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Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – Dai Ni Maku Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Tantei Opera Milky Holmes



I tend to complain about comedy sequels. It’s one thing to be funny, but it’s an entirely different story to be funny consistently, over a longer period of time. I really noticed that for the vast majority of these sequels, they tend to lose their inspiration, run out of their best jokes, or start trying too hard. The exceptions are there, though: there are comedy sequels who manage to beat their original: Tentai Senshi Sunred, Mitsudomoe and Fireball are examples of that. The thing is however, that the first season of Milky Holmes already was a really, really good series. And here the creators came, and improved significantly over it.

The original Milky Holmes had its weird moments as it chronicled the adventures of a group of four hilariously inept detectives, but at least it still was somewhat grounded in reality. The second season is crack. Pure crack. It makes no iota of sense, and it takes so many things along with it to the absurd. Its contents are completely bizarre from start to finish.

While parody isn’t its main focus, this show has a ton of fun pulling all sorts of references, only to make them completely ridiculous. The four lead characters have got to be the dumbest characters I have seen in a long while. In this case, it’s a compliment: you really have to try in order to be as mind-numbingly stupid as these four girls. By far the favorite form of parody of this series is taking a common trope, and completely changing its context into something completely bizarre. The result is hilarious, and this was by far my favorite comedy of the past season.

What also helps is how technically sound this series is. You wouldn’t suspect it with a team of Artland and JC Staff behind it, but the animation of this series is consistently excellent: the screen is always incredibly dynamic, this series experiments with a ton of different animation styles, and the energy just bursts from the screen in the different and numerous action sequences. The direction also is full of energy and creativity, and this creativity doesn’t run out, even though this is a sequel of a franchise totaling 24 episodes now.

Now, this series doe shave its slow moments. Because despite all the chaos, it also knows how to build up. The result is that the first halves of most episodes are relatively quiet in order to set up everything, only for this show to flick the bizarre-switch as the episode enters its second half. Don’t expect much in terms of deep characterization, though.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Hilarious; full of energy and creativity.
Characters: 8/10 – They’re very simple characters, but they remain lovable throughout the entire series.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Terrific and very dynamic animation; full of life.
Setting: 8/10 – Loves a good parody, and tears a great deal of different tropes apart.

Suggestions:
– Dororon – Enma-Kun
– Mitsudomoe Zouryouchuu
– Ooedo Rocket

Some Quick First Impressions: Ozuma and Hiiro no Kakera

by psgels, posted in Some Quick First Impressions

Gakkatsu

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a badly animated teacher
Well, at the very least the utterly horrid flash shows are getting better. Don’t get me wrong, this was still far from good, but it does spend much more time into actually animating its characters and make things move, rather than High Score or Haiyoru Nyaruani which just were a bunch of still frames with moving mouths. These five minutes actually had some decent direction and camera work. The soundtrack actually was energetic, the dialogue was delivered with some actual energy, rather than trying to be as annoying as possible. But yeah, what’s this series about? An overly enthusiastic teacher with strange ideas like trying to rename that bump that some people have on their wrists. There was some nice dialogue in this episode that makes it a good gimmick for one episode, but it’s still got no chance to actually be worthwhile in the long run. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that these shows are actually getting better, but they still have a long way to go.
OP: Surprisingly catchy…
Potential: 10%

Ozuma

Short Synopsis: Our lead character runs into a cute girl.
Clumsy, is how I’d describe this first episode of Ozuma. It definitely doesn’t win points in the build-up or execution. It feels like the characters all read their lines a little too fast, and this show doesn’t seem familiar of the concept of pauses between lines. The animation also is quite poor and I really expected more of Ryousuke Takahashi. On the other hand though, we’ve got a very strong contender for the best character designs of the season (which probably can only be contested by Saint Seiya and Lupin; yes, I know they’re all remakes of past character designs. I can’t help it that most characters look the same nowadays), along with an interesting setting focused on all sorts of desert vehicles. This really is meant as an homage to the Matsumoto Leiji series. This unfortunately means that if you’re not familiar with him, you’ll probably miss a lot here. Despite the flaws though, the end of this episode did give me that vibe I’ve had with some of his other stories. Let’s see whether this one can develop into something interesting in just six episodes, however it really has to fix the poor acting for that. It’s not like every character here is badly acted, but there is some pretty bad stuff among them.
OP: Dull J-Rock
ED: The singing isn’t bad, but the song is a bit boring and it’s just another dull slideshow mostly comprising of only the females in the series. Show some of the guys for god’s sake.
Potential: 60%

