How do i review something that is only 4 minutes long for 13 week...
hm...
I can't really.
It's a cute little comedy show that deals with a Merman staying in the bathtub.
Why is he there? who knows but more importantly who cares... it's 4 mins long and it's just supposed to be cute and fun and it succeeds in that.
If you were worried about it being Shonen Ai it's not really... the most they do is share a bath because.... well where is the merman going to go when they bath?
Considering it's a webshow it's got one of the better intro songs (yeah something that is 4 mins long puts aside 30 seconds for intro... and another 15 or so for ending gag)this season and the animation is actually very pretty.
I found it charming and fun but i have a hard time recommending it since it's not insanely funny or clever. It just is what it is.
Also i know i say no webshows... i barely watched anything this season so the webshows i did watch filled the gaps.
Also Merman.... i enjoy those *nods*
alright Top Video games will be posted in a few hours so i hope you look forward to that.
Monday, 29 December 2014
Sunday, 28 December 2014
Year end Top Ten 2014: Anime
So i watch a lot of anime.
Some would argue too much
i would argue too much actually.
But i can't help it, i love it. This year i completed 42 shows (not including the stuff i rewatched).
8 were films.
1 was a webshow
2 were OVAs
and the rest were 13-26 episode shows.
Did i like all of them?
No... but thats bound to happen... not everything can be good.
however i have narrowed it down to the titles i think everyone should go see.
The rules for the list:
1. I had to finish it for the first time in 2014. This means that older shows can be on here as long as i hadn't seen them before.
2. even though i called these things top tens... i may go under or over that limit depending on the situation
a final note this is all my personal opinion, if you don't like the titles i put on this list then please tell me your top ten of the year!
Honourable Mentions:
Samurai Flamenco
I really enjoyed this show, i thought it was sweet and funny even if it has horrendous pacing and half the reason i liked it was cause it was like an alternate universe Kyon. But despite the fact that i like it i can't really recommend it anyone cause again it has serious pacing problems, derpy animation and just really stupid moments.
still good in my opinion but yeah, not good enough to be top 10.
Attack on titan
Really great show, i was extremely late on the bandwagon (mostly so the hype could die down so if i didn't like it people wouldn't threaten me) the reason it's not top ten is because it's a bit obvious... pretty much everyone has seen it and most see how good it is so no point in having it on the top ten... and besides there are other shows that overall stuck with me more.
Ano Hana: letters to Menma
I really enjoyed what this movie added to the overall story and showing the flower that they saw that day was brilliant (cause i know the name of it) but it was a bit too flashback heavy so it didn't feel completely new. Still enjoyed seeing it in theaters with friends and bawling like a baby but i prefered some other titles more.
Natsume Yuujinchou OVAs
Because if i don't put it here then it'll be number 1 and i can't be too predictable can i? the other reason it's here is because watching this raw was pretty hard, i loved every minute of it but doing that much translation in my head is still pretty draining. I do love that it comes with the stage reading disk which has some of the loveliest music i have ever heard but still... this would automatically be number 1 and thats not terribly fair.
Ok onto top ten!
10. Karneval
I thought this show was fun, i love all the colour and music and character design BUT it ends in a way that would hint to another season and considering how the first season was received i doubt we'll be getting more any time soon. It was licensed by Funimation and if you are curious you can go check it out on their website.
9. Captain Earth
I am convinced i am one of the only people out there who like this show, much like samuai flamenco this should probably be an honourable mention but dammit i like it too much to do that.
The music is great, the designs are lovely and even though sometimes they go into space it never gave me a panic attack. A+ show in my eyes.
even if no one else agrees. You can watch it over on Crunchyroll and Sentai has licensed the physical release.
8. Princess Jellyfish
This show is far too funny, it's sweet and charming but also kind of ends part way through. I have been reading the manga which is a bit of a bad idea since the actions of one of the main characters has made me dislike them so thats probably why this is as far down the list as it is... well that and i really love all the titles i'm about to mention. Licensed by funimation and is viewable on their site and netflix
7. Wolf Children
So much crying... my friend put it best, this film makes you want to go and hug your family. It's just a wonderful supernatural slice of live with some of the most stunning back ground animation i have ever seen. One thing i didn't like was the ending... i just felt like a simple action could have negated all that trouble. otherwise it's lovely and everyone should watch it if they get the chance. It is licensed by Funimation but i'm not sure if it's watchable online
I didn't expect it would already be this hard to pick... hm.
6. Barakamon
This sweet summer time story will give you feels, you end up caring for all these character and watching just a wonderful sense of community with everyone in town. unfortunately since it's about calligraphy a lot of the artform was probably lost on me, i could see it was lovely but not understand the nuances. Still one of the best shows of the year. You can watch it over on Funimations website.
5. Ys 2: Castle in the heavens
I adore that this goes into the part of the lore dealing with the fact that Adol may actually be the devil. That made me squeal in delight when it was revealed. However i know not everyone likes Ys as much as me and the animation is quite outdated so better to have it on the list but not too high.
