Tag Archives: Anime Review

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Review

Posted on by
Reply


I remember seeing a lot of gifs from this film of Josee dashing around in her wheelchair. Otherwise the film itself was rarely mentioned and I felt like it never got the same attention as the other big films. Well, now I’ve finally seen it and I can say that this is a pretty good one. It’s an emotional story with a lot of ups and downs for the various characters. The romance even ends up being pretty solid even if it’s not exactly the pair that I would have rooted for.

The film introduces us to Tsuneo who works as many jobs as possible in order to earn money. He wants to study abroad and has finally got a scholarship to study in Mexico. Things are looking up for him but he can’t let his guard down in the final stretch. He agrees to look after a girl named Josee as a sort of babysitting job. They’re close in age but she is restricted to her wheelchair and so it’s always good to have the help. Josee resents him for it though and treats him like dirt right away. As they spend more time together, they begin to get close but how will Josee react to the fact that Tsuneo will be gone soon?

Josee is an old school tsundere in that she complains and attacks Tsuneo quite a lot. During the first scene when he saves her from at the very least a serious head injury, she immediately calls him a perv. Then when he is doing his best to look after her, she intentionally gives him a lot of tough jobs and makes the tasks as unpleasant as possible. She’s not above hitting him and is also not very emotionally mature so she storms out a lot. All this is to say that the romance was a very rocky one for most of the film.

Still, it avoids any rebounds here and the film takes place over a fairly long period of time so that gets rid of most of my concerns. The timing of the scenes could have been a little better though. We get a montage fairly early on of the two characters hanging out and going to a lot of places so it feels like their friendship was strong. Yet it is easily broken later on due to a series of misunderstandings. It is usually on Tsuneo to be the bigger man here and just let things go but I would have liked a bit more effort on Josee’s part. She is a part of this relationship too after all. I felt like the montage should have been later on in the film, maybe after they had made up.

Josee is definitely not one of the more likable characters overall which was a bold choice by the film. You extend some extra sympathy to her because being stuck in a wheelchair since young is really tough but she does her best to push you to your limit. By the end of the film she has finally come to terms with everything and appears like she will be a good character going forward. Better late than never.

Tsuneo has another friend named Mai who has secretly had a crush on him for a very long time. The problem is that she never worked up the courage to ask him out before Josee showed up. While I liked Mai a whole lot more than Josee, it is entirely her fault here. Mai had years to make a move and as I always say, you can’t just wait for the other party here. If you like someone then you better make your feelings known as soon as possible. If you don’t then naturally you are going to lose out.

When Mai finally does take action, it’s mainly to push Josee down in her own way of looking out for Tsuneo. Mai feels like Tsuneo will be held back due to these circumstances and in a way she’s right but it’s obviously coming from a selfish place. Hopefully things work out for Mai in the future but sometimes being a nice person just isn’t enough to win out. You also gotta be bold and upfront.

Tsuneo’s other friend Hayato is definitely solid as well. He doesn’t get quite as much screentime but we can see why he was a good friend. He helps out the lead when he’s in a rough place and always seems to be in high spirits. He is exactly the kind of guy that you want to have in your corner when the chips are down. He could stand to be a little less girl crazy though as that’s not exactly a trait that anyone is really looking for in a quality character.

As for Tsuneo, he’s a pretty patient guy. He overlooks a whole lot of disrespect that would have had other characters backing away early. It may not necessarily be a good quality when you think about it but hey it beats throwing a pity party for himself. The only time he really gets down is after a pretty big accident later on and that’s understandable because it completely changes the trajectory of his whole life. It’s hard to just roll past something like that.

The movie is fairly light hearted for the most part but definitely has quite a few somber moments between the accident and of course Josee’s whole plot. You really can’t emphasize enough how hard it is to not be able to walk. I don’t know how I would be able to pull it off and having a film like this that sympathizes with the dilemma and also giving Josee an opportunity for a happy ending is nice. Even allowing her to talk to kids and letting her make a social impact from her position was really good. It’s the kind of subplot that is nice to have in a wholesome film like this.

Overall, This was a pretty good film. It really goes by quickly and there is always a lot going on. The song may not be one of the more memorable ones for the movie but it wasn’t bad. The romance was handled well here due to the movie allowing the relationship time to progress. I do think that at times Josee could be a little too much with how aggressively mean she was, but ultimately she stepped up when it counted. I’d recommend checking this film out if you’re looking for a solid romance.

Overall 7/10

Bâan: The Boundary of Adulthood Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a really quick anime special. It’s under 20 minutes so it’s even shorter than some anime episodes so that means the pacing has to be really fast here. It’s a good story and I can’t say that I have any complaints here. I do think the world building is sound enough to make this into a full fledged adventure some day though. That would be a lot of fun to see.

The story takes place in a time where humanity has finally found a way to establish a teleportation station from Earth to a fantasy world. People can travel from planet to planet with ease and even start new lives there. A fair girl named Rinrada decides to travel to Earth while the human Daichi decides to try his luck in the fantasy world. The grass may look greener on the other side to each character but is this actually a good idea or are they about to regret this right away? Technically they can always go back through the gate again if things don’t work out but both of them have too much pride for that.

As a small aside, they probably should have showed a long line by the portal or a bunch of people at the landing zone because I imagine this is a really popular tourist destination. It’s hard to imagine that this kind of tech would exist and almost nobody would use it. This is a small nitpick though, doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. Personally, I’d be having a ton of fun in the fantasy world. Earth is cool and all but yeah it doesn’t have cool dragons and stuff like that.

Since the film is short, a lot of the background information has to be inferred rather than outright stated and I appreciate that. This is sort of a back to basics in visual story telling as you will be able to piece everything together if you’re paying attention. Whether it is a phone being passed around, a photo in the background, a character’s voice, etc. It all ties in well and so you get a pretty solid plot twist midway through.

Rinrada has a really hard time getting a job in the human world and so you have to imagine that she wasn’t leveraging her magical abilities well. I tend to think it’s because for whatever reason they are frowned upon or even illegal in the real world but maybe she just took them for granted. Regardless, she keeps a positive attitude and does her best even when she wasn’t able to get an elite job. She has the right attitude to succeed in life. By the end of the film she also realizes that pride for its own sake isn’t a great thing and so she gets a solid ending.

As for Daichi, well I’d argue he was having fun for the entire movie. As soon as he got to the fantasy world he wasted no time in showing off his culinary genius and making friends. Even when he was on his own initially, the guy showed a lot of creativity in finding things to eat and just surviving off the land. You could tell that the fantasy world was a great fit for him over the ordinary mundane nature of the real world. He just didn’t need any of that. You get the feeling that he could have left for the fantasy world on better terms with his Mom over the phone but as part of his character development we can see how he really matured after going to the fantasy world.

The animation looks solid enough here. We even get a quick action scene in there. It’s clearly not a top rate production but the important thing is that it doesn’t look stiff. The song at the end of the special was also good. So the technical elements here are around average. Nothing noteworthy but nothing that would hold it back either which is the main victory. There aren’t a lot of characters here so you can really focus on the main two and what’s going on. If the special had to cram a lot of characters in then that would have been a lot tougher. Even if we had another 20 minutes or so to play with, I’d like to use that to see more of the day to day life of our main characters. The call center seems like it would be a fun area for comedic shenanigans and of course Daichi being in an isekai world has a ton of potential. Maybe you could even squeeze in a scene of him defeating some orcs or something.

Overall, this is a good movie. I don’t think it’ll end up being super memorable due to the length but it’s a good accomplishment to come out with an anime of any size. Maybe with an explosive climax or something but that’s definitely not what this title was going for. So props to the Youtuber for making his dreams a reality here. It’s something that will always be out there as a legacy of sorts. It’s also extremely easy for me to recommend this one as a result because it’s so short that it’s not like you’re putting a lot of time at stake to watch it. Even if it doesn’t end up being your cup of tea, it was less than 20 minutes of your life. It’s not like this is a really ambitious adventure with a ton of stuff happening, but it’s a calm slice of life that just works well.

Overall 7/10

The Place Promised in our Early Days Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for a dramatic anime film with a lot of feelings going around with the main characters. Unfortunately the film also has a really interesting political plot going on. The only reason I phrase that as a negative is you’ll become a lot more interested in that part which is really just to set the stage for the main adventure. You won’t get any real closure or details on that part which is a bit of a shame.

