Welcome to Random Button Adventures #3 .This week, I get to review something I have not been looking forward to. A comedy. Well. To be fair. It's not a complete comedy. It also has action, fantasy, and a little slice-of-life.
The reasons for this are:
1. I don't want to spoil the jokes
2. Trying to translate comedic situations to text diminishes it's comedic value.
3. Visual jokes only work when you can see what's going on.
For these reasons, I have opted to, instead of write a synopsis filled with screenshots, to just embed the episode in it's entirety for you to view, and my final thoughts afterwards.
So, this week, it's Night Wizard.
Night Wizard is 13 episodes long. It ran in 2007 and is based on a Japanese RPG of the same name. It was directed by Yuusuke Yamamoto and animated by studio Hal Film Maker, which has animated such anime as Oban Star Racers, B Gata H Kei, Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan (Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan), and Skip Beat!.
Now for the episode :
To be honest, there weren't that many comedic elements in the show, but it does give me an excuse to experiment with how I review something. Instead of mentally draining myself by spending hours writing a synopsis, I can focus my energy on my final thoughts. Speaking of which, I think the episode can be summed up by three sentences I repeatedly thought to myself while watching it: "That's pretty funny.", "This is boring.", and "What the hell is going on?".
The first half of the episode was boring. The only saving grace was the comedic scenes with Hiiragi. Everything, and everyone, else just bored the crap out of me.
The second half was confusing. I had no idea what the hell was going on. But, at least because of the action, it wasn't as boring as the first half.
It didn't really inspire me to see the rest of the episodes. But, I might have to just to understand what the heck I just watched.
So, in conclusion, I give the episode a 6/10. It wasn't bad. The comedy was alright. The action was good too. But everything else was completely boring.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Friday, December 23, 2011
Random Button Adventures #2
It's time for Random Button Adventures #2. Let's see what I get to review today!
*Click*
*Drumroll*
Akikan!
I've already seen it. My favorite thing that came out of the series was this face:
*Click*
*Drumroll*
Seikon no Qwaser
No no no no no no! NO! No way! Thank Cthulu I already watched the first episode.
*Click*
*Drumroll*
Finally. This week it's:
*Click*
*Drumroll*
Akikan!
I've already seen it. My favorite thing that came out of the series was this face:
*Click*
*Drumroll*
Seikon no Qwaser
No no no no no no! NO! No way! Thank Cthulu I already watched the first episode.
*Click*
*Drumroll*
Finally. This week it's:
Friday, December 9, 2011
Random Button Adventures #1
Alright! This is the first, um... episode, installment, um... got it! It's #1 of my Random Button Adventures series. In this series, I go to an anime streaming site, click on "random" and review the first episode, and maybe the second if it's a two parter or I feel the need to, of the first episode of an anime I haven't seen before. So I'm giving my first impressions of the series. And I'll also include some background info.
At the end of the review, I'll give the episode a score from 1-10. 1 being a NEVER WATCH THIS, and 10 being a GO WATCH THIS NOW. Making 5 a meh.
Let's get this show on the road. This review will be about:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
This isn't the first Magical Girl anime I've watched. I've seen Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura on TV when I was a kid, but I never saw them through to the end. This might be the first, if all goes well.
It came out in 2004, was made by studio Seven Arcs, licensed by Geneon, and is 13 episodes long.
Apparently, the main character's first appearance was in an eroge, which, if you don't already know, is an erotic game. I won't hold this against the anime, since I'm not prudish. But if there's too much fan service, I will deduct points.
Also, I'll be watching the dub, so I'll tell you if I like that or not.
So, in the first scene, we have an introductory speech by who I'm assuming is the main character. She says that the show is about people who influence others and what happens when said people meet. This anime is doing my job for me. Sweet.
And then the opening starts.
The theme, Innocent Starter by Nana Mizuki, is pretty enjoyable. The video itself is nice to look at, and doesn't seem to reveal too much about the plot. I commend it for that, because I have a problem with series that spoil the plot in the opening videos.