I still am sad that the Ys4 trailer was just a pitch and not an actual anime... i want it so bad. The dvd was put out by Anime Works and you can get it pretty cheap.
4. Blue Spring Ride
It's getting too hard to pick. This show gave me a lot of feels and I adore the overarching theme of how much people can change (or seem to change) in a few years. The animation is stunning, the story is one of the best Shojo titles i've seen this year and i so hope we eventually get more as the manga gets ahead. Also stunning artwork. You can watch it on Crunchyroll and it'll be released by sentai eventually.
3. Nagi no asukura
The first half of this show was cute but nothing special... but then we get into the second half and it easily skyrocketed to one of my fav shows of the year. The art, the music, the overall theme... the fact that it's kinda an enviromental story without shoving it's message down your throat. It's all just so well done and when i heard that NISA got the rights i was as happy as could be. I can't wait to own this. For now though you can watch it on Crunchyroll.
2. Noragami
Honestly i expected this to be my fav show this year.
It's got my fav voice actor, some of my favourite subject material, stunning animation, brilliant music and to date is the only title that reading auxiliary material for it made me cry (granted that was the manga not the show) however despite all that it's not the show i keep thinking about months after it ended. I look forward to owning it whenever it comes out and i did order a few yatogami mugs and a figure but there is still one title i think i enjoyed even more this year. but before that if you wanna watch noragami it's on funimation and netflix
1. Monthly girls' nozaki-kun
This show has everything. Comedy, sweetness, artist problems, catchy music, wonderful character design, character arcs for everyone (and when you consider it's a 4koma thats really impressive) and potentially the funniest tear inducing ending ever.
I was literally laughing and crying at the same time. That never happens. i can't wait for more, it could easily have another season or two but right now i just hope the manga gets licensed since it is practically perfection. It's the only title i tell everyone no matter how much they like comedy anime to go watch cause it's pretty much universal comedy. If you get the chance go over to Crunchyroll and marathon it, you will be glad you did. Otherwise Sentai got the license and much like a few other titles here i am just waiting to be able to pick it up.
And thats my list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you top shows were this past year!
Tomorrow: Top 10 games 2014!
Some would argue too much
i would argue too much actually.
But i can't help it, i love it. This year i completed 42 shows (not including the stuff i rewatched).
8 were films.
1 was a webshow
2 were OVAs
and the rest were 13-26 episode shows.
Did i like all of them?
No... but thats bound to happen... not everything can be good.
however i have narrowed it down to the titles i think everyone should go see.
The rules for the list:
1. I had to finish it for the first time in 2014. This means that older shows can be on here as long as i hadn't seen them before.
2. even though i called these things top tens... i may go under or over that limit depending on the situation
a final note this is all my personal opinion, if you don't like the titles i put on this list then please tell me your top ten of the year!
Honourable Mentions:
Samurai Flamenco
I really enjoyed this show, i thought it was sweet and funny even if it has horrendous pacing and half the reason i liked it was cause it was like an alternate universe Kyon. But despite the fact that i like it i can't really recommend it anyone cause again it has serious pacing problems, derpy animation and just really stupid moments.
still good in my opinion but yeah, not good enough to be top 10.
Attack on titan
Really great show, i was extremely late on the bandwagon (mostly so the hype could die down so if i didn't like it people wouldn't threaten me) the reason it's not top ten is because it's a bit obvious... pretty much everyone has seen it and most see how good it is so no point in having it on the top ten... and besides there are other shows that overall stuck with me more.
Ano Hana: letters to Menma
I really enjoyed what this movie added to the overall story and showing the flower that they saw that day was brilliant (cause i know the name of it) but it was a bit too flashback heavy so it didn't feel completely new. Still enjoyed seeing it in theaters with friends and bawling like a baby but i prefered some other titles more.
Natsume Yuujinchou OVAs
Because if i don't put it here then it'll be number 1 and i can't be too predictable can i? the other reason it's here is because watching this raw was pretty hard, i loved every minute of it but doing that much translation in my head is still pretty draining. I do love that it comes with the stage reading disk which has some of the loveliest music i have ever heard but still... this would automatically be number 1 and thats not terribly fair.
Ok onto top ten!
10. Karneval
I thought this show was fun, i love all the colour and music and character design BUT it ends in a way that would hint to another season and considering how the first season was received i doubt we'll be getting more any time soon. It was licensed by Funimation and if you are curious you can go check it out on their website.
9. Captain Earth
I am convinced i am one of the only people out there who like this show, much like samuai flamenco this should probably be an honourable mention but dammit i like it too much to do that.
The music is great, the designs are lovely and even though sometimes they go into space it never gave me a panic attack. A+ show in my eyes.
even if no one else agrees. You can watch it over on Crunchyroll and Sentai has licensed the physical release.
