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Hey guys, kanna here. Well, I'm still packing for move in, which is soon (I still can't believe summer is almost over), but I made time to write this review for you guys. Yay!
*applause*
It's time for the review everyone's been waiting for, so let's get to it! Here it is: Netflix's Death Note!
Ok, so the movie has a semi-decent cast. Nat Wolff as Light Yagami (I'm NOT calling him Light Turner), CGI voiced by Willem Dafoe as Ryuk (there was some other guy who played Ryuk in costume while Willem Dafoe provided voice work and performance capture for the facial elements), that guy from Get Out as L (I FINALLY remembered his name! It's Keith Stanfield), and a bunch of other people I've never heard of. Masi Oka, that jerk who made that remark about "perfect English," is in this, too.
*sigh*
I'm in for a treat, aren't I? Mr. Oka, you have yet to redeem yourself. I don't care that the creators of the source material praised this; I'm here to form my own opinion. I mean, it can't be as bad as both parts of the live action adaptation of Attack on Titan, right?
RIGHT?
RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
ONE SCREENING LATER
Holy. Fricking. Frick. I...can't...even...
*deep breath*
THIS MOVIE SUCKS!
Ok. Allow me to elaborate. I couldn't get through this movie in one sitting, so after the first twenty or so minutes of torture (the things I do for you guys), I decided to walk away, get some shopping therapy (which took longer than I would have liked), and come back to it. And guess what? IT WAS STILL TORTURE.
Allow me to elaborate a little bit more. If you'll recall, I reviewed the Death Note anime about a year ago and praised it. It was a fantastic anime with great, complex characters and an interesting premise. Sure, it had its downsides, but what anime doesn't (even if it gets 5/5 or 10/10)?
So, let's not waste any time (which I would actually be quite content with, but I feel I owe it to you guys to give this "movie" a proper review). Let's dive right into Netflix's Death Note.
The movie opens up with a high school in what I think is Seattle, and already, the soundtrack is doing nothing for me. They're using a song I don't know by a band I've never heard of (I think they're Australian). But more on the bad music later.
We see our protagonist, Light Yagami--sorry, Light Turner--in the middle of a rainstorm as he picks up a book marked "Death Note." After a scene with high school bully Kenny and our introduction of cheerleader Mia Sutton (the movie's version of Misa Amane), we cut to the principal, where we learn that Light is a genius who hates everything evil and that his mom died. The principal puts Light in detention for trying to break up a fight between Kenny and Mia.
While in detention, the teacher steps out for a while and Light opens up the Death Note. He starts to read the rules. And, I'm not going to lie: while Nat Wolff doesn't look great as a blonde, the years certainly did treat him well. He's only a couple weeks older than I am, but his voice got REALLY deep. It sound pretty good. You can tell he went through some major changes after Naked Brothers Band.
Anyway, as Light is reading the rules of the notebook, the lights flicker out and he hears something break. He goes to investigate and we get our first look at Ryuk. This is probably my favorite part of the movie, because Light screams like a little girl at the sight of Ryuk and falls down. Ryuk practically destroys the detention room (along with trying to kill Light) and Light is screaming like a little girl the entire time. It's actually kind of funny.
Light tries to convince himself it's all a dream, but Willem Dafoe's AMAZING voice acting shines through with the lines, "Oh, yes. A dream. I like that. Dreams are places you can have fun, right? It's all in your mind, so why not enjoy it?" Ryuk points to Kenny and another kid bullying a girl outside before he continues, "Now we could, in this 'dream' of yours, take care of a situation like this.We just put Kenny's name down and see what happens."
Light writes down Kenny's name, and it's here where I feel the writing for Nat goes downhill. Why? Well, we get a pretty crappy joke (at least, I think that's what it was) about Light not having a pen. However, the writing for Willem Dafoe continues to shine, as Ryuk says, "Good. Now, as long as we're playing, let's do it right. There's no need to stop at 'who.'" Light asks what else there is, and Ryuk explains that there needs to be a "how." Light writes down "decapitation" as the cause of death, and Ryuk says that that's not bad for a beginner. Ryuk then gets Light to look outside and watch the action unfold. I won't go into detail about Kenny's death because he wasn't that important of a character and his death was pretty bloody.
Light screams like a little girl (okay, now that's getting old...it was fun the first or second time, but now it's getting old) and falls backwards. Ryuk then explains that he needs to "separate the wheat from the chaff," and that if Light leaves the Death Note alone for seven days, Ryuk will find it a new home. Ryuk tells Light that if what just happened was possible to imagine what else he could do with the Death Note. The lights flicker back on and Ryuk vanishes.
