First Thoughts – Akagami no Shirayuki-hime

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime or Snow White with the Red Hair is a new anime produced by Studio Bones (YES ❤ ) about a female herbalist named Shirayuki with rare red hair. And just like her rare hair color, shoujo anime nowadays are also become more and more rare. Especially GOOD shoujo at that. Thankfully, this anime has given me some hope.

All I can say from the first episode, is that it’s cute. There’s a very distinct fairy tale-ness to this which I adore. I’ve yet to find a good Snow White based story and this would be the first. The characters, the dialogue…I’ve seen it all before but I still like it. Why? Because it’s a fairy tale. It’s impossible for me to grow tired of them. The stories I memorized as a child, the various versions and adaptions I discovered growing up…Akagami no Shirayuki-hime fits in that category and I’m loving it so far. That’s not to say the first episode is too predictable. I was guessing different things that could happen within it and I was wrong everytime -which is great.

And the characters! A big YES to that. If red-haired heroines become a trend I have absolutely no problems with that. I love how Shirayuki embodies both spirit and courage, yet is still gentle.

One of the very first shots is of her reaching for beautiful flowers when suddenly the camera pans over and she’s actually grabbing a type of herb to use in her medicine. I thought that was so clever and already revealed so much about her character!

Although I’m somewhat of a fanatic when it comes to fairy tales (Blame Disney ❤ ) I still didn’t see the small twists here and there in the first episode. It’s clever, cute, and personally, I’m enjoying it so much it’s practically sinful. I cannot WAIT to see more of such a charming anime!

Yona of the Dawn

• Characters: 1.7 /3
• Story: 2 /3
• Enjoyment: 1 /2
• Art: .7 /1
• Animation: .8 /1

Overall Score: 6.2/10

Yona of the Dawn in one word: Smart

Truthfully, I finished this anime some time ago, I just never got around to writing about it. It’s been a long time since I’d been excited by a new(ish, now) anime….and the fact that it was a reverse harem that got me excited really shows how disappointing the anime industry has become.

Nonetheless, Yona of the Dawn is an anime that can be enjoyed by either gender regardless of it being a reverse harem. Yona, the heroine continued to be a strong character throughout the entire show which I was very pleased with. She’s a heroine to admire and just like I predicted, seeing her grow as her adventure went on was one of the best parts of this anime.

Now, let’s talk about the boys. Basically, I’m a sucker for reverse harems. I have the oddest love-hate relationship with them. Something like “Ugh, it’s so obvious they’re pandering to the female audience. But at the same time, this is a rather rare thing… Ugh, another one of THOSE male characters; I’ve seen that trope a thousand times! But….it’s still cute.”

So as a reviewer I had to take away points for the fact they played on the “types” – i.e. shota, prince, happy-go-lucky, flirt, mysterious, and childhood companion. But at the same time…I guess it’s because I’m a girl but I loved it. xD

The anime is smart because it could’ve gone any way. It could’ve taken the road of normalcy and simply pandered to female audiences. But the story of Yona of the Dawn is what actually kept me to stay. Sure, cute boys are great but I can’t watch an anime just for that. It’s boring. Yona of the Dawn brought on a great story and actually developed its characters. (Except for a certain one but I think the short meeting was the point of his character).

If this anime doesn’t get a 2nd season I will be severely disappointed. The focus of this first half was to introduce the characters and SET UP for something bigger. There was plenty of story, as I discussed above, but it never dove too deeply like I wanted. If a 2nd season comes, they’ll have to push into the actual meat of the story.

The art stayed consistent throughout the whole thing. They never pulled an A-1 Pictures (where the art in the first episode is great but quality slowly declines as the series continues because they blew their budget on moe gestures -_-) You get the same quality in every episode only, and this is rare….the fight scenes have the best animation.

Yes, you heard it here. In a reverse harem anime with romance and drama….the action sequences have the best animation. (Oh how I love you Pierrot Studios!!)

