Arcane Reviewer

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Oblivion Recording

2014-11-29T18:50:00.002-05:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here a new anime review. Yes I've been gone for 2 weeks. I'm a college student, give me a break. but anyway.....I have not been looking forward to this review. To be honest I really didn't want to revisit this movie. But because I have reviewer integrity I will watch the movie! Oh boy is this movie weak. So without further or due let's proceed with the review shall we?

Story:

The story this time around actually has very little to do with the main plot of the whole series. It's has very little to do with anything that has happened in all of the other movies. the story follows Azaka, Mikiya's sister who appeared in "A Remaining Sense of Pain" and "Paradox Spiral". The movie follows Azaka as she is given an assignment from Toko. The mission she has been given is that "fairies" have been reported to be stealing students memories and the cause of suspicious suicides at an academy that Azaka actually attends. So she is to get to the bottom of it and see just who is behind these fairy related incidents. Oh and Shiki is here too. Just because, Yeah that's is the biggest issue with the movie, it feels like filler. Nothing in this movie really tells us anything about what has happened in the previous movie, it's very self contain compared to the other five movies before it. The movie doesn't add much when it comes to the story of Kara no Kyoukai and it really feels like it.

Animation:

As you would expect the animation here is very good. The location this time around is a private school so we get a lot of nice colors going around. Also with the inclusion of fairies we get to see the cool little trails of light they leave behind and of course, the fight scenes in this movie look really good. Just about every bit of animation is great here but hey, what did you expect? It's Ufotable.

Music:

Music here is good, but not as good as it could have been. Due to the pretty much lack luster story going on here music doesn't have a lot of time shine. The music is soothing and nice, it kind of feels like the soundtrack to slice-of-life anime. The music does stand out however when ever the fight scenes are going on. That's when the music gets into gear and becomes very impressive. Once again not a lot I can say here. It's like I'm beating a dead horse at this point.

Characters:

This is another point in which the movie feels like it doesn't add a lot to the series, the movie only has Shiki in it. She doesn't really do in the story and her character doesn't really get further developed. Toko and Mikiya are just about absent from the movie. The only character who gets screen time is Azaka, who isn't really that great of a character. She's a bitch to Shiki, way in over her head, and really wants to bang her own brother. Okay that last bit is just my personal distant for insect but in all seriousness she's just not an interesting character. She's not nearly as complex as Shiki and that just makes the movie feel pretty useless seeing as how Shiki is the main character.

Overall:

This movie is pretty much filler. It's not a bad film by any means but it doesn't really add anything to the overall Kara no Kyoukai movies and it can easily be skipped. As I said it's not a bad film but it's not really needed to enjoy all of the much better films.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Oblivion Recording a 5.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Paradox Spiral

2014-11-08T19:54:00.001-05:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue my very long retrospective of the Kara no Kyoukai series. We have finally made to the 5th film everybody. So that means that I only have two more films to review and then this little marathon is over, yay! For today's review I'm going to take a look at what many fans of the series consider the best film out of the seven. I am of course talking about Kara no Kyoukai: Paradox Spiral. Is this film really as good as most die-hard fans say or is it just a sub-par film at best? Let's find out shall we?

Story:

In this film we follow a young man named, Tomoe Enjou, as he kills his parents and runs away after committing the dirty deed. He then runs into Shiki in where the two of them get well acquainted with one another and quickly become friends. But not everything is what it seems as certain things that Tomoe say don't really add up. Like the fact that no real news outlet ah reported on his flocks murder despite the fact that he left the bodies there to rot. So something does seem very odd indeed. The story for Paradox Spiral is certainly a crazy one. Just when you think that you're done with the films being placed out of order, in comes this film. The structure of the film is very out of order and purposely confusing. But fear not, you don't have to watch four other films to try and understand it. The film eventually syncs of and everything comes into order giving you that beautiful of "oh so that's what happened." Which is always fun to sit through. But along with the out of order story comes that dark themes that these films are very well known for. Which I can't really get into thoroughly in fear of spoiling the film. I will say that family plays a huge part in this film as well as the idea what a true home. Hell, the film also goes into the idea of whether or not the end justifies the means to find the truth. As well as discussing who you are as a person and what makes you, you. You got that? Good, because this film will through that shit at you like a damn baseball. The heavy themes are well presented and the film tackles them like no ones business. The film can be crazy confusing at times, which can through some off, but the story has a very well written plot that really hits the viewer hard.

Animation:

Now this film has the most odd animation out of the seven. Including the two films that come after this. The animation feels, slightly erratic. All the movement here kind feel messy and not very smooth as the other films. This is both good and a little bad. The bad part here is that it can be a bit hard to clearly understand just is happening during some of the fight scenes. The animation is so wild that everything is moving and the camera goes a little baserk with it as well. The good though is that it gives the film a very uncanny feel to it. Something feels off about this films which makes sense because the whole film is kinda off with the whole out of order stuff going on. So the animation does help the story feel off as well. But unlike the other films, the backgrounds have no real meat to them. The other films always out a lot of background detail into the shot to bring more life to it. Now while this movie does have some fairly nice scenery, it's not a lot and even then it doesn't last long. Most of the film takes place in one building and while the lighting and the building it self are very impressive, it is the same background you've seen already. Now I'm not shitting on the animation at all, it's still really good. But compared to the other films it does lack a bit.

Music:

The music here is just as good as the other films but like the others it does find ways to be different. The film actually has a lot of uplifting tracks in it. Songs that feel as though they should go into a much lighter toned film but that where the music shines. It plays in scenes that call back to a character's past or when someone is having a personal moment. This works really well as it intensifies the emotions in the given scene. The music that plays during fights are what you'd expect at this point into the series. Fast-paced action and triumphant sounding, a mix that has made the battle music for Kara no Kyoukai so damn enjoyable and in the mood for some kick-ass action.

Characters:

The film's strongest point here is the characters. The characters from the main cast that get to shine are Mikiya and Touko. We see why Touko chooses Mikiya as her assistant and he comes off as a very smart and caring person. He knows he's not the strongest guy around but that won't stop him from from trying to help his friends when ever they are in need. Touko get's her shine in the spotlight as a badass. She doesn't do a lot but when she's in action you really get to see why she's such a great character. The other character that has a lot of development is Tomoe. We don't really like at first but once you really start to understand his character he comes off as a very sad person who just lost sight of really mattered in his life. He's a great character and this is most defiantly his film and his story.

Overall:

Now is this the best film in the series? In my opinion, no. But this is still a really good film. It's animation is very good but lacks in comparison to the others and the out of order nature of the film can be a bit frustrating to some. But the music is still top notch, the story is dark but oddly uplifting, and the characters are at their best in this film. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves anime and dark stories in general.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Paradox Spiral a 9 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: The Hollow Shrine

2014-11-01T17:03:00.002-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you new anime review. Oh hey look at that, a new review that wasn't uploaded last week. Look I'm a busy guy and at least I posted something for last week and didn't leave you guys hanging. I know no excuses. But hey look at that another Kara no Kyoukai movie. Yay. Now unlike the last review I did this movie is nowhere near as dark as the last review. But not that all of that is out of the way lets jump into my review for, The Hollow Shrine. Just how much does the 4th installment hold up against the other 3, lets find out shall we?

Story:

In this film it takes place right after the events of the 2nd movie, within the timeline order. Shiki has fallen into a coma and she ends up waking up about 2 years later. But she is not without some scars from what ever happened to her. Her eyes seem to be acting weird and she keeps seeing horrible things like people falling apart and these crazy red lines all over the place. Yeah, Shiki's fucked up isn't she? The story here is very slow and not a lot actually happens. This may seem like a bad thing seeing as how most of these movies, the exception being the 2nd film, the slow pace here actually helps the feel of the movie. The movie doesn't have a lot happening and mostly fulled with people just talking but this is pretty good because seeing as how the last film was a very heavy and foreboding monster that makes you feel sick this film changes things up a bit which is a good. The movie also really dives deep into Shiki's mind and shows us a lot of layers to her character that we didn't really know. So this film does a pretty good job at keeping your attention even though there may not be a lot happening on screen and it's a great chance to develop Shiki into very more of a complex character then before.

Animation:

Now at first glance this film may not seem like it has the best animation out of all these films. Which is understandable, most of this film takes place in a hospital. Most notably one freaking room. This may seem like a downside to the animation seeing as how beautifully animated the last 3 films were. However the film does amp up the visual beauty in the middle and later half of the film. The movies has scenes in which it show a cavalcade of colors and gorgeous animation. It is just amazing to watch all of these glimpse of how badass Ufotable can make scenes look. There is also a great fight scene at the end, well sort of. The scene is nowhere a good as the final fight scene in A Remaining Sense of Pain but the sequence is made very memorable by the sound design the accompanies the scene. Speaking of which...

Music:

The music and sound design in this movie is really good in this film. Now like a lot of the other films music here is very good and is used wisely. But, at least to me, music is used the least in this film then in others. So you end up having a lot of all of these background noises like footsteps on the floor, wind flowing through the room, and the ruffles of clothing while characters move. When music does play it feels very strong and makes scenes feel like they hold a lot of importance because of the sudden change in sound. Great usage of music like this really makes the anime stand out among other anime that just use music for the hell of it.

Characters:

Now just like the last film this movies really has only one character that has any real character development. Shiki is the main focus of this film and she gets a lot of great development and character building. In other films we usually see Shiki as a emotionless badass but this film ends up showing a very different side of her that we don't get to see a lot in film. The movie really wants us to feel Shiki's pain and struggle which as she has to push through the horrible events that are happening to her in this film. This film felt like it was the movie to give us some real reasons and answers as to why Shiki act the way that she does and I feel like it does a very good job at that.

Overall:

This film kinda end what I like to call the "Out of Order" sequence of the Kara no Kyoukai films. The first 4 films where purposely put out of order and now that I've seen all of these films in that format I really do like. You ask question in one film and only get a few answers in another, it really makes these movies like a puzzle to watch. I do feel like this is the 3rd best out the first 4 but it's still a great watch that you should not miss.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: The Hollow Shrine a 7.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

1 Year Anniversary Special: Top 5 Favorite Reviews and Top 5 Hated Reviews!

2014-10-23T15:32:00.002-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to say happy one anniversary to me! That's right, one year ago today I started doing these reviews. Now I will admit I am very sorry for the hiatus I took I still feel as though I should celebrate being able to come back to this little blog and keep doing reviews. I know my reviews aren't the best or even the most thought out but hey, I never calmed to be perfect. But at the same time there are some reviews of mine that I have to admit that I just really liked writing and I feel came out really well. So how about I count down my Top 5 Favorite Reviews and my Top 5 Hated Reviews. Because there are some reviews that I will admit I hate looking back at now. So how about I start this list off with the best, here are my Top 5 Favorite Reviews!

Top 5 Favorite Reviews

Number 5: Fate/Zero Review

This was a review was one that I was really looking forward to for a while. Ever since I stared this blog I was really saving Fate/Zero for a while. So when I went on a little Fate marathon in the months of November and December I thought it would be the best time to hunt down the show and finally review it. I was very happy with how it came out. My only real problem with the review is that I didn't make it longer. But aside from that I loved writing this review and it's still one of favorite reviews even to today.

Number 4: Chobits Review

When I decided to do Romance Month, which I was very happy with, I knew for a fact that I would have to review this for two simple reasons. One; it's one of the most popular romance anime so it would make sense to review it for Romance Month. Two; when I first watch Chobits, I fucking hated it. I mean I hated it. But as years passed by I stared to wonder why exactly did I hate it so much. I really couldn't think of a good reason so I decided to rewatch it and see how I felt about it years later. I am very happy say that when I went back to watch Chobits I just loved it. I was very surprised by just how good this show actually was. So when I finally wrote the review it was actually insanely fun to do because I had just so much to say.

Number 3: Serial Experiments Lain Review

Not only does this anime have a special in my heart the review does too. When I was watching Lain it was during a time in my life when I wasn't too sure what college I wanted to go too and I wasn't really taking my education ever seriously during my final years of high schools. But when I decided to sit down and watch Lain I was just horrified by what I saw. The story of a girl who's life was quite literally fading away and how she started losing her grip on reality. This scared the living shit out of me! This was so damn scary that I completely changed and took my education very seriously. So this review sticks with me because this was one of the few times that an anime really made me rethink my life. I know that sounds silly but I can't deny that this anime was pretty damn freaky and this is one of my favorite reviews.

Number 2: Guilty Crown

This review, oh my god, was so much damn fun to do. This was my first really negative review. Because I fucking hated this show and I still do. Guilty Crown was an anime that I decided to watch in one sitting. I stayed up all night so that I could watch because the first 12 episodes were actually pretty damn good. So when I watch the last 12 I was angry at just how bad the quality dropped. So when time finally came for me write the review I went mad on my keyboard. I just typed and typed and typed, until I couldn't think of anything else to hate about this show. i went fucking ballistic on this damn show and it resulted into a review that I think was really funny. Due to how mad I was at the show. So I guess I have to thank Guilty Crown for giving me a great review. But seriously though fuck Guilty Crown. Don't watch it.

Number 1: Aku no Hana Review

I have to say. I really loved how this review came out in the end. When I was on hiatus I really struggled to find any anime to actually review. I felt really unmotivated to watch anything, it was a really dull time for me. So one day I decided to check out a manga that I heard was really missed up and was disturbing. When I finally checked it out for myself I could not believe just how amazing this story was. I found it really fucking hard to not put down my phone and look something else up, I read manga on my phone most of the time, I had to keep reading. When I was done with it I felt that itch. That itch I feel when I really want to review something. So I decided to say "fuck it, I don't care if I don't review manga, I'm reviewing this!". That is how I finally returned to doing my reviews. Because of one of the most fucked up but best manga I have ever read. But the review itself was also really good. I had a lot to say about the manga and I just decided that I am going to write until I have nothing else to say and just like that the review was made. It's my favorite review to date and the manga that got me back into reviewing.

But with any good review, sometimes you have bad ones. So it's time that I poke fun at myself and list the top 5 reviews that I personally hate.

Top 5 Hated Reviews

Number 5: Corpse Princess Review

The Corpse Princess review was a review that I felt was just a really poorly put together review. Not because it was my feelings on anime changed or anything like that. The reason was the actual anime was so lack-luster that when I actually had to write the review I had nothing to say. I was just struggling to find 11 different ways to say that anime was just "okay". I had nothing to really work with and nothing to get mad or praise about the show. I had so little to actually say that I felt that the review was one of my most boring and hollow reviews to write and review. It was a review that I just couldn't find anything to say and I just hated it once I actually finished it.

Number 4: Angel Beats Review

Okay let's get this out of the way, I fucking hate this show. It's shit. So when I review the show I thought I was fair but when I really look back at the actual show I can't help but point out just how shitty the anime really is. I just hate everything about it. So after a good year I decided to look back at the show and I shocked myself. I was so damn soft on this show it disgust me and I was most shocked at the final score I gave it. A 6.5. A fucking 6.5. What the fuck was I thinking?! This show doesn't even deserve a goddamn 4, and I a gave it a 6.5?! Was I high or something!? Now I don't like to go back to my old reviews and edit them, it's not my style. But holy hell I will never forgive myself for giving this show such a high score and that's why I hate it so much.

Number 3: Squid Girl Review

Okay so I know I don't get a lot of views on my reviews but I'm proud of the views I get non-the-less. When I reviewed Squid Girl I was pretty excited, mainly because I really liked the show and I wanted to share my opinion about it. Clearly no one really cared. Squid Girl is my least watch review ever and I am a shamed of it. I think the review itself is fine but it's clear that no one gave a damn about it because of how little views I actually got. It still haunts me to this day and I can never live it down.

Number 2: Mistudomoe Review

Oh god this review. One thing I love about reviewing anime is that it never feels like a job. I am doing something that I love doing and I never feel hindered by it, until anime came around. This anime sucked all of the joy out of reviewing and for the first time ever I felt like I was just watching the anime and reviewing it because I had too, because it's my job to review anime. That's why I hate this review. Not only that but this anime was just so boring and painfully stupid to actually write a review about. I just hated every damn moment of typing up the review. So in turn I hated how the actual review came out and I hate the show just as much.

