#tried to write a review for violet evergarden

[most-ment]

I posted 177 times in 2021

133 posts created (75%)

44 posts reblogged (25%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.3 posts.

I added 980 tags in 2021

#poetry - 122 posts

#poems - 109 posts

#poems on tumblr - 103 posts

#literature - 100 posts

#writing - 100 posts

#poem - 94 posts

#poet - 91 posts

#poets on tumblr - 90 posts

#love - 86 posts

#poetic - 85 posts

Longest Tag: 79 characters

#honestly if you love writing it doesnt matter how good you are. your making art

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

When I was insecure

I used to look at my notifs to see whether he'd replied

I used to wish that he'd notice my new hair die

I used to go to my homepage, hoping for some likes

I used to go on a rampage if I wasn't the one he liked

I'd still go on a rampage if I was the one he liked

Because I'd be utterly confused

At the prospect of someone liking me, I'd think I was being used

Because I used to be utterly new

To self love, affection and anything good

When I was insecure, I loved everyone but me

When I was insecure, self hate came with ease

Note: Hi Loves, these are pretty much rambles and thoughts but I hope you like reading. Anyways leave an ask, request or criticism it's really appreciated

Word of the day: Atelophobia

The fear of imperfection; the fear of never being good enough

51 notes • Posted 2021-08-21 09:28:31 GMT

#4

Nostalgia

I read through old drafts

And poems lost in my memory

Old memes that made me laugh

Remember the tastes of foods that were heavenly

I go back again

And start over

Savouring my little wins

Remembering when happiness was closer

I watch old movies

That are now a blur in my mind

Missing old memories

Moments I wish I could rewind

I think back to everything

And put it on replay

Knowing there's not anything

Better than living through those days

These memories overwhelm me

A smile graces my lips

These memories tell me

That my past is something I will always keep

Note: Hi loves❤! Hope you like the poem

Word of the day: shunning the end of something; hating endings. Someone who tries to prolong final moments

53 notes • Posted 2021-12-14 16:15:49 GMT

#3

Sometimes...

I look at doodles and modest works

Filled with youthful pain and hurt

Bloody writing

Tear stained drawings

All inviting

To the pain that's gnawing

Sometimes...

I forget myself

Forget, I am real and so are you

I forget what a hell

It is to feel and know the truth

But in those moments

I feel nothing but ease

I try to postpone it

But it comes as it please

Sometimes when I look at simple doodles

And modest works

So free and youthful

Like the pain that lurks

Note: this is a big bag of emotion so it might not make sense, hope you like it though❤

Illustration not mine, copyright not intentional😶

See the full post

58 notes • Posted 2021-10-04 22:08:38 GMT

#2

Pining

See the full post

68 notes • Posted 2021-08-23 08:50:35 GMT

#1

Tool

I await your orders captain

Because without them, I am nothing

I wait for you at the border captain

Hoping you come back and stop the hurting

I await with reports

Piling up for you to read

I await with records

Of my non stop journeys

Why have you not returned captain,

Am I no longer of use

You expect me to be reborn captain

To have a life that I choose

But what is a life without you

It's beyond debate

If it's my life then I choose

Not to be reborn but to wait

I still await your orders captain

Though I live my life

I hope it's not a bother captain

But I choose to write

Note: hope you like the poem loves # Violet evergarden

Word of the day: Thanatophobia

See the full post

137 notes • Posted 2021-09-04 10:12:13 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[x0401x]

I finally managed to watch the Violet Evergarden movie and even if I don't know whether the movie is accurately following the novel I have to honestly say that the disappointment is deep. The beginning was good, touched me, just the different animation types were a bit irritating (and through the whole movie thought it was a game at first :P) but it still touched me. It was the "reunion" with the young girl who lost her mother far too early and died in old age. We met her granddaughter on her road to Violet. I don't think the idea of time ​​jumping/ time skip is bad, it allows you to deliver a story very pretty but what I got at the end were more questions. It didn't help the movie imo.

There were no real answers. Too many reviews. Too much was thrown together. Too much has been dragged out. Too much and too often the studio tried by all means to trigger emotions in the audience. That was very exaggerated and at some point very disappointing. VE does not need that type of treatment. The film lacked magic. The film lacked heart. And then the end came and THAT'S IT?

How the characters were tired in the movie so tired I became watching it.

Sorry for the long text but i'm totally unhappy. Were my expectations too high? What happened with the movie? What went wrong?

Is the part of the novel exactly like that?

Siiiigh

Oh, it's not. There's no part of the novel that is anything like the movie. The movie is entirely anime-original content.

Different animation types? What do you mean by that, Anon? 'o'

Yeah, I also think so. And like, Ann wasn't even that old. She was 71.

I think what you say about the movie pretty much defines the whole anime, tbh. There was a lot of repetition, not much going forward and then being suddenly thrown forward in ways that appealed too much to the emotional aspects of the story. The entire adaptation lacked heart, imo.

No, that's okay! And no, I don't think they were too high.

Here's what went wrong: the studio tried to please two different audiences at the same time and ended up with inconsistent material disguised as deep and emotional. But in fact, anyone with half a brain can see the plotholes, bad writing and poor characterization.