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So to sum it up:

Pros: The story is the best part. And if you’re into reverse harem anime, THIS IS A MUST WATCH. There’s at least one boy you’ll absolutely adore. But even if you don’t like reverse harems, the story is great for anyone. A strong heroine whose kingdom has been usurped and now she has to reclaim it? Reminds me of Fire Emblem, I’m in! The characters are good, the story is great, and it’ll make you wish for a season 2.

Cons: It’s still just a reverse harem anime. And the obvious pandering to the female audience members can get annoying – I’m a girl and even I found it annoying at times. The story also feels TOO slow at times. Focusing on a character for 6 episodes gets rather tedious.

Worth watching?: For a reverse harem anime, Yona of the Dawn is by far one of the best I’ve ever seen. The story is great and yes, the romance in it is well directed. What I love about reverse harems in comparison to harems, is that the majority of them can be for anyone. Because they actually come with stories not JUST pandering. It’s great, I would definitely recommend this anime to anyone interested in a good story. And if you like reverse harems, this is a plus.

First Thoughts: Yona of the Dawn

I haven’t done reviews lately simply because nothing has caught my attention. And by nothing, I mean absolutely NOTHING. That is, until I happened to see a trailer for Yona of the Dawn on my Facebook newsfeed.

Has anyone realized the difference between harems and reverse harems? One thing, reverse harems seem to focus just as heavily on story as romantic interaction. Whereas in harems, no one gives a crap about story and just want to see fanservice. (These speculations come from my own personal experiences, mind you. Though I’d love to see someone prove me wrong.)

So far, Yona of the Dawn looks just as promising as what I saw in the trailer. Obviously they’re geared toward female audience members so I’m biased. While all the basic storytelling components are rather mediocre, there’s still something entertaining about it. Perhaps I’m just happy to at last find a new anime that doesn’t look like garbage.

Let’s talk art. I can’t say I like it, honestly. The hard blush characters have and the overall moe/shoujo style has never impressed me. The character designs are…fence-sittingly generic. What I mean is, I feel like I’ve seen Hak’s design thousands of times..

Yet Yona is a heroine I could easily recognize.

As for the animation…I’m once again, still on the fence. They’ve hardly used still frames (10 points to Griffindor) but there’s nothing impressive about the animation. Hopefully we’ll get some good action scenes later though (here’s hoping~)

Voice acting…define “acting”. I’ve yet to see the dub, but I’ll probably switch over to it simply because Yona’s voice gives me a headache. Her voice doesn’t sound natural at all, as if her seiyuu is trying to be 8 years old. But I see potential with this show, so I’m hopeful actual acting will occur later.

The score fits the anime, but it isn’t memorable. It does remind me of the score used for the Soul Calibur games, however, so +100 points for nostalgia.

Now let’s talk about plot. Here’s the reason I’m continuing this show. While the first episode was predictable and they do have a couple drops of exposition, I have high hopes for Yona’s character. I’m excited to see her development from a helpless princess to the determined and fierce girl shown in the banner art. I want to know what trials she’ll go through to become stronger. Unfortunately, exposition is still exposition. Characters say things that are out of place and obviously directed to the audience. There’s only been a small amount of it so far, however, and I’m guessing it’s because they wanted to jump straight into the story within the limited time of the pilot episode. It’s irksome, but I have a feeling this will not continue. The good thing is, what exposition they use are only little things like “I can’t wait to see my cousin who is 3 years older than me!”. No one says things like that, but it’s tolerable to be used here because it’s not some reveal that will impact the story.

Overall, I’m just happy to finally find a series that has caught my interest. Yona of the Dawn looks promising and hopefully it’ll continue that way.