Hiiro no Kakera

Short Synopsis: Our lead character is a princess who needs to be protected by hot bishies.
Studio Deen has always been the most prominent producer of shoujo series. So yeah, when they decline, it’s no wonder that the entire genre takes a nose-dive. With Hiiro no Kakera they’re basically making the same show yet again. This pretty much is another Hakuouki or Brave 10, only this time things take place in modern times. The bishies here are the same bishies that you see in all those other series. The execution is the same as ever and does very little to entertain. I have to give the series this: it does know how to build up an atmosphere, and at least the writing is better than usual with these series. The animation however…was really bad here. There is movement, but that movement is incredibly awkward. The worst was when one of the characters tried to do a somersault and instead randomly slowly floats into the air for three seconds. That’s also a case of bad direction here: there are no attempts made to make things look better or more interesting than they actually are. The only thing that the graphics have going for them is that the backgrount artists are really good, but that too seems wasted here with this lackluster execution. When was the last time we had a good reverse harem anyway? Yumeiro Patissiere?
Potential: 15%

Nisemonogatari Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Monogatari Series



To start this review, here is where I was coming from when starting Nisemonogatari: I really did not like its predecessor, Bakemonogatari. I had a ton of problems with how Shaft executed that series; it was trying too hard, the tons of still frames, far-away shots and blank frames made it look more like a slide-show than an actual anime, the characters bored me, the subject material didn’t feel interesting. It was a chore to sit through. In the meantime though, Shaft changed a lot. It’s not like they stopped making boring shows (Arakawa’s second season was a pain to sit through…), but their successes have allowed them to get a budget to actually animate their series really well. Enter Nisemonogatari.

To my surprise, I actually liked this series. I have a ton of problems with it, don’t get me wrong. But they actually get less in the way compared to Bakemnonogatari, and I was actually able to enjoy the good stuff inbetween these flaws.

Now, by far the biggest improvement and the biggest reason to watch this series is the visual presentation. Unlike Shaft’s early work, the characters in this series are actually animated, and they’re animated really well. Heck, Nisemonogatari was by far the best animated series of this Winter Season, and that is with a season that has a Shoji Kawamori series and a Brains Base series. There is a ton of creativity in the images without looking like it’s trying too hard with pretentious references or unnecessary convoluted detail. This show is a visual feast.

Bakemonogatari also really got on my nerves with its really poor storytelling. It had a ton of dialogue and all, but in the end its arcs never really seemed to amount to anything. To my surprise however, I actually really liked the way in which the both arcs that comprises this series resolved themselves. The dialogue was actually used well, and the growth tat the different characters go through is much more interesting. So yeah, I liked this show. but it really made it hard at times.

You might notice that Bakemonogatari had 15 episodes which combined to five different arcs, and even then it was dragged out. Nisemonogatari has 11 episodes… and consists out of only two arcs. It takes forever to get anywhere, and especially its first half drags on horribly. And ti does so with an ungodly amount of fanservice.

Seriously, this show randomly brings in characters, giving them a rather shallow reason to appear again and then proceeds to have them walk around naked, bathe with the male lead and all kinds of other stuff. At best it’s creative and clever, but at worst it’s realy distasteful. You’d think that at least the dialogue would make up for it, but even that grinds to a halt when the characters end up talking about nothing else but fanservice, over and over and over again.

This really ends up eating away at the majority of the series. The entire female cast needs to have had a long dragged out fanservice scene with the male lead that doesn’t go anywhere. It’s just way too much. Just as you think you’re done with one girl, the male lead moves on to the next and it starts all over again. The important lines that are tacked onto it that actually develop the characters and add more to them feel tacked more than anything. This show even jumps the implied incest bandwagon without really contributing anything to it. I don’t mind fanservice if it’s used well and all, but this was just way too much.

