Author: Armitage

Arte Review – 74/100

by Armitage, posted in Anime Reviews, Arte, Finished Series: Slice of Life/Drama, Reviews by Armitage

With half of one of the worst years in human history finally behind us, I feel it’s about time that we look ahead at the positives which lie in wait. But before starting something new, it’s only fitting that we wrap up what’s come before. And so, to cap off our coverage of a below average Spring Season rife with shows which underperformed (Tower of God), shows which went unnoticed (Woodpecker Detective) and shows which crashed and burned terribly (YESTERDAY WO UTATTE!), I present to you the review of Arte, a show which didn’t let us down and gave us exactly what it advertised!

[DISCLAIMER: Since there is a cold war going on among the blog writers regarding the ‘True Average Score’, I’d also like to clarify the workings of my own rating scale. ‘70’ is not an ‘average’ score. It is ‘ABOVE’ average. ‘50’ is not an ‘average’ score. It is ‘BELOW’ average. Just like the many anime rated 6/10 on MAL, an anime with a score of 60 out of a 100 is an ‘AVERAGE’ anime. Thank you. Please continue reading.]

Continue reading “Arte Review – 74/100” →

[Manga Musings on Monday] Confidential Confessions – Review

by Armitage, posted in Manga Musings on Mondays, Reviews by Armitage

Created by: Momochi Reiko

Chapters Read: 16

Hello and welcome to another Monday. Like the first day of every week, today I am supposed to talk about the manga I read in the last few days and review it by breaking down its positives and negatives. But this week, I am afraid I am going to do something different. This is not a traditional review by any stretch but is instead going to a rant about how much I LOATHED this manga. Now, I have read some pretty messed up stuff when it comes to the medium but this is the very first time that a story has infuriated me to my core.

What exactly did this one do to make me feel this way? I’ll tell you.

 

THE PREMISE:

A depressed high school girl forms an unlikely friendship with a classmate after watching her get bullied by her friends. The two plan to kill themselves in the most fun way possible.

Continue reading “[Manga Musings on Monday] Confidential Confessions – Review” →

Arte – 12 [Apprentice]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

It’s finally here. After twelve whole weeks, we have reached the end of the journey for Arte, the apprentice who found her true worth. While this week was all about bittersweet goodbyes and characteristically unsentimental reunions, there were a few moments along the way which did offer some welcome surprises and earned payoffs.

Arte finishes all the portraits she was tasked to paint for the Falier family and gets a tsundere-ish compliment of approval from Lord Falier which meant that it was now time for her to head home. If she so desires, of course. Last week, Yuri offered her a full-time job with all expenses paid and he lets her know that that offer is still up for grabs. Katarina however expects that Arte would choose to return back to Florence and is forlorn and heartbroken at the prospect.
Continue reading “Arte – 12 [Apprentice]” →

[Manga Musings on Mondays] Chi no Wadachi – Review

by Armitage, posted in Manga Musings on Mondays, Reviews by Armitage

Created by: Shuuzou Oshimi

Chapters: 75 (Ongoing)

 

Greetings and welcome to another Monday week and as usual, it brings with it another manga review! This time, I look at a manga which has been getting a lot of buzz around lately (yes yes, it was the Super Eyepatch Wolf video which made me interested in this in the first place) and for good reason. Chi no Wadachi or Trail of Blood is the latest work by the mangaka of Flowers of Evil so you can expect a lot of messed up psychological elements and the thrilling setup aims to provide just that, but does the overall execution deliver on the promise? Let’s find out!

 

THE PREMISE:

An overly caring mother goes to great lengths to protect his son’s happiness and to make sure that he never comes in harm’s way.


Continue reading “[Manga Musings on Mondays] Chi no Wadachi – Review” →

Arte – 11 [The Faliers’ Portrait Painter]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

Hello and welcome to the penultimate episode of Arte, the artist who made best-girl Katarina cry. This week, a child pines for the attention of her newfound friend while the friend pines to see her employer back in Florence as the employer pines to have his apprentice with him again, which all makes for a whole lot of pining as Arte doubles down on its themes and presents a conflict which was yet unexplored to set up an exciting finale for the coming week.

After the emotionally cathartic episode we had last week, things were always going to shift one way or the other. So, while it did come as a surprise that the part of this story chronicling Arte’s (possibly) last days at Venice got shrouded by a somber melancholy, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. It’s kind of how in our lives when things are headed towards completion that we get overcome by memories and feelings which wouldn’t cross our minds on other ordinary days.