We open at night on a wounded boy (I think. It's a little androgynous) in a forest. He's being watched by a large, red-eyed, black furball from somewhere in the darkness. He then pulls out some sort of round, red gem, and begins to cast a spell. A magic circle appears in front of him. Suddenly, the creature charges at him, but it flies right into the magic circle, wounding it. Its blood splatters to the ground in seemingly gelatinous piles. But the boy is apparently drained of whatever energy source they use to fuel their magic, and the creature slithers away. The boy then collapses to the ground and asks out loud for someone to lend him their power. A light begins to emanate from him as he... turns into a ferret? Interesting reaction to losing one's powers. I'll give him that.
And then we get the episode's title, "Is This What You Call a Mysterious Encounter?". Quite a mouth full. We cut to somewhere in Japan. I'll just assume it's Tokyo, because of how densely populated and full of buildings it is. Even though I like to think I know many things about the country, I still can't identify cities by their landmarks. Anyway, I'd say it's probably some time around 2004, considering that was the time of its release, and there's nothing confirming the date. The titular character, Nanoha, is awoken by her ringing cellphone. She then remarks that she had a really strange dream. So she apparently saw what we just witnessed in a dream. I won't deduct points for this being cliche since doing that this early is pretty unfair.
We go through a montage of her getting ready for school as she monologues. Her name is Nanoha Takamachi,
a third grader at Seishou Auxiliary Elementary School. We are then introduced to her family. Her father, Shiro, apparently owns a cafe called Midoriya. Her mother, Momoko, makes baked goods there. Her brother, Kyouya, a freshman in college, has succeeded their father at the sword school they also apparently run. And finally, her sister, Miyuki, a second year in high school, is coached by Kyouya in sword fighting
Family: (Top Right) Mother - Momoko Takamachi, (Top Left) Father - Shirou Takamachi, (Bottom Left) Brother - Kyouya Takamachi, and (Bottom Right) Sister - Miyuki Takamachi.
Jeez! Her parents look so young! Then again, I'm a bad judge of age when it comes to anime. But come on! Her dad barely looks older than her brother!
Anyway, they seem to be the typical happy family, and probably have to be a little wealthy, running both a cafe and a dojo. Oh boy. I bet something will eventually happen to them. It usually happens when any story introduces the viewer to a happy family/village type of situation.
Nanoha boards the bus to school with her friends, Alisa Bannings (Left) and Suzuka Tsukimura (Right).
Her teacher talks to their class about a recent project that involves observing local businesses and tells them it's a good time to start thinking about their futures. This gets Nanoha and her friends thinking about what they want to do when they grow up, and they discuss it over lunch. It's here we learn what character tropes her friends are. Alisa is the loud type, and Suzuka is the quiet type. This puts Nanoha in the middle. But none of that really matters since my research has shown that her friends are minor characters. But who knows. They'll probably be important at some point in the series. Back to the topic of the future, Alisa plans to take over the family business and Suzuka plans to work with machines. Nanoha is supposed to take over Midoriya some day, but she has this feeling that there is something else she should do, but doesn't know what it is. Oh joy. I wonder what it could be.
As they're walking home from school, Alisa points out a shortcut through, *gasp* the woods! Oh boy, I bet I can guess what happens next! So, they're walking through the forest, when Nanoha realizes that this is the place that she dreamed of. After she shakes off the feeling of deja vu, she continues walking, when suddenly a voice calls out for help. But it seems only Nanoha heard it. She leaves her friends to find the source of the pleas, and discovers ferret boy, which he shall be called until I hear an actual name.
Nanoha and her friends take the now unconscious ferret boy to a vet, and we find out he'll be fine. The doctor remarks about the gem on his collar, and ferret boy awakens and begins to stare at Nanoha. And she instantly befriends him. Nanoha and her companions leave and promise to come back the next day.