Thankfully, the points where it gets down to business, it really becomes good, and this series does really give some good insights into its lead cast. The dialogue whenever the fanservice isn’t involved is actually dedicated to fleshing out the characters and the wordplay is more put to the side-lines. Watch this if you want to see an arthouse flick, because it definitely is a well directed visual feast.

Storytelling: 7/10 – Great dialogue, way TOO MUCH fanservice.
Characters: 8/10 – Good development, interesting cast, well fleshed out characters for once.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Gorgeous and fluid animation with very creative shots and images. The music is nothing special, though.
Setting: 8/10 – Even though nobody seems to live in the world of Nisemonogatari outside of the main characters, the underlying themes make up for itwith some neat ideas and backstories.

Suggestions:
– Dororon Enma-Kun Meerameera
– High School of the Dead
– Michiko e Hatchin

To Aru Hikuushi he no Tsuioku Review – 82,5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

Quite often, movies suffer from being too epic. I understand that conflict is necessary, and trying to think big is a great way to do it, but there are also a lot of stories that have no business going there. To Aru Hikuushi he no Tsuioku understands this, and actually creates the right balance. Sure, there is a war going on, and one of the main characters is a princess, but it smartly doesn’t attempt to solve everything in its airtime. At heart, this is an escort story, nothing more, nothing less.

And because it understands this so well it’s able to do a lot of things that other movies can’t. It definitely stands on its own in terms of its plot, which is well paced and gives ample time for events to play themselves out and the characters to develop themselves and flesh each other out. There is relatively little action for a show that’s supposedly about a war, but the few dogfights that are there are really well directed, and the build-up between the quiet parts and the climaxes is excellent.

The characters in this series are also very good most of the time, and that is mostly due to the acting. The characters manage to show off a good variety of their personalities, and they act very believable. There are large parts of this movie dedicated to just showing the two lead characters play off each other, and they work really well together… most of the time.

It’s unfortunate that this movie has one major flaw, really: the romance itself can get really corny at times. The movie has good intentions, but the great acting just can’t hold up as soon as the characters get too sappy about their feelings. The ending also involves one particular twist that makes no sense whatsoever other than giving it a cheesy aftertaste.

So yeah, because of that it’s not amongst the best movies, but really: it has a lot to like. The thing sit does well, it does really well.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Well told, and knows very well what it wants and doesn’t want.
Characters: 8/10 – Very believable characters… outside of the romance.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Great dogfights, although apart from that the animation is nothing special.
Setting: 8/10 – A bit too one-sided on the discrimination subplot, but apart from that we’ve got a believable setting that smartly stays away from being too epic.

Suggestions:
– The Sky Crawlers
– Seikai no Monshou

Hotarubi no Mori he Review – 85/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The essentials that you need to know for Hoturabi no Mori he: it’s from the creators of Natsume Yuujin-Chou (same director and same original writer; heck, it’s even done in the same style and the cast of Natsume Yuujinchou even makes a very small cameo here), and for a movie’s standards, it’s very short: only 40 minutes. Most OVAs nowadays have episodes of just that length. Now, Natsume Yuujin-Chou was really, really good at telling short standalone stories. This movie is too.

This movie is perfect for if you’re interested in Natsume Yuujin-Chou, yet don’t have the time to sit through 52 episodes, because it is a delightful self-contained story. Because it’s short, it can’t do as much as other movies can, but the story that it does tell is incredibly well executed. It’s heart-warming from start to finish, and never has a weak scene. The beginning is captivating, the build-up is excellent and the ending is incredibly solid.
What surprised me the most about this movie is the amount of character development. It actually takes place over multiple years, allowing the characters to gradually grow, instead of focing its entire scenario into the timespan of just a few days, like what most movies do. It’s perhaps not the most unpredictable movie, and it definitely isn’t for those who are looking for a lot of action or drama. Apart from that though, it is really an accessible movie with a wonderfully told story.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Excellent script, great build-up and ending.
Characters: 9/10 – Excellent character-development, especially for just a 40 minute movie.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Very good animation, though perhaps nothing impressive for movie standards.
Setting: 8/10 – Pretty much the same setting as Natsume Yuujinchou. Uses it well enough, but doesn’t add much to it either.