[arcaneranger]

Final Thoughts - Netflix Exclusives 2018

Oh my god you guys, I’m finally done. I’m free from the prison of 2018, just in time to actually finish my premieres for spring of 2019. But first, let’s talk!

2018 was the year that Netflix really went all-in on producing its own anime and picking up some big names, so we saw Devilman Crybaby made specifically for the service and high-profile shows like Dragon Pilot and Hi-Score Girl basically hijacked by the streaming service and delayed for months in the U.S. so that the biggest name in the game could release everything in bingeable packages. Unfortunately, bringing in an auteur like Masaaki Yuasa for Crybaby and throwing all the damn money at him worked so well that, long before any of these shows would even premiere, they decided to seemingly take any anime pitch under the sun, and wound up financing disasters like Hero Mask and B: The Beginning. Really, these shows kind of run the full gamut from garbage to god-tier, with an unfortunate tipping of the scale in the wrong direction. I haven’t gotten to see Ingress yet at the time of publication though, so we’ll have to see whether 2019 will start in a good direction.

ANYWAY.

DROPPED

WORST OF NETFLIX: Back Street Girls -GOKUDOLS-

I still don’t get how anyone thought this was worth promoting. The entire concept is offensive, and yet it was directed by a master and veteran of the medium (who is also a woman), leading me to just throw my hands in the air and resign myself to never having a satisfactory answer for why Netflix would pick this up to begin with. Dropped after 1 episode.

Hero Mask

One of the most incompetently written first episodes I’ve ever seen gave me absolutely no hope that Hero Mask was going to actualize into anything watchable or even average-looking. It was boring and unintelligible. Dropped after 1 episode.

Fate/EXTRA: Last Encore

What the fuck was Akiyuki Shinbo even doing on Fate? Did he do this at the expense of season 3 of March comes in like a lion or something? Probably not, but geez... This seems much more like someone attempting to copy his style than the genuine article, but nope, there’s his director credit. In the end, I suppose that Fate/EXTRA, despite being a very interesting game, was not ever going to be adapted well - the protagonist is almost literally a blank slate for a self-insert of the player, and their servant is also not set in stone - but I kind of would have rather had nothing than this. Dropped after 2 episodes.

SWORDGAI The Animation

Oh hey, yet another “the Animation”, it definitely doesn’t sound pretentious yet. I don’t have much to say on SWORDGAI, or at least not any more than anyone else - it’s stupid, very earnestly stupid, and doesn’t seem aware enough of that fact to be entertaining for more than a hate watch - and my hate plate is full already. Dropped after 1 episode.

Last Hope

I remember almost nothing about Last Hope other than that it was both pretentious and nonsensical, which kind of illustrates why Yoshiyuki Tomino is wise enough to stay out of anything that isn’t his beautiful Gundam baby, and it’s a shame that Kawamori (father of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross) doesn’t stick with what he knows, which is mech design. (No, seriously, he’s got a ton of credits on MAL and they’re almost all for that.) Dropped after 1 episode.

BAKI

Oh, BAKI, it’s okay, you’re a remnant from a different time. That time was right around when Mars of Destruction seemed like a good idea. It’s not that bad so I shouldn’t really mention them in the same sentence, but the hyper-violent imagery of this show is on the level of the Berserk manga. It’s unfortunate that I had to leave it after one episode because Netflix picked up a sequel that relies heavily on your pre-existing investment (just like with the Dragons TV show, for the record). Dropped after 1 episode.

A.I.C.O. Incarnation

I stuck with this one longer than any other that I didn’t drop, but in hindsight I shouldn’t have wasted my time. It’s one of the worst-looking Bones productions I’ve ever seen and the plot is a dumb ripoff of a much better science fiction series. Dropped after six episodes.

B: The Beginning

Probably the biggest waste of money on this list, B has such lavish animation that you can almost forget that you have absolutely no clue what’s happening or what the context of the story even is. It tries really hard to be both Psycho-Pass and Death Note at the same time to the point of cutting between them multiple times per scene, and it just ends up a badly jumbled mess, albeit one with really pretty colors. Dropped after 3 episodes.

Kakegurui

I still don’t have much to say here because the topic has been so thoroughly covered by The Anime Pope, so I’ll resummarize here - this is a show about gambling where the stakes seem utterly meaningless, even though it tries to impress us by showering money on the characters.

Children of the Whales

It’s so pretty, but it’s so boring. Children of the Whales succeeds in looking beautiful, but fails as a story that wants to be grim and apocalyptic but comes across as a soft-hearted small-village story that gets surprisingly violent four episodes in. This should have been the tone from the beginning, and the entire thing needed a good kick in the pants. Dropped after five episodes.

FINISHED

Sirius the Jaeger (6/10)

One that I waited a long time for after seeing the PV at Anime Central last year, and wound up pretty disappointed by in general. It looks nice (...at first), given that P.A. Works at least knows how to make a show visually appealing on a consistent basis, but the plot jumps so far into cliched stupidity by the end that, even though it had a few twists I wasn’t expecting, they couldn’t save it from being something I won’t recommend to anyone with as much anime experience as myself.

Lost Song (7/10)

(Author’s note: Yeah, apparently nobody on all of Tumblr has made a GIF of this one...)