We then cut to Light's home, where we meet Light's dad, James Turner, a cop. There's a pretty bad storm going on, causing things in the house to rattle and shake. And...the scene here really isn't that great. It just shows how Light's dad isn't really the best dad out there and how Light thinks his dad is doing a pretty bad job at being a cop.
Light goes to his room and reads rules 64 and 95 of the Death Note before he asks about the number of rules. I'm going to mention the same thing I did in my review of the anime: this notebook has more rules on how to kill a person than there are instructions on how to make instant ramen!
Back to the story. Light flips through the pages of the Death Note before coming across something interesting in the margins of one of the pages: "Don't trust Ryuk (he pronounces it Rye-ick). He is not your pet, he is not your friend." The lights in Light's room go out and the door to his room creaks open (I guess this is an attempt to scare us...it doesn't really work), and Light thinks that Ryuk is behind it.
Sure enough, Ryuk is in Light's room, and corrects Light on the pronunciation of his name (thank G-D). The writing for Nat continues to go downhill as Light asks more questions, while the writing for Willem Dafoe continues to freaking shine. So far, aside from the bad writing for Nat, the whitewashing and Americanization of everyone's names (except for Watari, but we'll get to him later), this movie is actually doing a pretty good job of following the first few episodes of the anime.
Too bad that's cut short by Light commenting on the size of Ryuk's fingers. Um...unnecessary, much? Anyway, Ryuk says that Rule 28 of the Death Note states that each death must be physically possible. In the words of Ryuk, "No shark attacks while someone's on the toilet." Really? That would have been a redeemable quality for the movie.
Light continues to ask more pointless questions, until he gets an idea. He gets a folder that has several articles on his mom's killer, Antony...something. Ryuk explains that a name and a face is all Light needs to write someone's name in the Death Note. Light writes Antony's name in the Death Note and we actually see the poor guy get killed off.
I'm not going to go through the middle of the movie, because the only semi-relevant thing that happens is that we meet L.
Let's just cut to the end. Honestly, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. My sanity is already ebbing away. I'd ALMOST rather be sitting through Diabolik Lovers (key word being "almost"). G-d help me.
Mia falls to her death from the Seattle Great Ferris Wheel thanks to Ryuk messing with it (also, her name was written in the Death Note). We learned earlier (I forgot to mention this) that a page with someone's name can be burned to cancel the death within 48 hours, but this can only be done once. Light and the Death Note fall into the water, and the page with Light's name on it falls in a burn barrel. The page is burned, Light is recovered, but he is in a coma. When he wakes up, his dad realizes that Light was Kira all along (oh yeah, they went with that Japanese/English wordplay). Ryuk comments on how interesting humans are, and the credits roll.
So...out of 10: 0/10
Why: Look, I tried to go into this with an open mind. I really did. But aside from all the whitewashing, Americanization, bad writing, bad direction, bad music, bad...pretty much everything, the only good thing was Willem Dafoe's performance as Ryuk.
Nat's acting is passable, at best. It was great seeing him try to act as a complex character like Light Yagami, but they key word in that is "try." Nat definitely changed and matured quite a bit. Whether that's for the better remains to be seen.
Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (the creators of Death Note) have praised the film. What were they on? Were they drunk or high or something when watching this? Because that might be the only way someone could get through this "movie" and actually like it. I don't drink or get high, though, so I could be wrong about that.
All in all, if you're a fan of Death Note, DON'T WATCH THIS! If you want to get into Death Note, watch the anime instead of this "movie." I can guarantee it will be 10 times better than this piece of crap.
The soundtrack did nothing for me. I have...no words, other than it was really, really bad.
Adam Winguard, the director of this "movie" said that Netflix has wanted to make at least two films if enough people watched this. Winguard said, "There are definitely lots of places to go, and we know generally where we would take it. Hopefully people will watch it and Netflix will order a sequel. They definitely are ready to. They just need people to watch it." Oh, Adam...if only you knew how badly we don't want a sequel...
Well, that's my review. This was torture to watch, so I'll be taking a break from Anime Mondays for a week or two. Sorry, guys. ~k
*applause*
It's time for the review everyone's been waiting for, so let's get to it! Here it is: Netflix's Death Note!
Ok, so the movie has a semi-decent cast. Nat Wolff as Light Yagami (I'm NOT calling him Light Turner), CGI voiced by Willem Dafoe as Ryuk (there was some other guy who played Ryuk in costume while Willem Dafoe provided voice work and performance capture for the facial elements), that guy from Get Out as L (I FINALLY remembered his name! It's Keith Stanfield), and a bunch of other people I've never heard of. Masi Oka, that jerk who made that remark about "perfect English," is in this, too.