Endings just do that to us sometimes.
Continue reading “Arte – 11 [The Faliers’ Portrait Painter]” →

Arte – 09+10 [Naughty Child | Katarina’s Dinner]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

Hello, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the first (makeshift) double-header post covering Arte. While I couldn’t cover these two episodes in their own respective posts, these were the show’s most adorable and heartfelt episodes and I feel that it would be unfair if they don’t get proper write-ups. So, the following are essentially two separate full-length episodic reviews posted under one title. Yes, that’s right! Two for the price of one!! Come one, come all.

Starting off with Episode 9, Arte is still facing difficulties in tutoring Katarina. Even though she’s well-versed in public etiquette and mannerisms, she refuses to behave as expected in front of her parents. Katarina tells Arte that there’s no formal education regarding etiquette that she can teach her so, it is best if she just leaves her to minding her own business. By that, she means dozing off in the middle of the day.
Continue reading “Arte – 09+10 [Naughty Child | Katarina’s Dinner]” →

[Manga Musings on Mondays] Opus – Review

by Armitage, posted in Manga Musings on Mondays, Reviews by Armitage

Created by: Satoshi Kon

Chapters: 19

 

Hello everyone and welcome back! Today, we resume usual serialization of Manga Musings by talking about probably the most metafictional manga I have ever read in Satoshi Kon’s Opus. As a fan of most of his works (I still maintain that the final third of Paranoia Agent is bonkers for bonkers’ sake), I went into this completely blind but with relatively high expectations. Does the story hold up to Kon’s high standards or does it fall woefully short? Let’s find out.

 

THE PREMISE:

A manga author gets sucked into the lives of his characters (literally) and realizes that not everything is entirely in his control in either world.

 

Continue reading “[Manga Musings on Mondays] Opus – Review” →

[Manga Musings on Mondays] Asper Girl – Review

by Armitage, posted in Manga Musings on Mondays, Reviews by Armitage

Created by: Souhachi Hagimoto

Chapters: 31 (Ongoing)

 

Hello and Welcome to the Wild-Card Monday of Manga Musings. As mentioned last week, today I will be talking about a manga which wasn’t chosen by the votes of the readers of our Star-Crossed blog but was instead personally recommended to me. I found it to be highly enjoyable and more than deserving of being highlighted in this humble weekly project. The manga being Souhachi Hagimoto’s debut, Asper Girl – a story about a loner carrying the scars and sorrows of their past who finds another loner to be alone with.

 

THE PREMISE:
A girl living with Asperger’s Syndrome reaches out to a small-time manga author to thank him for creating a story which made her feel like there was someone out there who sees the world through her eyes and who can relate to the lives which people like her lead.

 

Continue reading “[Manga Musings on Mondays] Asper Girl – Review” →

[Manga Musings on Mondays] Chikan Otoko – Review

by Armitage, posted in Manga Musings on Mondays, Reviews by Armitage

 

Created by: Takuma Yokota

Chapters: 21

 

Another Monday has presented itself to us, folks. And you know when that happens, we present something in return, right? Another manga review! (Yes I know, it’s Tuesday already but I’m sorry I have been real busy with my end-term preparations, although I did read the manga well before Monday, so let’s say it counts.) This week, I will be telling you about my thoughts on Takuma Yokota’s comedy (satire? parody?) manga, Chikan Otoko or Molester Man. A manga with the most outrageous setup for a love story I have ever seen and which might just be the very definition of not judging a book by its cover. Let’s talk about it.

 

THE PREMISE:
A girl assumes a man to be her stalker and the misunderstanding caused by the confusion gives the man a window of opportunity to get to know her and her circle of friends better. A series of rom-com shenanigans ensue.

 

          

Continue reading “[Manga Musings on Mondays] Chikan Otoko – Review” →

Arte – 08 [A New Chapter]

by Armitage, posted in Arte, Currently Watching:

HOLD THE PRESSES!! The anime gods have bestowed their graces upon us! Yes, that’s right. This Spring Season, we the viewers would now be able to cherish the on-screen presence of not one but TWO CATARINAS!!!

[Well, the new one’s name is spelled with a ‘K’ but she is more befitting of the ‘Evil Villainess” title so it still counts.]

Greetings, lovely readers. Welcome to Week 8 of Arte, the swashbuckling sailor! This week, we change settings from Florence to Venice, get to see two men duel it out on the deck of a ship at sail (because why the hell not?!) and witness CGI water in all its glory. Let’s unpack.

Continue reading “Arte – 08 [A New Chapter]” →