Even though this isn't my favorite John Green book, The Fault in Our Stars was fantastic, and this movie looks great. Though, I'm not sure of how I'm going to survive through it if I got teary-eyed at the trailer.
First Reaction: First 3 Chapters of Hollow City
I normally read more than 3 chapters of a book before passing judgment, but in this case I need to make an exception and say that I FREAKING LOVE THIS BOOK ALREADY! For those who don't know, the first book in this series, Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, is one of my top ten favorite books, and so far its sequel is not a disappointment.
Unfortunately, this isn't really something I can talk about without delving into HUGE spoilers, but I will say that there are more photos, the writing style perfectly captures the mood, the characters are back and just as likable as ever, and I'm just really excited to continue this book. This will probably get a review when the third book comes out as part of a series review, or after I review the first book to avoid confusion. Well, I'll see you guys soon!
First Reaction: Noragami Episode 4
I want the next episode! Seriously! I mean, this episode went by so quickly, and then it ended on a kind-of cliffhanger that MADE ME WANT MORE! Guys, watch this show eventually, I really want to see the next episode! I'm not sure I can wait until Monday...GAH!
Well, I don't really know of what to talk about without spoiling anything, but they've introduced a new character called Yuki at the end of the second episode. Both he and Yato are the best characters of the show, mainly because they're both very interesting, with Yuki being the most interesting. He's not exactly the emotionless character, but he's definitely the cool-headed and serious character, which acts as a contrast to the ever-so-bombastic Yato. Another thing I'm looking forward to is the explanation of Yato's true backstory. They drop hints of it at the end of the fourth episode, and I'd like some more information because it doesn't seem like the Yato we all know and love always existed in the way that he does. WHERE'S EPISODE 5?!
This anime keeps on getting better, and I'm excited to see more of it. Please, Noragami, don't fall flat on your face later on. I'd appreciate it.
Update 1-28-14
The new Fate/Stay Night is airing in the FALL?! I DON'T THINK I CAN WAIT THAT LONG! D:
Movie Review: Cencoroll
I'm just going to put this out there; this isn't going to be much of a review. Before you start whining and asking for a legitimate review, let me say that the reason this won't be a very long review is because the movie in question is only 26 minutes long. However, it is a very interesting, quirky, peculiar, and enjoyable 26 minutes, and I believe that this deserves an honest review. So, I'm going to voice my thoughts and try not to spoil anything.
Cencoroll takes place in modern Japan, centering around three main characters: Yuki, Tetsu, and a monster named Cenco. Cenco is a weird monster who can transform into anything as long as he's biting it, and seems to follow Tetsu around. An inquisitive Yuki encounters the two and begins to spend more time with them. Honestly, that's all I can really say about this movie without delving into spoilers, but I'll try to talk about the aspects that I really liked vaguely, so you can get an idea of whether or not you'll like this movie.
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| From top to bottom: Yuki, Tetsu, and the giant monster Cenco |
If you can give this movie any credit, it's one of the most creative and weirdly interesting movies that I've ever seen. The monsters like Cenco have so much mystery surrounding them, but at the same time you don't really care whether or not you learn what exactly they are because the movie doesn't seem to rely on you knowing that fact. The movie's tone was very calm and relaxing somehow, even with all of these unexplained plot holes, and it feels like you're a younger kid again listening to this weird story about transforming monsters. I also really liked the interactions between our two mains, Yuki and Tetsu. To be fair, a lot of people can interpret their interactions as unnatural, but I kind of thought it fit with the strange tone of the movie, so it worked for me. Finally, my favorite aspect of this movie is its art style and animation. It was simple, yet effective. It doesn't have many colors beyond black, white, gray, and green for the backgrounds, but again, it also fit with the tone of the movie; the movie's attitude was that it was just going to present this story to you, and nothing else. The animation was fluid, the shadowing was amazing and gave the characters dimensions, and is just easy on the eyes.
