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Kill La Kill! Review

As an anime reviewer I believe I am obliged to write a review about last seasons “best anime”. I use the term loosely because the last Fall Season was actually quite enjoyable. But Kill la Kill, what a roller-coaster. When Kill la Kill was first released many were calling it “the next Attack on Titan” and whatnot. And I believe it has lived up to its unofficial name.

Overall Enjoyment

Watching this show every week was an incredible pain because the cliffhanger at the end of each episode was so gripping. At one stage when an episode suddenly ended I stood up and screamed “WHAT!” at my monitor in an infuriating rage.  And I’m honestly pretty sad that the rollercoaster that was Kill la Kill is over.

 Although… The show did take its sweet time getting into the full swing of things. Comparing the final few episodes to the first 10 even. There is a huge gap in the intenseness and awesomesauce factor.

 But I really did enjoy this show. Many anime lovers were left at a loss after AoT ended. And Kill la Kill filled our souls up perfectly.

Behind the anime

Kill la Kill is the first anime series created by the new Studio Trigger. Trigger is an animation studio founded by former Gainax employees Hiroyuki Imasishi and Masahiko. Studio Trigger’s only other work is the short film Little Witch Academia. Which was more popular than a new Justin Bieber simple to a group of 12 year olds fangirls.  During 2013, Studio Trigger launched a Kickstarter project to fund the next short film of Little Witch Academia. Needless to say, they made their goal very very quickly.

Kill la Kill received relatively positive responses.  Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network found the series too formulaic and repetitive, as of episode six. But Elliot Gay of Japanator has said "Endlessly entertaining and a spectacle on many levels, it's a reminder of how fun and creative anime can be at its best."

Plot

When the bold and fearless Ryuko Matoi finds herself at Honnouji Academy in search of the person who murdered her father, she is confronted student council president Satsuki Kiryuin, who tells her that she knows the killers identity. Yea. That’s basically the plot (at the beginning though). Throughout the show the story does take a few sudden and drastic turns. Which I would love to mention. But spoilers. :3

Characters

 Wow there are a lot of characters to talk about! Most of the characters were provided with a great back story, and their progression as a character is not something very common in Anime and TV today. But I’ll just talk about the characters who has the most “impact” in the show.

Ryuko Matoi – Also known as the crazy bitch, Ryuko is 17 years old and is on the mighty quest to find her father’s killer! Her weapon throughout the show is a scissor blade, which is one half of a bloody huge pair of scissors used to cut and kill life fibers. The other half of the scissor blade was stolen by Ryukos fathers killer! :O Ryuko is probably a very close second in my list of favorite characters in this show (Guts is #1!!!) because she just has so much enthusiasm and strives for her goal sword swinging without thinking of the consequences and will destroy anything or anyone in her way. Although this gets her in a shit storm of trouble throughout the show. There is just some aura around her which makes be really like her.  

 Senketsu (kinda) – Umm… Senketsu is a living sailor uniform who lived under Ryukos house until it raped her and transformed into a magical suit of armor. Senketsu is also made entirely out of life fibers, which is a good thing. Because this is how Ryuko kicks so much ass in the show. I have put the kinda here because I am not too sure whether he can really be considers a ‘character’. Sure that’s like saying R2D2 isn’t a character or that ghosts aren’t real characters either. BUT BUT BUT! Senketsu really doesn’t do that much. Sure he is Ryuko’s source of power and he gives her support whenever he can (he is also considered Ryukos only friend) but there is no real progression! And I believe that the show wouldn’t have been all that different if he couldn’t talk at all…

Satsuki Kiryuin – At 18 years old, Satsuki rules Honnouji Academy with the iron-fist of death! She is in her place of power due to her mother leading the schools board of directors. She is strong, unyielding and proves to be one of the biggest challenges Ryuko has to face. Satsuki kicks so much ass in this show, it’s hard not to respect her.