*sigh*
I'm in for a treat, aren't I? Mr. Oka, you have yet to redeem yourself. I don't care that the creators of the source material praised this; I'm here to form my own opinion. I mean, it can't be as bad as both parts of the live action adaptation of Attack on Titan, right?
RIGHT?
RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
ONE SCREENING LATER
Holy. Fricking. Frick. I...can't...even...
*deep breath*
THIS MOVIE SUCKS!
Ok. Allow me to elaborate. I couldn't get through this movie in one sitting, so after the first twenty or so minutes of torture (the things I do for you guys), I decided to walk away, get some shopping therapy (which took longer than I would have liked), and come back to it. And guess what? IT WAS STILL TORTURE.
Allow me to elaborate a little bit more. If you'll recall, I reviewed the Death Note anime about a year ago and praised it. It was a fantastic anime with great, complex characters and an interesting premise. Sure, it had its downsides, but what anime doesn't (even if it gets 5/5 or 10/10)?
So, let's not waste any time (which I would actually be quite content with, but I feel I owe it to you guys to give this "movie" a proper review). Let's dive right into Netflix's Death Note.
The movie opens up with a high school in what I think is Seattle, and already, the soundtrack is doing nothing for me. They're using a song I don't know by a band I've never heard of (I think they're Australian). But more on the bad music later.
We see our protagonist, Light Yagami--sorry, Light Turner--in the middle of a rainstorm as he picks up a book marked "Death Note." After a scene with high school bully Kenny and our introduction of cheerleader Mia Sutton (the movie's version of Misa Amane), we cut to the principal, where we learn that Light is a genius who hates everything evil and that his mom died. The principal puts Light in detention for trying to break up a fight between Kenny and Mia.
While in detention, the teacher steps out for a while and Light opens up the Death Note. He starts to read the rules. And, I'm not going to lie: while Nat Wolff doesn't look great as a blonde, the years certainly did treat him well. He's only a couple weeks older than I am, but his voice got REALLY deep. It sound pretty good. You can tell he went through some major changes after Naked Brothers Band.
Anyway, as Light is reading the rules of the notebook, the lights flicker out and he hears something break. He goes to investigate and we get our first look at Ryuk. This is probably my favorite part of the movie, because Light screams like a little girl at the sight of Ryuk and falls down. Ryuk practically destroys the detention room (along with trying to kill Light) and Light is screaming like a little girl the entire time. It's actually kind of funny.
Light tries to convince himself it's all a dream, but Willem Dafoe's AMAZING voice acting shines through with the lines, "Oh, yes. A dream. I like that. Dreams are places you can have fun, right? It's all in your mind, so why not enjoy it?" Ryuk points to Kenny and another kid bullying a girl outside before he continues, "Now we could, in this 'dream' of yours, take care of a situation like this.We just put Kenny's name down and see what happens."
Light writes down Kenny's name, and it's here where I feel the writing for Nat goes downhill. Why? Well, we get a pretty crappy joke (at least, I think that's what it was) about Light not having a pen. However, the writing for Willem Dafoe continues to shine, as Ryuk says, "Good. Now, as long as we're playing, let's do it right. There's no need to stop at 'who.'" Light asks what else there is, and Ryuk explains that there needs to be a "how." Light writes down "decapitation" as the cause of death, and Ryuk says that that's not bad for a beginner. Ryuk then gets Light to look outside and watch the action unfold. I won't go into detail about Kenny's death because he wasn't that important of a character and his death was pretty bloody.
Light screams like a little girl (okay, now that's getting old...it was fun the first or second time, but now it's getting old) and falls backwards. Ryuk then explains that he needs to "separate the wheat from the chaff," and that if Light leaves the Death Note alone for seven days, Ryuk will find it a new home. Ryuk tells Light that if what just happened was possible to imagine what else he could do with the Death Note. The lights flicker back on and Ryuk vanishes.
We then cut to Light's home, where we meet Light's dad, James Turner, a cop. There's a pretty bad storm going on, causing things in the house to rattle and shake. And...the scene here really isn't that great. It just shows how Light's dad isn't really the best dad out there and how Light thinks his dad is doing a pretty bad job at being a cop.
Light goes to his room and reads rules 64 and 95 of the Death Note before he asks about the number of rules. I'm going to mention the same thing I did in my review of the anime: this notebook has more rules on how to kill a person than there are instructions on how to make instant ramen!
Back to the story. Light flips through the pages of the Death Note before coming across something interesting in the margins of one of the pages: "Don't trust Ryuk (he pronounces it Rye-ick). He is not your pet, he is not your friend." The lights in Light's room go out and the door to his room creaks open (I guess this is an attempt to scare us...it doesn't really work), and Light thinks that Ryuk is behind it.
