Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Sword Art Online

I find the Love It or Hate It debate over this anime hilarious, but I also REALLY get it. On the one hand, this anime is beautiful. The art and sound production is fantastic, especially from a smaller studio. The action is (overall) very well done. They have a really good pace, and they feel frenetic and exciting. It doesn't just excel at action either, there are many genuinely touching moments in this series.

Of course, I can also see the hate. While they do a lot of little design things with the MMO concept, they don't do much in the overall story. The first season is full of time skips that make you go, "Wait what! All of that intervening time!" The second season has excessive fanservice, and a change to the game makes it much less dramatic or intense. The show is very mixed, character-wise. On one end there's Suguha, who is easily the most developed character in the show, while still managing to be sympathetic, likable, and engaging. (Even if her subplot does give me the oogies.) Near the middle is Asuna, who starts off interesting, disappears for a while, reappears and is kinda meh, before growing into something better. But then, there are the problem characters. First off is the protagonist, Kirito. He feels REALLY inconsistent. Early on there's his loner thing, there's the people dying complex he develops, and there's his romance. Besides that...his personality seems to completely change depending on the episode, or sometimes scene, he's in. And the season two villain! My friend who got me into this show used to rave to me about how evil he was, and how much I'd hate him. He's half right. Dude's definitely evil, but after a while I gave up hating him. He's a cartoon. He's a silly caricature of what "evil" is. His motivations are weak, and he has absolutely no redeeming qualities. In other settings with different styles, that could work, but this show's tone clashes with that. You can only add so many Villain tropes to one character before they stop being empathetic, and once you can't even empathize with a character, your ability to like or dislike them is sorely diminished.

Overall, I liked Sword Ass (I mean Art) Online. I'm glad I saw it. It's pretty flawed, but the emotion and drive it presents combined with the fantastic action makes me enjoy it regardless. To me it feels like Gurren Lagann wearing a really shiny .hack/sign suit. That leads to the problem, however, that Gurren Lagann works as well as it does because it doesn't give a rat's ass about how it looks, or the believability of it's story. SAO lacks that quality to make up for it. What it really needs is to be dubbed and put on Toonami. Put it in with that crowd, and it's going to stick out, and in a good way. If you know you're someone who can't get over logical or character problems in a show, this isn't for you. But if you can dip yourself into this world and enjoy the emotional roller-coaster, it comes recommended.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Code Geass

Yeah it's a R2 image, but to me they're just two seasons of one show.

         So guys, thanks to the ever awesome Arkada I found this cool site called MyAnimeList.net I really enjoy it and put up all the anime I could think of. So, when doing so, I initially gave Code Geass (Original and R2, for this blog post they're the same thing) a 7, or Good. Because that's pretty much how I feel about it, it's good. But when I looked at it again and thought, I realized I was being a bit of a Negative Nancy, and switched to an 8. Let me start this by saying, yes, I think it's Very Good, but I have problems that keep it from being higher.

         For the eleven or so people on the internet who don't know, Code Geass is an anime about an alternate present where Britannia is still a thing, and has conquered a large chunk of the world. The main characters are Britanians living in Japan, and it deals with the revolution boiling against the Empire, with a touch of supernatural fun as well. Really the show is a mix between Death Note (The political and scheming aspects), Azumanga Daioh (The High School shenanigans) and a mech show. (Britannia uses mecha. And no, I don't have an example of a mech anime because it's not my thing.) My favorite thing about Code Geass is how it did something better than Death Note. DN is supposed to be both a intellectual and moral battle, but I never saw any side the it besides the intellectual one. Light is clearly in the wrong here, and L for all his faults is the hero. CG has one morally gray intelligent protagonist who seems to have a better idea, and one misguided and naive average-smarts protagonist. Not only that, but the friendship between them is played really well, and it really hit me in the heart.

        So after all that praise, why do I feel like the rain on everybody's parade? Well, first off most of the High School plot seemed really out of place, and I'm glad it was excised in the second season. It also peaved me that Lelouch, a freaking genius, could have made things infinitely easier at many points by revealing at least part of the truth to certain people. But no, he gets confronted and shuts up, making him seem worse than he really is. I have a friend who tells me it's part of his character, but to me that's like saying that part of a character is that despite being super-intelligent, he can't fix a hole that keeps appearing in his plans over and over despite them being his greatest problem. It's lazy writing. But the worst part has to be C.C. She should be the image for the Plot Tumor trope. Who could easily cut her out of the entire story, and I wouldn't notice. All the things that she did could easily be done by other people, and she could have just stayed dead in episode one. Still, despite these problems I have, the show is still Very Good, and I would recommend it to many. It's just begging for a Fan Edit though. Maybe one that ends at episode 22...

