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Hey guys, kanna here. Anime Mondays are probably going to be every other Monday (so...about two per month), until otherwise noted on my Facebook page (so if you haven't liked it, please hit the like button).
So...remember Pokemon? For those of you who don't, it was pretty much every late 90s kid's dream "to be the very best, like no one ever was." I started playing the Pokemon video games before I actually started watching the series. My first games were Red, Blue, and Yellow (I can't remember which one I got first). And boy, was I addicted. Trying to complete a Pokedex with 150 (plus one) Pokemon, winning eight badges and beating the Elite Four...*sigh* those were the days. I still play Pokemon to this day, and am currently trying to complete the Pokedex in Ultra Moon. I'm also the proud trainer of a Dusk Form Lycanroc in the game (huge pain to get if you're playing Ultra Moon, but totally worth it), which looks AWESOME. Here's a picture of what it looks like.
Yeah, go ahead, call me a dork. I don't care. Why? Well, I've been called worse, and let's leave it at that.
On April 1, 1997, the first episode of Pokemon aired. The series revolved around Ash Ketchum and his partner Pokemon, Pikachu, and Ash's quest to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master. Given that the anime has been a huge success (14 seasons and counting), 20 (well, technically 21, but the fourteenth and fifteenth movies are counted as one film) feature films were released, as well as multiple shorts, spin-offs, TV specials (both full and normal length), and other things. So, 2017 was Pokemon's 20-year anniversary. And naturally, a movie to commemorate such an anniversary was in the works.
In 2016, the movie was first announced with a teaser trailer that showed Ash and Pikachu alongside the legendary Pokemon, Ho-Oh. It also showed that the film would act as a retelling of the first season, as it explored some important plot points from said season. The second trailer, released in 2017, revealed remade scenes from the first episode of the series and gave us the film's English title, Pokemon: I Choose You!. This was in reference to the title of the first episode of the series, which had the same name.
Without further ado, let's get our starter Pokemon and head out on a journey of our own! Review, I choose you! This is Pokemon: I Choose You!
So the movie actually starts out very similar to the way the first episode of the series started out, but it's also here where one of my really small complaints with the movie is. They play the theme song from the first series, but instead of it being having Jason Paige, the original singer, come back into the recording studio around 20 years later, it was remixed and sung by Ben Dixon. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad, either. I think having listened to the original version so much, I was a little biased. Although I am curious...what would it have sounded like if Jason Paige came back into the studio and sang the theme song?
Moving on.
FULL-ON SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Like I said above, the movie starts out the similar to how the first episode of the series started out. The narrator introduces our protagonist, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and explains that once kids turn ten, they can get Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur as their first Pokemon from Professor Oak and begin their journey as a Pokemon trainer.
Just like in the first episode, Ash oversleeps and gets to Professor Oak's lab late, only to find that the three starters have all been taken by the trainers who arrived on time. Ash is bummed, but Professor Oak reveals that he does have one Pokemon left, and it's an electric-type named Pikachu. Pikachu has a feisty personality, hates to go in its Pokeball, and is initially volatile towards Ash. However, Ash is still happy and takes Pikachu along.
Soon after the journey begins, Ash sees a Pokemon in the grass: a Pidgey. He tries to get Pikachu's help to catch it, but Pikachu refuses. So Ash grabs a rock and throws it, only for it to miss the Pidgey and hit a Spearow. The Spearow gets angry and alerts its friends, which include its evolved form, Fearow.
Ash and Pikachu run, but they aren't fast enough to get away from the flock of bird Pokemon. There's a storm, and the pair are both injured pretty badly. Ash tries to get Pikachu to go inside its Pokeball. Pikachu refuses, and after seeing how much Ash wants to protect it, Pikachu unleashes the Thunderbolt of Zeus (okay, not really, but it's a really powerful Thunderbolt) and gets the bird Pokemon to leave.
When the storm stops, a legendary Pokemon known as Ho-Oh (unbeknownst to our protagonist) flies above them and drops a feather known as the Rainbow Wing. Ash then decides that he wants to meet the Pokemon that dropped it as he and Pikachu begin to form their unbreakable bond.
There's a lot of stuff that happened in the first few episodes of the first season that's shown in the movie, such as Ash catching a Caterpie and said Caterpie eventually evolving into Butterfree, Ash letting Butterfree go and mate, Ash rescuing a Charmander a trainer left out in the rain, and so on. However, there are a few slight differences, as well as side characters.
I won't talk about the side characters too much, as they don't really do much, but there is one character I want to talk about, and that's Cross. Cross is the trainer that left his Charmander out in the rain, claiming it was weak and didn't belong on his team, which consisted of a Midnight Form Lycanroc (I really don't like the way that thing looks) and an Incineroar (the third and final evolved form of Litten, a Generation VII Pokemon). Ash and the side characters, Verity and Sorrel, nurse the Charmander back to health in a cave while a Pokemon named Marshadow (um...this one is complicated, so I'll talk about Marshadow at the end) watches from the shadows.
Later on, Ash has a battle against Cross with a newly evolved Charmeleon, Ash loses and openly states that he could have won the battle with Pikachu instead of Charmeleon. He runs off from Verity and Sorrel as Pikachu follows, before Ash says that he wishes he chose another starter Pokemon instead of Pikachu.
Upon realizing what he said, he runs away from Pikachu and slumps against a tree. Ash says he doesn't need Pokemon, and Marshadow reappears and puts Ash to sleep. In the dream, Pokemon don't exist and Ash goes to a regular school with Verity and Sorrel. A "phantom" of Pikachu appears and Ash realizes that he does need Pokemon in his life and wants to see the world. He wakes up and reunites with Verity, Sorrel, and Pikachu. When they return to the cave they were in, Sorrel explains that Pokemon actually can be lost. And get ready, because this is where the movie takes a pretty dark turn.
When Sorrel was little, his parents were barely home, so he lived with a Luxray that looked after him. The two were very close. However, one day, when Sorrel was trying to walk home in a snowstorm, he was pretty close to home before he fell down and got stuck in the snow. Luxray walked over and kept him warm as Sorrel passed out/went to sleep. When Sorrel woke up, he discovered that Luxray had froze itself to death as it protected Sorrel.
Yeah. They don't say that Luxray died (I mean, it's a kid's movie...kind of), but it's pretty heavily implied. In Pokemon: Sun and Moon (which I eventually gave in to watching, and...it's actually not that bad), they touched on Pokemon death a little, but this...I have no words. They also touched on it in the original series, when Ash arrived in Lavender Town and there was a Pokemon cemetery.
Moving on (RIP Luxray).
Back in the present, the trio meet an old man named Bonji. He explains that the Rainbow Wing is given to a "hero" and relies on positive feelings to keep its glow. When filled with negative feelings, the wing turns black and disintegrates. He explains that not only Entei, but Raikou and Suicune were also following Ash because of the wing. Cross listens to all this in the shadows. Bonji also explains Marshadow and how he was aware that Marshadow was following the trio.
Before Ash is able to place the feather in its place, Cross attacks Ash and Marshadow comes out of the shadows to observe. Ash sends out his newly evolved Charizard against Cross's Incineroar, and the two battle it out. Ash defeats Cross and is about to place the feather, but Cross reveals that he, too, saw Ho-Oh. However, he wasn't given a Rainbow Wing like Ash was.
Cross wants to be strong, and Ash reveals that he does, too, but he wants to become friends with his Pokemon and not just rely on their brute strength. Cross attacks Ash again and takes the feather. He places it where it needs to go, but because of Cross's negative feelings, the feather turns dark and Marshadow grabs it next. Marshadows power grows as it takes control of almost all the Pokemon in the area, including Cross's Lycanroc.
Bonji tells Ash that Ash has to get the feather back from Marshadow. So, after battling various Pokemon that stand in the way, Ash and Pikachu battle Marshadow. Ultimately, they lose and receive a full-on pummeling from the other Pokemon. As the two lie on the ground, Ash weakly asks Pikachu why it won't get in its Pokeball. And it's here where we get the part of the movie that pissed off fans more than I have ever seen. Pikachu uses HUMAN LANGUAGE (I kid you not) to tell Ash, "It's because... It's because... I always want... to be with you."
I'll get to that later.
Ash ultimately gets Pikachu in its Pokeball as he takes the full on brunt of the other Pokemon attacks. He turns into energy as Pikachu gets out of its Pokeball and watches his partner ultimately vanish. Marshadow notices that the wing has disintegrated, and Pikachu in anger and grief unleashes a super powerful Thunderbolt. Pikachu cries as Ash finds himself in a grey world. And...*sigh* through the "power of love," Ash is able to come back to Pikachu. Ho-Oh arrives after that and Ash challenges it to a battle. The outcome is never shown.
There's...a bunch of other stuff that happens, but the short version is that everybody parts on good terms and Ash and Pikachu continue their journey. They show Ash's friends through all the seasons of Pokemon in the end credits, and we also see Jessie, James, and Meowth from Team Rocket. They were in the movie for comic relief, though, and our heroes didn't see them.
So, that's the movie. Rating: um...wow, this is hard. I'll give it 8.5/10.
Why: First off, the good parts definitely outweighed the bad. The animation was great, I loved the music, and the character development was great. We really got to see Ash grow as a trainer. And this was definitely pretty nostalgic for those of us who grew up watching the anime. While I wouldn't call it the ultimate nostalgic dream, it was still really good, and I would definitely watch it again.
HOWEVER:
If you've seen Pokemon, you're going to notice A LOT of changes with the voice actors. And I mean A LOT. The narrator sounds different, Ash sounds different (fans wanted Veronica Taylor, the original voice of Ash, to reprise her role), and...well...pretty much all the familiar characters sound different. The studio decided they wanted the current cast (the cast in Sun and Moon) in the roles, though, which I don't really understand. Why? Oh, I don't know...maybe because this is only Pokemon's TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY! THIS SHOULD BE A NOSTALGIC DREAM! AND YOU PEOPLE COULDN'T GET ANY OF THE ORIGINAL VOICE ACTORS BACK FOR THE ENGLISH DUB?! WHAT THE FRICK?
Ahem.
Not only that, but...since when could Pikachu talk?! Pikachu isn't Meowth, who taught itself to speak human language so that he could impress a female Meowth (which didn't work and left Meowth broken-hearted). Last I checked, all Pikachu could say was its name. That was it. That moment in the movie seriously pissed off fans, myself included. While I get it was supposed to be emotional because of the line that Pikachu says, I think fans were too pissed to pay attention to what the line actually was. I also understand that this movie is supposed to take place in an "alternate continuity," but that doesn't really matter. Alternate continuity or not, Pikachu should NOT have been able to talk.
I also feel like there were a few key things that were kind of glossed over, such as when Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, it listened to Ash. This didn't happen in the show. Charmeleon didn't listen to Ash as a Charmeleon, and it didn't listen to Ash for a while after it evolved into Charizard. I mean, I get that this is a movie and there's only so much you can put in, but this movie didn't even hit the two hour mark. I don't get it.
I should probably touch on the inclusion of Marshadow. Marshadow is a Generation VII Pokemon that was only obtainable through an event. I don't remember what the event was, when or where it was, or anything like that, but I do know that as of right now, you can't get it in Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon, Sun, or Moon. I don't have it, which really sucks for me. However, I do have two shiny legendaries (Uxie and Entei) that are both level 100, as well as a level 100 Rotom (and that was all through Wonder Trade), so I guess it's not all bad. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get Marshadow through the GTS or Wonder Trade. Who knows?
Well, that's my review. I'm curious, though: if you could pick a starter Pokemon from any generation, what would it be and why? Leave it in the comments! For me, I think it would either be Charmander or Froakie. Why? Well, they have pretty cool final evolved forms (Charizard and Greninja, respectively), and when trained the right way and taught the right moves, they can be total powerhouses.
