Tower of God Anime Review – 56/100

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Reviews by Lenlo, Tower of God

Whatever many might say, Tower of God is not the first Korean work to get an anime adaptation. From the obscure Shin Angyo Onshi to those people barely know were originally Korean such as Freezing. Whatever the reason, be it heated diplomatic relations or just disinterest in the works, Japanese adaptations of Korean works are rare. So to see one of Korea’s largest series in Tower of God, originally created by SIU and read by millions, get one is a momentous occasion. Its success could mean the opening of the door for other Korean series, such as The Breaker. A possible breath of fresh to what sometimes feels like a stagnating industry. Its failure could mean that door stays shut for a long time to come. So the question is, is it good? Adapted by Telecom Animation and Directed by Takashi Sano, this is Tower of God. Let’s dive in.

And warning, this review will contain spoilers for Tower of God.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.) Continue reading “Tower of God Anime Review – 56/100” →

Spring 2020 Summary: Week 11-12

by SuperMario, posted in Weekly Summary

Mario: Doesn’t matter where you are right now, the last three months have been atypical to say the very least. This is the season we have more time than ever to burn and less shows than ever to follow, so catching up with old series seems like a logical step. I’m actually busier than ever but that doesn’t stop me from having dumb fun with anime and anticipating how all current season shows wrap themselves up. The results were mixed, Yesterday wo Utatte had one hell of a terrible finale that disregards every it built up in the first 11 episodes, BNA is too busy with itself and Kakushigoto’s ending feels a bit disconnected with the rest. Read on to see how these shows reach the finish line, and we will see you in the next season.

Hamefura – 11-12 (END)

Amun: We did it everyone!  We survived all the doom flags, AND avoided committing to any romance.  This last episode was busywork in the first half, and a treat to wrap up the series.  The one good point I’ll give the conclusion of spooky emo boy is that Hamefura was honest to the end – Catarina is like, yup, I really can’t fix your childhood trauma or the fact that your mother was murdered right here….but I can take your hand.  That…was actually nice.  Too many shows try to power through trauma or hurt like it can all be overcome by the power of friendship.  At least Hamefura acknowledges that there isn’t much to be done, except small steps in the right direction, starting now.  I respect that.  The second half is Catarina being Catarina…right up to the point she concludes (as only she could) that they’ve reached the “friendship” end.  Which, of course, they haven’t at all – she’s just managed to create a new end of partial-yuri-reverse-harem.

Hamefura was a bright star in a dismal season.  Although there were a few missteps in the middle, Hamefura was a fresh setting, fresh take, excellent characters, top notch VAs, and compelling enough gimmicks to make it one of the shows I looked forward to every week.  While there isn’t much rewatch value or any real depth/life-changing takeaways, Catarina and crew adorably fought their way through pampered royal high school – and I thoroughly enjoyed tagging along for the ride.

BNA – 10-12 (END)

Mario: As a whole I still consider the second half of BNA much better than the first half. The plot has urgency, characters weave better towards the overarching story, but the ending for me still feels rushed and a tad bit underwhelming. The main themes of the show are about 1) human vs beastman racism and 2) Michiru’s quest to go back to the human world – but then along the way in the climax, the human component goes off the rail and Michiru’s first conflict is being ignored. As a result, the show feels lackey and unfocused. I also have a qualms with Michiru’s special abilities and the fact that not a single side character thinks her ability is abnormal. BNA is stylish and fun to watch, sure, but like most of Trigger’s output the writing, especially the character writing and the worldbuilding are not detailed enough to sell me about the world.

Continue reading “Spring 2020 Summary: Week 11-12” →

Gunslinger Girl – 1 [Fratello] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Gunslinger Girl, Throwback Thursday

Welcome all to the new season of Throwback Thursday, this time featuring Gunslinger Girl! Anime is well known for it’s loli’s, and well known for gratuitous violence, but what about gratuitous loli violence? That is a sentence I never thought I would write, but here we are, so without further ado lets jump in!

Starting off, lets talk visuals, because I am a bit mixed on Gunslinger Girl. Animation wise, it’s great. Once everything starts moving, guns start shooting and characters get running, everything is smooth. The big standout here was of course Henrietta’s gunfight near the end of the episode. Firing, shells hitting the ground, bullets hitting the environment, reloading, it all looked great. I also like the expressiveness on characters such as Giuse, I understood his emotions throughout the episode just from his face. But that brings me to the character designs, which I’m less enthused about. They aren’t bad, they just felt sort of.. flat? Washed out? I can’t tell if it’s the emotionless eyes or perhaps I just need to dial back after the colorful nature of Princess Tutu. Because it reminds me a lot of anime like Monster, which I love dearly. I suppose we will see moving forward.

Continue reading “Gunslinger Girl – 1 [Fratello] – Throwback Thursday” →

Tower of God – 13 [Tower of God]

by Lenlo, posted in Tower of God

Welcome all to the finale of Tower of God! I would say a lot happened this week, but lets be real, very little actually happened. What do I mean? Well strap in and find out!