Number 1: Elfen Lied Review

Seems kinda of obvious that my most hated review is my first review. Yeah I hate my Elfen Lied review. I always go back to it now-and-then and I just can't stand it. I mean damn that review was bad. I gave Elfen Lied a damn 9 even after pointing out a lot of bad things about it, really unbiased huh? The Animation Category was only 2 sentences long and I hardly talked about the plot or characters aside from the main characters. Every time I look back at it I can't help but be so ashamed by the fact that, that thing was my first review. But I can also look back at it and appreciate how far I came from that style of reviewing to how I review now. Elfen Lied, I may love the anime but I hate my own review for it.

So those were my favorite and not-so-favorite anime reviews that I've done so far. I'm happy to say that I'll keep doing reviews and I hope to get even better at them in the future. Also no need to worry, the 4th Kara no Kyoukai review will be released this Saturday. I just wanted to think back on old reviews and find a way to celebrate on one year of reviewing. Thanks for reading.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: A Remaining Sense of Pain

2014-10-18T22:41:00.000-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue my retrospective of the Kara no Kyoukai films. This one is gonna be a bit tricky to review. Just to start off, this is one of the darker entries in the Garden of Sinners series. This film has some of the most brutal death scenes and contains a lot of rape. Yes, rape. To make this review short for those who don't like the idea of rape in anime and just want my opinion on the matter I will say that this is a good film. If you can handle it then you should check it out. If you don't think you can then skip this one. Now with that out of the way let's talk about this dark as hell movie. Kara no Kyoukai: Remaining Sense of Pain. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The movie follows a young woman named, Fujino Asagami. The first time we see her in the film is of her being raped by a group of thugs. Afterwards all of the thugs that participated in the rape just so happen to be getting brutally killed off one-by-one. This gets the attention of Toko as she is already on the case with the help of Shiki and Mikiya. As you would expect it's Fujino who's doing the murders but she almost seems to be joyful while committing these horrible killings. She also seems to be experiencing a horrible sense of pain that just won't go away as well as demonstrating powerful telekinetic abilities. So now it's a twisted game of cat-and-mouse as Shiki is hunting down Fujino and she's hunting down the men who violated her. This film is fucked up. This is probably the darkest anime I have ever had to review and oh god is it hard to review. The themes brought up in the film is the feeling of pain and pain of rape. The rape part is very unsettling due to how graphic the film gets with the scenes but at the same time the film shows how the pain of being violated can effect one's psyche. Fujino is like a fucking horror movie villain as she slowly hunts down every last member of the gang that did this horrible act upon her. There's also the theme of feeling pain and if pain makes of human. I wish I could talk more about this but I'd be giving away some major spoilers. So trust me when I say that the film does a good job at explaining this theme in very disturbing detail. The story is dark, unsettling, and very hard ti set through but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't done well.

Animation:

Just like always the animation here is great but holy crap, the backgrounds here are even darker then the first film. The movie has a very dark tone so in turn the setting is just bleak, ugly, and almost disturbing to look at. It goes hand-in-hand with the fucked up feeling that the movie is going for so in retrospective it does a good job. But the highlight of the animation here is the final scene. One big ass action sequence that is just batshit insane to watch. The final fight in the film is animated beautifully and is so tilling to watch. The fast pace movements as well as the intense cat-and-mouse style to the fighting made so interesting to watch. The rain effects during the fight was also extremely well done to. It feels like it's actually raining really hard while these characters are ducking it out to the death and the way the rain moves along with the characters is just amazing. So the animation is once again really well done here but that final fight scene is the real highlight of this film.

Music:

Just like the other movies before it, the music does not disappoint. The music here is very similar to the first film. The music is very atmospheric and very hunting. It almost feels like the further we dive into Fujino's mind the music in return gets more and more disturbed. You also have the music during the final fight. The music during this fight is very intense and fast but the song also has a very quite tune to it as well. Not only that but the film also knew when to completely stop using music to further deliver the straight of the scene itself. The music here is very good and I feel like the music just keeps getting better and better as these films go along.

Characters:

Okay so to be honest none of the main cast here have any real development in this film. We see some at the end but I'm not going spoil that. However the real star of the movie is actually Fujino. Holy shit is she one fucked up person. Fujino's character is displayed as someone who isn't quite sure what it really mean to be alive. She basically comes off as someone who's completely devoid of any emotions or feeling at all. But when Fujino starts to feel the pain in her abdomen this is when her character really changes. Before when we saw her she was just an emotionless shell that didn't even care about being raped constantly. But once she feels this horrible pain she turns into the near monster of a person. She starts to find enjoyment in the killing and mutilating of the men who raped her. But even as she starts to go even more insane through out the film you can't help but feel sorry for her. She seems like someone who just wants some basic human connections is her life but her emotionless state and now her new murderous intent she just seems too far off to help her.

Overall:

To close this review I would like to say that this is a good film. However I would like to warn you that is the darkest film in the Kara no Kyoukai series so this film may not be for everyone. But overall I thought that this was a very good film. Just really fuck up and hard to watch.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: A Remaining Sense of Pain an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1

2014-10-11T20:09:00.001-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. Yeah sorry about no review last week. I was a bit busy with college stuff. Nothing important. However this review being on a Saturday is not me being late with reviews. Nope this is a new thing that I'm gonna start doing now. Reviews will no longer be on Wednesdays but insisted being moved to Saturdays. Also as you might have been able to tell from the review I did two weeks ago, the Nitpick category will no longer be used anymore. I don't like it and I feel as though it was hindering my writing for these reviews. But anyways let's move on. Last I was here I reviewed the first Kara no Kyoukai film, which is actually like the the 4th film in the timeline of the movies. So now today we jump back in time to the origins of Shiki, when she still had SHIKI. Today I'll be covering Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1. Is it just as good as the first one or does it pale in comparison? Let's find out shall we?

Story:

Now as you would be able to guess, this film takes place a couples years before the events of the first years. We go all the way to Mikiya's high school years and follow him when he first meets a young Shiki. The story here is not as intense as Overlooking View but still is a very high quality story on the same level but with different content in it. While Overlooking View was very much a story that talked about suicide and was built as a ghost story. However, A Study in Murder is more of a murder mystery while also having a very odd romance thrown in there. The movie doesn't tackle any major themes that the first film did but it's okay because this movie has a very good story behind. The story mainly centers around Mikiya trying to get to know Shiki more as he ends up becoming interested with her and eventually falls in love with her. All the while a series of murders are happening around the town that they live in. Even worse is that Shiki always seems to be at the scene of the murder. We don't see her actually kill anyone but she is always at the crime scene and standing over the corpse. This leads into Mikiya basically trying to convince himself and even Shiki that she's not the killer. Now even though the story here is really good it also does the dirty little things that a lot of movies in series do, give you a lot of questions and no answers. Now I can understand that this was made to be apart of series but the answers to who is doing the murders and why is he doing them actually doesn't get answers until the 7th movies. That's a pretty long wait. But aside from that small point the story is still very strong and really fleshes out these characters as well.

Animation:

Just like before, Ufotable delivers in this category. But I am very happy to say that the feeling of the animation here is on a very different tone then in Overlooking View. While Overlooking View had a very dark, washed out, and creepy atmosphere to it, A Study in Murder actually has more colorful scenery while mixing in the darker tones as well. This gives the movie a very different feeling to it because by showing what the modern day world looks like and then bringing the darker side of this world into the spotlight it makes it seem even darker. Not only that but the animation for the characters is still just as damn good as it was in the first movie. There aren't any big action scenes like in the first movie but the movie doesn't skip on the quality either. The animation is on par and even at some points better then the animation in Overlooking View. The anime looks really damn good and it just a joy to watch.

Music:

Just like with the animation the music is beautiful but is a different kind of beautiful. The music here works really well with the animation and really likes to keep things very quiet. While the first one had amazing music as well it was more of a dangerous and almost occult sounding, giving a lot of to the supernatural aspect of the first film. But this time around the music has more toned down and somber tone for all of the creepy scenes. But also has more uplifting and relaxing music for the more quiet scenes. If two people are talking and having a normal conversation then the music will be subtle and faint or no music will be used. However if a conversation is being had with a much heavier weight on then the music will be a little louder but will also have a much more sinister tone. The music works great here and is easily the strongest to the movie.

Characters:

Another strong aspect to this movies is it's characters. Just like the first film we don't have a very large cast. The only two characters that have any real importance in the story, Mikiya and Shiki. Mikiya comes off as a normal guy who just ended up falling for a very odd girl. Then again it's Shiki so I can't blame him. So his character is pretty damn determine to prove Shiki's innocent even if she herself believes she's guilty. You can really tell that he genuinely loves Shiki and wants to her to have a normal life. Shiki also comes off as a different person from the first film. That Shiki was a cold but good hearted badass while this Shiki is more of a shut in that doesn't want to get close to anyone. We even learn that she has another personality called SHIKI, (Note: The capitalization of her name means male in the Japanese writing. So the direct translation is just her name in all caps.) her other half that is more out going then her and is even more friendly as well. We get to learn a lot about the two personalities here and get a good sense of who Shiki really is. We see why she's so cold and why she's so shut in. But what sells these characters even more is the fact that they have great chemistry. We can get a good idea of how Mikiya could fall for Shiki while also seeing her warm up to him and how this starts to scare her. The characters work great off of each other and even more so are great characters in of themselves.

Overall:

This is a pretty damn good follow up to Overlooking View. Or a good beginning to the Kara no Kyoukai series seeing as how this is the beginning of the timeline. Oh fuck it, it's a good movie! It has a great set of characters and has some damn fine music. Not all of the questions raised in the story are answered but at least we got an amazing movie in the end, and that's really all that matters.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1 an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View

2014-09-24T21:51:00.002-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals! It is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you with another anime review. Now that I'm back In decided that I would like to actually do something special for all of you! The one year anniversary of when I started doing reviews it coming up so I thought why not give you guys a series a reviews for the next seven weeks of one of my all time favorite anime film series? That's right for the next seven weeks I'll be taking a look at the whole film series of, Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners. So to start this series off right lets jump right into it with a review of the first film, Overlooking View. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The story begins in the 1998 with our hero, Shiki Ryogi. A young woman with an amazing gift, the ability to see the death lines of anyone or anything. We also get to meet her two coworkers, Toko Aozaki and Mikiya Kokuto. They are a supernatural investigation group who, as you can imagine, deal with with anything that may seem to dwell into the surreal or supernatural side of things. They get a case that has been getting a lot of wind lately. Over at the abandoned Fujo building a group of young high school girls have been committing suicide unexpectedly. None of the girls seem to have anything that relates to one another and even more odd is the lack of a suicide note to at least explain why they did it. As Shiki inspects the building she finds that things are not all that they seem and something dark and twisted is happening inside that old forgotten building. Now the set up here is a bit odd, what do I mean? Well it's odd because the film does this really weird thing of name dropping characters, events, and certain places that all of the characters in the movie knows but not the audience. That's because the first four films in the Kara no Kyoukai series are actually out of order. So this film is in fact the 4th film in the series. Now while some may be a bit turned off by this I found it to make the film very interesting to sit through. Because know what's up and all of the major pieces plot development are put to the side of the audience but we know that we'll see what the film is talking about sooner or later. But for now we're just left in mystery, which may turn some off to the idea of watching these films. Also the subject material in this film may be a bit too heavy for some to handle. Suicide is a big subject matter in this film and it doesn't really pull any punches on how some of these characters feel about the notion of suicide and whether or not it's okay to take your own life. It's pretty heavy and some may feel a bit offended by the film but I personally thought they tackled the problem with taste and didn't really lean on what side was "right" or "wrong". They kept it very even and I thought that the film was pretty damn good with how they presented and commented on the issue of suicide.

Animation:

The fact that this is a Ufotable anime should already tell you already just how damn good this animation is. But just in case you need a reminder, this animation is amazing! Once again Ufotable shows off once why they are my favorite animation studio by just how jaw-droppingly beautiful this film looks. The design of the city is just so damn good and you get a lot of shot of the city just to give you an idea how big this place is. Not to mention the atmosphere that is created with the more darker and empty setting of the Fujo building as we get to look inside it as well. The animation during the two fight scenes are also done really good as well. You get a very claustrophobic and uneasy vibe from the first fight but then during the final fight you get this whole show of colors and fast-paced action that just never lets you go because of just how well it's animated. Character designs also look very simple, clean, and nice. But this is a Type-Moon product. These guys could make a redhead in jeans and a baseball shirt look iconic.......wait. Anyway animation is great and really gives a wide scope to the film.

Music:

Oh my God this music. This music! Yes the music is really good here well. The music, very much like the art and animation, set up a tone of somberness, loneliness, and overall dread. It's a hauntingly beautiful sound that set up a very eerie stage for the film. Not to mention that the music would become creepy and ghostly at the right moments to invoke a sense of fear or weariness. But the film doesn't go to over bored with it's music too. When the film needs to be more quiet and subtle the music would also get a downgrade in scale or no music would be used in certain scenes This gave the film more room to breath and not overuse any of it's tracks like a lot of anime does. The music is used very well and it's a treat to listen to. But then again what do you expect from Yuki Kajiura? Greatness that's what.

Characters:

This part is going to be a little tricky. Now while I already know what these characters go through I know that at a first time glance you're gonna be a bit lost. The characters here don't get a lot of development because this film is the 4th installment so their at the halfway point of their characters. So that means this film does very little to actually give a lot of in-depth development for these guys. But that doesn't mean that they come off as stale either. Shiki comes off as a harden badass who takes shit from no one but you can still tell that there is a softer side to her that we've yet to fully see and we can also tell that she has kind of relationship Mikiya. How deep this relationship goes though we don't fully know but you can tell that they are special to one another. Even if Shiki doesn't reveal it very much. Toko is another character we get a good idea of. She comes off as a very cool, collective, and smart individual. She clearly has a lot more going on then she leads on but for now she's just one cool boss that I personally would love to have. Mikiya is also kinda hard to get a point on. That's mainly due to the fact that he's not in the film a lot. But as stated before he has a very odd connection to Shiki and the moments that we see them together we get to see more of his character traits shine. He seems like a cool guy and we wait to see why he's so into to Shiki later down the films.

Overall:

Well in the end Overlooking View is a bit of an odd choice to open up the Kara no Kyoukai series. Now while there are six more films to go through it is understandable for some to be a bit lost after watching this. But even not fully knowing what's going on I still feel that this movie is a interesting first watch for the series and has enough plot and subtext that it can keep a person's interest long enough for the next installment: A Study in Murder-Part 1.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View an 8.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Aku No Hana: The Flowers of Evil

2014-09-17T22:41:00.000-04:00

Guess who's back?

Hello ladies, peoples and animals it is I. The one. The only. Arcane Reviewer! Man it's good to be back! Now yes I did say that I was going to return in late August but some things came to where I was unable to really sit down and do any reviews. Hell I wasn't even motivated to watch any anime or review any of it either. But it wasn't until I came across this little piece of "What the fuckery". See I am a bit of a manga reader. It kinda goes hand-in-hand with being a fan of anime. Now I'm not much of an advent manga reader. I read a couple of chapters in a series that I like or even read all the way through short or completed series. Yeah I just don't read a lot of it but I do read quite a bit. So while I was looking for an anime to review I kinda got stuck and gave up until I could find something that really caught my interest. So far nothing came to mind. It wasn't until a friend of mine mentioned a little series called, Aku No Hana. The name rang a bell so I looked into it. It turned out that I actually did hear about this series through another friend of mine who mentioned how "fucked up" it was. But he also made it clear that he actually liked the manga. So I thought, hey might as well give it a try. This ladies, peoples, and animals is what brought me back. After reading this manga I felt compelled to jump on my computer and give this book a review!

Now first off; this is my first time reviewing a manga so this is going to be a bit different from my normal reviews. Here are some of the things that are being changed up.

I will not be covering the animation. Because there isn't any animation......you freaking dumb-ass
I will not be covering the music. Because there isn't any.......you freaking dumb-ass.
I will be covering the art.
I will be going into spoilers about the ending. This won't be the stranded for when I review manga. It's just that the ending of this manga is something that has a lot of people split and I feel as though I need to discuss it in full detail.
There will be no Nitpick category. I'm pretty much thinking about dropping the category completely but until I deiced I'm just not going to put it in this review.