The movie starts by introducing us to Hiroki and Takuya. They are best friends and have been working together to build a jet. They want to visit the large tower that separates the country of Japan. This is pretty dangerous and against the law though so they have to do this on the sneak. They’re each a genius in their own righ, Takuya is an expert on code while Hiroki is more on the hardware side but they’re both very proficient on both ends. They have a mutual friend named Sayui who wants to tag along as well but one day she vanishes. Both of the boys don’t really know if they want to complete their plane after that and drift away. Years pass and multiple parallel dimensions begin to emerge. Is it time to bring the plane back in?

So I mentioned how the tower has split Japan in two. Well, you’re not going to get a lot more about how this affected the region. We see that half of the country belongs to the U.S. and half of it is for Japan but that’s really the extent of what we know. The tower is being used for experiments to harness energies and matter from other dimensions on but why are they doing this and how did they get such a big headstart? Apparently that half of the country is close to 50 years ahead of our main characters.

I could have followed a whole movie about this as the characters have to wonder if they should even be using this power or if it is perhaps a little too much for any of them to be dealing with. There’s a whole lot of potential right here but instead we go back to the main story. So in a sense, the main story may be better than what it felt like since I couldn’t help but compare it to the larger scale of what was going on. It was just really interesting and why make an alternate history film if you aren’t going to go into it? You could have easily done the whole jetplane plot with a normal timeline if you ask me.

For the main characters, Takuya starts out as a good lead but really begins to falter down the line. He makes the classic blunder of beginning to trust the government a little too much and letting it cloud his judgment. At one point he finds out that someone is being kept asleep in order to protect the planet. Yes, it’s a noble goal if you look at it from a utilitarian point of view but obviously it’s not good for the person who is trapped. This person is even conscious and stuck the whole time although Takuya couldn’t know that.

He goes as far as to nearly sabotage efforts to save this character and really just fell down a whole lot compared to what he used to be like. As a kid he was serious but still had a good head on his shoulders. His technical abilities may have improved but his emotions sure didn’t. I get that he was under a lot of stress but this should be a no brainer. The fate of the world based on some massive assumptions, or saving an innocent person who’s been trapped? The latter has to always win.

So I give Hiroki more of the credit here. He definitely took Sayuri’s disappearance hard and vanished for a while but while he was depressed, he continued to move forward. Once he learned that he had a chance to save the day, he didn’t hesitate and went right back to the project. He was a very earnest guy and is what you’d expect from your average main character. He does what is needed as soon as possible.

As for Sayuri, she was a fun enough character. She always had fun hanging out with the boys and the 3 of them made for good friends. It was nice to see them all getting along without anybody getting jealous or anything like that. It seemed like she initially liked Takuya and even eventually liked Hiroki instead but it’s played in a much more subtle way and didn’t blow up into some annoying romance drama. Trust me that would have been super annoying. Instead, the film lets them all act mature about this.

Sayuri definitely had the hardest trial out of the 3 main characters since she was stuck all by herself in a really desolate place. The way the time worked, she at least didn’t need to eat or anything like that but the loneliness alone is still a killer. So she did well to stay as positive as she did when others would have definitely cracked by the end.

The cast remains pretty small even to the end. There’s a researcher who liked Takuya and of course you had one of the big resistance guys who was always flirting with girls and getting parts for the guys, but that’s about it. The focus here is really on the small, intimate story that is going on despite the huge events taking place in the background. I’m all for focusing on a few characters but the story gets distracted a little too much for me to rank this one higher.

All the parallel worlds business didn’t seem to have much of a point here except to include Sayuri’s plot into the story. It’s an interesting concept but since the film doesn’t have a ton of time to focus on it, it feels like it’s just extra weight. The fact that some guy actually invented how to read into these worlds and come up with new tech is certainly impressive….even if it leaves you with more questions.

The animation is pretty solid here. I don’t think it’s the best work that I’ve seen from this group but it works well enough. It’s not like there are a ton of action scenes that would really let the film show off its stuff or anything like that. The soundtrack is also a bit more on the forgettable side. No song that will really stay in your head or anything like that but the ost works well enough in the moment.

Overall, The adventure was fun enough but you just don’t care about the kids too much. It takes a little while for their plot to really start going and by then you would rather learn more about the government or more about the parallel worlds. The last thing in your head is abuot the kids and to be honest it’s pretty hard to picture them completing the mission anyway. Their jet would have had a tough enough time when they were first building it, but years later? It would just be too out of date by that point. Still, it’s a wholesome story about never giving up and has a soild enough ending even if it does dabble into one thing that I’m never a big fan of. The sacrifice one character makes just erases too much character development for me. So if you’re up for a quick anime adventure you can check this one out, but there are strongr anime movies out there.

Overall 6/10

World Trigger Season 2 Review

Posted on by
Reply


Season 2 of World Trigger starts immediately and I really appreciate that about the show. You never need an episode to get people back into the spirit of things. If they need a review, they can just rewatch the first season again. That’s how I see it at least. As with season 1, season 2 is excellent. The battles, animation, and story are super good. I wish the manga hadn’t had to go on hiatus for so long because it’s clear that this would have been a breakout hit. Dare I say that it may have passed Hunter X Hunter and kept pace with One Piece in popularity? Ah well, it’s all a what if.

The season starts with more aliens deciding to invade the planet. Jin is able to predict their arrival thanks to his side effect and so the government mobilizes all of their forces. With the exception of some B rankers like Osamu and his fellow tournament fighters so this way they would not be distracted. These aliens are from another planet and are aiming to force a fight between Earth and the first enemy so they can get away. Otherwise they are basically given a suicide mission here as Earth would wipe them out. Their main goal is to destroy the big spaceship which would set Earth back at least a year and the heroes have to stop them.

One thing about World Trigger that is quite unique compared to other anime is that Earth gets a whole lot of respect. We aren’t just sitting ducks for the various alien races and can actually hold out own. The biggest invention tat Earth had was the ability to use energy bodies to let its fighters train in life or death situations constantly. This is also handy for the invasions where they can fight with their fake bodies without the risk of death. The automatic bail-out feature ensures a guaranteed survival so it’s as if everyone has two lives.

Around half of the season is for the invasion and usually you’d expect that the second half would falter in comparison but as it is a tournament, that isn’t the case. Those battles are incredibly satisfying as well. They also have a lot of strategy to them and in a way that is really what makes the series stand out. Plenty of big titles have strong action scenes but this one consistently has plans on top of plans. By making the battles a 3 way fight of 4 teammates each, there is always a whole lot going on.

Of course the invasion does have much higher stakes so it would still take the slight win. It’s also nice seeing the most powerful fighters in the verse going at it since generally as good as the students are, they aren’t going to be holding their own against the upperclassmen. Jin himself doesn’t get much action this time but he got to steal the show repeatedly in season 1 so that makes sense. Additionally, his ability to give the Earth time to prepare still makes him the automatic MVP.

Meanwhile in the tournament, there may be times where you feel like the aces could do a little better in the fights but overall the strategies make sense. This is a series where there are power gaps but generally they aren’t crazy. A normal fighter can defeat an elite with the right amount of strategies. The prodigies are able to move a little faster or hit a little harder but it’s not like Superman going up against Green Arrow. So while I can be a bit skeptical when someone like Kuga isn’t shredding 3 ordinary joes, it’s easier to understand than in other titles.

At 12 episodes, the season goes by a lot quicker than the first one which had an incredible amount of episodes. You still feel like a lot of progress is made but of course that’s probably since I love all of the action. The tournament is still ongoing so in that sense it may feel like things haven’t moved a ton but it’s all in how you look at it. I wouldn’t mind if the tournament kept going on for a whole other season.

Now lets look at the characters. First up we have Osamu and he is desperate to look better than last time where he got absolutely crushed. This time he gets to show off what he can do with his new wire traps which are really effective. It was a clever way for him to get around his lack of abilities and he still has the occasional dash to try and crush someone’s shield. While Osamu can be a little too quiet and soft spoken at times, he’s a pretty decent lead. There’s nothing you can do about being weak in this verse as your base trion won’t improve much, so coming up with a smart way around that is a good idea.

Meanwhile Kuga continues to look good as the ace. He has some of the best physical stats in the series and it’s all with a weaker trigger than what he usually had. He is always the power hitter of the group and continues to get more and more adept at using different fighting styles. Technically I would say he has less of a focus here than in other arcs but still makes his presence known at all times.

