5 Centimeters per Second Review

Posted on September 2, 2024 by dreager1

You ever wonder how fast you are moving per second? It’s not something I generally think about all that much but I tend to rock back and forth as I write reviews so I like to think I am moving more than 5 Centimeters per second. This film is a pretty fun romance title either way. Fun may not sound like the right word because it’s going for a twinge of tragedy the whole time but I liked the vibes and the animation was solid. I thought it was a good time and it managed to avoid the usual romance tragedy tropes like someone getting hit by a truck or falling into a coma. This felt more like a natural way for a romance to go tragically.

The movie is divided into three segments. Initially I figured this was going full anthology style and didn’t realize it was the same guy in the second special until around halfway through when he started being on the phone. It’s a pretty interesting look at a relationship through the ages and again I would say it’s handled well. When achieved, a doomed romance plot like this can be super interesting. It’s also just easy to mess up so I wouldn’t generally recommend that a film tries this. Only the elite can make it so the whole thing isn’t overly melodramatic and such.

The first segment introduces us to Takaki and Akari. The two of them have been best friends through school but one day Akari has to move away. They’re both still fairly young at this point and there were no cell phones so it’s hard to find a time to meet up. Still, they make plans for Takaki to visit her. It’s a trip that takes several hours as he is supposed to arrive there by 7 and leaves in the very early afternoon. Unfortunately a snow storm hits which starts causing many delays. Will he still be able to make it in time? Will she still be there when he arrives? The worries and tension begin to add up.

This segment likes to flash back and forth to the past and present a whole lot. It can maybe be slightly overdone at times but it does show how quickly they bonded. The tough part is their age because if they were grown ups Takaki could have just moved over there or something. Instead, they have to rely on letters and that takes up a ton of effort. It’s hard to imagine a relationship staying strong purely over mail like that for such a long period of time. Ultimately you want to be able to see and hear the person. It’s why pen pal relationships are always treated like such a big deal, because they really are rare. At least they did get to meet once though, even if it took a great deal of effort.

The second segment takes place years later as a girl named Kanae falls for Takaki. The problem for her is that he just doesn’t see her in that way. He’s always a little scattered and on his phone. He’s very kind to her but it’s in a professional way. So Kanae wants to work up the courage to ask him out and to do this she will need to improve her surfing abilities. Will she be able to break through Takaki’s generational bond with Akari or will it be game over for her?

It’s a fun follow up and in a way the film does a great job of stacking the deck against Kanae. Not only does she have to face her fears to be with Takaki but at the same time the audience is also rooting against her since most people will be rooting for Akari to get with Takaki. So we have a rare moment of everyone in and out of universe being against her. (Well in universe nobody really cares so it might be more accurate to say that nobody’s really on her side since she doesn’t really tell her family either) It helps to make Kanae’s struggle all the tougher. Ultimately this is a bit more of a generic romance type story compared to the first and last segments though. It’s solid enough but doesn’t really stand out. I guess the strongest part to me is that Takaki is still so dedicated to Akari even though it has been so long.

In the final segment, we see Takaki as a grownup. He finally gave up on waiting to an extent and has a girlfriend now. The problem is that he’s still not over Akari so that’s really not cool. Remember, if you can’t get over someone then you have to solve that on your own. Entering into a relationship to speed this up is called rebounding and it’s not cool. I sort of figured this was Kanae as the girlfriend but the movie never really alluded to this at all so I suppose it probably wasn’t. The special mentions that Takaki and this new girl have texted over 1000 times and are still not very close so that’s rough.

1000 texts can happen rather quickly as it is. You can easily hit 20-30 texts in a day with a friend so I imagine with a girlfriend you’re talking more like 50-100. Still, Takaki not being complete with his feelings was definitely disappointing. Ultimately Akari moved on and got married. She still thinks about Takaki but you don’t get the feeling that it’s in a what if perspective and she’s just hoping that he’s okay. Her wondering if she should have told him about the wedding or not is more for closure on his end I would say. Ultimately, it would have been good if they held out for each other but it’s been years and she had been doing all the work. Without any extra context, I feel like it is Takaki who dropped the ball.

I would even say the final scene symbolizes this a bit when the train appears and the characters turn around. Takaki stays there, hoping to see Akari because he’s still trapped in the past while Akari had kept on going because she would no longer look back. Takaki realizing that she moved on helps him to move on as well but I would say as always Akari was leading the charge here. She was always progressing and you just like to see that. So yeah the ending’s not the happiest one out there but the process of getting over a long love is a story you don’t see very often.

It feels like most films are about just continuing to try until the two characters end up together or finding someone else and getting together. Sometimes your love doesn’t work out and showing people how to move on is important. It was long enough where I would call this a love and not a crush either. Takaki better be sure he has really moved on this time before getting a girlfriend though because he really can’t afford to be making any more mistakes.

The animation is pretty solid here and it’s definitely aged well. I liked a lot of the different shots here like the cherry tree and the night sky. It’s all very smooth and it’s the kind of animation style that will continue to age well throughout the years. I certainly have no doubts about that. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side, I couldn’t really tell you any of the tracks by memory. I want to say it worked well enough in the scenes though and for the most part this is a quiet film anyway. It’s more about the writing than anything else.

Overall, 5 Centimeters per Second is a pretty good movie. It’s a low key romance film that has a lot of build up the whole time and shows that even a passionate romance may not always stand the test of time. Sometimes the circumstances and situation just weren’t right so it ends up being doomed to fail. This can happen even without either of the characters being malicious in any way. Give me a realistic relationship fail over one of those cheesy rushed romances that makes no sense any day. The movie itself is also super short so it doesn’t take long to go through. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

The Water Dragon’s Bride Review

Posted on August 25, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a supernatural Shojo title. There is a lot of romance and drama of course, you gotta have the full blend of emotions here and the series lasted for 11 volumes which is pretty impressive. It gets to cover a lot and has a pretty unique premise. It’s definitely not something that you see very often. You’d almost expect this to be like a power fantasy by the end but that’s not the exact audience it’s going for so this is a little different.

The story starts with introducing us to a normal girl named Asahi who has a loving family. Everything was going well one day until she got pulled into the well that exists in her backyard. This isekais her to another realm where she is meant to be the Water Dragon’s bride. This god doesn’t really have any emotions and thinks the whole ritual is amusing but he still takes offense when she declines him. So he sends her back into the village but without the use of her voice. She must now find a way to escape this world that exists in the past and get back to modern day civilization. Is that even possible though?

She has one ally in the past at least. A boy named Subaru who likes her right away. Unfortunately they are both just kids right now and so it’s not like they can really defend themselves from the cruel mortals that are all around them. Subaru’s mother is one of the key antagonists who wants to sacrifice Asahi and get her out of here. Asahi is just lucky that the water dragon has no interest in claiming her life. If he did then that would have really been it for her. As the series goes on she gradually gets to teach him about the various emotions so that he becomes more human.

There is a time skip later in the series so Asahi is all grown up and can talk again. This definitely helps because while she was always a solid main character, it’s just hard to do anything while you’re still a kid. Not being able to talk is also rough when the whole village is against her. I thought the series definitely got more interesting from this point on. There are a lot of plot elements I would have liked to have seen more of though. We have several gods outside of the water one like darkness, fire, wood, and a few others. The only other one with a big role aside from water is the darkness one who makes for a good villain. The others are more just along for the ride but having a big gods battle royale would have been a lot of fun. Something where we see them all show up to defend Asahi or something like that.

I would say the character who gets the most development by far is the Water Dragon though. Going from emotionless to super emotional by the end is always a pretty big leap but the series took its time with this so it wasn’t all that rushed. Now was the romance still any good? Ehhhh I always have some issues with the whole immortal romance. I mean they grew up together the whole time ever since she was a small child. Yeah he never grew up so now it works a bit better and with the ending we can say that mayyyybe he’s not immortal? I’m still not feeling the romance either way I gotta admit but at least it’s not a rebound or anything.

The Water Dragon also came through in the clutch when she really needed him on several occasions. Whether it was the humans intentionally burning her or trying to drown her, he was ready. He got quite a few rage modes on her behalf and so the romance was really properly set up the whole time. It’s at least not something that was just thrown in at the last second and that’s pretty normal for a Shojo series. The build up is the important part.

