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The World God Only Knows Ultimate Collection (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : December 28, 2016
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Title: The World God Only Knows Ultimate Collection

Director: Hideyuki Kurata

Studio: Manglobe

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Jan. 3rd, 2017

Format: Blu-ray / 36 Episodes and 4 OVAs/ 1000 minutes

Genre: Comedy, Fantasy, Harem, School Life, Video Games

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: B

Synopsis:

The World God Only Knows Ultimate Collection contains episodes 1-12 of season 1, 1-12 of season 2, 1-12 of season 3, and 1-4 of the OVA.

Keima Katsuragi’s skill at winning women’s hearts is so legendary that he’s called The God Of Conquests, but that’s only in dating video games, not the real world.

Suddenly, Keima’s life takes a turn for the weird when he answers what he thinks is an online gaming challenge. Instead, he ends up with a demon contract, and now he has to help perky demon hunter Elsie track down a bunch of demons that have escaped from hell!

The reason: the demons have hidden themselves within the hearts of a group of random girls, and the only way to get them out is if Keima can make the girls fall in love with him. Also, just to make sure that Keima is properly incentivized, his failure will result in the loss of something important: his head!

Hopefully, the tricks Keima’s mastered with virtual girls will work just as well with live ones. Otherwise, things are going to get really messy in the spectacular ultimate collection of THE WORLD GOD ONLY KNOWS!

Commentary:

 

In the overarching collection the shinning star are the first two seasons. Watching Keima go from unwilling participant to someone who has a secret love for the chase is fun and entertaining. The parody of the otaku world is not lost and there are some wonderful examples of the reality that has gripped the entire world when it comes to gaming and almost any other fandom.

The story itself is a rather silly, but it creates some wonderful situations  that are played out in a witty and humors fashion. The writing for season 1 and 2 manages to prove the point  that if it is clear what needs to be done then the story can write itself.

For season 3 Dating Game master Keima Katsuragi’s skills at conquering hearts in the virtual world have translated into real life so well that he and Spirit Hunter associate Elsie have already captured 14 of the runaway spirits attaching themselves to the souls of different girls. But is even the God of Conquests up to the task of romancing six REAL Goddesses?

The fate of the world may depend on it, because if Keima can’t do it six more times, a renegade faction of demons will use the Goddesses power to unleash an even more dangerous and powerful group of demons. That could mean the devastation of both Heaven and the Earth! (Not to mention Keima losing his own head.) And if the situation wasn’t difficult enough, it seems that the Goddesses’ souls are hidden inside girls that Keima has already had to make fall in love with him before. As part of the magic spell, they’ve all forgotten about him… or have they?

It is understandable that the overall popularity of the series pushed the studio to make a 3rd season. It is also understandable that there was some attempt to use the earlier plot line to help drive the current story. I can appreciate both, but as it all too often comes to pass, I can say that The World God Only Knows: Goddesses doesn’t even come close to being as entertaining as the first two seasons.

It is great to see all the characters come back and to have the wide array of personalities to play off of it just felt forced and more than just a little contrived. Of course it is natural that anime come across contrived because it is contrived. Once in a while an anime will feel somewhat natural, but most of the time you walk away thinking to yourself that they really pushed it this time. The World God Only Knows: Goddesses doesn’t pull any punches in that category.

One thing I have learned over the years is not to expect much from OVAs. As for The World God Only Knows OVAs I can say that I found them to be both disappointing and pleasing. On the dissapointing side of things I thought 2 of the OVAs were simple through away episodes that didn’t really catch the essence of the series but on the two that dealt with Tenri and Diana proved to be both entertaining and helpful with back story that is key in the Goddess season.

The other two OVAs were a simply there for a quick smile at best. At worst they added nothing to the story and made a few of the characters look a little silly. I’m always amazed when I see OVA’s come out I hope and pray that they wrap things up but more often than not they just give us nothing but a laugh if we are lucky.

Overall Grade: B

When looking at the complete body of the series I find that the balance of interest must fall on season 1 & 2. Season 3 is a weak reminder of the essence of the story and the OVAs are just a money grab.

After being such a fan of The World God Only Knows and having the OVAs tossed out there a reminded that anime is more of a business than an art form and the reality is that they are trying to make a profit. I can’t be to saddened by this release because there is some material in the group that is relevant to the series. I also see the other OVAs as simple comic relief and nothing more.

If you are a serious fan of The World God Only Knows then this set is something that you will want to own. If you aren’t then I would say look else were for your entertainment.

Extras:

Japanese Promos, Music Videos, Clean Opening Animation.