That's all for this week! See you soon! ~k
So...remember Pokemon? For those of you who don't, it was pretty much every late 90s kid's dream "to be the very best, like no one ever was." I started playing the Pokemon video games before I actually started watching the series. My first games were Red, Blue, and Yellow (I can't remember which one I got first). And boy, was I addicted. Trying to complete a Pokedex with 150 (plus one) Pokemon, winning eight badges and beating the Elite Four...*sigh* those were the days. I still play Pokemon to this day, and am currently trying to complete the Pokedex in Ultra Moon. I'm also the proud trainer of a Dusk Form Lycanroc in the game (huge pain to get if you're playing Ultra Moon, but totally worth it), which looks AWESOME. Here's a picture of what it looks like.
Yeah, go ahead, call me a dork. I don't care. Why? Well, I've been called worse, and let's leave it at that.
On April 1, 1997, the first episode of Pokemon aired. The series revolved around Ash Ketchum and his partner Pokemon, Pikachu, and Ash's quest to become the world's greatest Pokemon Master. Given that the anime has been a huge success (14 seasons and counting), 20 (well, technically 21, but the fourteenth and fifteenth movies are counted as one film) feature films were released, as well as multiple shorts, spin-offs, TV specials (both full and normal length), and other things. So, 2017 was Pokemon's 20-year anniversary. And naturally, a movie to commemorate such an anniversary was in the works.
In 2016, the movie was first announced with a teaser trailer that showed Ash and Pikachu alongside the legendary Pokemon, Ho-Oh. It also showed that the film would act as a retelling of the first season, as it explored some important plot points from said season. The second trailer, released in 2017, revealed remade scenes from the first episode of the series and gave us the film's English title, Pokemon: I Choose You!. This was in reference to the title of the first episode of the series, which had the same name.
Without further ado, let's get our starter Pokemon and head out on a journey of our own! Review, I choose you! This is Pokemon: I Choose You!
So the movie actually starts out very similar to the way the first episode of the series started out, but it's also here where one of my really small complaints with the movie is. They play the theme song from the first series, but instead of it being having Jason Paige, the original singer, come back into the recording studio around 20 years later, it was remixed and sung by Ben Dixon. It wasn't good, but it wasn't bad, either. I think having listened to the original version so much, I was a little biased. Although I am curious...what would it have sounded like if Jason Paige came back into the studio and sang the theme song?
Moving on.
FULL-ON SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Like I said above, the movie starts out the similar to how the first episode of the series started out. The narrator introduces our protagonist, Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town, and explains that once kids turn ten, they can get Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur as their first Pokemon from Professor Oak and begin their journey as a Pokemon trainer.
Just like in the first episode, Ash oversleeps and gets to Professor Oak's lab late, only to find that the three starters have all been taken by the trainers who arrived on time. Ash is bummed, but Professor Oak reveals that he does have one Pokemon left, and it's an electric-type named Pikachu. Pikachu has a feisty personality, hates to go in its Pokeball, and is initially volatile towards Ash. However, Ash is still happy and takes Pikachu along.
Soon after the journey begins, Ash sees a Pokemon in the grass: a Pidgey. He tries to get Pikachu's help to catch it, but Pikachu refuses. So Ash grabs a rock and throws it, only for it to miss the Pidgey and hit a Spearow. The Spearow gets angry and alerts its friends, which include its evolved form, Fearow.
Ash and Pikachu run, but they aren't fast enough to get away from the flock of bird Pokemon. There's a storm, and the pair are both injured pretty badly. Ash tries to get Pikachu to go inside its Pokeball. Pikachu refuses, and after seeing how much Ash wants to protect it, Pikachu unleashes the Thunderbolt of Zeus (okay, not really, but it's a really powerful Thunderbolt) and gets the bird Pokemon to leave.
When the storm stops, a legendary Pokemon known as Ho-Oh (unbeknownst to our protagonist) flies above them and drops a feather known as the Rainbow Wing. Ash then decides that he wants to meet the Pokemon that dropped it as he and Pikachu begin to form their unbreakable bond.
There's a lot of stuff that happened in the first few episodes of the first season that's shown in the movie, such as Ash catching a Caterpie and said Caterpie eventually evolving into Butterfree, Ash letting Butterfree go and mate, Ash rescuing a Charmander a trainer left out in the rain, and so on. However, there are a few slight differences, as well as side characters.
I won't talk about the side characters too much, as they don't really do much, but there is one character I want to talk about, and that's Cross. Cross is the trainer that left his Charmander out in the rain, claiming it was weak and didn't belong on his team, which consisted of a Midnight Form Lycanroc (I really don't like the way that thing looks) and an Incineroar (the third and final evolved form of Litten, a Generation VII Pokemon). Ash and the side characters, Verity and Sorrel, nurse the Charmander back to health in a cave while a Pokemon named Marshadow (um...this one is complicated, so I'll talk about Marshadow at the end) watches from the shadows.
Later on, Ash has a battle against Cross with a newly evolved Charmeleon, Ash loses and openly states that he could have won the battle with Pikachu instead of Charmeleon. He runs off from Verity and Sorrel as Pikachu follows, before Ash says that he wishes he chose another starter Pokemon instead of Pikachu.
Upon realizing what he said, he runs away from Pikachu and slumps against a tree. Ash says he doesn't need Pokemon, and Marshadow reappears and puts Ash to sleep. In the dream, Pokemon don't exist and Ash goes to a regular school with Verity and Sorrel. A "phantom" of Pikachu appears and Ash realizes that he does need Pokemon in his life and wants to see the world. He wakes up and reunites with Verity, Sorrel, and Pikachu. When they return to the cave they were in, Sorrel explains that Pokemon actually can be lost. And get ready, because this is where the movie takes a pretty dark turn.
When Sorrel was little, his parents were barely home, so he lived with a Luxray that looked after him. The two were very close. However, one day, when Sorrel was trying to walk home in a snowstorm, he was pretty close to home before he fell down and got stuck in the snow. Luxray walked over and kept him warm as Sorrel passed out/went to sleep. When Sorrel woke up, he discovered that Luxray had froze itself to death as it protected Sorrel.
Yeah. They don't say that Luxray died (I mean, it's a kid's movie...kind of), but it's pretty heavily implied. In Pokemon: Sun and Moon (which I eventually gave in to watching, and...it's actually not that bad), they touched on Pokemon death a little, but this...I have no words. They also touched on it in the original series, when Ash arrived in Lavender Town and there was a Pokemon cemetery.
Moving on (RIP Luxray).
Back in the present, the trio meet an old man named Bonji. He explains that the Rainbow Wing is given to a "hero" and relies on positive feelings to keep its glow. When filled with negative feelings, the wing turns black and disintegrates. He explains that not only Entei, but Raikou and Suicune were also following Ash because of the wing. Cross listens to all this in the shadows. Bonji also explains Marshadow and how he was aware that Marshadow was following the trio.
Before Ash is able to place the feather in its place, Cross attacks Ash and Marshadow comes out of the shadows to observe. Ash sends out his newly evolved Charizard against Cross's Incineroar, and the two battle it out. Ash defeats Cross and is about to place the feather, but Cross reveals that he, too, saw Ho-Oh. However, he wasn't given a Rainbow Wing like Ash was.
Cross wants to be strong, and Ash reveals that he does, too, but he wants to become friends with his Pokemon and not just rely on their brute strength. Cross attacks Ash again and takes the feather. He places it where it needs to go, but because of Cross's negative feelings, the feather turns dark and Marshadow grabs it next. Marshadows power grows as it takes control of almost all the Pokemon in the area, including Cross's Lycanroc.
Bonji tells Ash that Ash has to get the feather back from Marshadow. So, after battling various Pokemon that stand in the way, Ash and Pikachu battle Marshadow. Ultimately, they lose and receive a full-on pummeling from the other Pokemon. As the two lie on the ground, Ash weakly asks Pikachu why it won't get in its Pokeball. And it's here where we get the part of the movie that pissed off fans more than I have ever seen. Pikachu uses HUMAN LANGUAGE (I kid you not) to tell Ash, "It's because... It's because... I always want... to be with you."
I'll get to that later.
Ash ultimately gets Pikachu in its Pokeball as he takes the full on brunt of the other Pokemon attacks. He turns into energy as Pikachu gets out of its Pokeball and watches his partner ultimately vanish. Marshadow notices that the wing has disintegrated, and Pikachu in anger and grief unleashes a super powerful Thunderbolt. Pikachu cries as Ash finds himself in a grey world. And...*sigh* through the "power of love," Ash is able to come back to Pikachu. Ho-Oh arrives after that and Ash challenges it to a battle. The outcome is never shown.
There's...a bunch of other stuff that happens, but the short version is that everybody parts on good terms and Ash and Pikachu continue their journey. They show Ash's friends through all the seasons of Pokemon in the end credits, and we also see Jessie, James, and Meowth from Team Rocket. They were in the movie for comic relief, though, and our heroes didn't see them.
So, that's the movie. Rating: um...wow, this is hard. I'll give it 8.5/10.
Why: First off, the good parts definitely outweighed the bad. The animation was great, I loved the music, and the character development was great. We really got to see Ash grow as a trainer. And this was definitely pretty nostalgic for those of us who grew up watching the anime. While I wouldn't call it the ultimate nostalgic dream, it was still really good, and I would definitely watch it again.
HOWEVER:
If you've seen Pokemon, you're going to notice A LOT of changes with the voice actors. And I mean A LOT. The narrator sounds different, Ash sounds different (fans wanted Veronica Taylor, the original voice of Ash, to reprise her role), and...well...pretty much all the familiar characters sound different. The studio decided they wanted the current cast (the cast in Sun and Moon) in the roles, though, which I don't really understand. Why? Oh, I don't know...maybe because this is only Pokemon's TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY! THIS SHOULD BE A NOSTALGIC DREAM! AND YOU PEOPLE COULDN'T GET ANY OF THE ORIGINAL VOICE ACTORS BACK FOR THE ENGLISH DUB?! WHAT THE FRICK?
Ahem.
Not only that, but...since when could Pikachu talk?! Pikachu isn't Meowth, who taught itself to speak human language so that he could impress a female Meowth (which didn't work and left Meowth broken-hearted). Last I checked, all Pikachu could say was its name. That was it. That moment in the movie seriously pissed off fans, myself included. While I get it was supposed to be emotional because of the line that Pikachu says, I think fans were too pissed to pay attention to what the line actually was. I also understand that this movie is supposed to take place in an "alternate continuity," but that doesn't really matter. Alternate continuity or not, Pikachu should NOT have been able to talk.
I also feel like there were a few key things that were kind of glossed over, such as when Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, it listened to Ash. This didn't happen in the show. Charmeleon didn't listen to Ash as a Charmeleon, and it didn't listen to Ash for a while after it evolved into Charizard. I mean, I get that this is a movie and there's only so much you can put in, but this movie didn't even hit the two hour mark. I don't get it.
I should probably touch on the inclusion of Marshadow. Marshadow is a Generation VII Pokemon that was only obtainable through an event. I don't remember what the event was, when or where it was, or anything like that, but I do know that as of right now, you can't get it in Ultra Sun, Ultra Moon, Sun, or Moon. I don't have it, which really sucks for me. However, I do have two shiny legendaries (Uxie and Entei) that are both level 100, as well as a level 100 Rotom (and that was all through Wonder Trade), so I guess it's not all bad. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to get Marshadow through the GTS or Wonder Trade. Who knows?
Well, that's my review. I'm curious, though: if you could pick a starter Pokemon from any generation, what would it be and why? Leave it in the comments! For me, I think it would either be Charmander or Froakie. Why? Well, they have pretty cool final evolved forms (Charizard and Greninja, respectively), and when trained the right way and taught the right moves, they can be total powerhouses.
