Daily Archives: July 5, 2014
First Thoughts: Gun Gale Online
I’m sure reviews of this anime will be popping up all over the place today, certainly praising it. Well, screw it. I’ll say what I want.
First off, I went to watch GGO not expecting anything. I’m not a fan of Reki Kawahara in the least and I was already biased because of my animosity towards Sword Art Online. However, I wanted to watch GGO without that bias, so I shoved those thoughts as far out of my head as possible.
I’ll say it right now – the first episode of GGO already looks more promising than the entirety of SAO. (Though that’s not saying much).
Here were some thoughts running through my head as I watched the first episode:
- “Oh, look at the badass, pointing his gun at the screen. Wait, wtf?”
- “The difference between the virtual world and the real world is the amount of information? There’s that Reki Kawahara logic that I love so much!”
- “Wait, you’re learning how to become a creator through…FORUMS? Like, 4chan or something? Why don’t you go to school? Oh, that’s because you’re a genius NEET. I forgot.”
- “Why is Asuna acting all shy and embarrassed around Kirito?! Aren’t they husbando and waifu?!”
- “Space and time? Dafuq are you guys talking about? Seriously, are the fans HEARING this? They’re trying so hard to sound all deep and wise when it makes NO SENSE! Don’t you think you’re taking video games a little too far? No? Just me?”
- “Where’s the action? Even SAO started off better than this…”
- “”Creators were insistent” that the headgear for GGO doesn’t fry your brain. IT’S ABOUT TIME!”
- “Death Gun (aka probably going to be another generic bad guy) only shoots players that are good? Go get screwed, Kirito. Because we ALL know he’s going to be the best.”
- “Of course they turn to Kirito for help saying there’s “no one else”. Of course. Of course.”
- -Sinon appears- “Ah, I was WAITING for the pandering to start!”
And so on and so on. Basically, I’m already seeing the same plot as SAO. Kirito is going to swoop in to save the day, add some more harem cows to his collection without doing anything, fight some generic bad guys, and ultimately win the day like always. Fans claim that GGO is supposedly much better than SAO, and I agree with that. Though I stress, that’s really not saying much. The only plus side I’m seeing so far is that apparently Asuna won’t be featured as much in GGO.
Other than that, if you were a fan of SAO, GGO will be right up your alley. As for me, I’ll be tearing this show apart one episode at a time.
And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to:
Being better than SAO.
Though seeing as how I wasn’t a fan of SAO in the first place, I’m sure this will go spiraling downhill in no time. Sinon at least looked like she won’t be a HORRIBLE character… Hopefully. If they would take the camera away from her crotch for 2 seconds.
Noragami Characters
Today I’ll be talking about the main, and a couple of the supporting, characters of Noragami. These are my own personal aspect and thoughts, obviously. So it’ll really be more of a discussion rather than an in depth analysis. Without further ado, let’s get to it.
Yato
Ah, Yato. I know I like him, but he seems to have an indiscernible personality. At times he’s goofy, playful, and silly. Other times he’s hot headed, stubborn, and childish. And yet he’s also mature, courageous, and sometimes cold.
Just who is he?!
I continually asked myself that question throughout and never truly got an answer. Every face he has is indeed likable, but it was certainly strange how he actually had different faces.
Hiyori
The character I wasn’t expecting. I truly loved her for the majority though there were scenes here and there that had me either facepalming or scratching my head. She’s subjected to mild fanservice, but that fanservice was taken more seriously than perversely. (I’ve mentioned before that nearly all the fanservice in Noragami is this way as well) And something I wasn’t expecting – she can handle herself very well. She “jungle savate”‘s a phantom in the face, for goodness sake! When I first saw her, I figured she’d just be another “damsel in distress” type or some eye candy. Luckily, I was horribly, horribly wrong. She gets off her butt and actually DOES stuff. She plays an important role in the story and is all around, just a well-written character.
Yukine
My least favorite of the main three. The first time I saw him, I loved him. But as the series progressed, I began to grow weary of him. I found myself wanting to scream “Grow up already!” quite often. I did sympathize with him, I really did. Especially when his seiyuu let loose with the crying scenes. But I couldn’t get over his irrational behavior at times. I wanted to slap him in a lot of scenes or just have Yato or Hiyori put him in his place. Some scenes that obviously wanted to win over my sympathy backfired and only grew animosity. When I should’ve been feeling sorry for him, I instead just saw him as a bratty, whiny kid.
