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…)

The power of deception.. blessing? or curse?

Do you remember in the first Transformers movie, when Sam Witwicky went out looking for his first car, and ended up with this average 1976 Camaro? If so then you surely remember when it self-pimped up to the 2009 model. Sometimes it feels to me that anime does the same thing. On numerous occassions I have found myself dropping an anime, only to find myself picking it up again after a certain period of time and only then realizing that hey… I LOVE this show!

While there can be numerous reasons for that, I believe that the main reason is simply because of a ‘Deceiving Start’. This is the case where you start watching a show and by episode 3 or 5 you feel you have just wasted way too much of your life on it, that it can not possibly get any better and so you simply move on to the next show that peaks your interest.

I call it ‘deceiving’ for lack of a better word, saying ‘A Slow Start’ or ‘A Boring Start’ would imply that the plot progression is slow (or boring) which is not always the case. In Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann for instance, although it is currently one of my personal favourites, it was once on my ‘dropped’ list due to its… somewhat unappealing start. (more…)

Today I’m going to attempt to review Trinity Blood but before we begin I would like to throw out there that this review will be affected by various factors. The first being that I watched it in french and while my ‘le français’ isn’t as bad as a monkey’s English it isn’t the most eloquent thing either thus I probably didn’t get as into the show as I could’ve. Secondly, before doing a general review I like to watch or re-watch (assuming it only stretches one or two seasons) the entire show in 2 – 3 sittings so that it’s fresh in my mind. This on the other hand I’ve been watching in groups of 2 – 3 episodes with extremely lenghty spans of time in between. So with that in mind, lets begin.

Trinity blood summed up is basically a poorly made Hellsing, okay maybe I shouldn’t use the word ‘poorly’ so instead I’ll call it a ‘lighter’ version of hellsing. I suppose that was a given as it was adapted from a light novel instead of an action packed anime but sigh, we have a potentially AWESOME protagonist with all the power he could possibly want with the personality of Vash the Stampede (Trigun) in a show with highly detailed artwork and a potentially awesome setting and they still found a way to screw it up.

The plot was unnecessarily complex and disjointed, we kept jumping from one thing to another and sometimes it seemed like we had 5 different people (with conflicting personalities) or at least one guy with a really serious case of multi-personality disorder directing individual parts of the show. But regardless here is what I believe the show was intended to be about: (more…)

While Naruto has been the bane of my existence recently (the annoying recap/flashback spanning multiple episodes), if the producers were simply working on this movie then it was definitely all worth it. Naruto movies have always been noted for bring pretty good (can’t say the same about the OVA’s) and this one was no different. This movie revolves around…. Hey! Instead of a boring synopsis, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so heres a video/trailer for ya! (Watch in HQ)

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]
As you can tell from the Trailer (assuming you watched it) Naruto gets accused of killing multiple people as well as for an assault on the Raikage resulting in him being sent to a shinobi prison. Now if you are an avid naruto fan throughout the the rest of this trailer your thoughts went something like this:

Of course poor goody goody Naruto couldn’t kill anyone so its clear he was framed but why? *pause* :O There seems so be something huge going on here *pause* :O Gamabunta (The Chief toad) was summonned which means there must be a really powerful enemy! *pause* :O Is that Killer Bee! *pause* OMG Sage Mode! *pause* ROARRRRR!!!! THIS IS GONNA BE EPIC! DOWNLOADD!! (or if you’re like me) WHERE CAN I STREAM THIS!!

(more…)

:O Is that PIKACHU!!

Here’s another question I often get from other bloggers as well as a few acquaintances, “What made you like anime?”. And while I could go on about how anime has a greater ability to captivate and excite the viewer than ordinary shows/cartoons my answer is quite simple, Hayao Miyazaki. For those who have never heard of him before, he is the guy behind Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Castle in the Sky, My neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away and Howls Moving Castle among other works, all being brilliant anime masterpieces. When it comes to anime, this is the guy with the Midas Touch (everything he touches turns to gold). Now let’s get back to the question at hand, the first anime I had ever seen was Princess Mononoke, while flicking through channels (a very long time ago) I came across it and being used to the average run of the mill cartoons at the time I was hooked. The rush of emotion ranging from joy, sadness and anticipation had me enthralled from start to finish and from that moment I knew I had to find more movies like that, and so began my search that lead me to be the anime enthusiast I am today (Quite a long into huh?).

While I intend to review all Miyazaki’s movies, for today our target is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic era where Industrial civilization has been destroyed by nature. And by nature I mean huge indestructible bugs pissed at humans after years of waging war and destroying the planet. And after those bugs are done wreaking havoc they simply lay there, die of exhaustion and from their body grows forth a forest, toxic to humans and practically every other animal that isn’t a “toxic-forest” insect. The remaining humans, slowly being wiped out by said forest gather in small communities, surviving by farming and possessing a mixture of ancient and modern technology. (more…)

We all know Misa Amane from Death Note as one of the most hated characters in anime (Aw come on! But she’s so cute!). She is pretty much useless, obnoxious, and the yaoi fans damn her for eternity for getting in the way of their precious Light/L ship.

I totally understand where the Misa bashing comes from. When I first watched Death Note and she made her first appearance I was very excited. Finally, a female lead who doesn’t get herself killed an episode later! Then, I was disappointed. Why? Not because she’s so annoying, but because she actually could’ve been a fantastic character. I don’t proclaim to be better than the brilliant writers behind Death Note are, but let’s look at the facts.