That's all for this week! See you soon! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. And welcome to 2018! Yay!
So, to start the year off, we'll be looking at one of my guilty pleasures that...well, it's not really that much of a guilty pleasure. I really do enjoy this anime and I'm not ashamed to admit it. It is...Zatch Bell.
Ok, if you want to call it by its Japanese name, it's translated (roughly) to Golden Gash Bell. Its Japanese name is 金色のガッシュ (Konjiki no Gash Bell). Why is it Gash and have the dubbing company change it to Zatch? Well...your guess is as good as mine. I guess given the English meaning of the word Gash (look it up), they figured they'd make up the names as they went.
The anime was based off of a manga written by Makoto Raiku, the manga writer and artist who would later write the manga, Animal Land, in 2009. I haven't read all of the Zatch Bell manga, but it's one of the series I've almost finished. It's actually pretty good.
Anyway, Zatch Bell started out as one of Makoto Raiku's ideas. Originally, it was going to be about a middle school student who found a toy and fought evil with a noble knight. However, upon talking to his agent about this idea, Makoto decided to go with a cuter character. Thus, Zatch Bell was born.
Let's talk story.
Every 1000 years, one hundred Mamodo children (ok, that term is debatable when you look at some of the Mamodo) are sent to the human world to compete for a spot to become King of the Mamodo world. Each Mamodo has their own spell book, but they need a human partner to read the spells that are used to fight.
If a Mamodo's book is burned, the Mamodo goes back to the Mamodo world and loses any and all chance at becoming King (I hate that they use the term "King" when a pretty good amount of the characters we meet on screen are female. A little sexist, don't you think?). Additionally, a Mamodo cannot burn their own book. The last Mamodo standing without their book burnt becomes the Mamodo King.
Our story follows Kiyo (not a far translation from the Japanese version, where he's called Kiyomaro) Takamine, a 14-year old boy in junior high school who is a genius and pretty anti-social. His father finds Zatch, unconscious in the woods and with no memory of who he is. Kiyo's father sends Zatch to Kiyo in the hopes that Zatch will help Kiyo learn some social skills.
Kiyo learns about the Mamodo world when he reads from the spell book, which causes Zatch to fire lightning from his mouth. Throughout the first part of the series, the two learn about the different types of Mamodo and about Mamodo battles.
I don't want to give too much away, so I'll jump right to the good stuff. The rating.
Rating: 10/10
Why: Well, we'd first have to address character development. The characters are developed wonderfully, and you can really connect with most of them (except for the villains). The main characters, Zatch and Kiyo, go through a lot of changes as they fight battle after battle, and eventually form an incredible bond.
The real turning point for Zatch and Kiyo's characters, in my opinion, occurs in the eighth episode of the series. In this episode, there is a cute little Mamodo named Kolulu. She meets her human partner, Lori, and the two become like sisters. However, not everything is as it seems when Kolulu's book starts glowing and Lori reads the first spell from it, unknowingly unleashing Kolulu's merciless and bloodthirsty alter ego. She grows in size and gains metallic claws.
Upon a battle against Zatch and Kiyo, where Kolulu had transformed to avoid being run over by a truck (long story), Kolulu used her willpower to get herself to change back into her cute, innocent self.
Upon waking up and seeing what she did, Kolulu revealed she never wanted to fight the battle, but she was forced to and given another personality that forced her to fight. She asked Zatch to burn her book and send her back to the Mamodo world, so that what happened to her would never happen again. As her book burns and she fades away, she says, "if the King of our world was a benevolent King, maybe we wouldn't have to come here and fight in the first place." Zatch learns that benevolent means kind, and vows to become a kindhearted King, a goal he has throughout the rest of the series.
That episode made me cry. It still does sometimes.
The characters are great, and you can really connect with them (like I said above). You can relate to them, both the humans and the Mamodos. I honestly think that this series has the best character development.
My personal favorite Mamodo and human partner...it's hard to say without giving too much of the story away and because there are a few I really like. I guess if I had to pick a top five (not including Kolulu and Lori because they were only in one episode), they would be (in no particular order):
1. Megumi (human)/Tia (Mamodo)
2. Li-en (human)/Wonrei (Mamodo)
3. Dr. Riddles (human)/Kido (Mamodo)
4. Sherry (human)/Brago (Mamodo)
5. Tie between Uri (human)/Penny (Mamodo) and Alvin (human)/Byonko (Alvin)
The music is pretty good (although I'll never understand the ideas of some of the insert songs). I think the Japanese openings and endings are better than the English opening and ending, but both the Japanese openings/endings and the English opening/ending are pretty good.
Well, that's my review! Have a happy and healthy new year! ~k
So, to start the year off, we'll be looking at one of my guilty pleasures that...well, it's not really that much of a guilty pleasure. I really do enjoy this anime and I'm not ashamed to admit it. It is...Zatch Bell.
Ok, if you want to call it by its Japanese name, it's translated (roughly) to Golden Gash Bell. Its Japanese name is 金色のガッシュ (Konjiki no Gash Bell). Why is it Gash and have the dubbing company change it to Zatch? Well...your guess is as good as mine. I guess given the English meaning of the word Gash (look it up), they figured they'd make up the names as they went.
The anime was based off of a manga written by Makoto Raiku, the manga writer and artist who would later write the manga, Animal Land, in 2009. I haven't read all of the Zatch Bell manga, but it's one of the series I've almost finished. It's actually pretty good.
Anyway, Zatch Bell started out as one of Makoto Raiku's ideas. Originally, it was going to be about a middle school student who found a toy and fought evil with a noble knight. However, upon talking to his agent about this idea, Makoto decided to go with a cuter character. Thus, Zatch Bell was born.
Let's talk story.
Every 1000 years, one hundred Mamodo children (ok, that term is debatable when you look at some of the Mamodo) are sent to the human world to compete for a spot to become King of the Mamodo world. Each Mamodo has their own spell book, but they need a human partner to read the spells that are used to fight.
If a Mamodo's book is burned, the Mamodo goes back to the Mamodo world and loses any and all chance at becoming King (I hate that they use the term "King" when a pretty good amount of the characters we meet on screen are female. A little sexist, don't you think?). Additionally, a Mamodo cannot burn their own book. The last Mamodo standing without their book burnt becomes the Mamodo King.
Our story follows Kiyo (not a far translation from the Japanese version, where he's called Kiyomaro) Takamine, a 14-year old boy in junior high school who is a genius and pretty anti-social. His father finds Zatch, unconscious in the woods and with no memory of who he is. Kiyo's father sends Zatch to Kiyo in the hopes that Zatch will help Kiyo learn some social skills.
Kiyo learns about the Mamodo world when he reads from the spell book, which causes Zatch to fire lightning from his mouth. Throughout the first part of the series, the two learn about the different types of Mamodo and about Mamodo battles.
I don't want to give too much away, so I'll jump right to the good stuff. The rating.
Rating: 10/10
Why: Well, we'd first have to address character development. The characters are developed wonderfully, and you can really connect with most of them (except for the villains). The main characters, Zatch and Kiyo, go through a lot of changes as they fight battle after battle, and eventually form an incredible bond.
The real turning point for Zatch and Kiyo's characters, in my opinion, occurs in the eighth episode of the series. In this episode, there is a cute little Mamodo named Kolulu. She meets her human partner, Lori, and the two become like sisters. However, not everything is as it seems when Kolulu's book starts glowing and Lori reads the first spell from it, unknowingly unleashing Kolulu's merciless and bloodthirsty alter ego. She grows in size and gains metallic claws.
Upon a battle against Zatch and Kiyo, where Kolulu had transformed to avoid being run over by a truck (long story), Kolulu used her willpower to get herself to change back into her cute, innocent self.
Upon waking up and seeing what she did, Kolulu revealed she never wanted to fight the battle, but she was forced to and given another personality that forced her to fight. She asked Zatch to burn her book and send her back to the Mamodo world, so that what happened to her would never happen again. As her book burns and she fades away, she says, "if the King of our world was a benevolent King, maybe we wouldn't have to come here and fight in the first place." Zatch learns that benevolent means kind, and vows to become a kindhearted King, a goal he has throughout the rest of the series.
That episode made me cry. It still does sometimes.
The characters are great, and you can really connect with them (like I said above). You can relate to them, both the humans and the Mamodos. I honestly think that this series has the best character development.
My personal favorite Mamodo and human partner...it's hard to say without giving too much of the story away and because there are a few I really like. I guess if I had to pick a top five (not including Kolulu and Lori because they were only in one episode), they would be (in no particular order):
1. Megumi (human)/Tia (Mamodo)
2. Li-en (human)/Wonrei (Mamodo)
3. Dr. Riddles (human)/Kido (Mamodo)
4. Sherry (human)/Brago (Mamodo)
5. Tie between Uri (human)/Penny (Mamodo) and Alvin (human)/Byonko (Alvin)
The music is pretty good (although I'll never understand the ideas of some of the insert songs). I think the Japanese openings and endings are better than the English opening and ending, but both the Japanese openings/endings and the English opening/ending are pretty good.
Well, that's my review! Have a happy and healthy new year! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. Boy, am I glad the semester is almost over.
I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I am so very thankful to all of you for putting up with my insane schedule. College has been tough, but I’ve been able to make it through.
So, what anime are we looking at today? How about a live action adaptation?
You guys know how I feel about most live action adaptations. Either Netflix’s Death Note or both parts of the live action Attack on Titan are the worst, and Tokyo Ghoul is probably one of the few really good ones. Hollywood’s Ghost in the Shell adaptation was ok, but I wouldn’t call it really good or the best live action anime adaptation out there. It was just…ok. Not good, not bad, just ok.
Then again, anything is better than Dragon—wait.
*looks at December line-up*
Well, that felt both good and bad. Good because I actually took my anger out on something. Bad because now I have a headache. See, this is what bad live action adaptations do to you.
All right, hopefully I'll review something that's actually good for my birthday. Let's see...
*looks at December line-up*
All righty! This looks decent! See you next time for Yona of the Dawn!
I know Thanksgiving has come and gone, but I am so very thankful to all of you for putting up with my insane schedule. College has been tough, but I’ve been able to make it through.
So, what anime are we looking at today? How about a live action adaptation?
You guys know how I feel about most live action adaptations. Either Netflix’s Death Note or both parts of the live action Attack on Titan are the worst, and Tokyo Ghoul is probably one of the few really good ones. Hollywood’s Ghost in the Shell adaptation was ok, but I wouldn’t call it really good or the best live action anime adaptation out there. It was just…ok. Not good, not bad, just ok.
Then again, anything is better than Dragon—wait.
*looks at December line-up*
No.
No.
NO.
*deep breath*
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I’M NOT REVIEWING THIS CRAP! THE FACT THAT I EVEN GOT THROUGH IT IN ONE SITTING IS A TESTAMENT TO MY SANITY!
Sigh…
I suppose I don’t have much of a choice, do I? This is…Dragonball: Evolution.
I know that the Nostalgia Critic, MasakoX of Team Four Star, and Little Kuriboh from Yu-Gi-Oh! Abridged teamed up to review this already, but I want to review this on my own merit. Plus, I was on a bus where they lied about the Wi-Fi (ugh…) so I’m already pissed that I have to type this on Microsoft Word and not on here where the formatting is already as I like it. I figured I’d take my anger out on something.
Out of all the live action adaptations I’ve seen and talked to my friends about, Dragonball: Evolution is probably the worst of the worst. The bottom of the barrel. The…well, I could go on, but I won’t for the sake of this review.
Let’s get my biggest issue with the movie out of the way: the whitewashing.