Subaru naturally gets the short end of the stick but you could probably have guessed that based on the title. The series is absolutely merciless to the guy though as he has his big scene where he finally gathers the courage to confess to Asahi so she just immediately runs over to the water dragon to ask him out. That’s gotta be completely demoralizing. What a way to go right? You’re thinking the worst she can say is no, but your courage just being what gives her the courage to ask someone else out is rough.

Subaru also did his best to look out for her all those years too. He was a good friend, ultimately that’s just what he has to settle for though. They were not meant to be anything more than that. Maybe if he had asked sooner or something but he took too long. Asahi also had a lot on her mind throughout the series. She had to contend with the fact that gods exist in the world and that she may never actually get to get home. As the series continues she has to go up against the god of darkness as well. So there’s not a whole lot of down time for her in the series to really be thinking about the romance.

Asahi is a well balanced main character though. She is ready to fight when needed and gathers her courage when talking to big figures like the emperor. She doesn’t shirk any of her duties or responsibilities at all. She also had to make a tough decision later on about which world to stay in. Naturally being with her family is super important and all but at this point she’s lived longer in the other world so saying goodbye to those connections would be rough as well. It’s definitely a tough call. I’d generally choose the world with powers but in this case it’s not like the powers are hers directly so that does make things a little more difficult.

We get to briefly see the parents and they really didn’t take the vanishing very well. How could they right? One second they’re spending time with their daughter and the next she is gone. That’s the kind of thing that creates a permanent mental scar. You just don’t really come back from that and it created some mild resentment for her younger brother who never even got to meet Asahi. Always seeing your parents sad about the whole thing takes a big toll and of course when he sees Asahi is tempted to leave again, that just makes it all the more upsetting. It’s like she’s taking the whole thing for granted. So the brother wasn’t very nice but I did feel bad for him because of all this.

Back in the village, Tsukihiko is one of the first big characters to show up. He’s one of the only people to treat Asahi well from the start and is a consistent ally. His role gets smaller and smaller as the series goes on but he definitely had his moments. I liked him well enough and his drastic plan to fake Asahi’s death was pretty good. It might have even worked if not for Asahi. Kagahiko is a big bandit who shows up for a while but I was not a fan of him. He was trying too hard the whole time and feels real petty.

Yeah he ends up having his reasons and all but none of it really excuses attacking the main village and going after Asahi several times. She could have really done without all of that aggravation. There’s not much to him aside from being a bandit either. I never really sympathized with the guy or anything and wouldn’t have minded if the water dragon just blew him up. We’ve also got the Emperor and I wasn’t a big fan of that kid.

For one thing, he is an actual kid so it’s not like he is very good at running the show just yet. Asahi basically has to take on a mother type role for a while there and really explain why his plans wouldn’t work. He even suggests she become his bride for a while there which of course was out of the question. Even to the end he is getting kidnapped and everything so yeah I don’t think he ever really went up for me. He was more on the annoying side.

Matori is the hardened sword master who shows up later. He has some serious skills for sure but can be rather laid back. He’s a nice enough character. I feel like he came in last enough where you almost could have cut him out entirely though. The series would not have been all that different if he was gone after all. At least that’s the way I see it. It helps that Subaru’s sword skills rarely became a factor in the series. Often times the villains can only be stopped by the water dragon. Perhaps if Subaru got to be the final opponent for Kurose at the end that would have helped justify this.

Kurose is a good villain and definitely someone who felt like a threat. I was glad to have him here to shake things up a bit. Yeah he’s not the smartest guy and certainly gets manipulated quite a bit but I can respect the drive. At his core he wanted to save his friend and that’s admirable enough. He just went about it all the wrong way. Kurose had a really rough backstory so you can see how this really corrupted him from the start. He was only just starting to get rehabilitated when the whole thing happened and he had to turn to the dark side. At least he’s doing better than in the real world where he was really getting beat up and was basically murdered. It was quick but I really did appreciate seeing his back story here. It’s rare that we get to see the villains get Isekai’d after all.

The artwork for the series is pretty good. It can definitely be very expressive at times. The water can be a little chaotic at times though. It may be semi intentional but I also think it can just be really difficult to show a lot of water on screen without it getting at least a little messy. It’s a tough balance that you have to try and keep up throughout. Still, it was always readable so I definitely don’t have any big issues here. The writing was solid and the dark god was a formidable foe and that’s what counts.

I dare say the series was almost going for a bit of an anti human message there for a little while. There are just so many corrupt humans who were trying to destroy Asahi right from the start without hearing her out. The fact that she is just a child makes that even worse. I guess we can assume that the people will be more reasonable as time goes on but I still wouldn’t trust any of them to be honest. With the ending it doesn’t really matter by that point though. It’s a fairly upbeat ending although one character had to do a ton of waiting. I know he had a lot of time but that would probably still have been a really tough wait.

For me the series biggest strength and what I would praise it for is that it’s always interesting. I may not always love the setting but they did a good job of showing us just what a difficult situation Asahi was in. Particularly when she could not talk as she had to try and be expressive to get her point across. Since she was a child, that took extra determination. She was also in the middle of enemy lines the whole time even if the village wasn’t meant to be super evil. So you really get to see her journey through the years and the series did a good job with that.

Overall, The Water Dragon’s Bride is a good title. It doesn’t keep up with some of the other Shojo titles I’ve read to be sure but I didn’t really have any big issues with it either. It uses the Isekai genre to tell a reasonable romance plot and we get some action along the way. I’ll never turn down a good action scene and this could have made for a fun little anime. I think it would have been even better if it was set in the modern day but of course you would have to do some true re writes to actually get that to work. If you like romance then you should definitely check this one out. The characters are solid and there is a lot going on here. The author really managed to squeeze in a kid section, time skip, Asahi going back home, and a full backstory for the villain. The 11 volumes length was used pretty well.

Overall 6/10

Never Say Goodbye Review

Posted on August 11, 2024 by dreager1

Uh oh, it’s time for a film about the ole rebound so you know this is probably not gonna end well. In some ways you could make the argument that it’s good the main two characters try to get back together but based in large part to the execution I would disagree. Splitting up isn’t great but going back together isn’t either when you know it can’t possibly last. There are a lot of red flags to the relationship in this film.

So the film starts by introducing us to Phil and Ellen who are currently divorced. They each have their appointed time frames with their daughter Flip but she isn’t thrilled with this arrangement. She loves hanging out with both of them and wishes they could all just get along. Life just isn’t that simple sometimes but they don’t really have the heart to tell her that. Flip basically begs them to try and get back together so they give it a shot by going to a date. The problem is that Phil has a girlfriend right now and forgot he was going on a date with her at the same time. He has to try and balance both dates now but it won’t be easy. Can he bring back the marriage?

I mean the obvious answer here is no right? If you already have a new girlfriend then it sounds like you’ve completely moved on. I would feel like the whole thing is completely insincere at this point. Moving on like that is a massive red flag to the point where I would say it pretty much disqualifies you entirely. It’s just such a bad look and it makes them both look bad. Ellen shouldn’t put up with this and should have immediately given up on Phil when she found out. Meanwhile it makes Phil look super greedy like he wants his wife back but still wants to be having fun on the side? I’s clear that he’s not responsible at all so why would you want to re marry him? It would jus be running into the same issues again and again. The reasons why they broke up in the first place would just return for them to break up a second time.

There is really no hope there. Now I know they want to band together for their kid but that’s actually not a great reason to do it. Ultimately all that’s gonna do it lead to more resentment and create more problems. If things were so bad that they had to fully divorce, then it’s not something that can be so easily repaired. They should have just sat Flip down and really given her a detailed reason on why this was not going to be able to happen.

Flip’s a kid so I won’t be super harsh on her but she definitely stirs up a lot of trouble here. No kid wants to be living in a broken home to be sure but it’s something that is really out of her control at this point. Then her final scene is rather rough as she is getting greedy already. It’s supposed to be a very wholesome moment of course but instead you’re just rolling your eyes here. She needs to just calm down a bit.

Since this entire film is really revolving around the main romance, the fact that it isn’t very good definitely ends up hurting the movie as a whole. You can absolutely pull off this kind of premise but only if both characters had not moved on. Like lets say we are introduced to them both and they’re super sad sacks who stay home all day and have nobody to hang out with. Now we actually have something here because that would make sense. You can see how they realized splitting up was a mistake. Since that’s not how the film went though, then you know this was not a good idea.