Sure enough, Ryuk is in Light's room, and corrects Light on the pronunciation of his name (thank G-D). The writing for Nat continues to go downhill as Light asks more questions, while the writing for Willem Dafoe continues to freaking shine. So far, aside from the bad writing for Nat, the whitewashing and Americanization of everyone's names (except for Watari, but we'll get to him later), this movie is actually doing a pretty good job of following the first few episodes of the anime.
Too bad that's cut short by Light commenting on the size of Ryuk's fingers. Um...unnecessary, much? Anyway, Ryuk says that Rule 28 of the Death Note states that each death must be physically possible. In the words of Ryuk, "No shark attacks while someone's on the toilet." Really? That would have been a redeemable quality for the movie.
Light continues to ask more pointless questions, until he gets an idea. He gets a folder that has several articles on his mom's killer, Antony...something. Ryuk explains that a name and a face is all Light needs to write someone's name in the Death Note. Light writes Antony's name in the Death Note and we actually see the poor guy get killed off.
I'm not going to go through the middle of the movie, because the only semi-relevant thing that happens is that we meet L.
Let's just cut to the end. Honestly, I'm not sure how much more of this I can take. My sanity is already ebbing away. I'd ALMOST rather be sitting through Diabolik Lovers (key word being "almost"). G-d help me.
Mia falls to her death from the Seattle Great Ferris Wheel thanks to Ryuk messing with it (also, her name was written in the Death Note). We learned earlier (I forgot to mention this) that a page with someone's name can be burned to cancel the death within 48 hours, but this can only be done once. Light and the Death Note fall into the water, and the page with Light's name on it falls in a burn barrel. The page is burned, Light is recovered, but he is in a coma. When he wakes up, his dad realizes that Light was Kira all along (oh yeah, they went with that Japanese/English wordplay). Ryuk comments on how interesting humans are, and the credits roll.
So...out of 10: 0/10
Why: Look, I tried to go into this with an open mind. I really did. But aside from all the whitewashing, Americanization, bad writing, bad direction, bad music, bad...pretty much everything, the only good thing was Willem Dafoe's performance as Ryuk.
Nat's acting is passable, at best. It was great seeing him try to act as a complex character like Light Yagami, but they key word in that is "try." Nat definitely changed and matured quite a bit. Whether that's for the better remains to be seen.
Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (the creators of Death Note) have praised the film. What were they on? Were they drunk or high or something when watching this? Because that might be the only way someone could get through this "movie" and actually like it. I don't drink or get high, though, so I could be wrong about that.
All in all, if you're a fan of Death Note, DON'T WATCH THIS! If you want to get into Death Note, watch the anime instead of this "movie." I can guarantee it will be 10 times better than this piece of crap.
The soundtrack did nothing for me. I have...no words, other than it was really, really bad.
Adam Winguard, the director of this "movie" said that Netflix has wanted to make at least two films if enough people watched this. Winguard said, "There are definitely lots of places to go, and we know generally where we would take it. Hopefully people will watch it and Netflix will order a sequel. They definitely are ready to. They just need people to watch it." Oh, Adam...if only you knew how badly we don't want a sequel...
Well, that's my review. This was torture to watch, so I'll be taking a break from Anime Mondays for a week or two. Sorry, guys. ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. I know it's a little unfair to judge a 12-episode series after just 5 episodes, but you know what? I decided to break my rule of waiting until the halfway point. For now, anyway. Whether I'll do that in the future remains to be seen. I promised you at least one Anime Monday before I started school, so here it is. Hopefully there will be more on the way.
Today's Anime Monday will talk about a series that...well...I put the main title in Japanese for a reason. If you'll recall, I reviewed 地獄少女 (H**l Girl) for an Anime Monday about a year ago. So I'll give a little background on this season. There will be some spoilers, because you need to have seen the previous seasons to understand this one. You have been warned.
Ok. I gave a general background of the anime in that review, so here's a little background on this season before we dive into each of the episodes. The third season of 地獄少女, Three Vessels, finished airing April 4, 2009. We all thought that that season was going to be the end of the anime. Some of us wanted a fourth season, some of us didn't. Personally, I was indifferent. I wouldn't have minded a fourth season, but I was okay without it.
On February 25 of this year (eight years after the third season), a fourth season of 地獄少女 was announced; something that I don't think a lot of people expected. While I'm sure some fans were more excited than others...I was a little indifferent. I thought a fourth season would be interesting, but I was unsure of where the writers would take it. So I think nervous might be the better word.
The fourth season premiered July 14 of this year. We'll get to what I thought about the series later, but for now...THIS SEASON IS ONLY 12 EPISODES! 12! FREAKING! EPISODES! ALL THE OTHER SEASONS HAD 26 OR SO EPISODES AND THIS ONE ONLY GETS 12?! IS THIS ATTACK ON TITAN ALL OVER AGAIN?! COME ON!