8. Princess Jellyfish
This show is far too funny, it's sweet and charming but also kind of ends part way through. I have been reading the manga which is a bit of a bad idea since the actions of one of the main characters has made me dislike them so thats probably why this is as far down the list as it is... well that and i really love all the titles i'm about to mention. Licensed by funimation and is viewable on their site and netflix
7. Wolf Children
So much crying... my friend put it best, this film makes you want to go and hug your family. It's just a wonderful supernatural slice of live with some of the most stunning back ground animation i have ever seen. One thing i didn't like was the ending... i just felt like a simple action could have negated all that trouble. otherwise it's lovely and everyone should watch it if they get the chance. It is licensed by Funimation but i'm not sure if it's watchable online
I didn't expect it would already be this hard to pick... hm.
6. Barakamon
This sweet summer time story will give you feels, you end up caring for all these character and watching just a wonderful sense of community with everyone in town. unfortunately since it's about calligraphy a lot of the artform was probably lost on me, i could see it was lovely but not understand the nuances. Still one of the best shows of the year. You can watch it over on Funimations website.
5. Ys 2: Castle in the heavens
I adore that this goes into the part of the lore dealing with the fact that Adol may actually be the devil. That made me squeal in delight when it was revealed. However i know not everyone likes Ys as much as me and the animation is quite outdated so better to have it on the list but not too high.
I still am sad that the Ys4 trailer was just a pitch and not an actual anime... i want it so bad. The dvd was put out by Anime Works and you can get it pretty cheap.
4. Blue Spring Ride
It's getting too hard to pick. This show gave me a lot of feels and I adore the overarching theme of how much people can change (or seem to change) in a few years. The animation is stunning, the story is one of the best Shojo titles i've seen this year and i so hope we eventually get more as the manga gets ahead. Also stunning artwork. You can watch it on Crunchyroll and it'll be released by sentai eventually.
3. Nagi no asukura
The first half of this show was cute but nothing special... but then we get into the second half and it easily skyrocketed to one of my fav shows of the year. The art, the music, the overall theme... the fact that it's kinda an enviromental story without shoving it's message down your throat. It's all just so well done and when i heard that NISA got the rights i was as happy as could be. I can't wait to own this. For now though you can watch it on Crunchyroll.
2. Noragami
Honestly i expected this to be my fav show this year.
It's got my fav voice actor, some of my favourite subject material, stunning animation, brilliant music and to date is the only title that reading auxiliary material for it made me cry (granted that was the manga not the show) however despite all that it's not the show i keep thinking about months after it ended. I look forward to owning it whenever it comes out and i did order a few yatogami mugs and a figure but there is still one title i think i enjoyed even more this year. but before that if you wanna watch noragami it's on funimation and netflix
1. Monthly girls' nozaki-kun
This show has everything. Comedy, sweetness, artist problems, catchy music, wonderful character design, character arcs for everyone (and when you consider it's a 4koma thats really impressive) and potentially the funniest tear inducing ending ever.
I was literally laughing and crying at the same time. That never happens. i can't wait for more, it could easily have another season or two but right now i just hope the manga gets licensed since it is practically perfection. It's the only title i tell everyone no matter how much they like comedy anime to go watch cause it's pretty much universal comedy. If you get the chance go over to Crunchyroll and marathon it, you will be glad you did. Otherwise Sentai got the license and much like a few other titles here i am just waiting to be able to pick it up.
And thats my list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know what you top shows were this past year!
Tomorrow: Top 10 games 2014!
Saturday, 27 December 2014
Laughing under the cloud
Most inaccurate title this year, the title should be "oh look i'm crying again"
This was really the only Funimation show i stuck with this season. it had an interesting art style and even though the actual plot isn't revealed for a few episodes it was intriguing enough to keep watching. Granted i did wait till the season was nearly over and just marathoned it (which i think is the best way to watch it)
The plot follows the three brothers of the Kumoh Shrine, they have been tasked with ferrying criminals to a prison in the middle of Lake Biwa that is said to be inescapable.
However thats not the plot at all the plot is actually about a giant Snake named Orochi that is revived every 300 years in a human host and must be destroyed before it fully awakens or else the world will be destroyed.
While i quite enjoyed the show a thought hit me while watching this final episode.
"damn i've already written my top 10 shows of the year" but then i paused and really thought about it. despite enjoying the show it's no where near the top ten of the year for me... it wouldn't even crack the honourable mentions.
Why?
Well the obvious one being that my top ten was hard enough to pick already, i love pretty much all the shows on it more then i can describe.
But besides that this show has some huge problems... the biggest one being pacing and the second biggest being lack of direction.
Like i said there are two plots and the first one is really inconsequential to the overall story. you only see them ferry anyone across the lake twice.... three times tops.The mystery of the prison is solved incredibly early and what happens in the second half of the series regarding the prison feels forced and unexplained.
Without spoiling too much when a character is introduced quite late in the series what happens just felt way too convenient and in part destroyed some of the set up from earlier.
The ending is also really rushed, the problem with a 12 episode show that doesn't introduce the actual plot till halfway i guess.
Still i did enjoy the show, i got connected to the characters enough to cry at certain parts, the lore of the world is really well done but there is just way too much convenience with characters meeting or acting a certain way or changing at certain parts... i just didn't always buy into it and that took me out of the experience.
