Transformers War for Cybertron

So I tried playing this…very unsuccessfully…not because it was hard or poorly done but simply because I am the epitome of terrible at shooters…seriously…I am bad. But I did watch my husband play through it- because the graphics and idea behind the game were truly intriguing to me (mainly because I love transformers- I am not a crazy fan I haven’t seen everything or own a ton of toys or even seen the entirety of the original series; but I love looking at and playing with the toys and the idea behind the shows- alien robots hiding on earth as cars [mainly anyway, I do know in Beast Wars they were animals]. I watch what I can; when I can; and I have a few toys, and other fangear.)

So when the game came out I said while pointing at my husband, “You buy, play, and beat it for me so I can see all that is awesome about it.”  Because yeah it looked cool and I wanted to watch the storyline; and I knew I would not be able to beat it.  So we bought it for the PS3 because it was prettier and I watched him play it in about 2-3 days cause he was doing other stuff besides playing it obviously.  That was truly the one downside of the game was that it was really short.  And apparently it goes from easy to hard and back for no particular reason according to my husband.

So I watched it; the animation was gorgeous; the transformations rocked; and was just cool to watch.  Granted my mild obsession with Transformers may be a contributing factor to me enjoying it so much.  The storyline followed the original television series as far as I could tell (granted I have never truly watched it all and have not watched anything but season one and the animated movie recently- totally reviewing those later…really I am).  And it had a decent storyline- it was obviously made for the people who watched the show as children and have sense grown up rather than for the original target age group of the show.

The music and voice acting for the game was very fitting for the series and was very enjoyable.  As were the backgrounds- Cybertron was just so much fun to stare at and look around.  They really did not create any characters so it is not really to their credit that the characters are enjoyable- though keeping them within character for who they were in the original series is and they definitely did do an excellent job with that.

Overall I give this game (as an animated media not as the game itself- as I said I could not really play it…I am the definition of horrible at shooters) 8/10.  It was very good, very enjoyable; and extremely well done however I just don’t see many people who were not already in love with Transformers thoroughly enjoying War for Cybertron- but I would love to be proven wrong if you or someone you know started liking the Genre because of this game then I would love to hear about it!

2011
03/17
CATEGORY
Transformers War for Cybertron
Video Game
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Archer

This is probably the stupidest show I have ever enjoyed.  Yes enjoyed.

The humor is like that of many of the other shows done by Radical Axis.   All of the other ones I cant stand.  No seriously they are all so stupid I feel like I am loosing brain cells even thinking about watching them.  Seriously.  At least it is animated better than most of the other shows done by them.  So much so that I would say the show is fairly well animated.  Because the animators tried to make it look as realistic as possible by taking photos of the cast to model most of the characters after it comes off looking similar to a rotoscoped film (though in my opinion more smooth and easier to watch than something that was truly rotoscoped).

The characters are not truly “likable” but they are fairly fun none-the-less.  Storyline is fairly non-existent.  Seeing each episode in order can lead to better understanding of jokes and scenes later in the series but not a necessity to enjoy the show.  Watching episodes out of order does not really change the shows appeal much if at all.  Voice acting is good very appropriate for the genre they are trying to portray/make fun of.  And while I can’t say the music sticks out at all I assume it also does not detract from the series as it is unmemorable.  The backgrounds look to be made directly from photos- drawn over with lines to make them look more cartoon-like which fits with the style (or is the style of the show depending on how you look at it).

This shows is obviously made for adults- I would maybe even go as young as teenagers but I would definitely keep it away from anyone younger than that.  This would be due to the constant talk of sex and use of curse words and of violence.  It is a very crude show and that is the type of comedy they are going for as well.  So if you don’t like crude jokes I would say stay away from the show as if it were the plague.  Overall I would say the show is original if not unique- I have seen similar styles in animation and comedy and since they are spoofing spy films or the spy genre even the theme is old hat.  But since it has not all really been put together before I will definitely say it is original.