*end rant*
Ok. Deep breaths, kanna. Deep breaths.
Ahem.
Anyway, this new season was supposed to feature six new episodes and six "reminisce" episodes. By "reminisce," I can only assume that this means background on the characters. We got one "reminisce" episode just recently, but I'll talk about that one later. For now, let's get to the insight of the first five episodes of 地獄少女.
Episode 1: This episode is actually one of my favorites, and it wasn't bad for a first episode. It gave a great insight into bullying, especially cyber-bullying. In this episode, a girl is being bullied in her class's group chat for reasons unknown to her. She meets another girl who encourages her to join another group chat meant for loners. However, upon scrolling through the new group chat, the girl discovers that the other girl was responsible for the bullying and sends her to 地獄. I'll admit, that's not the best solution to any problem, but given that this is a fictional anime where some things are taken to the extreme, I'll let it slide. For now.
It's also in this episode where we meet a new character in the series. We don't know who she is (yet), but she seems to be judgmental of the work that Ai and her companions do for reasons we don't quite know (yet). It's also revealed that this girl doesn't know who she is or how she became a spirit.
Episode 2: I wasn't a fan of this episode. I mean, part of the reason why could be because I don't understand Japanese comedy (as in, I haven't seen enough of it to become familiar with it), as that's part of what's featured in this episode. The other part is two friends forming a damnation pact with each other and one friend sends the other to 地獄. So far, this season is sounding pretty similar to the previous seasons. I'm not liking this.
Episode 3: OH. MY. FREAKING. G-D. I HATED this episode. Not because the season was starting to seem formulaic and a little too similar to its predecessors, but because it was downright AWFUL. Why? Well, in this episode...how do I put this...everyone hates each other except for two siblings. You have a grandma who hates the mom, the grandma's son who doesn't really get involved in anything, and the parents' three kids (a girl with a boyfriend who is abusive towards her siblings and she doesn't care, a brother, and a sister). The writing was awful, there was little to no character development, and the whole thing revolved around the brother and his younger sister not wanting to get their hands dirty. What a piece of crap.
Episode 4: This was another bad one, but not for the same reason as episode 3. In this episode, we got to see the dark side of what happens in homes for the elderly. It was basically elder abuse nonstop. I wanted to cry; I felt awful for the characters. I mean...this is some of the stuff that you REALLY don't want to show viewers. But, surprisingly, that's not what pissed me off about this episode. No. What pissed me off was that they brought Tsugumi Shibata, a recurring character from the past three seasons, back for pretty much NO REASON. I'm not kidding. She's there as a worker who knows about the abuse and is trying to stop it (yay her), but she contributes nothing to the overall storyline of this episode. Useless, much?
Episode 5: Contrary to what people might say about this episode, I actually kinda liked it. I mean, it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible, either. This episode was...I can't really come up with a good word to describe it. Here's what happened, though, as it does contain quite a bit of character development as to who this mysterious spirit is. In this episode, three out of four boys were killed in a car accident because they weren't wearing seat belts and were roughhousing instead. Only one survived because he was wearing his seat belt. The mother of one of the boys who died wants to send the surviving boy to 地獄, because it wasn't fair to her that he survived and her son didn't.
We learn that this is somewhat similar to our mysterious spirit's past, whose name we learn is Michiru. She remembers her past bit by bit in this episode until it all starts to come together. I'm not going to give away exactly what happened, but I will say how she died and became a spirit. She and her parents were killed in a fire set by some villagers. At first, she thought that she and her family were going to Heaven, which is what the mom said as they were dying. This would have been an interesting twist; having 地獄少女 and "Heaven Girl" (Michiru) battle it out over each time someone forms a contract. But the writers don't do this. Instead, they relate Michiru's story to Ai's story and say that she is to become the next 地獄少女. And...that's pretty much how the episode ends. Kinda crappy, but not much we can do about it, right?
So, thoughts: This season is too formulaic and follows the formula of the previous seasons. If you're new to 地獄少女, the first season is worth checking out. This one and the previous two seasons: not so much. The animation is decent, the music isn't that bad (it's not great, but it's not terrible), and even the torture scenes are short so those who can't take blood/guts/gore can just go right past them.