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| Animation is fantastic |
Overall, I give Cencoroll a 3.5 out of 5, and a recommendation to watch it. It's short, memorable, and if you're sick of your average mediocre anime, give it a watch. As always, though, this is only my opinion, and it is up to you to decide yours.
ScoreCard:
ScoreCard:
Watch Cencoroll: http://www.goodanime.net/cencoroll
Honestly, there isn't anything else like this movie. I have no further recommendations.
Anime Review: Ouran High School Host Club
The story begins in the prestigious Ouran Academy, where the rich and famous send their children to get the finest of educations. Meet Haruhi (no, not Suzumiya), an honors student and so-called “commoner” who got into Ouran Academy through a scholarship. While looking for a quiet place to study, Haruhi comes across the 3rdMusic Room, where she meets the Ouran High School Host Club, a group of six very attractive boys with way too much time on their hands entertain girls who also have way too much time on their hands. Through this encounter, Haruhi accidentally knocks over an 8-million yen vase, causing Harhi to be indebted to the club. To pay off the debt, Haruhi must act as a host club member. However, there’s one problem with that situation; Haruhi’s a girl. The story pretty much starts off from there. Though, to be perfectly honest, in this type of setup you don’t have much to work with storywise, so in order to make this show work you need incredibly strong
characters. Well, I’m happy to say that this show does not disappoint in that category.
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| The Ouran High School Host Club is a club whose main purpose is to make girls happy |
I absolutely adore pretty much every character within this anime, especially the main ones. Every main character was memorable, every main character was relatable, every main character was interesting, every main character was SO likable, I never thought that this amount of me caring about any character would ever happen. This cast is better than Hetalia’s cast by about 10 miles, and I would even argue that this is one of my favorite casts of characters of all time period. The main aspect that makes the cast work would be their backstories, and how they carry on into the lives of the club members in present day. This anime nails what a lot of anime miss about backstories, and that it the ability to make the audience relate to those backstories. A lot of anime try to come up with the most tragic backstory they could think of when it comes to characters, but they forget that what makes a backstory tragic is the audience’s relationship with the character. If the audience doesn’t care about the character, no amount of tragic backstory could make up for it. Alois Trancy from Black Butler 2 is a perfect example of a despicable character that the anime tries to make up for by giving him a tragic backstory, but because he’s so unlikable, I couldn’t care less. In OHSHC, while the backstories aren’t the most tragic you’ll ever come across, you’re so invested in the characters and the backstories are so realistic that you don’t care, and you feel happy that the characters are moving on from their troubling pasts. I could see someone making the argument that the backstories are shallow because these people are rich and therefore rich people problems don’t hold a finger towards poor people problems, but I still think that the backstories work. For example, I’m sure that a lot of people vie for their parent’s attention, but are overshadowed by an older sibling or something. That’s a sympathetic backstory, and it’s one that I think the majority of the audience could relate to.
So, let’s move onto the characters themselves. First, let’s start off with Haruhi. She is probably my favorite female protagonist in all of anime. She kind of acts as the anchor for the audience due to the insanity of the rest of the club, but the creators gave her a great personality. She’s cool and collected most of the time, but it never gets to the point of where she’s cold. She’s logical and independent, but a little too independent at times, and develops into someone who learns that it’s not wrong to rely on others every once in a while. She is also a no-nonsense type of person, which is a major contrast towards the majority of the club. Speaking of which, Tamaki Suoh is one of my favorite characters of all time, not just in anime. In a nutshell, he’s obnoxious in a likable way, but at the same time you get the sense that all he really wants to do is help people. He’s kind of like an Edward Elric character, in the sense that I just can’t describe how much I like the character. Although, to be perfectly honest, beyond that, Edward and Tamaki couldn’t be more different; I just brought up the comparison because I can’t really put into words why I like Ed so much. I will say that his backstory is probably the most tragic, and you will want to punch his grandmother in the face if you get really invested into his character. Seriously. Next there’s Kyōya, who is kind of like the club’s accountant. He was my least favorite character out of the club, but I still found him likable to some degree, even if he is kind of a jerk. Again, though, the reason he turned out the way he did was because of the environment he grew up in, and he had to conceal his true desires and live like that. It’s kind of hard to explain without spoiling too much, but he’s a very understandable character. Next there are the identical twins, Hikaru and Kaoru. They have the running joke of trying to get everyone to tell them apart, with most people failing. It’s also really hard to talk about these two without spoiling too much, but again, their backstory is understandable and I think that their development, especially Hikaru’s, is fantastic, probably the best in the entire show. Finally, the last two main characters are Honey and Mori. Yeah, I know that they have longer names, but that’s pretty much how they’re referred to throughout the show. Honey loves sweets and is probably the cutest thing to ever walk this planet, and Mori is sort of like his bodyguard who’s quiet and reserved. These characters also develop rather nicely, but again, spoilers abound. As for the side characters, they’re absolutely fine. They do their jobs and are memorable in their own ways, except for a group of three characters: The Zuka Club. My god, these characters are SO ANNOYING! They barely have any purpose within the story, and the “comedy” they bring to the anime is awful. Though, to be fair, they only make two appearances throughout 26 episodes, so the other 24 are absolutely perfect character-wise.
