Thursday, December 15, 2016

Anime

Hey!! So now that you know that I'm weird, let me get even weirder on you by introducing you to the world of Anime. I blame Avatar the last Airbender for my turn to the dark side. I was trying to fill the great void it left behind. So I filled it with anime.
  You probably think I'm really crazy, and that I am a loser, but you know what?
 
 
Okay, I will warn you that this is going to be kind of a long post. Sorry...

 To those who don't know what anime is, Anime is a type of Japanese cartoon, usually created after some sort of manga (Manga being like a comic book). Most anime are in Japanese, but have English subtitles. Or you can also watch them dubbed. Most hard-core anime watcher's watch all anime in Japanese, but I don't. I think the dub is just fine. Sue me all you hard-core anime fans.

   Anyway, let me review some of my favorite anime that I've seen so far.

 
 
   This is the very first anime I watched. Now, I will warn you that there are two versions of this anime. The first one is Fullmetal alchemist, aired on October 2003. Apparently at the time, the creator of the manga was still working on the story. Not sure on how it would end, she told the creators to go ahead and make their own ending. The problem was, when she did release her manga, it was so different that the fans demanded a re-boot. And they got their wish. In March 2009, a re-mastered Fullmetal alchemist-Brotherhood came into existence.

    Now, My sister and I tried to watch the first Fullmetal anime, but for some reason we just couldn't get into it. So we decided to give the re-boot a try. We both liked the re-boot a lot better and I'm not even sure why. I'm not saying not to watch the old one, but I think that the re-mastered one had a better story, and better characters. (Which is weird cause it had the exact same characters as the re-mastered....But they were portrayed better in the re-mastered one.)

    This anime is so good you guys. The character development is amazing and I love the main characters. Each had a very distinct personality and great range of emotion. I really can't say too much about the plot without spoiling it, but roughly this is what its about;

  "Two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, are young Alchemists, and they are on a mission to return to normal after a failed alchemy experiment maims their bodies."

   This is a really rough explanation of the plot, but really the whole story is so convoluted that you really have to watch the show to understand it.
  I will say that the animation in this anime is so random. I mean, out of all the anime I've seen so far, none have this random of a animation switch as Fullmetal. I mean first the animation is like this.

 

 
Then the animation will switch really randomly. I think it's to convey emotion, but it's really odd. 


Why???

  ??
 
 Besides these weird switches in animation, there is also the drastic change in atmosphere. First a ridiculous scene will be happening, making you laugh out of the sheer stupidity of what you're seeing, like this.

 
and then a fat guy will start eating someone.
 
 It's like a slap across the face. You'll just be sitting there like...
 

 

 
  This baby is one of the most accurate portrayal of watching a Fullmetal alchemist episode I have ever scene. 
  
 Brief review of main characters
  
    However, I can give the animation and atmosphere change a pass since this show is so good. It had a lot of great female characters. This show was really good at showing that a women can be tough, but could also still be a lady. Something I'm not used to.

 Winry was great. It took me a bit to get used to her personality. She was always yelling at Ed for being stupid, and hitting him with wrenches
 
 
 But I think her character had to be kind of aggressive to deal with Ed. But she could also be really sweet and sad, and I liked that about her. Plus, she made Ed act all embarrassed, and dorky, a side you don't usually see in Ed. I also really liked Riza Hawkeye. She was a soldier, and could obviously take care of herself. But she wasn't annoying. She wasn't all "I am women, I don't need a man!!". She joined the military to protect a man. :-) I also liked that she wore earing's, and had long hair.
 

 The only girl character I'm still not sure about is Olivia Armstrong. She was really weird. I mean, I was glad she was on our side, but what was with her??


Roy Mustang is awesome. He is a flame alchemist, with a really sad backstory. He is super awesome. I love him so much. He has such great character development.


Edward Elric is the saddest potato to ever be baked. When you watch the first episodes of this show, you are literally like "Why is this kid shouting so much? He's kind of annoying." But as you find out his backstory you begin to understand why he is so uptight. And it's sad. I really like Edward. He is a really good, good character. He is really great, and I love him.



   Alphonse Elric is Edward's little brother. I love him also. He is the equivalent of looks like a cinnamon roll is a cinnamon roll. And he and Edward have a great brother story. Really, it's so cute.