Chika also gets some good moments with her gun but unfortunately deals with that trauma of hers where she can’t shoot anyone directly. It’s a pretty big issue so hopefully she will be able to bounce back from that soon. Right now it severely limits her and without that, I dare say that Osamu’s group would win every battle with ease. The sheer amount of destructive force that she has is completely through the roof. A few shots would completely bury the whole map.

Hyuse gets his own subplot here as he moves closer to his goal of returning home. Ultimately there won’t be a way for him to do this unless he plays ball and so he prepares to do just that. In the process h has to raise his rank and prepare to join a squad. Anyone who saw season 1 won’t be surprised at his level of ability. The guy can be rather deadpan but is a supremely good fighter and one who knows his limits. That is really what makes him incredibly difficult to defeat. I look forward to him appearing more since that will be real entertaining.

Next up we have Katori Squad. This team is as dysfunctional as it gets and that really ends up hurting them a whole lot. Katori is fun with how aggressive she is and her love of battle. Her skills are definitely considerable but she tends to try doing a little too much on her own and actively ignores the plan. This may work if you have truly unbelievable power but in this kind of setting it’s usually going to be a pretty big L. She is thoroughly embarrassed during the initial match but I give her kudos for trying hard until the end. The teammates are not without fault but she played the biggest role in their defeat.

Rokuro just needed to go about things in a less combative way. I know he was just trying to get his point across but the problem is that he’s really weak. So in this case you had someone strong who was not good at planning and then someone good at planning who wasn’t strong. Sort of like a discount version of Osamu and Kuga. Hopefully they are able to recover from this in the future.

Then we have Kakizaki squad. This team has no real standout fighters and so they try to win with good old fashioned coordination. I would say this team is used to show the limits of that approach. Ultimately you do need an ace if you are going to win. You can have 3 people with the best levels of teamwork ever but if none of them are super skilled, you will eventually lose. Fumika gets props for her quick thinking on how to block Chika’s bullet and force her out of the comfort zone. Meanwhile the other two did well in putting up a consistent fight but they aren’t the most memorable characters. I’d say that’s just a side effect of the team structure.

After that is Ikoma squad. Their leader is not the smartest guy around and just likes being an attacker. So as a result the rest do their best to cover for him. Ikoma can get away with this because he is incredibly skilled. Almost nobody is able to block his sword strike which goes for a very long distance and deals tremendous damage. It’s a technique that few have managed to copy and I like the idea that he just decided to master a pretty basic move that nobody stuck with. I’m not the biggest fan but he did well there.

Mizukami is also good because he has a strong level of confidence that I like to see. Not to say that any of the other teammates don’t have that, but he sticks out a bit more. This team is really good at using multiple shooters and winning the long range battle. It’s an interesting team composition and one that works pretty well. At least they do have an ace although I wouldn’t call this one of the most impressive teams.

Finally we have Oji squad and I really liked these guys. This is a complete strategic team. None of them are aces, but they are all as smart as possible and can still be deceptively skilled. The leader, Oji is definitely the standout character. He tends to be one step ahead of the others and is ready to kill steal at any time. He’s fighting for results, not some misplaced kind of honor. He’s right, in a real battle there are few rules and so he does whatever it takes to win.

Kazuki and Yutaka are also really analytical and work well with Oji. It’s hard to say if they were always like that or Oji helped to mold them into his image. Either way it makes for a team with incredible synergy as well as a solid baseline of skill. I’d like to see more of them in the future. They didn’t have the most unique designs though so I wouldn’t count on a lot more for them, although at the same time the cast is so large that maybe this had to happen. I mainly focused on the big teams for this season but the cast probably has about 100 characters at this point. Coming up with big designs for all of them really has to be a massive challenge.

As for the new aliens, Gatlin is probably my favorite one. He is a supremely good commander who knows how to read a situation and can even handle multiple opponents at once. The fact that he could keep a whole squad on their toes is incredibly impressive and his cannon is also really powerful. He’s a good example of another character who really thinks things through. What makes him rally dangerous is that he’s essentially as strong as an A rank fighter with Osamu’s kind of thinking process.

The rest of the aliens are also pretty solid and each have their own unique personalities. Of course they’re almost all geniuses but this is the kind of series where that’s true of just about everyone. Even the “dumb” characters tend to have above average intelligence which is pretty funny. The aliens have the advantage of being able to call out near endless amounts of foot soldiers while the humans have the advantage of more substantial numbers of real fighters as well as home field advantage.

The animation has been touched up since the first season so you will immediately notice how much flashier it is. The animation is incredibly smooth and the art style works perfectly. It really gets the blood pumping as the characters go at it. The soundtrack is also good with quite a few solid tunes mixed in there. It makes for a powerful combo all the way through.

Overall, World Trigger season 2 is really quite good. That is even an understatement, this is an elite title. I highly recommend it for all anime fans because it’s not every day that you get this level of strategy. It’s one of those things where it is hard to describe this with justice through text alone so you really just need to watch it. I would also say that even if the series never gets a proper ending, the conclusions here are good enough. You still got a great taste of what the concept is all about and of course we do have another season coming up so I’ll be reviewing it at some point. With the tournament still going strong, it’s really a foregone conclusion that season 3 will also be incredible. The writing and strategy ensure that nothing less can happen.

Overall 9/10

The Boy and the Beast Review

Posted on by
Reply


I remember hearing this film’s name a whole lot back in the day. I can’t say I knew a whole lot about it but from the title you can more or less guess the themes. It ends up being a pretty solid film. We get some good action here and a solid amount of character development. It’s well balanced all the way. I was also not expecting the time skip that happens around halfway and it was a really good decision as it led to a more enjoyable status quo for the climax.

The movie starts with a kid named Ren running away from home after his mother died. The father was out of the picture and he didn’t want to go with any of the family members. This leads to him entering the monster world where he ends up becoming Kumatetsu’s apprentice. This guy is one of the two candidates to become the next lord of the world although he always loses to his rival Iozen. He hopes to get stronger and in the meantime Ren also wants power. So he reluctantly joins Kumatetsu and thus begins a strong partnership. However, Iozen’s son Ichirohiko begins to grow jealous. Is some foul play about to occur?

The monster world is pretty interesting. For the most part it is a lot like the human world, just with tournaments of power going on. Because of the similarities, we don’t have to spend a lot of time on world building and can focus on the dynamic with Ren and Kumatetsu. That’s the main draw of the film after all and it works well. For the most part I tend to blame Ren for being a little too bratty for the first half but it is true that Kumatetsu could have handled some of the situations with more tact. Dealing with others may not be his specialty but it is something that he can improve on.

I did enjoy him a lot as a character though. I always tend to enjoy characters who are confident and ready to fight. Kumatetsu is the kind of guy who never backs down and has a lot of determination. He easily could have been the main character here if things had played out a little differently. His ending isn’t my favorite and I would have preferred if the film had gone in a different way but it doesn’t make him look bad at all. He made the sacrifices that he needed to in order to help Ren.

Ren naturally gets much better once he is older and makes up for his earlier scenes of whining a lot. By the end he is totally a good character. He gains a lot of confidence and is also a responsible person. Ren’s not perfect and still flies off the handle a bit too quickly though. Deciding on a whim to live with his father and ditch the monster world did not make any sense and I also think he could have really tried talking to Kumatetsu instead of storming off. He usually gets his act together quickly but it was all a bit rushed and made him look immature.

Also while the film didn’t want to reward the rage out, he should have been allowed to fight Ichirohiko a little bit in order to avenge his master. Having him not even be able to land a single hit because it would put him on the dark side was a little too extreme for me. That just didn’t make sense. Meanwhile Ichirohiko is definitely one of the pettier characters here. One of those guys who is totally cool as long as you’re weaker than him but otherwise he gets jealous really quickly.

His origin wasn’t all that sad so I can’t even say that I felt all that bad for him. He just needed to not become a total bully at the first opportunity. One thing I really respected about his father is that Iozen stayed professional at all times. I don’t think he was ever the biggest fan of Kumatetsu and this definitely showed, but he wasn’t about to stab him in the back or cheat. He would still fight fair and play by all of the rules. If it didn’t work out, then that would be it for him. Just a solid class act the whole time.

The animation is pretty good. The opening may have been a bit too stylized for me but otherwise all of the action scenes are good. The fights are on point and all of the battles really stand out. The music is unfortunately going to sound like a lot of free domain stuff. No songs that you’ll be humming to during the film. None of the tracks are bad but none of them are even slightly memorable.