So now that all of that bull is out of the way let's get on with my review of, Aku No Hana: The Flowers of Evil. What was it about this show that made me come back? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

The manga starts us off in a small town in Japan in which we are introduced to our main character, Takao Kasuga. A middle school student who is pretty damn shy and is a pit on the pretentious side. He has a crush on the class idol, Nanako Saeki. In fact he has such a huge crush on her that when he realizes that Saeki left her gym uniform back in class he does what any normal person would do. Pick the clothes up and smell them. Because that's obviously the first thing one should do in that situation.

But when he hears a bump in the thought-to-be empty class room he freaks out and does another logical course of action. Stuff the gym clothes up his shirt and run away. I get the feeling that Kasuga isn't all that bright. After that awful situation, Kasuga runs into the freak of his class, Sawa Nakamura. A very odd individual who reveals that she saw Kasuga steal the gym clothes. She threatens to reveal Kasuga to the whole school unless he makes a contract with her. What does this contract entail you might ask. Oh nothing much. She just gets to do horrible things to him and systematically ruin his life and any chance he had at being normal. You know I never had to go through any of this shit while I was in middle school. So the scene is set and Kasuga's life is going to get a whole lot more interesting than it was before. Now from the surface this not seems like a very odd idea for a plot but you have to wonder just how far can they go with this concept. Well this is where Aku No Hana actually pulls the rug from under your feet. You see this story is nowhere near as straight forward as my little synopsis made it out to be. This manga has a lot of depth when it comes to it's story and the themes that it tackles. To it's core the manga is a coming of age story about a young boy who is lost in the world that he lives in and we follow him from his teenage years into his young adult years. The story does a great job at showing a youth who is pretty much not motivated by much and when he is it really isn't because it's a life choice he has decided to follow. It's because he has no one else to go to so he just follows what seems convenient at the time. The story also dells deep within the psyche of our characters so we get a little too familiar with them. The story is strong and dives deep into the mind of madness and these are what makes the manga so damn good.

Art:

The art here is handles extremely well by Mr. Shuzo Oshimi. He does really damn good job here, at points. The artwork for environments, backgrounds, and some of the more trippy scenes look amazing. Oshimi has such a great style with how heavy shading needs to be and this heaviness in shading actually help put a lot more tension and even some impact in the most mundane actions in the manga. His character designs though are a bit rough. Now granted this manga was first published in 2009. The fist couple of chapters has some pretty funny looking expressions and character designs looked really goofy and a little unsettling. I will say though that the art did get better over time and everything looked much better at the end of the first major story arc. I'll also say that when art got better I was really able to appreciate the look at all of his major characters. None of them have any really big stand out looks to them, they all just look normal. But that's the thing, they all look normal. None of them looked like the stranded anime main character, they all had very average looks, builds, and features that you would see on an average individual you'd see walking down the street. I really liked this because this story is so grounded to reality that the art and characters actually helped my immersion and had even more into the story then I was originally. So even though I had a bit of a rough patch to get pass through, the art here is top notch and drives home the narrative even more.

Characters:

Now with every great story you need great characters right? Well it's a good thing that this story had some pretty damn good characters. First off we have the main character himself, Kasuga. What I really liked about him was that he actually wasn't very like able in the beginning. As I said earlier he's shy, cowardly, and has a bit of a stick up his ass. But this is what's so good about him on a character standpoint. We get to grow along with him. Yes he starts off as a whining little shit bit that's understandable because he's an 8th grader. He a kid. Most kids his age are whiny and annoying. But as the story progresses we get to see him mature little-by-little and eventually we see him become a much better person then who he was at the start of the manga. We also get a good look inside his head and we really get to see what he's thinking and how he's handling all of the crazy and fucked up situations that he finds himself in. We get a great idea of what it's like to be him and we can at points completely see things from his side of spectrum. He is a very well developed main character who felt like he had a complete characters arc once the story is all said and done. Now how do the side characters hold up, the same as our main character but without much focus. Sawa's character is indeed a very strange and even psychotic person at points. She is rude, nasty, and doesn't take shit from anyone. This is what makes her character so interesting, why would she take such an interest in someone like Kasuga? Well we do get to look inside her head as well and see just how much of a mess she really is. We see some dark stuff from her and even though she's painted as a horrible person in the early stages of the manga you can't help but to find interest in her and once her character is revealed a bit of sympathy as well. She's a really good character because the manga had you guessing just what the hell her deal was and even made some feel bad for her. Now we move on to Saeki, was she a good character? Well the manga just kind of shows her off as the class idol who just so happens to have a thing for Kasuga. Nothing really special. That is until we get to the later half of the second story arc. Saeki has some of the most disturbing and darker moments in the entire manga. I won't spoil exactly what happens to her or what she does but I will say this. What the fuck!? She was a very well written character and was the most shocking out of the whole cast and I was just dumbfounded by her character development. Overall, she was a good character.

The Ending( Warning I Will Spoil The Ending Of The Manga! If You Wish To Not Have the Ending Ruined For You Then Skip To The Overall Category!)

Now this ending has a lot of fans split. I'll talk about it for a bit and explain my own opinion on the ending itself. So at this point in the story Kasuga has moved out of he old home town and lives in the city. He was able to overcome his weaker self of needing to follow someone because he was aimless and has actually taken charge of his own life now. Hell he even fell in love with another character, Aya Tokiwa. He was able to love her for her and even convinced her to show her true self and not be afraid of who she is and what she loves to do. This in turn made her fall in love with him and the two became a couple. But everything isn't all sunshine now because Kasuga wants to finally put an old ghost to rest. He wants to see Sawa one last time to bury the hatchet once and for all. This was a very big moment in the manga because to this point both Kasuga and Sawa hadn't seen each other within 3 years. So a lot of suspense of building up to this moment. Now the problem that a lot of people have with this ending was that it didn't go out with a bang. Because when Kasuga meets Sawa again after all these years she is nowhere near as crazy. Sure she's still a bit of an oddball but she isn't psycho anymore. Plus the whole confrontation ends on a light note. After some arguing and even Aya admitting that even if she loses Kasuga here she'll be happy that he was finally able to end things. The whole thing end with them actually getting along and playing on the beach. Okay the scene makes sense if you read it, just take my word for it. Sawa tells Kasuga that he's normal now and he should never come back to see her again and we end with a flash forward in time to see Kasuga in college. Him and Aya are still a couple and are still very much in love. This ending had people a bit let down because they thought that they were going to get a huge melt down of shit going wrong and Sawa acting crazy and shit. But in all honesty, I really liked they way it ended. Because as I said before this is a coming of age story. Kasuga isn't the same little kid that was too afraid to stand up for himself anymore, he's a changed person. Same goes for Sawa, she's not the same anymore. She's grown up. We clearly see that she has matured a lot during the 3 year skip which makes a lot of sense. If Kasuga was able to mellow out surly Sawa could too. The story at it's heart is about growing up and we clearly see the characters have indeed grown up. Which is why I personally loved the ending.

Overall:

So to wrap this up I"ll just say that this was one of the best manga that I've read in a long time. The art was dark and atmospheric, the characters where detailed and dripping with depth, and the ending was very satisfying and left me with a big ol' smile on my face. So yeah if you haven't been able to guess I quite liked this manga a lot and it felt like the perfect piece of entertainment to get me back into the reviewing mood. So if you haven't been able to guess I highly recommend this manga to anyone who's looking for a dark story with a cast of disturbed but brilliant characters.

Arcane Reviews gives: Aku No Hana: The Flowers of Evil a 9.5 out of 10.

Thank you all for reading I"m glad to be back......Oh.

You're probably wondering my opinion on the anime adaption right?

Well I only have three words for that show.

DON'T WATCH IT!!!!

Now I wonder. What should I review next?
I know!.....My treat to all of you......

Next Time: Kara No Kyoukai: Overlooking View

Update!: I Am So Sorry

2014-07-09T18:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah.........my bad.....

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to say I am so sorry. I have been M.I.A. for about a damn month. I have been a bit busy since I have been finishing up school. But what about the couple of weeks after I finished school? Well I've just been lazy to do any reviews. Forgive me!

So I'm here to say that I will still do reviews. I am not quitting. But I probably won't be posting any reviews for the month of July, don't worry it's not because I'm being lazy here I swear. The reason being is that I will on a trip that will leave me away from my computer. I have a desktop which makes it a little hard to write any reviews or even watch any anime.

Now if I can get my hands on a laptop or a desktop then I can put up reviews but as of now I don't think I can. But to make it up to you guys I do have two reviews that I'll be working on to release when ever I come back. So I hope you guys enjoy your summer and I am once again sorry for being gone for so long.

Upcoming reviews

Nanana's Buried Treasure

The Garden of Words

Arcane Reviews: Casshern Sins

2014-06-04T19:07:00.001-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new review. You wanna know what I love? Well too bad because I'm gonna tell you anyway! I love post-apocalyptic settings. You can get really creative with just exactly how a world fell into dismay and then see the aftermath of it. Now while this anime I'll be reviewing doesn't do a lot new with the setting it does how ever do a bit different with the story of this destroyed world we see. So I bring to you my review for, Casshern Sins. How does it stand out from other dystopian futures in other anime? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

The story for Casshern Sins is a bit of a mess but for good reason. When we first meet our main character he has no idea who he is or where he is. All he knows is that he is a robot of some sort and he is crazy strong. Along with his strength is a kind of berserker mode he has. Simply put; when Casshern is put under a lot of stress due to battle or hell even his memory coming back to him from time to time he well completely lose it and kill just about anything that's in his way. This actually comes in handy as he is constantly being hunted by other robots who all want to eat him. Yeah these robots believe that if they eat Casshern then they'll be saved by the Ruin. Oh yeah, you also have the Ruin too. The Ruin is a type of disease that only effects robots. Seeing as how this world is only inhabitant by robots that's actually quite scary. The disease causes the victim to rust away slowly and even fall apart, considering what part of the body is heavily infected. Casshern though is one of the very few who isn't effected by the disease. It's also hinted at that he may have caused this world to fall into ruin. So you have all of these half-crazed machines all gunning for Casshern in a last ditch effort to try and save themselves. This paints the world of Casshern Sins as a very dark and really depressing setting which it handles really well. As I said before the story is a bit of a mess but it's done so purposelessly because you're not exactly sure what's going on and what exactly happened to everyone. You're lost, just like Casshern. You are put into his shoes and you feel just as confused as he is until someone explains it to him which is not only a reveal to him but to the audience as well. The story also takes a some que from Cowboy Bebop. Now what I mean by that is that the show will break away from the main story of Casshern trying to figure out who he is and instead focus on another character who is only in the one episode that they're introduced in. These episodes will focus largely on this one character while Casshern takes a bit of a step back mostly just observes the character's actions. This helps in world building as you great a better scope of just what exactly this world is like and the people that inhabit it. These episodes are in my opinion some the best episodes in the whole series and they lend a of growth to this world and what the history is behind it. So I feel that the story here is very strong. Well, sort of. There is one big problem to the story but I'll touch apon that a little later.

Animation:

The production side of things here is very good. The animation is very slick and fast paced. But when the time calls for it the animation will be slow and patience as well. Action scene look good and in times when things need to get heavy on the drama the animation well go along with whether it's a crazy dramatic moment or a melodramatic moment quite well. The animation will also get a bit fancy with trying to pull off very artsy shots and slo-mo segments. This does give the anime it's own identity and I feel as though it was a very welcomed change of things. One small problem I had was that the scenes were sometimes a little too claustrophobic for my taste. What I mean by that is that sometimes the camera was pulled in really close to the action and it would be a little hard to make out just what the hell was going on in a given scene. This doesn't hurt the anime too much as it didn't happen often but when it did it was a bit annoying. But aside from the close ups the animation here is very nice ans stylish too.

Music:

Music in the anime was pretty good. Though nothing except for the opening theme really sticks to my head. The music is used not too often and when it is it's mostly for the fight scenes or the more calmer but heavy scenes. Like a couple sitting together taking in the possible end coming for them, things like that. Music was also used in times a very dramatic moments in the story but these moments didn't really happen a lot until the later half of the series. But in the beginning and middle the times when this did happen the music did stick out and helped the scene have an even more emotional weight to it. So even though the music for me is a bit forgetful it's still pretty good at points.

Characters:

Characters are okay to tell you the truth. Yes this is where the anime kind of drops the ball but not too badly. Like I said earlier the episodes that featured a one-time only character where great. They added to the atmosphere and overall harshness of the show. But the main cast is hit or miss at points. We has have Casshern who is a good character, but really only towards the middle of the show. In the beginning he really has no emotion at times and just kind of makes the same depressed face all the time. He's kind of boring for a while but he does however get more interesting as the show progresses. I won't spoil the villains as they are fun to watch but only two of them really. The main two you meet have some fun personalities and even have a small sympathetic side to them as well. While I feel that they were still pretty selfish villains I could a t least understand where they were coming from. The third villain was just a cookie-cutter villain. Also small spoiler, they build the asshole up to be a big threat but Casshern just kills him in a second. Pretty fucking anti-climactic for a guy you spend the whole series building up. The supporting cast fall under the same class as Casshern, nothing really interesting about them until the later half of the show. Which is pretty shoty writing to be honest. But I still feel that the characters from the one-shot episodes were still very good and the m,ain cast did get better over time. They're just okay but still enjoyable.

Nitpicks: (Warning!!!! Small Spoilers!!!!)

Now remember when I said that the story was kind of strong? Well allow me to elaborate. The anime had a strong story all the way through until you get to the end, or lack there of. Yeah the show doesn't really have an ending. The anime shows us Casshern getting back all of his memories and pretty much telling us flat out that crappy world that he's in right now is actually his fault. Then it shows that he's trying to live a life of peace with the main cast. Everything seems fine until we get another villain out and Casshern goes to stop her because of a sad moment which I won't spoil. Casshern goes, stops the villain, and then the show ends. Just like that. We get a monologue telling us that life returned to the world, I think because it was kind of vague. Then they tell us that Casshern became a legend. That's it. Nothing really happened in this ending and is was really unsatisfying after following all these characters and not even getting a conclusive ending to tie up the show. That's kind of bullshit.

Overall:

Would I recommend this show? Yeah I would. The show is pretty different and has an interesting story of a hopeless world with dying robots. That was enough for me to check it out and I left really liking it. But the ending does kill it a little bit so I have to deduct points because I don't like the ending too much. Still a good show but a disappointing ending.

Arcane Reviews give Casshern Sins a 7 out of 10.

You can watch "Casshern Sins" on:

Funimation (Dub and Sub)

Hulu (Dub and Sub)

Arcane Specials: Top 10 Ladies In Anime

2014-05-28T23:16:00.000-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring a little something special this time around. You know what I've noticed, I have a lot more favorite female anime characters then I do male characters. It's kind of funny how a lot of people think anime isn't to flattering. But there are some cases in which an anime has a much more interesting and much more likable female character then the actual main lead, who most of the time is a male character. So today I've decided to give the ladies their time in the spotlight. So here's my Top 10 Ladies In Anime! Now this list is based on my own personal opinion. If you feel like you have a better list them by all means make your own and share it with me, I would love to see some different list. Also I DID NOT list these characters on hotness. I ranked these characters on just how interesting, memorable, well developed, and overall enjoyable they are as characters. If you where expecting a hottest anime character list then I apologize but that's not this type of list. But without further or due, let us begin shall we?

Number 10: Ami Kawashima from Toradora

Though she my not look it, Ami Kawashima actually has a lot of emotional baggage she's hauling around. But I wouldn't blame you if you didn't think that, her introduction into the show was not the best in any way shape or form. She was two-faced, rude, and just nasty to anyone she didn't like. Now you're probably wonder just why the hell I put her the list then, well remember what I said earlier? Ami is the way she is because she is a person who isn't exactly comfortable to really show her true self. So she covers up her real self by putting on a fake teenybopper persona as a way to cope with society, meanly because society pretty much painted her as a teenybopper. But she really starts to change her ways when she befriends the rest of the cast. This is when we start to see the real Ami. She's just like any other person and she even tries really hard to break out of her shell as the show progresses. She starts to actually speak like a real person and lends some much needed advice to the main character. Ami is a great example of a character who is not at all the same person that she was in the beginning of the show. She shows the most growth out of the entire cast and even helps them to grow up as well. There's a reason people were pissed that she wasn't the main love interest. Ami Kawashima, a perfect example of never judging a book by it's cover.

