Sunday, May 11, 2014

Quick Reaction; Hamatora ep 12




Wow, well before I start, let me just say that this reaction is late---very late. A while ago I did a reaction based on the eleventh episode of the anime which had some of the most outrageous plot holes I have ever seen in my life. So I hadn't watched a single episode of Hamatora up until now, but HOLY JESUS. Despite the all of the pretentious monologuing, the episode was by far the best of the anime, managing to not only give all of the protagonists awesome cameos, not only having some of the most fun action scenes I've seen in a long time, not only by redeeming Nice's character, but by turning a common trope on its head. I don't want to spoil it, but it's so damn good! 

Really, my feelings toward this anime went from meh, to July; hurry the freaking hell up! Now who knows where they'll go from here, but I cannot wait! Go watch Hamatora! Stay till the bitter end! I swear it's worth it!

*UPDATE* The next season is being produced by an entirely different studio—I don't know why, the first studio while being relatively new, animated it damn well. 

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Should you watch Kenzen Robo Dailmidaler?

To say that I like this anime would be akin to smearing my name in dirt, dragging it through the tar sans oil fields and asking Rob Ford to help me to compose my apology letter. Such a good thing that I'm just voicing the opinion of a very good...friend of mine named...Franswa.
Do not think what you're thinking right now, I guarantee you're wrong.


Bad jokes aside, while I don't think it's a very good anime, I have to say that I've been enjoying this anime so far. You see I'm all for silly crazy stupid crap in anime, because outside of trippy webcomics or axecop, this is the only place you find shows like these. Penguin robots vs the robotic version of Hellboy with dreadlocks, powered by the power of Ero particles. Only TNK, the studio behind anime such as Highschool DXD and I My Me! Strawberry Eggs could've pulled this one off. Welcome to damidaler. While I wouldn't go so far as to say this is a good anime , I will so far as to say that it knows what it is and how to deal with that. The show isn't about romance, so it doesn't push it on you. The characters aren't the spotlight either, so it doesn't make any forced development. It's all about two things; comedy and fan-service. Any studio can do fanservice well, but I think the show has a lot of good comical assets as well. While I never found myself laughing as hard as I would in Nichijou or Noucome, I still found myself smirking from time to time. I also have to give them credit for the mech designs. If nothing else they look unique. 
Pretty hard not to draw similarities

Oh and that opening. Out of all of the openings this season, I would have to say that this is my favorite. You can tell that the singer is into it. He's not just writing and singing a random tune for some stupid anime, he's giving it his all. 

  Basically the anime is worth your time if you like comedy and fanservice. It's good for what it is (especially because there's no harem), but it isn't any fullmetal or even Highschool DXD.

 Thanks for Reading! I know this one is a bit light on the comedy, sorry about that. Just ain't really feeling it right now. Likes, follows, and spreading the word are all really appreciated! 

Friday, May 9, 2014

Golden Time Anime Review

This anime...I don't really know what to think of this anime. That's why it took me so long to make this review in the first place—I don't know what to think about this anime!


Animation--Where else could I start than with the animation. Now when I say that that the animation is the worst part of the anime, it's actually more of a compliment than anything. the animation isn't bad it's just average. I'm sure that if you look close enough you'll probably be able to tell me how it stacks up with other slice of life anime, but I don't think it's going to be popping any eyes.  Now on the other hand, the openings and endings are beautiful. The songs in and of themselves are nice, and the artistic feel of them never failed to get me hyped for that weeks episode. 




Plot-- It isn't every day that I come across an anime with more soap than you'd find in your average Bath and Beyond, and it's even more rare for me to like it. And Jesus, for me to get attached to the characters, crying, shouting all that—you'd have better luck finding a TF2 server that isn't plagued with bronies. I mean damn I wouldn't say this anime started out slow, but it certainly didn't leave much of a strong impression. The anime walks a tightrope between being boring generic romance and over-the-top opera with enough soap to Master Roshi look like a Samarian.


 A genre called drama, something not many anime do well. Take Sakurasou for example; it's an anime that I think did drama right. It made me feel for the characters through what I thought  It had some damn good drama and characters, but it forced all of the drama and stuff into a long compact string that made me feel like I was running a marathon on depression awareness day.   Sorry, Golden Time, but my heart strings aren't a slide guitar, you can't go all 'Free bird' on me. The plot isn't predictable, but seeing as it's a slice of life, I guess it shouldn't be.


Sound-----I wouldn't say that the soundtrack is bad, but I wouldn't say it was good either—in fact I wouldn't say anything, because frankly I wasn't expending the slightest bit of energy listening to it. For all I know it might it could be as fantastic as Mozart or as bad as Kanye. To me however, this is a good thing. This just shows how involved I was in the scene and with the characters; so much so that I couldn't pay attention to the sound. Really the only time I notice a soundtrack as being either good or bad while watching the show, is when there's nothing else to do. So if I don't notice the soundtrack; it's generally a compliment how well the series is entertaining me.

                                    Judge for yourself (Couldn't find anything else on Youtube)
This is without a doubt Makoto Furukawa's best voice acting role...mostly because he really hasn't been in anything else. As far as I can tell this is the only acting role he's had in a drama. In fact he had only been in four or so anime before this. When I first him, however, I thought he was a voice actor of many more years than just two. He is truly the star of the show. All in all, I think this is one of the best subs I have ever heard. I don't think there was a single time where I could call out a voice actor or actress for an unrealistic performance.

Characters---You know that feeling you get when a character is so block headed, or stupid you feel like tossing your laptop across the room and rethinking your life? No? Really? Okay...

Well I didn't feel like that at all save for once during this anime. This is how you make relatable characters. Something I absolutely love about anime is the fact that most characters are completely unrealistic. You wouldn't find an Ichigo hanging around the backstreets, in the same way that you wouldn't find a Yuno hanging around


Well in any case, for the most part you won't find these guys hanging around the school yard. What is most surprising about this anime is that for the most part all of the actions that they took seemed realistic and, even more surprisingly, understandable.

Also, this is an anime that is specifically targeted toward a male demographic and I can't remember a single panty, breast, or other fanservicy shot in the entire anime.


Banri---You know he's got to be one of my favorite anime characters. Not only does he have an absolutely fantastic voice actor, but he in and of himself is a well designed character. What I like about the character is that he showcases one of the most interesting and though provoking topics in the show—amnesia. The show deals with amnesia in such a way that it makes Momento look like a ninth grader forgetting his homework. It takes the condition in ways i hadn't really thought about before, questioning whether personality is natural or built through experience. It has been the first show in a long time to make me do more than just watch it, but to think about what it's trying to say. I'm not saying it's high art, I'm just saying that it's smart, but not in an overbearing pretentious way. The themes of amnesia has a large effect not only upon Banri himself but upon the other characters around him.


Romance---Speaking as objectively as I can as while still being someone with an opinion—this anime has a very very good and compelling romance. It has enough drama and intrigue to keep you going for all of its 24 episodes still managing to be fresh up until its conclusion. While I found myself on Team Linda on this one, I still think that any one who is a fan of straight up romance should check this one out. It has enough moments to melt even the frostiest of hearts and will keep you entertained throughout. Don't come here for fanservice, or plot or action or anything else. Come here for the excellent characters, thought provoking themes and top notch romance that doesn't go the direction I wanted. 

                                             This is the way it should've ended!

This is an anime I could recommend to pretty much anyone. It has a good script, characters, romance, and solid animation. It's worth however much time you put into it. 


Thanks for reading! It does mean a lot, and it would mean even more if you dropped a like, shared this or spread the word!