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A Certain Magical Index Season One (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 23, 2014
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A Certain Magical Index Season OneTitle: A Certain Magical Index Season One

Director: Hiroshi Nishikiori

Writer: Masanao Akahoshi

Studio: J. C. Staff

U. S. Distributor: FUNimation Entertainment

U. S. Release Date: Nov. 18th

Format: DVD/ Blu-ray / 600 Minutes / 24 Episodes

Genre: Fantasy, Harem, Action, Supernatural

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: B+

Synopsis:

Kamijo is a student in Academy City, where people use science to develop supernatural abilities. The guy’s got a lot of heart – luckily for a young nun named Index. She’s on the run from a sorcery society that covets the astonishing 103,000 volumes of magical knowledge stored in her memory.

When Index stumbles into Kamijo’s life, she finds a faithful friend and protector, and while Kamijo’s easily the weakest kid in Academy City, he’s got something else going for him: the Imagine Breaker, an unexplainable power stored in his right hand that negates the powers of others. With scientists and sorcerers attacking from all sides, the Imagine Breaker will definitely come in handy – but it’s Kamijo’s loyalty to Index that will be his greatest weapon in the fight to keep her safe.

Commentary:

A Certain Magical Index is one of those Harem series that falls under a odd anti-harem frame of mind. Of course Kamijo does have his uncanny ability to collect girls, but he still stands out as less of a womans man than most male protagonist in most harem series.

The aspect of this series that stands out for me is the way that they setup the basic plot line. There is also the development of the characters. In most cases they allow the main characters to have some light or comedic aspects but as the series moves through its paces each of them become much darker and richer. In the first season the doors to the complexity of the series open and platy of questions ask left unanswered.

The animation is rather typical and not what makes the series stand out and in many ways it is average at best. The essence is the writing, which not only create several rememberable characters but also gives us a story that is strange, funny and filled with a deeply interesting sub plot that may be darker most of us may expect.

 

Overall Grade: B+

A Certain Magical Index season one if 24 episodes of real fun. There is a large and broad cast that is giving more and more as the series develops. It is easy to see why there was the off shoot series A Certain Scientific Railgun. A Certain Magical Index does have some rather typical harem aspects, but it seems to care more about the supernatural slant. I like Kamijo as a simple character who knows something deep about himself, but there is something very special about him that I am very interested to find out.

Come on Season 2, I’m ready. Thanks Funimation for taking season one and making it affordable.

High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 20, 2014
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High School DxD New: The Complete Second Seasonreview provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season

Director: Tetsuya Yanagisawa

Studio: TNK

Author: Takao Yoshioka

U.S. Distributor: Funimation Entertainment

U.S. Release Date: November 11, 2014

Format and Length: DVD/Blu-Ray Combo / 12 Episodes / 321 Minutes

Genre: Action, Comedy, Demonic, Ecchi, Romance, Harem, Shounen

Industry Age Rating: TV MA

Overall Personal Rating: B-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: High School DxD or Rosario + Vampire

Synopsis:

Issei Hyoko and the rest of the Occult Research Club are back, only this season Issei has more power than ever before. The Excalibur swords and Michael the Archangel join Issei and the rest of the gang in battling against the deadliest of foes yet and only time will tell if the Occult Research Club will continue to thrive or if new leadership is needed to usher in a new magical era. Will Issei be able to survive these battles or will everything crash down around him? You will have to watch High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season and find out for yourself.

Commentary:

*Fair warning to those who are wanting to watch this series but are still on the fence about it…there is a large amount of fan service / ecchi scenes. However, High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season can actually pull off this amount of fan service and still have a decent plot line to be considered a good anime.* Also, why is it always an Occult Research Club?

High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season picks up soon after the end of the first season with hardly any change. This season focuses on the conflicts and interactions between the devils, angels, and fallen angels. I felt the plot was more interesting than the first season and the comedy undertones continue to reappear frequently. I did not notice the fan service as much as the first season because the story line kept my attention. This season was split up into two arcs, the Excalibur of the Moonlit Schoolyard and the Vampire of the Empty Classroom. I felt that the first arc, the Excalibur of the Moonlit Schoolyard, to be the conclusion to the first season and it was quite dark. The second arc, the Vampire of the Empty Classroom, really leaves the story line open to a third season and also includes the required beach episode that is needed in harem animes. I thought this arc went a little bit out there with all the mecha-like fighting that took place.

We finally see the character development that was missing in the first season and we also get to meet a few new characters. We learn how the characters were turned into devils and how their lives were prior to that. The new characters add to the story and created some interesting subplots. Plus they really added to the shenanigans between the girls and Issei. And yes, Issei is still obsessed with creating his harem, very much obsessed. Of course, it is slightly annoying for every female character to randomly fall in love with the main character for little to no reason but he is unable to act for whatever silly reason he comes up with.