Phil’s girlfriend Nancy is rather rude the whole time but it’s hard to blame her. On a narrative level you know she is absolutely doomed and from her point of view this is all happening so fast. Why is the ex back in the picture? It’s a risk you always take when you date someone who has a past but it goes without saying that Nancy isn’t going to like Ellen. She has no reason to.

Meanwhile on Ellen’s side you have Rex who likes her but the feeling definitely appears to be more one sided. I dunno it seemed like she didn’t take him seriously and the guy got absolutely crushed by Phil so it’s definitely not like he is anyone special. I can’t say I liked him though, either way as the divorce lawyer it seems like bad practice to fall for your clients in any way right?

Now as I was saying earlier, Flip is always causing a bunch of trouble? Well she strikes again by writing to a marine while pretending to be Ellen so the guy shows up all ready to start a relationship and of course he gets thrown into this whole mess. He ends up taking it extremely well after having his feelings manipulated and everything. You do have to keep in mind that this is primarily a comedic film so all of this is treated rather lightly but from his perspective it definitely sucks.

Also while Luigi is treated well as a loyal friend to Phil for trying to hide his two timing, that’s actually pretty bad. Even if the person is your friend, trying to hide their bad sides is not a good idea. You can hide the ones that don’t affect other people and are mild but when they do affect others, you are making a grave mistake there. The other friend Jack wasn’t really any better and would just show up to create more drama.

Now it’s not like the film is never funny or anything like that. It has its moments and in general I do think the film had good writing. It just is based around a premise that I don’t think worked much at all. The romance should have taken more of a backseat to the comedy and had the film show us why this was such a bad idea. Make the whole thing go absolutely bonkers the whole time and that would have had way more potential. There’s quite a few ways you could have really positioned this in a favorable way. At least that’s the way I see it and you could still have a fairly happy ending.

Just have the main two admit they are not compatible but they will still talk to each other more so they’re not buying Flip the same presents and things like that. I dare say that if you do this, it really fixes all of the issues at once. Then you can enjoy all of the shenanigans more. Flip will probably still be annoying the whole time but what can ya do.

Overall, Never Say Goodbye is a film that tries to make this case but sometimes you do actually have to state your farewells. I get that the film is trying to have a positive message and I appreciate that but in this instance it just didn’t work. The film has its light tone and can be funny but in the end I wouldn’t really be able to recommend this one. There are many other comedies that have a lot more fun with their premises and ultimately they would get the nod over this one.

Overall 4/10

They Live By Night Review

Posted on August 8, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a noir title with a lot going on but it does not execute as well as it could have. It’s not super out of the ordinary for the main character to be unlikable in a noir title like this but at the same time you still need to have some kind of redeemable quality to really let the film go through smoothly. Mix that in with the underwhelming romance and this is not really one for the books. It can keep you entertained but the characters tend to get you annoyed more often than not which throws you right back out of the title.

The film starts off with Bowie and two other inmates escaping from jail. Bowie supposedly murdered someone which is a pretty big charge so he needs to lie low. The other two criminals are hardened veterans so they find a safehouse with people they know. The next challenge will be to rob a bank so they can free another criminal but this time doing it legally. Bowie is really just along for the ride but he ends up falling for the girl who lives there. Her name is Keechie and she doesn’t know a whole lot about the world. Bowie’s out of his depth as well so this could really work well as a match. Can Bowie get out of this crime circuit though?

Okay so I don’t really sympathize with Bowie because of how far this goes. At the end of the day it may be peer pressure but he was still doing everything. Robbing a bank is a crime no matter how you slice it after all. I do think he at least made the right call in skipping town with Keechie when the stakes were getting real high but at the same time he played it sloppy once one of the other criminals, Chicamaw caught up to him. You have to take the guy out of the picture. The longer you keep him around the worse things will get.

Yeah, taking someone out isn’t easy but this guy’s a villain through and through so you can’t really feel bad about that. Bowie also has Keechie to think about at this point so that really means he has to go all in. Ultimately things don’t go great for Bowie and you weren’t expecting them to considering what happened throughout the film. Right through to the end he was outplayed and that’s why he was not meant to be in the criminal game. In a way you could say it’s probably a good thing when you aren’t cut out for the competition but of course it’s even better to not even get involved in the first place.

Now why was the romance so bad? Well I think they overplayed the naive angle for Keechie. She just didn’t seem to know much about anything and so she wanted to take things slow but Bowie was the one always getting upset and trying to speed things up. It’s hard to see what she saw in the guy. From her perspective he’s another crook and someone who is trying to move rather fast instead of getting to know her. Yes, you can say she is desperate because no other guys have wanted her and that definitely throws a sad element into this but it doesn’t make the romance itself any better. In fact you could make the case that it makes the whole thing worse.

Keechie isn’t properly developed at the start of the film. I would argue that she gets a little development later on as she stands up for herself more and makes decisions. It’s not as if it’s a bad relationship all the way through but the start is just way too rocky to buy into. At least it was a way to escape the villain base which was really just a powder keg for a while there.

Also Chicamaw isn’t the best main villain. He’s jealous of Bowie for getting all of the credit for the latest crime but that means the cops won’t be looking for him as hard. That’s almost objectively a good thing from his point of view in every way. The fact that he is so petty that he would put all of this in jeopardy for clout is absolutely crazy. The guy also gets drunk quite a lot so I wouldn’t call him the biggest threat. It’s why Bowie needed to take him out a lot sooner. Yeah he can’t win a straight fight but he could absolutely do something from the sides using trickery.

I will say that the writing is solid as always though. The dialogue between each of the characters is on point without a doubt and the pacing isn’t bad. The film moves from plot point to plot point well, the problem is really that the plot itself wasn’t good enough here. You need to really rewrite large sections of it for the film to be better. It just isn’t the most entertaining film and with so many other better titles to check out, this one just ends up fading into the background.

Overall, They Live by Night is not a film that I would recommend as much as the average noir title. It could have used a mystery or something. Just watching the main guy making various mistakes doesn’t really do anything for me. The main part of the film is also about a romance that I just didn’t care much about either so there was no real saving that part of the film. I was just shaking my head by this point. I do think you could make an interesting story here about the heroine changing a villain from his old ways but you’re not really going to find that here. If the film was aiming for the ending to be a solid book-end to the subplot of Bowie not being ready for these stakes then I do think that was really clever tho.

Overall 4/10

The Road to El Dorado Review

Posted on July 28, 2024 by dreager1

The Road to El Dorado is one of those animated films that is fairly fast paced with a lot going on at all times. This really frantic style of animation definitely works really well and it’s important to continue to use it a lot when you’ve got a film that is hand drawn. The reason is, it allows you to show off why it is the best form of animation. You just don’t have quite the same amount of moving parts in another kind of animation style. So here your interest is always captured by what’s happening on screen. I do feel like the film doesn’t keep up with the strongest animated pictures but works well enough as a pretty solid adventure.

We are introduced to the two brothers Miguel and Tulio who are good at scamming people. They just finished another scam operation and got a map to the lost city of El Dorado! They manage to make it to this city of gold and even meet a nice lady named Chel who tags along with them. Some hijinx occur and the village elders believe the two to be gods. This is a solid opportunity for Miguel and Tulio so they really lean into this. They convince the village to stop performing human sacrifices and really start changing all of the old traditions. This does lead the elders to be rather suspicious. Are these two really the gods they claim to be? Miguel and Tulio better start thinking about an exit strategy.

That’s probably their biggest mistake to be honest. If we’re being honest the ruse was never going to last forever. At some point it was going to be discovered and so they should have been ready for it. Unfortunately they really weren’t until it was too late. The most annoying part of the story is when we finally get to the big fight between the main two. I expected it would be over the main heroine initially and in a way it is, but not in the usual sense. Tulio talks about leaving with Chel as just the two of them which hurts Miguel. I thought that whole scene was extremely forced. Why would that even be something you say and why before you have actually left the kingdom. You’re going to need all 3 of you no matter what the end game plan is. So that was definitely very annoying.

It also just felt out of character but that leads to a lot of petty dialogue and disagreements between the two for a while. So for the record, I blame everything on Tulio here, everything after that is basically retaliation. Yes, it was super annoying retaliation but he didn’t start it at least. It seems like the movie needed some way to break the two apart and I am glad that it didn’t become one of those big love triangles. That said, it still could have been done smoother. Plus you have the corrupt priest Tzekel as a villain already so you could have used him to trick the main duo.

