of sucky plot is expected, I guess.
Is there anything good in Princess Lover? The art is decent and not ugly to look at. The animation is standard, but not bad. And if you're looking for ecchi-ness, you've found it. A lot of booooobies. *coughEDcough* The music is not memorable at all; it's just generic. Visually speaking, the opening was pleasing to look at. In fact, I remember the breasts more than the music itself. And btw, Arima Isshin's voice is so badass (Wakamoto Norio is badass after all).
So unless you enjoy torturing yourself or your friends, avoid Princess Lover at all cost. I fuckin' used 160 minutes of my life saving your eyes. At least the show wasn't as bad as Koi Koi Seven. If you wanna see only big breasts and ecchi-ness, then there's actually better shows for that, like "He is my Master!". If you're looking for a good romance/harem anime, then go watch "Ichigo 100%" (the manga is better, though), "True Tears", "Lovely Complex" or "ef - a tale of memories".
YOU OWE ME YOUR LIFE.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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