Still if you are north america i suggest checking it out on FUNimation's website, it's all available for free (and if you pay you can actually see the Dub, the whole SimulDub is a pretty neat advancement if you ask me, i don't have a sub to Funimation site though so i haven't heard it yet)
otherwise i don't have much else finishing this season... i do hope next season has a few more shows to enjoy (even though i may end up working soon)
Anyways
The good:
Animation, music, intro and ending song changing it's visuals depending on plot progression.
the not so good:
Scattered, poor pacing, doesn't introduce the actual plot till quite far in and it makes you wonder why bother with the first half of the show.
The bad:
Short, potentially could have had more depth with more time.
This was really the only Funimation show i stuck with this season. it had an interesting art style and even though the actual plot isn't revealed for a few episodes it was intriguing enough to keep watching. Granted i did wait till the season was nearly over and just marathoned it (which i think is the best way to watch it)
The plot follows the three brothers of the Kumoh Shrine, they have been tasked with ferrying criminals to a prison in the middle of Lake Biwa that is said to be inescapable.
However thats not the plot at all the plot is actually about a giant Snake named Orochi that is revived every 300 years in a human host and must be destroyed before it fully awakens or else the world will be destroyed.
While i quite enjoyed the show a thought hit me while watching this final episode.
"damn i've already written my top 10 shows of the year" but then i paused and really thought about it. despite enjoying the show it's no where near the top ten of the year for me... it wouldn't even crack the honourable mentions.
Why?
Well the obvious one being that my top ten was hard enough to pick already, i love pretty much all the shows on it more then i can describe.
But besides that this show has some huge problems... the biggest one being pacing and the second biggest being lack of direction.
Like i said there are two plots and the first one is really inconsequential to the overall story. you only see them ferry anyone across the lake twice.... three times tops.The mystery of the prison is solved incredibly early and what happens in the second half of the series regarding the prison feels forced and unexplained.
Without spoiling too much when a character is introduced quite late in the series what happens just felt way too convenient and in part destroyed some of the set up from earlier.
The ending is also really rushed, the problem with a 12 episode show that doesn't introduce the actual plot till halfway i guess.
Still i did enjoy the show, i got connected to the characters enough to cry at certain parts, the lore of the world is really well done but there is just way too much convenience with characters meeting or acting a certain way or changing at certain parts... i just didn't always buy into it and that took me out of the experience.
Still if you are north america i suggest checking it out on FUNimation's website, it's all available for free (and if you pay you can actually see the Dub, the whole SimulDub is a pretty neat advancement if you ask me, i don't have a sub to Funimation site though so i haven't heard it yet)
otherwise i don't have much else finishing this season... i do hope next season has a few more shows to enjoy (even though i may end up working soon)
Anyways
The good:
Animation, music, intro and ending song changing it's visuals depending on plot progression.
the not so good:
Scattered, poor pacing, doesn't introduce the actual plot till quite far in and it makes you wonder why bother with the first half of the show.
The bad:
Short, potentially could have had more depth with more time.
Sunday, 21 December 2014
Wolf Girl and Black Prince
i'm going to not retread ground from my rant so you are welcome to read that here but now i'm going to try and talk about the show as a whole.
and if you don't wanna read my rant (i don't blame you it's long) the TL;dr: Abusive relationships are NEVER cute and glorifying one is pretty twisted.
So wolf girl and black prince is a Romantic comedy where the hook is a girl who lies about everything accidentally picks the most popular boy in school to be her fake boyfriend and magically he agrees to it.... on the condition that she will then be his dog.
Personally the "you are my slave" brand of shojo titles don't always bug me since most of the time the person is just bossy and not actually mentally and verbally abusive and they often end up getting put in their place by the halfway point. However when they are abusive boy does it remind me that some people have a really screwed up sense of what love is.
Though in most title in this vein the "Master" character always learned that their ways are horrible and change to be better people.
NOT THIS ONE.
Kyoya NEVER changes
he is horrendous to her the entire 12 episodes.
he is calling her names, refusing to do anything she wants (expecting her to drop everything for him though), playing with her emotions and even deleting things off her phone or destroying her things cause it annoys him (despite her treasuring it) and we are supposed to thing this is cute because occasionally he shows himself to be a little caring (and a lot possessive).
And in the end the show just ends, no one has had any kind of character arc, Erika is still blander then dry toast (infact she gets worse over the course of the show since her solution to kyoya's verbal and mental abuse is to become more submissive as to not set him off[i couldn't make this shit up if i tried]) Kyoya is still an asshole (who now occasionally smiles... great... oh and he's willing to dig through trash with erika even though it's his fault she got in such a panicked mess about losing something)
Best friends gotten through lives added nothing to the plot, best friend who sees through the eyes gave nothing to the plot, womaniser boy gave nothing to the plot.
This show could not exist and nothing would be lost or gained... well at least there would be one less glorified abusive relationship out there.
is it all bad? no. The intro and ending song are fun.
thats about it.
is the show bad enough to get into my all time shows that make me rage?... maybe i'll have to think about it... top 10 for sure but not sure if it can crack top five with competition like School days, amnesia, SAO, k-on and free... hm... maybe it'll bump free cause free is harmless it's just the reason we got a run of crappy fanservice for girls shows (come on is plot really that hard to have with fanservice?)
but yeah, didn't like this show, will not ever reccomend, avoid at all cost... go watch Ao Haru Ride instead
and if you don't wanna read my rant (i don't blame you it's long) the TL;dr: Abusive relationships are NEVER cute and glorifying one is pretty twisted.
