Kuroko's Basketball

It's over....

It's finally over...

I was going to just talk about this season but no... since the show is over... and even if you have a spin off or another season i will not be watching... i may as well talk about the overall journey that has been Kuroko's Basketball.

I almost never enjoy sport anime.
They are too formulaic.
The main characters team has to win or you are kinda stuck without a plot... but first they have to lose so everything seems hopeless and this will be their last chance at greatness.
Matches tend to take way too long so character can talk or have flashbacks
Characters are far too overpowered and constantly one upping each other with tricks and aces up their sleeve
and they tend to give stupid names to moves.

So when season one came out in 2012 and the matches were quick and there were no stupid names I was so happy.
Despite my shortness I played basketball a lot as a kid... and i was really good at it (mainly because of speed and accuracy and well.. most girls tend to be on the shorter side)
It was funny when i moved one of my first gym classes we played Basketball and hearing all these taller guys shout "stop letting them pass to her" made me so happy.
So it's a sport i have a lot of happy memories of (even though i'll probably never be able to play again thanks to crappy shoulder issues)
So being able to watch a show that brought back the excitement and joy from a sport i enjoyed was just the best thing.
The characters weren't too strong... they didn't always win but the losses weren't soul crushing either...
it was just such an enjoyable show.

Then season 2 hit... and they started naming moves.
Ignite pass? Meteor Jump.... shadow drive...
but none of that compared to the moment the show went downhill for me.
"The Zone"

Making the zone a tangible lightning eye thing (that even had a time limit that other people could count down) was the point the show changed.

Character became overpowered... more moves got named and Kagami ended up being more the main character then Kuroko.
My heart sank but i was still enjoying it.
However it quickly became harder and harder to watch each week.

Why did i continue? hope... i hoped it would get better... that the matches would continue to be quick... that kuroko would grow more (and to be fair he does)
Beyond all that there was one other crucial element that kept me watching.

Akashi is voice by Hiroshi Kamiya..... and i'm kinda a sucker for Hiroshi kamiya sounding all sinister... and yeah i could have watched Durarara again or blue exorcist but.... i'm weak

So yeah... I was also honestly curious about the other generation of 'miracles' abilities but this last season was so hard to get through... i actually marathonned the last 5 episodes just cause i knew i would stop watching if i had to wait a week every time... and i knew i was close to the end.

I wanted to do a count of a particularly bad episode with how many stupid moves they named that were essentially "passing, watching, shooting and even dribbling"
but that would involve re-watching and... honestly i'm good... even the intro songs were starting to sound too similar (and i love Granrodeo so it hurts a little to say that)

Still you want an excellent basketball show... watch season 1...
then stop... you already know how a show like this is going to end...

and to be fair the ending is good... it ended almost exactly how i wanted it to.

but yeah... once they added the zone the show just does downhill.... not to mention that everyone has the same visualisation of what the zone is... it's just a little too stupid for me personally.

But kuroko is still adorable.... So glad this is over.

Tokyo Ghoul

06/30/2015
Ok... so when this originally came out i passed on it cause it felt it wouldn't be my cup of tea... it gave off a vibe of dark and edgy for the sake of it.

However i have a few friends who really enjoyed it... so now that it's all out (or at least there are multiple seasons) i figured i could try marathoning it.
Honestly for me that was the better choice... i wouldn't have stuck with this show if i had to wait a week for new episodes....
mainly cause... i don't get it...
i mean i get the show but i do not get the hype.

This could just be me. I do not like horror shows... they are dull and boring and predictable and often rely too much on shock then actually being horrific.

It doesn't help that 70% of the show has to be covered up with black or white or red or negative colours censorship blobs... because japans censorship laws are a little strange and instead of just not animating that stuff at all and being more creative about it... they just hide it until you get the bluray.

So all this stuff is going on and all i can think is "why do they expect me to care"

If i don't care for the characters i'm not going to care about the world or plot.

kaneki is fine but pretty dull... he doesn't add enough to the story to warrent being the main character (i'm sure that changes in Root A but for now i'm just going on ep 1-12)
Touka is interesting and i do like her character but she doesn't get a whole lot of screen time.
Hide is also interesting... also barely in the show.
The show is trying to make me feel compassion towards all sorts of different characters all of which are not the 'good guys' and i get that it's the point but i don't get why i should care.