Lost Song was a pleasant surprise that I wasn’t expecting to be invested enough to finish. One of the best of LIDENFILMS’ output, it manages to weave together a decent fantasy Symphogear AU fanfic, with interesting third-act twists peppering the last few episodes that made it memorable despite looking pretty generic. There’s a sequel due this year, too!

Hi Score Girl (7/10)

A very visually distinctive show with a neat concept that didn’t dive far enough into the heavy subjects it brings up, Hi Score Girl sits in a place where I like the presentation of it a lot more than I like the story. Don’t get me wrong, the romance is certainly cute, and I won’t begrudge a love triangle if it’s meant to be the primary conflict of a show, but the fact that it spent most of its last episode setting up for later robbed it of the chance to give us a satisfying place to leave off until the next part of this adaptation. Luckily, it got a second season, hopefully to finish the adaptation later this year.

Forest of Piano (7/10)

A good first try by a fledgling studio, but not one that lives up to what it really wants to be due to some very bad habits. I still distinctly remember the constant character shilling, and it feels like the story could have happened a little faster if not for the breaks every few minutes to heap praise upon the protagonist. Also, the mo-cap piano playing still looks weird. I’ll probably watch the sequel though, to see if it gets concluded well.

Dragon Pilot: Hisone to Masotan (8/10)

I literally just did my write-up for this one, so I don’t have much new to say here, but I’m pleased that Dragon Pilot turned out as well as it did despite not being what I quite expected from it.

Aggretsuko (8/10)

A fantastic and rather unorthodox look at what it’s actually like to be an adult in the Japanese workforce, Aggretsuko was an early darling of the year, and the only things that could have made it better were a more interesting visual presentation and a less squirrelly ending. Shame that the Christmas Special was...not good.

Devilman Crybaby (9/10)

It was so, so good...right up until the end. Yeah, that’s the only thing holding this back from a perfect score - I really, really hate the ending, and it needed to be changed. I know that, for most people, the best show of the year was either this one, or the most conspicuous work that hasn’t yet appeared on this list, though, so…

BEST NETFLIX SHOW OF THE YEAR: Violet Evergarden (10/10)

Oh God, what beautiful cry-porn. I hope that Kyoto Animation was paid well for their best show in years, and I’m kind of shocked that the two shows that made me sob the most this year both came out in the same season (thanks, A Place Further Than the Universe). I won’t spoil more than I did in my original review, but Netflix should be pushing this to literally everyone who would be even casually interested in watching it.

And that’s it! Last but not least, the last list won’t be a roundup of the whole year (since, you know, I’ve already done that in big chunks), but a list of the Class of 2018 Superlatives. Look forward to it!

[foxstens]

fceigngn helelel WHY DO ALL MY REVIEWS ON MAL CONTAIN THE PHRASE ‘this is my favourite show’ I JUST

[garyroach01]

[Anime Review] Free! & Free! Eternal Summer

BEWARE: SPOILERS INBOUND

To put it bluntly, the Free! TV series is about a bunch of high school kids swimming together in their respective school compounds while participating in competitions and tournaments while strengthening their bond with each other. The first season was aired in 2013 while the second season, Free!: Eternal Summer, was aired in summer 2014. There is a third season called Free! Dive to the Future currently airing at the time this review is posted. With other sports anime out there like Haikyuu!!! and Kuroko no Basket, Free! somehow manages to capture my heart.

The series is based on the light novel series, High Speed!, written by author Ooji Kouji. Two volumes have only been published. While the light novel series takes place during Haruka’s (the main protagonist of the series) life in sixth grade of elementary school, the TV series takes place in his high school life. This makes the story in the TV series to be original, while using Haruka’s life in elementary school as a backstory.

Story - 9/10

The Free! series revolves around an anti-social and often-quiet teenager known as Haruka Nanase. Haruka Nanase, along with his friend Makoto Tachibana started swimming when they were in elementary school, in their early days of their childhood. Haruka has loved swimming since then, and he is exceptionally good at it, but there is a twist. He only swims a particular style of swimming known as freestyle, or front crawl. He refuses to do any other kind of stroke for some unexplained reason. In the first episode of the first season, Haruka started narrating like he’s some kind of emo kid who has a traumatic experience in life and has quit swimming competitively. He also has an unusual relationship with water (yes, he actually loves staying in water). Makoto, who has always been with him since they were young, goes to the same high school as Haruka.

In their second year of high school, Haruka and Makoto reunited with Nagisa Hazuki, a boy who they swam with in their swimming club when they were in elementary school, who is also one year younger than them. Discovering that his high school does not have a proper swimming club, Nagisa decided to form a swimming club in the school. In the end, he manages to form a club with Haruka and Makoto in it, as well as a newcomer Rei Ryugazaki, a classmate of his. Both of them start training in their school’s pool together while participating in local competitions that can lead to nationals. 