Tzekel is one of those villains who almost didn’t go all the way crazy. Basically he just didn’t think the main two were legit (They weren’t) and he felt like they were changing all of the traditions. They probably could have thrown him a bone and he would have been happy to serve. They just didn’t play up to his ego here. You could make the case that he would have gone evil anyway since the guy was always shady but it’s hard to say for sure. Either way the heroes did good in stopping the sacrifices and everything like that.

Chel is a nice heroine. She actually does contribute when the fighting starts and never just runs off to save herself. I can definitely appreciate that quite a bit. You’re not going to see her fainting or panicking. She already has good street, well I suppose jungle smarts about her. Then you have the horse Altivo who is a fun character. His role may not be as big as some of the other horse characters in these animated movies but he still makes a difference when it counts..

As for the main two, Miguel and Tulio are more fun than likable at times. I like their energy and they always have some good banter. They do tend to lose focus at times though. Look they came here for the gold, not for status, women, food, drink, or anything like that. If they just locked in and didn’t get too greedy then this could have been a very short film. Imagine if after their debut they said that they needed a ride out for celestial business? There are a lot of ways they could have tricked the priest and the other characters. Especially in the start when they had no idea what was going on. Obviously the longer you wait, the more you’re in danger.

I don’t really remember the soundtrack to the movie so I want to say none of the tracks really stuck out to me. Nothing bad as far as I remember but I suppose it was more on the generic side. At least the animation was really solid so that covers the bases on the technical stuff. The final boss does start to get into one of those “I’m huge!” areas which is unfortunate but at this point I suppose that’s the case for almost all of the climaxes nowadays. Most writers still think that making a villain huge is automatically a big W and super impressive.

This isn’t an action film first and foremost though so it’s not a really bad thing or anything. We still get a lot of chase scenes and everything. I also liked the sport that they played early on. The rules were pretty fun and there was a lot going on. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of that only this time without the main characters cheating the whole time. Lets just see what the characters have got even if they lose big time. In a way maybe the film could have stood to have had more scenes of them just hanging out. The storyline is rather straight forward and it’s not like the film is very long. That’s part of why the review is very straight forward too. There’s not a whole lot to really discuss or unpack next to other titles. So I say you lean into that and just have more time with the heroes exploring. Maybe make it a bit longer before they actually bump into anyone so they are just exploring the mysterious island.

Overall, The Road to El Dorado is a pretty fun film. It does end a bit abruptly and I’m not really super thrilled with how it ended but it’s not bad. It just feels more like one character was forced into a decision rather than choosing it himself. It’s a small thing but it does have a big impact if you ask me. Either way if you like the jungle backdrop or in general are just looking forward to a fun film with a lot of banter, you should check this one out. After all how many other films have a setting quite like this one right?

Overall 7/10

A Holiday to Remember Review

Posted on July 28, 2024 by dreager1

Oh nooooo, it’s a romance film that focuses on a rebound? And we’ve got a love triangle going? This one definitely gets real dramatic and while most of the film is still decent enough, it takes way too long for the characters to make any decent decisions. Additionally, I felt like the main guy was getting gaslit throughout the entire film so that was a bit annoying at times. He has some valid points here.

The movie starts with Carolyn deciding to leave the big city to go back to the small village she grew up in. It’s a humble existence but you know…it was a fun one. Now her daughter Jordy can have a good time here as well. The only problem is that her ex-fiancé is here. Uh oh….this wasn’t part of the plan. Clay is still upset over what happened in their past and so he’s not thrilled to see her but what sucks for that guy is he basically has every job in the village. He’s the cop, handyman, etc. Looks like they’re going to have to try and get along but is there still a flame between them?

Obviously there shouldn’t be since they have been apart for so long and they left on bad terms. Instead of any spark there should just be animosity here. Lets get into exactly why they broke up. Carolyn panicked…and left him at the alter. She just dashed out of town and never even said goodbye to him. Carolyn has a daughter so she already met someone else but I forget what happened there. I’ll assume they just broke up but either way Clay is at best going to be the rebound guy. Things aren’t going great for her economically and now he can help out. Clay should want no part of this.

I think the roughest part is how Clay talks in depth about how upsetting the whole thing was. He was super embarrassed and humiliated in front of the whole town. It’s not something you just forget you know, that’s a huge deal. He must have felt awful for years wondering what he did that was so wrong. Then you want to know the worst part? Nobody is all that sympathetic to him. They say he should get over it, to stop being a wimp, etc. Even Carolyn has that same energy of “That was so long ago tho” and it’s absolutely crazy. Putting so much of the burden on Clay to just move on makes no sense.

So I was not rooting for this romance at all. It never felt like it made a lot of sense or was even a reasonable one. Too much time has passed and Carolyn really lived her life at this rate. It’s too late to turn around now. Then in the village there is also another girl who likes Clay. She’s been dropping tons of hints and making moves on the guy but none of them have been all that effective. She is less than pleased to see that Carolyn is back and of course her fears are completely justified. That said, why continue to pursue a guy who doesn’t actually care about you right? That’s my main problem with the whole thing. I guess you don’t have to stop until you’re rejected but it won’t be the basis of a great relationship. I can definitely guarantee that.

I should mention there is another aspect to the plot. There’s a homeless kid wandering around the village who steals food to survive. He steals from Carolyn but the main heroine has pity on him and decides to let him stay at the house. She intends to adopt him but the village has a strict policy on this. So Carolyn wants Clay to break the rules and gets upset when he doesn’t. This is also rather unfair because it’s not like he created the rules. As always, everyone takes Carolyn’s side and makes Clay feel bad for literally upholding the rules. Cmon now, that’s just not cool. He really didn’t deserve all of the hate here. Sure, the rules may seem harsh but you can’t break them just because you don’t like a rule. How would there be any law and order at that point?

Also I would say Jordy looks pretty bad here. She gets along with the kid well enough but messes him over near the climax by taking the role he wanted. That was a big blow and there wasn’t really a way to come back from that. Ultimately they get along and we have the wholesome ending but this is one minor subplot that we probably didn’t need. There was already plenty of drama among the main characters by this point.

Look, basically what I’m saying here is that Carolyn should have taken way more responsibility for what happened earlier. That wouldn’t have saved the romance plot but it certainly would have helped. It’s also just annoying to see them do the whole “We’re just gonna be friends” and then immediately go further. At this point they’re both adults and they’ve been around each other for a long time so why would they even assume it wouldn’t happen again? Just feels rather cheesy here.

A romance film is only as good as its romance and that’s where this one falters. Aside from that, it’s always hype to have a film that takes place around Christmas. The snow was really fun to see and I liked the sets in general. Everything looked nice and the writing was good when it wasn’t just everyone dunking on Clay the whole time. Poor guy’s own mother never took his side in any of this.

Overall, This in a way feels like one of those classic Hallmark Christmas movies but without the wholesome energy of it. This one feels a bit more jaded and it’s also just a bit more mean spirited. I would have liked if the dynamic could have been more pleasant. Honestly not having them already be each other’s ex would have been a good way to start that off. It’s just hard to recover from that and especially when you give such a tough backstory. Look I’m just gonna say it one last time, I don’t think how you can ever forgive and forget when you’re left at the alter like that. There are plenty of other romance films to check out so check one of those out instead.

Overall 4/10

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You Review

Posted on July 21, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to look at one of the more well known Shojo titles from back in the day. Kimi ni Todoke made a lot of waves and I can see why because at its core its a very pleasant romance title. The drama never gets too crazy and the main romance actually works which is already putting it above 90% of the competition. This is a pairing where both characters are not on the rebound or anything like that. I can really appreciate this and ultimately the series had a good ending as well. It’s a romance that was so good I was tempted to bump it up to an 8 but ultimately I think having it as a very high 7 is still the best spot for it.

The story follows a girl named Sawako who people have dubbed Sadako because she always looks really creepy and upset. Sawako is actually a very nice girl but she’s rather timid and has never been able to stand up for herself. This puts her in a rather difficult position all the time and she would really like to just make friends at some point. So the series is really about her gaining that confidence and finally meeting some people at school. She even gets the attention of Kazehaya, the popular boy at school and he may even like her back? This is Sawako’s time to really make the most of her life and she is ready for this!

