Hi everyone. As you might have seen I've moved my blog from Blogger to WordPress. I'm just experimenting at the moment and seeing how it goes, so please have a look at let me know what you think of the new layout.
My original post for the new website is here https://twanimeamateur.wordpress.com/2015/03/17/review-deadman-wonderland/
Tuesday 17 March 2015
Tuesday 10 March 2015
Review: Fate/Stay Night
Fate/Stay Night is one of those shows that has been around for a while and you hear a lot of good things about. Don't think that those things go to their extremes though, it's nine years old and people have recommended plenty of other things over this. You get it though, not new, not awful- surely worth a watch?
Background:
Ten years ago an area of Fuyuki City was inexplicably burnt down with the only survivor being a young boy, Shiro Emiya. After being saved and taken in, he promises to uphold his father's ambition of being a 'champion of justice'. As it turns out, Shiro's father is what we call a magus (magician, wizard etc.) and has passed a degree of his power onto his son. 'A degeee' is just the right way to talk about it, as Shiro can only do one type of magic which is viewed by the other magus' as largely useless. The story focuses upon the ever recurring 'Holy Grail Wars', a battle royale of the sorts between pairs of masters and servants to gain the Holy Grail, an object which can grant the user anything they want.
Plot:
As with most anime, our main character (though some bad things have happened to him a long time ago), starts off living an extraordinarily normal life. This very quickly changes as he is selected to be a Master in the Holy Grail Wars and accidentally summons his Servant, Saber. Between the two of them they have to defeat the other masters, which unsurprisingly they manage before meeting an unseen and much greater challenge at the end of the series. As it happens, Saber has already been involved in the Holy Grail Wars before, fighting with Shiro's father, coming very close to winning before the Grail was destroyed (or was it?!) burning down a large area of the city (see, it's come full circle).
Character Development:
I've reviewed a couple of anime now, and a good deal of them seemed to be quite good, but don't have great male protagonists. That isn't the case with Fate/Stay Night: Shiro makes for a very good lead, even if his motives are questionable at points (it's anime, that's a requirement right?). There's no messing around trying to change him from someone quiet and timid into the great hero, he just wants to be the hero and the journey we are put through shows him finding out what he really wants (not so obvious right).
On the other hand, I can't say I rated our lead female, Saber, as a particularly interesting character- in a way she kind of fills the space that wasn't taken by a conflicted/socially challenged male. There's no doubt about it that she has a motive to begin with, but it is all too typical of a whiny teenage girl who wants to change something that happened in her past (despite being a centuries old 'epic hero'). That said, it would be unfair to characterize her as a completely awful character. The development of her relationship with Shiro is interesting if not overly exciting and it goes without saying that she is pretty great in combat.
As for the rest of the characters, Shiro's sidekick/teacher, Rin, is developed very well. Despite being a magus herself, it becomes pretty clear early on that her purpose isn't to create an awkward end game scenario, but instead to make sure Shiro doesn't mess up too much. It's also worth saying that even towards the later stages of the show she is still more adept than Shiro is, allowing for a particularly impressive fight scene.
The side characters are okay. The bad guy (who shall remain nameless for the purpose of avoiding spoilers), was interesting given the way he is set up, but it would be nice to get some more background give to him (but there is a prequel so I might get my wish there?). Illyia is also an interesting character both as an enemy and as an ally, but also lacks the development you really want (but then she's got her own spin-off as well...). Archer, Rin's servant is probably the best of the side charcters, but unfortunately doesn't make it through the season (he must be in another show somewhere). Sakura, the third female 'protagonist' if you really want to call her that, is the weakest of the lot by quite some distance- it almost feels as if the producers decided someone else was needed to fill a vaguely important roll that wasn't one of the three mains at the last moment. Safe to say it didn't really work.
Sound, Artwork and Animation:
The artwork and animation in Fate/Stay Night is largely very good, the style is slightly different to shows being released right now, but it still works well and the fight scenes are animated to a high standard. The sound however is quite underwhelming, both the openings and endings give little to shout about and I can't say there was any stage throughout where I thought the backing sound significantly added to the presentation of the show.