5 Centimeters Per Second

• Characters: 3 /3
• Story: 2.5 /3
• Enjoyment: 1.5 /2
• Art: 1 /1
• Animation: 1 /1

Overall Score: 9/10

5 Centimeters Per Second in one word: Real.

5 Centimeters Per Second doesn’t exactly have a true main character, but I see it as mainly centered around a young boy named Takaki and his life as he’s growing up. He and his childhood friend, Akari, are forced to say goodbye due to her moving away and thus the story begins. The movie is cut up into 3 parts. The first part is about when they’re 13 and Takaki is on his way to meet Akari before he has to move. The second part is about Takaki and his life in a new location and his relationship with another girl. The last part is Takaki all grown up and him looking back on all his experiences.

The 3 parts seem to each have a certain theme about relationships. The first theme seemed to be something along the lines of realizing that you may never have someone you want even if the feelings are mutual. The second theme was unrequited love. And the last was moving on from the pain of the first theme.

Maybe I’m biased about this anime because I recently went through a break up and this anime brought back so many feelings… but 5 Centimeters Per Second really hit me emotionally.

The journey of these characters and how realistically they’re portrayed was so incredible. There were absolutely NONE of those BS shoujo cliches; and I could really connect with the characters. If you’re looking for an anime that will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, this isn’t the anime for you. I knew from the start how this anime was going to end, but I couldn’t help hoping all throughout. The ending is, well, tragic. It’s real, beautiful, but pretty discouraging.

The background art is absolutely STUNNING, though I wasn’t a huge fan of how the characters were drawn. But, I suppose that was the style back in ’07.

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So to sum it up:

Pros: It’s a very realistic, relatable story. The characters are very well-grounded and act in the same way a real human would. The art is fantastic, the score is beautiful, and you actually give a crap about the characters. There’s not a single drop of fanservice ANYWHERE and it really gets you emotionally. Especially for anyone that’s going through a difficult time in any sort of relationship.

Cons: The ending will not give you warm fuzzies. The art style of the characters themselves felt very out of place in comparison to the backgrounds. Also, it’s pretty confusing at times. Especially in part 1.

Worth watching? Oh yes. If this is the kind of anime you’re looking for, I mean. It’s not going to be for everyone. Like I said, I guess I’m pretty biased towards 5 Centimeters Per Second just because of the kind of emotional pains I went through recently. But if you’re looking for an anime that’s emotionally powerful and one where you can connect to the characters and events, this is the one for you.

Reaction: Gun Gale Online – Episode 9

The episode starts off and we’re immediately bombarded by still frames. Oh, A-1 Pictures, you.

So Kirito’s harem is in some room watching the BOB tournament. And of course, all they can do is talk about how AMAZING Kirito is. And that he’s sooo smart and such an amaaazing strategist.

All hail Digital Jesus!

WE GET IT. He’s amazing and you all want the D. Now SHUT UP. Please.

DEASU GUNNU kills someone and the overly dramatic bad guy speech ensues. Hey, Kirito! Sinon! While he’s giving his stupid speech why don’t you try to…you know…attack him? Sinon fires one shot, misses, and they just…sit there.

DEASU GUNNU leaves and our two GGO heroes go after him. But not before they get attacked by some nameless guy and they beat him. Nothing new.

I suck at shooters and I hardly play them, so I can’t really criticize the tactics they use. But even I know that there were A LOT of idiotic things that characters did throughout this tournament. Starting with that guy who went after both Kirito and Sinon. Yes. Go after not only the 2 best players in GGO, but go after TWO people at once. Genius.

Also, can I just say again, WHY ISN’T EVERYONE A SNIPER?! Clearly you’d have a huge advantage in this stage! But, whatever.

Kirito tells Sinon that DEASU GUNNU can actually kill people in real life and she’s in disbelief that “someone like that plays GGO”! How dare a psychopath play her precious video game.

What’s even worse is that as he tells her this, she has another one of her flashbacks and starts freaking out. Sinon THEN proceeds to tell Kiritina that she has a hard time believing his story.

Uh, if you don’t believe him, why are you freaking out? Sigh.

Oh yeah, and we now know that Sinon CAN get panic attacks in GGO. So all these people saying that the “headgear keeps her trauma in check” can now SHOVE IT.