Suggestions:
– Natsume Yuujin-Chou
– Mushishi
– Zettai Shounen

February Summary

by psgels, posted in Monthly Summaries

At first I thought that this would be a season that would at least be exciting. In the end, what stood out about the most is how many series make me go wtf this time. And they just keep increasing. And really: while there aren’t any absolute classics here, it does make this season really fun to watch and keep up with.

#20 (24) – Guilty Crown – (6,25/10) – In its first half, Guilty crown was offensively boring. Right now however, it’s just plain offensively bad. The plot twists it pulls just are consistently pulled out of its ass, and yet at the same time it’s not really going anywhere. It’s not fun; the characters are obnoxious and Shu is still a terrible character who randomly changes every episode, yet remains consistently obnoxious. Please Noitamina, don’t make writing of this level to be the new standard for your new shows. I know it sold well and all, but for god’s sake this should never become the norm!
#19 (new) – Smile Precure – (7/10) – Here is the thing, Smile Precure: I know you’ve got a big audience who will watch you no matter what, but that’s no excuse to just be completely boring at the start. You can be amazing halfway through, but if you don’t give us a reason to keep watching, then that’s all for naught. All I’ve seen so far are a bunch of dull introduction episodes. There are no major side-characters whatsoever other than the Precure, the standard bad guys and that mascot thing. This show is nowhere near as bad as Suite Precure’s opening, but at the same time I also see no hints that it’ll get better later on.
#18 (new) – Black Rock Shooter – (7/10) – Halfway in, and I’m not very impressed by this series. The biggest reason is because of how incredibly forced the drama and angst is. I could have lived with relatively little focus on the Black Rock Shooter world (because really: that one has even less depth), but the angst is way too forced, and just there for the sake to create drama. It’s gotten very annoying now. Mari Okada, you disappoint me.
#17 (17) – Listen Girls, I am Your Father – (7,5/10) – This show is not like Kimi to Boku. That show used it annoyance to somehow become good. Papa however, is annoying, only to become heart-warming afterwards. It’s nowhere as neatly meshed, especially when the girls take a bath for the umpth time. This show is worth it for the small moments that really are heart-warming, but the rest of the airtime tends to be rather boring.
#16 (15) – Ano Natsu de Matteru – (7,75/10) – Ano Natsu got dominated this month with that cliche-filled beach arc. Sure, the characters developed a bit, but it was all predictable and the fanservice was pointless and obnoxious, not to mention that the annoying harem subplot also didn’t really steer this show into a good direction. I will have to say though that I am at least glad that this show is heading somewhere.
#15 (11) – Last Exile – Ginyoku no Fam – (7,75/10) – I’m very iffy about Last Exile at the moment: it’s not like Fam is badly developed or anything, and I want to like her, but most of the time she just doesn’t belong in this series. Overall the “war is bad themes” of this series are starting to get a bit boring, and the world building isn’t really bringing anything new to the table at this point. I really fear whether this show would be able to deliver a solid climax.
#14 (19) – Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou – (8/10) – This show is a hit and miss comedy: it’s cringe-worthy when a joke falls flat, but it’s also hilarious and very creative when it actually works. The ration at the moment seems to hang steady around 50:50, and at the very least I admire it for this creativity here. It’s not the best comedy of the season, though.
#13 (14) – Inu X Boku SS – (8/10) – Inu X Boku is nothing special, especially for David Production’s standards. And yet, it’s consistently able to put a smile on my face. Even though the characters are simplistic, they are also heart-warming in a way. It’s a bit shallow, but very charming.
#12 (7) – Rinne no Lagrange – (8/10) – Out of the three big mecha/sci-fi shows this season, Rinne no Lagrange is the only one who dulled in a bit this month. This is mostly due to time spent on building up, but the fact remains that lately it hasn’t been as sharp as it used to, though it did offer solid character building. Now all that’s left is to use it.
#11 (18) – Nisemonogatari – (8,25/10)

I actually really liked this month for Nisemonogatari. Fially the plot was about something meaningful other than mostly fanservice, and the animation really is gorgeous as well. I also really liked the way in which the Karen arc ended. And then there was the toothbrush scene. Just… wtf.