The romance is a huge part of the series so lets talk about that right off the bat. Why does it work? Well for one thing we have a lot of time here. It’s not like Sawako meets Kazehaya and they immediately start dating the same week. They don’t even get together immediately in the same semester, it takes over a year before they really get formal and even then they still have to work on getting closer. It’s a romance that takes a lot of time to develop and slow burns are always the best ones without a doubt. I do believe in true love (Not so much love at first sight though) so it’s fine if you fall for someone right away but it should still take time to really be going out and everything. So the series cleared the first big hurdle.

Second big hurdle, there were no rebounds. Sawako wasn’t dating another guy before Kazehaya and he wasn’t dating someone else. They were each other’s first and that’s a big deal. I’m not saying it’s impossible to move on but the romance absolutely gets a mega bump by having them not have any kind of a past. They each stayed strong until they found the right person and didn’t rush things along.

Both characters also have complete lives outside of each other. You’re not having every scene be them obsessing about each other. Kazehaya is still there for his friends like Ryu and even Kento to give advice to. He has a reasonable relationship with Sawako’s friends as well and the same is true for her. We get to really see into their lives and see how they are quality characters. It makes the romance feel a lot more fulfilling.

They’re also not immediately going crazy either, just holding hands took a while. So yes this was a slow burn that followed all of the right steps. If I had any nitpicks, it’s that they came so close to waiting until they were married/engaged but ultimately Kazehaya ran out of willpower near the end when Sawako was on a sleepover. It’s a shame since her parents were counting on him. Obviously since they each love each other and everything it’s not a huge deal but literally they made it to around the last or second last chapter. Would have been nice if he could have stayed strong there.

Since the main romance is good, the rest of the series is automatically on to a good track. That said, the side romance was not as good. Ryu and Chizuru is the B plot on this one. So for some context here, she was originally in love with his brother. The problem is he’s quite a bit older and always saw her as a kid sister. He eventually found a girlfriend and got engaged so Chizuru was forced to move on. This leads to her falling for his younger brother Ryu who has always liked her from the shadows. Unfortunately this is the very definition of a rebound.

The series tries to take its time and develop this one as well but it was unsuccessful this time. No matter how you slice it, she wasn’t ready to move on until she had absolutely no choice. I also don’t think Ryu looked good in staying silent for so long and then making his move after she was rejected. The pairing just never worked and if anything I just felt he was being selfish the whole time so no dice there.

Some characters didn’t have an end game romance and that actually was handled really well. First up we have Kurumi. She started out as the school bully who picked on Sawako. This is because Kurumi secretly liked Kazehaya. Kurumi was good at what she did, she never left any evidence and she actually managed to get completely under Sawako’s skin. That’s not an easy feat and by the end of the series they are true rivals. Sawako and her have a dynamic that can’t be replicated by any of the other characters, she helps Sawako be her true self. Of course Kurumi becomes a better character as the series goes on and is no longer bitter about things.

Where the series really shines is in how her character arc ends. She doesn’t find some guy to rebound with or anything like that. Instead she focuses on her studies and makes peace with the fact that things didn’t work out. Kazehaya likes someone else and always will. She was still a tad awkward around him by the end but that makes sense, it’s not like the feelings completely vanish overnight. One of the characters even mentions how there is nothing admirable about holding onto a one sided love and that’s definitely very true. While getting over someone is not nearly as easy as the movies would have you believe, you just have to try your best and put some distance between you.

Ultimately the feeling might fade or it might not. If it doesn’t, well that’s rough but that’s how it goes. You’d better get used to being single but either way you don’t want to obsess over someone that’ll never be yours. So Kurumi had a very constructive way about getting over her feelings by putting her everything into work and this succeeded. She definitely ended up being one of the better characters by the end.

Another character who had a unique but solid character end was Yano. Again, she fell for someone who couldn’t possibly love her back and this put her into a bit of a slump. Initially she would date any guy just to pass the time by and because she felt bad saying no. Well, that all changed once she met Sawako and Chizuru and got to see what a real relationship was like. Falling for the teacher was definitely a rough blow but the series handled it perfectly. Ultimately she was able to move on and you can assume that down the line she met someone and got to have a good time. She was a really good ally to Sawako throughout the series and always put others first. I appreciated her selflessness the whole time.

Also, at one point she goes out with a guy named Kento and this was another subplot that the series handled masterfully. He’s a really nice guy who did everything he could to win her over. He was as kind as could be and said/did all the right things. Ultimately it just didn’t work out because she didn’t love him. Sometimes that just happens. You could do all of the right things but if the other person is not in love with you then that’s the end of that. It’s all about accepting this and moving on. He didn’t resent her for it and they were able to still talk semi normally.

Kento respected her space and her decision and so I thought he was a very good character. Honestly he’s one of the best in the series because there was no “Nice guy” twist. He wasn’t a faker or insecure or anything like that. He was someone who genuinely wanted to make everyone else happier and I could appreciate that. It’s very rare to see a character like this who is not rewarded in some way by finding someone. As long as he can stay happy then that’s the important part.

While I didn’t care for Chizuru’s romance plot, I will say that she was still a good character. She was always there for Sawako and was a reliable figure. Chizuru may not be the smartest character and can get lightly teased for that but she always means well and works really hard. She is always trying to do the right thing even when there are a lot of misunderstandings and drama.

Ryu also wasn’t bad although I do think he is the weakest out of the main cast. His main thing is that he’s not very emotional or expressive. He tends to think a lot and has good things to say but it takes him a while to get there. Some people are just like that, but ultimately it does mean that he’s not going to be quite as interesting or entertaining as some of the other characters. They’ve definitely got him beat in that area.

His older brother Toru gets a pretty small role but I’ll give him a shoutout for always being cool about everything. He lets Chizuru down very kindly while still being definitive about it. He’s a guy who is very sure of himself and has a lot of confident. Those are important traits in any guy. The same goes for Pin. Yes, Pin messes around a lot and likes to joke but when things get serious, he is always there ready to make the right decision. He especially gets really important in the second half of the series where he is constantly giving everyone really good advice. Without him they all would have fumbled and had tough times for quite a long while.

Pin knows how to support characters based on their personality. Sometimes this even means tricking them a bit with some reverse psychology. Whatever he needs to do, Pin will do it. It’s part of what makes him such a top rate teacher. By the end of the series he even ended up being my favorite out of the whole cast. Just a lot of depth to him and in general I would say most of the characters here had a whole lot of depth. It was really quite impressive.

As for the main two, I talked about their romance but what about their characters? Well first up for Kazehaya, he was a very solid character as you’d expect. One subtle thing the series gave him was a decent amount of jealousy and possessiveness. He was always a nice guy in terms of how he would present himself and how everyone would see him but at the same time he would actually get upset if someone tried making a move on Sawako. He had a bit of a quick temper there and had a hard time not showing it. He dealt with a lot of other issues as well and never took them out on anyone. Kazehaya mixed the traits of being a nice guy with someone who wasn’t perfect all the time and it was good.

Sawako got to see sides of him that nobody else would and it helped to make their relationship feel even more special. Meanwhile Sawako got a ton of great character development. She is able to speak up for herself really easily as the series goes on. She makes her own decisions and gets to also explain herself. The series has her address each and every one of her flaws and insecurities from early on and spin them all the way back around.

There are a bunch of other side characters I haven’t gone into either so read the series to check them all out. The fact that this ran on for 30 volumes is super impressive and it’s another strength to the series. Length plays a huge part in making a romance good like I said earlier. Additionally, I dare say that it helps a series in general as well. You’re given more time to meet the characters, see what makes them tick and everything. By the time the series is over you feel like you’ve gotten to see the characters grow and mature in real time.

I pretty much blasted through the series but I imagine you’d feel this effect even stronger if you had been reading it live, chapter by chapter. They get to show us Christmas and Valentine’s on different years. There are a whole lot of events in the middle, school trips, etc. The series really got to explore all of the different scenarios you would expect to see in a school based story.

Additionally, the series knew how to have fun as well. While romance and drama are probably the main two genres I would list for the series, it definitely had a fair share of comedic moments as well. The series always had a very light tone in between these events. It wasn’t like an onslaught of bad things that kept happening to the characters or it wouldn’t feel like a fun series.