Favourite Episode:
Episode 14: End of the Ideal. This episode probably has the best battle scene of the whole show, with Archer taking on Illyia's servant, Berserker. It's also the episode where we see Shiro start to realize his potential.
Overall:
Fate/Stay Night was a funny show to judge. Watching it I couldn't say that there was anything that really let it down: the main characters were largely good and the plot was very interesting. At the same time though I couldn't really pick anything out that made it a particularly great show. Despite not falling into the trap that some leading males do, Shiro isn't unique or overly exciting and the paired survival game, though original, didn't grab me like other concepts have. What it does do very well though is set the stage for many other spin off shows. That point then makes me wonder that the problem with Fate/Stay Night was that it tried to bite off more than it could chew in 24 episodes. Not because the story wasn't resolved,because it was, but because some of the more interesting characters didn't have get enough time to develop.
Background:
Ten years ago an area of Fuyuki City was inexplicably burnt down with the only survivor being a young boy, Shiro Emiya. After being saved and taken in, he promises to uphold his father's ambition of being a 'champion of justice'. As it turns out, Shiro's father is what we call a magus (magician, wizard etc.) and has passed a degree of his power onto his son. 'A degeee' is just the right way to talk about it, as Shiro can only do one type of magic which is viewed by the other magus' as largely useless. The story focuses upon the ever recurring 'Holy Grail Wars', a battle royale of the sorts between pairs of masters and servants to gain the Holy Grail, an object which can grant the user anything they want.
 |
| In the beginning Shiro is clueless. Actually, he's always clueless. |
As with most anime, our main character (though some bad things have happened to him a long time ago), starts off living an extraordinarily normal life. This very quickly changes as he is selected to be a Master in the Holy Grail Wars and accidentally summons his Servant, Saber. Between the two of them they have to defeat the other masters, which unsurprisingly they manage before meeting an unseen and much greater challenge at the end of the series. As it happens, Saber has already been involved in the Holy Grail Wars before, fighting with Shiro's father, coming very close to winning before the Grail was destroyed (or was it?!) burning down a large area of the city (see, it's come full circle).
Character Development:
I've reviewed a couple of anime now, and a good deal of them seemed to be quite good, but don't have great male protagonists. That isn't the case with Fate/Stay Night: Shiro makes for a very good lead, even if his motives are questionable at points (it's anime, that's a requirement right?). There's no messing around trying to change him from someone quiet and timid into the great hero, he just wants to be the hero and the journey we are put through shows him finding out what he really wants (not so obvious right).
On the other hand, I can't say I rated our lead female, Saber, as a particularly interesting character- in a way she kind of fills the space that wasn't taken by a conflicted/socially challenged male. There's no doubt about it that she has a motive to begin with, but it is all too typical of a whiny teenage girl who wants to change something that happened in her past (despite being a centuries old 'epic hero'). That said, it would be unfair to characterize her as a completely awful character. The development of her relationship with Shiro is interesting if not overly exciting and it goes without saying that she is pretty great in combat.
As for the rest of the characters, Shiro's sidekick/teacher, Rin, is developed very well. Despite being a magus herself, it becomes pretty clear early on that her purpose isn't to create an awkward end game scenario, but instead to make sure Shiro doesn't mess up too much. It's also worth saying that even towards the later stages of the show she is still more adept than Shiro is, allowing for a particularly impressive fight scene.
The side characters are okay. The bad guy (who shall remain nameless for the purpose of avoiding spoilers), was interesting given the way he is set up, but it would be nice to get some more background give to him (but there is a prequel so I might get my wish there?). Illyia is also an interesting character both as an enemy and as an ally, but also lacks the development you really want (but then she's got her own spin-off as well...). Archer, Rin's servant is probably the best of the side charcters, but unfortunately doesn't make it through the season (he must be in another show somewhere). Sakura, the third female 'protagonist' if you really want to call her that, is the weakest of the lot by quite some distance- it almost feels as if the producers decided someone else was needed to fill a vaguely important roll that wasn't one of the three mains at the last moment. Safe to say it didn't really work.
 |
| Things get quite intense towards the end of the season |
Sound, Artwork and Animation:
The artwork and animation in Fate/Stay Night is largely very good, the style is slightly different to shows being released right now, but it still works well and the fight scenes are animated to a high standard. The sound however is quite underwhelming, both the openings and endings give little to shout about and I can't say there was any stage throughout where I thought the backing sound significantly added to the presentation of the show.