Mako Mankanshoku – A hyperactive ADD second year student and Ryukos first human friend. She lives with her retard family and is usually the damsel in distress in most cases of danger. *Sigh* Ahh Mako. The comic relief character in Kill la Kill. Whenever I think of Mako, I always remember Ja Ja Binks from the newish Star Wars films. Ja Ja was completely useless, always got in the way and his jokes (if they can be considered jokes) almost game me a tumor. And that is basically how I would sum up Mako.. In some cases during incredibly tense scenes. She would always get into this stupid spotlight and talk about random bullshit with these gestures that would even make a fucking mime and a mute want to throw up.  But seriously, the repeated comedy acts almost made me stop watching the show entirely… 

Everyone else!!! – My god the character list. I could mention the Elite Four, or the members of Nudist Beach or even the Mankanshoku family! All of these characters were really thought out and provided the show with a rainbow of traits and flaws, which made the show very interesting outside of the brain dead action.

Audio

DON’T LOOSE YOUR WAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

No but seriously. Aside from that amazing song. The orchestral pieces were incredible! It was a really great soundtrack. :3

Conclusion

I haven’t felt a void like this since I finished watching Fullmetal Alchemest all those years ago (three years I think). I’ve been loving this show from the beginning and am now so very sad that this incredible adventure has come to an end. I’m not afraid to admit that this has a place in my top 20 list of anime.

As incredible as the show was. Those little letdowns really gave a show a standard it did not deserve. It would got an 8.5/10, but because of those pesky problems. I have to give it a 7/10..

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*SCREAMS FOR 6000 YEARS*

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Sekai Seifuku - Bouryaku no Zvezda! ep 1 reaction

This show only caught my eye due to its animation style. Which I will say is quite gorgeous :3. We start with our main character Jimon Asuta, who is homeless and helps out a girl called Hoshiniya Kate and shit basically hits the fan from there. A lot goes on and many characters are introduced who will hopefully get some development through the anime.

This show has potential and I look forward to seeing where it goes.

  ** This is a short reaction. I mean, what can you talk about when you can’t spoil anything and show the clips…come on!! ;-;**

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Wizard Barristers - Benmashi Cecil ep 1 reaction

Honestly, I can't recall why I decided to watch a show about magic lawyers. But as soon as the episode started and I was absolutely blown away by the by the animation and effects used to produce this show! 

The only thing that disappoints me about this show is that the wizards are called "Wud". What kind of stupid name is Wud? But yea.

The story starts with two.. magic stopping police officers.. who stop an incredibly dangerous fire bender from... things... That reminds me of  another thing about this show. The damage and (probably) deaths that occurred in the first 8 minutes of the show was quite surprising! It was like watching the last quarter of The Man of Steel. You know, when the big krypton lazer thing was blasting in the middle of the city and was killing millions. That was basically the beginning here. But with a train.. and a shack..

After the violence we meet are main character, Cecile Sudo. She is a Canadian-Japanese girl who is apparently super smart (although you REALLY CAN'T TELL) and is really good at using metal bending. The only thing that has really happened is that Cecile decides to defend literally every crook she meets and you know what. That's ok Cecile, you know why? Because I have just finished re-watching Code Geass R2 and guess what guys? :D fuck Nina...

  This is on my watching list and I look forward to seeing how it turns out. :P

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Space Dandy! ep 1 reaction

I started watching this show with some, hesitation. Honestly. When I was the list for this ‘Winter Season’ (I say winter season, but for me it is a wonderful summer) with quite a bit of disappointment. My reaction may be due to the past seasons fandom blockbusters involving such shows like Sword Art Online and Attack on Titan. But from what I have seen so far, this season is looking really really good! Now understandably, I planned on writing informative funny (no) and enjoyable reviews. But it is quite hard to write a review when the Anime is only two episodes in.. So here we go. Oh, and I’ll try to not put in any spoilers. ;)

The story is centered around the character Dandy and his robot assistant QT as they search the great vastness of space for unknown or rare aliens. Now if you think this show is going to be a serious Attack on Titan, bloody, drama thingy. You will be GREATLY disappointed. The first word uttered from the character Dandy is ‘Boobs”, where for the next 5 minutes he talks to QT about the importance of the booty over breasts. He then travels the restaurant/ Bar Bobbies. This where we meet our next character, whose name is completely unpronounceable to Dandy and QT, so they just call him Meow. From there they go on their magical adventures through space!

I can definitely say that this show will be on my weekly watch list and I hope the hype for it remains as is. 

