Animefreak17
Godhand
yes it is good
Rate the last anime you watched out of 10
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Animefreak17
Godhand
sakura wars France
5/10 boring
5/10 boring
Animefreak17
Godhand
no its sakura wars in france and it like its series is boring.... well not all but mostly
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
I'm surprised we haven't had this thread remade yet.
Post your anime ratings and reviews here!
Post your anime ratings and reviews here!
thedoctor2016
Mushi-shi
JJBA SC
amazing simply amazing, I would have liked the battles to be longer in part 1 however they did what I thought would be impossible and make Joseph a better character. Stands are way cooler than the ripple and DIO was amazing.
10/10
amazing simply amazing, I would have liked the battles to be longer in part 1 however they did what I thought would be impossible and make Joseph a better character. Stands are way cooler than the ripple and DIO was amazing.
10/10
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
The Pet Girl of Sakurasou
I know that I said the exact same thing when I wrote my short review of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom a little while ago, but I think that The Pet Girl of Sakurasou has very quickly usurped it to claim the title of the most underrated and underappreciated anime I've ever watched. At least Phantom I had heard of in passing a handful of times due to Gen Urobuchi's attachment, whereas Pet Girl I hadn't even heard of until I saw it in a Rightstuf sale. Considering the full 24 episode show was available for just $7, I honestly wasn't expecting much. The cover looked cute, so I thought it might be good for the cheap price for a few laughs if nothing else. What I really wasn't expecting, however, was to find the best romantic comedy anime since Toradora.
Honestly, it's rather hard to know even where to begin describing just how much I completely fell in love with this show. Every aspect of this show is just genuinely brilliant. I suppose the best place to being would be what is at the very core of the show, and that is it's characters. I think Pet Girl does something very impressive with it's small cast of characters in that it manages to straddle the line of making the majority of the characters characters seem quite abnormal and weird whilst also making them incredibly down to Earth and relatable. Pet Girl is about a group of high school students who live in Sakura Halls, a dorm for all the problem kids at the school, from the hyperactive genius Misaki Kamiigusa to Shiina Mashiro, an extremely talented artist who knows nothing but how to draw, including dressing herself. It really is a testament to how well written these characters are when there are characters such as Misaki and Mashiro which are incredibly unrelatable on a surface level but give them such realistic emotions that many people will be able to identify with. As well as being very relatable on an emotional level, these characters are also just very well written in general, with all of the main cast of characters having massive amounts of depth that also adds to just how real they all feel.
As well as having fantastic characters, the actual romance part of Pet Girl is also incredibly well done. The main romantic conflict here is between the protagonist, average high school student Sorata Kanda, the aforementioned Mashiro and Sorata's long time friend Aoyama Nanami. Now, in most romance shows such as this one, people will flock to pick a favourite who they want to win the lead's heart, a "best girl", I'm like this myself on most occasions, but Pet Girl defied this due to the sheer likability of both of the girls. I desperately wanted both girls to get to love Sorata, even though I knew that couldn't happen, which really left me feeling bittersweet by series end, something that no romance anime has made me feel up to this point. The other romance plot is that between the manic Misaki and her childhood friend and long time crush Jin Mitaka, a renown ladies man and playboy. This relationship is much more of an emotional rollercoaster having incredible highs as well as crushing lows and is probably the most complicated relationship in the show, and is really well executed, packing some huge emotional punches. Whilst it is about romance at it's heart, I find Pet Girl is also a great show about friendship. It spends a fair bit of time just developing the platonic relationships between the characters in their day to day lives, and this is highlighted in one of the most perfect scenes I've seen in any anime, which shows just how much love that all the residents of Sakura Halls have for each other and genuinely brought a tear to my eye.
On top of all the relationships, another subject that is broached to great effect is that of ambition. Every character in the show has an aim; something they're working towards and seeing their trials and tribulations in their various fields such as voice acting, game design and animation is certainly one of the most interesting aspects of the show. Unlike most typical anime, we actually see that life doesn't always go your way. Throughout Pet Girl, we see characters fail at their goals and get let down, not because they didn't work hard, quite the opposite in fact, but because sometimes, life's just like that. We don't always win. This is just yet another element that makes this anime totally stand out and feel unique, and makes for some incredible, if very sad, drama.
What initially caught my eye about The Pet Girl of Sakurasou and made me buy it in the first place was its art. Animated by J.C Staff, the studio behind, coincidentally enough, Toradora, the Raildex franchise, Azumanga Daioh and DanMachi, just to name a few, Pet Girl's animation is just simply wonderful. It has a ton of energy to it and uses plenty of bright, vibrant colours that really keep your attention and make it just a ton of fun to watch. I'd also be remiss for not mentioning Masahiro Fuji's incredible character design, which are some of the cutest looking characters out of any show I've watched.