Ren’s trip to the human world may be a little rushed in general but Kaede made for a solid supporting character. My only gripe with her would be her lack of a survival instinct. Holding Ren’s hand when he was about to fight wasn’t very smart and then talking smack to a giant monster is also not a good idea when you can’t fight. I appreciate her toughness of course but she could have had better tactics here. She was a good friend to Ren and helped out when it counted though. The film also sets up a romance without rushing things so I was fine with that. Pacing is absolutely key with these things. Ren’s father doesn’t get quite as much time so his whole plot feels rather forced but I guess we can just say that he was a good guy in a tough situation.

The ending of the movie is a bit disappointing since it does limit things though. I would have taken things in different directions on several occasions. Both Ren’s ending and Kumatetsu’s were not very good. A sequel can fix both things but this film should have ended in a way that would make it easier and more satisfying. In particular when you build up a great dynamic, you should give it several films for the audience to have fun with instead of just ending it.

Overall, The Boy and the Beast is a pretty good film. It had more action than I was expecting and had good pacing. I do wish we could have gotten a proper match between the apprentices from both candidates though. The climax is more about super abilities and summons so we never have a chance to get that proper choreography. I think it would have been a lot of fun even if Ren would have absolutely had the edge. Ah well, you can’t have every fight. The ending of the movie also isn’t my favorite but a sequel could always change things up and turn out to be a lot of fun so you can’t rule that out.

Overall 7/10

Summer Ghost Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for another one of those shorter anime films. Summer Ghost is a pretty solid title although the short length does mean that we don’t get to see a whole lot of each individual character. Instead they all just get a small intro and we jump into the main plot. A longer story probably could have helped to elevate the emotional punch for each of the characters but it is still a good story.

The movie starts with Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo heading to an abandoned area to light up some fireworks. Their main plan is to summon a ghost named Ayane to see if ghosts are actually real. The plan works and they meet her. Aoi and Ryo are satisfied but Tomoya continues to visit her because he wants to learn more about ghosts. Can it be that they have a more enjoyable time than he does in the real world? During this adventure he must contend with what it means to truly be alive.

The element that keeps all 3 of the main characters together is how close they are to death. Ryo in a physical way, Tomoya in a spiritual way as his soul is dying, and Aoi who is being bullied so hard that she is thinking about ending both sides of herself. Meeting Ayane and each other is what will help them all conquer their inner demons. So this is really a film about not giving up and certainly about not checking out of life early. This is where the short length starts to creep in though as we just don’t have a whole lot of time for their backstories. I would say Aoi probably gets the shortest end of the stick here. You still do understand the context and everything here but the film has to move really fast.

It’s always good to see films with an anti suicide message thrown in with how many people are depressed nowadays. Some circumstances certainly feel like they can be hard to escape and you need a fresh perspective to even begin to escape that. For Ryo, it might be the toughest since he is literally dying. There is nothing that he can do to stop the effects and so within a year he will be gone. He really just has to do his best to come to terms with it. For part of the movie it seems like he has already done so, but it’s more of a facade while by the end he is actually okay.

There’s not much you can really say to someone like that as you don’t know how you will react until it happens. In some ways I would still consider it the easiest fate of the 3 since you at least know that the end is near. You have time to knock items off your bucket list and all, many would wish they had some kind of advanced notice like hat. Of course he’s so young that he still wasn’t able to accomplish as much as he would have liked to have done. I appreciated how he was careful to still support the other two though. He was my favorite of the three main characters.

Then for Aoi, naturally being bullied isn’t easy and it’s something that happens constantly around the world. We don’t see enough of her story to know what steps she tried to get around it or more details but the point here is that it was quite bad and she had no real escape. Ultimately her message is just about sticking up for herself which is always useful but in a way you would have liked some more tangible steps to making her situation better. We just have to hope that it all worked out.

As for Tomoya, his is the trickiest issue. He just doesn’t feel like he is alive and that life is essentially pointless. It’s why he is tempted by the realm of the dead since they seem to have a more carefree life. Ayane isn’t particularly helpful in proving otherwise since she puts on a cheerful front and flies around a lot. At least she did flat out say that dying isn’t a good idea so I’ll give her some points there.

Ultimately Tomoya just needed to find a reason for life. If your life doesn’t have a purpose, you definitely need to find one right away because of course things will feel empty otherwise. You need that in order to move forward. He definitely could have spoken up for himself more in terms of schoolwork and telling the others about his journeys with the ghost. He is definitely too withdrawn for his own good. I didn’t think he stuck out as much as the other two characters and was a bit bland for the lead.

As for Ayane, she definitely had the toughest journey of the group since she literally died and in a rather painful/scary way. It was good that she got to have closure thanks to these characters. Her mother may not have had a smooth closure on screen but we can assume that everything got properly reported afterwards so that’ll come in time. A little epilogue would have been nice to confirm this though and maybe even find a way to trace the crime back to the driver and get him arrested. That may not have been the focus of the film but it would have been a great way to end things with a lot of well earned justice.

The animation is fairly good. I liked the use of the shadows and it helped to make the characters stand out. It’s definitely not quite as impressive as some of the other anime films that I’ve seen but it is certainly good enough to hold its own. The soundtrack is a lot more on the bland side though. Nothing particularly noteworthy at all and so you will end up forgetting about the tunes very quickly. The film really ends up having to stand on its own with the story and writing.

Overall, Summer Ghost is a solid film. While the messaging it solid, I don’t think the movie ever gets quite as emotional as it was hoping to be. You just don’t know the characters well enough for that and while they grew up with some rather difficult circumstances, we don’t see enough to really determine just how bad they were. Aoi’s was the worst out of the 3 and even then we do have to make some assumptions on our side as the viewer. If you’re up for a good film about exploring what it means to live, then this is still a solid one to check out.

Overall 6/10

Unico: Black Cloud and White Feather Review

Posted on by
Reply


It’s time for an anime pilot that I was really not familiar with at all. Unico is a franchise that I really knew nothing about so it’s always fun to stumble upon a hidden gem like this. It’s a fun film at least with a story that could lend itself to a lot of different events. Don’t expect it to be the next big action blockbuster or anything like that but it is pretty good fun.

The story revolves around a mysterious being known as Unico. He is no ordinary animal, he has the ability to materialize things out of nothing. Unfortunately he is also cursed and must always be removed from being around any humans. He must be alone at all times and must try to push past this. Unfortunately he isn’t always fully aware of what’s going on which makes it a bit harder to stop the curse which is enforced by a goddess who goes around chasing him.

It’s clear that there is a lot of lore going on here in the background but for now we don’t get to see too much of it. This is definitely like a little taser to get you interested in the series. The main plot here is that there is a land where pollution envelops everyone and poisons the people until they die. They have tried to rise up but the central company controlling the pollution is far too powerful. Unico is really the only hope that they have and he must hurry or a little girl will be the next one to die.

With this kind of story my biggest issue is naturally going to be how the town is just sitting there and allowing this to happen. Once you’re at the point where people are dying en masse due to pollution and the government/corporate won’t stop it, then you have to do something about it. You must become a vigilante and do what you can to destroy the facilities because otherwise you’re just going to die without a fight. If Unico hadn’t showed up, that is exactly what would have happened.

The characters are far too passive here. The little girl was nice since she was trying to help out Unico at least. I also won’t blame her for much of anything because ultimately it’s not like she could do much about the situation. She could barely move. Meanwhile the local mouse was nice since he fed Unico even though he was really hungry. The rest of the animals tended to be pretty fierce outside like the hawk that nearly finished Unico off in the intro.

Ideally Unico will be able to master his powers better as the series were to go on and by the end would manage to get some happiness. That will probably mean confronting the gods at some point and I’ll also be curious to learn more about this. In the intro he was best friends with a girl before the evil goddess got him and began the tricks but why did nobody stop her? It seems like the greek gods of old who were always corrupt and annoying so it could be that they were all just evil or apathetic at worst but Unico will hopefully get some backup. On his own he just seems a bit too inexperienced to actually be ready to defeat the system.

In a way the lore might have been too good as you’re almost more interested in seeing the gods and what’s going up there than in the actual story about Unico helping people out. They are almost two completely different genres with the contrast between the two. Meanwhile the animation is solid. It has a good artstyle that ensures this adventure never gets too dated. You can tell that it is an older animation of course but it never looks bad. The ost doesn’t age quite as well with the songs though. They’re a bit on the cheesy side and not super catchy although I wouldn’t call them bad or anything like that.