DEAR G-D this movie is whitewashed down to its core. It’s bad enough that they picked actors hardly anyone has heard of, but to add insult to injury, the casting people decided they needed to have the majority of their cast be white actors and actresses. I know the Critic and co. addressed this already in their review, but I’m bringing this point up again.
*deep breath*
GOKU DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A GOKU!!!!!
Ok, kanna, calm down. Let’s look at this rationally. Well, as rationally as we can.
In the film, Goku is played by white actor, Justin Chatwin. This wouldn’t be too much of a problem…if the guy playing his grandfather was white. The guy playing his grandfather is ASIAN, and his name is Randall Duk Kim. I would be more forgiving if they established that Goku was adopted, but that was never established, so I can be as relentless as I want with this piece of crap.
Also (not that I’m complaining), why was Ernie Hudson in this? Was it so the viewers could make Ghostbusters references related to how much this movie sucks? I’m not saying Ernie Hudson being in this was something I disliked; I’m saying I don’t understand why he was in it for about two minutes, if that.
Let’s see…what else…oh, right! Characterization.
Not only does Goku not look like a Goku, Justin Chatwin can’t act like Goku to save his sorry rear. Actually…none of the characters, except for Roshi, act like their characters. Could they possibly be more out of character? Don’t answer that; I don’t think I want to know.
Look, I know it’s an adaptation and you’re supposed to be changes. But, like I said in my reviews of the live action Attack on Titan movies, they have to be changes that MAKE SENSE. NONE OF THE CHANGES HERE MAKE ANY SENSE! I shouldn’t be making a huge deal about this, but let me give you some of my issues with the changes made.
For starters: why is Chi Chi in this? I hate to keep saying “in Dragon Ball this” and “in Dragon Ball that,” but I have nothing else to compare this movie to because I never read the manga. So, in Dragon Ball, Chi Chi wasn’t just Goku’s love interest. She was the princess of Fire Mountain and the daughter of the Ox-King! Here, she’s portrayed by actress Jamie Chung, who isn’t a bad choice, but…her character could have been so much better! She’s first portrayed as a total airhead, then it turns out that she’s a fighter who contributed absolutely NOTHING to the plot! Now, you could argue that she’s the victim of bad, stupid writing. And that would be valid. But again, the girl contributes NOTHING.
Speaking of Jamie Chung, she made several remarks in an interview about the movie that made me question her sanity. Like this one: “Justin Chatwin is a pro. Not only does he fit the character internally – he has Goku’s essence – but he looks like a cartoon character! With his big, blue eyes, he looks like Japanese anime!”
Hahahaha…ha…ha…ha. No…no, he doesn’t. Jamie, Justin Chatwin is NOT a pro. James Marsters, the guy who played Piccolo, is a pro who should have turned down the role the second he read the script. Not only that, but a pro is someone who is really, really well-known. Take Ronald Perlman, the guy who was originally offered the role of Piccolo, for example. Ronald Perlman is also a pro, and he was smart to turn down the role (although he did it to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army and probably not because the script was bad).
Speaking of Justin Chatwin, did I mention that in nearly every scene he’s in when he glares or something along those lines, he looks like he’s constipated? I don’t know what the deal with that is. It could be his acting, it could just be natural for him, or something. I honestly don’t know, but it’s not like that episode of Friends where Joey got the part by constantly looking like he had to take a piss when he actually had to take a piss.
On another note: what is with those HORRIBLE effects? For a show that’s known for its fighting, Dragon Ball: Evolution did NOT adapt this well at all. During what was supposed to be an epic fight against Piccolo, Goku got maybe two hits in. The fights were terribly choreographed and whoever choreographed them should be grateful they still have a job (if they still have a job).
Finally: WHY THE FLYING CRAP DO THEY REFER TO IT AS AIR BENDING?! To quote the Critic, “Do they not know the difference between anime (Dragon Ball), not anime (Avatar: The Last Airbender), and abominations of G-d (M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender)?” I mean…why? This is just lazy, bad, stupid writing!
Oh, wait, I forgot something. I’d say spoiler alert, but this movie sucks so much that I’m not going to bother with it and just spoil it for you. I honestly don't think people will care if I spoil this for them.
There’s a mid-credits scene where we learn that Piccolo survived the final battle against Goku and is being tended to by a woman. We don’t know who this woman is, how she knows Piccolo, or anything, but so much emphasis is placed on every single little thing she does. I guess it was meant to show that there would be a sequel, but this movie bombed in the box office, big time.
Sigh…
I suppose I don’t have much of a choice, do I? This is…Dragonball: Evolution.
Out of all the live action adaptations I’ve seen and talked to my friends about, Dragonball: Evolution is probably the worst of the worst. The bottom of the barrel. The…well, I could go on, but I won’t for the sake of this review.
Let’s get my biggest issue with the movie out of the way: the whitewashing.
DEAR G-D this movie is whitewashed down to its core. It’s bad enough that they picked actors hardly anyone has heard of, but to add insult to injury, the casting people decided they needed to have the majority of their cast be white actors and actresses. I know the Critic and co. addressed this already in their review, but I’m bringing this point up again.
*deep breath*
GOKU DOES NOT LOOK LIKE A GOKU!!!!!
Ok, kanna, calm down. Let’s look at this rationally. Well, as rationally as we can.
In the film, Goku is played by white actor, Justin Chatwin. This wouldn’t be too much of a problem…if the guy playing his grandfather was white. The guy playing his grandfather is ASIAN, and his name is Randall Duk Kim. I would be more forgiving if they established that Goku was adopted, but that was never established, so I can be as relentless as I want with this piece of crap.
Also (not that I’m complaining), why was Ernie Hudson in this? Was it so the viewers could make Ghostbusters references related to how much this movie sucks? I’m not saying Ernie Hudson being in this was something I disliked; I’m saying I don’t understand why he was in it for about two minutes, if that.
Let’s see…what else…oh, right! Characterization.
Not only does Goku not look like a Goku, Justin Chatwin can’t act like Goku to save his sorry rear. Actually…none of the characters, except for Roshi, act like their characters. Could they possibly be more out of character? Don’t answer that; I don’t think I want to know.
Look, I know it’s an adaptation and you’re supposed to be changes. But, like I said in my reviews of the live action Attack on Titan movies, they have to be changes that MAKE SENSE. NONE OF THE CHANGES HERE MAKE ANY SENSE! I shouldn’t be making a huge deal about this, but let me give you some of my issues with the changes made.
For starters: why is Chi Chi in this? I hate to keep saying “in Dragon Ball this” and “in Dragon Ball that,” but I have nothing else to compare this movie to because I never read the manga. So, in Dragon Ball, Chi Chi wasn’t just Goku’s love interest. She was the princess of Fire Mountain and the daughter of the Ox-King! Here, she’s portrayed by actress Jamie Chung, who isn’t a bad choice, but…her character could have been so much better! She’s first portrayed as a total airhead, then it turns out that she’s a fighter who contributed absolutely NOTHING to the plot! Now, you could argue that she’s the victim of bad, stupid writing. And that would be valid. But again, the girl contributes NOTHING.
Speaking of Jamie Chung, she made several remarks in an interview about the movie that made me question her sanity. Like this one: “Justin Chatwin is a pro. Not only does he fit the character internally – he has Goku’s essence – but he looks like a cartoon character! With his big, blue eyes, he looks like Japanese anime!”
Hahahaha…ha…ha…ha. No…no, he doesn’t. Jamie, Justin Chatwin is NOT a pro. James Marsters, the guy who played Piccolo, is a pro who should have turned down the role the second he read the script. Not only that, but a pro is someone who is really, really well-known. Take Ronald Perlman, the guy who was originally offered the role of Piccolo, for example. Ronald Perlman is also a pro, and he was smart to turn down the role (although he did it to work on Hellboy II: The Golden Army and probably not because the script was bad).
Speaking of Justin Chatwin, did I mention that in nearly every scene he’s in when he glares or something along those lines, he looks like he’s constipated? I don’t know what the deal with that is. It could be his acting, it could just be natural for him, or something. I honestly don’t know, but it’s not like that episode of Friends where Joey got the part by constantly looking like he had to take a piss when he actually had to take a piss.
On another note: what is with those HORRIBLE effects? For a show that’s known for its fighting, Dragon Ball: Evolution did NOT adapt this well at all. During what was supposed to be an epic fight against Piccolo, Goku got maybe two hits in. The fights were terribly choreographed and whoever choreographed them should be grateful they still have a job (if they still have a job).
Finally: WHY THE FLYING CRAP DO THEY REFER TO IT AS AIR BENDING?! To quote the Critic, “Do they not know the difference between anime (Dragon Ball), not anime (Avatar: The Last Airbender), and abominations of G-d (M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender)?” I mean…why? This is just lazy, bad, stupid writing!
Oh, wait, I forgot something. I’d say spoiler alert, but this movie sucks so much that I’m not going to bother with it and just spoil it for you. I honestly don't think people will care if I spoil this for them.
There’s a mid-credits scene where we learn that Piccolo survived the final battle against Goku and is being tended to by a woman. We don’t know who this woman is, how she knows Piccolo, or anything, but so much emphasis is placed on every single little thing she does. I guess it was meant to show that there would be a sequel, but this movie bombed in the box office, big time.
What’s most surprising to me is that in 2009, the movie was actually nominated for a Spike TV Scream Award for “Best Comic Book Movie,” but lost to Watchmen. Which, let’s be honest, I’m not surprised by. Hm…maybe I’ll watch that after this review.
I forgot one more thing: what were the make-up and costuming people thinking when they decided not to use wigs? Emmy Rossum, the girl who played Bulma, was originally going to wear a blue wig to resemble her anime counterpart. However, they decided it looked too “unrealistic.” Right…because Yugi’s hair in Yu-Gi-Oh! looks more realistic than anything else, doesn’t it (sarcasm)? Chatwin didn’t wear a wig, either, because the director felt that Chatwin’s hair resembled Goku’s. Um…hahaha…no. Just no. I’m not even going to dive into this point any further.
Let’s talk about some reactions. More specifically, the creator of the original source material’s reaction. Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, was initially surprised by the idea of Dragon Ball: Evolution and told his fans to treat it as an alternate universe version of his work. However, in an interview about the eighteenth feature film based on the Dragon Ball series (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods), Toriyama said the following (this is a translation):
“…the script didn’t really capture the world or the characteristics (of Dragon Ball). What’s more, because I thought the content was bland and not so interesting, I cautioned them and gave them ideas for changes. Nevertheless, they had this odd confidence and didn’t really comply with my suggestions. And just as I thought, the result was a movie I cannot call Dragon Ball.”
Wow. This coming from the creator of the original source material is just probably the biggest insult a live action adaptation can get. I completely agree with him. This isn’t Dragon Ball. Not by a long shot.
How did the writers of the movie react to such criticism from not only the creator, but die-hard fans, moviegoers, and harsh critics? Well, in 2016, writer Ben Ramsey actually issued an apology. He wrote the following:
“To have something with my name on it as the writer to be so globally reviled is gut wrenching. To receive hate mail from all over the world is heartbreaking. (…) I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment. I have learned that when you go into a creative endeavor without passion you come out with sub-optimal results, and sometimes flat out garbage. So, I’m not blaming anyone for Dragon Ball [Evolution] but myself.”
Wow. Someone from the movie actually issued an apology for this piece of crap. I don’t know if fans accepted it or not, but the fact that the writer actually APOLOGIZED for the film (seven years late) is huge. Most writers, directors, or producers of bad movies don't do this. We didn't get this for Netflix's Death Note or the live action Attack on Titan like we deserved. Adam Winguard, if you're reading this, we're still waiting on that apology.
