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Archive for September 2016
Hey guys, kanna here. And welcome to Halloween-month! Um...ani-ween? Hallo-me? We really need to come up with a better name for this. I mean, the Nostalgia Critic has Nostalgia-ween, and that works, but I can't come up with anything for my Halloween-themed posts. Nothing sounds right. Suggestions? Hm...now that I think about it, nothing really works, so we'll just call this Halloween Anime Mondays (but that spells H.A.M...now I'm overthinking this).
Anyway, I thought I'd start the month off by reviewing something that's more of a comedy, but has monsters in it, so therefore, it counts for Halloween. Say hello to Rosario + Vampire.
So, where to start? Well, Rosario + Vampire originally started out as a manga written and illustrated by Akihisa Ikeda. Inspiration came from the manga series, Kaibutsu-kun (a monster manga series), as well as some works by the the warped mindset of Tim Burton, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands (not that those aren't great movies, and Tim Burton is a talented director, but some of his movies are a little messed up).
Like I said, this series is a little more on the comedic side of things. So I'll try to make this as funny as possible, but given my sense of humor, I make no promises.
The series revolves around a boy named Tsukune Aono, a middle school student who failed the exams to get into the local high schools. However, there was one school that he could get into, despite his bad grades: Yokai Academy. The twist: Yokai Academy is a school for monsters, and if a human comes into the picture, the penalty is death. So Tsukune has to keep his human identity under wraps.
The first person Tsukune meets is a vampire named Moka Akashiya, and through this meeting, he is convinced to stay. Moka wears a rosary around her neck that she can't remove herself, but if someone took it off, an "honest to goodness vampire" would come out. Tsukune also meets Kurumu Kurono (a succubus), Yukari Sendo (a witch), and Mizore Shirayuki (a snow fairy). They all become friends, and the girls fight over Tsukune.
There isn't really much of a summary to give, as the show is pretty formulaic. So this is going to be one of my shorter reviews, and we'll just skip right to the rating.
Rating: um...4/10
Why: The show is pretty formulaic. We have a monster of the week that has to be fought, so Tsukune takes off Moka's rosary. Tsukune shows his kindness and acceptance of the other monsters, and nothing of major importance really happens until the end of each season.
There is fan service, but it's geared more towards boys, and most girls (excluding the LGBTQ community) would feel pretty uncomfortable seeing all these up-skirt angles and Tsukune being a total pervert.
This series tries to pass off as a romance series, but the romance is actually sexual harassment. Don't believe me? Look at what someone on MyAnimeList had to say about it: Seven Anime That Pass Off Sexual Harassment as Romance. Rosario + Vampire is towards the bottom.
Additionally, there isn't really anything that defines the characters beyond their physical appearance. While they do have their own personality traits, these are all downplayed by all the fan service that the animators want to give the audience. It's really kind of annoying (but that could be just me, because I'm a straight female, and clearly not the target audience).
The few things that give this series its redemption are the different songs used for the opening and ending, which are all sung by Moka's voice actress, Nana Mizuki. The opening for the first season was "Cosmic Love," and the ending theme was "Dancing in the Velvet Moon." For the second season, the opening was "DISCOTHEQUE" and the ending was "Trinity Cross."
So...yeah. One of my shorter reviews, but the others will be longer (I hope).
Anyway, I thought I'd start the month off by reviewing something that's more of a comedy, but has monsters in it, so therefore, it counts for Halloween. Say hello to Rosario + Vampire.
Yeah. Because I can't seem to get out of the realm of vampires, except for those TWO ANIME MONDAYS about werewolves (Wolf Children) and card games (Yu-Gi-Oh: The Dark Side of Dimensions). Hopefully, next week, the vampires will be gone for good. Because these vampire anime reviews are energy draining (tee hee...draining...and it's about vampires...okay, bad joke).
Like I said, this series is a little more on the comedic side of things. So I'll try to make this as funny as possible, but given my sense of humor, I make no promises.
The series revolves around a boy named Tsukune Aono, a middle school student who failed the exams to get into the local high schools. However, there was one school that he could get into, despite his bad grades: Yokai Academy. The twist: Yokai Academy is a school for monsters, and if a human comes into the picture, the penalty is death. So Tsukune has to keep his human identity under wraps.
The first person Tsukune meets is a vampire named Moka Akashiya, and through this meeting, he is convinced to stay. Moka wears a rosary around her neck that she can't remove herself, but if someone took it off, an "honest to goodness vampire" would come out. Tsukune also meets Kurumu Kurono (a succubus), Yukari Sendo (a witch), and Mizore Shirayuki (a snow fairy). They all become friends, and the girls fight over Tsukune.
There isn't really much of a summary to give, as the show is pretty formulaic. So this is going to be one of my shorter reviews, and we'll just skip right to the rating.
Rating: um...4/10
Why: The show is pretty formulaic. We have a monster of the week that has to be fought, so Tsukune takes off Moka's rosary. Tsukune shows his kindness and acceptance of the other monsters, and nothing of major importance really happens until the end of each season.
There is fan service, but it's geared more towards boys, and most girls (excluding the LGBTQ community) would feel pretty uncomfortable seeing all these up-skirt angles and Tsukune being a total pervert.