 
  These are only a few of the characters. There are a lot more, but I wont go over them right now.

    I can really recommend this to those looking for something good to watch. It only has 64 episodes and there all 20 minutes long. So getting through it is a synch.

 After you watch this anime, you will probably want to find something else as good. I'll be truthful to you, nothing is really as good as Fullmetal alchemist, but there are a few anime's that I have watched that have at least lived up to my expectations.
 
 
"After his hometown is destroyed and his mother is killed, young Eren Jaeger vows to cleanse the earth of the giant humanoid Titans that have brought humanity to the brink of extinction." 
 
 Okay, I watched it with my sister after Fullmetal alchemist. The problem with it is that it isn't done yet. This anime is the Sherlock of anime apparently. It gave its audience a really good first season then vanished. It came out around 2013, and only now has is been confirmed for a season two. Yep. It took them three years to get an okay to continue. Ah well. The 25 episodes the first season has are really good. And the second season is said to be coming out around the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017.
 
  This anime is not a joke. It is the one that made Bella and me go, "Yup, anime is freakin' dark, man."
This one has the most blood in it. I have to say it is pretty gory. I mean the "Titans" do eat people, so you see many go out in a pretty nasty way. However it is consistently gripping, and has some pretty good characters, and character development.
 
  Eren Jaeger- Okay, I think that the first few episodes of anime always seem to have their characters at high voltage. They always seem a lot more spastic in those first few for some reason. Eren is no exception.
His character is really aggressive at first, but he does mellow out. I really like him a lot.


    Plus he has a cute friendship with Armin. Many fans of this show don't like Armin. But I really do. He is the one character who isn't strong, and he is usually getting saved by Eren. But I liked that about him. I like seeing normal people in a story like this. Also, Eren and Armin's friendship was great.
 
 
I also liked Mikasa. She was a good female character as well and had a lot of depth. Also Levi was great. He the guy you kind of hate at first, and then grow to like. He also has a freakin sad backstory man.
 
  I'll say that the only bad thing about this anime is the blood, and the fact that it isn't full of cool alchemy. If you want an anime full of action and good characters, this one is good to start after Fullmetal, but it you want one more magical, this is another one that is good.
 
 
 
 
 
   This one is pretty good. This is what's it about, roughly... (this is kinda a bad synopsis, but this is what's on imdb....Trust me this one is good, I swears.)
 
  In times of need, if you look in the right place, you just may see a strange telephone number scrawled in red. If you call this number, you will hear a young man introduce himself as the Yato God.

Yato is a minor deity and a self-proclaimed "Delivery God," who dreams of having millions of worshippers. Without a single shrine dedicated to his name, however, his goals are far from being realized. He spends his days doing odd jobs for five yen apiece, until his weapon partner becomes fed up with her useless master and deserts him.

Just as things seem to be looking grim for the god, his fortune changes when a middle school girl, Hiyori Iki, supposedly saves Yato from a car accident, taking the hit for him. Remarkably, she survives, but the event has caused her soul to become loose and hence able to leave her body. Hiyori demands that Yato return her to normal, but upon learning that he needs a new partner to do so, reluctantly agrees to help him find one. And with Hiyori's help, Yato's luck may finally be turning around.
 
 
  The first few episodes are a little weird but if you just keep going it gets better. I really like, Yato. He is very cool, and has a very dark past.....just give it a try. Also I will mention that this actually does have another season. The first one is just Noragami and the second one is called Noragami  Aragoto. Just so you know cause some people didn't realize that this had another season! All of these anime's can be watched here- http://www.cartooncrazy.me/search
 
   After I watched all these, I started running out of anime to watch dubbed....So I actually started getting into the subbed versions, as a lot of good anime are only subbed. But I realized that being subbed isn't actually that bad when I watched Pandora hearts. This is the synopsis of this;
 
  To young Oz Vessalius, heir to the Vessalius Duke House, the perilous world called the Abyss is nothing more than a folktale used to scare misbehaving children. However, when Oz's coming-of-age ceremony is interrupted by the malicious Baskerville Clan intent on banishing him into the depths of the Abyss, the Vessalius heir realizes that his peaceful life of luxury is at its end. Now, he must confront the world of the Abyss and its dwellers, the monstrous "Chains," which are both not quite as fake as he once believed.