#10 (10) – Mirai Nikki – (8,25/10)

It’s about bloody time, but the character development has finally kicked in. And indeed: this show has become a lot more entertaining compared to the first half. In particular Yukiteru has become much more interesting to watch now. It’s nothing deep and it’s still full of plotholes and bad twists and all, but it’s just so over the top entertainment that at this point, I don’t mind.

#9 (13) – Poyopoyo Kansatsu Nikki – (8,25/10)

I love this show. In only five minutes it consistently tells fun little stories about the entire cast, and really brings them alive. The creative jokes just keep coming, but on top of that: it also fleshes out who the characters are in a really fun way by showing a very good look at their everyday lives. half of the jokes don’t even involve Poyopoyo but instead are about how they live their lives.

#8 (8) – Aquarion Evol – (8,25/10)

The romantic comedy really is not a genre that I’m often into, and I find the vast majority of these series to be dull and trite. Aquarion Evol is a major exception though. It just has this energy, on top of its just bizarre context and sexual undertones. This month has continued to explore the “males versus females”-themes and it did so with some solid character-building arcs that made the collective cast very enjoyable to watch. The music still is completely awesome, and the graphics still look incredibly flashy.

#7 (9) – Mouretsu Pirates – (8,25/10)

This really is the stand-out series in terms of characters feeling real. In this series, there are hardly any stereotypes, and the acting is very believable, and this only solidified more this month. It’s clear that Tatsuo Sato is behind the helm of this series, because it really takes its time to let everything play out. Because of that it’s not the most exciting series yet, but in terms of character and world building it really is excellent. This month also put a lot of focus on politics and really took its audience seriously when it discussed everything involved in being a pirate.

#6 (6) – Hunter X Hunter – (8,5/10)

This month featured the conclusion of the Hunter Exam arc. As usual there were things that I liked and things that I liked a little less when comparing it to the 1999 series, but the things I liked are getting better and better. I am disappointed that this adaptation didn’t spend the same amount of care to Gon’s final fight (an episode that I considered in the 1999 version to be absolutely fantastic), and the cast of side characters is noticeably weaker and less interesting, but the character development on the main cast is still really, really good.

#5 (12) – Another – (8,5/10)

What really makes Another stand out as a horror series is how down to earth the characters are. The acting here is top-notch, and because of that the contrast with the brutal gore really stands out. This show has some very interesting build-up and the atmosphere is still excellent. \

#4 (5) – Phi Brain – (8,5/10)

Phi Brain has yet again just gotten better and better this month. I’m really surprised at how engaging this show has gotten, but the character development just continues to push the characters forward. I just have to wonder: how on earth are the creator planning to top this for the second season?

#3 (4) – Tantei Opera Milky Holmes – (8,5/10)

This month had both the most and least entertaining episode of the second season, so it’s a bit hard to judge. When at its stride though, it was absolutely hilarious and without a doubt the biggest WTF of the entire season (and with this season, that has to say something). In particular the train episode was just glorious.

#2 (2) – Natsume Yuujin-Chou – (8,75/10)

Not as strong as the previous month, but this series still stands on top of the season with its well thought out stories about youkai. The fourth season is really dedicated to develop everyone around Natsume, and it’s doing a great job at that. My one complaint is that some parts (like Nyanko-sensei) are getting a bit repetitive.

#1 (3) – Chihayafuru – (8,75/10)

This series has been as solid as ever. Where it lacks in varietyk it more than makes up in character development, giving every major character enough time to play out, and it always finds something meaningful for every character in every episode. Now that’s good writing, especially considering how it’s been doing that throughout the entire series now.

Towa no Quon – 06 Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

As the final movie of the Towa no Quon series, it indeed closes off with a nice action-packed finale. The action s very solid, and the animation also is overall the best out of all the six movies so far. Overall I like it much more than the Break Blade movies, which was just a collection of uninspired movies. This movie has personality and the themes to back it up with. On the downside however: it was just too much run of the mill.