If you have a modicum of interest in the romance genre, I urge you to check this show out. It's just brilliant from start to finish and I genuinely struggle to pick a single fault with it. More people deserve to know about this show because it is just utterly brilliant.
9/10
Blog Version
I know that I said the exact same thing when I wrote my short review of Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom a little while ago, but I think that The Pet Girl of Sakurasou has very quickly usurped it to claim the title of the most underrated and underappreciated anime I've ever watched. At least Phantom I had heard of in passing a handful of times due to Gen Urobuchi's attachment, whereas Pet Girl I hadn't even heard of until I saw it in a Rightstuf sale. Considering the full 24 episode show was available for just $7, I honestly wasn't expecting much. The cover looked cute, so I thought it might be good for the cheap price for a few laughs if nothing else. What I really wasn't expecting, however, was to find the best romantic comedy anime since Toradora.
Honestly, it's rather hard to know even where to begin describing just how much I completely fell in love with this show. Every aspect of this show is just genuinely brilliant. I suppose the best place to being would be what is at the very core of the show, and that is it's characters. I think Pet Girl does something very impressive with it's small cast of characters in that it manages to straddle the line of making the majority of the characters characters seem quite abnormal and weird whilst also making them incredibly down to Earth and relatable. Pet Girl is about a group of high school students who live in Sakura Halls, a dorm for all the problem kids at the school, from the hyperactive genius Misaki Kamiigusa to Shiina Mashiro, an extremely talented artist who knows nothing but how to draw, including dressing herself. It really is a testament to how well written these characters are when there are characters such as Misaki and Mashiro which are incredibly unrelatable on a surface level but give them such realistic emotions that many people will be able to identify with. As well as being very relatable on an emotional level, these characters are also just very well written in general, with all of the main cast of characters having massive amounts of depth that also adds to just how real they all feel.
As well as having fantastic characters, the actual romance part of Pet Girl is also incredibly well done. The main romantic conflict here is between the protagonist, average high school student Sorata Kanda, the aforementioned Mashiro and Sorata's long time friend Aoyama Nanami. Now, in most romance shows such as this one, people will flock to pick a favourite who they want to win the lead's heart, a "best girl", I'm like this myself on most occasions, but Pet Girl defied this due to the sheer likability of both of the girls. I desperately wanted both girls to get to love Sorata, even though I knew that couldn't happen, which really left me feeling bittersweet by series end, something that no romance anime has made me feel up to this point. The other romance plot is that between the manic Misaki and her childhood friend and long time crush Jin Mitaka, a renown ladies man and playboy. This relationship is much more of an emotional rollercoaster having incredible highs as well as crushing lows and is probably the most complicated relationship in the show, and is really well executed, packing some huge emotional punches. Whilst it is about romance at it's heart, I find Pet Girl is also a great show about friendship. It spends a fair bit of time just developing the platonic relationships between the characters in their day to day lives, and this is highlighted in one of the most perfect scenes I've seen in any anime, which shows just how much love that all the residents of Sakura Halls have for each other and genuinely brought a tear to my eye.
On top of all the relationships, another subject that is broached to great effect is that of ambition. Every character in the show has an aim; something they're working towards and seeing their trials and tribulations in their various fields such as voice acting, game design and animation is certainly one of the most interesting aspects of the show. Unlike most typical anime, we actually see that life doesn't always go your way. Throughout Pet Girl, we see characters fail at their goals and get let down, not because they didn't work hard, quite the opposite in fact, but because sometimes, life's just like that. We don't always win. This is just yet another element that makes this anime totally stand out and feel unique, and makes for some incredible, if very sad, drama.
What initially caught my eye about The Pet Girl of Sakurasou and made me buy it in the first place was its art. Animated by J.C Staff, the studio behind, coincidentally enough, Toradora, the Raildex franchise, Azumanga Daioh and DanMachi, just to name a few, Pet Girl's animation is just simply wonderful. It has a ton of energy to it and uses plenty of bright, vibrant colours that really keep your attention and make it just a ton of fun to watch. I'd also be remiss for not mentioning Masahiro Fuji's incredible character design, which are some of the cutest looking characters out of any show I've watched.
If you have a modicum of interest in the romance genre, I urge you to check this show out. It's just brilliant from start to finish and I genuinely struggle to pick a single fault with it. More people deserve to know about this show because it is just utterly brilliant.
9/10
Blog Version
IncendiaryLemon
Captain Karen
crashmatt said:
Yeah, it really is. Sadly, I don't think it ever will now, despite how great it is.
Lupin III: Part IV
Taking the Yamamoto/Koike strand out of the equation, I would stand by Part IV as a good show which is a big improvement on everything they've done with Lupin anime in the last fifteen years or so. Unfortunately, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine showed what the franchise could look like when allowed to take risks, and it's painfully obvious that was not something ever on the table here. It's a great looking series with some real stand out episodes, but we're not far enough removed from the tired old tv specials to really call it a classic.
