Tuesday 30 June 2015

Kuroko's Basketball

It's over....

It's finally over...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday 29 June 2015

Tokyo Ghoul

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ok onto Root A

07/02/2015
Now i have finished Root A

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

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

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

oh thats easy. Kaneki = modern day Shinji
I sat there staring blankly at the screen.... everything was clear... why i didn't care about Kaneki and furthermore my blahness to the show.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Sunday 28 June 2015

Yamada-kun & the Seven Witches

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Twelve Kingdoms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday 27 June 2015

Plastic Memories

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Too!

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

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

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

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

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

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

I love this show.

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

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

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

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

Friday 26 June 2015

Nisekoi:

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

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

It was okay... i guess?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon

Seraph of the End

Is it Wrong to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon

Season 2.... when is it? I don't care that it said Fin.... i know the light novels are like into volume 8 or something.... and considerign each volume was like... 3-4 episdoes.... thats enough content for another season or 2... even if the light novels are done there is still more.

Okay first i need to back up.

At the start of this season i saw the poster and said something along the lines of "wow that looks like a fanservicy pile of crap... i don't even want to give it the time of day...... but i do want to give every show a chance... ok i'll watch and see how long i last."
25 mins later~
"well.... it wasn't terrible... i don't understand hestia's string or the aversion to outfits with backs but.... it was actually kinda sweet and endearing and not as fanservicy as the poster/title would have you believe"
A few episodes later~
"i don't like waiting.... i will get the light novels...."
A few books later
"well i've read all the released novels and i'm at the exact same spot that i am in the show.... damn... back to waiting"
Just a few minutes ago~
"I want more... and that reveal.... i mean it makes sense but UGH i want more now...."

and the worst thing about this show.... i don't even thing it's the dumbest title this season... it's a close race between this and "my Teen romantic comedy is SNAFU Too" (which i love and will probably be talking about tomorrow unless season two is 2 cours)

So yeah despite actively wanting to dislike this show simply based on a crappy title and a terrible poster.... i have to say this is one of my favourite titles this seasons.
i NEVER would have guessed it would end up like this.
If you had told me i would love a show with a terrible title like this 3 months ago i would have laughed at you...
but stuff like this is the reason i give everything a chance... i would have missed out on this without a doubt in my mind had i not watched every new show this season.

Hell i liked it enough where i got the light novels.

Now compared to the light novels the book are very similar... however i have to give a little more of a recommendation to the book simply because it explains certain things better.
I don't recal the anime ever mentioning the Level or Rank system. (like they mention that Kenki makes it to level 6 but i don't think they explain that she is the first and it doesn't show how she does it [while it's a chunk of the book])
They only touch on a certain Gods obsession in the anime AND we learn far more about Bell's Grandfather in the books while he only gets to be seen in flashes in the show.
The book, because they have more time, are able to get across the story a little better.... but at the same time it also ups the Harem aspect, you are in Bells head so you hear more of his 'wandering' thoughts and it only has 3 volumes out in english legally (vol 4 releases in august i believe which should probably catch it up to where this season ended) 

However the anime is still fantastic...

have i..... mentioned what the show was about? oops...
Bell, after having lost his grandfather, makes it to the big city in the hopes of going into the dungeon and saving pretty girls so he can go out with them.
of course being a total newbie he tends to get saved far more often then he does the saving (so to answer the title of the show Yes it's a bad idea to pick up girls in a dungeon). He has a chance encounter with Aiz Wallenstein who is one of the most well known adventurers and falls in love... however he is embarrassed by how terrible he is at everything and does everything in his power to get stronger and catch up to the Sword Princess.
With the help of his Familia's God Hestia he goes into dungeons and continues to work towards that goal despite many hardships... up to and including his own goddess' jealousy 

Yeah ok that'll do.

The good:
Animation, spot on... fluid and lovely and alwasy has a lot of care.... it can feel bubbly one second and then absolutely gruesom the next.
Music, another show i'm debating getting the soundtrack to this cause it's just so pretty.
Character, I love Bell... i love his design i love the way he acts... he's just so adorable and even though his goal was originally to pick up girls he is very respectful and sweet to everyone around him.
Story, yeah granted igot more out of it cause i knew stuff that you can only know from the book but the base story is still very very good... especially since it's a show that presents itself as a harem and then isn't... i mean it is but thats not the point
Screw it... i love everything about this show.

The bad:
13 episodes? are you kidding me? and that FIN bullshit?
No i expect in 3 months to a year there will be more of this.... there has to be... you can';t just drop what it drops in the last few lines and be like "yes this'll be the best place to stop"
no... i mean i don't care cause i'm going to read ahead but no.... nope nope nope... let the books get a little ahead and then give me more.