And with that I mean that this finale did succeed in creating a satisfying climax, but not really much more. It really is the standard finale against an overpowered bad guy that every other series ends with. In the meantime it did wrap up its storylines, but that too was done in the most obvious way. This series of movies is well laid out because of this, and there is nothing rushed or dragged out. That’s good, but I would have wished that the creators took a bit more risk. But then again: this was made to commemorate the death of Umanosuke Ida, so the creators probably focused more on delivering a solid portrayal of his vision.

With the last episode I noted that the villain had become a lot more menacing. And yeah, this was done with this typical ending in mind: he needed more power to actually be a threat, and that was the purpose of Movie 05. In the end though, he’s your typical villain with hardly anything original to him. The big cliff-hanger he ended the fifth movie with? In the end he never really did anything with it and the whole point of that scene was probably the most underdeveloped part of this movie. For the sake of the epic finale, it did focus much less on the themes of the other movies. On the other hand though, the bad guy’s subordinates suddenly got characters and started thinking on their own. That was a surprise.
\

Storytelling: 8/10 – Solid climactic ending. No rush.
Characters: 8/10 – Enjoyable characters throughout the movie, though they remain not very deep.
Production-Values: 8/10 – Best animation overall of the six movies.
Setting: 8/10 – Solid for what the movie is trying to do, however could have tried more in the end.

Towa no Quon – 05 Review – 80/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

The fifth Quon movie is meant to be a typical preparation for the finale. Standalone it definitely should not be watched, but it’s essential for building up the atmosphere and storyline for the sixth and final movie to close everything off. The major villain gets a lot more threatening as well, and the entire cast continues to head into the direction in which they had been built up to.

Overall, Towa no Quon isn’t exactly anything new, but what made this series work is how it stayed true to its themes. The characters in this series are all hunted for their powers and because of that they had to abandon everything if they wanted to be able to live happily. This movie actually makes great use of this.

The main villain was both the best and worst part of this movie. On one hand, he really turned into a threat, and became more than just someone who sits into his chair and gives orders, making excellent use of the above-mentioned themes. On the other hand though, he remains a very typical villain, still without any background an still very one-sided. Plus, I have no bloody clue why any of his subordinates still dare to follow him after what he did in this movie.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Solid build-up, the atmosphere and overall themes made this work.
Characters: 8/10 – Consistent character build-up, though there still are too many undeveloped characters left..
Production-Values: 8/10 – Solid and expressive enough.
Setting: 8/10 – Albeit nothing new, the themes are well explored.

Monster Review – 95/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews

And with this, I’ve finally finished this behemoth of a series. Aside from LoGH, this probably is the most critically acclaimed anime out there. And by GOD, I do agree with that consensus.

I already noticed when watching Master Keaton, how much research its author, Naoki Urusawa, puts into his stories and setting. The same influence can be seen in Monster. It’s completely different from Master Keaton, and yet both shows are meticulously well researched: its portrayal of Germany is fantastic, and like Master Keaton: everyone is a professional. This isn’t a series of impulsive plans: everyone all spends a large amount of time preparing and researching. This has two benefits: it’s incredibly believable what these guys do, and it fleshes out whatever they’re investigating brilliantly.

Now, talking about what makes this show so amazing is very difficult without delving into spoilers, so I’ll try to be as vague as possible with this review, as usual. Let me just say that this series has some of the best villains I have ever seen. Perhaps even the best out there. The only thing I’ll say about them is that their character development is just utterly fantastic.

Now, Monster is long. I have found that marathoning these long series, like most recently Hajime no Ippo and Legend of Galactic Heroes, that while they have some amazing parts, there are also parts at which it’s a bit of a chore to sit through with all of the build-up. And here is the thing: with Monster, I did not have that. It immediately starts off with an amazing display of fireworks, and even though it is paced very slowly, every episode delivers an interesting new twist to the story, and every episode had me at the edge of my seat. Even the build-up episodes are fascinating to watch, and in a personal way that really allows you to connect to the characters. It manages to avoid being repetitive by continuing to push its storyline in different directions, and introducing a wide variety of characters. Seriously, even the development of the minor side-characters has its flashes of brilliance.