If anyone is actually fearing for Sinon’s life…and were at the edge of their seat at this scene…. I seriously laugh at you.

Who wants to bet that in the next episode, Kirito will show up and “heroically” save his haremette? No one? That’s right, because it’s so painstakingly OBVIOUS that’s what will happen.

Misogyny Online. Where females can’t save themselves. Ever.

If you haven’t noticed the trend, Kawahara CONSTANTLY uses the whole “damsel in distress” trope as a way to heighten drama. And when Kirito inevitably saves said damsel, he’s suppose to be glorified as some kind of mighty savior.

-throws up-

This all goes back to the whole self-insertion theme that is Krito. When something good happens to him…you cheer NOT because you’re cheering for Kirito, but because you want that to be you.

And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to….

Heck, I don’t even know anymore.

Next episode, I guess.

Reaction: Gun Gale Online – Episode 5

Well, I’ll say this much about the SAO franchise: It knows its audience and EXACTLY how to pander towards it. But since the core of SAO is wish fulfillment and nothing more, this is NOT a good thing.

The episode starts off with Kirito– er….Kiritina… and Sinon “just barely” making it to the sign up for BOB. It’s funny because Sinon says “hurry!” as they casually WALK in. Nice.

As Kiritina is about to enter his info for sign ups, the form asks for his real information in order to sign up. Obviously he can’t say he’s a male because….no. There is no logic behind that. What’s even funnier is the fact the form he entered was EMPTY. (That’s right. EMPTY.) AND HE WAS STILL ABLE TO ENTER THE TOURNAMENT!! What? He entered a BLANK form and was able to get into the tournament? How????? 

Actually, I’m not surprised. This is SAO afterall. Where logic does not apply. (“THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE AMOUNT OF DATA!!”)

Wrong, Sinon. You’re both in Block F because of plot convenience. 

Something I forgot to mention last episode is the fact KIRITO STILL LOOKS MALE. Look at him! Look! He’s just a male with long hair and big eyes! Jeez.

So they go to the dressing room and Sinon strips down. Kirito, being the “oh so pure and innocent” boy he is immediately acts bashful and reveals he is in fact, a male. And then there’s that stupid 30 second pause before Sinon actually reacts. (WHY do they always take so long?! WHY?!?!) And she pulls the stupid moe-tsundere face –

And then she slaps him of course. Because…I don’t know. It’s suppose to be funny I guess? Because that trope hasn’t been done in THOUSANDS of other anime, obviously. Really though, look at that stupid moe face. THIS is why SAO is popular. For the pandering. Who needs actual good writing, right?

So then Sinon is all upset for whatever reason. Because, a male using a female avatar online is SO rare.

Some people counter this and say “Kirito lied to her, she felt betrayed! That’s why she’s so upset.” Seriously? That’s the best you can come up with? At most I would feel awkward. And it’s not like Kirito took advantage of her account or anything! Honestly.

It’s her fault for believing he was female in the first place. Doesn’t she know anything about stranger danger? The online world is full of lies, Sinon. Don’t you live in the future? Don’t they teach anything about online safety or whatever? Apparently not!

Anyways, Sinon is pissed off at Kirito but tells him not to lose in the tournament.

Get off your high horse, Sinon. You don’t teach Digital Jesus. Digital Jesus teaches YOU.

Really though, they were probably together for like, an hour or two? The only things she taught him were things that SHOULD’VE been explained in one of those first-time user tutorials. But there was no such thing, because this is SAO. Where video games are nothing like video games.

Kirito enters his first fight (but not before Sinon pulls yet ANOTHER moe-tsundere face) and if you thought he would have ANY trouble winning, you’re obviously watching the wrong show. (And if you are, keep it that way.)

He acts like deflecting bullets will actually be difficult for him. Har. Har.