The worst:
That stupid title....
If this were called Familiar Myth no one would bat an eye and more people would watch the show but NOPE you had to go with one of the worst titles i have every seen....
You had to actively pick a title that makes people want to not admit liking your show.
You had to pick a title that people might be embarrassed by saying outloud or recommending to others
WHY COULDN'T YOU PICK A BETTER TITLE..... your subtitle is a better title.

But yeah... Great show... sad it's done but looking forward to more... it'll come out on way or another.

Next will be Nisekoi:... i'm sorry there will be a lot of these close together... everything ends today, tomorrow or Sunday


Nisekoi
Seraph of the End

Saturday 20 June 2015

Seraph of the End - Season 1

. . . No
No no no no no no no no
NO
No i wasn't mentally prepared for the season to be over.

I mean i knew it would be two seasons but i thought one would just roll into the next...

I am not okay with it... i mean short of reading ahead in the manga i have no choice but... I really wanted more.

Anyways.

Seraph of the End (aka Oawri no Seraph) is like a mix of Aldnoah Zero and Blue exorcist with a dash of attack on titan. And i'm not just sayign that cause they all have the same composer (but i guess that kind of helps)
The World was quite literally wiped out by a plague that killed anyone over 13 years old. Vampires seemed to be immune and went around gather the leftover children to essentially be Livestock for them.
Yu and Mika, a Pair of Orphans from before the world went to hell want to get the remnants of their family out of the vampire feeding facility and spend their last remaining years together in freedom.
Yu, a brash boy with Black hair tries to di this with force and gets his ass kicked more often then not.
Mika a kind hearted boy with blond hair tries to trick the vampires and manages to get a map and a gun so they try to make their escape.

It doesn't go according to plan.

Mika and Yu end up getting split up where they both wonder if the other could have survived. As they get older they each join a group in the hopes of saving and/or avenging their fallen family. However this choice has put two friends as potential mortal enemies.  however their goal seems unchanged. No matter what they will save each other from those who would try to use them.

oh and there are these giant vampire things called the horsemen of John so thats why i say there is a dash of AoT... well that and fighting in small squads though Blue exorcist has that as well.

Anyways I am leaving out a lot of key details because very early on there are a lot of things i would qualify as spoilers... hell the intro song even spoils something (that was obviously going to happen but would have been way more affective had they just shown it) and i kind of wish they pulled a madoka and refused to have intro or ending songs till ep 4 (that being said the intro and ending songs are so pretty)

The best part about this show? I was expecting to hate it.
I don't like vampires, they are overused and overpowered... still i gave damn near everything a fair chance this season (hell this isn't even the show i'm most surprised about enjoying) And i'm so glad i gave it a chance.
once i heard the music i knew i was going to adore this show.
the art is lovely, some of the prettiest BG work this season.
Some of the CG is a bit much but even that was really well used.
The first episode made me cry... Even Natsume Yuujinchou waited till episode 2 to do that to me.
I made the mistake of watching it at work over my lunch break two weeks ago and it took everything in my power not to squeak and everything happening... i failed... i even kind of put my head on the desk after and just sat there laughing so i wouldn't cry...
My boss asked if i was okay.... i replied cliffhangers suck and she seemed to understand... she still thinks i'm nuts but thats ok...

So yeah i really liked this show... and the fact that i have to wait till october?! NO
I don't even care that it's my birthday month.... NO NONONONO
I am terrible at waiting.

Oh well

Oh one funny thing.
This show tripped up my voice recognition thing so much.
Ferid speaks, "that sounds like a higher pitched Natori..... oh it's not? what?!"
Guren speaks "that really sounds like Kyon.... it's the guy who plays okazaki from clannad? WTF"
so yeah... part of me thinks MAL is wrong but i'll trust it... for now.

The good:
Music, i will find the soundtrack nad purchase it ASAP... so pretty
Animation, it's simplistic at first with fairly thick lines but it's nice and Fluid
Story, there is a character i would like more focus on but i'm glad they didn't... i'm sure next season.
Character, I love them all and they are all so different from each other it's just a lot of fun.

The Bad:
OCTOBER.... it's so far..... only 12 episodes then a 3+ month wait *rolls around like a whiny baby*
Other then that i have nothing.

Everything is on point... is it my fav this season?... it's up there... unless another "too good to have such a stupid title" show ends up blowing it next week then it may be my fav
So yeah... glad i watched it... glad i made my friends watch it... I would suggest watching it if you have the chance. it's on Funimation (i do think they have 2 more weeks before it's completely free though)

Um... pretty much everything i am watchign ends this or next weekend.... so yeah there may be a lot of these at once.
Sorry but not really (well okay a little sorry... i am watching A LOT this season)

Saturday 13 June 2015

Big Hero 6

Spoilers cause i'm the last person around who hasn't seen it till now.

So, First of all, it had a lot of potential....... but for me it dropped the ball.

