A forum of mostly anime-related discussions and reviews served up by your trusty moderator and anime expert, Fefifofum.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Major (Season 3) - Completed Review
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Code Geass (season 1) - Completed
Lucky Star - Completed Review
Sunday, October 21, 2007
City Hunter - ReTrO ReViEw
What is it?
The story of a talented man-for-hire who works in the underground world with his inexperienced partner.
What's good about it?
For a series that began 20 years ago, City Hunter remains quite watchable. Many of the story arcs are well written and most of the characters have their charm. City Hunter is a great indicator of the time it aired, both in its anime style and cultural referencing. The mood of urban Japan in the 80's is very well-represented.
What's bad about it?
Running 150 episodes long with half a dozen movies, most of the episodes are filler episodes. Character interactions are incredibly predictable and repetitive. The good guys (and the bad guys) always seem to make the same mistakes (especially Kaori). The story arcs range from 1 to 3 episodes in length and while the non-filler ones (the vast minority of the arcs) are quite worthwhile, the filler arcs are hit and miss with some very tedious ones in there.
Final Verdict
City Hunter could never air today as it stands. The filler hurts but the animation reflects its age and the formula is tired and has been replicated to nausea. Most of the emulation reflects the popularity of the show and it's characters at its conception. Like most retro anime series that were popular in their time, you can only enjoy City Hunter if you can appreciate the impact it had on the way anime is made today without holding it's faults against it.
8.0/10
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Kaze no Stigma - Completed Review
Bunch of elemental-powered clans fight demons and each other.
What's good about it?
The powers they control are nice. Character designs and animation are above average.
What's bad about it?
No story arcs were as good as the first one. The final arc was the worst by far : lame dialogue, none of the vilains are defeated, unoriginal plot turns.
Final Verdict
Not a very good but still watchable series.
7.2/10
Monday, October 08, 2007
History's Greatest Disciple Kenichi - Review Revision
Previous rating 7.0 ----------------------> Revised review 7.7
I'm taking a break now but expect some more, briefer, reviews in the next 3 days. Here's a list of them so I don't forget.
-Lucky Star
-Kaze no Stigma
-City Hunter
-Code Geass (season 1)
-Sumomo momo momomo momomo momo momomomomomo
-Lovely Complex (whenever KissSub gets off their asses and sub the last episode)
After those reviews I'll be concentrating mostly on examing the batch of new shows of the fall anime season.
Death Note - Completed Review
Just a few points. L's succesor, Near, isn't nearly as engaging as L and the rivalry with Light suffers because of it. Also, the other character's besides the leads are not very perceptive as they seem to just watch and hardly know what's going on half the time. This is partially corrected towards the end as the amount of apparent coincidences becomes obvious, even to them. Though the ending is conclusive and, in most respects, appropriate, I felt there was a plot twist or two too little, definitely less than what we had gotten used to.