After cram school, Nanoha tries to convince her parents to let her keep ferret boy, and they agree. After texting her friends about the good news, she gets a strange feeling, and begins to hear a voice in her head. It's ferret boy, and he asks Nanoha to lend him her power. And she needs to do it quickly because the creature from the forest has tracked down ferret boy, and is about to kill him.
She runs as fast as she can to the veterinary clinic, and when she arrives, she hears a strange high-pitched noise as her surrounding take on a shade of red. And then, there's a panty shot. And the episode was doing so good too. The creature attacks ferret boy, but he gets out just in time and runs outside where he meets Nanoha and jumps into her arms. It begins to talk, and Nanoha begins to justifiably freak out. As she makes her escape, ferret boy explains that he's from a different world and has come to this world to find something, but isn't powerful enough to do it alone, and needs help from people with talent. People like Nanoha, apparently.
The monster catches up with them and ferret boy gives her his red gem, and has her repeat a magic chant, making a "contract". A bright pillar of pink light comes out of the gem and shoots up, past the clouds. Ferret boy tells Nanoha to envision a wand and armor. And we get a transformation sequence! And, woah! Nudity alert! Wait a minute... she's 9! Avert your eyes! Lest ye be carted off by the FBI! But seriously. While it was mildly unnerving to sit through this scene, I can honestly overlook this since it's Japan being Japan. You know, cultural differences and all that. I won't jump on it with the "This is disgusting and morally reprehensable!" attitude that most people, when faced with a similar situation, or content such as this, are apt to adopt. I understand that Japanese culture is radically different, and as such, I have no place to judge. Moving along, the sequence does look nice and, well, what was I expecting? What's a Magical Girl anime without a naked transformation sequence? But normally the characters in these sequences are as anatomically correct as a Barbie doll. Well, anyway. Back to the story.
We cut to a shot of the creature looming over Nanoha and- Ending credits! We have a cliffhanger.
The ending theme, Little Wish (Lyrical Step) by Yukari Tamura, is alright, if you don't mind singers that sound like children. And the video itself is pretty minimalistic.
Well, I give it a 6 out of 10. It was pretty enjoyable. From what I could tell, the animation was passable for 2004. But the underage transformation sequence kinda skeeved me out. And the plot is really predictable. The dubbing isn't terrible, but Nanoha's voice got really grating for me after a while. And it can be especially bad from Nanoha's family. I took the liberty of checking out a few minutes of the subbed version, and the dialogue works much better in the original Japanese. With the dub, it's really clunky and unrealistic in a few places. I, personally, won't be continuing the series, but that shouldn't stop anyone else from checking it out. If Magical Girl anime is your kind of thing, and you can look past the fanservice, I would recommend at least giving it a shot.
So, thats it for my first Random Button Adventure. I gotta say. I enjoyed writing this. And it gives me the motivation to check out new anime. Maybe discover some lesser known or underrated series. I honestly can't wait to start on the next one. And the amount of time I've given myself lets me make sure that everything is perfect and there's plenty of info. This is going to be a fun series.
Character Pictures Provided by http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com
At the end of the review, I'll give the episode a score from 1-10. 1 being a NEVER WATCH THIS, and 10 being a GO WATCH THIS NOW. Making 5 a meh.
Let's get this show on the road. This review will be about:
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
This isn't the first Magical Girl anime I've watched. I've seen Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura on TV when I was a kid, but I never saw them through to the end. This might be the first, if all goes well.
It came out in 2004, was made by studio Seven Arcs, licensed by Geneon, and is 13 episodes long.
Apparently, the main character's first appearance was in an eroge, which, if you don't already know, is an erotic game. I won't hold this against the anime, since I'm not prudish. But if there's too much fan service, I will deduct points.
Also, I'll be watching the dub, so I'll tell you if I like that or not.