That being said about the torture scenes...they're too short. I feel like they're twenty seconds before Ai says her famous lines (this is just one of many variations of them: "O pitiful shadow bound in darkness, looking down upon people and causing them pain. A soul drowned in sinful karma...Want to try dying this once?"), and then poof! Gone! I mean, I don't like watching torture scenes, but seeing a villain get their comeuppance (even if it's in a super violent and torturous way) is kinda needed in a show about sending people to 地獄. They weren't afraid to show the death scenes in Death Note. Even the previous three seasons had longer torture scenes that were anywhere from a minute to two minutes. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
There isn't a ton of character development, and the problems seem too similar to the previous seasons. I mean...where's the originality? Did it go down the toilet? Are the writers just lazy? I mean, people who wanted a fourth season waited EIGHT YEARS for this, and this pile of crap is what we get? Formulaic as heck?! Um, no. The only reason I'm going to keep watching is because I freaking LOVE Ichimoku Ren.
Well, that's this week's Anime Monday. Stay tuned for my next review of...actually, I'm not sure. Um...TBD?
Anyway, the next Anime Monday probably won't be up until I move into my dorm (I'll be lucky if I can post one sooner), so just keep an eye on my Facebook page. Until next time! ~k
Today's Anime Monday will talk about a series that...well...I put the main title in Japanese for a reason. If you'll recall, I reviewed 地獄少女 (H**l Girl) for an Anime Monday about a year ago. So I'll give a little background on this season. There will be some spoilers, because you need to have seen the previous seasons to understand this one. You have been warned.
Ok. I gave a general background of the anime in that review, so here's a little background on this season before we dive into each of the episodes. The third season of 地獄少女, Three Vessels, finished airing April 4, 2009. We all thought that that season was going to be the end of the anime. Some of us wanted a fourth season, some of us didn't. Personally, I was indifferent. I wouldn't have minded a fourth season, but I was okay without it.
On February 25 of this year (eight years after the third season), a fourth season of 地獄少女 was announced; something that I don't think a lot of people expected. While I'm sure some fans were more excited than others...I was a little indifferent. I thought a fourth season would be interesting, but I was unsure of where the writers would take it. So I think nervous might be the better word.
The fourth season premiered July 14 of this year. We'll get to what I thought about the series later, but for now...THIS SEASON IS ONLY 12 EPISODES! 12! FREAKING! EPISODES! ALL THE OTHER SEASONS HAD 26 OR SO EPISODES AND THIS ONE ONLY GETS 12?! IS THIS ATTACK ON TITAN ALL OVER AGAIN?! COME ON!
*end rant*
Ok. Deep breaths, kanna. Deep breaths.
Ahem.
Anyway, this new season was supposed to feature six new episodes and six "reminisce" episodes. By "reminisce," I can only assume that this means background on the characters. We got one "reminisce" episode just recently, but I'll talk about that one later. For now, let's get to the insight of the first five episodes of 地獄少女.
Episode 1: This episode is actually one of my favorites, and it wasn't bad for a first episode. It gave a great insight into bullying, especially cyber-bullying. In this episode, a girl is being bullied in her class's group chat for reasons unknown to her. She meets another girl who encourages her to join another group chat meant for loners. However, upon scrolling through the new group chat, the girl discovers that the other girl was responsible for the bullying and sends her to 地獄. I'll admit, that's not the best solution to any problem, but given that this is a fictional anime where some things are taken to the extreme, I'll let it slide. For now.
It's also in this episode where we meet a new character in the series. We don't know who she is (yet), but she seems to be judgmental of the work that Ai and her companions do for reasons we don't quite know (yet). It's also revealed that this girl doesn't know who she is or how she became a spirit.
Episode 2: I wasn't a fan of this episode. I mean, part of the reason why could be because I don't understand Japanese comedy (as in, I haven't seen enough of it to become familiar with it), as that's part of what's featured in this episode. The other part is two friends forming a damnation pact with each other and one friend sends the other to 地獄. So far, this season is sounding pretty similar to the previous seasons. I'm not liking this.
Episode 3: OH. MY. FREAKING. G-D. I HATED this episode. Not because the season was starting to seem formulaic and a little too similar to its predecessors, but because it was downright AWFUL. Why? Well, in this episode...how do I put this...everyone hates each other except for two siblings. You have a grandma who hates the mom, the grandma's son who doesn't really get involved in anything, and the parents' three kids (a girl with a boyfriend who is abusive towards her siblings and she doesn't care, a brother, and a sister). The writing was awful, there was little to no character development, and the whole thing revolved around the brother and his younger sister not wanting to get their hands dirty. What a piece of crap.
Episode 4: This was another bad one, but not for the same reason as episode 3. In this episode, we got to see the dark side of what happens in homes for the elderly. It was basically elder abuse nonstop. I wanted to cry; I felt awful for the characters. I mean...this is some of the stuff that you REALLY don't want to show viewers. But, surprisingly, that's not what pissed me off about this episode. No. What pissed me off was that they brought Tsugumi Shibata, a recurring character from the past three seasons, back for pretty much NO REASON. I'm not kidding. She's there as a worker who knows about the abuse and is trying to stop it (yay her), but she contributes nothing to the overall storyline of this episode. Useless, much?