The Fruit of Grisaia: Complete First Season (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : May 15, 2016
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Category: Reviews

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fruit-of-grisaia season 1review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: The Fruit of Grisaia: Complete First Season

Director: Tensho

Studio: 8-Bit

Author: Hideyuki Kurata

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: May 10, 2016

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 13 Episodes / 325 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, School Life

Industry Age Rating: 17 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Angel Beats! And My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU

“Being indebted to someone is nothing to be ashamed of, not repaying that debt is.” – Yuuji Kazami

Synopsis:

Yuuji Kazami is a transfer student who has just been admitted into Mihama Academy. He wants to live an ordinary high school life, but this dream of his may not come true any time soon as Mihama Academy is quite the opposite. Consisting of only the principal and five other students, all of whom are girls, Yuuji becomes acquainted with each of them, discovering more about their personalities as socialization is inevitable. Slowly, he begins to learn about the truth behind the small group of students occupying the academy—they each have their own share of traumatic experiences which are tucked away from the world.

Mihama Academy acts as a home for these girls, they are the “fruit” which fell from their trees and have begun to decay. It is up to Yuuji to become the catalyst to save them from themselves, but how can he save another when he cannot even save himself?
Commentary:

On the face of The Fruit of Grisaia, it looks to be another harem. Guy transfers into new school looking to get away from his old life and to be normal for once. Does he have a chunibyo or something? Ok… The school is huge, and only has five other students, of all ages, and they are all females…. Where is this show going? This is going to be interesting. Oh wow… first day of school and one of the girls picks his lock and does ‘inappropriate things’ in his room. Another girl attacks him with a box cutter and he stops her cold in one move… What the heck is going on? Is this a school for assassins? I am so lost right now…………..

A few times you have heard me say things like “they rushed the story” or “it needed more episodes” or even, “They skipped something.” In this one, they rushed the story, skipped a whole lot, and needed more episodes… A lot more episodes. As I watched, and scratched my head, trying to figure out how we got from A to B in the story line, it occurred to me that we actually went from A to L skipping many letters in the middle. Unfortunately, that left me wondering what was going on quite a bit. One thing the story lacked was any real background on the characters. You would get tidbits here and there, and only when absolutely needed to feed the relevance of the story, but hardly enough to really understand what, why, and even the how sometimes. The who part was left in the wind, and honestly, I’m still sorting that one out. Even in all its confusion and incoherency, I still found myself watching intently, wanting to know what was going on, and to learn all the details. Even when skipping half the alphabet, the story was very intriguing, and it did not have a hard time keeping my interest, even if I was not really sure what was happening, my interest in knowing more very much intensified. In the end, I figured out that it followed an arc for each girl, some lasting an episode or two, to one lasting as many as four. In the end I very much felt that there were a lot of details in the original story that got cut, either because of time, budget, or administrative limitations. This one had the potential to be a masterpiece. Even now, I am highly anticipating the sequel, which they so blatantly set up at the end of the last episode.

Extras:

The Fruit of Grisaia: Complete First Season includes clean opening and closing animations and Sentai Filmworks trailers as special features. This series was released with Japanese with English subtitles as the only language option.

Overall Grade: B

Just as an FYI, animal lovers may have some issues watching the ending of episode two. It almost put me off the entire series but I am glad that I gave it a second chance.

The World Only God Knows OVA Collection

Posted by :Patches On : May 30, 2015
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The World Only God Knows OVAsTitle: The World Only God Knows OVA Collection

Director: Shigehito Takayanag first 3 and Satoshi Ōsedo for Magical Star Kanon 100%

Writer: Hideyuki Kurata

Studio: Manglobe

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: May 5th, 2015

Format: Blu-ray / 4 OVAs / 100 minutes

Genre: Harem, Romantic Comedy, Gaming Parody

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Grade: B-

Synopsis:

Get ready to rock, roll and duck deadly spells all night as Dating Game master (and now real-life romance wizard) Keima Katsuragi and his spirit-hunting partner Elsie are dragged kicking and screaming into their wildest set of adventures yet. Things get off on a strange foot when Chihiro convinces Elsie, Ayumi and Miyako to form a band. Unfortunately, they’re really not very good and their quest to get rehearsal space from the school somehow escalates into a challenge to score perfect 100s on their English tests.

After coaching them through that, Keima should have earned a peaceful vacation, but instead of spending the time playing dating games, his plans are seriously derailed by a forgotten childhood friend, a rogue team of Hunters, and some very nasty cases of possession by evil spirits. Finally, the magic goes from dark to light when the only thing that can save idol singer Kanon’s fans is for her to become a REAL magical girl!

Commentary:

One thing I have learned over the years is not to expect much from OVAs. As for The World God Only Knows OVAs I can say that I found them to be both disappointing and pleasing. On the dissapointing side of things I thought 2 of the OVAs were simple through away episodes that didn’t really catch the essence of the series but on the two that dealt with Tenri and Diana proved to be both entertaining and helpful with back story that is key in the Goddess season.