Taking the Yamamoto/Koike strand out of the equation, I would stand by Part IV as a good show which is a big improvement on everything they've done with Lupin anime in the last fifteen years or so. Unfortunately, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine showed what the franchise could look like when allowed to take risks, and it's painfully obvious that was not something ever on the table here. It's a great looking series with some real stand out episodes, but we're not far enough removed from the tired old tv specials to really call it a classic.
qaiz
Pokémon Master
Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise: Review (1987, Film)
Breaking the concept of anime and doing away with old conventions, these are the foundations which gave birth to Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise. Released in 1987, debut of the legendary studio Gainax and the first foray into anime production for the Japanese toy giant Bandai, Royal Space Force has gone on to establish the way in which many anime series and films are created today, but almost 30 years ago a film such as this was thought of as inconceivable.
8/10
Breaking the concept of anime and doing away with old conventions, these are the foundations which gave birth to Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise. Released in 1987, debut of the legendary studio Gainax and the first foray into anime production for the Japanese toy giant Bandai, Royal Space Force has gone on to establish the way in which many anime series and films are created today, but almost 30 years ago a film such as this was thought of as inconceivable.
The Royal Space Force is a space program set on the fictional Kingdom of Honneamise which is where we meet the protagonist, Shirotsugh Lhadatt. Although the space program boasts a 30 year history it has yet to bear any fruits and has been rendered not only a joke among the people of Honneamise and a burden on the government itself. Even the cadets enrolled onto the space program itself have all but lost hope as they lounge around without purpose, drive or determination and as they do so the notion of getting anything into space at this point becomes ever more ludicrous. Furthermore, as an impending war looms over the nation the money being sunk into the Royal Space Force is seen as a waste of resources and causes upset among the people. Honneamise is a prosperous place, a kingdom amidst an industrial revolution but like many developing nations it’s clear that the distribution of wealth is uneven at best. It is here that Shirotsugh Lhadatt sees hope and optimism, among the people of Honneamise when he meets a young religious woman named Riquinni Nonderaiko and it is here where his destiny changes course.
Although the people behind The Wings of Honneamise are today seen as immensely talented individuals, at the time they were unknown quantities, amateurs fresh out of college and so the production of this now highly revered and respected film was seen as an impossible task because this wasn’t the way things operated back then, but this is far from the only breaking of old conventions. Many of the anime films from this period of time were not only based upon pre-existing properties, mainly compilations of TV series but also directed by people with extensive portfolios, factors that led credibility to the projects and instilled confidence into its investors. To create a wholly original film, to entrust eight hundred million Yen and launch your animation production initiative off the back of this unknown quantity is without a doubt a breaking of old ways. The parallels between the story of Wings of Honneamise and the team behind the film itself is evident, the unlikely tale of a group of geeks and nerds doing the impossible and defying all odds.
Animation since its inception has been a medium aimed at kids; however this was a notion that had been quickly diminishing in Japan. The potential to tell stories beyond talking anthropomorphic animals was becoming ever clearer. In fact this was a period in which the audience themselves were becoming the creators which led to the creation of works such as Wings of Honneamise. One of the greatest assets of animation is the freedom it affords its creators to construct wholly new and interesting worlds, worlds devoid of constrains of the real world. To create from nothingness and to construct a whole new world, with new methods of transport, clothes and languages, this is what anime affords its creators and Wings of Honneamise was created when this idea started to take hold, as the amateurs started to become the ones in charge, the ones that would go on to create the foundation for anime today.
It’s clear that many of these sentimentalities were instrumental to the later Gainax works such as Evangelion, creations that weren’t appealing to sponsors at the time and unorthodox in nature. There was a consensus within Gainax at the time that during their youth it would be more productive to create something strange and different, maybe even ugly because as they matured they would then be able to think more about balance. After all, their stay within the industry wasn’t guaranteed, they had no idea that they’d still be making anime decades later and so an all-out approach made more sense. It was a means of creating an identity for Gainax as well as an atmosphere that puts its creators first. It was stated for example by the director that his friend Hideaki Anno was great at animating explosions and so he decided that the climax of the film would feature them prominently in order to bring out the best of Anno’s abilities. Instead of the director creating a story that he liked and having everybody else make it for him, he thought about what stories the staff would want to make instead.
In fact at the time the biggest name on the production of Wings of Honneamise was Ryuichi Sakamoto. Although the YMO keyboard/vocalist was hired to compose the soundtrack, he wasn’t alone. Sakamoto ended up composing four themes and two other composers, Haruo Kubota and Yuji Nomi composed the rest. The idea behind this was to diversify the soundtrack of the film just like the visuals. Personally I found some pieces to work better than others, with some pieces actually diminishing the effect of the scene and feeling out of place. The music is definitely an acquired taste and works for some people more than others. The main theme by Sakamoto itself is fantastic however with many different renditions featured throughout the film with the ending credits version being the best.