While they are progressing smoothly in their swimming club, we were introduced a character called Rin Matsuoka, a competitive teenager with the same age as Haruka and Makoto. In order to explain Rin’s story and his relationship with Haruka, Makoto and Nagisa, we need to travel way back to their sixth grade days. In their last year of high school, Rin suddenly transferred to Haruka and Makoto’s class, the reason being that he learned that there is a good swimming club nearby the school. Rin joined the swimming club known as Iwatobi SC, which is also Haruka and Makoto’s swimming club. Due to his competitive nature, Rin challenged Haruka a swimming race, in which he accepted. Haruka won in the end, which motivated Rin to be stronger and faster at swimming. After time has passed, Rin decided he wanted to form a relay team with Nagisa, Haruka and Makoto. In case that you don’t know about relays in swimming, a relay event requires exactly four people to participate, each member doing one of all the strokes in swimming which are backstroke (Makoto), breaststroke (Nagisa), butterfly (Rin) and freestyle (Haruka) in this particular order. With a perfectly balanced team, they decided to participate in a relay competition as their last competition in elementary school together. They managed to get first place, but the ending was bittersweet. Rin decided that he wanted to study in Australia for middle school to pursue his dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer. However, things were different in Australia. The challenges Rin had to face in Australia were overwhelming, to the point where he hit a wall. The strength in his opponents crushed his confidence as well as his dream. In the winter of Haruka’s first year in middle school, Rin returned back to Japan temporarily. He bumped into Haruka and decided to challenge him to a race once more. Ultimately, Haruka won the race victoriously. This pushed Rin to the limit, and decided that he would quit swimming. Seeing his sorrowful face, Haruka learned that his talent in swimming can hurt others. As a result, he decided to quit swimming in his remaining days of middle school and first year of high school.

Back to the present timeline, Rin has returned to Japan for good and now studies at a boarding school, which is known to have an elite swimming team. Still holding a grudge against Haruka, Rin trained hard as he could in his middle school days and his goal in Japan was to beat his only rival: Haruka. Throughout the series, Rin finally understood the true passion for swimming and the joy of swimming with his friends. In the last episode of the first season, Haruka and his relay team were in regionals, where Rin was also there, but Rin was participating in a solo event. With the recent drama he had with Haruka, Rin couldn’t focus and concentrate on swimming and got last place in his event. Seeing Rin performing unusually, Haruka decided to convince him to be a part of his relay team. This means that he would ditch Rei aside, but that’s fins because Rei’s okay with it. They got first place, but they were disqualified due to the spontaneous change in their team member.

In the second season, the story picks up after the events of the first season and now takes place in their third year of high school. Although their friendship has deepened, they have a new problem to worry about: their future. Haruka has always been on average on everything else except swimming. This caused him to not take much concern on his future, and his friends (especially Makoto and Rin) kept convincing him to take a second thought, but he pushed them aside. Rin decided to take Haruka to rehabilitation by bringing him to Australia to get his head cooled off. In Australia, Haruka managed to find his dream for his future which ended up swimming competitively on the international level. The second season ends off at that point and the third season, which is currently airing now, takes place in Haruka’s life in college.

With that said, I would say Free! has a very deep, meaningful story. Sure, it can be complicating, but once you get the grasp of it, you will find that the story is quite interesting. There is a lot of drama in the story, as well as sexy bodies of teenagers, but that is Free!’s selling point. Although it is directed towards female audiences, men alike, including myself, enjoy watching the series too.

Character - 10/10

The writers of the series did an excellent job in developing the characters in the series. The series takes its own time in developing and introducing their characters and explaining their backstories. The pacing doesn’t feel rushed, and the creators put a lot of personality and soul into the characters, including the supporting cast. The character development and transformation of Rin and Haruka were probably the most significant out of all. We see a significant change in Rin’s character from the first season to the second season. Haruka starts to open up to his friends and is more social.

Art - 10/10

As expected of Kyoto Animation, the same studio that brought you Violet Evergarden and Clannad, the art and animation in this series are amazing. The amount of effort and detail put into the water in most scenes is what makes the art stand out so much. The details of the character’s faces, as well as the beautiful scenery of a rural town of Japan were amazing as well.

Sound/music - 10/10

Both soundtracks of the series were composed by Tatsuya Kato, the same composer who made the music of Shoukugeki no Souma (Food Wars!). I fell in love with the soundtrack and I am attracted to the beautiful and upbeat background music. The opening of the first season, Rage On! performed by OLDCODEX falls into the rock genre of music, and I like the excitement the opening brings at the beginning of each episode. The ending of the first season, Splash Free! by STYLE FIVE, a band consisting of the voice actors of the main cast, provides an upbeat ending. The same applies to the opening and endings of the second season, Dried Up Youthful Fame by OLDCODEX and Future Fish by STYLE FIVE. Out of all of these songs, Future Fish takes the cake for me.

Overall - 9.8/10

The Free! series is my favourite TV anime series of all time. Being a part of a fandom myself, I could say that I was biased when writing this review, but I tried to be as reasonable as possible. The story and the drama of the series excited me and the ending moved me a lot. A prequel movie, High Speed! Starting Days!, takes place in Haruka’s life in his first year of middle school, before he quit swimming. I highly recommend watching that movie as well, as it brings the same excitement and drama from the TV series in a different setting. This prequel film is also a must watch if you plan to watch the third season, as the third season includes characters from the prequel movie and does not provide a thorough introduction. A sequel movie to the second season, Free! Take Your Marks! takes place after the events of the second season and serves as a transition to the third season. There are two compilation films, Free! Timeless Medley :Kizuna  and Free! Timeless Medley : Yakusoku. These compilation films provide a summary of the second season, but the difference between both films is that Kizuna tells the story in the perspective of Haruka and his swimming team, while Yakusoku tells the story in Rin’s perspective. Both compilation films are not necessary to watch as they replay the same scenes from the second season, although they do add in very few original bonus scenes.