So, in the first scene, we have an introductory speech by who I'm assuming is the main character. She says that the show is about people who influence others and what happens when said people meet. This anime is doing my job for me. Sweet.
And then the opening starts.
The theme, Innocent Starter by Nana Mizuki, is pretty enjoyable. The video itself is nice to look at, and doesn't seem to reveal too much about the plot. I commend it for that, because I have a problem with series that spoil the plot in the opening videos.
We open at night on a wounded boy (I think. It's a little androgynous) in a forest. He's being watched by a large, red-eyed, black furball from somewhere in the darkness. He then pulls out some sort of round, red gem, and begins to cast a spell. A magic circle appears in front of him. Suddenly, the creature charges at him, but it flies right into the magic circle, wounding it. Its blood splatters to the ground in seemingly gelatinous piles. But the boy is apparently drained of whatever energy source they use to fuel their magic, and the creature slithers away. The boy then collapses to the ground and asks out loud for someone to lend him their power. A light begins to emanate from him as he... turns into a ferret? Interesting reaction to losing one's powers. I'll give him that.
And then we get the episode's title, "Is This What You Call a Mysterious Encounter?". Quite a mouth full. We cut to somewhere in Japan. I'll just assume it's Tokyo, because of how densely populated and full of buildings it is. Even though I like to think I know many things about the country, I still can't identify cities by their landmarks. Anyway, I'd say it's probably some time around 2004, considering that was the time of its release, and there's nothing confirming the date. The titular character, Nanoha, is awoken by her ringing cellphone. She then remarks that she had a really strange dream. So she apparently saw what we just witnessed in a dream. I won't deduct points for this being cliche since doing that this early is pretty unfair.
We go through a montage of her getting ready for school as she monologues. Her name is Nanoha Takamachi,
a third grader at Seishou Auxiliary Elementary School. We are then introduced to her family. Her father, Shiro, apparently owns a cafe called Midoriya. Her mother, Momoko, makes baked goods there. Her brother, Kyouya, a freshman in college, has succeeded their father at the sword school they also apparently run. And finally, her sister, Miyuki, a second year in high school, is coached by Kyouya in sword fighting
Family: (Top Right) Mother - Momoko Takamachi, (Top Left) Father - Shirou Takamachi, (Bottom Left) Brother - Kyouya Takamachi, and (Bottom Right) Sister - Miyuki Takamachi.
Jeez! Her parents look so young! Then again, I'm a bad judge of age when it comes to anime. But come on! Her dad barely looks older than her brother!
Anyway, they seem to be the typical happy family, and probably have to be a little wealthy, running both a cafe and a dojo. Oh boy. I bet something will eventually happen to them. It usually happens when any story introduces the viewer to a happy family/village type of situation.
Nanoha boards the bus to school with her friends, Alisa Bannings (Left) and Suzuka Tsukimura (Right).
Her teacher talks to their class about a recent project that involves observing local businesses and tells them it's a good time to start thinking about their futures. This gets Nanoha and her friends thinking about what they want to do when they grow up, and they discuss it over lunch. It's here we learn what character tropes her friends are. Alisa is the loud type, and Suzuka is the quiet type. This puts Nanoha in the middle. But none of that really matters since my research has shown that her friends are minor characters. But who knows. They'll probably be important at some point in the series. Back to the topic of the future, Alisa plans to take over the family business and Suzuka plans to work with machines. Nanoha is supposed to take over Midoriya some day, but she has this feeling that there is something else she should do, but doesn't know what it is. Oh joy. I wonder what it could be.
As they're walking home from school, Alisa points out a shortcut through, *gasp* the woods! Oh boy, I bet I can guess what happens next! So, they're walking through the forest, when Nanoha realizes that this is the place that she dreamed of. After she shakes off the feeling of deja vu, she continues walking, when suddenly a voice calls out for help. But it seems only Nanoha heard it. She leaves her friends to find the source of the pleas, and discovers ferret boy, which he shall be called until I hear an actual name.