Overall, This was a fun story. At the end of the day it’s basically the length of an episode so as you can imagine it does end pretty quickly. It’s enough time to solve the main story while leaving a lot of room for the next adventure. If this sounds interesting to you then you should check it out. It’s a fairly original premise and doesn’t drag on or anything like that. At the same time I do think it would need a bit more of a hook to really rise up and break to the next level. Maybe having a supporting character who tries to get Unico his memories back but is constantly fighting the gods. That would be a good subplot but perhaps a bit too intense for the tone that this one is going for.

Overall 6/10

Cardfight!! Vanguard Divinez DELUXE Arc Review

Posted on by
Reply


Cardfight is back with another top tier title. It’s no surprise that this one would be good either because the entire anime arc is a single tournament. This means that every episode is filled with action. You’ve got everyone trying to be the best and the tournament isn’t even over when the season ends. Only the first phase, then finals will be the next season. It’s a pretty fun way to go about it. Now technically I’d have preferred to open things up a bit and get more combatants here in a bracket system instead of the whole round robin thing. Still, this works out well enough and it’s nice to be seeing every character duking it out at the top of their abilities.

The show starts out with a bunch of fighters being invited to the next Deluxe tournament. You’ve got a mix of old and new fighters trying to prove that they are the most powerful in the world. Akina is ready for this and hopes to have a good time. He is shaken up though when a new guy shows up Kagetsu and he’s awful close to Akina’s mentor Nao. Akina needs to get to the bottom of this and crush this guy but before he can do this, Akina will have to learn the true reason behind why he plays Cardfight in the first place. Without that answer he will be lost.

There won’t actually be a lot to talk about story-wise compared to other seasons since again, this is all just one big tournament. So I’ll spend most of the time here talking about the 12 contestants. They all have had a lot of character development in order to get to this moment after all so it makes for a good tournament. Of course the new characters do have to spend a little time getting introduced but they still did go through their share of struggles off screen. The stakes are also pretty high because out of the 12 fighters who are kicking things off, only 6 will move on to the finals. The final 2 slots of the top 8 will be filled out from good ole America.

So lets start off with Akina. This guy is the main character after all and he’s got some good skills. He has grown a lot more confident over the years but this season does bring up some of his insecurities like with how he reacts with Kagetsu shows up. By the end of the season he does finally come to terms with this and even makes a speech involving Nao. It’s definitely a big scene even if it’s sort of putting her on the spot there. He does have the worst lyrical song out of all the combatants but you can’t win them all.

I think the main character will always be at a disadvantage to the extent that you have seen his deck and heard his song far more than any of the other combatants. So it only makes sense that it won’t be as exciting as the others. Akina is a well written character either way and while I am not rooting for him to win the tournament, it is nice to see him doing well.

Then we have Mirei who is one of the fun wild cards here. She was the big bad several seasons against the original main characters so now she gets to test her skills one last time against the new fighters. She still has tremendous abilities so it’s good to see that she hasn’t been completely phased out. It’s hard for me to picture her winning the whole thing, but she looks better than I expected she would. Mirei still has a lot of confidence about her although she doesn’t talk smack as much as almost any of the other fighters. She prefers to win in a rather graceful way and even her cards feel rather ordinary next to the others. She doesn’t appear to have any kind of killer card to seal the doubt but her abilities are still enough to take her to the next stage.

After that is Erika, the one I am rooting for to win this tournament. She has had to go through a whole lot during the series. Having to live through an incredibly dark timeline, then nearly getting erased, and finally having to give up her family. I’d say it’s about time something went right for her. Her deck is extremely powerful so I’ve been surprised to see her struggle so much. Perhaps I shouldn’t be, these are all some of the best fighters on the planet. I’m sure she will adapt and continue to fight well though.

She has a fun personality and while she can be overly defensive in just about every conversation, you get why she would be on guard after everything that happened in her past. I’d give her a pass on that. At least she still gets a few scenes to hang out with Akina, they may not be able to reveal that they’re family anymore, but no reason they can’t hang out as friends.

Then we have Nao who of course gets a really big role here. She may be Akina’s mentor but she hasn’t gotten a very large role over the last few seasons. This is her chance to make a big return. I will say that despite her aspirations to be the strongest pro and even getting to that level, her deck has never struck me as being very impressive. So this is a good chance to see more of it, although like Erika she struggles a lot here. She definitely deals with a lot.

I can give Nao full credit for always being a good mentor to Akina though. Even when she’s at her lowest in this series, she still manages to congratulate him and put on a brave face so that he doesn’t worry. It’s the hallmark of a great character to be able to do that instead of panicking or having an emotional outburst. I already liked her character quite a bit, but I can say that she ended up going even higher here.

Megumi is one of the original characters so it’s nice to see her return. In the original series she lost a whole lot and always took the back seat to the others. Now that Danji is an eternal old man and the old main character has vanished off the face of the Earth, this is her turn to shine. She definitely does well in the fights and proves herself to still have a lot of ability. In a way it would be fun for her to win the tournament as a way to prevent a passing of the torch. Show that the old generation can still fight and all that.

I wouldn’t be opposed to her winning it all. Megumi has a fun personality and is definitely a passionate cardfighter. You absolutely need those traits in order to keep up with the energy that the others put out. Perhaps this could also allow her to have one last rematch with Danji and finally take that elusive W. As the current head of Blackout, she could pull this off.

Suo was a big villain a while back so now that he is a hero, can he really hold his own? The series plays up how awkward he is around people but the important thing is that he is always trying to improve. I definitely admire that about him even if I preferred him as a villain. Maybe we just have too many heroes at this point but this isn’t the kind of series where people stay villains so I suppose it makes sense. To me this guy would be a bit more of a waste to win the whole tournament, but hey it would show that his skills really did not diminish at all. He also does have his own character arc since one of the new characters parallels the old him.

Raika was the previous tournament winner so of course he is back but the power creep is real. I think Raika’s main problem is his arrogance. To an extent the series always tries to show that he’s not that crazy but I dunno. The actions just don’t really reflect it. He always comes across as real stuck up to me in how he talks to everyone. He may plan out thoroughly for every character and never hold back, but he just makes it so easy to root against him. When a guest star character barked at him through text I couldn’t help but smirk. Raika is strong but he is sure good at losing.

Kuon shows up for this tournament but lets just say he is mainly used to show the power creep here. Yeah he’s strong but part of the point here is that he’s just not on the same level as the others. He needs more time and experience to really build up his skills. As far as the characters go I would also say there is just less to him than the others. I expect most people would pick him as one of their early exits from the tournament if you had to select one. Nothing personal to the guy but that’s how stacked the cast is.

Gui is in a similar boat. The guy is an incredibly powerful A.I. and was one of the top tier threats but ultimately he hasn’t adjusted and continued to improve compared to the others. This means he will be left in the dust next to the others. I also think there is less chance for banter compared to the other characters so less reason for the writers to keep him engaged. I preferred him as more of an antagonist too since as a hero he’s a little boring. Getting him out of here was probably the right move.

Kagetsu is one of the new hype characters so you can bet that he is getting a lot to do here. He was so good that he essentially got bored of Cardfight…or is that the reason? We learn more about his past later on and it’s a bit more petty than that. He is still a solid fighter though and shows the logic of “there is always someone stronger” very well. This guy is treated as an absolute beast and then we find out there is someone even stronger than him and by a fairly wide margin. I think it will be tough for this other character to live up to the hype but I’m still really interested in how that plays out. We’ll also see if Kagetsu is able to push past his limits here.

We have Michiru from the American branch who is still a prodigy. He’s in a bit of a weird position though because he’s always been treated as a nearly untouchable character but rarely felt like it. Gui messed him up a while back and then Danji also gave him a hard fight. We’ll see how well he performs in the next season but from the big fighters, he may be my least favorite. I don’t mind if he gets bumped in round 1 to hype up a different character.

The other American fighter is a new character named Ruka. She seems to be a very powerful fighter who is sort of like Saitama from One Punch Man. She is a Cardfighter for fun. Ruka isn’t in this for fame or glory. She just likes Cardfighting and that kind of character can always be a great foil to the others. Akina was basically told that this is not a satisfactory answer and yet Ruka is living this philosophy out to great effectiveness. I’ll enjoy seeing how she interacts with the others.

Senka returns as one of the powerful fighters from the recent seasons. I like her confidence and how outspoken she is all of the time. A good attitude to have in this intense world of Cardfighting. That being said, I feel like there isn’t much going for her character at this point so it won’t be particularly surprising to see her not do well here. She’s the kind of underdog I would root for a lot, knowing that she won’t be going very far. That’s just how it goes sometimes though.