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Puella Magi Madoka Magica

                Do not let the image nor the opening theme song fool you. This is not Sailor Moon. This is not Cardcaptor Sakura. This is not Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. This anime is to the Magical Girl genre of anime what Watchmen is to Superhero genre comic books. It is very much a deconstruction of the entire idea of a Magical Girl, and it frightens me. But you can find that out anywhere, that's literally how every review of it has to start. But most of them fail to follow up on the basic question: Should I watch it? The short answer: yes. The long answer: See below.

                 I don't say this very often, but damn that was some good animation. I am obviously not talking about the broadcast version, but the dub. The main characters are very well done, though several of the side characters felt a little flat and lacking in fiber. The action scenes were great. The story is one of the best I've seen in an anime in quiet a while. The best part, however, is the pacing. The show is 12 episodes long, and is paced perfectly. After using the first several episodes to set you up, each episode is full of content, and builds on what the previous one did. I used to think that 12-episode series almost always left you lacking, but then I took a Madoka Magica to the brain.

                Overall, I would heavily, heavily recommend anyone who watches anime give this a try. It is not something you have seen before, and is worth the watch. Personally, in sheer quality, I would probably put this up there with BeBop, though for different reasons. So, please, go watch it, or Kyubey will find you.

               Two anime finished in less than a week? I am back baby!

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Clannad: After Story

              Yup, I finished it just yesterday. I am very conflicted over After Story. I'm going to start with the reasons this is voted on Anime News Network as the best anime of all time, and why I love it. The story hurts. It takes the hinted at theme from Clannad, that change can hurt but you have to roll with it and try to live your life as best you can, and really brings it into the forefront. This anime goes in directions I haven't seen before, made me cry, and I loved it the entire time. Not only that, but along the way it isn't just heart-jerkingly sad, but also beautiful, adorable, and hilarious. On a storytelling level, Clannad is amazing, and maybe one of the best anime ever made.

               So, why am I conflicted? Let me start with this fucker.

            That is Samuel, my good friend and cohost on The Brony Bookclub. It is from his insistence that I have watched Clannad so fast. I will thank him for this, but I will also Clockwork Orange the Cupcakes animation to him for a few hours. I cannot stand the ending to Clannad. Not only is it in general a lame device, it specifically destroys the entire point of the show. I will not spoil it, but I will reiterate that it is impossible for an ending to destroy the theme of a show more. I still love Clannad: After Story, but this terrible ending has taken it from a Top 10 contender to a definite Top 20 spot. If you disagree, we can discuss it over email at grottocast@yahoo.com Do not comment about it here, I do not want to spoil it at all.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Soul Eater

      This shall be the last shonen anime I talk about for a while. I just wanted to go through the older ones, then come back to the new stuff. Or something. I kinda lost track. Whatever. Now, I have found out that a lot of people have no seen Soul Eater.

        Maybe it's just me, but this show is actually getting on in years. Let me start with the bad: some gags really don't work with me, but they managed to find solid footing pretty fast. It suffers from the same problem as the original Fullmetal Alchemist anime, but instead of a whole season of filler we get a third a season. You'd think that's be a good thing, but the whole season FMA had allowed them to set up stuff so it kinda became it's own, complete, separate show from the manga. Soul Eater didn't, and the filler ending they cobbled together seems very patchwork. The worst has the best the ending, which makes no fucking sense, and does to nothing but leaving me staring at the screen in bewilderment. It really let me down, but with the advent of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and the two doing the same thing and being made by the same animation company, maybe we can get a similar show here.

       So what's good about Soul Eater? So freaking much. First off, the action is gorgeous. And it don't mean in an animation or frame-rate sense, I mean it is just freaking amazing. I'd honestly have to say that Soul Eater has my favorite action scenes from anime. Also? The music. Both openings to the show are fantastic, and while I prefer the second one, both are up there in my favorite openings in anime. Also, I really like the cast. Mako and Soul are good protagonists; Kid and the Thompson Sisters are fun; and Black Star and Tsubaki are great. Plus, the side characters are great too. Krona is my favorite shonen rival, not counting Ryoga. His story is really well done, and I like the ending the filler bits actually gave him. (As opposed to the manga where his story tears my heart apart.) Dr. Stein is a great mentor character, and Maka's Dad is cool as well. Medusa is one of my favorite villains in recent anime. So, while it has a few flaws, Soul Eater ends up being one of my favorite anime to come out in recent yearsish. I'd heavily recommend it, and it isn't hard to find. The whole thing's one Netflix. Laters.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Clannad

              I am going to take an aside rant before I start actually talking about the anime. Namely, when I started reviewing things, what, 4 years ago, my specialty was anime. It was the medium I had the most knowledge and experience with. But since then, I took it upon myself to spread my boundaries, and watch as much as possible from the other mediums. I'm happy to say that it has mostly worked, so that now I can talk somewhat intelligently about books, live action TV, western animation, films, fanfiction, comic books, and webcomics. However, it struck me the other day that I had not started and finished an anime in a very long time. I had abandoned by original fandom, and that just would not do. So I'm spending more time on the anime side of things. And if that isn't your cup of tea, don't worry, I'm still watching live-action TV, movies, cartoons, etc.