Based on the supernatural fantasy manga of the same name, Pandora Hearts tells the story of fifteen-year-old Oz's journey to discover the meaning behind the strange events that have overtaken his life. Assisted by a mysterious Chain named Alice, whose nickname is "Bloodstained Black Rabbit," and members of a clandestine organization known as "Pandora," Oz begins to realize his existence may have more meaning than he could have ever imagined
.
 
  This one is very good even though it's only got 25 episodes, (it was cancelled, and wont have any more seasons) it was good enough that I'm willing to by the manga just to finish the story. Give this one a try, it is very good.
 
 
 Then there is also one called, D-Gray man. This one is dubbed, but only like half of it is. It's weird. There are 103 episodes in this one, and only 52 are dubbed....It's odd. But luckily I didn't mind the subbed version. I would definetly recommend watching this in subbed, as it is better. The characters in here a very good, and  I love all them. Here is the basic story for this one;
 
   Losing a loved one is so painful that one may sometimes wish to be able to resurrect them—a weakness that the enigmatic Millennium Earl exploits. To make his mechanical weapons known as "Akuma," he uses the souls of the dead that are called back. Once a soul is placed in an Akuma, it is trapped forever, and the only way to save them is to exorcise them from their vessel using the Anti-Akuma weapon, "Innocence."

    After spending three years as the disciple of General Cross, Allen Walker is sent to the Black Order—an organization comprised of those willing to fight Akuma and the Millennium Earl—to become an official Exorcist. With an arm as his Innocence and a cursed eye that can see the suffering souls within an Akuma, it's up to Allen and his fellow Exorcists to stop the Millennium Earl's ultimate plot: one that can lead to the destruction of the world.
 
   

 
 
 
Another one that is good is Puella Magi Madoka Magica.
   This anime is so sad, but it is really good. The whole universe sounds a bit ridiculous but it is really quite depressing. 
 The story follows a group of female middle school students who choose to become magical girls and must battle surreal enemies called witches.
So sad, and so good. This one is one of my favourite anime. Just try it.
 
 
    This next anime is one that I'm still watching. It doesn't have magic or anything like that, but it is so good. It's also really sad. I think it's up there with Puella Magi. This anime is "Your lie in April" This anime is about a boy who has lost the ability to here his music when he plays. Frightened, he promises himself he will never play the piano again, that is until a beautiful violinist comes to town. With her help, and stubborn attitude, he finds the courage to play his heart out once more.
I love this anime. So sweet! it's not really magical but its still good!
 
  
 
     Okay back to magic anime! And this is my last one. This one, like Fullmetal alchemist, has two versions. One was done in 1999, but didn't do too well. So they rebooted it and that one was released in 2011. I will say that the 2011 version of Hunter x Hunter is better, just because the animation and overall story telling seems a bit better. Also the 2011 version goes on longer, as the 1999 version stops about half way through the 2011 version. I started watching this after being feed up with only having anime's with 25 episodes, and as this was one recommended to watch after Fullmetal, I decided to give it a shot. Now, the ravings about this one were so hipped up that the first season was, well....BORING at first. The first 19 are nothing but hunter exams, and nothing really happens. Once it gets to episode 20 though it gets a lot better. The characters start developing in a lot of great ways and I really started to like it. Season two was mostly about my favourite characters, Gon and Killua, and of course it was very good. Season first half of three was sooooooooooooooooooo boring you guys. I would rather re-watch season one five times then watch those 15 episodes again. It was all about the less interesting characters, Kurapika and Leorio. I'm not going to lie, I literally only watched one every night, it was that boning. I basically just kinda skipped through each episode and only watched the really important parts. By the time I got to season four, I wasn't really in the mood for hunter x hunter. I had to stop watching for about a month. Then I started season four, and was very glad I gave it another shot. It gets a lot better from here out and it usually is pretty good with staying interesting. This anime really has great development, and it has 148 episode!!!! YAY. Plus, the main character, Gon and Killua are so cute, and have a very cute friendship.
 
 
 That's all. Now that I have completely ranted to you, I shall go!! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

No comments:

Post a Comment