For every tough moment that Sawako had, she got to experience over a dozen great memories. The characters are also very mature and even during an argument they aren’t breaking up or doing anything drastic. They eventually get better and better at actually talking things out and overreacting. From a pure realism standpoint I would say this has to be near the top because just about everything here is fairly believable. You even have the desperate guy in the classroom who flirts with everyone in the hopes of getting any kind of success but it shot down all the time. I didn’t feel bad for Joe by the way, he really didn’t try or apply himself at all. Being desperate like that is just rough.

Overall, Kimi ni Todoke is definitely a high quality series. It succeeds on the romance which is a really big deal all thing considered. The series is long enough where every character gets to have a whole lot of development. Yes, there are setbacks that the various characters have to deal with and some drama that definitely could have been avoided but all in all I thought this was a great story. It felt like a pretty good adaption of what school life would be like and nothing was too exaggerated. I would highly recommend this to anyone who is interested in the genre. It has aged really well.

Overall 7/10

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Review

Posted on July 21, 2024 by dreager1

All right it’s time to take a look at this fantasy romance manga from a while back. It’s always interesting to be looking at the same title twice in a row like this within such a short time frame. The anime was also pretty faithful to the manga so it’s not like there are a lot of changes here. That said, you can be assured that I will be doing fresh writeups for all of the characters and won’t be reusing anything. This is still a complete review in its own right so that fans of the manga are not left out. Lets jump into this one.

The series starts with the humans offering Sariphi up to the monsters as their latest tribute. The world is divided into the human kingdoms and monster ones. There is a rough peace treaty going on which involves the humans sending a sacrifice every year and the monsters leave them alone. Sariphi is surprised though when the beast king Leonhart says that he won’t eat her and to just go away. He’s never destroyed any of the sacrifices and only keeps the tradition alive so that the peace isn’t lost. When Sariphi refuses to leave, he decides to make her queen but this doesn’t please most of his subjects. They insist on her going through many different trials and challenges to prove her worth. Will she be able to pull this off?

Leonhart doesn’t look great for most of the series because of how much he puts up with here though. He’s the king so why is he letting the followers dictate what he can or cannot do? I would understand if he was a president or someone without absolute power, but he is the King. Moreover, he is the strongest in the kingdom. The way I see it, he should just shove aside anyone who gets in his way. It shouldn’t even be a contest, he just needs to tell them what he wants.

Unfortunately he does have some confidence issues despite his bravado. He has a tragic past involving being part human and so a part of him is always worried that this will come out. It’s unfortunate because this really holds him back in a big way and even by the end of the series everyone is pushing him around. He leans too heavily into trying to be a reasonable, democratic leader which doesn’t work when you’re the King. So while I give him some credit for not being evil and destroying the hostages, I didn’t think he worked very well as the main lead.

As for Sariphi, she’s a solid heroine but definitely one who can be rather naive at times. She readily goes into enemy strongholds to prove herself as the upcoming queen and nearly dies several times. She does not put herself in the best positions to win here. I know that she doesn’t want to make herself a burden to the King but without plot armor, that’s exactly what she would have been doing there. If she died in any of the battles then there would have been no chance for peace. She tends to trust everyone right away which isn’t a good idea in this environment. Early on she was good at reading facial expressions and I thought that might play a bigger role later on but it never really did. So I appreciate her bravery but often times it wasn’t really warranted here.

Anastasia has a very small role but ends up looking a lot more formidable. She has survived a long time by keeping to herself and not making big waves. You get the feeling that she could defend herself if needed though. I liked her quiet confidence here and if anything it’s too bad that she didn’t get more of a role. She’s really good for the info dumps but that’s about it.

Now for a great character we have Lanteveldt. He goes from being a lone wolf type figure to Sariphi’s most reliable attendant. The guy has serious skills and while he isn’t quite the strongest fighter in the kingdom, he always gives it his 100%. I like his confidence and in this case it’s a loud one. The guy will talk tough to anyone and doesn’t back down just because someone else is royalty. This kind of character is always a lot of fun and he elevates the series whenever he appears. He gets some critical fights throughout and even when he loses, he prioritizes protecting Sariphi whenever he can. Now that’s what I call a quality character.

We also have Bennu who does his best to protect Sariphi at all times. He has the abilities of the Phoenix so he is in a good position to do this, but at the end of the day it does take time to transform. So I would say that Lanteveldt is still a bit more reliable in that sense. Also, Sariphi tends to have Bennu wait instead of attacking immediately which also stacks the deck against that character. Not much you can do when your leader says to stand back right?

Ilya thinks of himself as a protector but he looks really bad right out of the gate. He really doesn’t read the situation at all and part of the problem is the way he handled the situation. Even if she was kidnapped by evil monsters, Ilya treated Sariphi so roughly the whole time. There’s no way it would have gone well and she would have resented him regardless. The fact that he refused to listen to her at all was crazy. Yeah he gets his big redemption arc in the end but the guy had so much potential and squandered it immediately.

Now Fenrir at least makes for a very imposing villain. He’s the second strongest character in the series behind Leonhart and the guy has a lot of aura. He does get a little whiny at times and I didn’t buy into the origin story much but he does serve his roll well as a villain. I definitely have to give him that. When he appears, you know that he is going to go all out and he gives us one of the rare fights in the series. Ultimately he may not have been a match for the king but at least he tried to fight him fair and square without cheap tricks.

His right hand man Gleipnir was really solid and definitely one of the standout characters. Now he definitely had a really tough backstory. Things really did not go his way at all and yet the guy continued to stand strong. Once he was saved by Fenrir, he proved to be super loyal and did everything he could to make him the king. The guy was also super powerful in his own right and I dare say he would be 3rd in the series in terms of power level. With his battle IQ I wouldn’t even be shocked if he could dethrone the top two.

Then we have Set as another one of the big villains but he is the kind of guy to use cheap shots the whole time. He plays politics and uses optics to try and take Leonhart down since he knows that victory would be impossible otherwise. Hey, it’s a valid tactic considering how weak the guy is but ultimately I couldn’t take him seriously. His entire plan revolves around all of the guards being mentally weak, the country turning against Leonhart, and Anubis being a big traitor. So in my mind this was not a good plan at all and should have failed right out of the gate. The fact that it didn’t fail basically comes down to luck which is why it was not a great plan. I was just waiting for Set to go down the whole time. Somebody needed to teach him a lesson after all!

Anubis is a character I lost a lot of respect for. I talked about loyalty a lot for Landeveldt and Gleipnir. It’s what made them such great characters because they would follow their leader no matter what. Ultimately the problem with Anubis is that he could not keep that same energy. When the chips were down and the situation got tough, he folded immediately. Not what you want to see out of a character like this. Even though he eventually sees the light, I couldn’t forget this. Whenever a character betrays a close friend like that just because of third party sources or without confronting the guy directly. Anubis doesn’t have a true confrontation with Leonhart before going crazy.

Jormungand is a hero who actually has loyalty and does his best to protect the king. He doesn’t hesitate when the truth of his past comes out and continues to fight. Honestly, it’s rough how many people were quick to turn against Leonhart when he was exposed. He’s still the same guy after all. A lot of them really got lucky with how nice he is because there would be a ton of people in jail after I rose back up to power. A lot of them were actively trying to murder him as well which is downright crazy.

Joz and Galois were fun supporting characters who tested Sariphi. What I liked about their test was that it didn’t involve mortal danger or putting her through a whole lot of risk. They just wanted to assess what her character was like and they did good in that respect. It makes sense as a test and once she passed it, they knew she could be trusted. Anubis could learn more things from this instead of trying to undermine her at every possible opportunity. Then Tetra also got to test Sariphi even if it wasn’t quite an intentional test in the same way. Sariphi still showed that she was a good person at her core. She may have had a hard time establishing boundaries but I did appreciate that she was always there to make the world a better place in any little way that she could. If she could just have a little more confidence to shut characters down in their tracks, that would have been perfect!

The art in the manga is pretty good. It can actually get rather intense during some of the battles. The enemies and heroes are stabbing each other after all so some violence is actually expected here. The backstories can also get rather intense. It’s nothing too crazy and this is still a Shojo but the art was ready for whatever tone the manga wanted to present.

