Post by DivineSaber on Aug 22, 2011 19:23:52 GMT
I looked around and noticed that nobody had revived the good old review thread, so I thought I would breathe some life into it. Seeing as how most of the current members were part of the Playfire clan, most should remember how this goes. I plan on being pretty involved in this thread and keep the first post properly updated and neat. I also have a few ideas I would like to incorporate if the support becomes available.
[spoiler2=Rules]As a general rule, only review completed series and not those that are still airing as your opinions may change later in the series, or we end up having a review for each episode/chapter which would be way too much.
There can be minor exceptions to this such as long running series like Bleach and Naruto and such forth that are divided into seasons/arcs. The way that this works is instead of reviewing the whole series you can review each individual arc/season. As for something like Naruto where the anime is split into two series (Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden), seeing as the first series has ended it would be reviewed as a whole and not by seasons/arcs. If you are unsure as to what anime/manga could be affected by this rule, feel free to ask/debate.[/spoiler2]
In the following post I have made a template for the reviews to follow. You can think of it as a form you fill out rather than having to type out whole reviews in paragraphs.
Reviews:
[spoiler2=Air Gear]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Air Gear: Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori - Break on the Sky -]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Ao no Exorcist]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Bakuman]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Bleach: Jigokuhen]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Hidan no Aria]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=School Days]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=The World God Only Knows (seasons 1 & 2)]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Yumekui Merry]
[/spoiler2]
[spoiler2=Rules]As a general rule, only review completed series and not those that are still airing as your opinions may change later in the series, or we end up having a review for each episode/chapter which would be way too much.
There can be minor exceptions to this such as long running series like Bleach and Naruto and such forth that are divided into seasons/arcs. The way that this works is instead of reviewing the whole series you can review each individual arc/season. As for something like Naruto where the anime is split into two series (Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden), seeing as the first series has ended it would be reviewed as a whole and not by seasons/arcs. If you are unsure as to what anime/manga could be affected by this rule, feel free to ask/debate.[/spoiler2]
In the following post I have made a template for the reviews to follow. You can think of it as a form you fill out rather than having to type out whole reviews in paragraphs.
Reviews:
[spoiler2=Air Gear]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2006 |
Genre | Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Sports, Romance |
Short Description | The main character, Ikki, steals a pair of his sisters Air Treks and discovers the joy of riding AT's. He faces many challenges and hardships and eventually forms his own AT team. Together they aim for the top of the AT world and in the process face enemies with great skills. |
Rant | This is one of my favorite series. Because of the ending this became one of the first series that I read as a manga. |
Pros |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=Air Gear: Kuro no Hane to Nemuri no Mori - Break on the Sky -]
Type | Anime OVA |
Year | 2010 |
Genre | Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Sports, Romance |
Short Description | A three episode OVA of important battles from the manga. Doesn't start from where the anime series leaves off. |
Rant | When I heard that they were making this OVA, it made me really glad because this is one of my all time favorite series. Though it also makes me a little sad. Since the OVA is based on important battles from throughout the manga, it basically puts the series in a state where there won't be second season. |
Pros |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=Ao no Exorcist]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2011 |
Genre | Action, Fantasy, Supernatural |
Short Description | This world consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which the humans live, Assiah. The other is the world of demons, Gehenna. Ordinarily, travel between the two, and indeed any kind of contact between the two, is impossible. However the demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exist within it. Satan the god of demons, but there's one thing that he doesn't have, and that's a substance in the human world that is powerful enough to contain him!! For that purpose he created Rin, his son from a human woman, but will his son agree to his plans? Or will he become something else...? An exorcist? |
Rant | You all know the drill by now: anime vs. manga. The anime sticks to the manga till about a little over halfway and then the story changes. Not majorly at first, but gradually. I won't bash on it too hard (though at the time I was a little dissapointed) because after the anime wraps up its unique story it then switches back to a point in the manga. The way I see it was that they changed the story so that it could reach some kind of conclusion for the 25 episodes instead of sticking straight to the original story and leaving it with a cliffhanger ending without knowing if there could possibly be a second season. By swapping back to the manga after the conclusion I think it sets it up so that if there is a second season, they can continue with the true story. |
Pros |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=Bakuman]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2010 |
Genre | Comedy, Romance, Slice of Life |
Short Description | Moritaka Mashiro and Akito Takagi are pretty much foils of each other. Mashiro, an average 9th grade student but talented artist, and Takagi, an overall advanced 9th grader and aspiring writer. After great convincing, Takagi convinces Mashiro to join him in becoming the greatest mangakas Japan has ever seen. Takagi, with his gift of writing, hopes to become a successful mangaka, and Mashiro, with his gift of art, hopes to marry the girl of his dreams, Azuki Miho. |
Rant | I started reading the manga for this shortly before the series aired and I immediately got hooked. I love the idea of an anime/manga about writing manga and all the hard work it takes to become successful. As with any series that I have read the manga before seeing the anime I tend to judge harshly on the differences between the two, but this series does a good job to sticking to the manga. Not to mention some of the manga ideas they came up with in the series seemed like good stories. It'd be great if they released them. Did I mention this was created by the same two authors that made Death Note? Also, I find it interesting that the series is about a two-man team writing manga, and it is written by a two-man team. Fun facts. |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=Bleach: Jigokuhen]
Type | Anime Movie |
Year | 2010 |