I highly recommend watching this series if you’re into the sports genre and if you tend to like shirtless teenage boys. (Seriously, they have amazing bodies).

[historyman101]

Violet Evergarden Review

This is one anime I was looking forward to for a long while, especially with all the other stuff happening in my life. Waiting for Violet Evergarden to air was something of a motivator to get me through my job interviews, various exams for jobs, and a whole load of other stuff that I won’t bore you with.

We’ve reached the end of its run, and with potentially another anime production on the way, it’s time to ask: did Violet Evergarden deserve the hype it got? 

Well...yes and no. I realize that's probably a less than satisfactory answer, but allow me to explain.

I’ll be up front: I like the anime, but I also like the light novels. The novels are excellent reads, and the anime, when it’s really trying, is exceptionally beautiful, not only visually, but emotionally.

However, that’s not to say both aren’t without their flaws, like any work of fiction. The novels can be overwrought with melodrama and are a dry read in some places. Sorry, novel fans, but they are. The anime also falls flat in some areas with unnecessary characters and some rather hamfisted writing in later episodes. Sorry anime fans, but it does.

What I notice on both sides of this small fandom is a lack of willingness to accept the shortcomings of both. You’re either entirely on one side of the camp, or on the other. It’s a problem that I see afflicting too many in the anime community in general (it’s partly what drove me away from one of them), and it’s rather depressing. It’s one reason why I am not very active on Tumblr at all, because I don’t like to get my nose stuck in petty drama about something that really doesn’t deserve it.

I went into this anime having read the novels from front to back, but I didn’t let it completely color my opinion of it. It’s really unfair in the end, because there are some parts of the novels that, when reading it again, wouldn’t translate very well into animation anyway. So, if you are looking for a perfect word-for-word adaptation, Violet Evergarden will disappoint you.

The story is markedly different from the novels’, but upon viewing it, I think it was an intentional decision by Taichi Ishidate. The anime’s story is ultimately a story about war, specifically the aftermath of war, and how war affects not just people, but society in general. When you consider that this was made on the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, and the war in both anime and novel is heavily reminiscent of World War I, it’s easy to understand why.

Violet’s story is much like any war veteran’s story after returning home from combat. Having written war fiction myself, and personally knowing veterans and active-duty servicemen, perhaps the hardest part of any soldier’s life is the aftermath of service. The military does not give you any kind of training about how to transition into civilian life, so many times veterans are left in the lurch, wandering around and trying to find a suitable job. Hers is a typical veteran’s struggle, and it’s actually something I wish was expounded on more in the novels. The portrayals of inner guilt, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts are all true to life, in that regard.

When it comes to individual client stories, and with them, Violet learning empathy, they are more hit and miss, and it usually comes down to how interesting or engaging the characters and their stories are. Some, like Iris Canary’s and Princess Charlotte’s, are rather dull and don’t really impart anything meaningful. Others, like Ann’s (the child living with her ill mother) and Aiden Field’s (the soldier) are just downright heart-wrenching. And my God, those ones in particular will just tear your soul in half.

Through it all, Violet tries to learn the meaning of the words “I love you,” the parting words (supposedly) of her former superior and legal guardian, Gilbert. While some parts of her journey (particularly in episodes 8 and 9) are rather bumpy and can come off as overly dramatic for the sake of being dramatic, Violet’s relationship with Gilbert is maturely portrayed, and as close to the novels as the anime comes.

There, as here, the relationship is more paternal than romantic, and it’s one thing I can’t give Ishidate enough credit for. He stated many times that he wanted us to think of Violet as our daughter, and apart from making her 14 years old (seriously, what was the point of that?), Violet (or rather, anime!Violet) is a character I easily empathized with.

The closing episodes are a mixed bag, and while Kyoto Animation does portray combat reasonably well with a few exceptions, the writing is laughably stupid and seems rather haphazard. Specifically, the motivations of the anti-peace faction are unbelievably shallow, and it’s one thing I wish both the anime and the novels did a better job explaining. The production team could have easily portrayed them as bitter veterans who were cheated by their leaders, or backstabbed and victimized by their family and friends at home. Instead, they just come off as wanting war for war’s sake. It’s lazy and lacks subtlety, which doesn’t translate well in a war story. The anime misses one central message in the novels: war is not a battle between black and white but various shades of grey, with heroes and villains on both sides.

Even if you find trouble with the story, there is still plenty to like about Violet Evergarden. The art direction and sound direction are absolutely stellar, and it is easily the most well-animated series by Kyoto Animation to date. The vaguely Edwardian time period, the visually distinct locales, and an interesting world makes me wish Kyoani did more productions not set in Japan. In fact, I am willing to bet the production team took more than a few cues from old BBC period dramas like Upstairs Downstairs, Fall of Eagles, or more recently Downton Abbey. The music as well is strongly reminiscent of BBC serials, with a sweepingly epic and surprisingly emotional score composed by Evan Call. If I was judging this anime on its technical aspects alone, it would get an instant 10/10.

