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anonyman48
Reviews
Death Note: Desu nôto (2006)
Good Anime that Lost a Chance to Become a Masterpiece
Death Note is a pretty good anime. I am pretty picky about my reviews (so that even above 6 is a rarity since it is hard to find something good. Just look at Sturgeon's Law), however I must say that there is a ton of good in the beginning. This anime had alright characters (not much character development), good music, good animation, and some of the most clever plots and plans I have seen in anime. However, I must note that while it had some great features, this was in the first half before L died. If it had ended there, it would have been a masterpiece. However, after L's death the show became quite boring. The show had a deus ex writing moment when it is revealed that L had a timer to tell everyone in Watari's orphanage that he was dead. The once clever plots became boring, and the new characters were bland and boring. And the ending? Oh god, the ending. This was especially disappointing since the first half was so good that if this half did not exist I would have perhaps given this show a perfect score. Otherwise, Death Note was a fairly well done show that could have been a masterpiece had it known when to end and not show off its flaws.
Naruto: Shippûden (2007)
Naruto - The Rant/My Honest Review
Naruto was my first anime ever and got me hooked into anime and manga. At the beginning I thought that Naruto was a very good anime, however after a while I started to notice huge flaws that I could not get over my head. Although I could easily go over a rant that would make many people think I was biased, I won't do that. It's not that I'm biased, but it's just that this show does a lot wrong and I do not think it deserves all the praise it gets.
The story is about an underdog ninja who attempts to be acknowledged everyone in his village by becoming the leader of his village the Hokage. Although sounding initially good, you realize it becomes a little generic after realizing that many other shows, especially anime feature underdog characters that attempt to become better in order to prove something to other people. You also come to realize that much of the plot was ruined by a ninja with some serious emotional issues that regrets just about everything he ever does. The story also seems to be quite slow-paced and offers very little questions and gives answers that seem to come out of nowhere. The only question I could think up of is "What is the organization Akatsuki after?" Only for it to be answered not only for it to be answered multiple times all in a stupid fashion. The first time it is answered, a character named Pain tries to show the world true pain in order for it to achieve peace. Although I was initially okay with this, the answer is quickly and stupidly changed to a plan that seemed to come out of nowhere. They explain that they have a plan to put everyone in an illusion by using the power of the ten-tailed beast that seemed to come out of nowhere and was seemingly made in order to increase drama. Another point of wasted drama is when it is explained Kakashi killed Rin and got the Mangekyo Sharingan which also seems to come out of nowhere. Here's a question: "Why did you not use the Mangekyo Sharingan against Zabuza when everyone's life was in danger?" Naruto just seems to create pointless drama and plots that come out of nowhere as well as the fact that it seems to just prolong its existence. TLDR? Quick sum up of the story: The plot twists are terrible and seem to come out of nowhere, the pacing is uneven, and the story seems to prolong its own existence.
The characters in Naruto are somewhat likable initially. Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and some other characters were initially somewhat interesting with their own background stories. However, the characters soon took a nosedive that was so spectacular that it would have put a new record on the Guinness World Book of Records. Sasuke turns from a guy with an understandable grudge into a dirtbag that seems to come up with foolish revenge plots and foolish ways of thinking. For example, his plan to train with Orochimaru was not only a bad plan for the sake of the fact that he knew Orochimaru was planning to steal his body, but also for the fact that he barely learned anything and Orochimaru was much weaker than the person he was trying to kill. Naruto goes from being a person with well-defined goals, to a person with goals that are not only iffy, but somewhat wasted. Kakashi turns from a cool guy into an insecure guy that consistently blames himself instead of focusing on the current situation, and everybody else just about becomes irrelevant to the plot and generic. By the time Neji died I had completely forgotten who he was, or why he was even relevant to the plot in any way and felt just about nothing. TLDR? Quick sum up once again: The characters are generic and uninteresting, and most of them are wasted or forgotten about.
Though the show has done much disservice to its characters and its story, the music is quite good. Though the art is not the best I have ever seen within a show, the animation and the fights are superb and even sometimes help me to take my mind off of how much it's doing wrong. However, that is not enough for the terrible display that it has put on for its story and characters. Although I understand people will be angry about this review, what I've said here is my serious opinion and although it does not have to be your opinion at least consider it before dismissing it.
Shingeki no Kyojin (2013)
Not Your Generic Anime - Review on First Season
The concept of the story sounds very generic, or so I thought when I first heard about Shingeki no Kyojin aka Attack on Titans. A story about giant monsters attacking and wiping out humanity was not exactly something one would call original. However, I decided to give it a try, for it was one of the most hyped shows of the season and arguably the most popular anime at the time and after watching the first 5 episodes I was immediately hooked. Without exaggeration, the beginning of this show is one of the best beginnings I have ever seen within anime.
Although sounding like a generic story, the generic-ness is done away by how well the plot is thought out. Actual strategy that could possibly work in real life is shown here and the emotional display and the themes of the show are some of the best I've seen since Naoki Urasawa's Monster. The story is riddled with questions that are both intriguing and thoughtful. Some questions are answered quickly due to the fast pace. However this is where the negative point comes off. The anime's pace does not seem to be completely even, with some episodes moving quite slowly while others are very exciting and amazing. However, I can hardly blame the anime for this, since it manages to usually avoid the uneven pace (it has not occurred very often) which is very prevalent in other shows that are postponing their endings when they should have ended a long time ago.
The characters are better than many other generic characters from a typical Shounen anime (many of whom can be described in one word: "Friendship" which in itself becomes repetitive and sometimes downright boring) and have very strong aspects to their nature. For instance, the characters depict freedom versus safety well within this show. Some characters that follow their dreams and attempt to go to the outside world are massacred, while some of the characters (even major ones) live comfortably within the walls and are merely waiting for death. It's also a plus when the female lead and other female characters are not just generic fanservice and when the protagonist is not an overpowered person that makes just about every other character unimportant (and it is good that just about everyone in this show has some importance).
The art and music in this show is pretty close to perfect and has outdone itself. The soundtrack, most notably the opening, of the show has become quite famous and each theme seems to set the mood in the story perfectly. The characters are well drawn, and the fights within the show are absolutely fantastic.
Thus far, this show has done little wrong and deserves much of the hype it has been getting. It is a show with a lot of great themes, great characters, and a great story. It has very emotional moments that may make you think, cry, or pump your fist in ecstasy. However, we will have to see if season 2 does just as well as season 1 in order to see if it will continue to live up to the hype and become a legend, or if it dies down. See you all in 2015!