I’m still laughing at how he’s seriously the ONLY user with a lightsaber. Of course we need to make him a super special snowflake. But the thought of NO other users having a melee weapon? I assure you TONS of other people would have one if not simply for the cool factor. Also, why WOULDN’T more people have a melee weapon?! WHY?! Don’t tell me Kiritina is the only person who thought of using a gun for distraction and having a sword as the main weapon. But that’s EXACTLY how it is! He is literally the only one! 

Ugh. 

Anyways, Kiritina wins and is ported back to the lobby. The fact that they took the time to show Sinon’s friend was still in the lobby only PROVES he’s related to DEASU GUNNU!! They tried to be “clever”, however and trick the viewers into thinking this isn’t the case because DEASU GUNNU himself appears in the lobby too. But it’s still so blatantly obvious how they’re playing this out…it’s pathetic.

The two have a stare-down and the only thing I can think of is Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.

Wait a second.

WAIT A SECOND.

Lightsabers….Cyberpunk….. A villain that looks like Darth Vader himself?! GGO IS A POOP COPY OF STAR WARS!!! The Gary Stu Mary Sue is strong with this one.

(They missed a perfect opportunity to call DEASU GUNNU, “Darth Gun”!!)

So, Kirito realizes that DEASU GUNNU is also a SAO survivor and the episode ends.

Boy was this episode dry. Obvious and forced “suspense”, idiotic dialogue, more moe-tsundere faces and fanservice that will boost rating…Same stuff, different day.

Sighhhhh.

This episode gets no “Highlight of the Episode” award. I’m mostly watching this series now so when people ask me “Have you seen SAO?” I can say “yes I have and it’s garbage!”. And I won’t be accused of saying that, quote, “only because I haven’t watched it all.”

Also, it’s still a lot of fun to laugh at. Onto episode 6!

Reaction: Tokyo Ghoul – Episode 5

Major episode spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.

Not gonna lie, guys…. This week’s episode was a MESS. 

The way this has been progressing is abysmally awful. The story is fine, but they way events skip around is SO frustrating and confusing!

The opening scene starts off with Kaneki having a nightmare about Tsukiyama (the flamboyant blue-haired dude) and he wakes up in a cold sweat at…some office. Wait, wait, wait. What? How did he get there? What happened at the ghoul restaurant?! Did they just let Kaneki go?! They left off at a cliffhanger last week and they’re not even continuing from that point?!?! WHAT HAPPENED?!

As the episode went on I thought that maybe they would at least mention the events from last week…. Boy was I pissed off.

Nothing. They gave us NOTHING. They didn’t tell us how Kaneki escaped, they didn’t show Kaneki even asking Tsukiyama why he did what he did – NOTHING! It’s like they stopped mid story and started a new one!!! If they’re trying to pull a Scheherazade on us, it’s not working.

Tsukiyama: “I may have been a bit hard on you. Can we forget about this?” Don’t you DARE tell me this is legitimately how they ended things. You’re kidding me. No. *Frustrated growling*

Something else I immediately noticed right off the bat was the animation quality. 

Okay, what the heck happened there? In the first few episodes, I highly praised Tokyo Ghoul for it’s strong art and animation. I don’t know if anyone else noticed, but both have been progressively dropping. Character movements were strange and choppy, and the way characters were drawn was pretty disappointing in most scenes. 

The biggest flaw I’m seeing with Tokyo Ghoul so far is how RUSHED everything is. Events happen so quickly and don’t connect well to one another. The story line feels choppy, like they’re leaving out lots of important points.

Moving on to characters, there’s one in particular that bothered me this episode – Hinami.

I like Hinami’s character, I really do. Which is why I was disappointed with last week’s episode because she didn’t show up. Well…she showed up this week, but now I just have to wonder… WHY? Maybe she’ll be important to the story later, but I feel like the only reason she showed up this episode was…just for the heck of it. Just so she can wave at the audience and be like “yeah, I’m in this show. Remember me? I’m that one character.” There’s no point in putting a character into an episode if they’re not going to either A) progress the plot, or B) foreshadow something. Which Hinami did neither of.