             Clannad is an anime made by Kyoto Animation, and it is based of a visual novel game by Key. Those are the same people who made the visual novels turned anime Kanon, Air, and Angel Beats (Yes, the last one isn't  visual novel, but it was made by Key then made into an anime.) My record with these adaptations is mixed. Kanon was one of the first anime I saw, and still holds a special place in my heart as, "that incredibly sad one about high school girls in the snow." Air is odd for me: I didn't finish it because it simply failed to grab me any longer. the characters hadn't grown on me, and the only thing I enjoyed was Vic Mignogna's performance. Angel Beats start off a little slow, but ends up one of my favorite series from recent years, especially because of the frankly amazing soundtrack. So how does Clannad fair?

            Let's start with the opening. It works well, and while I wouldn't have it high up on my list of favorite openings, it's still very good and sets the mood well for the show itself. The plot is about a delinquent high school student and his best friend, who end up befriending several girls each of whom has their own story arch. (Except Ryou for some reason.) Each arc's ending is sad, though how sad depends on the viewer. The characters are pretty good, my favorites being the best friend Youhei for being a hilarious spaz (seriously, he's the Xander of the show), and one of the girl's dad Akio for being awesome.

            I'll quickly mention the animation before I move on: it works. It tells the story, and that's good. Not much to talk about really. So how did I like it? Well, I'm proud to say that unlike Kanon or Angel Beats, I did not cry once.  The first character arc's ending came pretty damn close though. Seriously, in my opinion that is the best arc of them all, it is so freaking sad, but completely heartwarming at the same time. The final character arc almost got me too, there was literally a part halfway though the episode where I was completely confused, because somehow I'm such a terrible visual novel player that I got the bad ending on an anime adaptation!

            Overall I would definitely recommend the series, it is very funny, sad, and it fills you with warm fuzzies for a little while. And really, isn't that good enough? Well, of to watch After Story!

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Bleach

            Oh man, this is gonna really kill me. Alright, so the, like, zero people reading this who watched by old shitty YouTube videos know that this anime cause my first kinda big controversy. This was mostly caused by my poor writing, bad speech, and terrible response to comments. Let me start with this then: I do not think Bleach is a bad anime, nor do I hate it. I feel that in quality it is mediocre, and I don't really have any feeling for it one way or the other.

            On the good side, the opening (not sure which number) DTechnoLife is amazing, and one of my favorite openings to any anime ever. However, I rarely think of Bleach when I listen to it, so I'm not sure it's actually a plus. The other good-ish thing about it is that it doesn't really have anything bad about it.

            That is just my problem however. Good is not the absence of bad. While nothing about the show is something I dislike, I don't like any of it either. The characters are bland, the story meh, and the action standard. So, really, I have nothing much to say about the show except that I don't hate it. Or like it. Or care. Sorry Bleach fans. Laters.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu-Naruto

       Now, first off, I am not going to claim that Naruto is bad. I know a lot of people who would, but I won't. I also will not explain the plot, because once I start it gets hard to stop. What I am going to talk about is how Naruto lost me. It used to hold a very special place in my heart, because it was the anime that got me to look it up on the web, and finally discover what anime was and where to find it. I don't know how long it would have taken for that to happen otherwise, but it was the catalyst. Back in the day I was a diehard Naruto fan. Now, I'm going to start with what is good about the anime.

     The action is very good, and while I generally prefer One Piece and a couple other anime in that department, it's still well done. The music is very good, and gets you ready for a good time. The best thing, easily, are the characters. The cast is large and there are quite a few stand outs. Rock Lee is a personal favorite, but almost all of the main cast are very well done. Naruto himself is a great protagonist. When they delve into his childhood, it really works. The Zabuza storyline is probably the peak in quality,  but the Chunin Exams/Gaara arc is my favorite. The ending fight works very well, though I've seen the same idea done better elsewhere. (Keep that in mind, I'll bring it up again in a couple of days.)

