Currently Watching Anime (December 2012)

This past month has been absolutely hectic with finals finishing up. Not only did they mess up my anime posts but also my life in general. I have had barely any time to work on music, play TOR, or even hang out friends -___-. But hey with 5 weeks off from classes coming up I cannot complain. Here is what I am watching at the moment:

Initial D Fifth Stage 2 out of ?
Little Busters! 10 out of ?
To Love-Ru: Darkness 9 out of ?
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun 11 out of ?
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo 12 out of ?
Sword Art Online 24 out of ? Finished!!!
Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne 12 out of ? Finished!!!
Kamisama Hajimemashita 6 out of ? Stalled
K 1 out of ? Stalled
Haiyore! Nyaruko-san 1 out of ? Stalled

Sword Art Online is starting to get a little...ehhh along with Little Busters. I have still yet to know what the main focus of Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankeinai yo ne is and where the hell did Initial D Fifth Stage go!!?? Oh by the way Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo are amazing so go watch them now.

"Kamisama Hajimemashita" (Anime) Dropped -__-

What started as an enjoyable experience has unfortunately sizzled out into something that is hard for me to explain. My initial experiences with Kamisama Hajimemashita were all very positive. I really liked the main character Nanami because she was placed into hardships that she had to overcome. Even though things seemed bleak, she trucked through every situation that arose. The animation was unique and colorful with some impressive lighting throughout every episode. What I think really let me down and eventually started to hinder my experience was what I feared in the beginning; it’s a shoujo. These types of shows are aimed for young women and after a couple episodes of men (weird looking pretty boys with no real noteworthy personality and/or goals) fighting over her, I soon became incredibly bored. Every episode seemed to tack on another person trying to either steal Nanami away because of her powers or to tick Tomoe off. There really wasn’t any thought provoking plot that was driving the show; just some amazing looking visuals. I honestly wanted to bite the bullet and just finish the show for the sake of not quitting but it just got to a point where I just couldn’t do it anymore. I feel as if you really must like the male leads and the whole triangle of love crap going on to even remotely like this show. I will probably finish the show sometime in the future just so I can give it a full review but for now this show equals what Tari Tari was last season; a complete bore.

"Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun" (Anime) Episodes 2-9 Thoughts

At the beginning of this current anime season, one of the two shows that I ended up choosing to follow was Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. I had read the first couple chapters of the manga and formulated the opinion that it was not going to be a generic high school romance. In fact, little did I realize that the female lead in this show would soon become one of my all-time favorites.

So I’m not going to spend a lot of time going over what happens in the first couple episodes. A quick rundown is that the story revolves around Shizuku who unknowingly becomes attached to Haru who is a delinquent on the outside but actually a very intelligent and caring person on the inside. Shizuku has spent almost her entire life only worrying about results and grades. She spends almost all of her free time either studying or helping out in her father’s shop. What surprised me initially was how strong of a female lead Shizuku is. Most people are going to come to the conclusion that she is a heartless b!#ch that plays with Haru’s heart but in reality there is much more going on in her inner struggle. When you are placed into a situation with no bearings or knowledge of how to proceed, you make mistakes and in this show you will see both Haru and Shizuki make many mistakes. What the premise of the show has provided is Shizuku’s inner struggle to deal with her feelings towards Haru. In the beginning she thinks of Haru as being a bother and a nuisance but as the two become closer, she starts to realize her true feelings for him and ends up struggling to deal with them especially since they start to get in the way of her studies. You might think that this is a completely ludicrous and stupid thing to struggle over but to Shizuku she has never dealt with such a situation. She is used to having control and strategic planning in her life. As soon as Haru came into the picture, everything changed. She made new friends such as the internet dweller Asako, the calm and collective Souhei, and the smart yet mischievous Kenji. These characters offer up some pretty enjoyable character interactions that help show how both Shizuku and Haru mature.

Shizuku is not the only character in this anime that is having trouble with his/her inner self. Haru has a troubled past and he has almost no hold on his aggressiveness. He is constantly getting into confrontations over meaningless issues. Between Haru’s temper and Shizuku’s inability to think properly, these two are perfect for each other. The chemistry between the two is a little too hard to overlook even if you don’t want to see it. Haru is madly in love with Shizuku and while she wants to believe that she has control of the situation, she is also hopelessly head over heels for Haru. To see how things progress between the two, for better or worse is very fun to watch. This is not Kimi ni Todoke; everything does not seem happy and perfect all the time for the two lovers. There are fights (both vocal and physical) and misunderstandings at very key points that make you think that the relationship won’t last. This makes the romance seem real and not part of some fantasy world where everything is always positive and works out in the end.