Favourite Episode:
Episode 14: End of the Ideal. This episode probably has the best battle scene of the whole show, with Archer taking on Illyia's servant, Berserker. It's also the episode where we see Shiro start to realize his potential.
Overall:
Fate/Stay Night was a funny show to judge. Watching it I couldn't say that there was anything that really let it down: the main characters were largely good and the plot was very interesting. At the same time though I couldn't really pick anything out that made it a particularly great show. Despite not falling into the trap that some leading males do, Shiro isn't unique or overly exciting and the paired survival game, though original, didn't grab me like other concepts have. What it does do very well though is set the stage for many other spin off shows. That point then makes me wonder that the problem with Fate/Stay Night was that it tried to bite off more than it could chew in 24 episodes. Not because the story wasn't resolved,because it was, but because some of the more interesting characters didn't have get enough time to develop.
Saturday 7 March 2015
Is there a time when streaming isn't enough?
There are plenty of ways to access dubbed and subbed anime on the internet, regardless of what country you're in. This ranges from official websites offering subbed only, stream cast content such as Crunchy Roll through to less than legal sites such as Anime Freak with a seemingly limitless catalogue of shows.
It struck me though that, as a student in a dark corner of the UK, I am in no way contributing to the anime industry. As I pointed out some sites are totally legal, with revenues coming from adverts, while others, such as Netflix, are based on subscription fees. I'd be lying though if I said I used these sites all of the time; besides anything else the majority of dubbed content isn't available online legally for any price.
I want to see as much new anime brought out of Japan as possible, and the only way studios can do that is with a good source of income. Fortunately, the US TV market seems to hold up reasonably well in terms of purchasing the rights for new shows, but that doesn't mean I should constantly take advantage of that because one day, they might not be able to.
So what am I suggesting? If, like me, you are stuck away from the delights of American TV and therefore limited to a sadly small amount of channels go out and buy a DVD. In fact knock yourself out, by the Blu-Ray. You know that the content you watch online isn't really of that high a quality anyway and some shows must make you think 'that would be good in 1080p'.
I'm not saying you, the reader of this blog, buying an official DVD/Blu-Ray of an anime will greatly help produce more anime content or vaguely change the industry in the slightest. In fact I know it wont (until I take over the world and everyone has to read my blog, then it might), but it might make you feel a bit better. After all, we do all love it, right?
It struck me though that, as a student in a dark corner of the UK, I am in no way contributing to the anime industry. As I pointed out some sites are totally legal, with revenues coming from adverts, while others, such as Netflix, are based on subscription fees. I'd be lying though if I said I used these sites all of the time; besides anything else the majority of dubbed content isn't available online legally for any price.
I want to see as much new anime brought out of Japan as possible, and the only way studios can do that is with a good source of income. Fortunately, the US TV market seems to hold up reasonably well in terms of purchasing the rights for new shows, but that doesn't mean I should constantly take advantage of that because one day, they might not be able to.
So what am I suggesting? If, like me, you are stuck away from the delights of American TV and therefore limited to a sadly small amount of channels go out and buy a DVD. In fact knock yourself out, by the Blu-Ray. You know that the content you watch online isn't really of that high a quality anyway and some shows must make you think 'that would be good in 1080p'.
I'm not saying you, the reader of this blog, buying an official DVD/Blu-Ray of an anime will greatly help produce more anime content or vaguely change the industry in the slightest. In fact I know it wont (until I take over the world and everyone has to read my blog, then it might), but it might make you feel a bit better. After all, we do all love it, right?
Wednesday 4 March 2015
Review: The Future Diary (Mirai Nikki)
Following on from my post a couple of weeks ago listing out my top 5 anime so far, I thought I'd start re-watching them (because, you know, they are my favourite) for the purpose of reviewing. First up is the #2, Future Diary, otherwise known in Japanese as Mirai Nikki.