There’s no denying that the Wings of Honneamise is a spectacle and a film of epic proportions and a lot of its most ambitious effects and set pieces are the work of Hideaki Anno. Adorned with the title Special Effects Artist, a title that was rare within animation at the time, Anno had the job of executing the animated equivalent of special effects that you’d see in live action film. It’s true that special effects are as much of a character as the characters that star in the films themselves and this isn’t a new phenomenon. People were flocking to the theaters just to see the set-pieces. There’s a weight to the mecha within Wings of Honneamise with a fanatic attention to detail that brings them to life with even attention being brought to the tiniest of details within the inner workings of the machines which adds credibility to the world and makes it more tangible. Being known for his depictions of explosions, a great deal of emphasis is placed upon them within the film. The explosions themselves are multi-layered, starting with shock-waves and then the flames themselves swelling up as shrapnel scatter. Different tones of orange are used to represent the different intensities and temperatures. To further the point, in a scene towards the end bits of ice fall down and each shard is animated by hand, with each one moving at its own speed with some twisting and turning as they fall. What this does is allow the animator to represent occurrences and phenomena that would otherwise be invisible to the viewer such as gravity and inertia. You could argue that up until this point most special effects utilised within anime was used as a means of depicting supernatural phenomena and battles but here it was used as a means of solidifying this world and making it feel as real as possible.
It’s abundantly clear the visuals have aged like fine wine and the story itself is as timeless as one can be, however I will note that a lot of the cuts and transitions from scene to scene are pretty odd and the whole film is marred with strange pacing issues. Likewise, a lot of the music choices are strange with some not fitting in with the scenes themselves at all. Was this another attempt of discarding old conventions and doing away with what is deemed acceptable, choosing to purposely create something weird and odd to stimulate the audience in a different manner? Maybe, and if that’s the case then the team succeeded. Director Hiroyuki Yamaga himself stated that the film in hindsight was uneven and unbalanced so I’m not the only one feeling this way. Nevertheless, the quirks do etch out a unique identity for this film and also one for Gainax, a studio that went against the grain for many years later and so it’s fitting, after all as Hiroyuki Yamaga mentioned the studio was blindly swinging around at the time with the idea of finishing the film itself being a huge question mark on the production.
It’s fair to say that I’ve avoided the elephant in the room, the controversial scene that takes place halfway into the film. I won’t go into specifics as a means to avoid spoilers but also due to the simple fact that I could easily dedicate a whole post to that scene alone in a much more nuanced fashion but I will mention that the scene is still a blight on an otherwise fantastic film, and not because of what happens in the scene and the subject matter at hand but rather because of how the film fails to follow up on that scene in any meaningful fashion thereafter. You can see their intentions but it just felt horribly out of place and I feel that the film overall doesn’t lose anything by removing that scene altogether, with many releases doing exactly that, although many would argue otherwise. One could argue that it intensifies the tragic nature of Riquinni’s character but that could have been done in other, less ham-fisted ways. Others may argue that the film follows a downhill trajectory after this scene that it never recovers from but I wouldn’t go that far, but I won’t deny that a bitter taste was left in my mouth throughout the remainder of the film. That’s not to say that I still don’t hold this film in high regards, but I honestly feel that the film is a stronger one without that scenes presence. There are many breakdowns of the scene, defenses and condemnations and so I implore you to read them for yourselves and make up your own mind. I do believe that the film has a stronger first half and that the second half is weaker outside of the final scene, with some weird tonal shifts here and there but the second half is not without merit.
Whatever stance you take on that scene, it’s hard to deny the legacy of this film and the impact that it has had on the animation industry. For all of its quirks and all of its abnormalities Honneamise managed to forge an identity that is unlike any other film, one that is enriched in history and shrouded by a fascinating production that ultimately paved the way for what would become a storied studio. Despite its shortcomings, The Royal Space Force is a must see spectacle, a film that glistens like the stars 30 years later.
8/10
Jinjer
Completely Average High School Student
disk wars avengers
basically, what happens if, for some convoluted reason, loki stuck as many marvel heroes and villains he can gather into dimensional gadget thingies called "disks" effectively turning them into pokemon but, for some other convoluted reason a bunch of kids figured a way to summon them too and used their new-found power to fight evil
i like how it really tries to work in the marvel comics universe, instead of just mcu (that means the mutants get their own arc), and give it a shonen anime spin though it's really weird how the characters get sorted into "types" (e.g. cap is "fight-type", wasp is "animal-type", etc.) speaking of wasp, i really dig her look here compared to her other appearances
but, yeah, this is still basically digimon with the marvel stuff placed in, the mons-show tropes are everywhere and tended to make things a bit too silly for my tastes at times...