Over on the animation and sound side, it works. It's nothing over the top for a 2012 anime but it isn't hindering or lacking either. The character models are drawn very well and the moving shots flow nicely. Also during the comedic scenes, the animation switches to a very basic style with plain faces and models to show the silliness and humor. It is done fairly well and usually adds to the overall enjoyment of those particular scenes. Sound wise the voice actors are very good at driving the emotional scenes making them very believable. The background music is nothing fancy but it does an adequate job setting the mood for each scene. 

Overall, this anime feels like a real world situation between two very dysfunctional members of society. The characters are the furthest thing from generic especially Haru and Shizuku. There are some very tense moments along with some “Oh my god I cannot believe he did that. How is he not embarrassed?” lovey dovey moments. If you are looking for a well written show about a realistic romance, I recommend you pick this up. I completely dread having to wait each week for the new episode to come out; the wait absolutely kills me -___-.

Cutest couple ever :D

"Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo" Thoughts So Far (Episodes 1-8)

Before this current anime season kicked off, my first glances at the synopsis’s of the shows were actually kind of negative. The only shows that struck me as something to watch out for was Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun and the continuation of Sword Art Online. Everything else looked like it would be generic, stale, and boring. Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo in particular was a show that early on I decided to not watch due to my initial thoughts. However after some time passed, I began reading all over the internet how the quirky and likeable cast along with the beautiful visuals was turning Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo into one of the must watch shows. Seeing how I was already caught up on my other anime, I decided to add Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo to my regular watching schedule.

The first episodes are no different than any other slice of life type show; we spend most of the time introducing all the major characters that we will see interact with each other for the coming episodes. The main focus of the show is put on Sorata and his every day teenage struggles. Kanda is portrayed as a typical high school boy who has no idea what his ambitions might be. To make this worse, the dormitory he lives in is full of other teenagers that are all very well known in their field of choice. We have the computer genius Ryuunosuke (not the murder crazy guy from Fate/Zero), anime creator Misaki, writer Jin, and world renowned artist Mashiro. All of these characters have unusually remarkable talents and have already secured their place in society well after they graduate high school. This is one thing that I like about the show, it is very easy to connect and be brought down to Sorata’s level of understanding. He was just like I was in high school, absolutely clueless on what I wanted to take up as a trade. To make things worse all of his roommates are a little off (you know, weird). Misaki and Mashiro are a little too comfortable with themselves (or maybe just oblivious to modern society’s rules) so they walk about almost stark naked and Jin spends his nights with multiple mistresses. This is where the show puts it main focus on for the first six or so episodes; trying to get Sorata out of this building. The only reason he remains living in the building is because of the cats that he has picked up around town. The dormitory on campus does not allow pets so over the course of the first couple episodes he tries to find homes for his pets. Nanami, a work-a-holic who has a crush on Sorata, eventually helps Sorata start looking for homes for the cats because she feels that ever second he spends living around the rest of the cast is more time for him to become just as weird as them. Everything was going as planned until Sorata became exposed to Mashiro. Mashiro like I stated before is a child prodigy when it comes to art. While she is extremely skilled in drawing, she lacks all the common sense that a high school girl should have. Sorata finds himself preparing her laundry, meals, and pretty much everything else you can think of. This is the real focus of the show; the growing bond between Sorata and Mashiro. Sorata at first resents Mashiro due to the fact that she can pretty much do anything she puts her mind towards with little to no effort. Over the course of a couple episodes however, he finds that this resentment is actually admiration in disguise. He begins to become more and more interested in Mashiro to a point where he actually does not mind living with a bunch of weirdoes. He also in the process picks up computer game designing as a possible profession thanks to some help from Ryuunosuke.

That lengthy summary basically catches you up to speed on what is going on. After these past eight episodes, I feel very connected and attracted to the show. I actually want to see how things develop between Sorata and Mashiro but at the same time I also want to see something flourish between Sorata and Nanami. Also it’s not only the character development that has me hooked but the visuals the show sports. Everything is very bright, colorful, and defined. You might find this a little weird but I love the way the eyes are drawn in this show. They are very inviting and match very well with the character’s facial expressions. When they become surprised, you see the eyes contract in unison with the facial expressions. All of the characters are stunning in their own ways and this is quantified by the voice actors’ performances.