The Story focuses on Hiro and Tadashi, Orphaned cause Disney hates living parents.
Hiro is young, graduated school at 13 and decides hustleing betting matches at 'bot fights' is the best way to pass the time.
Tadashi just wants to save everyone in the world with no worries about his own personal health.

Hiro really wants to go to the same college as his brother so he enters a showcase in order to impress Calihan and get a spot in his program.
Telepathically controlled micro magnetic robots....
He gains the interest of many scientists but before he can put his invention away disaster strikes.

Hiro loses everything: his teacher, his brother and his nifty little invention.
In a state of grief he refuses to leave his room until his comes across his brothers final invention. A robot that focuses on being a personal nurse essentially.

Soon after he finds out his invention wasn't destroyed and that the fire was no accident and now he has vowed to get revenge for his brother. He gathers his classmates into a team and together they solve the mystery surrounding these sad circumstances.

...
well thats what I want to say.
In actuality Hiro reprograms the robot to be able to fight, fly, scan and even potentially kill.... and then the other team do stuff but add absolutely nothing to the story
at all
they do one thing.
In fact there are a handful of characters that add nothing to the story and could be cut completely with nothing lost.

However thats not why i'm so dissapointed in this film.

Early on theres a character who tries to steal a microbot and so we the viewer see them as the antagonist.
However anytime a story is like "oooooooo look at this guy.... look how evil he is.... you better not trust him" you have to look at it and go "that is too obvious, what are they trying to hide"
I'm not saying i've never been fooled but after the last thing i read fooled me... a thing that i am still upset about (mostly because it hasn't been resolved)... well lets just say i've become far more cynical about it.
anyways the antagonist ends up not being the antagonist and i have to point out that none of that had to happen.

*clears throat*
 How the story should have played out:
Hiro enters the contest, refuses to sell the idea and works under calihan. He is taken under his wing and gladly shows the professor everything to do with the micro robots and they work on it together.
Over time Calihan starts acting odd, he stops spendign as much time with the boy and even gets mad at him a few times until one day he's seemingly normal. he shows hiro the capabilities of the robots but it's not something they were intended for and frightens the boy, before he can stop him from doing something stupid theres an accident and someone dies.
Filled with grief of losing someone and the anger of being betrayed he takes it out with the help of his team before realising that it wasn't want the dead person wanted and together with his team does the right thing in capturing calihan but not killing him.

Instead Hiro and Bamax do everything, none of the others have a moment to shine and the story ends in a "omg look at all the people we will help" way even though the only person they helped was the one girl at the end.

The pacing was also pretty terrible. It felt like snippets of other films mashed into one or a bunch of episodes watched in row.  Too many ideas all done too quickly with no time for an arc cause it focuses on the wrong story.

Is it a bad film? yeah i think so, again i'm just bummed out about all the potential.
Did i dislike it? i guess... i didn't hate it. I don't even begrudge it my time but i will not be seeing it again.
Still i'm sure there is still something decent about it.

The good:
I like the look, the mix of San Fransisco and tokyo was pretty neat, the characters don't fall into the category of all having the same look (or similar looks to other disney films)
The lighting effects are very nice... theres a scene where ligth shines through bamax and all i could wonder was what the endgine was going through to accomplish that... like was it a subsurface scattering type of thing? no matter what it was is looked great.
When i noticed the music it was decent.


The bad:
Too many characters that could have been cut with nothing lost.
This could have been a story about a boy, his robot and the professor that betrays him and nothing would need to be cut.
Long... or at least it felt very long.
ok so i checked and it was 102 minutes but it felt like 120.
Extremely scattered and characters have revalations at breakneck speed.
predictable... every beat could be seen from a mile away and i went in knowing as little as possible.

Again it wasn't terrible but wow it had problems. maybe it could work better in a monster of the week type tv show... it would have solved some of the pacing issues and given more of a chance for characters to grow. (also the other 4 could have each gotten an episode to shine)
But in the end it was a movie and i'm pretty sure the second one has already been greenlit... i don't think i'll be seeing it.

It looks like all my shows will start ending soon so lots of little rambles on the way... I should also eventually finish 12 kingdoms which will be a fun ramble.

Until Next Time

here we go again

Someone should really stop me from doing these.