final verdict: 7/10
basically, what happens if, for some convoluted reason, loki stuck as many marvel heroes and villains he can gather into dimensional gadget thingies called "disks" effectively turning them into pokemon but, for some other convoluted reason a bunch of kids figured a way to summon them too and used their new-found power to fight evil
i like how it really tries to work in the marvel comics universe, instead of just mcu (that means the mutants get their own arc), and give it a shonen anime spin though it's really weird how the characters get sorted into "types" (e.g. cap is "fight-type", wasp is "animal-type", etc.) speaking of wasp, i really dig her look here compared to her other appearances
but, yeah, this is still basically digimon with the marvel stuff placed in, the mons-show tropes are everywhere and tended to make things a bit too silly for my tastes at times...
final verdict: 7/10
qaiz said:
It always saddens me a little that Gainax have never done anything quite like Honneamise ever again. Maybe it's doing them a disservice to say so, but I feel there's a degree of serious artistic intent in that film that I've just not seen in anything else they've done. I don't grudge them their reputation as fan-centric entertainers, but I feel they do (or at least did) have it in them to make something a bit more arthouse friendly as well.
Who knows, maybe Uru in Blue will still happen.
NoSurprises
Hunter
Just a short one to say I really really enjoyed Space Patrol Luluco. One of the most enjoyable things I've watched in a while.
Michiko & Hatchin
Publishers love dropping names. It’s a fact. They’ll say anything; establish any connection – however tenuous – to tie their title to a more celebrated peer, all in the name of drumming up sales. That’s why more often than not a cover may proclaim “From the makers of <insert epochal title here>” or “From the creative genius of <insert supposedly significant creator here>”. In the case of Michiko & Hatchin, the blurb on the cover hints at a connection with Cowboy Bebop.
So, is Michiko & Hatchin like Cowboy Bebop? Nope. Is it a bad product for it? Well, that’s what we’ll be finding out.
The central story focuses on Michiko and Hana, purported mother and daughter who are forced on a journey in which they will discover how much they as flawed individuals really do need each other. The setting is an interesting one: the country in which the story plays out resembles what would have resulted had Japan colonized Brazil, and thirty years later Brazil had reclaimed its independence. It’s a colourful and vivid setting. It’s also dangerous, which is to be expected given how the favelas and the gangs within them play a large role in the characters’ backstories. What I found especially appealing was how the story played out in a way that didn’t seem overly scripted. There were no pat endings to the various plotlines – those that aren’t left hanging anyway – and no dei ex machina to salvage any narrative dead-ends.
Given the ethnicity of the main character and the setting of the anime, I went with the English dub. Which was a good decision as I finally heard Monica Rial give the tour-de-force performance that I knew she was always capable of. Previously she’d be saddled with youthful, frothier roles, or her performance would sound phoned in. Here she doesn’t put a foot wrong as the foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails main character, who is still worthy of the viewers’ sympathy. Perhaps this is where the parallel to Cowboy Bebop can best be seen, where the main character uses cool cynicism and bravado to mask a lifetime of sadness while searching to make amends for past actions. Hers is the title’s standout vocal performance, and this performance alone makes it worth your time watching this show.
AV performance is reasonable. The Dolby TrueHD mix is not the most dynamic – the bass however is well pronounced – but then again despite the valent nature of the story, or indeed the opening theme suggesting an action-fueled madcap caper of a production, this isn’t an action title. If anything it is about the human condition of finding and protecting hope in dire circumstances. The closest title I can think of as a comparison would have to be City of God, with its favela setting and themes of trying to rise above one’s station in life, which also happens to be a favourite movie of mine.
So: Michiko & Hatchin. It’s no Cowboy Bebop, but it’s still a fine title. [8/10]
Publishers love dropping names. It’s a fact. They’ll say anything; establish any connection – however tenuous – to tie their title to a more celebrated peer, all in the name of drumming up sales. That’s why more often than not a cover may proclaim “From the makers of <insert epochal title here>” or “From the creative genius of <insert supposedly significant creator here>”. In the case of Michiko & Hatchin, the blurb on the cover hints at a connection with Cowboy Bebop.
So, is Michiko & Hatchin like Cowboy Bebop? Nope. Is it a bad product for it? Well, that’s what we’ll be finding out.
The central story focuses on Michiko and Hana, purported mother and daughter who are forced on a journey in which they will discover how much they as flawed individuals really do need each other. The setting is an interesting one: the country in which the story plays out resembles what would have resulted had Japan colonized Brazil, and thirty years later Brazil had reclaimed its independence. It’s a colourful and vivid setting. It’s also dangerous, which is to be expected given how the favelas and the gangs within them play a large role in the characters’ backstories. What I found especially appealing was how the story played out in a way that didn’t seem overly scripted. There were no pat endings to the various plotlines – those that aren’t left hanging anyway – and no dei ex machina to salvage any narrative dead-ends.