Anyways, we get to the real meat of this episode where Kaneki finds Nishiki being beat up by some ghouls in an alley.

He fights them, wins, yadda yadda. But the way he won was just like….Really?

Last week, they LITERALLY showed 3 seconds of Kaneki’s “training”…and now we’re suppose to believe he’s the melee king? No kidding, he punches out a burly ghoul with one hit. I completely facepalmed during this scene. Just….sigh.

Kaneki takes Nishiki back to his home where Nishiki’s girlfriend, Kimi, a HUMAN, is waiting. Remember her? Yeah, me neither. Until about 17 minutes into the episode where I was like “…Oh, she’s that one chick from episode 2!”

It was frustrating the way she spoke as if she’d been in the anime the whole time. Ugh.

Kimi then talks to Kaneki and he….promises her he’ll “see what he can do”. That is, about Nishiki being a ghoul….Are you kidding me?! What do YOU know about being a ghoul?! You were only recently turned into one! He really had the nerve to act like he’s some ghoul expert and can help the couple’s relationship. Or…actually, he never even MENTIONS what he’ll help her with! Again – WHAT THE F**K IS GOING ON!?

And Kimi immediately trusts Kaneki (to do whatever the heck he’s going to do) like as if they hadn’t just met 2 seconds ago. This is so laughable. SO laughable.

So, blah blah blah, Kimi is kidnapped by Tsukiyama so Kaneki and Nishiki go to save her. A fight happens, of course, and Touka shows up.

I feel like I’m mostly watching this anime just for the sake of Touka. Because seriously, she’s BY FAR the best character.

As much as I’ve been slowly turning to somewhat dislike Kaneki….1000 awesome points to him for roundhouse kicking Tsukiyama in the face.

So we get halfway through the fight and Nishiki starts having flashbacks about his past.

Okay, fine. I do have sympathy for what happened to him. But the way everything was executed was SO melodramatic. It was like, I had a sister, she died, now I have a girlfriend.

That is literally how I felt it was presented. I couldn’t get invested into his story at all.

Touka takes a bite out of Kaneki, Tsukiyama flips out, the episode ends…and I’m still wondering what the heck happened after the events at the ghoul restaurant.

I’m just….SO disappointed in this episode. It was an utter atrocity. Plot holes, forced drama, rushed events, dropped art/animation quality, and SO many times I facepalmed.

And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to..

Touka. Just like last week. Because she’s slowly becoming the main reason I’m watching Tokyo Ghoul.

Let’s hope episode 6 plays out better 😛

Reaction: Ao Haru Ride – Episode 4

Okay, I’m sold. I originally had no interest in this anime but now 4 episodes later, I’m sucked in.

Something I can’t BELIEVE I didn’t notice about Ao Haru Ride is the fact the opening song was written by Honey Works. I knew I loved the opening the first time I heard it, but I didn’t realize it was composed by one of my most favorite Vocaloid producing units! The rhythm and sounds were familiar, but I never made the connection until now. As a die-hard Vocaloid fan, this was SUCH a great surprise. 🙂

 I can’t believe I even missed the nod towards Honey Works’s mascot!!

Well, jumping into the episode, we’re thrown into a fast-paced story line. The beginning scenes were really fun to watch Kou and Futuba running around trying to get to their destination. Overall, the episode was just a blast to watch.

 (Notice that Murao is blushing)

LOVE TRIANGLE SPOTTED!

I’ve always loved friendly love triangles. They’re SO much fun. Especially when you root for either couple. Thumbs up to you, Ao Haru Ride.

Yuri is still my favorite character.

This just made her character even better. It’s usually painfully obvious when characters have alter egos, but I didn’t see it coming with Yuri AT ALL. More points to you, Ao Haru Ride!

I cringed during this scene, however. Have you ever noticed that main characters in shoujos always fall in love with the male love interest because he’s better than her at something? (More often than not, everything.) Ao Haru Ride still hasn’t escaped the cliche shoujo anime zone, but its certainly gotten better.