Finally we have Suzune. She feels a lot of pressure to win because her family honor is on the line. She isn’t really even allowed to have fun playing the game because a single mistake reflects on everybody. I enjoyed her character but naturally you are expecting some changes by the end. It would have been nice if she could have been a bit more powerful but the show did well in showing how toxic this kind of mentality would be. It would be absolutely suffocating in practice. We’ll see how skilled she can be in the future once that level of stress is lifted.

There are a few supporting characters running around like Danji but for the most part this is about the combatants. Masanori is still around to act shady and at this point I’ve just accepted that he probably won’t be facing any justice for being a constant villain. I would have liked to have seen more guest stars if this is really the last big tournament within the Cardfight saga but the show did still branch out across the seasons so I can’t be too greedy.

The animation is really excellent as always. The colors are striking and I definitely enjoyed seeing how dynamic the cardfights were. The show is always very energetic. Likewise the soundtrack is excellent with a whole lot of lyrical songs. The opening isn’t one of the strongest ones but it wors well enough. The soundtrack as a whole easily gets 5 stars here. The technical elements never let the show down at all.

Overall, This was another great season. While I may miss some of the end of the world stakes, a good tournament arc is a close second place for the kind of stories that I enjoy. It’s great being able to see the characters just enjoy their battles with no asterisks. The season also moves at breakneck speeds the whole time as it has to cover a lot of battles in just 13 episodes. Naturally this does mean that some fights do have to be rather rushed but all of the big ones get a solid amount of screentime. I definitely recommend checking this one out and it’s really impressive how long Cardfight has been going on for at this point. It’s a true rival to Yugioh.

Overall 9/10

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood Review

Posted on by
Reply


Brotherhood is one of those legendary anime that for an extremely long time was considered to be the best of all time. Even now it is still regarded as one of the overall best and a pinnacle of the anime medium. Now I can finally say that I have seen it as well and it definitely is a great title. After completing it I can see why so many people love the title. Now nothing is going to usurp Yugioh GX as the top anime around the block but this one does earn all of the praise that it receives.

The story revolves around two brothers, Edward and Alphonse. When they mother died an early death, they attempted to use human transmutation in order to bring her back to life. This did not work though as it violates the law of equivalent exchange and Alphonse ended up losing his entire body while Edward lost his leg. Edward then sacrificed his arm in order to retrieve Alphonse’s soul which is now held within an iron body. They decided to become professional alchemists in order to find a way to retrieve Alphonse’s body back. While the dead cannot be brought back to life, surely the body of someone who is still alive is attainable right? The adventures will lead them through a lot of trials in the meantime.

The main trial here involves a group of monsters known as Homunculus. They work for a mysterious figure who intends to do something with the entire planet and has implanted minions in many high ranking positions. Some of these monsters are obvious while others appear to be normal humans until they transform. These monsters are fully immortal which may help Ed/Alphonse’s research but stopping them won’t be easy. Additionally, the government is an authoritarian dictatorship led by King Bradley and there exists a government officer named Roy Mustang who intends to supplant him as the leader one day. He has to walk a fine line of staying true to his code of justice while making enough friends to get up there. Additionally, the shadows of his past continue to haunt him. A genocide was conducted against the Ishvalan people and one of their last survivors, Scar has decided to systematically murder all Alchemists. His plans threaten both the heroes as well as the villains which makes him an ultimate wild card.

There are more factions at play as well which is part of why the series is so long. It does a good job of showing us the motivations of all the groups and giving each character a lot of development. The whole thing is made with a high level of quality so it is no surprise that the series has gotten so popular. You’ll definitely be sucked into the series very quickly. The worldbuilding of how alchemy works is also set up in a simple way from the start so you can follow along. Alchemy is all about equivalent exchange so you can turn iron into a different metal and reshape things into weapons but you can’t turn a potato into a rocket launcher for example. Likewise you can’t bring the dead back to life because what would be equivalent to that?

Well, there are a lot of theories on that within the series and the brothers visit a lot of towns to try and get to the answers. There is one answer that sounds obvious from the start which you could come to with a second of thought as well but is it that simple? Also if it is possible, would it be moral to do so? The heroes find out the secret to the philosopher’s stone early on which makes their lives a whole lot more difficult. When you know how something is made, if it’s immortal then you naturally won’t want to use it if you are trying to stick to your moral high ground. Even once the object already exists, some will not want to use it while others will and that’s another big debate in the series.

Still, when you lose someone important to you then people will try their luck and we see that several times in the series. Everyone believes they will be the one to figure it out and end up paying the price. There is one silver lining which is that you see the truth about alchemy and can do it without using seals or equipment. It’s just a hollow silver lining at times if you sacrificed your sight or body in order to learn it.

The series looks great even after all of these years so the animation has really held up. The fight scenes were really focused with a lot of good movement and choreography. The colors are striking and the whole thing feels like true art. Meanwhile the soundtrack has a lot of variety and a great amount of battle songs. The endings are also catchy as well as the openings. Basically the series has no real weak points on a technical level and it just serves to enhance the series more and more.

It already had great writing and story development so this was the icing on the cake. It’s a very complete story with a satisfying beginning, middle, and ending as well. No cliffhangers here for folks who don’t like those. You are able to watch this all the way to the end and get all of the details. It’s cool to see how far all of the characters (who survived hehe) came from the start of the series to the end of it. There will still be a lot of issues that they have to go through but the main threat is passed.

Now lets talk about the characters. First up we have Edward who makes for a good MC even if he does spend a large portion of the series getting knocked around. He’s hardly the most powerful character in the series and even by the end it’s possible that he wouldn’t crack the top 10 although that may be pushing it. It’s different from the average Shonen adventure where you would expect him to keep on getting power up after power up and quickly ascend to being near the top. Ed is more about slowly getting to his goal.

There are even long stretches of time where he doesn’t even get any action sequences. That can happen with an extended cast of course but it’s definitely very noticeable here. Still, it works out well and he does lock in for the climax when it counts. He’s a good character and I liked him a lot more now than when I originally read the manga back in the day. Ed’s definitely got some spunk to him. The scene where he smashes open a cosmic door to reassure Alphonse was an epic moment.

Meanwhile Alphonse doesn’t get as many fiery moments but gets to show off his good character by how he handles the situation. He literally doesn’t have his body and yet he still manages to have a good attitude and doesn’t whine about it. Alphonse also helps Ed during the fights on several occasions. While he does end up being taken hostage more than once and generally can’t fight as well, it’s the thought that counts. Being an empty suit of armor does mean that he has more weaknesses after all and messing with the circle inside of him will even cause his soul to instantly be destroyed.

Trisha gets the smallest role from the family for obvious reasons. She died early on after all and so we just see her in flashbacks. It would have been nice if she could have appeared more but I guess adding too many flashbacks would potentially weaken the pacing. Her husband Hohenheim gets a lot more to do but I wouldn’t say that I ever ended up being a big fan of the guy. I never bought his excuse for just running out on the kids for so long. He absolutely could have communicated himself a whole lot better. Not even better, the guy didn’t communicate at all.

He gets some credit for his role in the climax but it was still disappointing how he wasn’t there for his family when it counted. Not only could he have prevented the tragedy at the beginning of the series but he could have helped out a lot during the life or death situations at the beginning. No matter how you slice it, he failed the kids when it counted.

Then we have the childhood friend Winry who was always there for the brothers and continued to be a quality character throughout the series. She doesn’t allow herself to just be a hostage/piece to be used by the villains and is quick to get with the program. She really is a great mechanic and ends up being super useful at different points in the series. Without her Ed would have absolutely been dead many times over.

Hughes is a character who doesn’t appear for most of the series and yet he keeps up a prominent role in the story. You could say he was the trigger for a lot of things to happen later on. While I wouldn’t say he was ever my favorite character, he was a good one. A character who made tough choices and lived with them instead of making any excuses. I also appreciated the strong bond that he had with his wife. A super loyal character like that is always fun and he was a good friend you can count on.

His partner Roy really ended up being a huge character in the series and definitely a highlight whenever he would appear. He has fire powers and I would say that he is easily the strongest hero and perhaps the strongest character in the series. Fire is incredibly overpowered in a realistic series like this and it can also completely bypass regeneration. Burn anything long enough and even a philosopher’s stone won’t be able to keep up. The series usually has to keep him far away from the battlefield to prevent him from just taking over and in the climax they had to quickly nerf him.