I forgot one more thing: what were the make-up and costuming people thinking when they decided not to use wigs? Emmy Rossum, the girl who played Bulma, was originally going to wear a blue wig to resemble her anime counterpart. However, they decided it looked too “unrealistic.” Right…because Yugi’s hair in Yu-Gi-Oh! looks more realistic than anything else, doesn’t it (sarcasm)? Chatwin didn’t wear a wig, either, because the director felt that Chatwin’s hair resembled Goku’s. Um…hahaha…no. Just no. I’m not even going to dive into this point any further.
Let’s talk about some reactions. More specifically, the creator of the original source material’s reaction. Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, was initially surprised by the idea of Dragon Ball: Evolution and told his fans to treat it as an alternate universe version of his work. However, in an interview about the eighteenth feature film based on the Dragon Ball series (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods), Toriyama said the following (this is a translation):
“…the script didn’t really capture the world or the characteristics (of Dragon Ball). What’s more, because I thought the content was bland and not so interesting, I cautioned them and gave them ideas for changes. Nevertheless, they had this odd confidence and didn’t really comply with my suggestions. And just as I thought, the result was a movie I cannot call Dragon Ball.”
Wow. This coming from the creator of the original source material is just probably the biggest insult a live action adaptation can get. I completely agree with him. This isn’t Dragon Ball. Not by a long shot.
How did the writers of the movie react to such criticism from not only the creator, but die-hard fans, moviegoers, and harsh critics? Well, in 2016, writer Ben Ramsey actually issued an apology. He wrote the following:
“To have something with my name on it as the writer to be so globally reviled is gut wrenching. To receive hate mail from all over the world is heartbreaking. (…) I went into the project chasing after a big payday, not as a fan of the franchise but as a businessman taking on an assignment. I have learned that when you go into a creative endeavor without passion you come out with sub-optimal results, and sometimes flat out garbage. So, I’m not blaming anyone for Dragon Ball [Evolution] but myself.”
Wow. Someone from the movie actually issued an apology for this piece of crap. I don’t know if fans accepted it or not, but the fact that the writer actually APOLOGIZED for the film (seven years late) is huge. Most writers, directors, or producers of bad movies don't do this. We didn't get this for Netflix's Death Note or the live action Attack on Titan like we deserved. Adam Winguard, if you're reading this, we're still waiting on that apology.
Well, that felt both good and bad. Good because I actually took my anger out on something. Bad because now I have a headache. See, this is what bad live action adaptations do to you.
All right, hopefully I'll review something that's actually good for my birthday. Let's see...
*looks at December line-up*
All righty! This looks decent! See you next time for Yona of the Dawn!
Hey guys, kanna here. Can you believe it’s almost Thanksgiving AND December already? We’re almost in 2018! I’ll graduate college/university in a few more months! Yay!
On that note, it just occurred to me that I registered for classes for the last time. I feel a little weird. Not good weird, not bad weird, just weird.
Haha, it’s actually kind of bittersweet. I’m leaving most of my friends behind. But it’s all good, because I’ll be able to go into my teaching career. Thank G-d, because the fall semester has been stressful as f**k (it’s a long story and I don’t want to bore you with the details).
That aside, let’s get to Anime Monday! Let’s see…what am I reviewing today?
Hm…too cliché…saving that for the fifth anniversary…saving that for #50…come on, there has to be SOMETHING here! Wait, what’s this? A musical anime that UtaPri probably ripped off of? I’ll take it! This is…La Corda d’Oro.
Haha, it’s actually kind of bittersweet. I’m leaving most of my friends behind. But it’s all good, because I’ll be able to go into my teaching career. Thank G-d, because the fall semester has been stressful as f**k (it’s a long story and I don’t want to bore you with the details).
That aside, let’s get to Anime Monday! Let’s see…what am I reviewing today?
Hm…too cliché…saving that for the fifth anniversary…saving that for #50…come on, there has to be SOMETHING here! Wait, what’s this? A musical anime that UtaPri probably ripped off of? I’ll take it! This is…La Corda d’Oro.
I’ll get to why I’m convinced UtaPri ripped off this anime later. For now, let’s focus on background and plot.
La Corda d’Oro (Italian for “The Golden String”) was originally a role-playing game targeted at a female audience under the Neoromance series from Koei. It was only released in Japan for Windows computers, the PS2, and the PSP in 2003, 2004, and 2005, respectively.
In 2004, a manga adaptation by Yuki Kure was released. You might recognize her from…um…wow, I haven’t heard of any of her other works. I guess that La Corda d’Oro is what she is best known for. She has other stuff under her belt, but it looks like La Corda d’Oro is her major work. Ok.
In 2006, an anime adaptation called La Corda d’Oro: Primo Passo premiered and ran from October 2006 to March 2007 for 26 episodes. In 2009, a 2-episode “special” aired called La Corda d’Oro: Secondo Passo aired. Then, in 2014, a spin-off series called La Corda d’Oro Blue Sky aired.
For this Anime Monday, I’ll be talking about La Corda d’Oro: Primo Passo.
The anime tells the story of Kahoko Hino, a girl who attends a school that is split into two departments: the general education department and the music department. She’s a student in the general education department who runs into a musical fairy (I couldn’t make that up if I tried) named Lili, who grants her a magical violin and a place in the school’s music competition.
Kahoko has no prior musical experience or knowledge and initially refuses, but Lili tells her that she can play any piece on the violin as long as she knows the tune and plays it with her heart. As the competition goes on, she grows attached to the other contenders, and vice versa (though they never admit it directly to her).
There isn’t really much to talk about with regards to the characters. All our anime tropes are there, as well as most of our UtaPri tropes and voice actors. Yeah, I bet you didn’t see that coming, did you? Turns out that a good amount of the characters for the anime are voiced by actors who also did voice acting for UtaPri.
This is going to be a relatively short review, because there isn’t much to talk about. I mean…well, we’ll get to that with the reason of why I gave the anime the rating I did.
Rating: 1/10 (and that's being generous)
Why: First off, the characters are all cliché. There’s NOTHING interesting about any of them. Don’t get me wrong; the voice actors are great, but there’s more to a character than their voice actor and whatever anime character trope they have.
Kahoko Hino is blander than bread, has little to no character development, and the idea of being able to be an instant musical prodigy without any prior experience just pisses me off. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, has (or had) to work hard to get to where they are in their careers. And this girl just picks up a violin and is instantly able to play it.
The. Flying. FRICK?!
Do you (the writers) have ANY IDEA how hard so many musicians and singers had to work to get to where they are now?! Apparently not, because you wouldn’t have come up with this garbage anime!
*deep breath*
Look. I get that I’m probably overreacting a little (maybe more than a little). This is just a bad anime, after all. It’s not worse than Diabolik Lovers (thank G-d for that). But this anime has no originality AT ALL. Even the music, as great as it is, isn’t original! It’s all covers (except for the opening and ending)! The only original things in this anime are the opening and ending! Were the writers getting high or something when adapting this? Because that’s probably the only way a person’s creativity could just go off the rails. Don’t get me wrong, the covers sound great, but there’s no originality in this anime aside from the opening and ending.
If you’re into classical music and don’t really care that the characters are all cliché and everything, then this anime is for you. If not, then I highly recommend the rip-off anime UtaPri. It might be a rip-off, but it’s much better than this pile of crap.
Well, now that that’s over, let’s see what the next Anime Monday is.
FINALLY, this one actually looks promising. It’s about freaking time, too. I thought for sure November was just going to be filled with crappy anime.
See you next Anime Monday (whenever that might be)! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. And...HAPPY THIRD ANNIVERSARY TO KANNA'S CAFE AND ANIME MONDAYS!
THE CROWD GOES CRAZY!
...or not.
Seriously, guys, I get that three years isn't as big as, say, five, but still.
Anyway, let's take a look at what we have.
Too gory...too creepy...I'm not reviewing that until the fifth anniversary...hm, what do we have here? An anime about a secret task force that hunts vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural creatures that threaten England? Sounds like a crossover between Black Butler and Tokyo Ghoul (even though neither of those had aired when this anime was released), but I'll take it! This is...Hellsing.
So, where to begin? Background, I guess. This anime has quite an interesting history behind it.
Hellsing was originally a manga written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It ran from 1997 to 2008. Eleven years...not bad. I know some series that have had runs longer than that (Bleach, Naruto...why is it that I can only think of the ones I don't like?), but eleven years is still pretty impressive. There was a prequel, called Hellsing: The Dawn, as well as a side story and prototype manga featuring Kouta's old works and the characters' prototypes.
I guess Kouta really wanted to make sure he got EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about the characters written in and to tie up any loose ends. Were there any? I don't know; I haven't read the manga. It's on my to-read list, but I keep skipping over it to read more of Attack on Titan and Black Butler. I'll get around to it...eventually.
Anyway, the anime premiered in Japan in October 2001 and ran until January 2002. We'll ignore the OVA, as it was more than one episode , and this review can only be so long. Anyway, this anime was produced by a company called Gonzo. If you haven't heard of them, you've probably heard of some of the work they produced; such as Full Metal Panic!, Chrono Crusade, Rosario + Vampire (both seasons), and Blade & Soul.
Hellsing was directed by Umanosuke Iida. If you don't recognize his name, chances are you'll recognize some of the stuff he worked on, like the in-between animation in Nausicaä Valley of the Wind and assistant directing Castle in the Sky. You're probably wondering why we haven't seen more from him. Unfortunately, Iida passed away from lung cancer seven years ago at the age of 49.
A moment of silence for Mr. Iida. RIP sir. You are, and will continue to be, missed.
Ok, on with the rest of the review.
The anime was based on the manga, but used a screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka (it's a long story why he has a middle initial when Japanese people don't have a middle name or use a middle initial). It was actually quite different from the manga in terms of plot, but it used some of the same characters and similar character designs. The series ran for thirteen episodes. There was an OVA called Hellsing Ultimate that was released in 2006, and it ran for ten episodes until 2012...doesn't make much sense, but ok. The OVA followed the manga's storyline more than the original series did. You've probably heard of Hellsing Ultimate thanks to the guys over at TeamFourStar, who created Hellsing Ultimate Abridged (which is definitely worth the watch; you won't be disappointed).
Enough talk about that. Let's get to the good stuff: plot!
Hellsing is named after and centered around the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, led by Abraham Van Hellsing. Their mission is to search for and destroy the undead and other supernatural forces of evil that threaten the queen and the country. Currently, the organization is led by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing (not sure why they use "sir" when the character is a female, but ok), a woman who inherited the leadership role of Hellsing after the death of her father. By the way, get used to these names being a mouthful. I'm not sure what the writers were thinking with such long names, but we have to go with it, so...yeah.
Anyway, Integra witnessed the death of her father (we never learned his name), which turned her from a shy, innocent girl into a deadly force. She leads the organization with the help of the Hellsing family butler, Walter C. Domez, someone whose bad side you do NOT want to get on, and Alucard. Alucard is the original and most powerful vampire in his own right, but he swore loyalty to the Hellsing family after being defeated by Abraham one hundred years before the story takes place. The group is later joined by former police officer Seras Victoria, who became a vampire thanks to Alucard.
You would think that this is just about fighting and the adventures the group go on together. Well, we're missing a pretty important piece of the plot: the conflict.
While the number of incidents involving the undead and the supernatural escalate in England and all around the world, Integra discovers that there are remnants of a Nazi group called Millennium, whose intention is to revive Nazi Germany through creating an army of vampires. This leads to a HUGE, apocalyptic, three-sided conflict in London between Millennium, Hellsing, and Hellsing's bitter rival organization, the Vatican section XIII Iscariot. Millennium's true objective is revealed: to destroy the vampire lord, Alucard, and end a feud that began during WWII.