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Up next!! :DDDD

Who fucking knows. Outbreak Company or some other shit that I need to catch up on from last season. Maybe a Kill La Kill reaction, :P

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Noragami! ep1 reaction :3

When I first heard of this show I though "meh, it sounds ok I guess." Then I heard studio bones was making it and I screamed like a 14 year old girl at a One Direction concert! 

For those of you who don't know (and if you are the %0.000001 that do) who Studio Bones is. They have done a fer shows such as Fullmetal Alchemist, FMA Brotherhood, Darker than Black, Soul Eater and Eureka Seven. So when they start a new show. It's a pretty big deal.

 The show follows a girl called Hiyori who has a near death experience. And after, can see all hollows no um shinigami no that's not it... Gods and shit ok! And there is also the god Yato , who dreams to be the most popular god in Japan. Yato  decides to help Mutsumi and that's basically the first episode, taa fucking daa. 

This show is #1 on mt seasons watch list and with good reason. I absolutely look forward to watching more! :DDDDD

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Black Lagoon (Season 1) review

Every once and a while and anime will come around and make you think that it is an insane Hollywood film. Black Lagoon is that film. Well, it would be that film, if it were a film. But it’s an anime, so yea. Carrying on.

Overall Enjoyment

The onion metaphor was made famous here on Tumblr through the Shrek “fandom”.  Typically meaning things involve layers of complexity or mystery. Black Lagoon is not an onion. Black Lagoon is what it looks like. Girls with big guns, big boobs, blowing stuff up, and that basically sums up the show. But if you are like me and you are tired of the boring Slice of Life anime and want something that could be directed by Michael Bay. This is the show for you. I myself thoroughly enjoyed this first season and hope that the atmosphere of the show stays *cough cough Sword Art Online Darker than Black cough* 

Plot

The show doesn’t exactly involve ground breaking spoilers or anything like that. Basically, Rokoro Okajima joins the Black Lagoon team and the show follows an adventure of the week setting, with most arks lasting between two to four episodes long. They meet quirky, interesting and terrifying characters along the way and Rock slowly learns to become a hardened man.  

Characters

•  Rokuro "Rock" Okajima - Enter Rokuro Okajima. A Japanese salesman who spends his days pushing pencils and kissing his bosses ass.  He is sent on a boat to deliver a package he does not know the contents of. He is suddenly kidnapped by the Black Lagoon Company. And his life as he knew it ends there. Rock, early on. Reminds me greatly of Shinji from Evangelion; A shitty, useless pussy. But unlike Shinji (thank god) Rock eventually comes to terms with his new life and the characters around him and can become a relatively likable character.

• Revy – Revy (or fanservice number 1) is the gun welding psycho who is incredible with firearms. Although being the muscle for the group, she is not a people person and will hardly never negotiate. Her nickname Two Hands comes from here ability to use to pistols simultaneously, but also is referred to as Levy or Rebecca.

• Dutch – Dutch in the leader of the Black Lagoon trading company and the captain of the boat Black Lagoon. Although he doesn't join in battles that often, he is a gifted fighter and although he is a huge black man, he is incredibly smart and can usually guess others intentions.

• Benny – The tech support for the team. Benny was a student at the University of Florida before he got in trouble with the FBI and the Mafia at the same time. Revy managed to save him and offered him a job with Black Lagoon. Like Rock, he cannot kill in cold blood. But he is hard enough to overlook things to get the job done.

Audio

The audio quality for Black Lagoon was actually quite good. A lot better than I expected, for a show that was a tad let down by the animation. Every sound was believable and the voice acting was top notch. The only thing that made the audio quite notable was the poor mouth movement. 

Conclusion

Black Lagoon is definitely a show I can sink my teeth into. Like SnK it’s a roller-coaster that only goes up with excitement and pure awesomeness. To those that haven’t watched it yes I highly recommend it!