Given the ethnicity of the main character and the setting of the anime, I went with the English dub. Which was a good decision as I finally heard Monica Rial give the tour-de-force performance that I knew she was always capable of. Previously she’d be saddled with youthful, frothier roles, or her performance would sound phoned in. Here she doesn’t put a foot wrong as the foul-mouthed, tough-as-nails main character, who is still worthy of the viewers’ sympathy. Perhaps this is where the parallel to Cowboy Bebop can best be seen, where the main character uses cool cynicism and bravado to mask a lifetime of sadness while searching to make amends for past actions. Hers is the title’s standout vocal performance, and this performance alone makes it worth your time watching this show.
AV performance is reasonable. The Dolby TrueHD mix is not the most dynamic – the bass however is well pronounced – but then again despite the valent nature of the story, or indeed the opening theme suggesting an action-fueled madcap caper of a production, this isn’t an action title. If anything it is about the human condition of finding and protecting hope in dire circumstances. The closest title I can think of as a comparison would have to be City of God, with its favela setting and themes of trying to rise above one’s station in life, which also happens to be a favourite movie of mine.
So: Michiko & Hatchin. It’s no Cowboy Bebop, but it’s still a fine title. [8/10]
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
ReLIFE:
Arata Kaizaki is a part-timer, applying for interviews at full-time jobs, but constantly being rejected after he quit his first job as a salesman within three months. He has essentially given up on interacting with others, and has begun acting like a NEET outside of his part-time job. On his way back from a night out drinking with friends, where he was pretending to be in a full-time job to keep up appearances with his friends, two things happen. Firstly, he receives both a call from his mother cutting him off, and secondly, he meets a strange man with a bizarre job offer. The man’s job offer involves his participation in an experiment at the ReLIFE laboratory, with all his expenses paid for a year, and a potential job introduction if he performs well during the trial. His role is to take a pill that makes him look ten years younger and then go back to High School, where he will live as a student and resit the third and final year. Initially planning to keep his head down and stay out of the way, Arata makes an unfortunate impression on his first day and falls into a group of friends. He must then decide the best way to manage their relationship problems and the challenges of student life, all the while knowing that the students will forget about him once the year has ended.
Despite the science fiction premise and the abundance of pills on the artwork, ReLIFE is not a science-fiction series and it’s not about the problems of looking younger, nor is it about a clinical trial. There’s no clichéd glitches where Arata has to hide the fact he looks older, and there’s no discussion of how or why the pills work. The mechanics and workings of the pills are irrelevant, as ReLIFE is far more interested in exploring the nature of change in human interaction, or perhaps more accurately, the lack of change in human interaction. The problems Arata faces in work aren’t that much harder or more difficult to solve than in high school, the only difference is the perspectives of both Arata and those around him. Throughout the series Arata begins to face up to the realities of work and to realise that he is not alone, everyone faces similar challenges. Even good and honourable companies like the ReLIFE laboratory place undue pressure on their employees and expect the seemingly impossible from their support agents. Eventually he realises this and begins to re-evaluate his own decisions and question whether he was right to give in and leave the company when he did.
Both the manga and anime are available to Crunchyroll subscribers, and both are fantastic. However, I was disappointed to see some changes to the presentation of Arata’s character in the anime. In the anime he seems almost elated at his ability to interact with teenage girls without worrying, whereas in the manga his reaction is more stilted and surprised. Some of his other behaviour also comes across as slightly creepier within the anime. And whilst the anime is a significantly close adaptation there are a couple of changes that do unfortunately have an adverse effect for me. The pace has been slightly sped up, and it does unfortunately lead a few character’s actions appearing slightly less justified and more sociopathic than they do in the manga. There’s also a huge reveal during Golden Week that doesn’t really flow as smoothly as it does in the manga, as the circumstances leading to it have been altered slightly. The immediate reaction to this event has also been changed slightly, which unfortunately lessens the impact it has on Arata and the lesson it teaches him about the working world. I found this to be disappointing, but those who have never read the manga are unlikely to notice.
ReLIFE is an excellent comedy-drama, effortlessly switching gears between comedy and drama. I found it to have a rocky start for the first few episodes, especially given its unfortunate tendency to make characters appear more sociopathic and petty and childish than the manga. However, it eventually won that struggle and kept it under control, and the second half of the series is excellent. I was mixed at the start, but by the end of episode 13, I really warmed to and liked all the characters and wanted them to succeed. Whilst not especially flashy, TMS Entertainment have also done a brilliant job with the animation, which features some subtle but great touches like a bizarrely accurate representation of Microsoft Word, and characters that don’t constantly wear the same outfits outside of their school uniforms. I really enjoyed ReLIFE and would highly recommend it to others. You can stream all thirteen episodes of the anime now on Crunchyroll, and you can also read the manga on their Crunchyroll Manga service.