I will say the opening is phenomenal.  Very stylish and appropriate for the genre.  If you watch nothing else I would recommend it- as while the animation is amazing it is very fitting for the show and the genre it is spoofing.

Overall I give Archer a 7/10 as it cannot be enjoyed by all ages nor can it be enjoyed by those who cannot enjoy the crudeness involved.  The animation while good does not made up for the stupidity of the show or its other smaller shortcomings.  I am looking forward to watching the second season.

RogeRgal

2011
02/21
CATEGORY
Adult Shows
Archer
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Hetalia Axis Powers

This series caught my eye, mainly, because of the ridiculous number of amazing pieces of fanart I have seen. I usually do not watch series when the episodes last less than 20 minutes (two parters are alright- like american cartoons where its two 12 minute blocks of the show but just 15 minutes [or shorter] episodes on their own usually don’t catch my interest). So when I downloaded some episodes and realized how short they were I was a little disheartened by it. But I was pleasantly surprised by how fun the series was from the word go. And by episode 3, I was hooked. I would watch 10-20 episodes at a time…and so I quickly ran through the first and second series of this show and am impatiently waiting on more to come- hopefully quite soon.

I really fell in love with the characters and the idea that the “drama” represented real events- sometimes explained, sometimes not.  My only problem is that sometimes the show actually has no history in it which is a detractor for me- it makes it confusing weather or not I could be learning from an episode.  The fact that it skips around in time (not including Chibitalia) also leads to that confusion.  Chibitalia is much more informative than the main episode and is adorable.  But (personal preference here) I like the main episode better despite of this.

The animation quality is fairly good for a Web-series; as a normal anime it is about what one should expect.  Though the storyline is practically non-existent; it is funny and the characters are entertaining.  The voice acting is either terrible or amazing depending how you look at it- the characters are “caricatures” of various countries and often the voice acting portrays how the Japanese feel someone from that country would sound though it would often be off the mark.  The opening is rather boring but the ending is adorable and when they start to change it up for the other characters besides Italy it is pretty awesome.

I enjoyed the historical aspects- though similar things have been done before it was not exactly the same as any other history related series I had seen.  So while it is not entirely unique it is fairly different enough to stand out as a novel little show.  Overall I give it an 8/10 mainly because of the shows yaoi hints- which can be fairly off-putting for straight men and makes it so I would not let kids watch it though the style lends itself to a kids show.

2010
11/16
CATEGORY
Anime
Hetalia: Axis Powers
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Sym-Bionic Titan

So I am a big fan of Genndy Tartakovsky. Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack, even Star Wars: Clone Wars (and I am not a big Star Wars fan) were all interesting and did different things while still being in Tartakovsky’s style. So I noticed Cartoon Network (CN) would be airing a new show Sym-Bionic Titan and it was by Tartakovsky. So I watched some previews for it and it seemed rather unimaginative and plain. But it was Tartakovsky…I was willing to give the show a chance no matter what the previews looked like just because his name was involved. Yes yes I know I should not blindly follow a name; especially since the last man I followed in such a way has let me down…a lot…in his recent movies. ::cough “Tim Buton”:: But I am hardheaded. So I sat down to watch the shows that on-demand had (the first three episodes). Luckily I was not disappointed. While I cannot say it is super original or animated amazing or so far anything that sets it far above other series- it is fairly interesting and was much better than the previews portrayed.

I have always liked Tartakovsky’s style of animation and while it adapts in each series he does for what he is trying to do it still shines.  While the style is simplistic I feel like they do push the animation within the style quite a bit.  Many scenes come off very visually entertaining because of the style and how they utilize it to their advantage.

The characters are rather cliche but I have always found that it works for a childrens’ show and is often easier for them to relate to because of it.  The opening is dull…extremely dull.  Storyline again fairly cliche- seen it before and will probably see it again.  Most everything else about the show is average.  I found the design of the Titan (and the Robot character for that matter) to be fairly neat- mainly because of the transparency which is not often utilized.  The only other thing I found rather refreshing was the fact that the characters (mainly the princess) had more than one outfit- rarely seen in childrens’ cartoons.