Right off the bat, lets talk about recaps, because that was this week effectively was. A large portion of the first half, was just running us through events we had already seen. Now yes, they were from Rachel’s perspective and we did get some new scenes we will talk about later. But on the whole I don’t like it. Because Tower of God has cut a lot of content to fit 78 chapters into a single season, a lot of that content being some of my favorite. So for it to then insert a half-episode long recap with Rachel’s voice over just feels wrong to me. We already know how she felt throughout most of that, she isn’t a particularly complex character just yet. If you were going to add stuff like this, I would prefer more reactions from Khun and co. Alas, we got a recap instead.

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[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” →

Yesterday wo Utatte – 11-12

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Yesterday wo Utatte

You’ve already heard the news by now, I’m sure, but the idea of this series getting an 18-episode order was a faulty bit of reporting by The Internet’s Most Trusted Anime News Source. Those six phantom episodes, once thought to be full-length TV offerings, actually referred to the short webisodes that followed half of the show’s regular installments. The last of those webisodes is available here, but you’d be forgiven for regarding it as insufficient closure; I doubt there’s a universe where a two-minute animated postmortem could fix what went down in episode 12 of Yesterday wo Utatte. Even as somebody who fully expected a Rikuo/Haru endgame, the conclusion I saw last Saturday was pretty damaging to the show’s overall reputation. But the final episode shouldn’t bear all the blame here – 11’s handling of the Rikuo/Shinako relationship set the stage for its sequel’s failure. If you’re wondering how that could be, hit the jump to see what I mean.

Continue reading “Yesterday wo Utatte – 11-12” →

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.
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Princess Tutu Anime Review – 91/100 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Anime Reviews, Finished Series: Romance, Princess Tutu, Reviews by Lenlo, Throwback Thursday

I am not a Mahou Shoujo fan. The first one I ever watched, like many, was the Sailor Moon dub while growing up. It was fine enough, but as I grew, I eventually came to just ignore and tune the genre out. It wasn’t for me, it was silly girl stuff. In recent years, having met new friends in the community and traded recommendations, I was reintroduced to it. Whether it be watching Hugtto Precure or Symphogear for the r/anime awards or Penguindrum via contract, it’s the most Mahou Shoujo I have seen in years. And I hated almost all of them. They were either so sweet they gave me diabetes or had their head stuck incredibly far up where the sun don’t shine. The last one I remember actually enjoying was Madoka Magica, which is hardly an accurate representation of the genre. And then came Princess Tutu.

On paper, going by its title and promotional art, I should hate Princess Tutu. Directed by Junichi Satou, the man behind 2018’s Hugtto Precure, and made by Studio Hal Film Maker, it looks like everything I should hate about the genre. And yet as I watched Princess Tutu, it became very clear to me that this was nothing of the sort. Everything from its direction like a ballet to its tragedy-soaked story and characters felt so much richer than any Mahou Shoujo I had seen before. So much so that I don’t mind spoiling where this review will go by saying right here at the top that Princess Tutu is the best Mahou Shoujo I have ever seen. So as someone who self-describes as “Shounen Trash” and is routinely dismissed as such, please listen when I say: stop reading and give Princess Tutu a shot. You may be surprised.

Without further ado, let’s talk details, and strap in because this is going to get wordy. Also fair warning this review will contain spoilers for Princess Tutu. So if you haven’t watched it… fix that.

(Disclaimer: I am working to make 50 the new “average”. 70 is not an average score people. 70 is above average. Carry on.) Continue reading “Princess Tutu Anime Review – 91/100 – Throwback Thursday” →

Tower of God – 12 [Underwater Hunt (Part Two)]

by Lenlo, posted in Tower of God

Welcome all to the penultimate episode of Tower of God! A lot of questionable decisions were made adaptation wise this week, some good, others not. So without further ado, lets dive in!

Once again we have to start with production, but not with animation this time. Rather, I want to talk about the direction and pacing of this episode, because god was it a mess. The constant cuts every minute to a different scene were jarring to say the least. I understand what they were trying to do. Tower of God wanted to portray all of theses events happening in tandem, and thats all well and good. However what works for a Webtoon across weeks/chapters won’t work for a single anime episode across 25 minutes. So while all of the cuts were in largely the same place, the pacing of the anime made it much harder to follow along. The moment I get settled into one scene, remember where we are and all that, we cut to another. I can only hope they tone it down for the finale next week.

Continue reading “Tower of God – 12 [Underwater Hunt (Part Two)]” →

Princess Tutu – 25/26 – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Princess Tutu, Throwback Thursday

Welcome one and all to the finale of our Princess Tutu watch! It’s been a long and surprising road for me. I thought this was going to be another bargain bin Mahou Shoujo. And here we are, an ending where the guy doesn’t get the girl, the heroine loses and the villain walks off without a care in the world. And I loved it. So let’s dive in! And remember, a poll for the next show to watch is at the bottom!

First up, lets talk animation and production, because this isn’t normally an area Princess Tutu excels in. It’s not bad by any means, Ahiru can be quite expressive when she wants to. But most of the time we are treated to stills and a more “postcard memories” treatment. While that’s a perfectly valid, and often times better, method I still want to give praise where it’s due. Because this week Princess Tutu had quite a bit of good animation. Most of it involved Mytho, from his flight on the petals to his combat with the Rave. But a fair a bit, and what I generally preferred, involved Ahiru. Her dances, how she flew about in the wind or got knocked around among crows. It was all unexpectedly polished and made for a great finale. I wish we had gotten more sooner, but in this case, the wait was worth it.

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