Number 9: Haruhi Suzumiya from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

If you though you ever had a crazy female friend, consider yourself lucky. Haruhi Suizumiya is a basket case of pure unadulterated lunacy. Now Haruhi is not a very hard person to understand. She simply wants to be kept constantly entertained so she gets an esper, a time traveler, an alien, and poor random fuck to keep her entertained at all times or else she might just destroy the world because she just so happens to be God. Okay so maybe she isn't that simple as I thought. But that's what make Haruhi such an enjoyable character to watch, you have no damn clue what she'll do next. She could want to play a simple game of baseball with her whole makeshift brigade one day. then the next she'll want to hole of rock concert. Them maybe she'll make everything into a galactic battle between star-ships high up into the cosmos of space. Why? Because she thinks it'll be fun. She is completely unpredictable and she just seems to have fun with just about everything she does it almost become contagious. When you see her do a stupid thing that she's having fun with you can't help but also have fun at the same time. She is just so much damn fun to watch that she leave a very lasting impression on your mind. Haruhi Suzumiya, yes my friends God does exists and she's bat-shit insane.

Number 8: Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop

Arguably the best anime has to produces a badass anime lady right? Well my friends you guessed right as we have none other the Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop. Faye is one of the most popular anime characters out there due to just how much of an impact she left on viewers of the anime classic. She's a femme fatale who can hold her own in a gun fight as well as a fist fight. She has proven to be a vital member to the Bebop crew and she has a snappy personality to boot. She'll talk trash to just about anyone and isn't afraid to whip out her gun and blow a hole in the sorry sap who tired to cross her. Needless to say, Faye is a deadly beauty that you don't want to mess with. Faye Valentine, if looks could kill, we'd all be deep sixth by now.

Number 7: Major Mokoto Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell

A badass cyborg who takes shit from no one. The Major is a super popular character in the world of anime for a reason. She has a very cold and collective composer about her that makes her even more of an enigma. Not only that but she is one woman you do not want to piss off. Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn? Well try having that said woman blowing away your chest piece with a mother fucking anti-material rifle at point blank rang with only one arm! Yeah that doesn't sound like the type of scorn you want reign down upon you huh? Not only do you have the Major being a complete badass on the field but you also have a very human side to her as well. In both the movie and the show she asks a lot of tough questions that no one really has an answer to. Question like what exactly does it mean to be human, how can some determine what is and what isn't human. As well as the question of can there be a soul living in a machine. These questions as well as her very serious and somber way of asking and detailing the questions makes the Major a much more interesting and psychologically deeper character then she my seem to be at first glance. Mokoto Kusanagi, a badass cyborg cup who my be more human then machine.

Number 6: Touko Aozaki from Kara no Kyokai

Not gonna lie. I couldn't in good heart leave out anyone of the great Type-Moon ladies from this list. So decided to include a few in this list, the first of which is the puppet master herself, Touko Aozaki. A leaving the Mage's Association as one of the top Magus, Touko decided to put her skills to work running her own company called Garan no Dou, a contract-based production company that deals in the supernatural or abnormal elements. She shows that she has some pretty efficient detective skills. Being able to pick up on odd supernatural elements and surroundings just by being around the area long enough. She is also very diverse in the world of magic and is a master at puppet based magic. But aside from her skills and a detective and a magus she's also a very fun character to watch. Her interactions with the other supporting cast is very good as she is able to bounce back and from with them. As well as coming p with some witty comebacks to mess with them. Touko shows that she's a very reliable and fun character to watch and though she may not look it, she is a very powerful magus who can wreck your shit. Touko Aozaki, call her "Dirty Red" and you'll soon be seeing red.

Number 5: Lain from Serial Experiments Lain

If you want an example of someone completely losing themselves the world of the internet then look no further. Lain is an example of some losing their grip on reality and questioning what is real and if everything she has been lead to believe is even true anymore. What makes Lain such a great character is that originally she wasn't like this at all. She was basically a nobody in the beginning of the show, she was the quite type that you paid no mind to and let them do their business. That's something that most of us can relate to on a personal level and that makes us more interested in her. Then when she starts to slowly lose her self into the internet we can also relate to that because we honestly can be slaves to the internet, which is what Lain just about becomes! We follow her from such a human beginning that when we start dwell deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole we can't help but put ourselves in that situation because this is something that could or hell has happened to us. We can see ourselves in Lain which is why I feel that she's such a good character. Lain, a perfect example of a slave to the web. Well aside from WOW players anyway.

Number 4: Kurisu Makise from Steins;Gate

All the way from Steins;Gate is the redheaded genius herself, Kurisu Makise. Kurisu stands out among some of the best female characters in anime largely due to her level of growth through out the series as well as the great interactions with the whole cast, most notably with Okabe. Whenever Kurisu and Okabe share the screen together you have either a funny as hell scene or a very heart warming and pretty touching scene. Not only that but she actually stands on her own as a leading character in the Steins;Gate film in which she's the main focus with very little interaction with other characters. It's mainly just her alone with her thoughts and you really get to see what type of person Kurisu is. We see what goes through her head as well as the struggles she faces in the events of the film and how desperate she is in the current situation that she's in. She comes off as a very real person that you would meet and even more so you see that she really cares about the people that's close to her. She's even willing to flat out embarrass herself just to try and motivate her friend to snap out of their depressive state. She is a really well done character and she's most defiantly earned her spot on the list. Kurisu Makise, a super genius and a closet anime nerd. Why is she so perfect?

Number 3: Saber from Fate/Stay Night

Now if you're a personal friend of mine you might be a bit shocked to see Saber at number three. And to that I say fuck you I'm not that predictable, give me some credit guys. But anyway, Saber from Fat/Stay Night gets a spot on this list for a couple of reasons. None having to do with her being my personal favorite character of all time but I digress. Saber is a kickass character for her impressive strength and fighting capabilities. She's one of the best swordsmen around welding Excalibur as well as very strong wind magic that can leave a devastating blow on her opponent. She's not only a powerful fighter but she also has a strong sense loyalty and a serious code that she holds very dearly, due to her being a knight. But she also has a lot of emotional baggage as well as she feels as though she was the cause of her kingdom being lead to ruin so she also wants to try to ease her personal demons. She starts off as a no nonsense type of character but she is eventually show more of a human side as she comes in contact with the people around her. Iri shows that even if you have a short life with very little happy memories to hold you should still hold on dearly to those memories as they can make a world of difference as well as how to enjoy such simple things in life like going to the beach. You also have all of character interaction she has with Shirou. He bring out the more human aspect in her and really shows her that there's more to life then wanting to fix your mistakes and he even tries to convince her to move on from her mistakes. This all eventually leads to them falling in love which brings out more of the human elements that Saber originally didn't show when she first appeared in the show. We get to see her change into a different person but she never loses that knight spirit that made her such an awesome character to begin with. Saber, she's my waifu. I have nothing clever to say I just thought I stated that. None of you can have her.

Number 2: Asuka Langley Soryu from Neon Genesis Evangelion

Okay I have a lot of redheads on this list, shut up! But seriously Asuka from Eva is a pretty messed up character and at first you really don't like her because she does act like a bitch. However it isn't until you figure out her past that you start to see why she acts that way she does. Asuka did not have a very good childhood at all. Her father was barely for her and her mother ended up having a horrific psychological that she started calling a doll she had her daughter and completely ignored Asuka. But when it seems like she has a small sliver of hope she ends up walking in on you mother right after she had hung herself. Asuka has not had the best experiences in life as well as a proper childhood so to cope with this she plays it as if she's much more mature than other teens her age. She tries to act like an adult while also blocking off anyone who wants to try and get close to her with either a sever ego or just blatantly insulting them so that they don't get to close to her and she won't be hurt in the process. She does however want to be understood and she doesn't want to be alone but at the same time she can't quite get over her fear of people so that why she still keeps this persona of a bitchy little teen when in reality she's a poor soul crying out for help. This becomes even more apparent when her mind get violated and all of her repressed memories come flooding back in. We see her completely striped down as see the real her and it's a hard thing to watch. You feel bad for her because now she is forced to face the truth of her existence and it's even more heartbreaking when before you just thought she was a generic tsundere character be really she's a broken person. Asuka is a character who is dissected so well that you start to see just why she is the way she is and you do feel a little bad for passing on earlier judgment. Asuka Langley Soryu, a bitch on the outside but a scared and lonely person on the inside.

Number 1: Shiki Ryougi from Kara no Kyokai

Am I cheating by putting a second character from Kara no Kyokai on this list. Well it's my list so yeah. I don't give a damn. But the reason why Shiki's on this list is because she's such a damn good character. Similar to how Asuka is afraid of people, Shiki also shares a little bit of that trait as well. But in her case it's because she is such an odd individual that she feels as though human interaction and human contact is something that she almost doesn't have the right to feel or be apart of. From the get go she's a bit odd because has a split personality and that right there puts her in a mindset that she's a abnormal so a normal life is already out of the question for her. She also has a self destructive life style, she fights supernatural beings but she'll flat out attack head on against something that's clearly much more powerful then her with zero disregard for her own body. But underneath all of that is a small desire to live a normal life and feel some sense of peace. This comes in the form of Mikiya, a boy from high school who gets close to Shiki and tries to let her feel some sort of normality and partnership in her life. Now while at first she doesn't seem interested in him at all we do get little hints that she does actually like having him around. He sees her as a person, as a human being and this slowly show off little bits and pieces of the human part of her. There's a part in the 7th film that happens, I won't spoil it but it within this scene that we truly get to see Shiki. We see her her true self and we understand the reasons why she caged herself from the world but we also see what made her reveal her human side that she denied for so long. Shiki Ryougi, the number one lady in anime.

I hope you guys enjoyed my list and I hope you might just share some of your personal favorite ladies in anime. Thank you very much and stay tuned for next week's anime review.

Arcane Reviews: Corpse Princess

2014-05-21T20:20:00.000-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. So it's been awhile since I've seen a really heavy action packed anime with lots of blood and gore! You know, awesome stuff. So while I was searching for an anime to watch I came across this little gem right here. Now the question is; is it any good? Well my fellow readers I'll answer that question for you in today's review of, Corpse Princess. Or if you like the Japanese title better Shikabane Hime. Does it give you your fill of gory anime goodness or does it just decompose on the spot? Let's find out shall we?

Story:

The story here is pretty cool and is really interesting as well. The world that Corpse Princess sets up is that of a very grim and depressing one. In this world if a person dies with a huge amount of regret and sorrow they come back as these horrible creatures simply none as Shikabane. These monsters can't be killed by any human as they are already dead but that doesn't mean they can't be killed at all. You have these other group of Shikabane called, Shikabane Hime. They're different then the other Shikabane because they died but somehow kept their humanity. So you have the Shikabane Hime fighting off the corrupt dead from harming the world of the living. Now while this set up is really cool and open to a lot of possibilities for a really harsh and deeply character driven story it doesn't really do that. You do have character stories but they're side plots, the main plot here is pretty much just a former good guy is now evil so we must stop him. There's nothing wrong with that but personally it feels a little to simple for a concept with such a heavy emotional potential here. There's an episode that shows a Shikabane that was a mother that died in child birth, that's a great set up for some deep story telling and possible character development. To bad none of that happens. They reveal the Shikabane and then they just kill it off like it was nothing, then in the next episode they face a completely new Shikabane. That just seems like a huge missed opportunity for something that could have been really, really heavy and dramatic. But instead it was just a cool fight scene. That's it. But even then it was still enjoyable and fun to watch so it's not that bad.

Animation:

Animation in this show is top notch which is a little surprising to me. Why? Because this was done by Gainax. You know, the studio that completely blew their budget on Evangelion and then made the last two episodes with sketches and recycled animation. Okay I'm joking, but in all seriousness that anime moves very smoothly and looks very nice. Though I will say that sometimes it looks like they leave details out of the big fight scenes for characters so that animating said scenes are easier to do. I'm not the biggest fan of this style of animating I will not lie ans say that the action scenes weren't cool to see. They were in fact very fun to watch. So I really like the animation in this show and it was one of the biggest highlights in the show overall.

Music:

The second biggest highlight here though would have to be the music. The music in the show is just badass and insanely enjoyable to listen to and it set the mood incredibly well. The music was slow, creepy, and thrilling when the scene needed it to be and it was done so well. Then when an action-packed and crazy scene would start up the music would kick up into high gear and have a hard hitting background track to get your blood pumping. The music is just the right amount of awesome to get any fan of action or suspense ready and glued to their screen to see what'll happen next.

Characters:

Now this is kind of a mix bag for me. The characters aren't really bad at all in this show, hell a lot of them are really cool or fun characters to watch. But with that being said they just kind of fit in the little spot that they're signed to and don't really move forward from said spot until it's important to the plot. A good example would be with the main character of Ouri. He is shown as a kind hearted person who just wants to keep the people he loves safe. That's about all he really does in the show and nothing else until a big plot point happens. Then Ouri is given a bigger role and is made to be a lot more important to the plot. They even heavily imply a major personal feeling he has for one of the other characters. Now with all of this you'd think that he would have a big character change right? Well no, he doesn't. He just has a more active role in the plot but a side from that he pretty much stays the same. They also go pretty much nowhere with his feelings for that character. It's almost like they stay the same and don't really move on which isn't really horrible. Because they still are enjoyable characters that you like to watch they just feel like characters not people.

Nitpicks:

Okay I have two major nitpicks here. The first is with the main character Makina, she is the main shikabane hime that we follow. She's presented as an dual Uzi welding badass that no one can take on. Oh wait yes they do because she gets her ass kicked all of the time. I know you wanna try humanizing the character so that we can relate to them but it to a point when it looked like she was just fucking incompetent. She just gets her ass handed to her. I know she can't die so it's all cool but come. Shiki could kick this girl's ass and she's not even dead! Also my second nitpick is the lack of anyone explaining anything. Now by that I don't mean that the show is vague about it's plot or anything like that, they actually explain it to you, but they explain it to you and not the main fucking character! No one just talks like a normal human being instead everyone wants to tell only half truths and make assumptions. But they don't need to do that because we as the audience already know what's going on so it's frustrating as all hell to watch these assholes run around like fucking headless chickens! Just explain something damnit!

Overall:

To wrap up this review I guess I'll say that this isn't a bad show. It's not the best show ever but it does have some good things in here that people can enjoy. Like I said before I like the show, I had fun with it but it won't leave a lasting impression on me. It's just an okay show that some may like. I recommend it but only a not highly. Just if you're looking for something fun to kill some time.

Arcane Reviews gives Corpse Princess a 7 out of 10.

You can watch"Corpse Princess" on:

Funimation (Sub and Dub)

Hulu (Sub and Dub)

Arcane Reviews: Squid Girl

2014-05-17T21:41:00.000-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. Sorry about being MIA for a little bit. I needed a bit of a break from anime but now I'm back and ready to watch all the anime! So now for today I decided to take on an all comedy anime. I know about three weeks ago I reviewed an all comedy anime and I pretty much hated it. So I decided to watch another to see if that show was just bad or if I just don't like those types of shows. I guess there's nothing left to do then just get on with the review. So now I present to you my review for, Squid Girl. Is it any good? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

So they story here is pretty silly. You young humanoid squid creature named Squid Girl. Clever. She comes up to the surface to take over the world and make the human race pay polluting the sea. Until she and the other people she comes in contact with realizes that she's the only sea creature that has come up to the surface and she has no army what-so-ever. Also she doesn't know jack-shit about the human world so she has no idea what to even take over to begin with. Hell her first major concurring point is a Goddamn beach side restaurant. You know what, I can't even say that she concur it because she the two owners out smart her! Needless to say that she's kind of an idiot. The show plays off the fact that our main character Squid Girl has no clue about the surface world and in all honesty. The show is pretty damn funny. The comedy of this show is actually pretty clever. They don't go for the easiest joke that you see coming, instead they do go the extra mile to try and go for jokes that you don't see coming right off the bat. This does show that the writers do have an idea of what real comedy is and they are trying to make a genuinely funny show, and for the most part they do. I was surprised with what did and I came out of the show really liking it. It was a lot of fun and a show like this that's all I ask for.