But in the end, he won me over and I came to love him once again. His character development was a fun journey regardless of the frustration.
Kofuku
Kofuku, Kofuku, Kofuku…. How do I properly come up with the words to describe her? Oh here’s something – I hated her. While I found her design to be cute, her personality made me want to gag. I think the only way I could hate her more is if she were a loli. The only time I can stand a ditzy character is if they’re at least funny. And since she relied on her ditzy personality to get a laugh, no. I couldn’t stand her. Kofuku might as well have been in K-on with that personality blob of her’s. The only time I even remotely liked her was when she told Bishamon off. And that didn’t last long because she immediately reverts back to her normal self.
When I first saw her, I thought I would like her. I thought she would be a lovable, hilarious, sweet character with some kind of dark, hidden personality. It might be an overdone trope, but it would’ve been better than what we got.
Bishamon
To be honest, I don’t really know how I feel about her. I could overlook the way she was dressed because she had such a serious personality, but there’s not much to say about her. She showed up for one episode then made minor appearances in a number of the following to the end. But she didn’t really do anything to define her character. I wish we’d been given more insight.
Nora
NORA. Wow, did they do a great job of creating a hate-worthy villain. Considering how I wanted to punch her in the face every time I saw her, Noragami did a great job with her standing as a villain. My only complaint is that they never talked about her relationship with Yato. Of course, the anime only has 12 episodes, so that’s nothing to be surprised about.
The characters of Noragami all certainly had their high points and their low points. I found the main three all lovable in their own ways and their development was well executed for the large majority.
Deadman Wonderland
- Characters: 2
- Story: 2
- Enjoyment: 2
- Art: 0
- Animation: .5
Overall Score: 6.5/10
Deadman Wonderland in one work: Crazy.
Deadman Wonderland is about a young boy by the name of Ganta Igarashi who is accused of murdering his entire class after an enigmatic person known as the “Red Man” massacres Ganta’s fellow classmates. He’s sentenced to imprisonment at Deadman Wonderland, a privately owned prison/ (get this) amusement park! After realizing the Red Man has given Ganta some crazy blood powers, he’s forced to live in G Block, a secret area held off only for “Deadmen”; people who have the power to manipulate their blood. There he’s forced to participate in the Carnival Corpse and fight other Deadmen for the sake of experiments.
There aren’t many characters in this show that you wouldn’t find in your average shonen anime. The weak protagonist who won’t stay down, muscle bound characters who would rather fight than talk, ecstatic, bubbly characters, and crazy people.
Yet Deadman Wonderland is able to put their own twist on all these character tropes in either character designs, traits, or both. Most, if not all of the characters who are suppose to be likable ARE likable. Aaaannnnddd…I’ll admit it. One of the main reasons I continued to stay interested in DW was thanks to Senji Kiyomasa.
(I know it’s a shallow reason, but look at him for goodness sake)
The story is what really had me hooked on DW. With brutal action scenes, I just couldn’t stay away. I’m a sucker for series with a darker twist. That being said, you do need to suspend your disbelief to a certain point when watching this to enjoy it. Of course, if you’re in it for the action more than anything else (like I was) that won’t really be a problem.
Also, the series ends with a cliffhanger, so if you’re not interested in reading the manga, you won’t feel satisfied.
The art was pretty solid, though it seemed to be somewhat lacking at times. Such as the fight between Minatsuki and Ganta. And the animation really seemed to only shine when characters activated their powers.
So to sum it up:
Pros: The characters are all around enjoyable and at least have a small twist on their tropes. The action is brutal and there’s plenty. The story is interesting and gritty.
Cons: The art and animation is rather lacking and you have to turn a blind eye to certain aspects in order to enjoy it to the fullest. The ending is empty and leaves you hanging. Also, there’s a fairly large chunk of fanservice.
Worth watching? Probably. It depends on if it’s your type of anime. If you like action with a touch of horror and a darker tone, then this is definitely for you. If you can handle blood and scenes that make your stomach turn, check it out. There are few series like DW that I can think of.