In the end, is Violet Evergarden worth a watch? Yes. Is it a perfect series? Far from it. Is it Kyoto Animation’s most emotional anime ever? No. That honor goes to Clannad. Is it better or worse than the novels? Your mileage will vary, and I really can’t say.

But for what it was worth, I greatly enjoyed it, through all its ups and downs. Not just because it was an emotionally heartbreaking story at times, but it was so distinctly different from Kyoto Animation’s previous works.

Perhaps it is enough Violet Evergarden gets recognition for that, if nothing else.

[altimys]

Winter 2018 anime reviews

Hello, hello. This is a follow-up post to my initial impressions post. I’ll detail how my perception of the animes changed over the season.

Also note that I will not review Violet Evergarden since I’m way too far behind on it. I’ll finish it sometime in the next season once I’m free.

Dropped Animes

The ones that were unbearable.

Citrus

3/10

Like mentioned in the post from the beginning of the season, it just had this unrealistic, trope-driven, incest (but not really) story. Mostly style and little substance, but not even my style. Well, do take this with a grain of salt. I didn’t even finish the first episode.

Pop Team Epic

7/10

I definitely appreciate the experimental and sarcastic nature of this anime. But it wasn’t really worth spending an extra 15 minutes to watch the same thing a second time, especially since I didn’t find all the skits funny. I probably would’ve watched it if they were broken into seven minute segments.

Sanrio Boys

5/10

Too cheesy. Thanks for the “be yourself” message, but I’m not really interested in bishounens parading this every episode. The protagonist’s broken relationship with their grandmother as a sad backstory made me facepalm very hard. If you had advertised this to me about 6 years ago, I may have gobbled it up, but nowadays it’s not my taste.

Darling in the Franxx

5/10

I didn’t pick it back up, and I didn’t really see anything major from twitter or tumblr, except for gifs of the pink haired girl being with her sexy-cute charm. Y’know, the kind of charm where she’s designed to be appealing in a sexy, vampiric way, but she’s doing something cute like licking her fingers after eating a slice of meat or something. Normally I’d not mind this so much, but remembering how typical the protag was, it definitely gave off the manic pixie dream girl vibes. Art and animation I saw was great though! Unfortunately.

Osomatsu-san

5/10

Skits really fell flat this season. I knew that S2 would lose some drive after the stunt they pulled for the finale of S1, but a lot of skits were utter nonsense. I enjoyed the ones where they experimented with the complexities of each character’s personalities (i.e. Choromatsu and Ichimatsu’s awkward interactions), but it was like wading through a swamp to get a chuckle. I watched most of the season then dropped it, since it wasn’t really worth spending time not having fun.

Mediocre Anime

I don’t know why I watched these but I did.

Garo Vanishing Line

3/10

The story was killing me so much in the end that I would multitask when watching it, and I’m not a natural multitasker. It was just bad writing. Nothing really made sense, and it was quite predictable. Like Sword’s sister came out of nowhere (after she died for Sword’s sad backstory) and was suddenly had HACKER SKILLZ. And I was almost positive that in S1, Sophie’s brother was taken away from her by force, not him wanting to join the El Dorado project. Whatever, does it even matter? The best thing of the season was probably Luke getting a haircut and ditching that awful trenchcoat. Do not recommend.

Touken Ranbu Hanamaru

6/10

Guilty pleasure of the season. Still managed to enjoy the nonsense, with the musicals, and these bishounen and moeblobs being one-dimensional. I did appreciate some of the character interactions and the references to Katsugeki Touken Ranbu, but with these kinds of animes, I really can’t say it’s quality. It’s meant to be aimed at a certain audience, and knowing that I am part of this audience makes it enjoyable to watch. Wouldn’t recommend unless you really like bishounenified swords.

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles

6/10

I previously wrote that I was interested in seeing the stalker girl’s infatuation with Koizumi-san turn into a relationship. Of course it didn’t happen. Yuri? In your dreams. I do applaud this anime for going in depth into the ramen culture and making me hungry every week. There were some hardcore facts about ramen’s origins and experimental ramen. You could tell that they did a lot of research (or were sponsored well). I ate an average of 1.5 packs of instant ramen each week, partly thanks to Koizumi-san. How can I not eat noodles after watching it? Not really any substance to this anime unless you like hearing about ramen facts and watching anime girls foodgasm.

Average Anime

These I could recommend with disclaimers and not feel bad about it.

Junji Ito Collection

6/10

Like with most animes with short stories, there’s a handful of good and bad stories. Since the source material is pretty good, there’s more interesting stories than not. There are definitely some that are ridiculously stupid, but if you are in search of horror anime, this is one you should watch. I wouldn’t say it’s equivalent to Yami Shibai, but it’s good. The animation can’t match the signature entrancing horror that Junji Ito creates, but it’s a decent adaptation. One minor quip I have is that they reuse voice actors in each skit. Might be a budget issue, might be something else. It’s not a big deal, but mostly noticeable to me because Hoshiyan’s voice is too recognizable for me. lol. Oh yeah, the short story with the oil was absolutely disgusting. I enjoyed being grossed out.