So wolf girl and black prince is a Romantic comedy where the hook is a girl who lies about everything accidentally picks the most popular boy in school to be her fake boyfriend and magically he agrees to it.... on the condition that she will then be his dog.
Personally the "you are my slave" brand of shojo titles don't always bug me since most of the time the person is just bossy and not actually mentally and verbally abusive and they often end up getting put in their place by the halfway point. However when they are abusive boy does it remind me that some people have a really screwed up sense of what love is.
Though in most title in this vein the "Master" character always learned that their ways are horrible and change to be better people.
NOT THIS ONE.
Kyoya NEVER changes
he is horrendous to her the entire 12 episodes.
he is calling her names, refusing to do anything she wants (expecting her to drop everything for him though), playing with her emotions and even deleting things off her phone or destroying her things cause it annoys him (despite her treasuring it) and we are supposed to thing this is cute because occasionally he shows himself to be a little caring (and a lot possessive).
And in the end the show just ends, no one has had any kind of character arc, Erika is still blander then dry toast (infact she gets worse over the course of the show since her solution to kyoya's verbal and mental abuse is to become more submissive as to not set him off[i couldn't make this shit up if i tried]) Kyoya is still an asshole (who now occasionally smiles... great... oh and he's willing to dig through trash with erika even though it's his fault she got in such a panicked mess about losing something)
Best friends gotten through lives added nothing to the plot, best friend who sees through the eyes gave nothing to the plot, womaniser boy gave nothing to the plot.
This show could not exist and nothing would be lost or gained... well at least there would be one less glorified abusive relationship out there.
is it all bad? no. The intro and ending song are fun.
thats about it.
is the show bad enough to get into my all time shows that make me rage?... maybe i'll have to think about it... top 10 for sure but not sure if it can crack top five with competition like School days, amnesia, SAO, k-on and free... hm... maybe it'll bump free cause free is harmless it's just the reason we got a run of crappy fanservice for girls shows (come on is plot really that hard to have with fanservice?)
but yeah, didn't like this show, will not ever reccomend, avoid at all cost... go watch Ao Haru Ride instead
Monday, 15 December 2014
My Fav Christmas/Winter Anime
this will be off the top of my head so if i forget an obvious one sorry.
A brief history of me and Holiday media... I'm the person who's christmas consists of such classics as A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, The Ref (which is the best holiday film but be warned it's a dark comedy), Die Hard and Leathal weapon.
Most Christmas movies are just a little too sappy and unrealistic for me personally (or i didn't grow up with them) but i have never had that issue with Christmas episodes in anime (probably because i haven't seen too many bad ones) mostly because the amount they get wrong is just too funny for me.
Still this time of year i get in the mood to either watch a show that takes place during winter or one with a focus on christmas.
Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.
1. Toradora!
The first time i watched this show it took me a while to warm up to it, i have since rewatched it multiple times and gotten friends to watch it as well and i really do adore all the sincere/happy/heartbreaking moments. Some of the best moments take place over christmas in this show... and it's actually a large portion of the show spanning 2 or 3 episodes. It's just the warmest and saddest arc i have seen and this year it's what i'm watching over christmas.
2. Clannad or Kanon
Clannad is kinda cheating since Christmas is barely mentioned but winter (or more accurately snow) is an important part of the show so i feel like it's okay to watch this time of year... you know if i feel like crying.
Kanon is Key/Vis arts set in winter anime so again, no christmas but still good for the holiday season... and tears... not as much as clannad but clannad is also twice the length.
3. Kodocha
I wish we could legally get everything after 'season two' (as north america called it)... one of the major plot points is that since one character never celebrated a brithday the main character makes up this Mid birthday thing and the midpoint between their birthday happens to be christmas eve and again it's just a sweet couple of episodes (over multiple years) and yeah the connection to christmas is more so that there are gifts exchanged on that day but it's just really sweet and gets the overall feeling of the holiday.
4. Cardcaptor sakura
The episode where they celebrate Yukito's birthday is one of my fav and it just happens to take place on Christmas and that's good enough to watch it during this time of year (however... i'm still recovering from that horrendous dub so not this year)
5. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
I don't care that this movie is like... 3 hours long.
I love it
and it's 100% a christmas film.
it takes place about a week before christmas and it's just so good, and yeah the overall plot never touches on christmas but it is important.
Unfortunately i can't describe it anymore cause mentioning anything about it is a spoiler.
i will say it's best to watch the series before watching the movie, it's not really necessary but it's good for clearing up certain.... things.
6. Natsume Yuujinchou
a) it occasionally is winter in the show.... good enough.
b) i swear every 3 months or so i just need to rewatch this show and sometimes that falls over winter.