Nanoha and her friends take the now unconscious ferret boy to a vet, and we find out he'll be fine. The doctor remarks about the gem on his collar, and ferret boy awakens and begins to stare at Nanoha. And she instantly befriends him. Nanoha and her companions leave and promise to come back the next day.
After cram school, Nanoha tries to convince her parents to let her keep ferret boy, and they agree. After texting her friends about the good news, she gets a strange feeling, and begins to hear a voice in her head. It's ferret boy, and he asks Nanoha to lend him her power. And she needs to do it quickly because the creature from the forest has tracked down ferret boy, and is about to kill him.
She runs as fast as she can to the veterinary clinic, and when she arrives, she hears a strange high-pitched noise as her surrounding take on a shade of red. And then, there's a panty shot. And the episode was doing so good too. The creature attacks ferret boy, but he gets out just in time and runs outside where he meets Nanoha and jumps into her arms. It begins to talk, and Nanoha begins to justifiably freak out. As she makes her escape, ferret boy explains that he's from a different world and has come to this world to find something, but isn't powerful enough to do it alone, and needs help from people with talent. People like Nanoha, apparently.
The monster catches up with them and ferret boy gives her his red gem, and has her repeat a magic chant, making a "contract". A bright pillar of pink light comes out of the gem and shoots up, past the clouds. Ferret boy tells Nanoha to envision a wand and armor. And we get a transformation sequence! And, woah! Nudity alert! Wait a minute... she's 9! Avert your eyes! Lest ye be carted off by the FBI! But seriously. While it was mildly unnerving to sit through this scene, I can honestly overlook this since it's Japan being Japan. You know, cultural differences and all that. I won't jump on it with the "This is disgusting and morally reprehensable!" attitude that most people, when faced with a similar situation, or content such as this, are apt to adopt. I understand that Japanese culture is radically different, and as such, I have no place to judge. Moving along, the sequence does look nice and, well, what was I expecting? What's a Magical Girl anime without a naked transformation sequence? But normally the characters in these sequences are as anatomically correct as a Barbie doll. Well, anyway. Back to the story.
We cut to a shot of the creature looming over Nanoha and- Ending credits! We have a cliffhanger.
The ending theme, Little Wish (Lyrical Step) by Yukari Tamura, is alright, if you don't mind singers that sound like children. And the video itself is pretty minimalistic.
Well, I give it a 6 out of 10. It was pretty enjoyable. From what I could tell, the animation was passable for 2004. But the underage transformation sequence kinda skeeved me out. And the plot is really predictable. The dubbing isn't terrible, but Nanoha's voice got really grating for me after a while. And it can be especially bad from Nanoha's family. I took the liberty of checking out a few minutes of the subbed version, and the dialogue works much better in the original Japanese. With the dub, it's really clunky and unrealistic in a few places. I, personally, won't be continuing the series, but that shouldn't stop anyone else from checking it out. If Magical Girl anime is your kind of thing, and you can look past the fanservice, I would recommend at least giving it a shot.
So, thats it for my first Random Button Adventure. I gotta say. I enjoyed writing this. And it gives me the motivation to check out new anime. Maybe discover some lesser known or underrated series. I honestly can't wait to start on the next one. And the amount of time I've given myself lets me make sure that everything is perfect and there's plenty of info. This is going to be a fun series.
Character Pictures Provided by http://www.animecharactersdatabase.com
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Schedule
I've decided on a schedule. I'll write one review every week and I'll post one every two weeks. That way, I'll have an extra review in case I'm not available. I'll post them... hmm. Every Friday at 6 PM Central. So, get ready, because I'm releasing my first review this Friday!
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Yo!
Well ladies and gents. I decided to make a new review series! I call it, "Random Button Adventures". What I do with this is I go to an anime streaming site and click "random" until I find an anime that I haven't seen before. I then review the first episode. This will be replacing my Anime Recommendations. Although I might make some more later.
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