I should probably watch some bad anime because it looks like I’m super generous. But I give season 1 of Black Lagoon an  8 out of 10 

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Sword of the Stranger review

Prediction - The samurai genre is not something I am too overly fond of. Sure, I'm a pretty big fan of Naruto (that's ninjas kiwi shut the hell up!) and that's kinda close. But the samurai genre has just never really caught my eye. Sword of the Stranger, on the other hand looks interesting. I don't exactly know how I came across it due to the fact that I've been far to busy watching this seasons new anime to notice it. Once downloaded, I posted a small list of what am watching and what I am going to watch on my mod blog. A follower of mine noticed Sword of the Stranger on said list, and responded with this, " holy FUCK SWORD OF THE STRANGER..."From that response to a film that I put aside for the likes of Kill La Kill and Evangelion, this propped me to watch with relative haste. Well I guess this will be the decider to the samurai genre for me...

Behind the film - Sword of the Stranger is an Action Adventure animated film directed by Masahiro Andô and written by Fumihiko Takayama. The production of the film was done by Studio Bones, who if you don't already know, also produced such series are Eureka Seven, Darker than Black, Soul Eater and of course Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. It was released to Japanese theaters on September 19, 2007. The Blue-ray and DVD were released in Japan in 2008 along with its premier in United States theaters. The dub was made through Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia and released by Bandai Entertainment on June 16, 2009

Throughout the world, this film has received nothing but positive feedback and has been ranked #1 in JapanCinema.net's "Top 10 Anime Films of the Decade" list. Anime News Network reviewer Justin Sevakis gave the film an overall A- and labeled it as: "Breath-taking action scenes wrapped around a compelling story that actually makes sense!"

Plot - The film centers around the character Kotaro, a young completely dislike-able boy who is hunted down by a group of swordsmen from Ming Dynasty in China for an unknown purpose. On the run from the swordsmen, Kotaro and his dog Tobimaru (who is FAR more likable) find themselves in an abandoned temple where they plan to have a "grand feast". To there surprise however, a nameless ronin also occupies the Temple, and that is where our story starts.

Characters -

Kotaro - Angry. That is the feeling that goes through me every time I see this character on my screen. His smart-ass, fuck the world attitude and how he treats Nameless digs into your skin like stage four cancer. Although he kinda grows on you around the end of the film, if he had a slightly more likable personality, I might like this character a bit more.

Nameless - This guy! This guy right here! Is pretty baddass! Initially, his name is Nanashi. We later find out he has no idea what is name is because he was washed ashore (presumably from the west due to his red hair). He is probably the most likable character in the film due to his personality and fighting skills. What else can I say, he's awesome. ;3

Tobimaru - Tobimaru is Kotaros dog. Tobimaru is also a Shiba Inu. And if you're still reading this. The Shiba is a pretty big deal. Tobimaru helps a lot during the film and is the catalyst for Nameless and Kotaro to become friends due to Tobis poisoning early on in the film. 

Luo-Lang - The blonde-haired, blue-eyed, European warrior who is working for the Chinese and is an extremely skilled swordsman. Although working for the baddies, all Luo-Lang wants to do is find an equally strong opponent to fight so that he may improve his skills. He provides quite a challenge for Nameless during the final scenes.

Everyone Else - Like Kotaro. The other characters were quite annoying. It wouldn't be so bad, but the overwhelming amount of side characters makes it seem almost like a Shonen! 

Audio - The music of the film was done by Naoki Satō. He's been around for a while and some of his works include Eureka Seven, Blood-C and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. As a music student I can safely say that the soundtrack of Sword of the Stranger was very well done. It is not the best film soundtrack or anime soundtrack I have heard. But it was well made nonetheless. Aside from the soundtrack, the general audio seems very well done. Waterfalls, rain and blood effects were implemented perfectly and the rest was amazing too.

Overall enjoyment - That sure was an action packed adventure full of friendship, betrayal and suspense! No but seriously, I am actually quite pleased with watching that. Its not exactly something I would rave about, but more something I would show to a friend. In the end, I see Sword of the Stranger the same way as I see Kill La Kill or Attack On Titan. It is a popcorn film, plane and simple.

Conclusion - Masahiro Andô is an excellent director and this film is testament to his skill and knowledge. Although the story was a tad sloppy and some of the characters personality's were terrible. This was an excellent film in terms of animation and design.

Being as generous as I am. I'm going to give Sword of the Stranger a 7.5 out of 10

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Well then...

Let the games begin...