Okay thats all i can BS for 'christmas' anime... there are ones that fit the theme better but ask anyone and most of them are no good. (see Love Hina, school days) but i prefer to rewatch things i like... and i like all these titles so much.
What are your favourite shows to watch over christmas?
A brief history of me and Holiday media... I'm the person who's christmas consists of such classics as A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, The Ref (which is the best holiday film but be warned it's a dark comedy), Die Hard and Leathal weapon.
Most Christmas movies are just a little too sappy and unrealistic for me personally (or i didn't grow up with them) but i have never had that issue with Christmas episodes in anime (probably because i haven't seen too many bad ones) mostly because the amount they get wrong is just too funny for me.
Still this time of year i get in the mood to either watch a show that takes place during winter or one with a focus on christmas.
Here are some of my favorites in no particular order.
1. Toradora!
The first time i watched this show it took me a while to warm up to it, i have since rewatched it multiple times and gotten friends to watch it as well and i really do adore all the sincere/happy/heartbreaking moments. Some of the best moments take place over christmas in this show... and it's actually a large portion of the show spanning 2 or 3 episodes. It's just the warmest and saddest arc i have seen and this year it's what i'm watching over christmas.
2. Clannad or Kanon
Clannad is kinda cheating since Christmas is barely mentioned but winter (or more accurately snow) is an important part of the show so i feel like it's okay to watch this time of year... you know if i feel like crying.
Kanon is Key/Vis arts set in winter anime so again, no christmas but still good for the holiday season... and tears... not as much as clannad but clannad is also twice the length.
3. Kodocha
I wish we could legally get everything after 'season two' (as north america called it)... one of the major plot points is that since one character never celebrated a brithday the main character makes up this Mid birthday thing and the midpoint between their birthday happens to be christmas eve and again it's just a sweet couple of episodes (over multiple years) and yeah the connection to christmas is more so that there are gifts exchanged on that day but it's just really sweet and gets the overall feeling of the holiday.
4. Cardcaptor sakura
The episode where they celebrate Yukito's birthday is one of my fav and it just happens to take place on Christmas and that's good enough to watch it during this time of year (however... i'm still recovering from that horrendous dub so not this year)
5. The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
I don't care that this movie is like... 3 hours long.
I love it
and it's 100% a christmas film.
it takes place about a week before christmas and it's just so good, and yeah the overall plot never touches on christmas but it is important.
Unfortunately i can't describe it anymore cause mentioning anything about it is a spoiler.
i will say it's best to watch the series before watching the movie, it's not really necessary but it's good for clearing up certain.... things.
6. Natsume Yuujinchou
a) it occasionally is winter in the show.... good enough.
b) i swear every 3 months or so i just need to rewatch this show and sometimes that falls over winter.
Okay thats all i can BS for 'christmas' anime... there are ones that fit the theme better but ask anyone and most of them are no good. (see Love Hina, school days) but i prefer to rewatch things i like... and i like all these titles so much.
What are your favourite shows to watch over christmas?
Saturday, 13 December 2014
Dropped: World Trigger
This season has been odd... some of the titles i'm watching simply because there is nothing else and they had promise.
World trigger is one of those potential filled titles.... that just squanders it.
Essentially the plot is simply that there are alien-like beings from an alternate dimension that get called neighborhs... they go around wreaking havoc in the main dimension and border was developed to keep them at bay.
Kuga Yuma happens to be a neighbor but he looks just like a normal human (aside from the hair i guess) and he decides to go to school in the normal dimension and his dad told him he had a friend in border but he doesn't wanna join border cause he may just be seen as a bad guy so instead he destroys some bad neighbors and ends up giving this rookie ll the credit and the story goes from there.
So, standard story with fish out of water elements.
but even though thats the plot, thats not what the show is about.
The show is about = 3 =
and o_o
and -_-
btu mostly = 3 =
it's been 10 episodes.
nothing has really happened
i though that maybe cause it's got a lot of techno jargon BS and world building that it would just be a slow start but then something would progress the plot forward.
but most of this episode was two characters silently fishing.... with a tiny bit of plot at the end of "oh by the way there is meaning to this character being here"
you know what? no
nope i have stopped caring
you waste 15 mins of a show that is 18 mins long with a intro song halfway through the episode and then a 2-5 min recap of the techno jargon BS... and you have the gall in the final 1-3 minutes try to end on a cliffhanger? no.
No world trigger you don't get to pull that shit.
You are one of the worst rated anime this season. In a season where the sheer amount of shows that have no plot... only fanservice... somehow you are still considered the worst.
That takes skill.
That takes effort.
actually no, that takes Lazyness.
this show is so Lazy, the animation is terrible (though i may just not be a fan of Toei animation, it doesn't seem to improved much in the past two decades)
The exposition is lazy and repeated a minimum of twice and most times 3 or 4 times.
The rules feel extremely convenient. "oh by the way this is the way the world works" or "hey the world works this way, oh something showed up to reinforce that"
and in the end i just got too bored to actually watch it, and it's just too repetitive to be good BG noise.
I do like the intro song... or midshow song since most of the time it shows up around 7-10 min mark.
but you see all those characters in muted colours? yeah they are essentially the buisnessmen of border and the show spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on the internal politics.