Episode 5: Contrary to what people might say about this episode, I actually kinda liked it. I mean, it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible, either. This episode was...I can't really come up with a good word to describe it. Here's what happened, though, as it does contain quite a bit of character development as to who this mysterious spirit is. In this episode, three out of four boys were killed in a car accident because they weren't wearing seat belts and were roughhousing instead. Only one survived because he was wearing his seat belt. The mother of one of the boys who died wants to send the surviving boy to 地獄, because it wasn't fair to her that he survived and her son didn't.
We learn that this is somewhat similar to our mysterious spirit's past, whose name we learn is Michiru. She remembers her past bit by bit in this episode until it all starts to come together. I'm not going to give away exactly what happened, but I will say how she died and became a spirit. She and her parents were killed in a fire set by some villagers. At first, she thought that she and her family were going to Heaven, which is what the mom said as they were dying. This would have been an interesting twist; having 地獄少女 and "Heaven Girl" (Michiru) battle it out over each time someone forms a contract. But the writers don't do this. Instead, they relate Michiru's story to Ai's story and say that she is to become the next 地獄少女. And...that's pretty much how the episode ends. Kinda crappy, but not much we can do about it, right?
So, thoughts: This season is too formulaic and follows the formula of the previous seasons. If you're new to 地獄少女, the first season is worth checking out. This one and the previous two seasons: not so much. The animation is decent, the music isn't that bad (it's not great, but it's not terrible), and even the torture scenes are short so those who can't take blood/guts/gore can just go right past them.
That being said about the torture scenes...they're too short. I feel like they're twenty seconds before Ai says her famous lines (this is just one of many variations of them: "O pitiful shadow bound in darkness, looking down upon people and causing them pain. A soul drowned in sinful karma...Want to try dying this once?"), and then poof! Gone! I mean, I don't like watching torture scenes, but seeing a villain get their comeuppance (even if it's in a super violent and torturous way) is kinda needed in a show about sending people to 地獄. They weren't afraid to show the death scenes in Death Note. Even the previous three seasons had longer torture scenes that were anywhere from a minute to two minutes. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
There isn't a ton of character development, and the problems seem too similar to the previous seasons. I mean...where's the originality? Did it go down the toilet? Are the writers just lazy? I mean, people who wanted a fourth season waited EIGHT YEARS for this, and this pile of crap is what we get? Formulaic as heck?! Um, no. The only reason I'm going to keep watching is because I freaking LOVE Ichimoku Ren.
Well, that's this week's Anime Monday. Stay tuned for my next review of...actually, I'm not sure. Um...TBD?
Anyway, the next Anime Monday probably won't be up until I move into my dorm (I'll be lucky if I can post one sooner), so just keep an eye on my Facebook page. Until next time! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. I promised at least one Anime Monday before I went to school for my last year. So, you're going to be getting this relatively short blog post.
If you were at SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con), you'll know that they showed a clip from the highly controversial Netflix adaptation of the classic anime, Death Note. If you weren't there (like me), then you probably found out about this by word of mouth. There are...several things I want to say about this adaptation, but I'll get to them after I talk about the clip.
Ok. In this clip, Light (Nat Wolff) meets Ryuk (CGI voiced by Willem Dafoe). And...to be perfectly honest, there are only two impressive things in this clip:
1. Nat Wolff actually cursing (I mean, I haven't seen any of his stuff outside of Naked Brothers Band, so if he curses in other stuff, I stand corrected)
2. Willem Dafoe as Ryuk. I think that speaks for itself.
And it's also here where I feel that Nat Wolff's acting just...isn't good. I don't think he's going to make a good Light Yagami. His acting seems...off. Granted, the full movie hasn't been released yet, so I can't be too harsh. Even so, I feel like all my hope for him just went down the drain. Sorry, Nat, but so far, Willem Dafoe is the only redeeming thing about this. It's Anime/Manga: 2 and Netflix: 1.
So...what can we expect?
If you were at SDCC (San Diego Comic-Con), you'll know that they showed a clip from the highly controversial Netflix adaptation of the classic anime, Death Note. If you weren't there (like me), then you probably found out about this by word of mouth. There are...several things I want to say about this adaptation, but I'll get to them after I talk about the clip.