So overall I give this show a 6 because it just doesn’t strike me as something amazing in anyway.  Everything has pretty much been seen before.  However as the storyline continues it could prove me wrong.  If it continues to be as episodic as it is I will probably forever leave the opinion that low however if the series starts to have an overall storyline where missing an episode may confuse the viewers then I think the series could really stand out as something good.  So anyway it is not terrible but not amazing- I will still look forward to watching more soon.

2010
10/08
CATEGORY
Cartoon Network
Sym-Bionic Titan
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A Typical and Atypical Magical Girl Series Part 1

So I started writing this and realized that while I do love magical girl series (MGS) and have watched quite a few; I really don’t have a large repertoire into the genre…  So I started looking into downloading and watching some series.  While I did find a few I had not seen and could watch; I realized why I had only seen the ones I had…very few subbers actually finish subbing magical girl series.  Those who have a big thank you!  There were a ton of half translated MGS and they had stopped being subbed years ago; so there is no real seeing the end in sight.  Even ones that got licensed usually had issues.  Ojamajo Doremi still has one episode never released for the first season- rest of the series never got licensed.  Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch got licensed was never produced then had the license dropped.  Sailor Moon never had its last season licensed or produced- on a side note all of the older seasons are loosing their licenses now.  Even Cardcaptors had issues…what kind of DVDs only have the English OR the Japanese and not both…  So I would say as an English speaking person being a MGS fan is a bit more difficult.  While I would love to see more; without learning another language it is rather difficult.  Though I am sure many people would tell me that 90% of MGS you don’t really need to know exactly what they are saying to know what is going on…I enjoy the nuances.  So after looking at all this and rethinking my knowledge on the subject; and how long it will take to get more knowledgeable; I have decided that I will talk a bit about what I know now and continue the series as I watch more and become more knowledgeable.

Now this is a genre that I have always thoroughly enjoyed. From Sailor Moon; Cardcaptor Sakura (Cardcaptors); Pretty Cure (and it’s sequel series); girls kicking butt and taking names is just fun to watch. Plus they usually have a good story of friendship and love underneath. So I am going to talk about what one should expect from a MGS and hopefully later get to how some shows do it differnt which is what makes them unique and interesting.  While overall the animation for these shows is not phenomenal usually the budget is blown on the transformation sequence(s) and the attack sequences; and because of this they are usually a huge treat to watch- granted you see it every episode so it usually needs to be a delight to watch.

Besides transformation sequences a magical girl series also needs mystical powers; whether this comes from herself; someone else; a mystical item; another dimension or time; the power has to be there-otherwise it’s not a “magical” series obviously.  It is fairly common to see the girls deriving their powers in some way from a magical item; while it is not actually most commonly a locket; due to the popularity of Sailor Moon the locket is what is considered “stereotypical” and when one talks about a magical girl series one usually equates any magical item to the magical girl locket.  Shugo Chara, Sugar Sugar Rune, and Cardcaptors use the closest to the typical locket; as they all use necklaces to “transform” or use their powers; and Sugar Sugar Rune takes it a step further and has their necklaces open like lockets- though now thinking about it even the Sailor Moon “locket” is not really a locket.  Rather interesting that it has become so expected yet not one actually uses that specific type of item (that I can come up with, please feel free to prove me wrong).  The locket is also often called a compact and that I feel is closer to what it actually is; with that in mind several other shows follow this type much closer (Powerpuff Girls Z, ).  While it is not specifically a compact (as they look more like cell-phones) Pretty Cure does have a magical item that opens with magic inside it so I still feel while a bit more original in design falls in the compact category.

While not in every magical girl series another typical thing to find is the magical companion creature.  It can be an animal that exists in the real world (see Sailor Moon’s Luna and Artemis- cats) or something completely made up for the series (see Pretty Cure’s Mipple and Mepple little stuffed animal looking things whose style is mimicked for the sequel series) or even small humanoid creatures (see Shugo Chara’s Ran, Miki, Su, and a slew of others).  Some can be seen by non-magical people; some can’t; those that can usually disguise themselves as stuffed animals (Cardcaptors, Pretty Cure, Full Moon wo Sagishite) unless they are actual animals in which case they usually just make sure not to talk in front of others (Sugar Sugar Rune and Sailor Moon).