This series tries to pass off as a romance series, but the romance is actually sexual harassment. Don't believe me? Look at what someone on MyAnimeList had to say about it: Seven Anime That Pass Off Sexual Harassment as Romance. Rosario + Vampire is towards the bottom.
Additionally, there isn't really anything that defines the characters beyond their physical appearance. While they do have their own personality traits, these are all downplayed by all the fan service that the animators want to give the audience. It's really kind of annoying (but that could be just me, because I'm a straight female, and clearly not the target audience).
The few things that give this series its redemption are the different songs used for the opening and ending, which are all sung by Moka's voice actress, Nana Mizuki. The opening for the first season was "Cosmic Love," and the ending theme was "Dancing in the Velvet Moon." For the second season, the opening was "DISCOTHEQUE" and the ending was "Trinity Cross."
So...yeah. One of my shorter reviews, but the others will be longer (I hope).
Hey guys, kanna here. Well, after a lot of thought and talk with my friends, who suggested I review Mushishi and Re:Zero, I decided to do my thoughts on the new Yu-Gi-Oh! movie, The Dark Side of Dimensions. Why? Well, there's two reasons for that.
1. Mushishi and Re:Zero aren't that short, and given it's mid-September and I'm dedicating October to horror/supernatural anime, I needed something short (or another top ten list).
2. October will be here before we know it, and my Halloween posts need to be ready and raring to go. Speaking of Halloween, what are you dressing up as (if you're dressing up at all)? I'm planning on going as a Ghostbuster!
So, here we go!
2. October will be here before we know it, and my Halloween posts need to be ready and raring to go. Speaking of Halloween, what are you dressing up as (if you're dressing up at all)? I'm planning on going as a Ghostbuster!
So, here we go!
Hey guys, kanna here. Well, now that I'm all moved into my new dorm (I love it, by the way), I had some time on my hands to watch Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children.
So before we get to the movie, let's talk a little bit about Mamoru Hosoda. You might recognize his name from works such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars. He's a pretty good director and animator. Not as good as Miyazaki, but still pretty good. He was actually commissioned to direct Howl's Moving Castle, but left during the early production, so Miyazaki came out of retirement number-who's-even-counting-anymore to direct it.
Mamoru Hosoda started work at Toei Animation, before he left to work for Madhouse in 2005. He left Madhouse in 2011 and started his own animation studio, Studio Chizu. His couple of known works were the two movies in the Digimon Adventure series and the sixth film in the One Piece series, both of which were released in the early 2000s.
He would later go on to animate and direct The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Summer Wars, The Boy and the Beast, and today's movie, Wolf Children. Or, if you want to call it by its Japanese title, Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki.
So, let's get started!
The movie starts with a college student named Hana, who later falls in love with fellow student...we don't really get his name, come to think of it. I Googled it, and most of the sites I've read about the guy on refer to him as 'Ookami,' so that's what we'll call him.
Anyway, Hana falls in love with Ookami, who eventually reveals a secret to her: he's a werewolf. Hana accepts him as he is, and later on, the two have two children: a boy who they name Ame, and a girl they name Yuki. Yuki is Ame's older sister.
All seems fine and good, and Hana accepts the fact that her children are half-human and half-wolf. Things seem great, until Ookami gets killed while out hunting for food for his family. So Hana is left to raise the two "wolf children" (they're called that because they're half-human, half-wolf) on her own.
Life as a single mother is difficult for Hana, especially because Ame and Yuki are so young and constantly shifting between their wolf forms and their human forms. Because of this, Hana has to hide them from the world, and even moves to the countryside to avoid social workers and prying neighbors.
This movie basically tells the story of how Hana struggles and eventually manages to raise two children who are "wolf children," while the two children discover their own paths. It also presents the argument of whether the children consider themselves as humans or as wolves.
I know this is a relatively short review, but it's hard to review this movie without giving too much away. So we're just going to jump to the rating.
Rating: 10/10
Why: First off, the animation is stellar. I wouldn't expect less from Mamoru Hosoda, and while the animation isn't necessarily as good as a Miyazaki film's animation, it's still really good.
This movie really takes the time to develop all of its characters, even the minor ones. This makes for a lot of emotional moments. I highly suggest having a box of tissues nearby when you watch this movie. You'll need it.
The movie allows a lot of room for us to watch Ame and Yuki grow up and discover their own paths. It's almost as if we (the audience) are Hana and are actually watching them grow up right in front of us. I felt everything the characters did, because they were given time to develop and the writing had lots of emotion.
The voice acting was great, too. I hadn't heard of most of the voice cast before, so it definitely was interesting to hear some new people (well, new to me). And, of course, what's a good movie without a good soundtrack? Each song fit the movie perfectly; nothing was out of place.
Sure, this might seem like a typical love story, or a story of a single mother. But I feel it's so much more than that. We have characters we can connect with on an emotional level and feel everything they feel. It's truly a masterpiece.
Well, I know it was short, but that's my review. Hope you enjoyed, and give me suggestions for Anime Mondays up until October! I'm dedicating the entire month of October to horror/supernatural anime for Halloween!
See you next Monday! ~k
