The Second Time Around Syndrome

December 31st, 2012 in Anime, General Reviews, Manga Reviews by

If Kyo is the cat who is Tohru holding? 0__0

If Kyo is the cat who is Tohru holding? 0__0

I hate this…no wait, actually this is the greatest thing ever.

Seriously why couldn’t I stand this the first time around?

Ever go from hating to loving something? It happens to me a lot when I hear a song I dislike too many times and it grows on me, but rarely do I find this happening with television. However, Fruits Basket is an exception to this rule. It was one of the first anime I watched after my initial induction into anime. I’d decided that I wanted to watch something light hearted after watching a lot of shows with dark storylines. So I did a little research and Fruits Basket was a good choice. It was comedic and had romance, but there was also a really unique and fascinating story I could get into. People turning into animals when they hug the opposite sex? That’s so interesting!
So I started up good ol’ Netflix…and was really turned off by the show by the time I’d hit episode 3 or 4. By the end I was hating it. It was just THAT bad. Initially I gave the show a 3/10.

Now I give the show a 7/10.

In case you don’t know, recently orphaned Tohru Honda is living on her own in the woods until she finds herself in the house of the Sohma family. This family possesses an ancient curse- whenever they hug a member of the opposite sex they turn into a member of the Chinese zodiac. Tohru is given the opportunity to live with the Sohma family as their housekeeper. Soon she befriends the two handsome students who live there. (more…)

*The 1000th Summer*

June 6th, 2012 in Air, Anime, General Reviews, Manga Reviews, Movies by

Pretty 🙂

Air: An Overview

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Air, it’s the story of a homeless man, Yukito, and his journey as he stops in a quaint little town by the beach. He is searching for the Winged Maiden (sounds so pretty, doesn’t it?), a woman his mother would tell him about as a child who was cursed and bound to the sky. He meets a young girl named Misuzu when stopping in this town, and suddenly everything changes for him. So that’s the basic plot line. Now you don’t have to quickly google it before reading this article.

The Air Anime

Story: The anime first appealed to me because it was short at only 13 episodes and because the artwork is stunning. Where the story is concerned, it’s sloppy and all over the place. The Winged Goddess story line is choppy and poorly explained…well maybe it isn’t but I was just bored by the time they got down to specifics. A huge reason for this is the large and pointless cast of secondary characters who are tolerable at their best and horribly annoying at their worst.

Characters: Misuzu, Haruko (Misuzu’s foster mother), and Yukito are all fairly well-developed characters. The problem is the obnoxious bunch of secondary characters who are supposed to make this a more dramatic show but make it slow and all over the place. Misuzu goes beyond your typical cute girl. (more…)

Why Shinji is as strong as Rei and Asuka and …What would Asuka do?

May 15th, 2012 in Anime, Manga Reviews, Rants by

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Why Shinji is as strong as Rei and Asuka and …What would Asuka do?

(Spoilers ahead)
I was reading the NGE manga and in volume six Toji discovers he’s the fourth child. His Eva unit is taken over by an Angel and Rei, Shinji, and Asuka are sent to destroy it. This happens in episode 18 of the anime. Shinji has no idea Toji is in the Eva/Angel in the anime, but still refuses to destroy it. In the manga he recognizes that it is Toji. Shinji refuses to shoot, Rei only follows orders and doesn’t think twice about shooting, and Asuka was already shot down and help was sent for her.

I don’t remember if Rei and Asuka are present during this scene in the anime, but to the best of my memory they aren’t. Anyway, in both versions Shinji is now faced with a choice and promptly refuses to follow orders. This to me is the most defining moment for his character and proof that he is far more than a coward.

Take that Shinji bashers.

Shinji gets far too much dislike. Is he a heroic, admirable, amazing hero? No. But hello, that’s the entire point of the series. My opinion, if someone hates Shinji, they hate NGE; which is fine everyone is entitled to an opinion. But if someone still loves NGE I can’t understand why they would love a show centered on a character they hate. Also, I think they failed to see the point of the show.

So now I have developed a list I like to call…
Reasons Why Shinji is as Good as Asuka and Rei

Reason 1: Shinji refuses to shoot because it goes against his moral reasoning
Simply, Shinji sticks to his guts. Whether or not you agree with Shinji’s choice is a whole different debate. That issue of whether it’s okay to sacrifice one person to benefit another can be analyzed for you in 50 very complicated episodes of the Code Geass series. The point is Shinji did what he thought was right. He didn’t shoot because he was terrified of getting in trouble or afraid to die, he simply said he was not going to shoot. It would have been very easy for Shinji to have just saved his own skin. In the manga, he knew it was his friend. That also shows loyalty. In the anime he has no idea it’s Toji. That shows that he thinks of others, of children his own age. (more…)

Ai Kora Manga Review

September 24th, 2011 in Ai Kora, Manga Reviews by

love and collage

Ok people this is my first review so if your gonna throw stones use the smaller ones.

Im presenting the manga Ai Kora aka. Love and College which is one of the best comedy/romance mangas i’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

It centers around the the 15 yr old Hachibe meada, a lover of women’s individual parts. moving to tokyo, misfortune fortunately forces him to live in a shed near the girls dorm with 5 girls each having 1 of his beloved fetishes. Meada’s on a quest to indulge himself with his beloved parts and gets himselfin a weirdest of situtations.

This manga is an awesomely refeshing change from the typical comedy/romance harems. the plot is excellent; Meada’s daily adventures are nothing short of extraordinary and the person creating the comedy scenes is simply a genius. the art is pretty simplistic but i doubt you’ll care for even a second. this manga is full of lovable characters most of which are girls (go figure).

Plot 9/10
Art 5/10
Characters 8/10
overall i give the manga a 8.5/10.

Most people will love this manga and i highly recommend it. I honestly shed a tear when i read the last chapter.