The other two OVAs were a simply there for a quick smile at best. At worst they added nothing to the story and made a few of the characters look a little silly. I’m always amazed when I see OVA’s come out I hope and pray that they wrap things up but more often than not they just give us nothing but a laugh if we are lucky.

Overall Grade: B-

After being such a fan of The World God Only Knows and having these OVAs tossed out there am reminded that anime is more of a business than an art form and the reality is that they are trying to make a profit. I can’t be to saddened by this release because there is some material in the group that is relevant to the series. I also see the other OVAs as simple comic relief and nothing more.

If you are a serious fan of The World God Only Knows then this set is something that you will want to own. If you aren’t then I would say look else were for your entertainment.

Tokyo Ravens season one part 2 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : May 22, 2015
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Tokyo Ravens 1 part 2Title: Tokyo Ravens season one part 2

Director: Takaomi Kansaki

Creator: Kohei Azano (Light Novel)

Anime Writer: Hideyuki Kurata

Studio: 8-Bit

U. S. Distributor: Funimation Entertainment

U. S. Release Date: June 16th, 2015

Format: DVD / Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 minutes

Genre: Supernatural, Action, Adventure, Romance, Harem

Age Rating: TV 14

Personal Rating: A-

Synopsis:

As Harutora and Natsume navigate the treacherous hallways of Onmyo Academy, alliances shift and their magical powers evolve. Accompanied on their journey by the half-ogre, Touji, and the foxlike spirit, Kon, Harutora and Natsume seek to unravel the mysteries plaguing the academy.

Adversaries become allies and shocking secrets are revealed when dark forces launch a violent attack on the school. Through it all, Harutora honors his vow to stand bravely by Natsume’s side no matter what evil they may face. But when the powerful Raven Coat unleashes Harutora’s demonic side, he finds his hands stained with innocent blood – and his soul tempted by a taboo ritual that could forever change the fate of our world!

Commentary:

With all of the action and clarification regarding our main characters things get very interesting in the second part of season one. Tokyo Ravens takes the strange an slightly goofy story line and gives it a very serious edge. There is also some wonderful character development that at time is slow to develop but when it does makes all the difference. The harem aspects to the series get more blurred and the action, adventure part of the series takes off.

With everything that happens I becomes hard to tell if they are fighting the right battle or not. This only last for a short time and things become very clear who the dad guys really are. There is also a clarity regarding our hero’s that not only makes sense, but I suspected it from the beginning and am glad to see it played out that way.

Overall Grade: A-

With everything that happens in this next set of 12 episodes I think that this series has the opportunity to take on a genuine air of a classic drama. That might be too much for it to handle and if I have learned anything about anime writers it is that if they have the opportunity to ruin a good series they will.

I’m not sure of Tokyo Ravens will get the interest it deserves but if Funimation was smart they would have packages  with only two releases, season 1 & season 2 rather than 4 releases. And with season two not set yet it will make it even harder to keep up any interest.

I for one will be looking forward to season two. I want to know what happened and find out more about Harutora and Natsume. So, Funimation bring it on.

Tokyo Ravens season one part 1 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : March 21, 2015
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Tokyo RavensTitle: Tokyo Ravens season one part 1

Director: Takaomi Kansaki

Creator:  Kohei Azano (Light Novel)

Anime Writer: Hideyuki Kurata

Studio: 8-Bit

U. S. Distributor: Funimation Entertainment

U. S. Release Date: April 7th, 2015

Format: DVD / Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 minutes

Genre: Supernatural, Action, Adventure, Romance, Harem

Age Rating: TV 14

Personal Rating: B

Synopsis:

Harutora may seem like an ordinary guy, but he’s actually a descendent of an ancient and powerful clan of onmyouji. Born without the family talent for magic, he’d always believed he was destined for a normal, boring existence. All that changed the day Natsume, a beautiful face from Harutora’s past, barged back into his life and forever altered the course of his future. When her sudden arrival leads to a violent and tragic encounter with a magical prodigy, Harutora agrees to fulfill a childhood vow by accompanying Natsume to the clandestine Onmyo Academy. Together, along with their incredible onmyouji classmates, they’ll attempt to survive life at a school where not even magic can get you out of your homework.