So, rating: 10 out of freaking 10
Yeah, I bet you were expecting a bad review, weren't you? Surprise!
Why: First off, this isn't your typical vampire anime. Be glad it's not Diabolik Lovers or Rosario + Vampire. This anime is actually a little similar to the hit long-running TV series, Supernatural, now that I think about it. I can't help but wonder if the writers of Supernatural got some of their ideas from Hellsing. It would be pretty cool if they did.
The fact that this anime tied itself to an actual, historical event is pretty cool. The X-Men movies did this (most of the time), and it's just something that I think is cool. When something is tied to a historical event and it's done right (meaning the people behind the show or movie did their research), it's awesome.
The animation is decent, the characters are well developed, and I think the music is pretty good, too. I know people who don't like anime that much, but when I introduced them to this series, they LOVED it. Did they watch more anime after it? No (😞), but at least they liked Hellsing!
I think the one downside this anime has is that it was only twelve episodes. I think they could have done a lot more, especially given the popularity of it. But that's not enough to give it half a point down or even a full point. So I'm sticking to my rating.
If you're not a fan of horror, gore, or anything like that, I wouldn't recommend it. However, if you like Supernatural or other horror-ish/gory series you'll probably like this.
Well, happy third anniversary to the cafe and happy Halloween! See you next time for Anime Mondays in November! ~k
THE CROWD GOES CRAZY!
...or not.
Seriously, guys, I get that three years isn't as big as, say, five, but still.
Anyway, let's take a look at what we have.
Too gory...too creepy...I'm not reviewing that until the fifth anniversary...hm, what do we have here? An anime about a secret task force that hunts vampires, ghouls, and other supernatural creatures that threaten England? Sounds like a crossover between Black Butler and Tokyo Ghoul (even though neither of those had aired when this anime was released), but I'll take it! This is...Hellsing.
So, where to begin? Background, I guess. This anime has quite an interesting history behind it.
Hellsing was originally a manga written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano. It ran from 1997 to 2008. Eleven years...not bad. I know some series that have had runs longer than that (Bleach, Naruto...why is it that I can only think of the ones I don't like?), but eleven years is still pretty impressive. There was a prequel, called Hellsing: The Dawn, as well as a side story and prototype manga featuring Kouta's old works and the characters' prototypes.
I guess Kouta really wanted to make sure he got EVERY SINGLE DETAIL about the characters written in and to tie up any loose ends. Were there any? I don't know; I haven't read the manga. It's on my to-read list, but I keep skipping over it to read more of Attack on Titan and Black Butler. I'll get around to it...eventually.
Anyway, the anime premiered in Japan in October 2001 and ran until January 2002. We'll ignore the OVA, as it was more than one episode , and this review can only be so long. Anyway, this anime was produced by a company called Gonzo. If you haven't heard of them, you've probably heard of some of the work they produced; such as Full Metal Panic!, Chrono Crusade, Rosario + Vampire (both seasons), and Blade & Soul.
Hellsing was directed by Umanosuke Iida. If you don't recognize his name, chances are you'll recognize some of the stuff he worked on, like the in-between animation in Nausicaä Valley of the Wind and assistant directing Castle in the Sky. You're probably wondering why we haven't seen more from him. Unfortunately, Iida passed away from lung cancer seven years ago at the age of 49.
A moment of silence for Mr. Iida. RIP sir. You are, and will continue to be, missed.
Ok, on with the rest of the review.
The anime was based on the manga, but used a screenplay written by Chiaki J. Konaka (it's a long story why he has a middle initial when Japanese people don't have a middle name or use a middle initial). It was actually quite different from the manga in terms of plot, but it used some of the same characters and similar character designs. The series ran for thirteen episodes. There was an OVA called Hellsing Ultimate that was released in 2006, and it ran for ten episodes until 2012...doesn't make much sense, but ok. The OVA followed the manga's storyline more than the original series did. You've probably heard of Hellsing Ultimate thanks to the guys over at TeamFourStar, who created Hellsing Ultimate Abridged (which is definitely worth the watch; you won't be disappointed).
Enough talk about that. Let's get to the good stuff: plot!
Hellsing is named after and centered around the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, led by Abraham Van Hellsing. Their mission is to search for and destroy the undead and other supernatural forces of evil that threaten the queen and the country. Currently, the organization is led by Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing (not sure why they use "sir" when the character is a female, but ok), a woman who inherited the leadership role of Hellsing after the death of her father. By the way, get used to these names being a mouthful. I'm not sure what the writers were thinking with such long names, but we have to go with it, so...yeah.
Anyway, Integra witnessed the death of her father (we never learned his name), which turned her from a shy, innocent girl into a deadly force. She leads the organization with the help of the Hellsing family butler, Walter C. Domez, someone whose bad side you do NOT want to get on, and Alucard. Alucard is the original and most powerful vampire in his own right, but he swore loyalty to the Hellsing family after being defeated by Abraham one hundred years before the story takes place. The group is later joined by former police officer Seras Victoria, who became a vampire thanks to Alucard.
You would think that this is just about fighting and the adventures the group go on together. Well, we're missing a pretty important piece of the plot: the conflict.
While the number of incidents involving the undead and the supernatural escalate in England and all around the world, Integra discovers that there are remnants of a Nazi group called Millennium, whose intention is to revive Nazi Germany through creating an army of vampires. This leads to a HUGE, apocalyptic, three-sided conflict in London between Millennium, Hellsing, and Hellsing's bitter rival organization, the Vatican section XIII Iscariot. Millennium's true objective is revealed: to destroy the vampire lord, Alucard, and end a feud that began during WWII.
So, rating: 10 out of freaking 10
Yeah, I bet you were expecting a bad review, weren't you? Surprise!
Why: First off, this isn't your typical vampire anime. Be glad it's not Diabolik Lovers or Rosario + Vampire. This anime is actually a little similar to the hit long-running TV series, Supernatural, now that I think about it. I can't help but wonder if the writers of Supernatural got some of their ideas from Hellsing. It would be pretty cool if they did.
The fact that this anime tied itself to an actual, historical event is pretty cool. The X-Men movies did this (most of the time), and it's just something that I think is cool. When something is tied to a historical event and it's done right (meaning the people behind the show or movie did their research), it's awesome.
The animation is decent, the characters are well developed, and I think the music is pretty good, too. I know people who don't like anime that much, but when I introduced them to this series, they LOVED it. Did they watch more anime after it? No (😞), but at least they liked Hellsing!
I think the one downside this anime has is that it was only twelve episodes. I think they could have done a lot more, especially given the popularity of it. But that's not enough to give it half a point down or even a full point. So I'm sticking to my rating.
If you're not a fan of horror, gore, or anything like that, I wouldn't recommend it. However, if you like Supernatural or other horror-ish/gory series you'll probably like this.
Well, happy third anniversary to the cafe and happy Halloween! See you next time for Anime Mondays in November! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here. And welcome to Halloween month!
Ok, seriously, we need a better name for this month, given that the theme is horror/supernatural anime. I'm open to ideas.
We're kicking off the month with the live action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul! Let's do this!
I'll give a little background on Tokyo Ghoul, as I had planned on reviewing the anime, but suffered a major writer's block on it, so I couldn't write a decent review of it.
Tokyo Ghoul was based off of a manga series written by Sui Ishida, who you might recognize from...wow, that's pretty much all you'll recognize him from. Kinda sucks for him, don't you think?
Anyway, Tokyo Ghoul ran from September 2011 to September 2014. In 2014, a sequel titled Tokyo Ghoul:re was serialized, and in October of that same year, a prequel titled Tokyo Ghoul Jack ran online.
Between July and September 2014, a 12-episode anime series of the same name aired in Japan. In 2015, an original story meant to serve as a second season was released, titled Tokyo Ghoul √A (pronounced Tokyo Ghoul: Root A). A third season, Tokyo Ghoul:re (I'm not sure why it's called that, but maybe it's because it's following that part of the manga? I don't know), was announced October 5, 2017, and is set to air sometime next year (no official date has been announced yet as of the time I'm writing this).
Wow...next year's anime series will have a TON of competition. Between the new season of Sword Art Online, Sword Art Online's spin-off series, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen, and others, there's going to be a ton of competition. It's up to us viewers to see who will come out on top.
Moving on.
The story of Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where ghouls (creatures kind of like vampires, but instead of blood, they live off of human flesh) live among humans and hide their secret. Our protagonist is Ken Kaneki, a high school student who goes out with fellow student Rize Kamishiro on a date. Rize reveals herself to be a ghoul, and nearly kills Ken. A beam fell down, killed Rize, and knocked out Ken to the point of near-death. During the surgery Ken went through in order to survive, some of Rize's organs were put inside him, turning him into a half-ghoul. He then has to go through his life while keeping his ghoul identity under wraps.
And...there's your background. Now for the live action adaptation.
So...where to begin? I mean, I already gave you guys background. So...let's talk about the movie's background.
The movie first premiered in the US at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California, on July 3. They also did a live stream of the movie on YouTube a few weeks later (I think it was a few weeks), where the director, Kentaro Hagiwara, and a couple of the actors (I don't remember who) were in attendance to answer questions from the fans.
I don't remember what date it was, but I do remember that I didn't attend the live stream because it was at 4 in the morning in my time zone (I think that that was around 8 PM in Japan). As much as I love anime and as curious as I was about this adaptation, there was no way I would get up at 4 AM to watch a live action adaptation. Sorry, guys. I really wanted to attend the live stream, but I just couldn't bring myself to set an alarm for 4 AM.
Have I mentioned that I HATE big time differences (ones that are over 13 hours)?
Moving on.
NOTE: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE ANIME OR THE LIVE ACTION MOVIE OR READ THE MANGA, STEP AWAY, DO ONE OF THOSE THINGS, AND COME BACK. THIS POST WILL BE WAITING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
We have some actors who are pretty well-known in Japan, but I'm not sure of how well-known they are internationally. Our protagonist, Ken Kaneki, is played by Masataka Kubota. You might recognize him from the TV drama adaptation of Death Note, where he played Light Yagami. He was in other movies and TV dramas, but I think this is his first lead role in a movie. I could be wrong, though.
Fumika Shimizu plays Touka Kirishima, a ghoul who helps Ken get adjusted to life as a half-ghoul. If you've seen Kamen Rider Fourze, you'll recognize her from her role as Yuki Jojima, which was her first major role.
We have a somewhat internationally well-known actress playing Rize Kamishiro, our ghoul whose organs turn Ken into a half-ghoul, and her name is Yu Aoi. You might recognize her from the live action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin. She had other roles, but that's the first one that comes to mind for me.
As for the rest of the actors and actresses, I haven't heard of them. That doesn't mean they aren't internationally well-known or not famous in Japan, it just means I either a) haven't seen anything they've been in, or b) if I have seen things they've been in, I didn't know who those actors and actresses were.
Moving right along.
The background of the movie is pretty similar to the background of the anime, so we're going to skip over that for two reasons. One, I don't want to spoil it for you, as this is only in theaters for a limited time (a week, I think). Two, I honestly don't want this to seem like something you can just find on Wiki or whatever. I want this to be a well-written, unbiased, review. If the movie were online, then I would completely spoil it for you guys. But I won't do that this time.
Effects: The effects are...decent. Granted, no film is perfect, but I honestly feel like the effects could have been a lot better. Sometimes, they looked really convincing; almost believable, even. Other times, they were just meh. The movie really capitalizes on the fact that ghouls eat human flesh, so the violence tends to overshadow other important elements of the movie. The ghouls' eyes, which look different from human eyes, don't look too fake, and the kagune (the ghouls' powerful appendages) look pretty decent. Not only that, but (spoiler) the mask that Ken wears at the end of the movie looks pretty darn close to the mask from the anime and manga. It's really impressive.