    Now for the bad. To start off, the problem with the great cast is that the writer has no clue how to focus. As time goes on, he spends less and less time with the initial cast that drew us in, and keeps throwing in new characters, only about one in ten of which are a fifth as good as the original characters. I don't want to spend more time with Sai, I want Hinata! For the anime the filler is atrocious, between Naruto and Shippuden literally a year and a half of filler. Some of it was good, but most was really bad, and because it was filler it was a year and a half where nothing of real importance could happen. Then there's the Sasuke problem. I didn't like Sasuke at first, but by the end of the Zabuza arc he had grown on me. But then the Sasuke retrieval arc reared it's ugly head, and now I can't stand the guy. And it got worse! Every time he's shown up since then he's made me more and more pissed. At one point it started to feel like Sasuke was supposed to be the protagonist, but luckily it switched perspectives again soon after. Plus, after the initial success of Zabuza and Gaara, I haven't liked the villains much. Orochimaru started off cool, but degraded fast. The Akatsuki didn't really impress me.

   The thing that gets me the worst though is the story. Over time, the plot has become more and more sidetracked and convoluted. It keeps going off-course, and not resolving what it's set up. Off everything that has happened so far, I think only the tailed beasts and Naruto's parents were things the writer knew when he started. Like I said earlier, the Gaara fight felt satisfying because it felt like it was built up to, and everything fit just right. I haven't felt that since, and that is a shame. Let me compare this with the anime I talked about yesterday, One Piece. One Piece set up huge plot points years in advance, in one case decades, and did so where it usually wasn't obvious that Oda was leading us there.

    Again, I am not saying Naruto is bad. I'm saying that it started of very good, and I loved it. Now when my friends who read the manga tell me what's happening, I sigh and shake my head. If you really enjoy it, good on you. There's something that you enjoy that I do not, that's a point in your favor. Sorry Kishimoto, I still like you as a person.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu - One Piece

        Before I start, I must apologize. I am late posting, and I shouldn't be. I could make an excuse, but it would be lame and no one would care. I know these kind of apologies are mocked a lot, but I put them here because I honestly feel terrible I forgot to update, and that I should have upheld my promise of an update a day better. So, for the purposes of my life and sleep schedule, each day of the week 'ends' at 4am. Yes, that's when I go to bed.

       In punishment for my sin, I shall divulge a horrible, terrible secret. I love One Piece. Let me start by summarizing the show for the 8 of you on the internet who has no idea what I'm talking about. One Piece is set in a Constructed World (A setting with no connection of any kind to ours in geography or history.) where the world is one giant ocean, with some barriers separating it into four seas. It is the Age of Pirates, set off by the death of Gold Roger, and Monkey D. Luffy wants to find the legendary treasure One Piece, therefore becoming the King of the Pirates. Because he ate one of the Devil Fruits, cursed produce that grant mystical powers to those who consume them, he is made of rubber. He gathers a crew, gets a ship, and fights other pirates.

       Let me start with what is bad, the reason many do not like the show. The animation ranges, but it starts off on the closer end of bad. The dialogue is often cheesy and over the top. The characters, at first glance, are very 2-dimensional and annoying. It constantly breaks science and reason in every way you can possibly imagine. There are several filler arcs, many of which are bad. The original dub by 4kids Entertainment is probably the worst dub of all time, with a lot of unnecessary censorship and terrible casting and writing. It is, I think, the biggest reason for those who do not like it.

      Now for me to gush about what I love. The action is amazing, honestly my favorite from any anime I've seen. The dialogue is over the top, but that's the point. Everything in this show is over-the-top, because that's how it is. The drama, sadness, awesomeness, comedy, and heartwarmingness are all purposely turned up to eleven. That's part of the point. The music, both in show and the openings, are fantastic. And my favorite part is the characters. I said earlier that they can appear 2-dimensional and that's true, from a certain point of view. But once you start paying more attention, the characters have far more depth than you would have though from the silly shonen anime you heard about. Luffy is that "I'm gonna follow my dreams, eat a lot of food, and get stronger" kind of protagonist, but then he says stuff that is kinda amazing. "If I die while trying to reach my dream, then I die." And he's not blowing smoke out his ass either, at one point when he thinks he will die, he accepts it with a huge grin on his face. The whole cast is like this, and several backstories will make you cry.