Rating: 8/10
Arata Kaizaki is a part-timer, applying for interviews at full-time jobs, but constantly being rejected after he quit his first job as a salesman within three months. He has essentially given up on interacting with others, and has begun acting like a NEET outside of his part-time job. On his way back from a night out drinking with friends, where he was pretending to be in a full-time job to keep up appearances with his friends, two things happen. Firstly, he receives both a call from his mother cutting him off, and secondly, he meets a strange man with a bizarre job offer. The man’s job offer involves his participation in an experiment at the ReLIFE laboratory, with all his expenses paid for a year, and a potential job introduction if he performs well during the trial. His role is to take a pill that makes him look ten years younger and then go back to High School, where he will live as a student and resit the third and final year. Initially planning to keep his head down and stay out of the way, Arata makes an unfortunate impression on his first day and falls into a group of friends. He must then decide the best way to manage their relationship problems and the challenges of student life, all the while knowing that the students will forget about him once the year has ended.
Despite the science fiction premise and the abundance of pills on the artwork, ReLIFE is not a science-fiction series and it’s not about the problems of looking younger, nor is it about a clinical trial. There’s no clichéd glitches where Arata has to hide the fact he looks older, and there’s no discussion of how or why the pills work. The mechanics and workings of the pills are irrelevant, as ReLIFE is far more interested in exploring the nature of change in human interaction, or perhaps more accurately, the lack of change in human interaction. The problems Arata faces in work aren’t that much harder or more difficult to solve than in high school, the only difference is the perspectives of both Arata and those around him. Throughout the series Arata begins to face up to the realities of work and to realise that he is not alone, everyone faces similar challenges. Even good and honourable companies like the ReLIFE laboratory place undue pressure on their employees and expect the seemingly impossible from their support agents. Eventually he realises this and begins to re-evaluate his own decisions and question whether he was right to give in and leave the company when he did.
Both the manga and anime are available to Crunchyroll subscribers, and both are fantastic. However, I was disappointed to see some changes to the presentation of Arata’s character in the anime. In the anime he seems almost elated at his ability to interact with teenage girls without worrying, whereas in the manga his reaction is more stilted and surprised. Some of his other behaviour also comes across as slightly creepier within the anime. And whilst the anime is a significantly close adaptation there are a couple of changes that do unfortunately have an adverse effect for me. The pace has been slightly sped up, and it does unfortunately lead a few character’s actions appearing slightly less justified and more sociopathic than they do in the manga. There’s also a huge reveal during Golden Week that doesn’t really flow as smoothly as it does in the manga, as the circumstances leading to it have been altered slightly. The immediate reaction to this event has also been changed slightly, which unfortunately lessens the impact it has on Arata and the lesson it teaches him about the working world. I found this to be disappointing, but those who have never read the manga are unlikely to notice.
ReLIFE is an excellent comedy-drama, effortlessly switching gears between comedy and drama. I found it to have a rocky start for the first few episodes, especially given its unfortunate tendency to make characters appear more sociopathic and petty and childish than the manga. However, it eventually won that struggle and kept it under control, and the second half of the series is excellent. I was mixed at the start, but by the end of episode 13, I really warmed to and liked all the characters and wanted them to succeed. Whilst not especially flashy, TMS Entertainment have also done a brilliant job with the animation, which features some subtle but great touches like a bizarrely accurate representation of Microsoft Word, and characters that don’t constantly wear the same outfits outside of their school uniforms. I really enjoyed ReLIFE and would highly recommend it to others. You can stream all thirteen episodes of the anime now on Crunchyroll, and you can also read the manga on their Crunchyroll Manga service.
Rating: 8/10
ReLIFE was something that had completely escaped my notice (maybe I kept getting it mixed up with Re:Zero), but I think I'll actually give that a shot now.
Buzz201
Mad Scientist
Professor Irony said:
I don't think it's anything you did. It's actually airing over the Summer season, but all 13 episodes were previewed on a special app in Japan last week, so Crunchyroll were able to get all 13 episodes up for premium members on Friday. I just watched it within the first 24 hours it was available.
Animefreak17
Godhand
harmagedon
oldie anime pretty boring but at least it doesnt just take place in japan
6/10
oldie anime pretty boring but at least it doesnt just take place in japan
6/10
Smeelia
Thousand Master
Anne-Happy (Unhappy Go Lucky)
Since Azumanga Daioh, there have been a lot of shows that people refer to as "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things". Something I find interesting is just how different each of these shows can be, sometimes focussing on mundane everyday activites, sometimes gradually developing characters through an ongoing story and sometimes consisting primarily of wacky comedy. Azumanga Daioh was basically a mixture of these things and it feels like Anne-Happy is closer to a similar mixture of elements than most. Well, it maybe does go a bit further with the surreal elements than Azumanga Daioh did.