Animation:

Now for the most part I have to say the animation is pretty good here. The sporadic and frantic movement of the characters are done very well by then level of the animation that's done here. All the characters are crazy and as you would expect they have some crazy movements and none of it looks cheap or it looks like they were cutting corners. The animation is done very well here and I am very happy to say that it really brought out the characters personalities even more. Also the setting is done very nicely to, seeing as how the setting is a beach and all. The areas that they put in the show look nice and it gives you a very summer like feeling which is perfect because this show is taking place around spring and summer. So the animation is solid here, no doubt about it.

Music:

So the music here is pretty bland to say the least. Now I don't mean that music is bad or hard to listen to but it was just nothing special at all. The music is just boring and it did nothing for any of the funny moments in the show. Well I will say that in two episodes that the music did stand out and the music was good but that's only because in these episodes, more importantly one episode in particular, there's almost no dialog at all. The music just didn't click with me at all and I don't that anyone would really remember any of the tracks if they watched it. Sadly the music is not anything to write home about. Nothing here to get your interest.

Characters:

Now this show does something that I think is pretty hard to do. This show doesn't have any unlikable characters, yeah I'm being serious here. None of the characters here are bad to the point of being hated. The way that there set up and presented is just as a character who has a certain trait and they just have fun with what they do with them. You Squid Girl who is very ignorant to the world of man and she just messes up a lot but it never goes to the point of being annoying. She actually comes off as genuine in her curiosity of something and when a funny incident happens it makes it all the more funny because she's just lost about what's going on. All of the other characters are fun to watch too and lend there own style of silliness into the mix. The cast of characters are fun and I enjoyed all of them.

Nitpicks:

I really didn't have any real nitpicks to talk about to be honest. I anything it's that I know that this style of comedy isn't for everyone and I can see some people not really meshing well with it too much. aside from that I have nothing else to add here.

Overall:

Well I think it's safe to say that this show is pretty good. I had a lot of fun with it and I really enjoyed watching the whole series. Now at the time of me writing this I just figured out that there is indeed a season two. I didn't know this and I don't want to push off the review anymore then I already have so just consider this review for just the first season. Will I ever review season 2? Maybe sometime later but for now I most likely won't. But if it's any good as this season I will be most happy when it comes time to review it.

Arcane Reviews gives Squid Girl an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Squid Girl" on:

Crunchyroll (Sub only with 1st and 2nd Season)

Netflicks (Sub and Dub with 1st Season only)

Hulu (Dub only and first 10 eps only)

Arcane Reviews: Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day

2014-04-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. Seeing as how I had to sit through a whole bunch of crap last week I figured I treat myself a bit and watch an anime that I've been meaning to check out for a while now. Back in the Spring of 2011 there was a little anime that was gathering some attention from a lot of regular seasonal viewers, especially those that are fans of romance. That anime being the very one I'm going to take a look at today. So now I present to you my review for, Anohana: The Flower That We Saw That Day. Is this anime really as good as some say? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

We follow Jintan, a young man who is just about a complete shut in. He doesn't really go outside much, he doesn't have a lot of friends, and he's pretty much given up on going to school. All within good reasons though as we figure out that when Jintan was younger a very close friend of his unfortunately passed away. That friend's name being, Menma. Since then he's been living a pretty pathetic life. However things change when he starts seeing the ghost of Menma. Even more odd is that she can actually have physical connect with everything and everyone but no one can see or here her, all except Jintan. Jintan believes that he's just suffering from some sort of hallucination until the spirit of Menma very much shows that she is very much real by bothering our main character, which in all honesty is pretty funny to watch. Menma suggests that she most likely came back because she had a wish that she was never able to grant and that she'll need not only Jintan but his old group of friends that him and Menma use to hang out with. So that's pretty much the plot. Jintan has to reunite with all of his old friends so they can send off their deceased and let her rest in peace. So all I have to say is that this show anime's story is pretty damn good. The plot isn't just about sending Menma off, you also have the whole side plot of Jintan and his friends coming back together and rekindling that old flame that brought them together when they were younger. It's a really nice story and bring you back to a simpler time in our lives when we didn't have to worry about all the drama that we do now. But that's not to say that it's skips on the whole growing up aspect as it does say that growing up is a very important point in our lives that we have to face. But it also tells to never forget about our fondest childhood memories. As you would expect the anime is also very romance heavy and it's pretty damn cute. The two lead characters, Jintan and Menma, are very cute together and their romance comes off as a very sincere relationship. So the story and romance here is very good and is told in a very heart touching and mature way that in no way tries to goat the audience into feeling a specific way. They earn all of the strong emotional moments and earn all of the tears that will be shed when watching this show. Unlike other shows that completely try to manipulate the audience into feeling sad at the expense of completely pulling a love confession out of nowhere and braking the entire show with a huge ass gaping plot hole at the end. I'm looking at you Angel Beats!

Animation:

Animation here is very nice. Simple as that. The animation is clean and very pretty to look at and all of the expressions that the characters convey on their faces are done very well. If there is one thing that I loved though was how the tears looked when someone cried. In a lot of anime you'll have a character just drop a few tears and it's mostly goes down in a simple pattern, simple as that. Well in this show the tears actually looked messy. They would go in different patterns on the face and the character's noses would start to run as well so you'll see some mucus coming down along with the tears. Just like how an actual person's face while crying. Also the tears would get fucking everywhere. I mean they would go all over the place whenever a character would start to move around a lot. They would fall all over their face and leave stains and shit. The tears here where they're own character in this show. It's great and I really liked the animation. Also those tears should get a damn Oscar. I don't care if the show's three years, make happen.

Music:

The music here is sadly a bit of a let down. Now when I say that it doesn't mean that the music here was bad. But it was pretty forgettable. The music did a good job at setting the tone in the show but I really didn't feel like it had much of an impact in the overall emotional factor in the anime's more serious and dramatic moments. Now to be fair whenever these moments would occur the anime did use silence a lot which in my opinion actually made the scene a lot stronger. But on that same note whenever they did decide to have music accompany any of the major scenes it would go unnoticed because you got so used to the silence that you kinda start ignoring the music in the back. Also the music itself just didn't have that lasting appeal to it to really gain any type of recantation. At least from me anyway. Though I will say that the opening theme is a great song and sets the tone perfectly when it comes to the show. It's really good compared to the show's music.

Characters:

Now as you would expect this show has a pretty big cast. Thankfully the cast is really good. Well kind of. As mentioned before the two leading roles are perfect, Menma and Jinta are really well developed characters and I feel like they themselves are just great characters. You also have the rest of the friends like the big goof that everyone loves named Poppo. he is a big guy that just loves being around the people that he loves. He's funny energetic and always puts a smile on my face. You also have Anaru and Tsuruko, the two other female characters. I really liked them because they have a lot of emotional baggage on them and they get a lot of screen time to fully flesh out their personal problems. They, just like Jintan and Menma, have very well done character development and come off as pretty real individuals. I really liked them and they where enjoyable to watch. However the other side characters didn't get a lot of screen time like Menma's parents and little brother as well as Jintan's father, who is likable but barely gets any screen time to really develop as a character. Oh I know what you're saying "Arcane, isn't there a sixth character in the main cast of friends that you didn't mention?" and yes, you are right. I didn't mention the character of Yukiatsu. Why? Well you see it's simple.

Nitpicks:

Yukiatsu is a fucking asshole. He is a sympathetic and you do see the reason to his motives. He is not a poorly developed or written character. He is however very unlikable. He is a complete dick through out the show and I just couldn't stand him. He's rude, he's cocky, he's insensitive to other people's feelings, and he is a pretty sick person. I won't say how but he does do some sick stuff. He's just an awful person and someone I would never want to be around. But like I said he's written well and you get to see and eventually understand why he is the way that he is. He's stick a fucking prick but you know at least you understand now. Also the ending got a little silly. I won't spoil anything but I will say that in the lead up to the climax of the show everyone just starts to do revelations and it's a bit silly really. The scene starts off great and all but eventually everyone just starts revealing things back and forth that I actually cracked up at a part that wasn't supposed to be funny. I felt kinda bad laughing at that.

Overall:

So to close up this review I'll make things pretty clear. Anohana is a great anime. I has a wonderful story, a great cast of characters, for the most part, and an ending that might just leave you in tears. Not gonna lie I cried for ten minutes straight after the show ended. Now I just lost my man card. Dammit. But in all seriousness it's a great show you I highly recommend it.

Arcane Reviews gives Anohana: The Flower We Say that Day a 9 out of 10.

You can watch "Anohana: The Flower We Say That Day" on:

Crunchyroll (Sub Only)

Hulu (Sub Only)

Arcane Reviews: Mitsudomoe

2014-04-26T19:28:00.002-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you another anime review. Seeing as how I've been watching a huge amount of serious story driven I decided to give myself a little break and watch a purely comedy based anime that a friend recommended. As you can see this review is up very late due to the fact that this has almost driven me insane and I needed a few days to really think about this show as well as cool off before reviewing it. But mow that I have taken a few days to think to myself I feel that I can properly review this show. So now I present to my review of, Mitsudomoe. Is it actually funny or is just stale raunchy humor? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:
Just to start off the show has almost no plot at all. Now this isn't a negative seeing as how not all comedy based anime need an over arcing story. Just a personal favorite of mine, Carnival Phantasm, the show's main purpose is to set up character traits to be used for later comedic reasons and all of the characters that are important so you know just how they mesh with one another so then when a funny scene happens you know more or less how characters will react. It's all normal very basic set up for a comedy show, but this is where the biggest flaw comes in for this show. The joke are very hit or miss. Some of the show's comedy is very much raunchy and felled to the brim physical humor. This can either make a particular scene funny or flat out uncomfortable. There literally no middle ground. It's either funny or not. This type of set up can make the show a bit of a chore to sit through actually. I never fell like I'm doing work when I watch anime for this blog but for the first time I actually did. I was just sitting there watching episodes and saying to myself "I gotta finished because I have to review it." and the show didn't help when it's comedy fell flat on it's ass. This show just didn't works most of the time, it still had it's moments but holy crap they were far and few in between.

Animation:
Now the animation here is actually quite nice. Nothing really note worthy but I will say that the characters look nice and the animation was very smooth through out the show. Also when ever the show would have to get crazy with a situation and a lot of frantic movement was involved the animation did actually set it up and it was a very nice change of pace. The studio behind this was Bridge who in all honesty I've never heard of, but if I can say anything about them is that they don't cut corners when it comes to the animation of their anime as Mistudomoe is a very well animated series.

Music:
The music hear was also quite nice. I assume that it's was stock music because a lot was very generic but it was never awful to listen to. In found that the music helped make some scenes funny even when the scene itself didn't have much to work with in the overall comedic tone it was going. In other words they push the joke too far. The opening song is also a guilty pleasure of mine as I find myself enjoying it very much and the ending song is very nice and sweet to listen too. Even though it doesn't match with the show at all. But overall the show had some nice music.

Characters:
The characters here are pretty much what you'd expect for a comedy show. All of the characters are just a stereotype or they have a specific character trait, like the pervert or the overly obsessed girl. They are all just pieces to be put into a proper place in which comedy will insure. So with that being said I really didn't like a lot of these character, I wanted to kill them. A lot of the characters here are just fucking annoying to listen too and I really didn't care for what most of them had to say. In had only two characters that I really liked but the main focus would always be on the one that I hate so once again that made the show unenjoyable for me to watch. So yeah the characters here are not very fun to watch.

Nitpicks:
Now this is my biggest problem with the show. All of the characters, say for a few of the teachers, are underage. They're in 6th grade. Does this stop the show from doing panty jokes? The big fat no. The show is just engrossed almost nothing but panty jokes and other vulgar humor. Now the problem hear is that this show centers around little girls so when they focus around their unmentionables the show gets a little weird to watch. Even more so is when it looks like a joke is going one way then out of nowhere they but out another panty joke because that's the only thing they can apparently come up with! So not only did this show fell like work watching but it also made me feel like police were going to break down my door for watching child porn!

Overall:
In conclusion I really didn't care for this show, The animation was nice and the music was cool to listen too but the characters were annoying and the comedy didn't mesh well with me. No I know that there are some people who would like this kind of show but for me I wasn't feeling it at all. So I really recommended passing this show up and watch something else.

Arcane Reviews gives Mistudomoe a 4 out of 10.

You can watch "Mistudomoe" on:
Crunchyroll (Sub only)

Arcane Reviews: Blue Submarine No. 6

2014-04-16T21:35:00.001-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. This is gonna be a tough review, now that I mean that this anime won't be so easy for me to completely nail down like all of my other reviews. There is a blurred area in this anime that has actually been able to split the anime community quite a bit. You have people that love it but at the same time you have people who just don't like this show. It's not everyday that I watch an anime that can just split me up as much as this anime has and I feel that it'll be quite tricky to review this. But enough of all that, let's dive right into this show shall?

Story:

This anime takes place in a post-apocalyptic like world in which most of the earth's land has been covered by water. Not only is half of the world covered in water but you also has a mad scientist named Zorndyke who created a type of hybrid species that is both aquatic animal and human. Zorndyke created these creatures and is the cause of the flooded world that we see and just about all of the remaining humans see him as a terrorist and rightfully so. This is where we meet our protagonists, Tetsu Hayami, a former elite cadet at the Naval Academy. We see that Tetsu is just about sulking around in his little crappy apartment until he's called back into action to which he reluctantly agrees to. That's pretty much all I can say about the show without flat out spoiling everything for you guys but in all honesty, I wouldn't know how to summarize this show even if I did start spoiling it. The story to this show can be very clunky at times. The show starts off as a simple stop the bad guy story, then it shift to an almost environmental message, then it goes into a kinda romance, then it stops to a "are we really the bad guys?!" kinda plot. What I'm trying to say is that the show tries to tackle a lot of plot lines as well as driving home a some-what serious message but the main problem is that it's handling too many story elements and the show simply isn't long enough to give them that proper care they deserve. The show presents all of these plot lines and even ties them up but they never really feel finished or even give you a sense of closure. But even in saying all of that the show actually has some guts to follow these specific story elements and they never do them badly either. Sure they aren't as emotional fulfilling as they should be but they aren't handled awfully either. The show is pretty much smack right down in the middle when it comes to it's story it really is hard to complement it as well as completely bash it as well.

Animation:

Well I'll be damned if I didn't say that the animation kicks ass here. The character designs aren't super amazing but are pretty cool and the creature designs are very creative and where fun to see. Also all of the big action scenes were badass and animated extremely well. So the animation here was awesome. For the most part. You see while the traditional animation was really good you also had CGI as well and it was fucking horrendous. Now this show was made in the 90's so I can forgive the CGI a little bit, that is until I see a giant CGI whale that's talking to our main character and the show expect me to take it completely seriously. The that's when it starts to bother me. Yeah the animation is only half good because of the aged CGI and the top notch animation. Maybe it won't bother you but to me and many other people I couldn't help but be distracted.

Music:

At least I can praise this! Yup the music was really good in this show. It's a very jazz heavy soundtrack but I feel that it was able to convey all of the emotions that had to be showed through the musical expression. The show also used a lot of just normal background noises like animals in the water or seagulls flying through the air to really immerse you into the world of Blue Sub 6. So the music is pretty damn good and I always enjoy listening ti it from time to time.

Characters:

Now this another thing that bothers me about Blue Sub 6. None of it's characters are very interesting. In fact a lot of them are pretty boring to be honest. Testu never really develops beyond his normal angry and just not caring self. Until at the very end he's apparently a completely different person and understands both humans and water monsters and wants both sides live in peace. But the problem here is that you don't feel as though that character change is believable because the show doesn't really bring Tetsu up to where you can see the change of heart naturally happen. he just kinda has a change of heart because it's convenient to the plot. None of the other characters are worth mentioning simply because they don't develop much past the role they're given. None of these characters feel like people they just feel like caricatures of what people are supposed to be like. So I really didn't connect with these characters at all and that's pretty sad when your story takes place in the water apocalypse.