So... I like The Haruhi Suzumiya series.
i have read all the novels, i adore the show... disappearance is probably one of my all time fav movies...
i really really love it.
I love ti so much that i'm actually finding it hard to enjoy the Alternate Universe that focuses on Yuki cause ti takes away EVERYTHING good about the original series and turns it into a boring misunderstanding driven rom com.

but i'm not here to talk about that.

that comes in a few weeks when the show ends (assuming it's 1 cour.... and if it gets 2 cours i may automatically hate it for reasons)

anyways i was on tumblr and i saw this
Kyon's Intro Monologue

“Okay. Asking somebody how long they believed in Santa Claus is so stupid, you can’t even consider that topic suitable for idle conversation. But if you still wanna know how long I believed in some old fat guy who wears a funky red suit, I can tell you this: I’ve never believed in him, ever. The Santa that showed up at my kindergarten Christmas festival, I knew he was fake. And I never saw Mommy kissing Santa or anything, but I have to say that even as a little kid, I knew better than to believe in some old man that only worked one day a year. Now having said that, it wasn’t until I got older that I realized aliens, time-travelers, ghosts, monsters, espers, evil syndicates and the anime/manga/fantasy-flick heroes that fight said evil syndicates, were also fake. Okay. I guess I always knew those things were bogus. I just didn’t wanna admit it. All I ever wanted was for an alien, time-traveler, ghost, monster, esper, evil syndicate or the hero that fought ‘em to just appear and say, “Hey!” Unfortunately, reality is a hard road, indeed.
Yep, you gotta admit. The laws of physics definitely puts a damper on things. I even stopped watching those TV shows about aliens and ghosts and stuff. Aliens, time-travelers, espers, 'course they don’t exist.
But a little part of me wishes that they did. I guess I’ve grown up and realized that I can think about those things and still accept reality.
But by the time I got out of junior high, I pretty much outgrew that kind of stuff. And I guess I got used to the idea of living in an ordinary world. And just like that, I was in high school. And that’s when I met her.”
—Kyon (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

 I adore this, it opens both the book and the show and it's just so wonderful.
not only does it perfectly describe Kyon as a hopeful cynical snark face but it also is the main point for my argument that Haruhi Suzumiya is not the god characters the others say she is.

SPOILERS
so yeah....

I personally believe that Kyon is the one with power, i have for a while.... i think he uses Haruhi (or a certain other character we meet late in the novel) as a conduit... but he still has to approve everything... kinda.

Point one - No Santa.
Haruhi believes in Santa, she knows he isn't real but part of her... the same part that believes in aliens/time travelers/espers ect. hopes that he is out there somewhere just waiting to be found.
Kyon however never believed he's not even giving the idea a chance and as we have seen he doesn't seem to exist... If Haruhi had all the power she would have cause an incident around christmas where the others bumped into santa... but she didn't.

Point two - Everything that he mentions early on in this monologue happens.
Granted a handful of them he doesn't notice cause it happens during the school festival but all of those things are established early on.... Then much later in the series he is asked about sliders.
"haven't met one of those yet"
The idea is planted in his head and not too much longer after that the timeline splits and he encounters the slider.

Point Three - Approval during the filming
While making the movie Haruhi comes up with many zany ideas, none of  which actually happen until kyon thinks "that couldn't happen... could it"
The laser beams, the doves, the cherry blossoms... everything happens after he thinks about how the idea could even potentially be possible.
It is easest to see with the laser beam as mikuru is fine until kyon debates it.

 Point Four - Sasaki
Very spoilery if you haven't rad the book or the manga but theres an organization surrounding Kyon's old friend who is a girl Sasaki and the are desperate to get him to pick Sasaki.
why would Kyon choosing anyone matter unless he held control of the power?

Point five - Yuki
Yuki doesn't do anythign without the okay from Kyon
She has the power to bend the universe to her will but she wont do it without the okay from him or at least giving him the chance to change things back.

Point six - It makes for a better story.
Think about it... they all tell the person with godlike powers that someone else has those powers and they have to keep it a secret is probably the best way to stop someone from realizing they have godlike powers. The argument is that if haruhi knows she could destroy everything... the argument works for kyon as well... except he desperately wants to have a more exciting high school life (despite all of his protesting)... so tell him someone else has the powers and have him still go on the adventures.

Point seven... kinda. - Kyon in haruhi suzumiya is far more intelligent then in Yuki Nagato-chan
like... In the AU Kyon is a moron, he isn't doing well in school... he's barely able to keep up and he only really knows japanese.
In Haruhi Suzumiya Kyon is very smart... he's lazy and doesn't like to do his homework but he is not stupid, classmates ask him for advice... he knows multiple languages (in his head at least) he has a basic understand of quantum mechanics (in his head at least) and all around he is a great problem solver and just bright... I don't understand why the same creator would make him so dumb and dull in one version but so bright and robust in another UNLESS the fact that this is a world without Aliens/time travellers/espers/sliders/evil syndicates/a person with godlike powers ect. means that kyon can't be as smart because he doesn't have the same capacity for knowledge...
that or it's just a kinda annoying AU that doesn't have the ship i like (but did have a really cute episode about haruhi and kyon so i can enjoy that)

ok... i will stop... i just needed to put things into words....
but yeah my main point stands.
No Santa? then haruhi can't be the one with godlike powers... she just has them on lone from the loveable nameless snarkface Kyon.

Oh did i mention he and his entire family were nameless? make that point 8 i guess...