Is the show bad? no i don't think so... and i am going to watch Root A cause why not... i'm in a bit of a lull between seasons.

I will say i do not like the music and that could be a factor on why overall i'm not impressed with the show... the whispery intro song made me want to skip it every time (though once it gets a bit more power it does improve but that takes too long to get to) but yeah for whatever reason music is really important to me and this just wasn't cutting it.

However, animation was really good.... well when you could see the animation it was really good... the last episodes did manage some shudders from me and they did it by just suggesting certain things were happening and never showing and it was REALLY effective.  I wish the whole show was like that instead of "look at all the blood... sure it's cyan but you know it's blood anyways... isn't it spooky?"
no not really... at least not in my opinion...
I am curious if the show will ever explain more about the ghouls but i think if they haven't mentioned it by now then i just have to accept that this world has them in it... i guess.

Ok onto Root A

07/02/2015
Now i have finished Root A

It's funny cause a few episodes into this season i went to twitter and expressed that i'm actually kinda bummed i'm not getting into this show or emotionally connecting at all.
My friend on Twitter mentioned a few things.

He felt it was more a story about the BG characters, not so much Kaneki.
I 100% agree with this statement and also simultaneously disagree. yes the BG characters are far more interesting then any of the main ones... yes i liked them far more then the main ones... but i never cared about them AND none of them get enough screen time to have a decent arc (but i'll come back to this later)

Anyways i replied to him that i didn't get the fuss over Kaneki Ken and he said something that made everything clear.

@Raichana oh thats easy. Kaneki = modern day Shinji

I sat there staring blankly at the screen.... everything was clear... why i didn't care about Kaneki and furthermore my blahness to the show.

I do not like Evangaleon... at all
I don't hate it but i find it boring and predictable and at time infuriating to watch... i just want something that actually means something to happen instead of a bunch of messed up imagery or clumsy metaphores shoved in in an attempt to pretend to be deep.

Which is the exact some feeling i got while watching this.
I wanted desperately for something plot relevant to happen...
but in the end this show doesn't have a traditional plot... there is no goal that everyone is working towards... it is simply this world sucks and is unfair and people die get over it.
Nothing has reason or meaning... it just is...

SO i guess that makes this title a slice of life? seeing as people go through their day to day just hoping to continue living i'd say it's an accurate category but for me personally it's not something i enjoy watching.

I never connected to any of the characters by the end... i was expecting to cry went certain things happened but i just sat there staring since it was long telegraphed and really the only possible result of the situation.

I do think it would be interesting if they did a sequel... i'm sure people would say it can't but considering there are so many loose ends with certain characters i think not only would it be good but it would be needed to give certain people closure to their arcs.
also my personal rule is if you don't see a character die onscreen they could still be alive so yeah... there's that.

Did i hate the show? No
Did the show get better in season 2? Partially.... mostly because Kaneki is in it far less and the parts that he is in don't really make sense to the plot or his character so they are easily ignored.

I will say the second ending song was really good and i loved that the imagery changed with each episode... the second intro song was too painful to listen to so i ended up skipping it but sometimes thats just how it goes.

The animation is still spot on... no fault there.

So yeah it's a very good show that i just couldn't connect to, i'm still glad i watched it but i'm not going to watch again any time soon.
If they did another season i may watch that after it's all aired because i would lose my mind from being bored if i had to wait a week for each episode.

I feel kinda mean about this... again i'm just disappointed that it wasn't the type of show i enjoy.

oh and the censorship was tonned down in some spots (i know i saw a hand go through a guy) and hilarious in others (apparently having 30+ knives it you is enough to deserve a blur effect.) so if this does sound like your type of show just wait for the bluray.

Yamada-kun & the Seven Witches

Definitely one of the most harem-y shows i've enjoyed.

So, as the title states there is a boy named Yamada and seven witches and the show is about how he meets all seven and can copy their powers.

It's a cute and somewhat endearing show that i will probably completely forget about by next season because it didn't have too much in the way of staying power.

It does get a little fanservicy (especially cause one of the witches has the power to swap bodies) but it wasn't detrimental to the plot.

What was detrimental to the plot was this focus on being the next student council president but it never really affected anything or mattered and we knew very little about all the candidates and i never once cared.

SO yeah cute show but nothing amazing... great animation though. I would say more but there isn't really anything else to say.

Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon
Nisekoi
Seraph of the End 
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too! 
Plastic Memories

The Twelve Kingdoms

So in my ramble about Plastic memories i said i would either be talking about Blood blockade battlefield or Kuroko
Yeah apparently i lied since the former apparently doesn't have an ep this week so it ends next week and the latter hasn't had it's final episode come up on daisuki yet (but it is listed for today that that's probably going to happen)

So instead last night i managed to get through the 12 kingdoms.

The reason i bought this dvd was pretty simple. I had seen a trailer for it on something else and i thought the music was very pretty. It also deals with a fish out of water/sent to another world theme that i really enjoy... right up there with Supernatural stuff happening in the real world and shows about baking.

And... well i didn't hate it.
It has a lot of problems but i still enjoyed it overall.

Now the story has a lot of 'complicated' terms so i'm going to cut those out and just explain things for what they are.

One day in the middle of class Youko, a girl with natural red hair, is surprised when a man appeared behind her and claims she's the queen he's been looking for.
Shortly after Mosters attack the school and to get her and her two friends who kind of get caught up in things to safety he sends them to another world.

Once in this land of 12 kingdoms Youko realizes she doesn't look the same. Her hair is fiery red and her eyes dark green. her skin tone has even changed.
However she's been separated from everyone and must try and make it to a place where she wont be killed.  She eventually finds out what the man meant by being queen and she must face her destiny.

however it's also about a young boy from japan who gets pulled into the 12 kingdoms and learns that he's actually an animal thing (called a kirin, it's closest to a unicorn if i had to describe it) who will pick a lord for one of the 12 kingdoms... however he doesn't actually want to pick a lord so that makes things difficult.

But it's also about taking office and quelling rebellions and learning all about your new people.

and finally it's about how one man died for his views that weren't necessarily evil but did go to far.

and thats part of the problem with the show... it's 4 or 5 'chapters' that have very little to do with each other and none of them actually end.
they continue on as we focus on other people... but they continue to have the framing device of Youko which i think actually hurts the overall story because you want some kind of closure.
you want to know what happens to the characters in chapter 2.... easily the most interesting of the arcs.

you want to know what happens to a certain character after getting sent away.

You don't want the entire show to end of a clip episode with a bit of story tacked on the end.

So yeah i really enjoyed the show.... but i wish there was some kind of closure... and i have a feeling the novel it's based on isn't much better since it's literally just stories from this world with little to no connection

Also not a fan of all the different terms since most feel unnecessary. The story is actually quite simple if you change all those terms to what they actually means.

Finally the packaging is terrible... my set had all the middle pieces broken so none of the disks are held in place... I don't let getting my brand new set and opening it to find it covered in scratches. so yeah Anime works... get better packaging.

Okay next should be Kuroko (for real this time) or Yamada and the seven witches.

Plastic Memories

Well if you plan to wtach this show i hope you like crying... a lot.

Like maybe not Clannad or Natsume Yuujinchou levels of crying but yeah this show gets sad.
At least i don't have to deal with a cliffhanger that makes me want another season.

Ok, so Plastic memories is about a world That has robots who have 'souls'
The problem is these robots only can live for around 9 years before they start malfunctioning and need to be repossessed.
Tsukasa is a new member of the team that goes out and gathers these robots before anything goes wrong. He is partnered with one of these Robots names Isla.
However Isla is in her final year and Tsukasa can't help but have feelings for her. Knowing that their time together is limited he does the best to make the rest of her life fulfilling while also doing his job with her till their last day together.

So yeah... the second i said "robots with predetermined life span" you knew where this show was going and you knew it was going to hurt...

Does it do anything new with the formula? no not really
Does it do what it needs to do well? yes.
does it get creepy like chobits did? not in my opinion

It's well animated, the music is very pretty and it got me invested enough to cry a few times (though honestly not as much as i expected cause i am very quick to cry about anime/games/books ect.)

However if you hate sappy stories or stories about a love that cannot last because one will not be around much longer then yeah... avoid avoid avoid...
I personally would recommend it. it's not my favourite title this season but it's still really really good.


Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon
Nisekoi
Seraph of the End 
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too!

Okay next will be battlefield blood blockade or Kuroko no basket... we'll see...

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too!

. . .
But.... it can't.... end there.