Roy is a character who did end up having to make a lot of compromises to make it into the top brass. Whether he went too far or not will ultimately be up to you. On the record, I do think he went too far along with all of the heroes who were on his side during the big war. They knew that they were working for a villain and yet they went along with it because those were the orders. Everyone who followed these orders and those who simply ran away are all guilty. They should have stood up for the people being massacred and did something. Sure, it’s good that they are trying to make things right now but it is all a bit late for that.

Also in terms of how things went with one of the villains he was fighting, I think Roy should have been allowed to destroy his opponent. I get the argument that he was going too far and dragging it out, but the villains needed to be eliminated or they would end up being a bigger threat later on. It worked out in this case but letting Roy finish the job would have been cathartic considering everything that he had went through.

Armstrong is one of the big alchemists we meet early on. He’s portrayed as a strong fighter and gets a lot done but surprisingly he doesn’t get much of a serious fight until near the end of the series. It makes scaling him rather difficult but we do know that he is very capable. He’s not my favorite character but he’s not bad by any means. He can just be a bit too passive at times which is why I much prefer his sister Olivier.

Olivier is consistently one of the most aggressive characters in the series and I was on her side at all times. Even when the villains basically call the shots and have operatives everywhere you need to be able to just take them down as needed. She bumps off a number of fighters and then her own soldiers are absolutely crucial to winning the day by the end. Without them the alchemists would have been absolutely doomed. Even without any alchemy of her own, Olivier fights very hard. She’s a lot of fun to watch.

Izumi is another strong fighter and in her case she also has alchemy to back herself up. She would absolutely be considered one of the strongest fighters even by the end since she can fight with and without powers. For the most part she isn’t super active in the story but does have her moments every now and again as the mentor. It goes back to the size of the case again where some characters just don’t have as much of a chance to shine.

Hawkeye is one character who gets a lot of great moments though. She is the best support fighter you could ask for and helps Roy out a ton. She gets all of the most dangerous jobs and gets threatened numerous times but always stays strong. Ultimately she is a normal person with a gun and yet she still does a whole lot of damage. She had a very compelling character arc and backstory. Hawkeye was easily one of the best characters in the series without a doubt.

Major Miles and Captain Buccaneer are two good troops who stood out from Olivier’s forces. Miles really accomplished a lot and accomplished a lot in his position. Meanwhile Buccaneer proved to be more than a large man with bravado and ended up being an incredible asset to the team. He managed to get an absolutely critical hit in the climax against one of the villains and was just a lot of fun to have around.

Then we have the forces from the other country like Ling. He starts out as a rather shady prince. I wouldn’t say he’s the most heroic guy in the world but he does know what it means to lead a country and does that rather well. He protects his troops and fights hard against the villains. His ability to fight in the dark is also handy since he can read chi. He was a lot of fun and he slowly rose up the ranks to be one of the best characters by the end.

I also liked both of his subordinates Lan Fan and Fu. They were extremely loyal and really knew how to fight. In particular Lan Fan gets a whole lot of screentime and makes a lot of sacrifices in order to make sure that he wins in the end. I can definitely appreciate that kind of dedication here. Fu also was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice at any time. May is her own faction as she tries to get to the secret of immortality and is another fun fighter. She is deceptively strong thanks to how agile she is. It makes it extremely difficult to actually tag her in a fight since she can easily dodge most strikes. Since she is a kid compared to the rest of the characters, she is also a bit out of her depth at times although she handles herself better than most would.

For the villains, Tucker gets a pretty small role next to the others. He just got infamous because of the crime that he committed. This guy had absolutely no moral compass and was totally crazy. It was definitely good that somebody bumped him off. There’s the suspicious Dr. Marcoh but at least he was trying to do things for the right reasons although he allowed himself to be used for a bunch of crimes as well. He never became one of my favorite characters but he does his best to atone for things.

From the big villains, Lust ends up getting one of the smaller roles since she doesn’t last for a very long time. Her abilities are good and I did enjoy her presence but by default she ends up being one of the weaker villains. It’s just tough to do much when the others are all constantly appearing so they naturally end up going ahead of her. I do prefer her to Gluttony since she is more strategic though. Gluttony is strong and even has his own powered up mode which most characters lack. That said, he just isn’t very bright.

Perhaps that would have made him too dangerous so this was a way to prevent that. Either way he serves his role as a powerful villain even if he isn’t ready to strategize. Sloth is another villain who isn’t very smart but he is so much more dangerous that it barely matters. He barrels through the characters and really lands punishing blows. His fight against the two Armstrongs was really good and it helps to make his character more memorable. He didn’t appear until late in the series but did well.

Kimblee is a villain who appears extremely early but it takes forever until he fights. He did really well in the role though even if he was often outmatched. The guy is extremely smug but the heroes deal with him a bit easier than you would expect. I liked the guy’s swagger though, he was absolutely full of himself but in a really fun way.

Envy is another character who loves gloating but it’s definitely earned since he bumps off so many characters. The guy is already powerful and then has a super form on top of that. Ultimately he could beat most opponents in the series and mainly just had trouble against the top tiers. I liked how sadistic the guy was and he’s a good example of how to write a really twisted villain. They also nailed his voice when in Envy’s true mode. The voice was just perfect and it’s hard to describe just how awesome it is. He goes on a long speech at the end and it’s just awesome.

Pride is a villain who doesn’t appear until near the end but makes his presence known immediately. He is one of the most powerful villains and his shadows are really hard to beat. That’s why it’s impressive how the author thinks of several ways to take him down. If anything Pride only lasts a while because of a big error the heroes make at one point. Ah well these things happen, but I did enjoy Pride a lot. He was an extremely solid villain.

Then we have Greed who ended up being the best of the villains. The guy has a lot of freewill and doesn’t just listen to orders like the other villains. He does what he wants when he wants to do it and that embodies the trait of Greed very well. Why should he just listen to orders like an ordinary character? He just kept getting better and better so you will want to stay really focused for all of his battles.

King Bradley is another top tier villain and I would go as far as to say the most powerful villain by far. Yes, I put him over Father. Bradley has incredible speed and power. He is able to slice tanks apart and can outpace any alchemist attack. It takes an entire army to slow the guy down and he endures a ton of wounds before going down. He’s an example of why it can be tough to defeat a villain with true conviction because he will fight as hard as any hero would. He is completely evil but written really well as to why he believes what he does. He’s basically loyal to a fault and can just express himself really well.

Of course we have Father as well and the guy had good plans but perhaps falls into the trap of waiting too long? He probably should have taken a more aggressive plan to trap all of the candidates that he needed instead of waiting til the end. His hubris was absolutely his downfall but he was a fun villain as well. I didn’t remember his origin at all until watching the series and thought that it set him up really well. I would have liked a longer climax fight but it was still really satisfying.

Finally we have Scar who starts off amazingly well but does sputter near the end. I would say he is best as a complete villain who keeps everyone on edge compared to being more of an anti hero later on. His ability to destroy anything that he touches is incredibly powerful. It’s super hard to prevent someone from even touching you after all which is why he can potentially defeat any opponent. At the same time, it also means that most of the villains are a rough matchup since they can keep on regenerating so trading blows is advantageous to them.

Scar gets a ton of character development and it is a really well written character arc. So don’t think that he’s poorly written or anything, but I guess I just got used to him as a villain. Some characters simply aren’t as interesting as heroes even though he didn’t do anything wrong per say. He’s still one of the higher characters in the series but as a villain he was fighting for the top rank.

With all of these characters and more fighting for their goals, the series feels like a true epic. It’s why my favorite part of the series is when all of the factions converge at Father’s base and finally meet each other at the same time. It was a great moment and it’s why a series always benefits greatly from having more than two factions. You simply can’t recreate that moment without such a factor.

The series doesn’t have many negatives in general. It completely avoids the fanservice trap which is awesome. It’s why this series is very new viewer friendly. There is some animal violence in the series which can be hard to avoid for a really long title. It’s usually nothing crazy but in a shorter series it could have been trickier. The series can get dark at times but does a good job of not going too far with it. It’s more the implications that can get trickier when you think about them like Tucker’s daughter. Scar had a point with how he resolved the issue but it was a tough situation either way.

For the heroes my only issue would be that at times they are ultra passive. I know that it’s hard to defeat a whole government but when the villain is in front of you then you have to act. You need to step up and do something instead of simply biding time. Things went over well but only thanks to characters like Olivier and Roy moving the story along. I fear that Ed and Alphonse would have been unable to do much to move the status quo forward. I’m sure they would want to do something but they just didn’t even know where to start.