Background:
To avoid giving away any spoilers, I will give a background from our protagonist's, Yuki's point of view at the end of episode 1.
So essentially, we're talking about a Battle Royale: 12 people fight it out to the death, in this case to succeed the God of Space and Time. The story's main two characters are the 'games'' first and second participants- Yukiteru Amano and Yuno Gasai. Each player in the game has a diary that can tell them certain aspects of the future that will in some way aid them in surviving through the game. Yuki is the typical anime loser turned hero with the help of his psychotic yet incredibly cute stalker, Yuno.
Plot:
Yuki is entered into the game by his 'imaginary' (or not as it turns out) friend and God, Deus Ex Machina. With his newly gained diary he is given the knowledge of everything that happens around him before it happens. It is just after he is first targeted that he meets Yuno, who rather gruesomely, helps him survive. The story isn't particularly split into arcs as such as most of the diary users get at least a couple of episodes to interact with the lead characters. It is not until the last few episodes that this pattern stops.
Again, trying to avoid spoilers, it should be said that the 'complications' that arise as we find out more and more about Yuno's past actions do create plot holes as we go beyond. That said though, they don't really take away from the story as a whole. The one part of the plot that does let the story down is the ending, that isn't explained at all, in any way. Not only will it leave you feeling disappointed, but also annoyed that someone thought it was a good idea to make such a huge jump from one point to another.
Unless you watch the OVA episode: Mirai Nikki Redial. Sort of explains how things link up at the end, making the ending much more palatable.
Character Development:
Several of the characters in Future Diary are developed excellently. Besides Yuki and Yuno who I will come to in a moment, Minene Uryu (Ninth), is given a lot of screen time for both filling in her background as well as developing her as a character that is affected by what goes on around her throughout the show. This is refreshing in as much as it seems to be the norm to ignore anyone who you couldn't call a main in terms of ongoing development. The same can be said for Aru Akise who, though not a diary user, becomes fundamental to the story because of the intrigue he provides.
The two main characters are especially well done. As you would expect in an anime that focuses on such a strained relationship, the emotions they both experience are often extreme. It would in this case be fair to say that Yuki is more predictable but there is a noticeable progression from the character he was at the beginning to the character he was towards the end. I could happily argue that Yuno didn't develop at all throughout the story and what appears to be her development is in fact just a facade. However, I won't because I think the writing of that progression is done very well and deserves praise. At no time after the first couple of episodes (until the ending) did I truly fear Yuno, but at the same time, I never really trusted her not to do something crazy. As I said in my list, I'm dying to write an entry solely on her development, but maybe that should wait until my content dries up a bit?
The only negative to come out of the characters is that despite his ongoing development it takes a while for you to really feel sympathetic towards Yuki. He depends upon Yuno for the first 3/4 of the show. That said, with Yuno being quite as complicated as she is, it might just be a good thing that Yuki turned out to be such a straight forward kind of guy. After all, not everyone's comfortable with killing people.
Sound, Artwork and Animation:
Because of Yuno's nature, this show is creepy. There isn't really any way of getting around that and the sound and artwork don't let the feeling down. When she's angry you know it; even before we see the shot of her terrifying homicidal face, the backing music gives it away perfectly. The openings and endings are also very good, with the first opening Kūsō Mesorogī being especially good both for the track itself as well as the animation itself- highly recommended even if you don't watch the show. The animation throughout the show is generally to a high standard though there isn't anything that particularly stands out, apart from maybe when Yuno goes on a rampage... which happens vaguely often, but there we are.
Favourite Episode:
Episode 18, Interference. There are lots of good episodes that I could have gone for here, but I plumped for the 18th. It's true that Yuki is growing as character throughout the whole season, but it's this episode that really sees the most obvious change within him. This is the episode where he stops playing to survive and starts playing to win. It sets Yuno up with a perfect opportunity to work her magic in the final episodes and actually makes Yuki vaguely exciting for the rest of the show.
Overall:
Future Diary is a very enjoyable anime to watch. I've watched it through twice now and I can't say I enjoyed it less the second time round. Further to that, I think there are some aspects of the series that makes it objectively really good. Primarily of course, that would be the character Yuno, at no point could you second guess her actions even though her motives were essentially honest from the start. It also takes the format of a battle royale and gives it an original twist in the form of being able to see the future. I'd have no hesitation in recommending this show and am sure I will be re-watching it in the not so distant future.