DO THE SPIDERMAN KISS. DO IT.

 Futuba makes her move!

Jokes aside, his part definitely surprised me. I feel like the romance is moving a lot faster than it should be.

Lady, you just KISSED his head. Stop. If Futuba ends up being a tsundere you can just kill me now. I DETEST tsunderes.

The side ships are starting to appear! I think that was my favorite part about this episode. The fact they’re establishing other couples now.

Okay….fine. I’ll admit it. I’m kind of getting on board with the romance now. Just a little bit.

Or maybe not. STOP THE TSUNDERE. STOP IT. Ao Haru Ride can still escape and keep out the tsundere relationships. I have no desire to watch Futuba turn into some immature, emotionally unstable character who’ll become violent at the drop of a hat. 

(Sorry for the throw up of pictures.)

Anyways, this episode was definitely the best one so far. It’s amazing how much I’ve come to enjoy watching this series. But I swear if Futuba continues to push away her emotions, I’m done. The whole “What are these feelings I have? Is it love? No. I can’t possibly love him!” trope has always pissed me off. It’s fine to a REALISTIC extent, but when they go overboard for most of the season, I end up wanting to shoot the girl. Luckily, when Futuba holds her feelings back, it’s understandable. But the fact she boldly makes a move on Kou and tells herself she doesn’t have feelings for him is nothing but a bad attempt at trying to create drama.

And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to…

The love triangle and the new side ships!

Tune in next time for a look at episode 5! 🙂

Reaction: Barakamon – Episode 4

Because of last week’s episode I was pretty hesitant of this week’s….

But thank GOODNESS I worried for nothing! Episode 4 definitely brought back the same feelings I had the first time I checked out Barakamon. Laughs for everyone!

This episode was so much fun to watch! I just couldn’t help smiling!

I’m actually SUPER allergic to cats myself so Seishuu’s reaction to them made me laugh at how relatable it was. (But unlike him, I’ve always preferred dogs ❤ )

Naru and Hina both appeared in this episode for a large majority too, which already made this episode FAR more enjoyable than last week’s.

This episode was just tons of fun! Which is exactly what I expect from Barakamon. I’m glad this series got back on its feet after episode 3 was such a flop.

And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to…

Being an actual episode of Barakamon. Unlike whatever that mess of an episode was last week…

Glad to see it got back to its hilarious, fun roots. Hopefully next week’s will be just as good.

Reaction: Gun Gale Online – Episode 4

Considering the fact I barely woke up and haven’t eaten anything to start up the snarky part of my brain, this post won’t be as sarcastic or angry as the previous ones.

But I will say, HOLY CRAP WE’RE ACTUALLY IN AN MMO GAISE. OMG. IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING. It’s called Sword Art ONLINE for a reason. I don’t know wtf has been happening for the last 3 episodes. Oh right. We were establishing the awesomeness of Kirito’s next heremette. (aka Sinon.)

Anyways, the episode starts off and Kirito is giving his idiotic speech about how he’s “99% sure DEASU GUNNU is a myth”. Stop. DEASU GUNNU is a FACT. It’s whether or not he can kill people that’s the myth. But who cares about dialogue in an anime about pandering? I mean action. Action. It’s funny because Kirito talks about how he can’t believe video games can kill people in real life. Remember the incident concerning, oh, 10,000 people just last year? How many died again? Shut your hole, Kirito.

WHAAAATTTT?! Kirito’s avatar in game is female?! What a shocker considering the promos and opening NEVER revealed this! Wow! Screw you, A-1 pictures. SAO is bad as it is but the way they revealed everything makes it even worse. Actually, it’s kind of funny. Not “haha” funny, but funny as in A-1 pictures just shoved a stick up SAO’s mighty arse.

Talk about pathetic. Kirito’s portrayal of being a girl is to apparently act woefully cheerful and cutesy. Because that’s just how all girls are, ya know? This scene made me slightly die inside.