Gakuen Babysitters

6/10

It’s like a shoujo but with toddlers. Cute interactions, likable characters. Of course, it’s a light-hearted story, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much out of it. The comedy bits are well-written, and the art style is absolutely adorable. Great casual watch if you want to feel fluffy without the bullshit of shoujo romances.

Laid Back Camp

7/10

As the title suggests, it’s a pretty laid-back anime. I love the different personalities of the female cast. They shone quite well through the segments of texting. The way that they texted felt friendly, and I felt that I was part of this silly chat group. Also enjoyed learning a lot about camping supplies (and the little pinecones that squealed were so cute). Makes me consider wanting to go solo-hiking or camping to be able to enjoy nature. I’m really glad it covered winter camping, because that’s something that most people never consider, so you get to see the different equipment, activities, and benefits. Recommend if you want something chill with a well-written cast, but not a character-driven story line.

Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens

7/10

Surprisingly, I liked it quite a bit. I was actually expecting this one to tank, because it had a predominantly male lineup, was about assassins, and had a crossdresser. Sounded like someone picked things they thought would appeal to the general public and made an anime of it. Thankfully, I was wrong. Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens is actually based off a light novel series, which really shows through the thought-out plot and layered characters. I wouldn’t say it’s as crazy as Durarara!!, but some of the twists are quite interesting. I also really enjoy the diverse cast and their interactions: Lin Xianming, pseudonym for a Taiwanese assassin who also happens to crossdress; Banba Zenji, a playful, seemingly idiotic detective with a deck of tricks up his sleeves. There’s also a canonically gay character, an ex, a child, a hacker (with an interesting backstory), and more. And these characters make mistakes, get injuries, and have flaws. I’m hoping for a second season, because watching this was quite nice each week.

Karakai Jozu no Takagi-san

7/10

If you wanted fluff with actual romance, here’s the one for the season! There’s also quite a bit of comedy added. I did feel sorry for the protag Nishikata for falling victim to Takagi’s pranks every time, but I always looked forward to what she was going to do, and how it would fluster him. I think the romantic buildup was well-paced throughout the season. Kudos to whoever paced it, because they danced around with my feelings like an expert, giving me enough of a taste to feel the flutters of romance in my stomach, but not enough to make Nishikata and Takagi an item. Some of the skits were directed very well, with surprisingly effective cinematography (see the rain and umbrella skit). The ending was really cute, and I’m pretty encouraged to read the manga to get more content.

Mahou Tsukai no Yome

7/10

Nothing really jumped out at me. I feel like the actions of the characters didn’t follow a logic to it that made me understand the character better. Nothing really sparked an interested in wanting to cheer the characters on. I really felt passive in watching events happen to Chise and Elias, and the ending wasn’t particularly spectacular either. I think it’s a decent one to pass the time, but I could not get invested in the plot or characters.

Koi wa Ameagari no You Ni

8/10

This anime certainly isn’t for everyone’s tastes, but I think I really appreciated the latter half of the series more than the first half. The surface-level summary is about the age-gap romance, but once I was able to hear Kondo’s internal thoughts, especially about being older, the nostalgia of youth, and trying to pick a passion back up, I started enjoying it a lot more. I especially loved the scenes when he would banter with his college friend Chihiro. The only downside of the latter half of the episodes was the awkward tension between Akira and her friend. Her friend would just yell at her, and Akira would take it, and then not really consider it. And somehow it’s resolved. Well, other than that, I did like the characters and ending a lot.

Kokkoku

8/10

I rather enjoyed the setup and the unknown mechanisms of the system. The enemy really had the advantage in intellect and strength, and it was interesting watching how the characters tried to get around that. The last three episodes were a little flat, and the plot armor (kind of) and last bit of exposition was almost unnecessary, but it was there to give us a happy ending, which I did appreciate. Love the grandpa. I’d say this anime did a pretty decent job at the action and strategy, and the ending wasn’t blowing my mind, but I do really commend it on the setup.

Exceptional Anime

Worth your time.

A Place Further Than the Universe

8/10

Drama about girls aiming to go to Antarctica. Strong female cast, with a pretty believable depiction of average high school girls and how they might react and pursue their dreams. The voice acting was pretty spectacular for this show, especially during the second to last episode. ;) I think this anime is very real with what it’s like with concepts we usually don’t think of: having ambitions, lacking ambitions, making friends, losing friends, finding closure. It was rewarding to walk with the girls in every step of their journey. Animation quality was pretty awesome too. I also cried a bit at the end. I didn’t think I would enjoy an anime about high school girls going to Antarctica, but hey, I loved it.

Hakumei to Mikochi

8/10

It’s a slice-of-life about a pair of thumb-sized forest dwellers. Hakumei, the more adventurous of the two, works as a handyman and has a determined attitude. She’s still a very considerate person and is full of compassion and a heart to help others. Mikochi is a bit more reserved and particular. She’s famous for her cooking and has a passion for textiles and clothing. Both characters compliment each other well, and it’s cute seeing them bustle about their daily lives. You also get to see into the lives of other characters they meet, and it feels an established world with all it’s quirks and culture. The general feel of this anime is relaxed and storybook-like, similar to the same kind of vibe I get from Ghibli movies. I honestly thought this was a children’s anime during the first episode. It could be, but I enjoyed it a lot.