     One Piece feels like it was made with a passion, and a message I agree with to a T. It is my shonen anime, and one I shall defend to the grave. Now if only Funimation would catch up on the collections and get back to dubbing the damn thing already! Laters.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu/In Front of the Silver Screen-Castle in the Sky

        Alright,it's time I admitted it, at the time of me typing this out I have seen 7 Miyazaki movies. Seriously. It's a huge shame for me, because I love the man and his films. I am working on changing this, and finished watching Castle in the Sky about a week ago. The film is, expectantly, gorgeous, but what really impressed me was how funny it is. I laughed pretty hard several times. The story (Bronydom has robbed me of the p-word now.) worked pretty well, and the characters were ranged from decent to awesome. Special mention goes to the Sky Pirate leader and the Big Bag played by none other that Mark Hamill. Mmm, I love that ham. Overall, it is super-duper-above average when it comes to animated movies, or movies in general. As a Miyazaki film I liked it more than Howl and Kiki, but less than all the other Miyazaki films I've seen. You'll see more of the great creator soon enough. Laters.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu! - The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya

                  Oh god. Where to begin. This film is an adaptation of the light novel of the same name. The animation here is completely and utterly beautiful. They not only managed to adapt the entire book without cutting anything, they added in a few places. In a good way. They turn a certain character's existential arguement that lasted 1-2 pages in the book into a 5 minute battle in the mind scene. And I loved it. The voice work here is top notch, and the range some of the actors show is far beyond what they did in the show. This movie, for me, is the pinnacle of the franchise. Not only is it the best thing in the anime, it might be one of my favorite animated movies ever. A small warning though: this movie is 2 hours and 44 minutes long. If you do not like long movie, don't watch this. Personally, I like longer movies more than shorter ones. This movie is great, and it comes highly recommended from yours truly. Laters.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu! - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2

         Ah, the infamous second season. For those not in the know, the first season of Haruhi is huge, a total 'Love it or Hate it' sensation. In my opinion, the second season was so hyped up it was going to get hate no matter what. Still, a lot of that hate is not unwarranted. It's 14 episodes are compromised of 3 stories. The first season had the same number of episodes, and a total of 8 different stories.

        The first episode here is Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody, which I covered in the third book review. It's pretty much a faithful adaptation from the books, so there's not much to talk about. After that is...

              That's right! The Endless Eight! This is the only reason to hate the season. While I will get to the story when it comes up in the books, that isn't the issue here. The story of Endless Eight is very good, and might be one of my favorites in the series. The problem here is that they took one chapter of the books, and turned it into EIGHT episodes. Eight episodes of roughly the same thing happening each time, with the only variations being small events and clothing. One episode would have been good, two would have suited the story better and gotten across what they meant with this. BUT EIGHT?! Now, it might seem like I am raging majorly here, but I have to say this: I don't hate this decision as much as most of the internet does. I see where they were coming from, and they did milk out several really good jokes with the repetition. So, what's the last story? Why the Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya of course! Yep, the entire 2nd book, boiled down to 5 episodes. It's actually really well done, and manages to get the whole story done in that time. Combined with the 'movie' they make here, it is really great.

           Is this season bad? Not really. None of the individual episodes or stories are of poor quality. What causes the hate is 2 main factors: hype, which I already mentioned; and disappointment. Many were hoping for the 4th book to be in this season, done in the same fashion as Sigh was. However, the fans weren't left waiting for long, as soon THE MOVIE was born. And I'll get on to that in about a week or so. Next time: silliness! Laters.

Watashi wa Anime ga daisukidesu! - The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

  

           Ah, this is where it began for me. Over 3 years or so ago, I heard about this anime from an old review show called AnimeTV. Hearing some good things about it, I tried it out. It was love at first episode. Now, I have heard some criticism over this show from my favorite anime reviewer, Jesuotaku. I think she is hilarious, intelligent, and compromised of over 80% win. She said that the many of the characters don't have much depth, and the second half the series is just fun with no real plot. While I would say these criticisms are logically valid, I disagree with her here. Yuki and Itsuki are not shallow characters, there depth is there. It's just the kind of depth that takes a while to notice. (I have no defense for Mikuru, she's totally shallow) Closely watching you'll notice small hints of Yuki's emotions, and the way Itsuki puts on and takes off his 'mask' of his character. And for the 'plotless' episodes, I disagree because of the fact that, besides the first bit, the franchise has no ongoing plot. And while they seem to lack plot, very few of those episodes are. The bit of plot in each one is hidden, and seems of no significance, only to reveal it's importance later. Only with the latest movie has these bits started to play out there meaning, so as a self-containted season, she is correct.

           Why do I love this anime so? The story episodes are, in my opinion, some of the best episodes in anime. Some of the later episodes similarly touch me, like Live Alive, the Day of Sagittarius, and Mysterious Sign. I love how science-y the sci-fi is, how amazing the characters are, and how funny the script is. This anime will always have a large place in my heart, easily in my Top 5 Anime Series.