It is also common for the main character to have a love interest.   The stereotype is for him to be a masked savior; who wears a cape; who loves her back but can’t act on those feelings- though I do believe that Sailor Moon is one of very few who actually fit the stereotype (Pretear comes somewhat close but no mask).  From what I have seen (which I mentioned before should be more) I would say that the more common love interest is the love from afar (this can include a relationship that was there but after having a problem they are no longer talking- the final season of Sailor Moon could be an example of this).  The main character falls in love with a young man and it quietly develops (Pretty Cure) or they don’t realized their feelings for each other for awhile (Cardcaptors).  Shugo Chara is one of the few I have seen that actually has a fully developed love triangle from the start.   Sadly the only really truly reoccurring theme in this area is that there is usually a love interest- how it comes about and what he is like is very seldom similar- though I think if they were to much alike it would be extremely boring.

I think it is rather interesting that one show pretty much defines an entire genre- when someone says the stereotypical MGS has X it is something from Sailor Moon and sometimes ONLY Sailor Moon.  I don’t think any other genre really has this “problem.”  While there may be a few MORE defining series they don’t wholly define a genre- only partially (Gundam  for example is a cornerstone to the Mecha genre but is not pretty much the only defining factor- I think the variances in the Gundam Series itself may be an attribute to this).

Look forward to some more comparison next time and eventually a full review of the finished Pretty Cure Seasons (if I can get my hands on it all…)

RogeRgal

2010
09/18
CATEGORY
Anime
Magical Girl Series
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Tales of Vesperia

So I finished the game the other day and am now on my second play-through. I also watched the prequel anime movie Tales of Vesperia: First Strike. The animation quality of the game itself is average for its genre and being on the XBox360. Sadly the PS3 version does not look like it will be coming out in the US much to my chagrin. I have to say I have not enjoyed a storyline in a game so thoroughly since the first Kingdom Hearts game. Though the beginning was a bit…silly…is the least mean word to describe it. The first section of the game is a game of tag with Flynn. Yeah that is the storyline. Sadly that was the reason my husband and I put the game down the first time we played. We thought that the storyline was SEVERELY lacking. However once you get into the second and third sections of the game (both are longer than the first) the storyline is much more interesting and really pulls you into the game and makes you really care for the characters.

So overall the storyline is pretty top notch- much like Final Fantasy and other JRPGS it is world encompassing- meaning you and your allies are trying to save it from some catastrophe or other. While I will say I have seen better thought out and more interesting and believable bad-guys/villains/rivals; they were decent and some were a surprise-this is why I have not gone into much detail about the ending. However while the storyline was interesting and fun; and had some unique aspects; overall it was a typical JRPG style storyline. Though that is what you sign up for when you play a JRPG, so taking the aspects that are expected and surprising you in other ways is a good thing to do in this case.