I found the most pleasant surprise to be that the show took time out to develop it's characters and give them some interesting stories of their own. While there's plenty of time for over the top antics involving robots and technology that seems a little advanced for a school facility, the episodes often have an appealing core of dealing with relatable human issues. Each of the characters has struggled to fit in with others due to something that makes them a little different, generally something that is outwith their control or an aspect of who they are that they shouldn't have to change just to fit in. The show doesn't fully dedicate itself to exploring these issues, nor does it try to offer a solid solution (though you could certainly argue that it offers suggestions) but I felt it handled each of the stories in a well considered and effective way. By having this bit of extra depth it does make the show feel like it has more to offer and is putting in some effort to stand out and it also makes for a more enjoyable experience on the whole.
I also found the comedy to be fairly consistently enjoyable. There are a few running jokes that I felt were used reasonably well without being overused. While many of the jokes depend on something going wrong or the weirdly high tech equipment the school uses, there's a decent variety of situations that keep the comedy working. I'd say there's something of a mixture between comedy that centers on the characters and comedy that arises from the situations and both are fairly well handled.
I feel that I should also mention fanservice because I'm pretty sure there is some in the show. There's no nudity and not much underwear on show but there are a few shots (and outfits) that seem designed with fanservice in mind. I wouldn't say there's enough to consider it a major part of the show and there may not even be enough to put off people who really don't like fanservice but it did feel somewhat noticeable in the early episodes. It seemed that there was less fanservice as the show went along though, whether that's a good thing or not would depend on your preference.
I'd say the art in the show can be quite a strength at times. It varies between a few different styles to suit different scenes. I particularly liked the softer dream like style, though perhaps that was at least partly due to the types of scenes it tended to accompany. I'm not sure how great the animation is but it feels like the actual art and framing more than make up for any lack of movement.
While I did expect to enjoy Anne-Happy, it turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise in that it exceeded my expectations. I did feel that it had more to offer than just the straightforward wacky comedy I had expected and all of the different elements are well balanced and complement each other effectively. It's certainly one to try if you like wacky comedies of this type and one to consider if you like your comedy with a hint of depth to it. I'd quite like to see another season to go a bit further into developing each character and maybe moving them towards something of an "ending", although the single season was still quite satisfying alone.
Since Azumanga Daioh, there have been a lot of shows that people refer to as "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things". Something I find interesting is just how different each of these shows can be, sometimes focussing on mundane everyday activites, sometimes gradually developing characters through an ongoing story and sometimes consisting primarily of wacky comedy. Azumanga Daioh was basically a mixture of these things and it feels like Anne-Happy is closer to a similar mixture of elements than most. Well, it maybe does go a bit further with the surreal elements than Azumanga Daioh did.
I found the most pleasant surprise to be that the show took time out to develop it's characters and give them some interesting stories of their own. While there's plenty of time for over the top antics involving robots and technology that seems a little advanced for a school facility, the episodes often have an appealing core of dealing with relatable human issues. Each of the characters has struggled to fit in with others due to something that makes them a little different, generally something that is outwith their control or an aspect of who they are that they shouldn't have to change just to fit in. The show doesn't fully dedicate itself to exploring these issues, nor does it try to offer a solid solution (though you could certainly argue that it offers suggestions) but I felt it handled each of the stories in a well considered and effective way. By having this bit of extra depth it does make the show feel like it has more to offer and is putting in some effort to stand out and it also makes for a more enjoyable experience on the whole.
I also found the comedy to be fairly consistently enjoyable. There are a few running jokes that I felt were used reasonably well without being overused. While many of the jokes depend on something going wrong or the weirdly high tech equipment the school uses, there's a decent variety of situations that keep the comedy working. I'd say there's something of a mixture between comedy that centers on the characters and comedy that arises from the situations and both are fairly well handled.
I feel that I should also mention fanservice because I'm pretty sure there is some in the show. There's no nudity and not much underwear on show but there are a few shots (and outfits) that seem designed with fanservice in mind. I wouldn't say there's enough to consider it a major part of the show and there may not even be enough to put off people who really don't like fanservice but it did feel somewhat noticeable in the early episodes. It seemed that there was less fanservice as the show went along though, whether that's a good thing or not would depend on your preference.
I'd say the art in the show can be quite a strength at times. It varies between a few different styles to suit different scenes. I particularly liked the softer dream like style, though perhaps that was at least partly due to the types of scenes it tended to accompany. I'm not sure how great the animation is but it feels like the actual art and framing more than make up for any lack of movement.
While I did expect to enjoy Anne-Happy, it turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise in that it exceeded my expectations. I did feel that it had more to offer than just the straightforward wacky comedy I had expected and all of the different elements are well balanced and complement each other effectively. It's certainly one to try if you like wacky comedies of this type and one to consider if you like your comedy with a hint of depth to it. I'd quite like to see another season to go a bit further into developing each character and maybe moving them towards something of an "ending", although the single season was still quite satisfying alone.