Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin, the first thought that occurred to me after watching the first few episodes were: ‘why had I not watched this earlier?’ This anime just exudes quality, whether in terms of story or the characters. There is an overarching theme of what friendship really is and what it means to form close bonds with people. It also takes quite a realistic approach to what life is really like, unlike the typical fluffy slice of life anime. Note that there are very minor spoilers in this review to explain better in what I am trying to get across.
Backtracking a bit, the anime
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is split into two parts, first it takes place mainly in the Shonan Special reform school in the year 1995. Actually more than a reform school it feels more like a prison. This is especially emphasized by just all the ‘grey’ you see everywhere. And I don’t just mean the colour in the literal sense. I mean also the whole vibe and atmosphere just feels so dark and lifeless. Not at all a good environment for the people that are spending part of their lives there. This may be mainly due to harsh conditions, such as being abused constantly with no luxuries, unless they are obtained in ‘special’ ways. There is also a lot of corruption going on under the covers.
We are introduced to seven main characters, in which they all have a very important role in the story. They are never really referred to their real names much and are called Mario, Cabbage, Soldier, Turtle, Uncovered, and Joe. The nicknames suit them very well, whether it may be because of their appearance, or the personality they come with. Each of them might share a few similarities, such as the reason why they ended up in the reform school in the first place, but their personalities are essentially very different. Then there is Rokurouta Sakuragi, referred to as ‘aniki’ by these young men. If I could describe him in one word, it would be ‘charisma.’ He looks and acts a lot more mature for his age. He is highly respected by the other six, though it might not have been like that in the beginning.
The second half of the series shows more of their daily lives. Though the tones may feel a lot different to the first half, it is by no means ‘bad’, just different and quite necessary for the story. It reveals that life is not just sunshine and rainbows, and that not everything works out as the characters as well as we, want it all the time. A lot of the times a lot of time and effort is required to achieve your dreams. There are the good moments, and the bad moments. There may be moments when the relationship between people may become stale, and they then have to work together to mend it. Real life events such as the after effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima are also integrated as part of the story, which is a nice touch and more relatable as well.
If I had to point out the flaws of this anime, it would be the characters, in which is not a bad thing at all. This anime does not bother to beat around the bush and try to hide the fact that the characters are essentially flawed, whether it may be the things they did in the past or the very dumb mistakes some of them make even in the present time. I mean borrowing your friend’s money and saying it was for textbooks and instead spending it on a prostitute cannot really be justified. Which is actually a great, refreshing approach and very much often a lot of anime would not dare to go into that kind of territory. Each of the characters are not just glossed over and idealized, they actually seem a lot like real people you would meet in real life. Whether they may be crude, rude or has had led a very messed up life, all of them have some sort of trouble they have had to, and still do need, to resolve. Each of the characters back story is revealed at different times in just the right moments, and does not feel forced at all. The anime excels at bringing out emotional moments that may be at times heart-warming, or just plain heart-wrenchingly painful.
Animation and character designs are on point. The animation is fluid and has moments there are still frames that looks like a sketch. That may not be a good thing for some series, but for Rainbow it’s a nice touch and the artwork suits the atmosphere of the series. Another thing to note is the amount of narration that accompanies this series. Though the series could stand by itself without it, it explains and makes things a bit clearer to get the full effect of the events that occur.
As for the ost, though it may not be the best I’ve heard, it does its job. The one thing that did stand out the most though was the opening theme. ‘We are not alone’ by Coldrain, an ‘Engrish’ song with lyrics and sound that was extremely impactful and memorable. Probably went down as one of my top opening themes of all time. ‘If there's a place inside this world, Where hopes and dreams are not yet lost, We'll stand and fight against these walls, We'll fight this fight forevermore’, these lyrics are so suitable to the anime, and it sounds great too.
Well to sum up this review, overall I felt it was great, it succeeded in bringing the right emotions out of me, it felt sad when it was supposed to feel sad and happy in the light hearted moments.
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Feb 16, 2015
Rainbow: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin, the first thought that occurred to me after watching the first few episodes were: ‘why had I not watched this earlier?’ This anime just exudes quality, whether in terms of story or the characters. There is an overarching theme of what friendship really is and what it means to form close bonds with people. It also takes quite a realistic approach to what life is really like, unlike the typical fluffy slice of life anime. Note that there are very minor spoilers in this review to explain better in what I am trying to get across.
Backtracking a bit, the anime ... 
Feb 14, 2015
This anime is one of the few rare decent reverse harem anime that exist. The fact that it was based on real life events may not seem original but it interprets them in its own way with supernatural twists added to it. I have not played the game, but as an anime only watcher I found it could be a standalone anime adaptation. The events that happened made sense to me and there is sufficient explanation of why certain events took place.
The plot progression is at first quite slow, but it is understandable to take some time for world building and understanding the characters ... 
Feb 14, 2015
Tokyo Ghoul
(Manga)
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At first this manga might not have the most original concept or story. However, the way in which it is executed is excellent. There are no such things as 'black and white' in this manga.
Each important character has proper development and significance to the story, and none of them are there just for the sake of them being there, nor are they useless. The characters have realistic personalities, and none of them are just 'good' or 'bad'. Each character is well developed and continue to develop and none of them are completely innocent just like how it is in real life. I appreciated the fact ... |