Ok. In this clip, Light (Nat Wolff) meets Ryuk (CGI voiced by Willem Dafoe). And...to be perfectly honest, there are only two impressive things in this clip:
1. Nat Wolff actually cursing (I mean, I haven't seen any of his stuff outside of Naked Brothers Band, so if he curses in other stuff, I stand corrected)
2. Willem Dafoe as Ryuk. I think that speaks for itself.
And it's also here where I feel that Nat Wolff's acting just...isn't good. I don't think he's going to make a good Light Yagami. His acting seems...off. Granted, the full movie hasn't been released yet, so I can't be too harsh. Even so, I feel like all my hope for him just went down the drain. Sorry, Nat, but so far, Willem Dafoe is the only redeeming thing about this. It's Anime/Manga: 2 and Netflix: 1.
So...what can we expect?
- That guy from Get Out as L (I can never remember his name...I think it's Keith something)
- Nat Wolff being unable to play a complex character like Light Yagami
- Masi Oka being his usual self (yes, he's actually in this movie; more on him later)
- An AMAZING performance from Willem Dafoe
- Hopefully decent CGI...the CGI Ryuk looks pretty cool
And...that's really about it. I don't think there's much to expect from this film. Granted, I don't think the movie will be as bad as the live-action Attack on Titan, but I still think this is going to be pretty bad.
The characters don't seem like they're going to be in character. I mean, Misa Amane (Light's love interest) is now Mia Sutton, and she's a cheerleader (and probably homicidal). I'm sorry, WHAT?
*must calm down*
The characters don't seem like they're going to be in character. I mean, Misa Amane (Light's love interest) is now Mia Sutton, and she's a cheerleader (and probably homicidal). I'm sorry, WHAT?
*must calm down*
Now for the controversial bit:
Here is the real reason there are little to no Asian actors or actresses in the film, straight from Masi Oka: "Our casting directors did an extensive search to get Asian actors, but we couldn’t find the right person, the actors we did go to didn’t speak the perfect English… and the characters had been rewritten..."
Ok. I have several things to say about this, all of which can be summed up in one word:
BULLCRAP!
Seriously, Masi, I had so much respect for you before you made that remark. I honestly doubt you spoke "perfect English" when you were little. I work with elderly Chinese people to teach them English, and their English isn't "perfect," but you know what? THEY'RE TRYING! PEOPLE. ARE. TRYING! TO LEARN ONE OF THE HARDEST LANGUAGES OUT THERE! IT'S EVEN HARD FOR NATIVE SPEAKERS!
According to Death Note News, a young Asian-American actor, Edward Zo, was told not to audition for the part of Light Yagami because he was "too Asian." Um...Masi...you're Asian-American, and you're in the movie. Don't you think that's a tad hypocritical? Anyway, for those of you who don't know Edward Zo, here's what he looks like:
Not to mention how Edward found out about the fact that he didn't get the part: through the news that Nat Wolff was in "final negotiations" for the part. And then Nat got the part. Talk about a bad way to find out news about you. I mean, imagine being called into a meeting with your coworker and your boss, only for your boss to tell your coworker IN FRONT OF YOU that your coworker got the big promotion and you didn't.
I'm trying to get an interview with Edward Zo (sort of like what I did with Jonathan Todd Ross), but so far, he hasn't responded to my message. If any of you know him personally and are willing to reach out to him and ask him for an interview with little old me (haha), that would be fantastic.
Anyway, Netflix's Death Note adaptation comes out August 25 of this year. I'm going to watch it and give it the full review it deserves. Let's just pray that it isn't as bad as the live action Attack on Titan and that my sanity stays intact. See you for the next Anime Monday!
According to Death Note News, a young Asian-American actor, Edward Zo, was told not to audition for the part of Light Yagami because he was "too Asian." Um...Masi...you're Asian-American, and you're in the movie. Don't you think that's a tad hypocritical? Anyway, for those of you who don't know Edward Zo, here's what he looks like:
Not to mention how Edward found out about the fact that he didn't get the part: through the news that Nat Wolff was in "final negotiations" for the part. And then Nat got the part. Talk about a bad way to find out news about you. I mean, imagine being called into a meeting with your coworker and your boss, only for your boss to tell your coworker IN FRONT OF YOU that your coworker got the big promotion and you didn't.
I'm trying to get an interview with Edward Zo (sort of like what I did with Jonathan Todd Ross), but so far, he hasn't responded to my message. If any of you know him personally and are willing to reach out to him and ask him for an interview with little old me (haha), that would be fantastic.
Anyway, Netflix's Death Note adaptation comes out August 25 of this year. I'm going to watch it and give it the full review it deserves. Let's just pray that it isn't as bad as the live action Attack on Titan and that my sanity stays intact. See you for the next Anime Monday!
Oh, and by the way, Mr. Oka: Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata (the creators of Death Note, who you, Mr. Oka, seem to have blatantly disregarded and disrespected) send their regards.