In the end it’s still a bit ironic that the series didn’t land any of the romances since it is a romance title but that’s just how it goes of course. With the main romance it’s still hard to get behind the beast thing. It’s a mix of him just being too much like an animal and Sariphi looking like a kid. Even once Leonhart has his human form, you’re just not given much of a reason for her to have fallen in love with him. If anything it feels more like gratitude for being kept alive which is fine but that feels different from love. Then you have Jormungand with one of the attendants but it feels like a one sided crush for most of the series. Once they finally get together it is just a bit too rushed.

While I can’t quite co-sign any of the romances in this series, I do think it handled the other kinds of relationships well. The different friendships in the series are really solid and I liked the master/student dynamics. There was always a great sense of honor and chivalry to be had here. While I don’t care for old settings as much as being in the city, the world building was handled well. It doesn’t feel like all of the issues got to be handled just yet but you have to assume that the main duo will eventually be going around fixing all of the other kingdoms. Ultimately it’s also not like you can just fix everyone but the world is definitely in a much better spot than it had been in previously.

Overall, This is a manga that is fairly strong in some areas but also weak in others. The main flaw is the romance which is really on the weak side and it’s rough because that is such a focus in the story. I ultimately couldn’t get behind the main pairing and that’s hard to get around. In the end the manga couldn’t surpass this, but it’s not a bad read by any means. I would still be able to recommend it if you’re a real big fan of the Beauty and the Beast since it’s going for those vibes. There are definitely better options for Shojo titles out there which is why you would not likely need to resort to this one.

Overall 5/10

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Review

Posted on July 14, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time to take a look at a romance anime from a little while back. This one had a lot of mountains to climb to try and be solid though because right from the jump I had my doubts about the main romance. It’s going for clear Beauty and the Beast vibes here which is admirable about inner beauty and everything but it’s still hard to root for. The main guy is…well he’s a beast and the main heroine looks like a child. Mix that together and this romance is going to be a super hard sell. We’ll see if the anime manages to pull this off or if it can at least succeed in spite of this.

The series introduces us to a girl named Sariphi who has been shipped off to the land of monsters as a human sacrifice. It’s not exactly a great honor, it’s much the opposite. She was an outcast in the realm of humankind and was always treated horribly. At least now she could have a quick death but to her surprise, Leonhart says he will let her go. He actually never eats the human sacrifices and only keeps up the tradition for peace between the realms. He lets them slip out the back and presumably when they go back to the human world they live a brand new life. Sariphi has nothing to go back to though and decides to stick around. This forces Leonhart to name her as his bride to be. She will be queen over the kingdom and this news shocks all of beast kind. Is the King being seduced by the human? Many monsters will have something to say about this.

Naturally it’s not surprising that this would cause a lot of friction. It’s completely unheard of after all since humans and beasts are completely different. At least in this series both are totally humanoid and everything but yeah I’d suspect foul play if I was one of the monsters as well. It’s all just so sudden after all and the King doesn’t really go in depth on explaining his pick. He’s the king so why should he right? But the ole “Because I said so” is never a very convincing argument when you really think about it.

So lets dive into the romance right now. Why wait right? There are two main romance plots here. The first is with Leonhart and Sariphi and yes I could not really get into this. At the end of the day, he is in his beast form for nearly the whole series and she’s still super in love with him here. The problem is to me this just feels more like a gratitude thing. She went from a kingdom where everyone wanted her dead or out of the way to a beast that has made her queen. Naturally she owes him a lot and so she is super thankful to be alive. I don’t think it translates very well into the romance though.

I also just can’t really get past her design which is a little too small and the beast being a beast. So with those 3 factors in play, this was a romance that I was not rooting for. I’m afraid that the show will have to try and succeed in spite of it. The other romance with Amit and Jormungand is better but also still underwhelming. It tends to be a little more on the cringe side at times. Amit is just way too nervous the whole time and can barely have a real conversation with the guy. We would have needed a much longer time frame for this romance to really work at all.

Hey, this series isn’t only about romance though so lets get into the other aspects of the show. As far as the animation goes, I would say it looks reasonable. It’s clearly not a top tier contender or anything like that but I wouldn’t say it’s super cheap or anything either. I suppose it’s what you would call average. It checks off enough boxes as needed and will show up a bit for the fights when they occur. It’s not something that would hurt the show but it’s not something that would help it either.

The soundtrack is mainly forgettable as well. The opening songs aren’t bad though. Not my favorites or anything but they have a good beat to them. The second opening definitely wins from the two in terms of audio. So I give the series some props there. Generally the plot and atmosphere are solid as well. The show can get a bit violent and the sob stories can get rather sad but the series is never too drastic about this. They set up the world and have all of the details in place but don’t go out of their way to make everything too gritty to try and set up your sympathy. I can appreciate that.

The cast of characters is also reasonable. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but much like the rest of the show they fit the bill. Nothing too great or too weak. This series manages to keep up a fairly average level in most areas so I could see this one being a bit forgettable after some years. Ironically what will keep it most memorable is the main romance since you’re not likely to forget that even if it’s not for the greatest of reasons.

As far as Sariphi goes in terms of being the main character, I thought she was okay. She has her brave moments where she steps up to to protect her friends and face off with the villains. Ultimately what hurts her is she can be a little too naive though. For every risk she takes that is good, she will take a few that just put her in too much danger. Going along with the main villain Fenrir at one point is an example of this. She gets lucky a whole lot and I think she should stand up for herself some more.

The fact that she is a human going up against powerful monsters does stack the deck against her but at least she has a powerful Phoenix in Bennu. She should use this beast more since it can be super handy> Those flames will burn anything in their path after all. With the exception of Fenrir and Gleipnir, I think these would be enough to protect her from virtually any character in the series. She just needs to play things a bit more cautiously.

Then we have Leonhart and I’m afraid I’m not a big fan of this guy either. He’s the king, yet he lets himself be pushed around by traditions all of the time. How I see it, if he was a villain then he would ignore everyone and just make Sariphi his queen. Anyone who didn’t like it would just be wiped out. I’m not saying Leonhart needs to wipe anyone out but they should be respecting his authority as King. So if he says that she is going to be the queen then I need everyone else to back off.

Every time they take Leonhart to the table with threats about how she will be kicked out and everything, it’s just super insulting. Ultimately she usually says that she wants to take the challenge and he relents, but it’s not a great look on his end. This is when I need him to man up. He’s one of the wimpier kings that I’ve seen in a series like this. I know that tradition is a big thing but being King gives you the option to toss this away. No matter how many times he roared in the series, he couldn’t make me forget that.

Then you have the super “loyal” butler Anubis. He’s constantly trying to get rid of Sariphi and even thinks about murdering her at one point. This is not the guy that you want to have as your right hand man by any means. Anyone who would even consider murdering the queen to be like that can definitely not be trusted. Like that was just completely insane. Then later on he also doubts Leonhart himself. Yes he ultimately finds his way back to being a decent person but there should be absolutely no doubts. His actions put everyone in danger time and time again. Some would say that true loyalty is being able to make a move against your master and I would argue that it means always making sure they are safe and get what they want.

It’s an oversimplification and there are other factors at play but murdering the queen to be is not one of them. Then we have Ilya who is a terrible character through and through. Where to even start with this guy? He claims to be in love with Sariphi but was never around when she needed him. Then he shows up causing all kinds of damage to “save” her when she was doing just fine. I would get it if she was super beat up, bruised, or seemed off like mind control. The problem is that it was obvious that she was doing find.

He goes as far as to tie her up and everything which makes him look absolutely terrible. I like the drive of wanting to save her but he took it the absolute worst way possible. The instant he was not willing to even hear her out when she was explaining things was when he was completely doomed. You can’t come back from that. He also would not be able to protect her. If they go to the human world she will be murdered and if they wander around, a monster will eventually take them out. He is strong, but he is only human and that is not enough in this world.

If you want a real protector, then you have to go with Bennu. Bennu can have an attitude and is rather slow to protect Sariphi sometimes. But you know what? Bennu is still ready to help when it counts and trusts her completely. That’s the kind of bodyguard you want to have. I’ll take the loyalty any day.

Back to the army forces, we have Jormungand who is a really powerful fighter. He is very serious and always on top of business. I can respect that and his skills are legit. He is very quick to side with the king even after a lot of people start turning on him. This guy has actual loyalty and so he was always a welcome sight. In a lot of ways he’s what Anubis should have been.

