chromium’ reviews

[Chromium_Steel]

This is going to be the start of a thread in which I post my reviews of anime. I’ll endeavour to ensure that I conform to some form of template on this forum and will update any reviews I do as necessary. I'm always keen to hear what other people think and if you disagree with me I’d like to hear the other side of the argument for a show.

I am probably going to include links to things like plot descriptions as i generally feel that they suffice and there's no point in me rewriting it or just copying it as a link takes up less space.

I don’t have any particular order in which I am planning to write my reviews however the most recent one I watched was blood plus and may I say it has been a long time since I have been so harsh about a series

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Blood plus (watched all)
4/10 Don’t bother
 
If I had to describe this anime in one word it would be predictable, with no major surprises and few redeeming qualities I have to say that I wouldn't recommend this anime. This anime has little to offer but if you want to let your inner gothic emo out to watch people cutting themselves while your brain takes a rest go ahead; I genuinely believe that this was written by a stroppy teenager.
 
Plot
The plot was nothing special and as I originally said it didn't have much to offer in and of itself with a few side stories to bulk it up that have no real impact on the main story line. The main story follows a girl called Saya who is a “normal” high school girl (slightly cliché) who fights vampire like monsters with the aid of a secret organisation, the antagonists are of course your standard evil organization with military and government ties, amazing powers and mostly pointless/ predictable evil plans, if you want a full breakdown of the plot look here
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482855/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl
 
I found many of the characters to be bland and not particularly memorable. Allot of the time I also found it hard to empathize with them on any level simply due to the fact that the characters personas are so at odds with what they say and do which is also highly inconsistent throughout the show. I think that it’s slightly amusing that they made the side characters more unique than the main cast which came across as rather generic
 
The story went at a relatively slow pace and felt dragged out most of the time rather than it being a story that would naturally take a slower pace
 
 
Animation
The animation wasn’t bad and I have certainly seen worse quality from other shows and the fact that the bulk of it didn’t happen against generic abstract scenes of the sky did help. I felt however that certain clips and scenes were reused a little too much with little justification other than to provide the setting for some slightly frustrating repetitive cliff-hangers that eventually lead into some rather predictable and anticlimactic moments; or in some cases the writers/animators were just being plain lazy.
 

Audio
I can’t say that I have any particularly strong opinions on the audio which isn’t a bad thing but it doesn’t go much in its favour either, I did feel that some of the voices didn’t match up with the character’s particularly the singing so that is one negative element.  
 
Side notes  
I wasn’t a fan of the way that at the beginning of each episode it showed a few clips from the episode almost like a teaser or a show where you start at the end and then follow it through from the beginning to the conclusion, however because the show was already so predictable and had so few real plot twists all it did was stamp out any remaining scraps of suspense or surprise.

 

The series was clearly meant to be dark, however it has also managed to fail at that. On the other hand it isn’t really suitable for a younger audience that would find it dark due to certain themes that crop here and there

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Angel beats (all inc. OVA stairway to heaven & another epilogue)

8/10 fantastic

I found angel beats to be a really engaging anime which kept me wanting more from start to finish. The delivery was excellent in every way from the brilliant audio to the impressive visuals as well as the insane and diverse characters it really was a pleasure to watch. While this was a fantastic anime to watch fair warning to anyone who chooses to do so, make no mistake in my eyes this is a tragedy.

 

Plot

The plot revolves around Otonashi and a teenage battle group who are apparently dead and fighting for survival in this strange form of underworld that appears to be a high school. I don’t want to give away many details about the plot because it is quite dynamic and I don’t want to ruin anything.

 If you want to know more about the specifics of the plot it can be found here

http://myanimelist.net/anime/6547/Angel_Beats!

 

The plot can be thought of in two parts, there is an overall plot, though each episode tells its own story which are all different and interesting while remaining relevant to the main storyline. The main themes of this anime are comedy and drama,  I was impressed with how strong some of the scenes were given the equal balance of the comedic elements and the drama. Also the writers somehow found a way to include plenty of action and fighting which is also delivered in an excellent way but not quite as well as the rest of it. My reasoning behind this being that while the over the top elements were amusing they only really fitted into the comedic element of the show and the extreme ridiculousness just didn't feel at home along side the realistic style of guns used in the fighting scenes, but don’t get me wrong the combat wasn't silly it was just a little too abstract at times though this is my personal preference.

 

I only really have two other negative points for this anime the first is that the transition between comedy and drama can be a little rough at times but it isn’t too damming. The second is the plot holes and unanswered questions, the reason I’m saying it’s one negative point is because they come from the same source though I won’t go any further because I don’t want to give anything away. The good thing about the particular plot hole that I’m talking about is that it’s one of them things that can be explained in a number of ways, so it’s up to the viewer to decide which answer they like the best.

I particularly liked the way that the story kept evolving right up to the end, not just by adding small parts to a series of events over and over but by casting them in a new light as well; which can completely change the way in which they appear.

 

Animation

The attention to detail in the animation was impressive as was the feel of it, the style gave the show a surreal almost dream like look at times which fitted it perfectly. the artists did Just as well as the writers when it came to portraying both the over the top comedy and the drama without making it feel like the style was changing or that parts were out of place.  I was also impressed with the more subtle elements of realism in the way people and objects moved and interacted with each other, it might not be the first thing that jumps out at you when you watch an animation but it makes a big difference.

 

Audio

The audio was also excellent with background music and sounds going along way towards setting the mood. Even The effects applied to the characters voices helped to add to the feel of the scenes. I found the voice acting to be quite good throughout the series, this to helped to contribute to the high quality that made this show so good.

 

Side notes  

I said in my little introductory paragraph that this show is a tragedy, the thing is that whether or not that is true is dependent on how you choose to perceive events but either way this is a tear jerker.

Even at the end there are several elements that are left up to the viewer’s imagination meaning that you will have to decide what you believe happened.

 

The ova stairway to heaven is really just another episode except unlike the others it doesn’t add anything important to the series and is just for fun.

 

As for the “another epilogue” it was only a short 2 minute addition to the series and like the ending of the main series it is up to you how to interpret it, though the suggestion is that it is an alternate ending it doesn’t conflict with the original ending as far as I can tell.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Chromium_Steel