Background:
To avoid giving away any spoilers, I will give a background from our protagonist's, Yuki's point of view at the end of episode 1.
So essentially, we're talking about a Battle Royale: 12 people fight it out to the death, in this case to succeed the God of Space and Time. The story's main two characters are the 'games'' first and second participants- Yukiteru Amano and Yuno Gasai. Each player in the game has a diary that can tell them certain aspects of the future that will in some way aid them in surviving through the game. Yuki is the typical anime loser turned hero with the help of his psychotic yet incredibly cute stalker, Yuno.
Plot:
Yuki is entered into the game by his 'imaginary' (or not as it turns out) friend and God, Deus Ex Machina. With his newly gained diary he is given the knowledge of everything that happens around him before it happens. It is just after he is first targeted that he meets Yuno, who rather gruesomely, helps him survive. The story isn't particularly split into arcs as such as most of the diary users get at least a couple of episodes to interact with the lead characters. It is not until the last few episodes that this pattern stops.
Again, trying to avoid spoilers, it should be said that the 'complications' that arise as we find out more and more about Yuno's past actions do create plot holes as we go beyond. That said though, they don't really take away from the story as a whole. The one part of the plot that does let the story down is the ending, that isn't explained at all, in any way. Not only will it leave you feeling disappointed, but also annoyed that someone thought it was a good idea to make such a huge jump from one point to another.
Unless you watch the OVA episode: Mirai Nikki Redial. Sort of explains how things link up at the end, making the ending much more palatable.
Character Development:
Several of the characters in Future Diary are developed excellently. Besides Yuki and Yuno who I will come to in a moment, Minene Uryu (Ninth), is given a lot of screen time for both filling in her background as well as developing her as a character that is affected by what goes on around her throughout the show. This is refreshing in as much as it seems to be the norm to ignore anyone who you couldn't call a main in terms of ongoing development. The same can be said for Aru Akise who, though not a diary user, becomes fundamental to the story because of the intrigue he provides.
 |
| Maybe it's just me, but regardless of everything, I couldn't stop myself liking Yuno |
The only negative to come out of the characters is that despite his ongoing development it takes a while for you to really feel sympathetic towards Yuki. He depends upon Yuno for the first 3/4 of the show. That said, with Yuno being quite as complicated as she is, it might just be a good thing that Yuki turned out to be such a straight forward kind of guy. After all, not everyone's comfortable with killing people.
Sound, Artwork and Animation:
Because of Yuno's nature, this show is creepy. There isn't really any way of getting around that and the sound and artwork don't let the feeling down. When she's angry you know it; even before we see the shot of her terrifying homicidal face, the backing music gives it away perfectly. The openings and endings are also very good, with the first opening Kūsō Mesorogī being especially good both for the track itself as well as the animation itself- highly recommended even if you don't watch the show. The animation throughout the show is generally to a high standard though there isn't anything that particularly stands out, apart from maybe when Yuno goes on a rampage... which happens vaguely often, but there we are.
 |
| Yuno isn't the only interesting character in Mirai Nikki |
Favourite Episode:
Episode 18, Interference. There are lots of good episodes that I could have gone for here, but I plumped for the 18th. It's true that Yuki is growing as character throughout the whole season, but it's this episode that really sees the most obvious change within him. This is the episode where he stops playing to survive and starts playing to win. It sets Yuno up with a perfect opportunity to work her magic in the final episodes and actually makes Yuki vaguely exciting for the rest of the show.
Overall:
Future Diary is a very enjoyable anime to watch. I've watched it through twice now and I can't say I enjoyed it less the second time round. Further to that, I think there are some aspects of the series that makes it objectively really good. Primarily of course, that would be the character Yuno, at no point could you second guess her actions even though her motives were essentially honest from the start. It also takes the format of a battle royale and gives it an original twist in the form of being able to see the future. I'd have no hesitation in recommending this show and am sure I will be re-watching it in the not so distant future.
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