Just throwing in my two cents, but the anime is a sad adaptation compared to the magnitude of the manga. The manga has excellent art, Ganta the crybaby actually develops into a strong character, and the drama implemented is fitting. Oh, and the ending just makes it one of the most satisfying reads. Thumbs down to the anime, two thumbs up for the manga.
Fail Art Online
- “Characters”: 0
- “Story”: 0
- Enjoyment: 0
- Art: 1
- Animation: 1
Overall Score: 2/10
Personal Score: -1/10
Okay, so I’m a couple years late to rant about Stink Farts Online. But hey, seeing as how Gun Gale Online is going to be released, why not?
I could honestly go VERY in depth about my hatred towards this “anime”, but why bother when there’s this?:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pofzAaeXQ6I
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgTh3RrYeVw
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak7eobEojAY
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6wRO6kLAg
DraconisMarch is pretty much my favorite person on the internet. Love him or hate him, everything he says is valid and you can’t deny that. Unless you’re one of those blind fanboys/girls who refuses to see any flaw in the garbage you worship without a second thought.
DraconisMarch takes the words right out of my mouth, so… I guess this isn’t really a rant. More like a “Watch this guy’s videos right NOWWWWW!!”.
Before you ask, yes. I have seen all of SAO. But it was because a friend of mine practically begged me to and it was utterly hilarious how bad it was. Though I skipped a lot of parts just because it was so utterly BAW-RING.
The dialogue is cliche and vomit-inducing, the characters aren’t characters AT ALL, there’s blatant misogynistic themes, and do not even get me started on all the plot flaws with this anime. I understand that when it comes to enjoying, well, anything really, you have to suspend your disbelief to some degree. But with SAO, I just couldn’t. I wanted to throw up and bang my head against a wall. And the hype the fans give it just makes it even worse. It’s as if people just think “Video games? Hot chicks? Action? I’m in! HURRRRRRRRRRR” and that’s all it takes, apparently.
Ugggghhhhh….
I’m really looking forward to seeing how GGO will be played out. (Not.)
Though I heard Asuna won’t be featured in it very much, so THAT’S a plus. But I’m guessing while e-waifu is away, Gary Stu will be adding more fap material to his harem.
Oh boy. Can’t wait.
“Haters gonna hate”…
Can there be a line any more moronic than “haters gonna hate!”?
Maybe yolo.
But that’s about it.
It’s pathetic how when I say ANYTHING bad about a popular anime, people have to jump at me with a knife to my throat. And when I actually bring up legitimate evidence, they call me a “hater” and cop out with a sorry “haters gonna hate.”.
What I do is analyze and ultimately, say whatever the heck floats around in my head. Take it or leave it. I see “haters” as people with no reasons to dislike what they do. These people usually say something along the lines of “I have no idea why, but…” or “I don’t know why, but…” and that’s all they say.
If I make a claim, I will back it up with evidence. So yeah, if I don’t like something, I don’t like it. But drop the crap about being a “hater” just because you can’t come up with anything intelligent to say back.
Noragami Directory
First Thoughts: Noragami
I recently started Noragami even though I’d heard about it back in January. The first time I looked up pictures, I couldn’t help cringe. Another cat girl? Really?
But I decided, why not?
The story seemed interesting enough and Yato, the broke and upcoming god looked like a promising character should the story end up being a flop.
The first episode destroyed my expectations. It had GREAT characters, funny dialogue, action, plus incredible art and animation. There was some subtle fanservice here and there, but it was taken seriously rather than perversely. The opening sequence is definitely a treat. Not only did I find the song powerful, the art made my mouth drool. Thumbs up to you, studio Bones. The ending is also a favorite of mine. I knew the sound of Supercell after the first line ❤
I feel like the characters are going to be the driving force of this show, which I’m totally fine with. Even the “cat girl”, Hiyori, is lovable and fun. And Yato is everything I thought he was going to be.
Though with shows like this, they generally have the same set up plot in every episode and it gets kind of boring. I’m hoping Noragami won’t be like this after it got such high praise from a friend of mine who’s particular about anime.
The first episode was enough to get me interested and if it keeps that way, hopefully I’ll be writing a review of it in the future.
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