I don't want to wait for season 3.... i mean.... the gap between 1 and 2 was like 2 years? no....

Granted in that time it did change from one studio to another but still... that was a cruel place to end the season... i expected an after the credits bit or something.

What is it with shows ending this season and just making me want more.

Okay from the start.
My Teen Romantic Comdy SNAFU (henceforth known as SNAFU cause the title is too long) is about a Ugly loner, names Hikigaya, who everyone thinks is creepy and ignores. He has done his best to tell himself it's okay and he never wanted their friendship however one day a professor who has had with his bullshit forces him to join a club dedicated to Acceptign and fulfilling requests. The club has one other member, Yukino, and she is known as one of the most bueatiful girls in the school but is still not liked because she can be extremely cold and honest and doesn't always care if what she says hurts your feelings.

Needless to say they don't get along as their ideologies are Diametrically opposed. After Helping Yui, a bubbly girl who isn't quite sure about her place in life, she also joins their club and the three work together to fulfill requests and learn more abotu themselves and each other.
Sometimes the solutions they come up work, sometimes they are absolutely heartbreaking but it always works towards the goal of not assuming things based on just a little information and going from there.

I love this show.

This show is the reason i give every show a chance...
A few years ago i would have never watched this cause of the stupid title... but it was the first time i was trying everything so when i ended up loving it i realized i have to give everything a small chance every season so i wont miss anything that i otherwise would have skipped over.

I know a lot of people find Hikki a little depressing... and he is but i find a lot of the self preservation stuff he does extremely relatable. That is kind of what makes some of his choices so heartbreaking... theres is a solution that everyone gets mad at him for early on in season two and i just found myself crying cause i know i personally would have done something similar... not saying ti was right but i understand where you are in a situation where there is no more time left you have to do what you have to do... even if you end up hurt by it.

SO did SNAFU too live up to the first season?
Yes... even better... i adore the new animation studio...
however..... UGH that ending... season three better come soon... i hate waiting.
and yeah i'll be buying this as well (fun story, I recently got the dvd from sentai and the day i finished rewatching was the day they announced season 2... yay)
So yeah so far this season has been great... a few more shows today so sorry you'll be seeing a lot of these.

Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon
Nisekoi
Seraph of the End

Nisekoi:

Nisekoi was originally about a boy with a locket that could be unlocked with a key.... he gave a girl a key ten years ago and now there are 3 girls with Keys who could all be the girl he made a promise with.

This season was about 5-6 girls spending time with Raku and getting their own episode to make you hope that your fav girl is the one who he ends up with.

It was okay... i guess?

The first 20 episodes felt a bit more like an arc... this was just "and this week is Onodera's episode... and next week will be Chitoge"... so yeah like a monster of the week show but with girls.

The animation was still really pretty and different... but the show is pretty much completely lackign in substance or purpose.

You can miss every episode of thise season and other then not knowing anything about onodera's sister or chitoge's mom you wouldn't be missing a single plot relevant thing.

There must be another season planned because this was just a dull way to end a season. No one gets any closer or further from raku, we learn nothing about the pendant and more girls are just constantly added despite the fact that everyone knows it's pretty much between Onodera and chitoge... and Chitoge is probably going to win his heart in the end cause apparently everyone loves a Tsundere.

I feel like i'm being hard on it... and i am... it could have been better... if it had a point or stuff happened it would have been fine but this just felt like a filler show and by the end of the season I religated it to BG noise... which is so easy cause 90% of the dialogue is something sayign "muri" (murri? i've never been good at romanizing) which is essentially "impossible" and the other 10% is "omg did he misunderstand what i said/i am so embarrassed about a misunderstanding"

I guess i'm just annoyed at the wasted potential for a cute idea.

Plus i watched Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan just before this and it made me cry so... i guess i was expecting more?

Ok Next will either be SNAFU Too, Blood Blockade battlefront, Plastic Memories or Kuroko no basket (if i can stomach multiple episodes in a row cause BOY that show went downhill) as they all finish tomorrow.

Then Sunday Is Yamada-kun and the seven witches... i don't think Arslan is ending any time soon. i probably will stagger something so saturday isn't just spamming people with links.

But anyways back to the point... would i reccomend Nisekoi?
Nah.... maybe wait till a few more seasons are out... then watch the last few arcs.... save yourself a lot of time.

Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon

Seraph of the End