I’m pretty sure SAO has now fulfilled every single wish fulfilling fetish there ever was. Tentacle rape? Check. Girls with giant boobs? Check. Girls with nice butts? Check. Crotch shots? Check. Girl with glasses? Check. Lolis? Check. Incest? Check. Groping nurses? Check. The only thing missing is the crossdress fetish. Wait…CHECK!

Wow. Apparently it wasn’t enough that every girl immediately fell in love with Kirito without him trying. Now even GUYS have to hit on him too. Because he’s just that desirable, right? All hail the Gary Mary Sue!

I can’t even stress how stupid Kirito’s female avatar is. The fact that it was random just gives more proof that Kawahara doesn’t know anything about MMOs. He’s probably never even played one before! Everyone knows one of the best things about MMOs is the fact you can customize your character. Your in-game self is designed how YOU want it to look. Who the F*CK came up with the idea of random customization? I would be pissed off if I was given an avatar to look like this gap-toothed ding dong:

I’m not the only one who thought of Moliere from Atlantis during this scene, am I?

If default designs were based on pure luck…no. Just no.

It’s funny because everyone in SAO acts like pretending to be a female online is uncommon. (If it looks female it MUST be female!!!!!) No one would DARE pretend to be the opposite gender ONLINE! That’s ridiculous!

Also, WHY does Kirito bother to hide he’s a male? Why? Don’t give me the “he’s undercover” bull either. If entering that BOB tournament as a noob doesn’t already seem suspicious, then I don’t know what is.

So Kirito and his new BFF/haremette go shopping! And that’s…pretty much the entirety of the episode. No, really. And since Kirito doesn’t have enough money for weapons, he decides to gamble and play a minigame to get money. (By the way, why didn’t the people who hired him GIVE him an account? You know. One that’s already tricked out with the best weapons, plenty of money, etc.?)

Again, projecting the path of bullets COMPLETELY defeats the purpose of FPS.

 

Everyone acts like it’s SUCH a difficult game so that it’ll look that much more impressive when Kirito beats it on his first try. WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS. 

(OMG Digital Jesus is just TOO COOL.)

Of course there are swords in this world too! Why wouldn’t there be? Kirito wouldn’t be Kirito WITHOUT a super special sword! He also buys a handgun and I’m going to guess that he’ll be able to duel wield his weapons. Which will be some super special skill that only Kirito has. Because Kirito is just so super specially special. News flash – if you can deflect bullets with the light saber, why doesn’t anyone use them?!  Probably because Kirito will be the only one that can do that. He’s the best after all. Plus 100 Gary Stu points to team Kirito!

Sinon and Kirito apparently lost track of time and now only have a few minutes before they can sign up for BOB. In every online game with tournaments I’ve ever played, a public message would be sent to every player reminding them to sign up. This was just laughable. It was just an excuse to make Kirito look super amazing because he can ride a motorcycle.

You’re forgetting he’s Digital Jesus, Sinon. He can do anything.

Oh so THAT’S why Kirito has a motorbike in real life! So he can ride on one in a video game!!! Here’s a thought – If no one can ride those bikes, WHY IS IT POSSIBLE TO RENT THEM?! Also, the thought of an MMO without teleportation devices makes my soul cringe.

Do you know how many quests require you to do things in different areas? This is so stupid. Again, Kawahara knows nothing about video games. NOTHING.

To sum it up, everything in this episode should’ve happened in either the 1st or 2nd episode. But nooooo. We had to first establish how awesome Sinon was and throw a pity party for her at the same time.

I can’t. It’s only getting worse. But how much worse can it get? That is the true question.

And the “Highlight of the Episode” award goes to…

The design of the city. Because cyberpunk.

Well…I lied about this post not being sarcastic. I guess even without my morning glass of orange juice I can still be snarky. Join me next week for another look into the world of Harem Fetishes Online!