Nitpicks:

My one big nitpick here is pretty much how the show tries o presents the villains here. At first they show us that they are evil and we should hate them but as the show continues they try to change this. They try to makes us feel sympathy for these creatures. Now say for like tow of them I feel no sympathy in the slightest for these monsters, they tried to kill us! Now it would makes sense if we threaten them in some way first but no, the show flat out says that they attacked the humans first and caused the world to be flooded. Zorndyke even gave them the order to attack all of the humans, they're fucking evil! I'm not gonna feel bad for some asshole who through the first punch! Fuck that guy!

Overall:

I guess I can say that Blue Sub 6 is a mixed bag for me. The show has a lot of good but also a lot of bad. It has it's high moments but also it's low moments. The thing I can say is that you need to watch the show yourself to really see if you like personally. Do I regret watching it? No. Do I personally recommend it? Not really. I did like the show to an extent but it also had a lot of problems that hindered my enjoyment. I'd watch and see for yourself if you think it's good or not.

Arcane Reviewer gives Blue Submarine No. 6 a 5 out of 10.

You can watch "Blue Submarine No. 6" on

Hulu (Dub only)

Arcane Reviews: Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà Vu

2014-04-09T21:08:00.003-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. Looks we're aren't quite done with Steins;Gate just yet huh? That's right ladies, peoples, and animals Steins;Gate falls under the small category of anime that have actually gotten a movie sequel. Not a lot of anime can say that they have this with the only ones that come to mind is Anohana, Evangelion, and Madoka Magica. Yeah that's a pretty small list. Now before I start the review I'm gonna have to set up how this review will be a little different. Now since this is a movie I will review in the same style that I reviewed the other anime movies during Movie Month. Except I will include Nitpicks here seeing as how this is a continuation of the show as appose to a one-shot movie. So without further or due I give you my review for the follow up to 2011's smash hit, Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà Vu. Does it do the show any justice? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

So the set up of this film is pretty interesting. The film takes one year after the events of the show and just about everything is fine. No one has to worry about SERN or a time machine or anything. Everyone is safe and at peace, that is until Okabe starts seeing things. He starts to see images and events that took place in all of the other world lines he was in during the events of the show. So much so that it does start to effect him in a way no one could have predicted, he is slowly disappointing from existence. Que the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya jokes here. Not only that but due to his disappearance all of his friends have now just suddenly forgotten about him, all except one, Kuirsu Makise. Being the only one who can remember him, Kurisu takes it apon her self to try and get Okabe back into existence. Now I really like this set up because it's kind of the same story that was in the anime but instead of Okabe going through hell to safe someone he loves it the opposite person, Kurisu. The movie is very much Kurisu's movie as she is the one we focus on the most. While Okabe and the others do make appearances they are not as showcased nearly as much as Kurisu is. Simply put she is the star of this movie which isn't a bad thing. The story is set up rather nicely and it did move at a very smooth pace. It took it's time to really get you invested into Kurisu's mindset and let see just exactly what she's going through mentally. The movie is very much a character study of Kurisu with the over arcing Okabe disappearance plot line left floating around in the background, but is none the less very important to the character heavy plot line of Kurisu. This is a very interesting way to follow up on the events in the anime seeing as how Okabe was very much the main focus of the show and Kurisu being a very important side character. But it's switched up to Kurisu being the main focu of the story and Okabe just being a very important side character. It's an interesting way to go but I thought it was done very well.

Music:

Holy crap was the music heavy here. Now I said in my review for the show that the music wasn't used a lot but when it was it was really damn good. The music was used to set the mood in any given scene perfectly. But in the movie it's a little bit different. While the movie does the same thing, in which it uses it's music at certain times in the movie, but I'll be damned if they didn't step it up a notch. The music is just so damn dramatic and sometimes heart breaking to listen to. It has a very melancholic theme going on which goes hand-in-hand with most of the very heavy and dramatic scenes. Not only does this give the scenes more of an impact but it also just makes the scenes feel that more important due to the gravity set around the scene thanks to the music. The tracks here were used greatly and the tracks themselves can be both saddening and sometimes in a little bit scary. Long story short the music was awesome,

Characters:

Now this is gonna be a little weird to talk about because like I said early the movie really just focuses on one person, Kurisu. All the other side characters do have screen time and play a part in the film but the parts and screen time are both small. Okabe does have the most screen time out of all the side characters and does play a very large part of the film but's mainly do the fact that the film is set up around his disappearance. Plus he is in fact absent through most of the film. The movie is squarely about Kurisu as a character as well as her relationship with Okabe. Does this mean that the film weak? Actually not at all. The film's strongest attribute is the Kurisu and all of the development she has over the course of the movie. She is fleshed out even more then she was in the show and that's mainly because the film is more focused around her as apposed to a whole cast. The film does an amazing job at making you feel every emotion and every misfortune that she faces during the course of the film. Also the relationship between Kurisu and Okabe is further developed in this film and in all honesty it's pretty freaking great. You get why Kurisu is going through so much hell in the movie from the interactions that she has with Okabe earlier in the movie. They do legitimately feel like a couple that don't really know where they stand at in the beginning the movie but when Okabe finally disappears they share the most tender and loving moment that I have ever seen in an anime. It may not be the best moment but I'll be damn if it wasn't among the best. The movie is really dependent on whether or not you enjoyed the relationship between Kurisu and Okabe, if you did then this movie is just for you. If you didn't then I think you I thin might want to look elsewhere.

Voice Acting:

Now this is gonna be pretty damn short. Mainly due to the fact that this movie is all in Japanese and shock of all shocks I can't speak Japanese. So I'll just comment on how good I thought the acting was just from the emotion I could grasp that was being put into the movie. The voice acting for the most part seemed very good. All of the voice actors did a very good job with what they were given, like I said the movie wasn't centered around the whole cast. But in saying that I will say that one person did stand out and you all know who it is. Asami Imai, the voice of Kurisu Makise. This lady was fucking amazing! She did a fantastic job conveying all of the emotions that her character was going through to the point where I was almost physically able to feel her pain, that's how good she was and I can't even understand what the hell she's saying! She was just fantastic. I also give credit to Mamoru Miyano who was the voice of Okabe. He did a good job at portraying a very tired and beat down Okabe but the real star of the show was Asami and she just killed it.

Nitpicks:

Now while I have been praising the show I have to be honest there is something that does bother me about the film. That being that the film even exists. Now don't get me wrong the film is good but if you look at it from a different point of view it doesn't have to exist. The show ended very well, no loose ends that needed to be tied and nothing that really needed to be brought up again. Hell even the ending for Okabe and Kurisu was wrapped up very nicely. Then the OVA went even further to re-wrap the fucking ending and give it to us again and it was fine. So if you look at it this way, this movie marks the THIRD ending to the series! Why? Now once again I'll say that the movie is great and I loved it. But it really didn't need to happen. I am glad that it did though.

Overall:

To end this review the movie is awesome and any fan of the show should by all means check it out. To everyone else watch the show then check the film out. You might like it.

Arcane Reviews gives Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà Vu an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà Vu" on:

No site is available for legal streaming. Apologies.

Arcane Reviews: Steins;Gate

2014-04-04T21:55:00.002-04:00

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new, albeit late, anime review. Yeah sorry about that guys but I was a little busy this week. Also I may have been playing a little too much Metal Gear, but anyway! Today's review is gonna be a fun one indeed. Now as you may know I do like to dabble into visual novels from time to time. Now while a lot of visual novels can be really good the same can only barely be said about their anime adaptation. Like books, novels, games, and manga, visual novels usually have a pretty crappy track record when it's adapted into anime, say for a few exceptions. This is where we meet up with today's anime. Developed by 5pb Inc. and Nitroplus, Steins;Gate is a time traveling epic that was released in Japan in 2009. The novel was meet with a huge amount of positive feed back and has since gain a huge fan following. Then an animation studio known as White Fox got the licences to make an anime of the novel. The anime would drop in the spring of 2011 but the with the known reputation of visual novel adaptations the question was whether or not the anime would be good. Well that's why I'm here so let's find out shall we?

Story:
The story follows our main character, Rintaro Okabe or as he likes to be called, Hooin Kyoma! A self-proclaimed mad scientist who is in charge of his very own laboratory. The Future Gadget Laboratory! A lab that is pretty much just him and two of his friends in a shitty little apartment. Yup. So Okabe along with his friends conduct many experiments. The one they seem to be working on the most is a microwave that they set up to do something or what not. Is pretty much just turns bananas into jello so nothing really ground breaking there. That is until Okabe figures out that he may have just made the discovery of a lifetime. IN messing around with this microwave he ends up discovering that he and his friends have actually made the world's very first time machine! So the rest of the show follows Okabe and his whole crew messing around with the time machine and trying to perfect it. Now if your saying that this sounds like a slice-of-life anime then you're completely right, to an extend. Steins;Gate does have a very heavy focus on a slice-of-life feel to it except that time travel is involved as well. But do not be fooled as the show does loose this feeling to it half way through the show and then takes on a very big and epic time traveling story. Really the slice-of-life in the first half always hit me as a way to develop the cast of characters that this show has. In which case that is good because Steins;Gate does have a pretty big cast. But is the second half any good? Well actually I'd say that this half is the high point of the show. This is where the show's writing really starts to shine. This is also where everything gets really dramatic and crazy as all hell. I am a sucker for crazy over the top stories and I am please to say that Steins;Gate handled it's story very well by taking it's time and fleshing out very peace of character development as well as plot development that is important to the overall story. But what makes this story even better is that is is also a romance. Yup, a romance. As you can guess the visual novel had a couple of female characters that you can romance so the show also has the romantic aspect to it as well. My god this was a really good romance. The love interest to Okabe is one of his fellow lab members Kurisu Makise, an actual scientist who ends up joining Okabe's little band of misfits. I'll go into their characters later but I'll say that they are handled really well in the story. The romance comes off as heart warming and pretty damn cute to boot. To ends this I'll just say that the story is top notch and I love it! Both as a romantic story and a time traveling story.

Animation:
So on the technical side of things this show does a damn fine job. Characters designs look really good and are really true to original designs from the original novel. The designs are very simple but pleasing to the eyes. But along with the unique designs comes the very strange art style of the show. The art style is very plane and a lot of the colors are very washed out. Now some may feel that this a negative but I would have to disagree and say that the art style does do a great job in two departments. One, it does make the show seem a little more realistic with the environments. Places and back drops that don't have an array colors in reality don't have any in the show as well which for me was able to immerse me into the show even more. Two, when a scene need to emphasizes a dramatic moment the animation will sometimes loose it's shit and it's glorious. These scenes show off that White Fox is very good at delivering very important scenes through a visual mean which is very good seeing as how this is an animated show. It also shows that White Fox is wise when using it's budget, unlike other studios I know. So I am very happy to say that animation here is a very good strength to the show's overall quality.

Music:
Music here is badass. Now music is on the very same boat with the animation. The music will be very simple and sometimes non-existent. It's only when the scene calls for a big dramatic peace of music does the show's soundtrack shine and oh my does it shine. The music is just perfect at setting up the atmosphere, tone, and feeling in a certain scene or even in a character's emotional status at the time. I completely just immerses you into the character's position and their thoughts as the scene is going on and it's just so fucking good! So music here is damn good and I loved it to death.

Characters:
You know with a plot this crazy you'd think that it would be easy to over look a character or two. Or hell just not really develop greatly so you can have more time getting the time traveling side of the story fleshed out. But I am very happy to say that this isn't the case at all. Every main and side character gets some screen time and gets fully developed with in the story. You really do get attached to all of these characters and they come off as real people. While some of them do have a certain character trait that we see in anime all the time they still come as human because of all the time you spend with these characters. Okabe is by far one of my favorite characters in anime. He is not only a very likable character but he goes through so much growth through out the show and it's not only great to see but at points it's also heart breaking to witness. He is by every account not the same person we see in the beginning of the show to the end of the show. He comes off as someone who has grow from what has happened to him and he's not the only one too. Kurisu is another character that gets a lot of development as the show goes along and she stands as one of my favorite female characters in anime. But what makes these characters so damn good is the interaction between on another. Kurisu and Okabe have hands down some of the best on screen chemistry in an anime. They play off each other so well that by the time it comes to to romantic aspect of the show it's completely believable that these characters have fallen in love with each other. But that's not to say that these characters are the only ones to work well of each other as the whole cast do interact with one another and do in fact work well together. All of the characters are handled with some much care that in the end it was great to see most of them have a completed character arc that ends with their personas fully fleshed out.

Nitpicks:
Now as good as this show is I will say that I do have two little complaints about it. One being that towards the end it kind of feels like most of the female cast is in love with Okabe, it's kinda silly really. Now it's understandable seeing as how you could romance multiple different characters in the visual novel. So the show does shows this a bit in the later half and it comes off as a bit silly. Also, without giving any spoilers, a character is introduced at the end of the show and is apparently the main cause of all the characters problems in the show. Now while I didn't mind the show having a pseudo villain at the end t was just a bit weird seeing how this character kinda did nothing through out the entire show. They were kinda non-existent really so it was just a little bit weird in the end but that's all that bothered me really.

Overall:
So in conclusion I will say that Steins;Gate is a really good show that you should watch. It would be a crime if you don't because this is one the the many anime that show off just how good anime can be at showing off story telling in an animated medium. It's a fantastic piece of story telling and you really should miss it.

Arcane Reviews gives Steins;Gate a 9.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Steins;Gate" on:
Funimation (Dub and Sub)

Arcane Reviews: Princess Mononoke

2014-03-26T20:00:00.003-04:00

Princess Mononoke

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to end Movie Month with this new review. Now this month has been pretty fun, watching all these badass movies. Now when I started this month I began the reviews with a Hayao Miyazaki film, more importantly his first film. So now I end Movie Month with arguably Miyazaki's best film and for a while his last film. I present to you my review for Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The story follows our main hero, Ashitaka. A prince from a far away village that is living in seclusion. His village lives in peace until one day when a giant boar demon comes into his village trying to harm the citizens. Ashitaka fights off the demon and kills it but only to be cursed by the demon by touching his right arm. He soon finds out that the demon is actually a god that was shot in the side with a bullet and the pain caused him to turn into a demon fueled by rage. Now Ashitaka must travel to a far away land and sort the caused of the boars pain. He ends up in a huge battle between the humans and gods for the right of the forest. This story is probably the best set up in any of Miyazaki's films. The story has a very strong message of trying to preserve the forest and that we as humans should try to do our best to protect the beauty of the world. Is the story very simple? Yes. But does it diminished the overall quality of this film? Not at all because not only does this movie out do all of the other "save the forest" films but it actually gives it sub-genre some much needed balls! This film does not hold back when it comes to violence and it's just awesome to watch! All though I did notice that Miyazaki had quite a bit of a arm losing fetish going on in this film. The story felt like a very mature fairy tale, it had some graphic imagery and doesn't spoon feed the audience about the message and it doesn't flat out tell you who the main villain is. Well because there really isn't a villain. This film makes every other character aside from our main hero in a moral grey area. Every other main character has a real reason for fighting that can't really be considered good or bad. They all have legitimate reasons and it just gives more depth to both the characters and story. This movie's story is just so rich with depth and it comes off as a very mature story that was just so refreshing to watch.

Music:

The music in this movie is really damn good. Joe Hisaishi is the composer of this film and he did a damn good job with this film. The way the music makes assists with the visuals of the scenes is just breath taking to watch. What the music really does that's cool is that it can really up the scale of tension with it's music. It has this tracks that are made to put you in the high stakes situation that our heroes find themselves in and it can get the blood pumping at some points. The music can also bring things to a nice slow pace with it's very majestic and soothing tunes that seem to just put everything at ease. The music is just so damn good in this film and did an amazing job at putting the perfect mood for every scene in this film.

Characters:

Characters in this film are pretty solid. I already talked about them a bit in the story category but I'll talk about them a little more here. The whole cast are fleshed out pretty well in this movie, all the characters have reasons for what they do so everyone is set in a moral grey area. Lady Eboshi wants her village so thrive and for her people to live in peace, this isn't an evil goal but she is never treated as an evil character either. You have the secondary main character San along with the three wolf gods that are protecting the forest. The movie however doesn't present them as innocent, peaceful, or helpless. They're actually pretty damn vicious creatures that will and have killed anyone who endangers their home and that's the beauty of the this film. Nature in of it's self is a character in this film and unlike other films it doesn't down play nature. It isn't a small weak being that needs to be protected. No in this film, if you push nature it'll push you right back. Also the main character of Ashitaka is a cool character as well. He's isn't just a generic good guy that wants the forest to be saved, he actually started his journey so he can save his own ass. When he sees that war might start he tries to stop the war in the hopes that he can somehow save himself. But when everything does go down in the film he does see that he must take more responsibility then what he originally was their for. He's also not afraid to fight and will take up arms against an enemy that's in his way and he's not afraid to kill as well. He's a warrior through and through which helps with the films very mature tone just like of the other characters do as well.