Genre | Action, Supernatural |
Short Description | The movie is set in Hell and features a fully Hollowfied Ichigo. It centers around Ichigo and his friends heading into Hell with the assistance of man named Kokuto to stop the merging of the two realms. However, Kokuto gives Ichigo a warning - he mustn't Hollowfy in Hell, or he will lose control of his body and never be able to return. |
Rant | Movies made from an ongoing series tend to seem out of place because, well, they are. It has nothing to do with the story, so it is placed as a sort of alternate to what is currently happening. This doesn't make the movie bad, just hard to tell at which point in the timeline this is taking place, though this isn't really an issue for this movie as it starts with a sort of prologue that serves as a rough estimate as to when this movie takes place. |
Pros |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2011 |
Genre | Action, Drama, Mystery, Thriller |
Short Description | The Japanese government was rescued from the brink of financial collapse by the Sovereign Wealth Fund. For its citizens, however, life has not improved, and unemployment, crime, suicide, and despair are rampant. Kimimaro, raised by his maternal grandmother after the disappearance of his father and the death of his mother, is a scholarship student whose only dream is to avoid all this and live a stable life. One day, however, he meets a man who offers him a large sum of money if he'll agree to pay it back. From then on his fate is radically altered as he's drawn into a mysterious area known as "The Financial District." |
Rant | I liked the idea behing this series and thought that it would be pretty good. I will say that it isn't bad, but it didn't quite reach my expectations. If the series had been even a little longer, I believe it could have turned out to be a truly amazing show. |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=Hidan no Aria]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2011 |
Genre | Action, Supernatural, Slice of Life, Romance |
Short Description | The story takes place in Tokyo Butei High School, a special school where armed detectives — "Butei" — are trained to use weapons. Kinji Tooyama is a second-year-student who has a special ability, but he keeps it a secret to maintain an ordinary, peaceful life. However, when he gets caught in a bombing on the way to school, he encounters H. Aria Kanzaki, the most powerful S-Rank Butei student in Assault Studies. |
Rant | If you haven't noticed by now, I like to compare anime series to their manga counterparts (if I've read them). The same goes for this series. As far as I can tell, the anime stays close to the manga, but the manga is currently fairly short (16 chapters and still going), so it only covers up to about chapter 5 or so. After that, I don't have anything to compare to so I don't know how similar they may end up being (although the manga is based on the novel, so the novel might cover past where the manga is and the story for the anime is pulled from that, but I don't know because I haven't read the novel)./rant Also, if you like series like Shakugan no Shana and Zero no Tsukaima, then you will probably like this. While the settings aren't the same as either of these, you will definitely see the similarities.//rant |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=School Days]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2007 |
Genre | Romance, Drama, Harem |
Short Description | Makoto Ito is a young Japanese high school student beginning his second term at the fictional Sakakino Academy. During his daily train rides to and from school, he becomes infatuated with fellow student Kotonoha Katsura; a girl that also commutes. When a new classmate acquaintance of his, Sekai Saionji, discovers his secret crush on Kotonoha, she helps introduce both of them to each other and over time they grow closer and agree to date. However in spite of her proud and triumphant matchmaking efforts, Sekai inadvertently becomes jealous of the new couple, having also developed feelings toward Makoto. |
Rant | *sigh* I don't even know what to say. For the first 6 episodes I had to pause like every other minute to facepalm, and the second half was just WTF IS HAPPENING!!!! I completely regret watching this orz. |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=The World God Only Knows (seasons 1 & 2)]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2010 & 2011 |
Genre | Comedy, Romance, Harem, Supernatural |
Short Description | Keima Katsuragi, a second-year high school student, is an avid dating sim gamer. He is known on the Internet as "The Capturing God" for his legendary skills to be able to "capture" any 2D girl in games. Keima receives an e-mail offering him a contract to "capture" girls. He accepts what is thought to be a challenge, and a demon from Hell nicknamed Elsie appears. She asks for his cooperation to help her in catching runaway spirits. These spirits hide themselves inside the girl's heart, and Elsie suggests that the only method to force the spirits out is by "capturing" their hearts—making them fall in love. |
Rant | Honestly, I've been reading the manga basically since it started. When I heard that it was getting an anime adaptation I wasn't really sure how well I would like it. I must say that I truly enjoyed it. On a side note, the reason I am putting both seasons together is because of how directly related and tied together they are. With how the story advances, you can't even tell when the two are separated if you watch them relatively back to back. Maybe a third season?[spoiler3] The outro to the second season (which I thought was brilliant because the used the opening song and scenes from the first season) showed the next five girls from the manga and a little hint as to what will happen later. This may hint at a third season or it could just be for promotion.[/spoiler3] |
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Cons |
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Recommend/Rate |
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[spoiler2=Yumekui Merry]
Type | Anime Series |
Year | 2011 |
Genre | Action, Supernatural, Slice of Life, Romance |
Short Description | Ten years ago Fujiwara noticed he had a power to see multicolored auras surrounding people's bodies. Ever since then he's been having a weird dream about a war with cats. One day he meets a mysterious girl, that, after being picked on by crows and fallen from a tree, goes to search for her lost hat. Later that day, Fujiwara finds himself in a daydream, being attacked by the same cats he fights at night. |
Rant | I only recently found out that they made this anime. I started reading the manga about two months prior to this review and I thoroughly enjoy it. There are some differences between the anime and the manga. The anime has two new characters and a sort of "boss" that isn't in the manga, but the way that these characters are incorporated into the story doesn't actually harm the plot direction. The best way I can sum it up is the anime is like the manga + deleted scenes. The storyline and basically all the scenes from the manga are in the anime, but the anime just has a little extra. Normally I am disappointed when an anime isn't true to the manga, but the way they blended it together leaves me in a position where I have no complaints. It's the manga + a bonus. |
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