On top of that, this show also has a stunning direction, use of music and audio. Masayuki Kojima has really shown that he can direct in pretty much any style. And heck, Ryousuke Nakamura (yes, the Mouryou no Hako guy) was actually the assistant director for this. The result shows, with an incredibly solid show that hardly ever shows any bad animation. The animation that’s there feels real and yet very intense when it needs to, and it makes very good use of its camera angles and fluidity. The music is also just perfectly timed.

This show is amazing. I’m very sure that this show is better than anything else that’s going to appear this year. Did it become my favorite series? Well, it’s certainly amazing, but near the end of its run it does lose a little steam, and the ending itself was excellent, yet left me hungry for more answers. It’s not like the ending is rushed, but because it wasn’t rushed it couldn’t answer as much as I had hoped to. Still, a spot in my top 20 favorite anime has most definitely been conquered.

Storytelling: 9/10 – Brilliant atmosphere and pacing.
Characters: 10/10 – Deep and diverse characters, both main and side. Fantastic development.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Perhaps not over the top or anything, but the animation is very refined and very realist, plus the soundtrack is terrific.
Setting: 10/10 – Again, meticulously researched. A very realistic and believable portrayal of Germany.

Suggestions:
– Gankutsuou
– Les Miserables – Shoujo Cosette
– Mushishi

Full Metal Alchemist – Brotherhood – The Sacred Star of Milos Review – 82.5/100

by psgels, posted in Anime Reviews, Full Metal Alchemist - Brotherhood

Out of the entire FMA franchise, the worst part for me was the movie to the first season. It just mad eno sense, was badly animated, especially for movie standards, mad a mockery of the characters and the plot, and overall wasn’t the least bit enjoyable. Thankfully, The Sacred Star of Milos is nothing like that, and is actually a pretty good movie.

Let me first debunk some overall fears that arose with the announcement of this movie: do you remember how in the promo art, Winri looked really inaccurate to her designs in the other series? Well, that is because that wasn’t Winry at all. She’s a character original to this movie, and pretty much the main character. I know a few people who were turned off by the art style of it (yeah), but let me tell you that that is no reason to skip this movie. One thing that you do need to take into account that this IS made by different people as the anime staff, so the animation IS different from the style of the TV-series. The character designs in this movie are a bit more rough and simple. This movie also doesn’t really bother to keep its faces consistent. As a tradeoff however, ti did get a lot of very good inbetween animation. It’s been said before, but this movie has some very good action, and especially the choreography of the different action scenes is very good and creative.

So, what about the story? As it turns out, this takes place around the second half of the Brotherhood TV-series. It’s an original story that doesn’t have anything to do with the main storyline of the series, but it does flesh out the world the world it’s set in. As for the plot: it has some good and bad parts. The good parts was that it packed a good amount of twists that were well built up throughout its airtime. It created a new city in the FMA universe, and actually successfully populated it and created an epic storyline around it. Although… near the end it does get a little too epic.

What I mean by that is the following: you can really see that the creators put some good thought into some of the twists that are pulled. Near the end of the movie however, they just run out of time and momentum to keep that up, resulting in a rushed ending and a final villain with very flimsy motives who continues to spout random moral crap at the main characters. The themes and morals also are a part where this movie leaves things to be desired. Like the TV-series, it’s full of morals, and it doesn’t just copy them, but also adds in its own themes. At the end of the movie though, it didn’t really do anything with them, and most of the final quarter was just completely inconsistent with the morals it tried to build up, and not in a way that makes things come together.

So yeah, it’s a very nice movie, which unfortunately suffers of the common flaw of trying to do too much and trying to be too epic. Still, I’d recommend it. It’s a solid movie with likable characters, and I’d say that out of the Primetime Timeslot movies to come out in the recent years, it is so far the most solid and enjoyable.

Storytelling: 8/10 – Solid storyline for a movie that is just about a random story, albeit a bit too short to give everything the time it needs to build up.
Characters: 8/10 – A solid cast, both the old and new characters. The main villain is flimsy, though.
Production-Values: 9/10 – Great action choreography.
Setting: 8/10 – Doesn’t build much on the themes of the TV-series, but does flesh out the world it plays in.

Suggestions:
– Cowboy Bebop – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
– Heartcatch Precure Movie
– Metropolis