Voice Acting:

Now seeing as how this is a Studio Ghibli it's pretty damn obvious that the voice acting kicks ass. The voice acting in this film is very solid with talents like Billy Curdup, Billy Bob Thornton, John DiMaggio, Keith David, and Claire Danes. All of them do fantastic jobs at presenting these character's personalities and certain traits to the English audience. I feel as though this is one of the best celebrity casts that has been assembled for a Studio Ghibli film that has gone unmatched until The Wind Rises which wouldn't be released until years later. Long story short, the voice acting is great.

Overall:

To end this review I'll just say that Princess Mononoke is my personal favorite Studio Ghibli film and is my second favorite anime film of all time. Going back to watch this film has showed me that this film is pretty much a timeless classic and it shouldn't be missed by an anime fan, period. So it's kinda obvious that I'm gonna recommend it. Now do yourself a favor and go watch this anime classic.

Arcane Reviews gives Princess Mononoke a 10 out of 10.

You can watch "Princess Mononoke" on:

Netflix(Dub and Sub, DVD rental only)

Arcane Reviews: Ghost in the Shell

2014-03-19T21:54:00.001-04:00

Ghost in the Shell

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue Movie Month! Well looks like I get talk about one of the most beloved franchises in the world of anime. Ghost in the Shell! Those of you who don't know what Ghost in the Shell is I'll briefly explain. Ghost in the Shell was originally a manga written by Masamune Shirow back in May of 1989, then manga was very successful as the manga had a very cyberpunk tone and look which made it stand out from other manga. Another thing that made the manga very popular was the subjects of whether or not machines can have spirits and what it means to be truly human. Eventually the manga would gain so much popularity that Production I.G would end up getting the rights to produce a Ghost in the Shell movie and having Mamoru Oshii direct the film. Afterwards Production I.G would end up making an actual show but that's a review for another time. But enough with the history lesson, is the film any good? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

The story takes place in a futuristic world in which technology is everything. Almost everyone has something cybernetic inside of them which make for a very interesting world that this film is set in. We see that because just about everyone has these cybernetic, (most importantly their brains are cybernetic) this world does have hackers and there is one in particular that is a big thorn in the side of the this world. His name is the Puppet Master and he is a very mysterious hacker that our heroes in this story find and finally put a stop to his crimes. But in the middle of all this we see that there are shady things going on behind all of this. We also see a lot of themes being presented in the film are gender/sex identity and self identity. So yeah this film has a lot of shit going on. I actually really like a lot of the things that are going on in the film but I won't lie to you, I did get a little lost after awhile. The movie is very complex and has some straight up heavy ass dialog that admittedly I did get a little bit lost. Now that's not a bad thing because that showed movie was able to take chances with the audience and treat them like idiots, which I liked. Now with the who deep philosophical themes going on I feel like it gave more weight to the film but at the same time I feel like it did open by questions that were never really answered. This could be a negative for some but I really didn't mind from a personal stand point. The story is pretty much a give and take sort of deal. You can either take what the film's going for and run with it or you can feel lost and not really understand what exactly the film is asking. It really does come down to what you can take from it.

Music:

This soundtrack is trippy. The music was composed by Kenji Kawai who did music for the Fate/Stay Night anime, the Death Note movie, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Needless to say this man is very good at making some damn good music and this film shows. The music in the movie is borderline horror style and it fits really well with the whole cyberpunk theme going on. His music does raise the level of quality that this movie has and it was just an amazing thing to listen to. The music also did a fantastic job at setting the mood for a scene and feel as though it could have been any type of thing going on and he'll find a badass way of making the scene even more intense with the high quality of music he provides. So long story short music is awesome.

Characters:

Now this is a bit of a weird subject to talk about because the movie does have a good cast of characters and it does do a good job at giving them their own distinct personalities but in the long run the movie never really develops them. This isn't bad though because all the characters do in fact have very well fleshed out character traits and we do very much see that no really big character driven plot is going on say for our main heroin having some personal questions she wants answered. Though that was very minor though it does tie in to the overall plot. So characters are fine and dandy but the story doesn't give them a lot of room to develop but I can see that this is not a character driven story so I'm okay with it.

Voice Acting:

Okay just to make this short and sweet voice acting in this movie is alright. Some of the voices are actually pretty solid but some are also pretty silly to hear. This can be good or bad depending on what your stance on voice acting is. So it's up to you, I didn't mind it but I do know some will be distracted.

Overall:

Well this movie is pretty much a kind of "all up to you" movie. It is an odd beast to review because while I enjoyed it very much so and I do indeed love he world of Ghost in the Shell but in retrospective I can see why some people would be a little disappointed or blown off by the complexity of this movie. So I guess I'll say this. I highly recommend this movie but be warned, it might not be for you.

Arcane Reviews gives Ghost in the Shell a 8.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Ghost in the Shell" on:

Netflix (DVD rental only)

Google Play (Dub and Sub)

Arcane Reviews: Perfect Blue

2014-03-13T22:40:00.003-04:00

Perfect Blue

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue Movie Month with another review! Well I'm not gonna lie, I love thrillers. Whenever I see a great thriller like Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Shutter Island, and anything Hitchcock related I just love it. As long as it's good that is. So you can guess that when I found this little gem that mixes anime with thrillers I was all over this. Then to later find out that it was directed by Satoshi Kon I was just stocked to watch this film. Now with all that said was the film any good? Well we'll just have to find out today when I dive into Satoshi Kon's animated thriller, Perfect Blue.

Story:

Mima Kirigoe is a pop-idol who want's to make it big by becoming an actress, but when she gets her dream everything around her starts to slowly fall apart. Mima can't tell what's real and what's not and soon it will drive her to her breaking point. Yeah vague synopsis but I really don't want to spoil this film because it's pretty great. The set up and overall tone to this film is surreal and very uneasy. It sets this almost dream like world that Mima is slowly losing herself in and it makes for really intense scenes especially some of the "dreams' scenes that Mima has. Also the animation here was a tad bit odd, then film goes for a very realistic look as appose to the standard anime look that some films have. This gave the film a very darker tone in my opinion because your're usually used to seeing normal actors portray these rolls in live action movies. But in here it's all animated and even weirder they try to go for a more realistic look. I like this because it sits very well in the uncanny valley which absolutely works for this film. Seeing as how everything here is in the uncanny valley. So the story here is a great piece in the world of thrillers but it's animated which makes it even more unique.

Music:

This film kinda works the same way as the Lupin the Third movie did to a small extent when it comes to music. A lot of scenes simply don't have music but it fits well because it drive up the creepy factor and gets you to really focus on what's happening because you never know what'll happen next. But when music does happen holy crap is it eerie. The music here can make you feel uncomfortable which by all means is the main point. you also have some of the tunes from the fictional band Cham that play in the background. These are pretty much standard J-pop songs but what makes them stand out is the placement of the songs. Basically these songs are put in moments that you really shouldn't be hearing them in. You'll hear a generic love song being played in the back while a man is being horribly murdered in the very same shot. It's kinda funny really. So music is pretty damn good in this movies and it never overuses it which I like.

Characters:

Now I will not lie and say that this film doesn't have the strongest cast of characters. Aside from Mima no one else in the film really gets any kind of development. Now this isn't really a bad thing per-say. Mainly due to the fact that this film is a character study of one character, Mima. So it makes scene as to why she's the only to get her character fleshed out......until the end. Now without spoiling anything I will say that a twist happens that involves one of the side characters. This twist was pretty cool but it wasn't as shocking as it could have been because that person never really got developed past the supporting character role that they were in. That being said I can safely say that Mima is actually developed pretty well. You get a good idea of just how her life goes from normal to bat-shit insane. The whole film is her descending into madness and you really get the feeling that she's loosing her mind through out the events of the movie. So even though only one character got focused on at least they did a good job of making her into a good character.

Voice Acting:

Oh boy what do I say about this section. Well if you haven't guessed I'll just say it. Voice acting in this movie isn't amazing. Not god awful but not amazing. Bridget Hoffman does a good job as Mima but I will say at first she was a bit on the rough side of things, however as the film progressed her voice acting did get better and really did stand out among her other co-stars. Also Wendee Lee did a great job as the character Rumi. But then again it's Wendee Lee and she always does a great job in her roles. Other voice actors such as Steve Blum, Stephen Apostolina, and Michael Lindsay all give their voices to this movie and all of them vary in quality when it comes to this dub. While it's not so bad you can't listen to it you'll probably need a minute or two to get used to the voices. Not bad but, not great.

Overall:

Well to sum up my overall feelings I have to say, I really enjoyed Perfect Blue. Now while it's not Satoshi Kon's best work it is still a pretty damn good anime. It has a some great suspense and the story is all tripy just like what a psychological thriller should be. So if you're in the mood for something out of the ordinary I recommend this film, you may walk out with some enjoyment like me.

Arcane Reviews gives Perfect Blue a 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Perfect Blue" on:

Netflix (Dub and Sub, Note: DVD rental only)

Arcane Reviews: Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro

2014-03-06T00:39:00.001-05:00

Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to welcome all of you to Movie Month here on Arcane Reviews! This month I'll be covering anime movies this whole month of March. So why not start off with a Hayao Miyazaki film, seems like a good start. But before we start off lets go over some small rules here seeing as how these reviews will be a bit different from my normal reviews. First off I will not be covering Nitpicks or Animation in these reviews. Main reason to this is because I really don't have a lot of nitpicks to tell when it comes to movies, oddly enough I just say if it's good or bad and be done with it. But in anime series I usually find reasons to have some nitpicks seeing as how they are full fledged series as opposed to a one shot film. Animation won't be a category here due to these being movies, in other words; they all look really good. So I feel like I'd be going on like a broken record if I just keep coming on here to tell you that the animation looks great. So no animation category here. Secondly I will be covering voice acting but only for Movie Month. I don't normally talk about voice acting because I don't like the debate of Dub vs. Sub. It's meaningless and I feel like the voice acting should only really be talked about if it's really fucking bad or really fucking good. But even then I still don't like to talk about it. But for this month I'll cover voice acting because I feel that in movies you kinda have to raise the bar of preforming seeing as how it's a one shot film and you wanna leave a good lasting impression on the audience because this will most likely be the only time you ever play this character. So voice acting will have it's own category only for this month. So enough of that, lets start off Movie Month already with my review of, Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro!

Story:

So we see our infamous gentleman thief Lupin the Third as him and his partner in crime Daisuke are finishing up robbing a casino. Everything goes smoothly until realizes that the money they stole is actually fake. They are the legendary Goat bills, a set of counterfeit bills that are so high in quality that they can easily be mistaken for the real thing. Seeing as how there's nothing else to do, Lupin and Daisuke decide to look for the source of the counterfeit bill only to run into a runaway bride and some shady looking men right on her tail. This eventually leads Lupin, Daisuke and the whole rest of the cast from the Lupin series to get evolved into a huge action adventure with tones of high risks and a lovely damsel in distress to save. So a pretty simple set up here and in all honesty that's [pretty much all I can say about this movie, it's simple. It's fairly short, straight to the point, and has some great action in it as well. This film was a whole lot of fun to see as it was able to have some serious imagery and even some dark tones but it never lost it's sense of fun and humor it was a it was also fun to see all of the Lupin characters here as well. They all had their parts to play and it was cool to see what Lupin was going to do next. The movies is also heavy on the action and it's animated beautifully, but hey that's not a big surprise seeing as how this was Miyazaki's first film and pretty much the birth of Studio Ghibli. The film is set up nicely and has a very satisfying ending which I was most thankful for.

Music:

This movie also did something that I didn't see coming, it had very little music. Now usually this method is used in movies and in shows to put emphasis on a scene but in this film that's not really the case. The lack of music really seemed there because the director felt as though no music is needed and it worked really well. It was able to draw you more into the scene and what the characters are talking about. But when the film does use music it makes the scene more meaningful or more exciting and action paced. The music is really used for most of the action scenes as well as some of the character development moments of the movie. I felt as though this was a very smart move as it made those particular scenes have much more weight to them. Not to mention all of the music here is very 80's and was really fun to here but that's mainly because I personally love 80's style music. So music here is really well done and just amazing to listen to.

Characters:

Oddly enough this part of the film is the most stale. Not to say that the characters are boring or anything but there's not a lot to say about the main cast because their already a group of welly developed characters. Daisuke is Daisuke, Goemon is Goemon, and Zenigata is Zenigata. But I will say that two major characters here did get a bit of a overhaul when it came to their characters. Lupin and Fujiko are not the same Lupin and Fujiko that are well known to all Lupin fans. Now all Lupin fans know that Lupin is a playboy and is a bit of a sleazeball. Well in this movie that's not Lupin at all. He's a nice guy. He's very friendly and polite until he has to get into a fight. He's a ideal main hero for an adventure movie, the kind hearted man who will save the day in the end. While Fujino in the original show and manga was very much a sexy, sultry, fem-fatal who will use here body to get what she wants is nothing like that in this movie. The Fujino in this film is very much like the rest of the female roles in other Miyazaki films. She is a very strong out going and very "I can take care of myself" kind of woman. Now while I love the original Lupin and Fujino I actually really liked these two incarnations of these characters. They fit the overall style and mood of the film, plus it's cool to see the first few character tropes that Miyazaki would go on to use in his other films start in this one. The only other thing I can say about the characters here are the two new characters. Count Cagliostro, the main villain, and Clarisse, the main female lead and the aforementioned damsel in distress. They are pretty much stranded character archetypes in a film like this. Their not bad but there's nothing really super memorable about them. Except maybe the Count death because it was kinda dark and funny at the same time. But that's just me.

Voice Acting:

Okay this is gonna be fun, I'm going to cover the voice acting in this film. Most of the voices are fine say for a few. Zenigata's voice (played by David Povall) was a bit over the top, at least just for me. Edie Mirman's portrayal of Fujino was really good and Steven Kramer and Ivan Buckley's performances for Goemon and Daisuke were just as good. But my favorite voice actor here was David Hayter as Lupin. I thought he did a really good job at getting this much different type of Lupin the right voice and I personally loved it. Also it's pretty funny to see David Hayter play such a nice guy here and then play the Metal Gear games as he plays Snake who is a much different character but I digress. All the other voice actors do a fine job but I will say that Micheal McConnohie did a pretty damn good job as the main villain Count Cagliostro. But aside from all that the voice acting is passable in this movie and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Overall:

Well in the end I will say that this film was a hell of a lot of fun to watch and I highly recommend it, especially if you're a big Lupin the Third fan or a big Miyazaki fan. Or hell even a fan of action movies because this is one damn solid action flick.

Arcane Reviews gives Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro a 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro" on:

Netflix (DVD rental only)

Hulu (Dub and Sub)

Arcane Reviews: Toradora!

2014-02-27T00:43:00.000-05:00

Toradora!

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to end Romance Month! Now I've actually been having a lot of fun this past month. It was a lot of fun to get out of my comfort zone a bit and really try out some new anime that I either haven't seen yet or that I would like to revisit. I have to say though, I chose the right anime to end this month. As this anime really did something right in so many ways. Now I present my review for Toradora. Is it a truly romantic masterpiece or does it just come apart and falls into little pieces? Let's find out shall we?