Now while the non-protagonist characters, I will say, could have been much better; the protagonists were a ton of fun. I will go through how I felt about the characters in no particular order. Estelle’s (the healer) shear stupidity is rather hilarious…especially when it comes to the high-fives in the game and the dog character Repede. Karol’s “bravery” is taken to the nth degree with his artes/skills and is actually extremely frustrating and annoying- especially as he starts to change as a character- however his relationship with the “rival” Nan is adorable and fully makes up for the over-the-top; shove-it-down-your-throat stereotype for him. I found Rita (the caster) to be annoying the ENTIRE game. Something about her made me want to kick her and yell at her every time she opened her mouth- my husband says it is because she is to much like me…opinionated and loud… But she was a good foil for the other characters and her relationship with Estelle is fairly cute. Yuri is a fairly plain main character- but he is attractive and has good lines. “His” dog Repede is cute (especially in First Strike) and has great personality. Repede’s relationship with Estelle is probably the best. Judith is alright; her banter with Raven is the best part about her though (unless of course you are a male- then you may consider her figure to be her best aspect; because she does have a nice one). My opinion on Judith’s best aspect though may be biased as Raven is my favorite. Which brings me to Sexy Old Man Raven- who is BY FAR my favorite character so ANY subjectivity on reviewing him…is probably non-existent. He started out rather as a pain- he was a rather weak character and he disappeared all the time…but he was funny and interesting whenever he was there…then at some point we found Azure Heavens and were high enough level that it would kill all the mobs before any of the other characters could even hit them. So he started to be awesome game-wise as well as personality-wise; and from that point on I fell in love with him…playing back through I notice a ton of cute small hilarious things that I didn’t notice the first time through relating to Raven because he was such a weak character that I didn’t care as much about his storyline until the third section on the first play-through but going back I realize just how deep the storyline was for him and all the hints that lead up to later reveals in the game that I missed due to anger at how weak a ranged character he was.

So overall I would say the characters were great. They were fun, funny, attractive (overall) and interesting. Other characters worth mentioning are Flynn (who is apparently playable in the PS3 version), Don Whitehorse, Nan, Clint, Tison, and the Swann and Flynn brigades; all (besides the Swann Brigade) are pretty fun and interesting characters; and as I said before the “bad guys” are pretty decent but since some things need to be revealed in game I won’t say more than that.

My husband and I played the game in English, so I cannot say for the Japanese version, but in English the voice acting was pretty good. I found Estelle’s voice aggravating in the beginning but either she got better or I got used to it. The only really terrible voice acting- that just never got better- was Yeager and his lackeys…they had me wanting to strangle people…seriously…Yeager even more so. Luckily they are not in the game all the time so I don’t have to deal with bleeding ears too often.

The opening to the game was beautiful- the animation was drawn in anime style and everyone looked bad-ass. The song was pretty and fitting- it was a fairly good translation and copy of the original Japanese as far as I could tell- I have read a translation of the song from the Japanese and while not the same is fairly close feel to it overall. The music for the rest of the game was not stand out awesome or anything though it was not bad either.

The backgrounds for a game is much different than for a show or movie; it is what you really look at and move through- it has to be much more than other mediums because it is the world you play and and what will bring you back to play the game again. And while some of the places were not super original (the desert for example) the world overall was pretty and enjoyable to look at.

The last thing to look at is the comedy and the age group it was meant for. It was rated Teen and I could not agree more; between the language and the sexual connotations- I would not want anyone younger than 15 playing it- but I will probably be an extremely overprotective mother. Now the comedy was to much fun for me. I got really attached to the high-fives all the characters did. Plus Karol and Raven gave me great facepalms, giggles and just little smiles- Estelle was also really good at this.

Overall the game was filled with fun and excitement. Loved the characters and story and am already playing it again because I loved it so much (and in case anyone is interested depending on the character you have selected as your main character going into the final fight will slightly alter the ending scene). I think that this game really pulls out a 9/10 because I think you just fall in love the characters and really get pulled into the story; and while there are some weaknesses the strengths really make you love the game. I love seeing anime style animation for cut scenes and hope more games will go with this. I really recommend playing the game (especially with another person I really enjoyed kicking butt and letting my husband walk around and find all the items that I get frustrated trying to find- this is why I don’t finish many games) and watching the story. I was originally going to review the game and the prequel movie in one go but I think I have talked a bit to much about the game to include anything else. So I will get to talk about that separately later…

RogeR

2010
09/11
CATEGORY
Tales of Vesperia
Uncategorized
Video Game
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Apology for long stint away

Sorry for the long stint away from posting; I have been having people over for Dungeons & Dragons and doing my normal chores and just been keeping myself busy in general.

I have been playing some video games and watching several things I have been planning on posting on. However one of the games is Transformers War for Cybertron I wanted to look into other transformers things to include in my review- how accurate to the original series it was for example.