Scariness: This movie is less horror and more about the gore. While it is scary in some aspects, it really emphasizes on the blood, guts, and gore. I think it's probably because the ghouls consume human flesh to survive. With that being said, the level of scariness in this is pretty low. If you were to rate this movie on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not scary at all and 10 being the stuff of H.R. Giger's nightmares, I'd give this a somewhere between a 3 and a 5. I won't say that this can't call itself a horror movie, but at the same time, I feel like it just isn't that scary. I will admit, there were a couple of moments where I had to cover my eyes, but overall, it wasn't super scary.
Violence: I talked about this mostly in the scary section, but I'll address it again. This movie was CRAZY-VIOLENT. Seriously. I mean, the fight-scenes were well choreographed, but talk about bloody! The lead guy from the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul; the task force used to hunt and kill ghouls) with the weird hair, Kureo Mado, was downright brutal when he killed ghouls! He actually used kagune he took from other ghouls against them, and developed a kagune-like weapon that he just carries around in a FREAKING BRIEFCASE! I was very impressed by the fight scenes, and the one between Ken and Amon, the other CCG guy, was really well-done. I'm curious as to whether or not they had stunt doubles. Hm...
Characters/acting: This is a downfall of the movie, in my opinion. While there aren't any movie-exclusive characters (thank G-D) and all our favorites are there, I feel that the character development was overshadowed by all the violence, gore, and the film trying to be somewhat scary. The acting was good, but like I said before, the character development was overshadowed. As an audience, we want to know Ken's internal thoughts of him transforming into a half-ghoul. We want to feel his fear. We want to be able to connect with him on some level. And the anime gave us that. This movie, on the other hand...not so much. I could think of better actors for some of the characters. Not all, but some. I think Beat Takeshi would have made a better Yoshimura than the guy who played him in the movie, Kunio Murai. That's just my opinion, though. The guy who played Yoshimura was good, I just think Beat Takeshi would have been better.
Writing: For those of you who have read the manga, you'll be happy to find out that this movie followed the first three volumes of the manga. Not only that, but it stayed true to the manga and anime. Sure, some scenes were shuffled around or compressed, but that's to be expected with a film adaptation. There's only so much you can fit into two hours, or even a little over two hours. However, that doesn't excuse the lack of character development, insight into Ken's thoughts of his transformation into a ghoul, or...insight into any of the characters, really. I feel like the most insight we got was into Rize Kamishiro, and she was killed off at the beginning of the movie (not a huge spoiler, but it is a spoiler). So...yeah.
Music: The music was actually pretty good. I was NOT expecting to like it as much as I did. The composer for the movie was Don Davis, who is best known for his work on The Matrix movies. The theme song for the movie is "Banka" by RADWIMPS and guitarist Yojiro Noda, under his stage name, illion. It's a pretty good song. While I don't have it on my iPod (yet), I think the soundtrack is definitely worth a listen. Don Davis isn't John Williams or Hans Zimmer, but there's no denying that he's talented.
So...rating. Boy, was I dreading this part. Um...8 out of 10.
Why: Most of my reasons above, but there are some other things. Aside from the lack of character development and the effects being just decent instead of good, or even great, this movie just seems like it's something to get people who haven't seen Tokyo Ghoul into it. Nothing wrong with that, but for those of us who have seen Tokyo Ghoul, not only does it feel like a repeat, but there isn't a ton of nostalgic value. It did leave me wanting a sequel, which I hope will happen. Overall, I think the movie could have been a lot better.
In addition, I think the casting could have been better. I can't really explain why, but I feel like if they wanted to release this movie to an international audience, they should have gotten more internationally-known actors and actresses, like Beat Takeshi. Masataka Kubota and Fumika Shimizu aren't that well-known internationally unless you've seen things they've been in. I'm probably one of a small amount of people in the United States who watches Kamen Rider (I stopped for a period of time...big mistake on my part because I now have a crap ton to catch up on), and I don't know how many people have seen the Death Note TV drama. While I don't have an ideal cast in mind (yet), I do think there are better actors and actresses that would have fit some of the characters more.
Well, that's my review of the live action Tokyo Ghoul! Stay tuned for the third anniversary special, which is going to be a surprise! ~k
Ok, seriously, we need a better name for this month, given that the theme is horror/supernatural anime. I'm open to ideas.
 |
| Totoro wishes everyone a happy Halloween! |
NO PICTURE OF TOKYO GHOUL BECAUSE BLOGGER WANTS TO BE A PAIN AND NOT LET ME PUT ONE. *SIGH*
I'll give a little background on Tokyo Ghoul, as I had planned on reviewing the anime, but suffered a major writer's block on it, so I couldn't write a decent review of it.
Tokyo Ghoul was based off of a manga series written by Sui Ishida, who you might recognize from...wow, that's pretty much all you'll recognize him from. Kinda sucks for him, don't you think?
Anyway, Tokyo Ghoul ran from September 2011 to September 2014. In 2014, a sequel titled Tokyo Ghoul:re was serialized, and in October of that same year, a prequel titled Tokyo Ghoul Jack ran online.
Between July and September 2014, a 12-episode anime series of the same name aired in Japan. In 2015, an original story meant to serve as a second season was released, titled Tokyo Ghoul √A (pronounced Tokyo Ghoul: Root A). A third season, Tokyo Ghoul:re (I'm not sure why it's called that, but maybe it's because it's following that part of the manga? I don't know), was announced October 5, 2017, and is set to air sometime next year (no official date has been announced yet as of the time I'm writing this).
Wow...next year's anime series will have a TON of competition. Between the new season of Sword Art Online, Sword Art Online's spin-off series, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card-hen, and others, there's going to be a ton of competition. It's up to us viewers to see who will come out on top.
Moving on.
The story of Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where ghouls (creatures kind of like vampires, but instead of blood, they live off of human flesh) live among humans and hide their secret. Our protagonist is Ken Kaneki, a high school student who goes out with fellow student Rize Kamishiro on a date. Rize reveals herself to be a ghoul, and nearly kills Ken. A beam fell down, killed Rize, and knocked out Ken to the point of near-death. During the surgery Ken went through in order to survive, some of Rize's organs were put inside him, turning him into a half-ghoul. He then has to go through his life while keeping his ghoul identity under wraps.
And...there's your background. Now for the live action adaptation.
So...where to begin? I mean, I already gave you guys background. So...let's talk about the movie's background.
The movie first premiered in the US at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California, on July 3. They also did a live stream of the movie on YouTube a few weeks later (I think it was a few weeks), where the director, Kentaro Hagiwara, and a couple of the actors (I don't remember who) were in attendance to answer questions from the fans.
I don't remember what date it was, but I do remember that I didn't attend the live stream because it was at 4 in the morning in my time zone (I think that that was around 8 PM in Japan). As much as I love anime and as curious as I was about this adaptation, there was no way I would get up at 4 AM to watch a live action adaptation. Sorry, guys. I really wanted to attend the live stream, but I just couldn't bring myself to set an alarm for 4 AM.
Have I mentioned that I HATE big time differences (ones that are over 13 hours)?
Moving on.
NOTE: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON. IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE ANIME OR THE LIVE ACTION MOVIE OR READ THE MANGA, STEP AWAY, DO ONE OF THOSE THINGS, AND COME BACK. THIS POST WILL BE WAITING. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
We have some actors who are pretty well-known in Japan, but I'm not sure of how well-known they are internationally. Our protagonist, Ken Kaneki, is played by Masataka Kubota. You might recognize him from the TV drama adaptation of Death Note, where he played Light Yagami. He was in other movies and TV dramas, but I think this is his first lead role in a movie. I could be wrong, though.
Fumika Shimizu plays Touka Kirishima, a ghoul who helps Ken get adjusted to life as a half-ghoul. If you've seen Kamen Rider Fourze, you'll recognize her from her role as Yuki Jojima, which was her first major role.
We have a somewhat internationally well-known actress playing Rize Kamishiro, our ghoul whose organs turn Ken into a half-ghoul, and her name is Yu Aoi. You might recognize her from the live action adaptation of Rurouni Kenshin. She had other roles, but that's the first one that comes to mind for me.
As for the rest of the actors and actresses, I haven't heard of them. That doesn't mean they aren't internationally well-known or not famous in Japan, it just means I either a) haven't seen anything they've been in, or b) if I have seen things they've been in, I didn't know who those actors and actresses were.
Moving right along.
The background of the movie is pretty similar to the background of the anime, so we're going to skip over that for two reasons. One, I don't want to spoil it for you, as this is only in theaters for a limited time (a week, I think). Two, I honestly don't want this to seem like something you can just find on Wiki or whatever. I want this to be a well-written, unbiased, review. If the movie were online, then I would completely spoil it for you guys. But I won't do that this time.
Effects: The effects are...decent. Granted, no film is perfect, but I honestly feel like the effects could have been a lot better. Sometimes, they looked really convincing; almost believable, even. Other times, they were just meh. The movie really capitalizes on the fact that ghouls eat human flesh, so the violence tends to overshadow other important elements of the movie. The ghouls' eyes, which look different from human eyes, don't look too fake, and the kagune (the ghouls' powerful appendages) look pretty decent. Not only that, but (spoiler) the mask that Ken wears at the end of the movie looks pretty darn close to the mask from the anime and manga. It's really impressive.
Scariness: This movie is less horror and more about the gore. While it is scary in some aspects, it really emphasizes on the blood, guts, and gore. I think it's probably because the ghouls consume human flesh to survive. With that being said, the level of scariness in this is pretty low. If you were to rate this movie on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being not scary at all and 10 being the stuff of H.R. Giger's nightmares, I'd give this a somewhere between a 3 and a 5. I won't say that this can't call itself a horror movie, but at the same time, I feel like it just isn't that scary. I will admit, there were a couple of moments where I had to cover my eyes, but overall, it wasn't super scary.
Violence: I talked about this mostly in the scary section, but I'll address it again. This movie was CRAZY-VIOLENT. Seriously. I mean, the fight-scenes were well choreographed, but talk about bloody! The lead guy from the CCG (Commission of Counter Ghoul; the task force used to hunt and kill ghouls) with the weird hair, Kureo Mado, was downright brutal when he killed ghouls! He actually used kagune he took from other ghouls against them, and developed a kagune-like weapon that he just carries around in a FREAKING BRIEFCASE! I was very impressed by the fight scenes, and the one between Ken and Amon, the other CCG guy, was really well-done. I'm curious as to whether or not they had stunt doubles. Hm...
Characters/acting: This is a downfall of the movie, in my opinion. While there aren't any movie-exclusive characters (thank G-D) and all our favorites are there, I feel that the character development was overshadowed by all the violence, gore, and the film trying to be somewhat scary. The acting was good, but like I said before, the character development was overshadowed. As an audience, we want to know Ken's internal thoughts of him transforming into a half-ghoul. We want to feel his fear. We want to be able to connect with him on some level. And the anime gave us that. This movie, on the other hand...not so much. I could think of better actors for some of the characters. Not all, but some. I think Beat Takeshi would have made a better Yoshimura than the guy who played him in the movie, Kunio Murai. That's just my opinion, though. The guy who played Yoshimura was good, I just think Beat Takeshi would have been better.
Writing: For those of you who have read the manga, you'll be happy to find out that this movie followed the first three volumes of the manga. Not only that, but it stayed true to the manga and anime. Sure, some scenes were shuffled around or compressed, but that's to be expected with a film adaptation. There's only so much you can fit into two hours, or even a little over two hours. However, that doesn't excuse the lack of character development, insight into Ken's thoughts of his transformation into a ghoul, or...insight into any of the characters, really. I feel like the most insight we got was into Rize Kamishiro, and she was killed off at the beginning of the movie (not a huge spoiler, but it is a spoiler). So...yeah.