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| From left to right: Kyoya (black hair and glasses), Hikaru and Kaoru (red hair), Mori (black, spiky hair), Honey (the boy with the bunny), Haruhi (brown hair), Tamaki (blonde hair) |
Being a slice-of-life romantic comedy whose focus is mainly on the characters, story is not the first priority of this show. Each episode focuses on a different event that the Host Club has to go through, resulting in laughs, character development, or both.
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| The story focuses on various events that the club go through, featuring laughs and character development |
Produced by Bones, the animation wasn’t the best that they’ve ever come out with. The movements are kind of clunky, but the character designs were original and the backgrounds looked pretty nice, so it’s not bad. Normally I would give it a pass because this is a show from 2006, but the original Fullmetal Alchemist came out in 2003 and had much better animation, so Bones doesn’t really have much of an excuse. As for sound, the music was not all that memorable. It fit the show, but didn’t stand out to me in any way. The opening and ending were okay, but not something that I particularly liked. Then, should you watch it in English or Japanese? English all the way! This anime has one of the best English dubs I’ve ever heard period. Every character sounds genuine, every performance sounds convincing, and it’s just perfect. Best performance goes to Vic Migona for Tamaki; you can really tell that he put in a ton of effort into this role.
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| Animation and sound are average, but the English dub is fantastic |
Even though I honestly loved this anime, it’s kind of hard to recommend to most people. It is a show that’s generally for the female audience, but I would recommend it to anyone who likes romance. If you hate romance, though, then don’t touch this show with a ten-foot pole. This is also a great show if you like comedies and fantastic characters, so if you like those types of anime, go ahead and watch it. I give Ouran High School Host Club a 4.5 out of 5, and a recommendation to watch it if you like romantic comedies and incredibly well-done characters. Well, like always, it is up to you to decide your own opinion.
ScoreCard:
For those who live in America, you can watch it on Netflix too!
Further Recommendations:
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| Clannad Romance lovers, you will probably fall in love with this anime. While I do think that this anime is slightly overrated (though I still really like it), it has some well-written characters, beautiful animation, and some moments that will probably make you cry your eyes out. If you want an anime that focuses more on the romantic aspects of a romance, check this anime out. |
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Update 1-21-14
First off, apparently In The After's sequel will also be the conclusion.
I'm pretty excited, and am pretty happy that it's not a trilogy, for once. Though the last time that happened, it was this book:
Dear Haruhi, do not turn into another Girl of Nightmares.
Well, anyway, I don't have anything else to really say. I'm working on the anime review, and I'll see you guys then.