Commentary: 

Tokyo Ravens is being marketed as one of this years best kept secrets, but I wouldn’t go that far. Much of the series reminds me of other mainstream series that give us the struggling hero who wants nothing more to do than hang out. I see him as a Neet who is has a destiny. The real question is what his he really. I have a feeling that there is a big twist about him and a tiger as the series unfolds. I found Tokyo Ravens season 1 part 1 to be rather pedestrian in the overall feel and development of the story. It reminds me of the let down that Guilty Crow ended up being. I just hope that part two takes us to another level. The basics are there for something good and maybe svn great. I would like to see most of the comic relief to be set aside and let the real drama unfold.

The attention to the comedy was too prevalent and it gets in the way of the story that needs to be told. I can’t say that I like the introduction of Kon. Sure she is cute and silly, but the character is not much help and in face she gets in the way of the deeper story development. There are 2 extras where she explains some of the basics about the world of Tokyo Ravens and even though her voice and mannerisms are a tad silly the information is worth while.

Overall Grade: B

Tokyo Ravens is a standard shonen with a harem feel that plots the hapless hero who doesn’t seem to understand anything as potentially the key to it all. I do like the plot and where the story is headed, I am just worried that the silliness that overwhelmed the first 12 episodes will continue. I would have like to see a more dramatic slant to the series. What happened to the days where action series carried a serious dramatic flair like Darker Than Black or Black Lagoon. I’m not asking for over the top violence just a more serious approach to the characters and overall story.

I was not completely disappointed by Tokyo Ravens. There is plenty to enjoy. The animation and production is great and some of the english voice acting is really superb. I thought that several of the characters were given a depth and feel that makes them easy to support and connect with. There is also are clear development of a twist on the way. I just hope we get to see it.

If you liked Guilty Crown, C (Control) or even Unbreakable Machine Doll then you will enjoy Tokyo Ravens. I am looking forward to part 2 and really hope that it takes the series in a more dramatic direction.

The World Only God Knows : Goddesses season 3 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : March 18, 2015
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The World Only God Knows GoddessesTitle: The World Only God Knows : Goddesses season 3

Director: Satoshi Osedo

Writer: Hideyuki Kurata

Studio: Manglobe

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: March 10th, 2015

Format: Blu-ray / 12 Episodes / 300 minutes

Genre: Harem, Romantic Comedy, Gaming Parody

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Grade: B-

Synopsis:

Dating Game master Keima Katsuragi’s skills at conquering hearts in the virtual world have translated into real life so well that he and Spirit Hunter associate Elsie have already captured 14 of the runaway spirits attaching themselves to the souls of different girls. But is even the God of Conquests up to the task of romancing six REAL Goddesses?

The fate of the world may depend on it, because if Keima can’t do it six more times, a renegade faction of demons will use the Goddesses power to unleash an even more dangerous and powerful group of demons. That could mean the devastation of both Heaven and the Earth! (Not to mention Keima losing his own head.) And if the situation wasn’t difficult enough, it seems that the Goddesses’ souls are hidden inside girls that Keima has already had to make fall in love with him before. As part of the magic spell, they’ve all forgotten about him… or have they?

Commentary:

It is understandable that the overall popularity of the series pushed the studio to make a 3rd season. It is also understandable that there was some attempt to use the earlier plot line to help drive the current story. I can appreciate both, but as it all too often comes to pass I can say that The World God Only Knows: Goddesses doesn’t even come close to being as entertaining as the first two seasons.

It is great to see all the characters come back and to have the wide array of personalities to play off of it just felt forced and more than just a little contrived. Of course it is natural that anime come across contrived because it is contrived. Once in a while an anime will feel somewhat natural, but most of the time you walk away thinking to yourself that they really pushed it this time. The World God Only Knows: Goddesses doesn’t pull any punches in that category.

In the first two seasons I kind of felt sorry for Keima and his delusional personality. In this installment I wanted to punch him one minute and praise him the next. I guess that this emotional response is a positive reaction for the overall feel of the series. It says that I did care about his character enough to get mad at hime or applaud his naive heroics. Either way I will mark that up as a plus. The characters I ended up not caring for at all where the goddesses. They came across rather dense and silly at times.

Overall Grade: B-

The overall writing for The World God Only Knows: Goddesses  is where it failed the most. The story seemed to advance with a somewhat even flow over the first few episodes but as the series developed it slowed down and became very even and ended felling rushed and carelessly produced. I guess that if we had a better understanding of the struggles and evil forces at play along with a longer development of the final battle things could have come across much more coherent. There was way too much time spent on how Keima was going to figure out which one of his conquest had the goddesses in them and in the end it seemed obvious from the opening episode what he needed to do.

In the long run I know that the fans of the series are going to love this. It has everything they would want. That being said, I am a fan and thought the plot had some real opportunities to be a home run. I just feel like they got off track and by the time they realized it the story was over and thing just happened at that point.

This is a buy for the hard core fans and I would recommend that if you are interested in the series that you start from season one and work your way up.