Music: The music was actually pretty good. I was NOT expecting to like it as much as I did. The composer for the movie was Don Davis, who is best known for his work on The Matrix movies. The theme song for the movie is "Banka" by RADWIMPS and guitarist Yojiro Noda, under his stage name, illion. It's a pretty good song. While I don't have it on my iPod (yet), I think the soundtrack is definitely worth a listen. Don Davis isn't John Williams or Hans Zimmer, but there's no denying that he's talented.
So...rating. Boy, was I dreading this part. Um...8 out of 10.
Why: Most of my reasons above, but there are some other things. Aside from the lack of character development and the effects being just decent instead of good, or even great, this movie just seems like it's something to get people who haven't seen Tokyo Ghoul into it. Nothing wrong with that, but for those of us who have seen Tokyo Ghoul, not only does it feel like a repeat, but there isn't a ton of nostalgic value. It did leave me wanting a sequel, which I hope will happen. Overall, I think the movie could have been a lot better.
In addition, I think the casting could have been better. I can't really explain why, but I feel like if they wanted to release this movie to an international audience, they should have gotten more internationally-known actors and actresses, like Beat Takeshi. Masataka Kubota and Fumika Shimizu aren't that well-known internationally unless you've seen things they've been in. I'm probably one of a small amount of people in the United States who watches Kamen Rider (I stopped for a period of time...big mistake on my part because I now have a crap ton to catch up on), and I don't know how many people have seen the Death Note TV drama. While I don't have an ideal cast in mind (yet), I do think there are better actors and actresses that would have fit some of the characters more.
Well, that's my review of the live action Tokyo Ghoul! Stay tuned for the third anniversary special, which is going to be a surprise! ~k
Hey guys, kanna here! And guess who saw No Game No Life: Zero? ME!!! I'm pretty happy about it.
Anyway, this isn't going to count as part of my Halloween line up because it's not horror, and while it could be considered supernatural, I just don't think it quite fits the supernatural genre entirely. But hey, that's just my opinion.
I saw this movie with one of my best friends (and fellow blogger), Chibi Dragon. You should check out her blog; she is an AMAZING writer. She reviews anime, movies, and video games. She also sometimes live streams her games on twitch (I don't have the link for it, but when I get the link, I'll edit this post and put it in).
Anyway, where to begin. Um...background, I guess, considering that's what the movie started off with. Seriously, we got 19 minutes of behind the scenes footage and background on the movie COMBINED. Not that that's a bad thing; the behind the scenes stuff was actually pretty interesting.
So, background:
No Game No Life started out as a series of light novels published between 2012 and 2016 that were written by Yuu Kamiya. In 2013, Yuu and his wife adapted the novels into a manga series. That same year, an anime adaptation produced by Madhouse was announced. That anime adaptation aired in 2014 and was twelve episodes.
Fast forward to 2016, when the movie (at the time, untitled, I think) was announced. It was then named No Game No Life: 0 and released in Japan on July 15, 2017. This movie is based on the sixth volume of the light novel series.
So, with that said, let's dive into Disboard (before it became known as Disboard)! This is No Game No Life: 0!
So, before our movie even starts, we get some background on what No Game No Life is (which I just gave you). We learn what it's about, which I'll address when I review the anime...eventually. Yeah, I know I'm doing things a little out of order. I'll try to make sure that this doesn't happen again.
Anyway, after we learn about what No Game No Life is about, we get some behind the scenes stuff with the director and all the voice actors who returned to voice characters that were related to the characters they previously voiced. And this is also where I questioned Chibi Dragon if we were even at the right showing, because the interview was with the voice actors from the English dub, and we got tickets for the subbed showing. You would think that for a subbed showing, you would have behind the scenes stuff with the Japanese cast and crew. So I was really confused.
Lucky for us, we were at the right showing. Yay! Although, the theater wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be. When Chibi Dragon and I saw Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale, that theater was PACKED. And this one only had maybe half of the theater, if that. I don't get it.
Moving on.
After that behind the scenes stuff with the voice actors from the English dub and the director for the English dubbed movie, the movie finally started. And, boy, were we excited.
The story is set 6000 years ago; before the main series even started. It details the Great War, a seemingly never-ending war between all the races in Disboard (the world No Game No Life is set in), and humanity is forced to live underground in order to survive. Sounds like a pretty cool story, right?
The movie revolves around an eighteen-year-old boy named Riku, who wants to ensure the survival of the human race, even if it means sacrificing their lives. He meets Schwi (I'm not sure if the spelling of that is right...anyway, it's pronounced Shoo-vee), an Ex-Machina (the Android race of Disboard), and wants to kill her at first. However, when she explains that she was cut off from the Cluster collective and isn't a threat, he ultimately takes her under his wing. So now the majority of the entire film revolves around the relationship between Riku and Schwi. And their relationship provides all the feels you could ever want from this movie. There's humor, heartwarming stuff, and even some of the most tearjerking stuff you could imagine. Seriously, bring tissues to this movie. You will probably cry.
There are a couple of characters who might look familiar to those who have seen No Game No Life: Corone Dola and Jibril. Let's start with Korone.
Corone Dola is (and this isn't really a spoiler, because if you've seen No Game No Life, you'll be able to see the resemblance) Stephanie Dola's ancestor. She has a bit of a big sister personality and is the one who leads the humans. This ancestral link then leads to the question, "Are Riku and Schwi the ancestors of Sora and Shiro? Are Sora and Shiro reincarnates of Riku and Schwi?" There are a lot of theories out there.
Let's talk about Jibril. Jibril is a Flügel, a race that has the appearance of angels, but whose personalities are far from angels. Jibril is every bit as demonic in both personality and fighting style in this movie. Think about Yondu's line from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie; the one about being pretty as an angel, but "sure as h**l ain't one," and you'd get Jibril. The final battle of the film is her versus Schwi and the results aren't pretty at all. I won't say much more than that.
Overall, No Game No Life: Zero was freaking AWESOME. I highly recommend it. The animation is beautiful, the music is amazing, the character designs are great, and the storyline is good. While it might seem like a typical hero's sacrificial journey, it's so much more than that, and it's played out in a fashion that you actually can get invested in. If you're looking for a good anime movie to see on the big screen, then this one is for you. Chibi Dragon and I saw the subtitled version, but there is a dubbed version playing tomorrow (Oct. 8), and that's the last chance you'll get to see this movie before it comes out on DVD.
The one thing I was let down by with this movie (aside from the confusion about the behind the scenes with the English dub cast and crew) was that there wasn't an after credits scene promising more No Game No Life. Even so, I still give this movie a solid 10/10.
Well, that's it! Stay tuned for my first of probably two Halloween reviews, which will either be Hellsing or the live action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul! ~k
Anyway, this isn't going to count as part of my Halloween line up because it's not horror, and while it could be considered supernatural, I just don't think it quite fits the supernatural genre entirely. But hey, that's just my opinion.
I saw this movie with one of my best friends (and fellow blogger), Chibi Dragon. You should check out her blog; she is an AMAZING writer. She reviews anime, movies, and video games. She also sometimes live streams her games on twitch (I don't have the link for it, but when I get the link, I'll edit this post and put it in).
Anyway, where to begin. Um...background, I guess, considering that's what the movie started off with. Seriously, we got 19 minutes of behind the scenes footage and background on the movie COMBINED. Not that that's a bad thing; the behind the scenes stuff was actually pretty interesting.
So, background:
No Game No Life started out as a series of light novels published between 2012 and 2016 that were written by Yuu Kamiya. In 2013, Yuu and his wife adapted the novels into a manga series. That same year, an anime adaptation produced by Madhouse was announced. That anime adaptation aired in 2014 and was twelve episodes.
Fast forward to 2016, when the movie (at the time, untitled, I think) was announced. It was then named No Game No Life: 0 and released in Japan on July 15, 2017. This movie is based on the sixth volume of the light novel series.
So, with that said, let's dive into Disboard (before it became known as Disboard)! This is No Game No Life: 0!
So, before our movie even starts, we get some background on what No Game No Life is (which I just gave you). We learn what it's about, which I'll address when I review the anime...eventually. Yeah, I know I'm doing things a little out of order. I'll try to make sure that this doesn't happen again.
Anyway, after we learn about what No Game No Life is about, we get some behind the scenes stuff with the director and all the voice actors who returned to voice characters that were related to the characters they previously voiced. And this is also where I questioned Chibi Dragon if we were even at the right showing, because the interview was with the voice actors from the English dub, and we got tickets for the subbed showing. You would think that for a subbed showing, you would have behind the scenes stuff with the Japanese cast and crew. So I was really confused.
Lucky for us, we were at the right showing. Yay! Although, the theater wasn't as crowded as we thought it would be. When Chibi Dragon and I saw Sword Art Online The Movie: Ordinal Scale, that theater was PACKED. And this one only had maybe half of the theater, if that. I don't get it.
Moving on.
After that behind the scenes stuff with the voice actors from the English dub and the director for the English dubbed movie, the movie finally started. And, boy, were we excited.
The story is set 6000 years ago; before the main series even started. It details the Great War, a seemingly never-ending war between all the races in Disboard (the world No Game No Life is set in), and humanity is forced to live underground in order to survive. Sounds like a pretty cool story, right?
The movie revolves around an eighteen-year-old boy named Riku, who wants to ensure the survival of the human race, even if it means sacrificing their lives. He meets Schwi (I'm not sure if the spelling of that is right...anyway, it's pronounced Shoo-vee), an Ex-Machina (the Android race of Disboard), and wants to kill her at first. However, when she explains that she was cut off from the Cluster collective and isn't a threat, he ultimately takes her under his wing. So now the majority of the entire film revolves around the relationship between Riku and Schwi. And their relationship provides all the feels you could ever want from this movie. There's humor, heartwarming stuff, and even some of the most tearjerking stuff you could imagine. Seriously, bring tissues to this movie. You will probably cry.
There are a couple of characters who might look familiar to those who have seen No Game No Life: Corone Dola and Jibril. Let's start with Korone.
Corone Dola is (and this isn't really a spoiler, because if you've seen No Game No Life, you'll be able to see the resemblance) Stephanie Dola's ancestor. She has a bit of a big sister personality and is the one who leads the humans. This ancestral link then leads to the question, "Are Riku and Schwi the ancestors of Sora and Shiro? Are Sora and Shiro reincarnates of Riku and Schwi?" There are a lot of theories out there.
Let's talk about Jibril. Jibril is a Flügel, a race that has the appearance of angels, but whose personalities are far from angels. Jibril is every bit as demonic in both personality and fighting style in this movie. Think about Yondu's line from the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie; the one about being pretty as an angel, but "sure as h**l ain't one," and you'd get Jibril. The final battle of the film is her versus Schwi and the results aren't pretty at all. I won't say much more than that.
Overall, No Game No Life: Zero was freaking AWESOME. I highly recommend it. The animation is beautiful, the music is amazing, the character designs are great, and the storyline is good. While it might seem like a typical hero's sacrificial journey, it's so much more than that, and it's played out in a fashion that you actually can get invested in. If you're looking for a good anime movie to see on the big screen, then this one is for you. Chibi Dragon and I saw the subtitled version, but there is a dubbed version playing tomorrow (Oct. 8), and that's the last chance you'll get to see this movie before it comes out on DVD.
The one thing I was let down by with this movie (aside from the confusion about the behind the scenes with the English dub cast and crew) was that there wasn't an after credits scene promising more No Game No Life. Even so, I still give this movie a solid 10/10.
Well, that's it! Stay tuned for my first of probably two Halloween reviews, which will either be Hellsing or the live action adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul! ~k