Each character’s voice actor seems to match their respective character very well. They are able to express their character's emotions very well as shown in many scenes such as when Misaki has a mini breakdown when seeing Jin and Mashiro having their date.

This show doesn’t feel fake or generic at all and in fact feels strangely mature for a slice of life high school anime. Sorata deals with real problems that kids his age have to face. Figuring out what you want to do in life is extremely hard for most of us. I was hooked on this show after episode four and wish in a weird way I didn’t pick it up until it finished airing. Every week I strain myself waiting for the next episode to come out. If you are looking for a relaxed yet somewhat deep slice of life show to watch, I strongly recommend Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo to you. It definitely caught me off guard and blew away my expectations. 

Winter Season Update

I'm not really sure if I have any returning "fans" or readers but the past couple weeks have been extremely busy with school, music, and job searching getting in the way so my posts have suffered. I have been keeping up with my watching schedule but I have been quite lazy in jotting down my ideas. Look for some posts on Sword Art Online, To Love-Ru: Darkness, Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, Little Busters, and possibly a review of Otome Youkai Zakuro this weekend.

P.S.: Finals suck -___-

"Sword Art Online" (Anime) Episodes 18-20 Thoughts

Since my last post of Sword Art Online, Lyfa and Kirito have made their way closer to the world tree and even saved an entire race from total destruction. Compared to what I remember reading in the light novel version, I honestly have to say it has been very accurate. Since we last left off, Lyfa and Kirito ventured into the mountain range that was placed in their way. Inside the mountain is a safe town for travelers as well as their log off destination. On the way however they find out they are being tracked. When the enemies catch up, there is an all-out brawl between the two groups and of course Kiritio’s group comes out victorious. After befriending one of the enemies, they find out that the Salamanders plan on attacking two of the other factions at a treaty convention in order to gain more power. After hearing about this, the two protagonists race off in order to cut off the forces. A spectacular fight erupts between Kirito and the caption of the attacking force and of course Kirito comes out the winner. 

So essentially we are getting to the real meat of this story arc. In the light novel series, Kirito and Lyfa make it to the World Tree fairly quickly after this event so I do not know if A-1 Pictures plans on adding some filler episodes (please god do not). Also I won’t spoil anything but a major event does happen between Lyfa and Kirito that may or may not change some things. The animation has remained stunning; the fight scenes in these past few episodes have been fantastic. The quality of the lighting, the very fluid frame rate, and very beautiful backgrounds really bring out the best of this new MMO world. When I was reading this arc in the light novel series, I picture a similar setting for this town inside the mountain with the surrounding lake. The music fits well but it hasn’t been spectacular by any means. Props to the voice actors though because every new character introduced has done a pretty good job expressing their character very well. Things are about to speed up in the episodes to come so I will be looking forward to the events to come. I may even go back and start re-reading the light novel series just so I can picture the events from two different sources.

"Katanagatari" Anime Review

Katanagatari is an anime that I have had to watch a couple times in order to fully pull my thoughts together. The first time I watched it I was very interested in the relationship between Shichika and Togame but the ending left a very bad taste in my mouth. After recently finishing it for the third time however, I have a revitalized liking to the show because after carefully deducting the plot, I am at peace with the ending.

Story: 8.8/10

A basic run down of the plot is that Togame (a self-proclaimed strategist) travels to hire Shichika in order to help her collect the twelve deviant blades that were left behind in the previous war. Unlike typical anime that have a runtime of around twenty minutes per episode, Katanagatari runs about fifty minutes per episode. When it first started airing, it only provided one episode per month so this pacing really made it a unique experience that both worked well and hindered the plot and sequence of events. Just a fair warning if you do not like excessive dialogue and the typical “I’m going to name all my attacks and tell you exactly what is on my mind at all times” speeches then steer far away from this anime. The very clever and witty dialogue between all the characters never gets boring or excessive in my opinion but to someone who is used to watching very cut up and short scenes, they might begin to lose focus. Everything about this anime feels like it’s continuously flowing on and never stopping or backtracking. Also the way each episode feels like a self-contained story focusing on one sword per episode is an example of how the runtime helped the anime feel more enjoyable. With all that screen time however there are some issues that affected me personally. While most of the dialogue is enjoyable and relevant to the story, in the earlier episodes there is quite a lot of rambling that honestly I think was put in to fill up some time. Also the real eureka moment where everything falls into place and you receive all the pieces of the puzzle doesn’t start formulating until around the ninth or so episode so while the earlier on episodes are entertaining on their own, I felt a little left out of the picture. These two negatives are the only reason I gave this anime less than a ten on the story section; it is a very well written story that’s ending will pull on your heart strings and also feel very rewarding for sitting through.