[anime-and-romanian-films]

I have very conflicting feelings about this film. Because last night when I saw it with dubs I thought I would not write a good review. It seemed to me that their relationship did not hold very well and that the characters did not seem that interesting or real. I was thinking of writing that it was a generic story or something like that. But this morning, I tried to think more about what was it that did not sit right with me. And I remember I had the same feeling when watching Violet Evergarden. There too I got annoyed by the characters, and only after switching to sub I actually got to enjoy the story. So I rewatched it in Japanese and...I loved it, so much more than the first time. Now I am conflicted because I don't know if I should continue to watch future movies with the dub or should always stick with the original version. The thing is, some animes have excellent dubs and I don't have this problem, while others really lessen the experience, but only after I can know which one is it.

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, 2018, Shin'ichirô Ushijima

The film tells the story of the relationship between a girl who is learning to "live with dying" and a boy who is learning to actually live. The tragedy of their story is not only given by the impending death, but also by their unfinished and unactualized relationship. The awkwardness and insecurity of young love are amplified by the particularity of their situation: Sakura is dying from a pancreatic disease. In the end, you feel there were so many things left unsaid and unexperienced. Only in death, they can come to terms with their feelings for one another and how much they care for each other. The prospect of her unavoidable death stops both from letting themselves express the feelings they so obviously held for each other, in fear of hurting themselves or the other. The title, I want to eat your pancreas, is given context in the film, and is an expression of their very special love, that transcends romantic and platonic love. 8.4/10

[odanurr87]

Quick thoughts on... Violet Evergarden

I apologize for the uninspired choice of words for the title of this post. Since Violet Evergarden is a show that still hasn’t finished airing I didn’t want to use the title I reserve for full reviews and this is what I came up with. Yeah, I may change it later on. Anyway, back to the important thing, Violet Evergarden! As usual, this is a show I knew nothing about (do you know how many anime is there?!) until Netflix dropped this trailer on me sometime around January...

Of course, there was no way I was not going to watch it after that! The trailer is representative of at least two of the best aspects of Violet Evergarden, its animation and its music score. As you can attest, the animation is a feast for the eyes! Not only do I love the (bright) colours in this but its attention to detail is exquisite, and this isn’t just the amount of information one can glean from any still frame, what’s impressive on its own right, but also the way lighting is used, how hair or fabrics react/move, the way liquids flow, or the many gestures the characters will make that betray their emotional mindset. It’s an incredibly rich visual experience and, fortunately, the score, composed by Evan Call, isn’t far behind. At present, I find myself at a loss to make an apt comparison that will give you an idea of what you can expect from the score so I hope you’re able to get a sense of it from the trailer (watch the show, it gets even better).

But what about the story? Well, the anime, produced by Kyoto Animation (Clannad, Chuunibyou, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, among others) is based off the light novel series of the same name, written by Kana Akatsuki and illustrated by Akiko Takase. It’s comprised of only two volumes (that I know of) and I haven’t read either, possibly because I didn’t know about them until this show came along; also, they’re in Japanese, though there are a couple of fan translations available. Thus, I’ll proceed with the story going from what I’ve watched in the anime. As you can gather from the trailer, Violet Evergarden takes place in a world that resembles late 19th century (early 20th) Europe, a historical period I am very much fond of. In fact, for those who know their video games, it reminded me of Valkyria Chronicles. Our story follows Violet, a young girl who has only known war for a good part of her life (as in actually fighting in the front lines) and must now come to terms with a world at peace that, in her eyes certainly, has no further need of her. Thanks to Colonel Hodgins, a friend of her former superior officer, Major Gilbert, she’s able to get a job at his fledgling postal company. It is there that she witnesses the company’s ghostwriting department, the Auto Memory Dolls, a service that helps people write letters to friends, relatives, or even their loved ones. It is during one such encounter that Violet remembers the words last spoken to her by Major Gilbert, “I love you,” and decides to join the Auto Memory Dolls in a quest to learn the meaning behind those words.

Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. Perhaps because of the war, but likely even before this, Violet has been desensitized to pain and is clueless about people’s emotions or how to handle them. This in turn makes her rather socially inept but also refreshingly blunt, sometimes exposing people’s lies as she tries to make sense of them and the complexities of human interaction. You can probably guess it’s going to be particularly hard for Violet to become a Doll, and even more so to understand the multiple meanings behind the word ‘love,’ and the show has thus far managed to showcase that struggle as well as her triumphs, to varying degrees of success. I am curious to see what the endgame of season 1 will be all about, though I have some ideas, spoiler-y ideas at that.

It’s difficult to judge a show only four episodes in and I am reluctant to do so considering many an anime has started promisingly only to lose its way towards season’s end or even middle (I’m looking at you Sword Art Online! I’m also looking at you Aldnoah.Zero!). Having said that, if Violet Evergarden maintains its production values, as I’m sure it will, and continues its course of Violet slowly learning to empathize with other people, as it’s on track to, then I’m confident Violet Evergarden will be one of the year’s best anime. It’s a beautiful show that has certainly brightened up my Thursdays and it’s poised to be one of those you’ll always carry with you wherever you go. So, please, don’t let me down.

Then again you may be watching this show already and be aware of all of this. Is that so? Are you watching Violet Evergarden?