What Misa was made to be:

– She is stupid
– She is annoying
– She is completely and utterly obsessed with Light Yagami (more…)

Every so often, a show comes along that captivates and attracts and “Mushi-Shi” was that for me. From the very first episode, I was involved. Yes, it had the potential of turning into the “Monster of the Week”, but it was handled with such a deft hand that it never felt like that and, more importantly, you really connected with the characters who were in need.

The overall story is about Ginko, who is a Mushi Master. Mushi are beings with supernatural powers. Some are symbiotic, some are parasitic, but all are troublesome to some degree. His job, as he wanders the Japanof the late 19^th century, is to help people who are afflicted with these Mushi. What makes things worse is that regular people cannot see them. Ginko is ‘gifted’ (and whether it is a gift or a curse is for you to decide), but he cannot stay too long in any area, as he becomes a magnet for them and things really get out of control as a dangerous amount of them throw things out of balance.

He carries on his back a wooden box which has all that he needs and jars to capture a few Mushi or remnants of them. He knows Adashino, a caliber of medicine man and scholar who wants these items. Oh, don’t let his constant smoking bother you; it is done to keep the Mushi at bay. (more…)

Hiya there! So the spring season has started and I must say that there are quite a few shows that caught my attention. Zetman for instance 🙂 I love how we have an initial episode giving us some background then in episode 2 we jump 5 years straight into the action. Accel World too, although it slightly reminds me of [C]: The money of soul and possibility Control. I have pretty high hopes for these two shows :).

I also plan on following Fate/Zero part 2 (I have seen all the previous seasons so I might as well right?) as well as Jormungand and maybe something light for the mornings such as Tsuritama or Haiyore! Nyaruko-san or Queen’s Blade Rebellion.. or Upottle or Sengoku Collection or…. Sigh, okay maybe I don’t exactly have it all worked out. Why are there so many anime this season!! Quite a few of them look good too!! Anime Overload!! ….. *reboots brain*

Okay, so i’m sure you’re wondering out of all of these which will I be reviewing as they progress, well the funny thing is I won’t be reviewing any.

“WHAAAAAAAAT!!!!??”

Yea you heard right, I won’t be reviewing any. Instead I will be going back to my roots and will instead be doing general reviews and rants about relatively older.. completed anime. Reason being that (more…)

Is this photo too risqué? Then you haven’t seen this OVA at all! The show makes this snap look like ‘Mary Poppins’.

Now, the plot of ‘Ladies vs. Butlers’ was a young man wants to better himself, but has a hard time of it, as he is surrounded by luscious ladies. The point of this OVA is letting you see them naked, as they coo on ‘I’m so embarrassed’. More like ‘I’m so bare-assed’.

Not a single ‘episode’ gets to four minutes, but I will tell you that there is something unsettling about seeing them gyrate about and lose their clothes and pose about and…..why are their butts so shiny?

I mean, since a lot of these girls come from rich families, I assume there is a servant has polishes up their derrieres. I would love to have that job: pulling out the Butt Buffer and running it over their fine, soft skin until it veritably shines in the sunlight and……..but I digress (or do I?)

You have to understand my take on these things. I really do not need anime to fuel my fantasies. Fan service is something that is meant as a treat, not as the whole dinner, so when you get something like this, I don’t know how to take it. It’s not goofy enough to be funny, but it’s too overt to be honestly sexy. I actually feel for them when they say they are embarrassed. It is like being at a strip club, for all that it’s worth. (more…)

Ever had an experience where you decided to try something new and well after all said and done you think to yourself, “sigh, that was a waste of the last 23.5 minutes of my life”. Well that was exactly how I felt after episode 1 of this thing, true I not the biggest chibi fan out there but having chibi animation doesn’t give a show the leeway to create something completly ridiculous. Okay… maybe it does (  😯 ‘LEEway’ … rock-‘LEE’ )

To those who are familiar with the original Naruto (and I’m sure all of us are) you will notice that they tried to keep the personalities of each character intact (key word here ‘tried’) and while the entire show seems like it’s going to be a spin-off of the very worst filler episodes, I will give them that because of the extremely lighthearted feel it radiates they have the potential to actually be…. funny. For example medium awareness seems to be a very prominent factor in these episodes “he is also the main character of the main Naruto TV show”, “Do we even have electricity and gas in this world?”. There is also bad guys who, well apart from the part that its practically impossible to make a chibi look evil we have them on the level where they can say in response to Rock lee pulling down the leader’s pants “if we’re just gonna get embarassed like this, we’re never comming to this house again”.

One last thing I can’t figure about this show though, where in the main series does its timeline take place, because while Naruto has abilities like multi-rasengan and Tsunade’s face is already engraved on the Hokage’s mountainside memorial thing, both which imply Shippuden. Rock lee seems to have regressed back to early Naruto days when it comes to his abilities. Maybe this was done to boost the entertainment factor but we’ll just have to wait till episode 2 to see.

To be honest while the concept of this show is great (ninja comedy, thats new… right?) I feel it’s going to make the average fan of Naruto a tad bit disappointed but hey, I feel that i’m somewhat biased against this as light comical shows are hardly ever my thing and chibi’s well… lets just say i’ve had one or two scrubs with my die-hard chibi friends.

Overall, I suppose I should be unbiased and give it a 6.8/10. Don’t think I’m being fair? well bearing in mind that I gave naruto 6.5/10 and Naruto Shippuden 7/10 and I still call myself a Naruto Fan, I’d say its score is pretty good.