Nope, don't care, shove 15+ characters in my face with no backstory and shady motives and expect me to be interested... it's not going to happen.
but still... i could deal with it cause it was interesting enough.
but blatant Cliffhanger Bullshit is apparently one of the fastest way for me to say i have better stuff to do with my time. at least the other episodes had stuff happen... stupid stuff but again, i forgive world building.
but nope, the show isn't ending any time soon and i am not wasting any more time.
too bad, it really could have been fun.
World trigger is one of those potential filled titles.... that just squanders it.
Essentially the plot is simply that there are alien-like beings from an alternate dimension that get called neighborhs... they go around wreaking havoc in the main dimension and border was developed to keep them at bay.
Kuga Yuma happens to be a neighbor but he looks just like a normal human (aside from the hair i guess) and he decides to go to school in the normal dimension and his dad told him he had a friend in border but he doesn't wanna join border cause he may just be seen as a bad guy so instead he destroys some bad neighbors and ends up giving this rookie ll the credit and the story goes from there.
So, standard story with fish out of water elements.
but even though thats the plot, thats not what the show is about.
The show is about = 3 =
and o_o
and -_-
btu mostly = 3 =
it's been 10 episodes.
nothing has really happened
i though that maybe cause it's got a lot of techno jargon BS and world building that it would just be a slow start but then something would progress the plot forward.
but most of this episode was two characters silently fishing.... with a tiny bit of plot at the end of "oh by the way there is meaning to this character being here"
you know what? no
nope i have stopped caring
you waste 15 mins of a show that is 18 mins long with a intro song halfway through the episode and then a 2-5 min recap of the techno jargon BS... and you have the gall in the final 1-3 minutes try to end on a cliffhanger? no.
No world trigger you don't get to pull that shit.
You are one of the worst rated anime this season. In a season where the sheer amount of shows that have no plot... only fanservice... somehow you are still considered the worst.
That takes skill.
That takes effort.
actually no, that takes Lazyness.
this show is so Lazy, the animation is terrible (though i may just not be a fan of Toei animation, it doesn't seem to improved much in the past two decades)
The exposition is lazy and repeated a minimum of twice and most times 3 or 4 times.
The rules feel extremely convenient. "oh by the way this is the way the world works" or "hey the world works this way, oh something showed up to reinforce that"
and in the end i just got too bored to actually watch it, and it's just too repetitive to be good BG noise.
I do like the intro song... or midshow song since most of the time it shows up around 7-10 min mark.
but you see all those characters in muted colours? yeah they are essentially the buisnessmen of border and the show spends an inordinate amount of time focusing on the internal politics.
Nope, don't care, shove 15+ characters in my face with no backstory and shady motives and expect me to be interested... it's not going to happen.
but still... i could deal with it cause it was interesting enough.
but blatant Cliffhanger Bullshit is apparently one of the fastest way for me to say i have better stuff to do with my time. at least the other episodes had stuff happen... stupid stuff but again, i forgive world building.
but nope, the show isn't ending any time soon and i am not wasting any more time.
too bad, it really could have been fun.
Monday, 8 December 2014
The problem with Wolf Girl and Black Prince.
So, I am a girl... and i tend to like girly series (which i'm am just putting under the giant umbrella of Shoujo cause there are too many subsections to name)
Though i have found as i've grown up a lot of the series i liked in Highschool i cannot stand.
I have a feeling that if i had read this 10 years ago when i was in highschool i would have thought it cute and sweet.
However watching it now all i see is "how to spot an abusive boyfriend 101"
Now i am lucky, i have never had an abusive boyfriend... but i did have one that was showing signs of being controlling and I know a few people who have had abusive partners and seeing those traits glorified through a main character is a little unsettling.
If your boyfriend is comparing you to an object or animal or talks about possessing you that is not sweet or endearing, it's a sign to move on.
If your boyfriend gets so jealous when you simply acknowledge that other men exist in the world (examples: saying hello, trying to cheer them up) that they put you down in whatever manner available to them (examples: Throwing a kind gesture back in the persons face, calling names) then that is not being sweet and endearing and he is not just being a "Tsundere"... thats just him being an asshole.
If your boyfriend does things to mentally abuse you via teasing, name calling, getting your hopes up just to dash them or anything that could be considered mental abuse it is not sweet and endearing... it's abusive!
and the worst part is the main girl just takes it. "i can't help but love him" she says.
This girl has the personality of dry toast.
one time she does think "i am not an object" but instead of telling him that and walkign off on her own she just follows him cause he stopped her from being tricked by another mean guy who just wanted to get back at the main guy.
Normally in these types of series the main guy realizes what an asshole they are being and after losing the girl do their best to change their ways because being a controlling abusive asshole is a bad thing...
he's lost her a few times, changed nothing, gotten her back cause "she can't help but love him" and i'm sorry but no.
This should be the point where the friends stop being such enablers, realize that every waking moment of this girls day is consumed by pleasing her asshole boyfriend and try and help her get out of a situation that could get dangerous.