I was going to review Pretear after 3 episodes but got caught up in the series and finished it so now I will be planning a longer review. There is also Hetalia Axis Powers and its sequel. Which happened very similar to Pretear planned on reviewing early and got wrapped up in it and got to the end of what is currently out.

I have been playing Tales of Vesperia and watched the movie that is its prequel. I plan to review them after completing the game. Just so we are clear while game-play will be gone over a little for the games I review it will predominately be on the storyline and quality of the animation rather than its playability. This is partially because I can’t sit and play all the way through many games and enjoy watching people play more than I enjoy playing myself.

Other series for you to look forward to me reviewing is “High School of the Dead”, “Occult Academy”, “Amagami SS”, “Shukufuku no Campenella”, “Mistudomoe”, “Asobi ni Iko Yo”, and possibly some others from the summer season of anime this year. I may also go back and do some from last season since it was a fairly good one. Working, Durarara, and B-Gata H Kei for example.

Also I suggest to check out the website Anime Planet go to pages of anime you enjoy and see shows similar to it. They also include manga though it is not just animation in general it is fairly nice and neat website. I plugged in all the anime I have watched and have found that I have wasted over 2 months of my life watching anime. Though I am sure I missed some on the list and I know I did not include things I had only seen an episode or two of.

So that is the state of things. I know instead of posting this I probably should have just reviewed something but I hate to leave people in the dark of what has been going on and how I plan to move forward. More soon. Expect a review up no later than Friday of something or another.

RogeRgal

2010
08/11
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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Heroman

Heroman is by far my new favorite series. It is an amazing show that can be enjoyed by the whole family. It is American Comics meets anime. This is most likely attributed to the fact that it was created by Stan Lee for a Japanese audience (if you don’t know who he is, stop right now and google him; and realize your mistake as someone who knows anything about comics/cartoons). The style of the show is obviously made for children; though it is animated very well. But I truly feel that this show is great for all ages- though there is some bloodless (mostly unrealistic) violence. I have seen up to episode eleven (all that was out when we were watching) and once we started we could not stop; when we started watching and when we got to eleven I was sad…and looking forward to episode twelve.

The opening theme is good; while the song is very good the animation going with the song is only decent. Some of it fits extremely well with the tempo of the song but some of it is really off. It introduces all the characters that have come up so far and some that have not. I really like it though it could be improved. The ending theme is very good. It is a pretty decent song and while not much actual animation is used; the little bit there is is used very well. It is very enjoyable and theme-full with with the show.

The characters overall are very good. Easy to relate to and interesting. Though I would like to exclude Nick from this assessment…as he is very much not so. Luckily it does not appear that he will be in the series much/anymore. But we will see. I like that for the most part the characters actually act like Americans and not Japanese (as it does take place in the U.S.) which is nice that the animators/writers really took that into consideration.

The show is pretty unique. The main character is not the “hero” of the show though he does control the powerful “hero.” Though how the hero gets powers is pretty normal (getting hit by lightning) which is pretty common for “superhero” comics/shows, but with the superhero not truly being the main character it does not feel as cliche. The storyline is not super deep as it is a children’s show but it is engaging. I feel like the audience can relate to the characters, some of the situations, and will be drawn into the situations to the point of being engaged with the storyline.

Seriously I have not fallen in love with an anime like this since Eureka 7 and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. And I recommend this on the same level. While it has not been completed, and I am only reviewing the first eleven episodes; I think anyone can and should enjoy this show- and so I give it a 10/10. Though I may re-review once the current storyline finishes- or at least add to it.

RogeRgal

2010
06/19
CATEGORY
Anime
Heroman
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Romeo X Juliet

Romeo X Juliet is loosely based on the play by Shakespeare “Romeo and Juliet”. I started watching it when it first came out but I could not find a working copy of episode three so it fell to the wayside for awhile. But this past week my husband found it again for us to watch and it worked (even if there was one episode was subbed in completely caps; the characters “yelled” the entire episode). After we started we watched it as much as possible; it was engaging to the point of wanting to see the next episode as soon as we finished the last. I will say, we may be somewhat biased; as my husband LOVES Romeo and Juliet, and I have always found series based on plays/books to be more engaging. I truly enjoy seeing what they kept the same, what changed, and how they changed it while still following the theme.