Anime Review: Valvrave The Liberator Season 2
Ah, this anime…I am glad that it’s over. I’ve put waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much emphasis on this show ever since I started blogging and making videos concerning media. Seriously. Now, as a more experienced reviewer, I can safely say that this anime is not as bad as I made it out to be in my review of the first season; I’m sure mecha fans will enjoy it. But for anime watchers that don’t watch the genre often, it’s not the crowning achievement of the genre, or of anime in general. Valvrave the Liberator is an anime that you watch when you have too much time on your hands, but even then I could recommend better anime if you just want to kill time. So, how does Valvrave hold up in the end, after voicing my opinion on it through a review of the first season and reactions posts and videos of the second season? Sit back, relax, and read on as I review the second season of Valvrave the Liberator.
The Setup:
I can’t give too much away about the setup for the second season because this is, after all, a sequel. All I’m going to say is that it continues off from the first season, but it also finally starts to explain some of the plot points that were barely glossed over from the first season, raising my hopes that this season will be better. Well, it was, but not by much.
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| The setup is practically the same as the first season |
The Characters:
Boy oh boy, the characters. Spoiler alert: a lot of them die. I mean, it gets to the point where at least one character dies per episode. It was almost as if the creators saw how popular Attack on Titan was and the fact that the show had a lot of characters dying and thought, “Hey, let’s kill off the vast majority of our characters, because that’s exactly what Attack on Titan did!” The main problem with that, however, is the fact that it got to the point of the show having so many character deaths that it reached ridiculousness. In Attack on Titan, the deaths both matched the tone of the series and had a lasting effect because the tone was dark, and you expected people to die. In Valvrave, you have people dying next to giant sparkling robots. Yeah, it’s that silly. The worst part is that the characters, for the most part, remained the same as they were in the first season, the three exceptions being Akira, L-Elf and Haruto. Akira is my favorite character within the show, mainly because her backstory was really relatable and she was the only character that I was able to make a connection with. L-Elf and Haruto’s relationship also kept the story interesting, even if their personalities remained generic. It was interesting to see their conflicting opinions, and seeing L-Elf break down after the death of a loved one added some needed characterization. Overall, though, the cast remained uninteresting and not that memorable.
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| Akira was the only character that really stood out to me |
The Story:
I think that the main problem with the story of Valvrave is almost the exact same as the biggest problem I had with Sword Art Online’s story: conflicting tones. As I stated before, people die alongside robots who are fighting with huge, sparkly robots. There was also this scene in one of the episodes where the series decides to take one of the darkest turns I have seen in an anime, but it didn’t match the tone at all, and its cruelty shocked me. I’m sorry, I didn’t know that I was watching either Code Geass, Madoka Magica, or Fate/Zero, I thought I was watching a show about fighting robots. The main point that I’m trying to get across is that you can’t have dark and mature content without some sort of buildup or having it match the tone! If you don’t follow this, then it just comes off as edgy and unconvincing. As for the story itself, it just continues off of the end of the first season. I would like to give props to it, however, for not making me wishing something important was going to happen or some question to be answered, because pretty much all the questions I originally had were answered in the second season.
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| People die in the same anime that features imagery like this |
The Animation/Sound:
You could pretty much copy-and-paste what I said about the animation and sound towards this anime that I said in the first season. Nothing has really changed; the animation is solid, the CGI used for the robots is well-incorporated, the OST fits. There is one thing I would like to bring up, however; why did you change the opening?!Seriously, why?!
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| The second opening is done by the same artists, but WHY WAS IT CHANGED?! |
Final Judgment:
I know that this review is a lot shorter and not as in-depth as my normal reviews, but to be perfectly honest, I can’t really talk about the second season without veering into spoilers. I can’t even recommend this show without saying that you have to watch the first season beforehand. So, to conclude, I give Valvrave the Liberator Season 2 a 2.5 out of 5, and overall I give the entire series a 2.25 out of 5, and a final recommendation to only watch it if you have too much spare time. It’s not that amazing in my opinion, and there are much better mech series than this one. Like always, however, it is up to you to decide. I also will not be including further recommendations in this review, because the same recommendations I made concerning the first season still apply.
The same scorecard also applies.
Valvrave The Liberator on Hulu: http://www.hulu.com/valvrave-the-liberatorThe same scorecard also applies.
Another anime review next week! Here’s the hint: It’s commoner’s coffee!
See you then!