Overall, The series may be well over 50 episodes but you will blast through it with ease. The story arcs are a lot of fun and there are so many great characters. It’s an amazing story all the way through and there just isn’t much to dislike. The characters can be a bit too passive in trying to stop the villains at times but I get how it would be difficult to stop such a large amount of them in this kind of setting. Either way, whether you like action or a good well written thriller, this is a series that I can recommend. It’s also a great launching point for folks who have never seen an anime before because it’s a solid story for any medium.

Overall 8/10

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Review

Posted on by
Reply


For a long time people were hoping that Vigilantes would get an adaption and now it’s finally here! It started off as a fairly street level title that eventually got as big and high tier as the main series. So now it is finally here and they did a great job on the production here. In some ways they have even amplified the source material so that was really appreciated. It’s a pretty solid title that you can jump right into without any issues. Definitely the kind of title that you can recommend with ease.

The series follows a kid named Koichi who always wanted to be a hero but his quirk did not appear to be well suited to it. He can slide along the ground at an accelerated speed but that’s about it. Nothing too flashy and the use cases for this ability aren’t going to be too large. Ah well, he can at least be a vigilante known as the Crawler who helps out his neighborhood. Well one day he runs into a local celebrity known as Pop and a mysterious old man that becomes his master. Now Koichi can actually begin acting more like a true hero but is he just going to get into more trouble by hanging out with these two?

At its core, Vigilantes is about how anybody can make a difference. Being a super powered vigilante is obviously against the rules in this universe, however we see how much good they do on a day to day basis. I would say this series does a great job of showing the positives about vigilantism. They aren’t doing anything super violent here and are saving the people that the pros don’t have time for. Koichi’s neighborhood is not the best to say the least and apparently even the pros often take a long while to get here since nobody’s in the area. That is where the vigilantes come in.

The pro heroes instinctively realize this and for the most part look the other way but technically if the vigilantes are too obvious then they have to be arrested. This season mainly focuses on the new characters though so the heroes will have to wait for a bit longer. We do get a standout fight between Knuckle Duster and Eraserhead at one point though which was a really good battle. Personally I feel like Knuckle should absolutely have the edge in that battle if they were both going all out. He just works as a really good counter to Eraserhead since he has no powers to shut off.

Right away on the technical elements, I would say that the opening song is very catchy. It’s not quite ready to defeat the best MHA main openings but I like it quite a bit. The songs within the show are also good and work with the action. The animation style is also great. It’s going for a bit of a thicker/flashier look than the main series. The details are really on point and the fights are really dynamic. There are a lot of great fights to choose from but the best might be Knuckle against the Bee user. A lot of good strategy and animation blending together there.

The show feels like it covers a lot of ground in just a few episodes and the pacing is just really on point. The characters are also likable which is important for any show even if one character is forgiven way too quickly. Soga is a bully who tries to do more than just beat Pop up before he is stopped by the heroes. Yet, he’s now just back to every day life and that’s it? I just can’t buy into that because there is crashing out and then there is knowingly being about to commit a heinous crime. No matter how you slice it, it makes this character look absolutely awful. He should still be behind bars and mayyybe after 3 seasons I’d consider a redemption arc for him. Ah well, the rest of the characters tend to be solid and this title is in a great position to be My Hero’s replacement for once that show’s final season ends.

Koichi is similar to Deku in some ways but they are still very different characters. Koichi is a bit more confident in himself and proudly shows off his All Might merch and tries to make friends. Things just tend to backfire on him so it’s not easy. I give him a lot of credit for deciding to keep on helping people even when his path to being a hero was really closed off. We also learn more about his backstory which ties into why he isn’t more powerful now. His life could have gone down a very different trajectory but either way the important thing is that he keeps on fighting and plunging forward for as long as it takes. That is the hallmark of a true hero. He just needs to work on being less socially oblivious and he will be all set.

Meanwhile Pop is a character who is also following her passion of singing and performing. She has been doing well and is even a local celebrity but she still wants to aim bigger. Towards the end we find out that she can’t really sing which I was surprised about. I thought she had been singing a lot but I guess she does more bouncing. Her quirk of jumping/moving in the air is a handy one even if it’s not directly a combat related quirk. It’s the type of ability that is versatile enough to work out well in a pinch but at the end of the day she’s just not a fighter so it’s not like she prioritizes mastering her ability. She’s here more for the romance subplot which for now has not really gone anywhere. That works out well enough for me since season 1 always has a lot to cover.

Knuckle easily has the biggest character arc in the show as it is absolutely crucial to what’s going on here. He makes for a real mysterious character and someone who is always ready to put his life on the line. I really liked him and this guy was a stand out character in the series. He would always step forward in a battle and showed that even without a quirk he can go toe to toe with some of the stronger villains in the series. It was all really impressive and any scene with him in it was sure to be a winner. It was good to have an older guy on the squad as well since he kept the other characters sharp.

From the pro heroes, Eraser easily has the biggest role. He hasn’t changed much since the start of the main series which makes sense. He’s still not the most social guy out there but he does his best to live up to his obligations and will also stop any villain in his way. He’s a solid well rounded hero so it was fun to have him around. For the most part the others just make cameos except for Ingenium who gets his share of big moments. The guy’s speed is really intense and he definitely means well. I like his general heroism and while his quirk also has its limitations, he gets around them by having a really good team. He absolutely believes in proper teamwork and this keeps him ahead of the pack. It’s easy to see why he was one of the top heroes.

Captain Celebrity also shows up as a big hero from America. He doesn’t have the strongest moral compass though. Yeah he’ll save the day from villains but he waits until a camera crew is around. If he sees you, he’ll probably save you but otherwise he is not the type of guy to go the extra mile. So characters in the series are very critical of him and I definitely get it. We’re not saying he has to save everyone but he should be doing his best to that standard. Fortunately he is pretty fun to watch in that over the top jerk kind of way. He’s also legitimately very powerful so it’s still better to have him on your side than not to.

His agent is Makoto who also gets a big role here. She wants to find out the true identity of the vigilantes and so she tries to stick close to Koichi to get some intel on what’s going on. She can be very manipulative towards these ends though. At times she feels a bit too deceptive to me the kind of character who will really say anything to suit her own purposes. She’s not corrupt in the way that Celebrity is, but I do have to say that I just would not trust her.

Then you have the vigilante Stendhal who really can’t be trusted. He’s the Punisher kind of vigilante who believes that might makes right and will absolutely devastate any fighter who gets in his way. That’s just the kind of man that he is. His sword skills are really impressive and it’s fun seeing him shake the town up but he is the reason why Vigilantes are illegal. This wanton destruction and murder is an absolute abuse of power. So in a sense he just becomes a villain but at least one that you can basically root for since it’s better that he wins than the actual villains.

The main villain in the season is the mysterious bee user though. I mean her boss is All for One but the guy just talks, she is the one putting plans to action. She is also very confident considering that she openly disobeys him and basically dares the guy to do anything about it. That takes a whole lot of guts and so you can’t say that she does anything half hearted. Her bee ability is also hard to stop because of how many bees she has at her disposal and she can even fight in close quarters combat when needed. She made for a really solid villain as a result.

There are other side characters around as well but for the most part the show did a good job of keeping the cast relatively contained. The series also has enough ties to the main one where you can appreciate the guest stars but it works well on its own too. The bumpers are perhaps a little too basic with how they define terms like “hero” and “villain” though. Not the best use of those screens, I would have preferred some fun illustrations or something.

At the end of the day one of the big strengths of the show is how fun it is. I would say Koichi, Pop, and Knuckle already have a really good team dynamic between the three of them. It’s fun to see them chatting and bantering as they take down all of the big villains. Meanwhile the solid animation can make any enemy encounter memorable. I really liked the brief soccer villain who showed up for example. Seeing all that movement reminded me of what Blue Lock might have looked like and it also makes for a really surreal villain. He’s the kind of villain that you just don’t forget and the show had quite a few other one shots like that who were quite solid.

Overall, My Hero Academia Vigilantes is off to a really fun start here. The episodic nature of the big villains mixed in with the leader in the shadows is a really solid kind of setup. We’ve also already got some threads for the second season like this mysterious super speed villain. That is going to keep the heroes busy for quite a while. Hopefully we get season 2 sooner than later so the hype can continue. In the meantime I definitely recommend checking this one out. It’s a good action show that can really appeal to anyone.

Overall 7/10