Animation: 8.7/10

A first glance at the animation will make you think it looks “cheap” and “plain” and you are completely right in a sense. The animation style is very simplistic but yet at the same time very unique and beautiful. The backgrounds, character models, and fight scenes are all very quality work. It is also apparent that as the show progresses, the animation quality does in tandem. It still retains its style and presence but we see better reflections, more color depth, and much more fluid fight scenes. Each character we run into looks very refined and unique. The anime tradition of including obscure camera angles of certain lady parts comes into play in the later episodes but it is by no means ecchi. Overall it starts out a very unique looking anime and by the last episode, it blossomed into a truly beautiful work of art. It’s just too hard to score it higher when compared to other great looking anime (Fate/Zero, Nisemonogatari, Redline, ext).

Sound: 9/10

I have to say that from a total music geek’s perspective, Katanagatari COMPLETELY caught me off guard. While most people will watch this anime and not really notice the score backing the show, it was very apparent to me from the beginning that the music not only set the moods perfectly but also as standalone musical tracks sounded great. The anime offers a very diverse offering of music ranging from pop and synth heavy parts to some of the best orchestral arrangements I have heard in a show. The music in the last episode really impressed me to a point that during my previous watch I grabbed my guitar and starting playing while watching the show. Not only is the music well done but also the voice acting of the Japanese staff. Since this anime relies on long drawn out conversations as a means to introduce different plot devices, it is very key to have voice actors that can bring out their character’s personalities and quirks. Each character in this anime was voiced very well and was distinctive from everyone else. I felt like this show really nailed all the acoustical elements needed for any form of film.

Characters: 8.2/10

For a show that introduces a lot of characters, I felt as if most of them were given ample amounts of time to have decent character development presented. There were essentially three “factions” in this anime; Togame and Shichika, the Maniwa Corps (a faction of ninja that broke away from the government), and Princess Hitei and her servant Emonzaemon (there is also another character that acts on his/her own accord but I don't want to ruin the surprise). All three of these groups play major roles of who controls what swords and information. While some of their intentions are not shown until very late into the show, you could honestly side with any of them. There really wasn’t a “bad guy” presented until the very late stages of the show. Each group had rational reasoning for their actions so you felt more inclined to their cause. Another thing that I really like about the characters in this anime was how the Maniwa Corps was represented by different animals. Each member was symbolized by a different animal and their techniques mostly resembled their animal counterpart. Overall each main character performed very well and had a lasting impression on me. There were however some characters (mostly the Maniwa Corps members that had almost no screen time and a couple of the sword owners) that really did nothing for me. They just had no awe inspiring personality and in some cases were left out almost completely. One BIG example was the swordsmen Hakuhei Sabi who took the sword made out of glass. His character was described in such a way that made him sound like the most badass sword fighting character in recent anime history and when the episode came that they would fight him, I was completely stoked...except that they didn’t show it AT ALL. So that I don’t want to spoil what really happened during that episode but as for the fight between Shichika and Hakuhei, they just skip over it entirely and in the final minutes of that particular episode they briefly go over the fight and just say how close and amazing it was. But they never show it; it really pissed me off.

Overall: 8.7/10

This show has gotten to a point where when new anime watchers ask what they should dive into first, I usually recommend this one first. It is just such a unique watching experience that I have never felt before. While I wish the plot was more prominent in the beginning and that some of the characters were explored a little more, this anime did more than offer an interesting adventure; it crafted a unique tale that had the best sense of growth that I have seen in recent anime. The ending ties up a very interesting plot that honestly caught me off guard. This anime has all the action, fighting, and beautiful set pieces you would expect from a high quality studio that made other great anime such as Steins;Gate. White Fox did an amazing job and I hope one day you will take the time to watch these brilliant twelve one hour episodes.