Another good loyal character was Lanteveldt. He can be a troublemaker and always keeps everyone on their toes but he will protect Sariphi. He takes on a lot of injuries as the series goes on but never falters. By the end I would say he is one of the stronger characters even if he will never rise to the top. The fact that Fenrir and Leonhart have actual aura blasts and projectiles makes that matchup just plain unfair. Lanteveldt has his quickness and agile moves but at the end of the day those simply aren’t going to be enough to win sometimes. Still one of the best characters though. I like his confidence and you always get bonus points for not just following royalty.

Then we have Joz and Galois who are fairly minor characters but do a good job of testing Sariphi. What I liked about their test is that they weren’t risking lives or doing any of that crazy stuff. No, they just wanted to see how Sariphi would treat those who appeared to be lower in station. And she did very well of course because she’s really not into any of that stuff. Considering her background it makes sense, but even without it she just has a code of ethics that the other characters lack.

She also to show her kindness with the minor character Tetra. Tetra got to see why Sariphi made for a really good queen who would rule with a just hand. It’s definitely not something that you could really say for any of the other ladies who wanted to be queen. Most of them tend to look super petty throughout the series. Tetra is a nice kid, she doesn’t do a whole lot here but it’s always nice to have more allies around. Anastasia is more of a random character who appears near the end but she is able to read the ancient scripts which is handy. Honestly it’s impressive that she has survived so long while being an outsider and not really having any connections. Definitely not something that just anyone could pull off. She has a tough aura to her so even though her role is fairly small, I thought she was fun.

Now we get to some of the big villains. First up there is Gleipnir who is a super good assistant to Fenrir. The guy has unwavering loyalty which is second to none in the series. Fenrir saved him from a very short life filled with nothing but negativity and gave him a solid purpose. Gleipnir was eternally grateful and really honed his skills. In terms of pure skill he is probably the best in the series. I really liked his automatic weapons and I dare say only the top two would be able to defeat him. He would wipe the floor with every other fighter. He’s my second favorite character in the series behind Landeveldt.

As for Fenrir himself, he’s a solid main villain. The guy has a pretty tragic backstory and basically wants to prove that he is actually the best. The thing is that his abilities are nowhere close to Leonhart’s and they never will be due to how the power levels work in this series. The guy wouldn’t have made a good king anyway. I found him to be a bit whiny at times so if he got more screentime then it would probably get even worse. He worked because he didn’t appear for very long and that was probably the best way to do it. Also, his abilities were impressive. The show didn’t have a ton of action scenes so this guy got to help change that.

Finally we have the villain Set who is super petty and only gets as far as he did because the king is too soft. This guy wants to uncover the big conspiracy and set everyone against Leonhart. Great, I get what he is doing here but the thing is that it should not matter at all. Leonhart is the king no matter what shape or form that is. Set could and should have been stopped very early on but of course Anubis fumbled the bag which was the big mistake here. So yeah I never really liked Set and only plot armor let him last as long as he did.

Overall, Sacrificial Princess is a good reminder of why you have to be strict and tough as a King. The role of a King is different from that of a president or governor. A King has absolute power and so you must remind others that you have this power. You never have to be cruel or do anything crazy with this, just make sure that your decisions are respected. Pretty much the whole series only happens because everyone feels like they can talk back to the King and do what they want. Even the minions try murdering him during the climax of the show. That is absolutely crazy. Leonhart’s goals are good but at times he can just be a bit too naive. Ultimately it’s not a bad show or anything but I don’t think there is a whole lot here to capture your attention. I’d keep it near the middle for that reason because without the romance there isn’t a lot left. It’s not part comedy so there isn’t a whole lot of humor here either. The fights are good though when they happen. Ultimately, how much the show catches your attention will be completely dependent on how much you enjoy the characters and the setting. We’ll see if the spinoff/sequel/follow up gets animated at some point.

Overall 5/10

From Here to Eternity Review

Posted on July 14, 2024 by dreager1

It’s time for a very dramatic war film. Get ready for a lot of unlikable characters running around. It’s a film that will keep you engaged the whole time to be sure but I do think it could have used a few boosts to really make it a very solid title. Maybe more war scenes since surprisingly that doesn’t actually happen until the very end of the film. Most of it is really just setup and a bunch of hazing.

The movie kicks off with Prewitt being transferred over to a new war base. He was unsatisfied at the last posting because he didn’t get the promotion that he felt was deserved. Warden’s job is to see to it that Prewitt joins the army’s boxing club because otherwise his boss will be upset. Prewitt refuses due to an incident that happened back when he was a boxer so now he has to try and stay strong while the army attempts to bully him into submission. Will he be able to stick to his guns or will the army break him? That is really the core plot of the movie and that seems to happen a lot in these titles. Half the time you feel like if these army guys are your allies then you’re already in hot water.

The movie does have a few subplots though but they don’t do much to help the movie. For starters we have Warden getting into an affair with his boss’s wife. Huge fatal mistake right there. As I’ve always said there is no real coming back from cheating and when the Warden made a conscientious effort to get to her, he was already doomed. It’s a shame because he had a lot of entertaining scenes otherwise. He makes for a pretty solid boss. Certainly a corrupt one, but a guy who is very crafty and careful with his wording. Warden knows how to manipulate people and how to stay safe amidst all of the inter army politics.

He prides himself on being a very smart guy so it’s a shame that he makes such a dumb mistake. Ultimately this subplot persists throughout most of the movie until some stuff happens in the climax and he decides to switch goals. Not due to any kind of redemption arc though so his personality hasn’t gotten any better. He’s still not someone you can possibly root for. Naturally the boss’s wife is also pretty bad in having her affairs. Everyone is cheating on someone in this film and it plays a big part in why all of the romances are so weak.

Prewitt has a romance going on too but it’s also not a great one. He falls in love with one of the girls at the club he visits and doesn’t seem to understand that it’s their job to act nice with everyone. He immediately gets super possessive and starts to cause a lot of trouble with everyone. The guy can’t hold his drinks super well and gets really annoying for large parts of the film. Ultimately when the chips are down he doesn’t listen to the girl and runs off which is always a trend in these things.

He only has one friend in the army who has his back, Maggio. Unfortunately Maggio is even worse at holding his liquor and picks a bunch of fights as well. Ultimately this doesn’t end well for the guy which is unfortunate. The film is definitely filled with quite a few tragedies as all of the characters tend to end things off worse than how they started. Most of this is because of drinks or generally just not being great people though.

In general the film’s writing is good. When you take away the individual characters for a moment, you’ve got a strong film about trying to resist everyone forcing you into a path you don’t want to follow. It’s incredibly difficult when everyone is against you and there is all kinds of corruption within the ranks. I do think it would be enough to completely turn you against the army and try to get out of there. If this kind of thing happened to enough folks there would be so many mutiny attempts and the army would really go crazy. It’s always unfortunate to see so many people within the film be okay with it though.

These are theoretically the heroes we’re supposed to be rooting for when the villains attack but it’s hard to do so when you see how cruel they are. This leads to vigilante justice as the film goes on which is really shown to be the only effective way to stop them. You basically have to root for Prewitt because otherwise nothing is going to get done. The ending feels a bit unnecessary as the lead didn’t think things through but the final fight was on point. Felt like a grim ending that happened because it was planned out (Or I guess that’s how it happened in real life perhaps) but the setup in the film really didn’t make any kind of sense. Like going out to try and prove something that didn’t need proving.

Ultimately this is a movie that is really just held back by the characters. They all have significant flaws which keeps them from being likable. Any character who seems nice enough quickly has a film ending flaw before the adventure is over. Whether it be getting drunk the whole time, having a quick temper, not being very smart, cheating, etc. The idea is probably to be as realistic as possible which can be a depressing thought in itself. The film is based on true events to an extent so I was mixed on whether I would give this one a score or not. Ultimately it was about a 50/50 since a lot of events were true but it seems like the names were switched and a bunch of extra stuff was added. Might as well throw it in.

Overall, The movie had some good ideas but ultimately I would have to give it a thumbs down. After a point having a cast filled with unlikable characters will often bring down the film as a whole. The whole thing feels pretty unfair to the main character the whole time and things never really went well for him. Again you’d feel sorrier for him if he was more likable but that’s how it goes. If you really enjoy seeing the inner workings of an army base and what the day to day could look like then you should have a good time here but you can definitely do a lot better with these old war films.

Overall 4/10

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Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Review

From Here to Eternity Review

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