Story:
The story here is such a funny and pretty damn cute set up. We have our main character named, Ryuuji Takasu. He's an average 17 year young man who has a very scary looking face, all thanks to his father. He is a pretty normal guy who at first seems very bland and he even admits this himself. Until one day when accidentally ends up getting a love letter from a girl. This girls name is, Tiga Aisaka. She is a short tsundere girl with a major temper and consistently beats the living shit out of Ryuuji. She makes the mistake of giving Ryuuji her love letter which was actually for his friend, Yusaku Kitamura. Then, he tries to cheer her up showing her a bunch of crap he wrote to the girl that he likes who just happens to be Tiga's friend, Minori Kushieda. So in this very weird turn of events the two decide to help each other out. They try to hook each other up with the person that they're interested in. This is a very funny set up and that is one very strong point in the show, the show is very funny. It knows how to have fun with itself. It sets up so many situations in which hilarity can happen and you'll bet that they take full advantage of it. But that's not the only reason why this show is so damn good. It has to major points that are just so fleshed out so well that it was awesome. The romance and the drama. The romance is handled with so much care and treated in such a mature and very adult way that I was just enthralled by it. Every romantic and slightly romantic scene are not just put in to give the fans some sense of "aww isn't that cute?". No all of these scenes play into the overall story and end up shaping and molding each and everyone of the main and side character. The romance knows what it's trying to achieve and just it needs to do to achieve those goals. But the main focus and the main draw of this show is the drama. It is just chalk full of drama from every corner of the screen! It deals with what it means to be in love, how to deal with a dysfunctional family, how to be true to yourself as a person, what the future has in stored for us and if we can really know what the future will be like, and finally my favorite subject tackled in the show. What it means to grow up. This shows is in all conceivable way a coming of age story between all of our main characters. They all have their own personal problems and even more so we see just how they grow from those problems because everyone in this show is pretty much a child. It is such a well written and well executed anime that I was just so satisfied afterwards. Story is a definite win in this case.

Animation:
Now this show knows how to do animation! The animation quality in this show is very good. Character designs look very nice and all the characters had very different and distinct looks from one another. You should also not underestimate this show quality in animation when it needs to amp up the quality. When ever a truly dramatic scene happens the show art style almost changes completely with not only the character's looks and expressions. But they goes as far as to animate their hair moving wildly due to their frantic moving or every twitch and little movement of their body to even straight up body language alone. This show just knows how to use it's animation to the fullest of qualities and it is so beautiful to see as it really is a treat for the eyes.

Music:
Damn this show has a good soundtrack. Now while there isn't a lot of tunes in the show I will say that it was at least very smart in how and when it would use it's songs. Unlike Fruits Basket in which it would just play the same sad song over and over and then save it's other sad song for the end, Toradora doesn't do this. It uses it's song it small bursts from time to time. The show also uses no sounds to really get the weight of the moment then would end it with a piece of a much lager song. But it doesn't play the whole song so that it isn't overplayed. Also all of the songs just did a great job at helping the scenes that they where accompanying. It really grabbed the viewers attention when it needed to. Music here was such an amazing addition to the show and it really pushed it up a notch in it's overall quality.

Characters:
These characters are just great. In some shows you'll have a good amount of likable characters and sadly have some unlikable ones as well. But in Toradora they do the best job in expressing all of these character's personalities and telling you why they are the way are in a very good fashion. None of these characters are shallow, boring, or even one note, there is a reason to everything that they do and it's handled oh so well. You also have a lot of time to grow along with these characters so you never feel like you missed anything. You never feel like there was some big change of heart that happened off screen. You follow all of the characters from start to finish and you feel like they come off as real people that you'd meet in high school. Like I said before when this show starts off all of the characters are kids and by the end it feels like they have grown into adults that can take on this new world ahead of them. You also have the romance between the two main characters, Ryuuji and Tiga. This romance is also given a lot of time to grow as well. You see as they start off as partners the into friends and then eventually into lovers. It is such a beautiful moment when they finally do become a couple because the moment is earned. The whole show just builds and builds up to this moment that when it finally happens you just feel a huge wave of emotions over because you just went on a journey with these characters that now you're happy that it has a great payoff. Characters are handled really well here and I think I've said enough about that.

Nitpicks:
I really only have one little nitpick here and as I said it's really little. The character Ryuuji kinda comes off as an idiot a lot of the time in the show. Now this is all part of his character development but at times I will say that he just seemed like a dumb ass. He kinda never got hints like at all. I mean seriously if you were a girl and you held a big ass sign over your head that said "Do me right here and now you fool!" he'll probably just look at you and say what with the sign or something like that. I was kinda funny to see him completely miss the point but that pretty much it when it comes to my nitpicks.

Overall:
So the question now is: should you watch this show? The answer is a big fat fucking yes. Toradora is a great anime that should not be ignored especially if you are a romance fan. The romance is just amazing and the message of growing up is is done so damn well that it would be a shame is you miss out on this wonderful anime. So check it out like right now!

Arcane Reviews gives Toradora a 9.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Toradora!" on:
Cruchyroll (Sub Only) Note: You do need a Premium Membership to watch past episode 6.
Hulu (Sub Only)

Arcane Reviews: Fruits Basket

2014-02-21T19:13:00.000-05:00

Fruits Basket

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue Romance Month with a late review. Yeah sorry about that I was just behind schedule and I didn't finish the anime on time. So now a late review for all of you. Now if you're an anime fan chances are that you've heard of Fruits Basket. It's crazy popular and just about praised by almost if not everyone. Now first off, I HAVE NOT READ THE MANGA AND I'M NOT AT ALL REVIEWING THE MANGA!!!! I'll be judging the anime adaptation completely on it's own. So if I say something negative about the anime it's because I thought that it was bad and I don't care if the manga did better I'm reviewing the anime not the manga. Now with that out the let's begin shall we?

Story:

The story to Fruits Basket is an odd one indeed. We meet a young girl named Tohru as she lives in the woods. Yup. She lives out there so that she can stay out of everyone's way as she believes she can be a burden on people sometimes. She feels that she gets in the way of people ever since her mother died. So now she just kinda lives in the woods, that is until she find out that she's been camp out on Sohma property. The Sohmas are a family or clan depending on how you're looking at it, that usually keep to themselves. Tohru stumbles across their house and they obviously can't let the poor girl live out in the woods all by herself so they decide to take her in. It is in this turn of events that Tohru finds out the Sohmas actually have a bit of a cures on them that changes them into an animal from the Chinese zodiac whenever they get hugged by a person of the opposite sex. So yeah that's a bit odd. Then we follow Tohru and the rest of the Sohma family as they live their day to day life in all of it's comedic splendor. Now that is the best thing about this show is really freaking funny. It has a very good sense of humor and knows how to be funny as all hell. The show also knows how to do drama very well. It can range from very subtle moments to hardcore heart tugging drama and it can get very compelling. To a point. You see the show has a really bad habit of sorta cutting off some of the dramatic scenes and a lot of more romantic scenes with some random bit of comedy that actually ends up hurting the overall tone of the story. Another thing that ends up hurting the show a bit is the romance. Now the romance is pretty much half assed. They really develop Tohru's relationship with any of the male characters and keep everything in a sort of status quo. In where Tohru isn't in a relationship with any of they two male leads but it's obvious as all hell that they both like her and she likes them. It gets pretty damn frustrating seeing them dance around who Tohru might end up with instead of just giving of a nicely developed romance. But when the anime did a romantic scene nicely I will not lie and say that they did do a good job and the scene did come out looking very cute. So story is very much miss with the occasional hit.

Animation:
On the production side of things here I have to say that this show's animation is all over the place. It can go from normal character designs to fucking stick figures. Now anytime the show changes it's art style it's always for comedic purposes. This helps a lot in making the show really funny. Now on the opposite side of this funny as hell animation the character designs themselves are actually very bland looking. There's nothing really ugly looking about them at all but they just all look way too pretty. Like even the eleven years old look really pretty. It all looked so pretty that it became bland. So animation is also in the hit or miss category.

Music:
Holy crap I didn't like this show's soundtrack. Now don't get me wrong, the music in this show isn't bad but it's way too overused. The show doesn't have a lot of tracks to begin with so it's working on a limited range of music here. But the same could be said about Fate/Zero and Elfen Lied but they used there music wisely and was able to make very good use of there music. But in the case of Fruits Basket they about use all of the tracks they have in the first couple of episodes and continue to overuse said tracks even more throughout the show. You will most likely get tired of the same "funny moment" song or of the "sad moment" song. Me personally I got really tired of it. I honestly feel as though the music only did a little bit of a good job in the show for really only the dramatic parts but even those parts the music was also pretty repetitive as well. So music is another part of the show that isn't is strongest aspect.

Characters:
This is also another hit or miss part of the show. You see the show actually has some pretty entertaining characters and a lot of them have some pretty damn good back stories as well. But on the other hand you have some characters who have pretty weak back stories and are annoying as all hell. Take our main character for example, Tohru. She's an overly sweat girl that can forgive anyone no matter what they do to her, she's just a genital loving soul and that really makes her boring. She has very little meat to her character aside from just being really nice and still feeling the effects of her mother's untimely passing but even that is handled with her still smiling and being super optimistic. Also she gets really annoying with just how many times she goofs up and she just makes the most over the top reactions to everything. It's like when Hideaki from Chobits messed up and made himself look like an idiot except in Chobits they purposely Hideaki do something stupid or he just clearly didn't understand a situation so it was okay and funny whenever he did his over the top reactions. But Tohru on the other hand has a full grasp on society but still does these stupid reactions and even worse half of the time she doesn't need to response to the situation at hand like that she's just an idiot. They also give a lot of scene time to the character of Yuki Sohma, one of the male leads. He also rides on the same boat with Tohru in which he doesn't have a very interesting character overall. He's pretty much just a pretty boy who hates the Sohma family because he doesn't like it. It literally goes nowhere else than that and as you would expect it makes him a very boring character. But that's not to say that these characters kill the show. In fact the show makes up it in having a very solid supporting cast and a very good secondary main character. Not only are these characters well developed and fleshed out but they are also very funny to watch as all of them have very different personalities that work insanely well with one another. So even though the two main characters aren't very good all the other side characters and the third main character also having a very good back story as well as being a well developed character. But this show does fall very short one one character in particular.

Nitpicks:
Akito Sohma, the head of the Sohma family and the kind of main antagonist of Fruits Basket. He is told to be a very dangerous individual and he even caused one of the side characters to go blind in his left eye. He's also a boring ass character as well and his voice actor sound like he was high on horse tranquilizer. Akito is just a stupid little crybaby who feels as though everyone should respect him and that if you don't listen to him you should be punished and all of the Sohmas listen to him out of fear and respect but really I don't see why. He never has a menacing presence to him and I can't understand why everyone has to listen to him. He seems like he can get his shit kicked in by everybody and even more so the biggest villain moment he has is when he causes Hatori to go blind in his left eye. That moment was actually an accident so that doesn't make him as scary as very one says he is. Also he for some reason hate Tohru because she can always look on the bright side of things. That is the most lame ass excuse for you're villain to have something against the main character I have ever heard. This character was so flipping boring and I could not for the life of me see why he was such a intimidating figure to all of the other character.

Overall:
Well I guess to wrap up this review I can say that Fruits Basket was just a barely decent anime, The romance aspect was half assed but it had it's cute parts and even though some of the main characters where one note and generic all of the other characters made up for it in charisma and generally just being better written. So I guess I'll say that Fruits Basket has a lot of good and a lot of bad. Would I recommend it? Not really but at the same time I didn't regret watching it. So take that as you will.

Arcane Reviews gives Fruits Basket a 6 out of 10.

You can watch "Fruits Basket" on:
Funimation (Dub and Sub)

Arcane Reviews: Tenchi in Tokyo

2014-02-12T21:41:00.000-05:00

Tenchi in Tokyo

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you my second review in the theme of Romance Month! Now I'll come out and say that when I was a kid I remembered really liking a show called Tenchi Muyo. It seemed to be a really cool show and I recall really liking the spin-off called Tenchi in Tokyo. So when choosing what anime I was planning on reviewing for Romance Month I thought about going back and revisiting this anime. Does it stand the test of time or does fall flat on it's ass? Well lest find out shall we?

Story:
So as stated before, this is a spin-off of Tenchi Muyo. So none of the events that took place in Tenchi Muyo really matter here because this is a new story. So this story begins with our hero Tenchi deciding that he wants to go to Tokyo to study and train to become a priest just like his grandfather. Now this would be all right and well if it wasn't for two alien princesses, two intergalactic police officers, a super genius, and a space pirate all being upset because of his leaving. He tells them he'll be alright and then it's off to Tokyo where he meets a beautiful young women named Sakuya. The two start to get along and it seems that all is right in Tenchi's world. Well except that all of the people that he left at home start crying and complaining because Tenchi went to do his own thing. Oh and there's a dark presents watching over all of them and may be planning for all of their doom but it's no big deal. Now you think that I was kidding when I say that the main evil was no big deal but really I'm not. The plot of this show takes so many side tracks that you'll soon start to forget the main point of this show. Also the main villain is a horribly weak villain. She's boring, uninteresting, and horribly one note, she's not treating at all. The only two saving grace for this story is the fact that it was pretty funny. Nothing that is spectacular but it was able to get a chuckle out of me. The final point being the love story. I will not lie and say that this is a pretty weakly done romance seeing as how it felt rushed but at the same time they were able to convey that the two leads were in fact in love with each other. So whenever they showed us a scene of them being with each other you felt that they were genuinely in love if all be it a little to quick. So story is not the best part of this anime. But at least the romance was cute.

Animation:
Well what can I say? This is an old anime so the animation is a little dated. Does this mean that it's bad? Well kinda yeah. The art style isn't particularly bad but the character designs look pretty bad. Big example would be the main villain who has a very small body and a stupid huge cape that kinda just floats around her, it just looks dumb. There are also points in the show when it tries to be funny by giving the characters some over exaggerated faces. Now a lot of anime do this but in Tenchi in Tokyo it looks really bad. It just looks like the artist was trying way too hard to make it look funny that it just looked awful. Fight scenes actually looked pretty good though. They moved very well but aside from that I really didn't mesh well with this animation. Not really so much because it's dated but mainly because it looked bad to me. I also know that there is a lot of anime fans that don't really like old looking shows and in all honesty, this would not sway your opinions.

Music:
This show's music was just alright. Yeah that's just the just of it. Nothing really stood out when it came to the music. All the songs sounded generic and uninspired in every way shape and form. It's liked they said "we need a lot of songs but that just sound okay so we can make them work in multiple scenes all through out the anime!". It was all just so forgettable and boring but is wan't bad. The music never made me just want to rip my ears out it just put me to asleep. Music is just "blah" in this department.

Characters:
Now characters here are really strange to me. Strange because they aren't unlikable in fact I liked some of them quite a bit. But just like the music of the show they aren't very interesting and pretty generic. None them are bad but they do just fit in a character archetype that gets them to just okay status. The two lead characters that have the romance come off cute and innocent but that's about it. The characters themselves are just so underdeveloped that when the big heart-warming moment comes during their love story it's just comes off as cute not really super deep which love is so it's played up here just alright. Same goes for the rest of the characters here too, they're all just alright so their emotion during the whole story just comes off as alright. All the characters are just alright in this show so not much generic and uninteresting.

Nitpicks (Warning Spoilers!!!!):
Well not much to put here seeing how the whole show is riddled with bad stuff. But I will say that thing that did bother me was the ending. In the we figure out that Sakuya was really just a shadow of the main villain Yugi. So she in a sense dies in the end and it comes off as pretty emotional. But what bugs me is that after her pretty much death scene in where we see Tenchi did in fact really love her, it's all but swept under the rug. They play it off as a "summer fling". Yes the woman who loved the main character and even defied her master so she can save the man that she loves is just tossed aside because she wasn't part of the main cast. I'm sorry but that's just awful, you wrote this character to be a sympathetic and gave her a sort of sad death and you just write off her death like it was nothing. Hell at least in fucking Guilty Crown and Fate/Stay Night we see that the love interest left an impression on the main characters. They even acknowledge that they were in love this their particular woman and showed some sort of grief over the fact that they're gone. But Tenchi doesn't seem to give two fucking shits over the fact that Sakuya is fucking dead! Fuck you show, fuck you!

Overall:
Well to wrap things up I have to say that Tenchi in Tokyo is dated as hell. Past all nostalgia I had for it I have to say this was just not a very good show. Aside from the romance being put together alright there is nothing else here I can say to recommend this anime. So I say skip this show and find a much more romantic show to enjoy with your loved one. Meanwhile I'll be drinking myself into another coma.

Arcane Reviews gives Tenchi in Tokyo a 4 out of 10.

You can watch "Tenchi in Tokyo" on:
Funimation (Dub and Sub)