Instead the overall message seems to be "deal with the abuse cause deep down he really does like you he's just bad at showing it, maybe one day he'll stop being an asshole but until then just let him spew all his vitriol at you"
Yeah.... thats not a good message to send out to people.
Thats not the only problem though.
It is set up in the first episode that the main girl is a compulsive liar and does this in order to get friends... that how she ends up with the fake boyfriend to begin with....
well spoilers, after they start to actually date instead of fake date the Liar aspect of her character vanishes with no consequence.... and considering thats the only personality trait she was given (well that and being a saint for being able to take that amount of abuse with a smile) she just becomes this smiling puppet that goes to his every whim. She even seems to aspire to be more obedient since she figures that will make him like her more.
I'm sorry but no.
no no no no no.
that is not a healthy relationship.
there is some give and take and this asshole didn't even want to spend time with her on her birthday.
He doesn't want to do ANYTHING she wants to do even though she goes out of her way to do everything he wants.
It just annoys me that this is never addressed as being negative traits... this is just how he is and everyone else should deal with him.
Still... currently only 10 episodes are out... there are two more.
i don't know if i'll watch them... i mean i probably will because i've made it this far... if i can finish amnesia i can finish this (this is nowhere near as bad or rage inducing as amnesia but it's still back enough i felt i needed to write something before it was over)
I don't know if i'll do my normal ramble like i do when i finish shows.... i may just take on other problems (or if it redeems itself) to this post so yeah... guess we'll see in two weeks.
For now i have some Sailor Moon Chibi's to finish and some Otomen manga to read.
Oh i should mention that it's not all bad, animation is decent and the intro and ending song are fun.
just.... yeah everything else needs more
Though i have found as i've grown up a lot of the series i liked in Highschool i cannot stand.
I have a feeling that if i had read this 10 years ago when i was in highschool i would have thought it cute and sweet.
However watching it now all i see is "how to spot an abusive boyfriend 101"
Now i am lucky, i have never had an abusive boyfriend... but i did have one that was showing signs of being controlling and I know a few people who have had abusive partners and seeing those traits glorified through a main character is a little unsettling.
If your boyfriend is comparing you to an object or animal or talks about possessing you that is not sweet or endearing, it's a sign to move on.
If your boyfriend gets so jealous when you simply acknowledge that other men exist in the world (examples: saying hello, trying to cheer them up) that they put you down in whatever manner available to them (examples: Throwing a kind gesture back in the persons face, calling names) then that is not being sweet and endearing and he is not just being a "Tsundere"... thats just him being an asshole.
If your boyfriend does things to mentally abuse you via teasing, name calling, getting your hopes up just to dash them or anything that could be considered mental abuse it is not sweet and endearing... it's abusive!
and the worst part is the main girl just takes it. "i can't help but love him" she says.
This girl has the personality of dry toast.
one time she does think "i am not an object" but instead of telling him that and walkign off on her own she just follows him cause he stopped her from being tricked by another mean guy who just wanted to get back at the main guy.
Normally in these types of series the main guy realizes what an asshole they are being and after losing the girl do their best to change their ways because being a controlling abusive asshole is a bad thing...
he's lost her a few times, changed nothing, gotten her back cause "she can't help but love him" and i'm sorry but no.
This should be the point where the friends stop being such enablers, realize that every waking moment of this girls day is consumed by pleasing her asshole boyfriend and try and help her get out of a situation that could get dangerous.
Instead the overall message seems to be "deal with the abuse cause deep down he really does like you he's just bad at showing it, maybe one day he'll stop being an asshole but until then just let him spew all his vitriol at you"
Yeah.... thats not a good message to send out to people.
Thats not the only problem though.
It is set up in the first episode that the main girl is a compulsive liar and does this in order to get friends... that how she ends up with the fake boyfriend to begin with....
well spoilers, after they start to actually date instead of fake date the Liar aspect of her character vanishes with no consequence.... and considering thats the only personality trait she was given (well that and being a saint for being able to take that amount of abuse with a smile) she just becomes this smiling puppet that goes to his every whim. She even seems to aspire to be more obedient since she figures that will make him like her more.
I'm sorry but no.
no no no no no.
that is not a healthy relationship.
there is some give and take and this asshole didn't even want to spend time with her on her birthday.
He doesn't want to do ANYTHING she wants to do even though she goes out of her way to do everything he wants.
It just annoys me that this is never addressed as being negative traits... this is just how he is and everyone else should deal with him.
Still... currently only 10 episodes are out... there are two more.
i don't know if i'll watch them... i mean i probably will because i've made it this far... if i can finish amnesia i can finish this (this is nowhere near as bad or rage inducing as amnesia but it's still back enough i felt i needed to write something before it was over)
I don't know if i'll do my normal ramble like i do when i finish shows.... i may just take on other problems (or if it redeems itself) to this post so yeah... guess we'll see in two weeks.
For now i have some Sailor Moon Chibi's to finish and some Otomen manga to read.
Oh i should mention that it's not all bad, animation is decent and the intro and ending song are fun.
just.... yeah everything else needs more
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