The series was cute and romantic; while including some good action and interesting fantasy elements. It had several fun and interesting characters; some based on the characters from Romeo and Juliet; while some based on characters from other plays by Shakespeare and one based on the playwright himself. While there were some less than perfect voice acting segments; overall it was decent. The opening theme was not my favorite, but it is definitely one of the best slower openings I have seen. Neither of the ending themes were very special; in-fact both seemed like the animators threw it on at the end as an afterthought.

The animation style was perfect for the theme and for a bunch of men wearing tights. The quality of the animation was also very good. Though Juliet’s facial features were not always kept very consistent. It was a fairly visual arresting show.

Overall I would give this show a 9/10. I would say it is suitable for anyone over the age of seven even though there is some death and violence it is nothing too severe. And it has a little bit of everything for everyone (romance, action, adventure, though it probably could use some more comedy). I also see this as a good way to share classic literature with children. Read the play; watch the anime; and discuss both with your kids. A great way to learn and grow as a family.

RogeRgal

2010
06/19
CATEGORY
Anime
Romeo X Juliet
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Gintama

This review will be rather sporadic to say the least. I watched the first episode of Gintama and was so put off I almost decided that I didn’t want to watch any more of it and just not review it. But since I saw how popular it was I thought “Hey it has to get better.” So I watch episode two and am still completely unimpressed. So I start reviewing it while I watch episode three thinking it won’t be getting better in that episode to the point of changing how I feel about the series. So the following two paragraphs are the review I started writing before the end of episode three.

So I have a Deviant Art account and watch many artists especially those who draw good fanart. Now several of the people I watch draw amazing Gintama fanart so I was thinking this show had to be decent…yeah I dunno if I will ever assume that again. This show came out in 2006…and is very poorly animated for a show of that time. When I played it I figured for sure it was at least 10 years older (if not more). I am not completely against far-out bizarre anime (if its your thing check out Cromartie High School) but seriously this was entirely too random and just weird. I will say the fanart I had seen made me think it would be a little more serious (not a serious series but at least not this bizarre).

The opening song is good; the theme itself is not half bad and if the whole series was animated to that caliber then I think the show would be more enjoyable. I will also say the voice acting for the Japanese version is good though I would not say it goes above and beyond to make up for the other bad points. Overall unimpressed with the series. Characters are too bizarre to really relate to at all.

So that is what I had been writing after the first two episodes. As I previously stated, I started watching number three while typing this and realized that if the rest of the series was like that episode it could be somewhat interesting though I don’t know if that episode makes up for the first two. It is still rather bizarre but the animation is a bit better and there actually appears to be a storyline instead of just a new job every episode. So I decided to go a bit further into the series because I didn’t feel like I could make an accurate judgment from the first three episodes. So I saved what I was writing as a draft on June 5th and decided to wait a week (as I am watching this show on Cable On-Demand) to watch episode four. After watching four which is more character introduction/back story I decided even four episodes would not be enough so another week would be needed. And today I watched episode five.

So after watching five episodes of this series I still don’t feel like this show is really for me. While there are some good aspects and the storyline does pick up; it is just not enough to make me really want to see more. The characters become more engaging and the storyline more in-depth; it is hard to believe that the first two episodes have anything to do with the next three. But the series is still not amazing; even if you completely ignored the first two episodes. I think that there is some good aspects and if sci-fi with samurais sounds awesome to you; you may thoroughly enjoy this series; but if that sounds to far out there to you then I would suggest staying away from it. Overall 4/10; it has some good qualities and has some promise. And it could get better further in, but I am just not interested enough to continue into the series to find out.

RogeRgal

2010
06/19
CATEGORY
Anime
Gintama
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