The art work was average and they really focused on drawing the female characters. However, that is to be expected in this genre. They did a great job animating the fight scenes though. The voice actors brought the characters to life with their very real and refreshing emotions. The music was okay. By the end of the series I did find myself humming along with the opening and closing songs.

Extras:

High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season includes Yoko Hikasa’s Voice Acting School, clean opening and closing animations, promotional videos, Funimation Entertainment trailers, commercials, New Material from Ichiei Ishibumi! Fantasy Full-blast Gentleman’s Disc Club Promos and Not Seen on TV! Deleted Scenes as special features. This release is available with both English and Japanese with English Subtitles as language options.

Overall Grade: B-

High School DxD New: The Complete Second Season is a good anime for the genre it is. Just take the above warning to heart and give it a shot.

Log Horizon Collection 1 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 15, 2014
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Log Horizon collection 1Title: Log Horizon collection 1

Director: Shinji Ishihara

Author: Toshizo Nemoto

Studio: Studio Deen

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Nov. 25th, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / 325 Minutes / 13 Episode

Genre: Sci Fi, Fantasy, Adventure

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Synopsis:

Elder Tales has become a global phenomenon, immersing millions of players in its online fantasy world. However, something goes wrong with the twelfth expansion pack. Eight-year veteran Shiroe and 30,000 other players suddenly find themselves trapped in the game’s no-longer-fictional universe!

Except it’s not even exactly the game they knew: things are in different places, the portals don’t work, and if a gamer was playing an avatar who wasn’t a physical match for their real self… well, let’s just say that everyone who’s been playing is going to have to make some serious adjustments to their new world view.

On top of that, the former Non-Player-Characters are now self-aware and working towards their own ends. This collision of the Elder Tale people and players with seemingly impossible skills, abilities, and knowledge promises to be cataclysmic. Get ready for heroes to rise and new legends to be forged as Shiroe and fellow players Naotsugu and Akatsuki discover what happens when sword and sorcery becomes real!

Commentary:

My first impression of Log Horizon was thinking “Oh, no not another gamer stuck in the game anime”. As I settled in and started watching the first episode I began to see something I really didn’t expect. I saw a series that take the gaming world and leans on the structure of the game more than giving us a bunch of teenagers who run around and battle things just because. Log Horizon takes the concept one step further and gives a feeling that the story is still in the game with a little more reality for the players.

I think that the concept is taking the right view and allowing the characters to develop as the also discover their new reality and what they can do in it. There is also the aspect that the ancillary game characters the are not players take on personas and are given life is a wonderful way to add depth to the show.  With each episode we get to see these characters grow and develop as they become more involved in the world around them. They also discover that they have limitations to what they can do and also what they can be, but this just adds to the richness of the series.

Overall Grade: A-

Log Horizon has caught my attention with this first collection. I manages to paint the picture of a rich world that may be a prison for these players, but it also represents itself as a fully realized environment that can be both dangerous and rewarding. The show forces these new inhabitants to look at this reality differently and end up understanding that they have more and greater abilities than they thought. My trepidation that it would just be a ripoff of the popularity that Sword Art Online has is not founded and in fact I see this series as being superior in many ways to Sword Art Online. Too bad that it may never get the chance for the broader distribution that  would get in front of more people. If you haven’t see Sword Art Online yet and are interested by the concept of players getting trapped in the game then I would start with Log Horizon it is, in my opinion, a better series.

Street Fighter Movie: Assassins Fist (Live Action review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 14, 2014
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Street Fighter Assassins FistTitle: Street Fighter Assassin’s Fist

Director: Joey Ansah

Actors: Akira Koieyama, Christian Howard, Mike Moh

Producer: Jacqueline Quella

U. S. Distributor: Funimation

U. S. Release Date: October 28th, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / DVD, Feature Film, 143 minutes

Genre: Martial Arts

Age Rating: TV 13

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Synopsis:

The legendary game Street Fighter comes to life with this look into it’s beginning. Discover the trial and tribulations that Ken and Ryu go through to become true masters. See how they must struggle to learn the most secret of technique that they will need in their lives quest. Also, see what happens when you allow the technique control and show you the dark power. Death could always be an option.

Commentary:

Street Fighter is a well loved game franchise that may or may not need a web series that explores the beginnings of the story line, but it exists and the real question that we should ask is if it is entertaining. To be honest, I didn’t find it to be overly engaging and at time somewhat tedious. The story came across as rather convoluted and overly complicated. Ken and Ryu tend to be the focus of the story and then it wavers off to tell the dark secret of their masters life and the training itself. This stream of thought is understandable but, the way it is told come across as over bearing and hyper melodramatic at best.

Even if I find this version of the story tedious that doesn’t mean it wasn’t well made. I have to hand the it to the production quality. For a web series that has been converted into a movie I found the look and production value to be at par with many feature films and because of the way it was shot I was able to follow along and enjoy it for what it is rather than give up early on because it was slow and not well made. This says a lot for Joey Ansah and the vision he had for how this story needed to look. The simple approach to setting and what special effects that he needed to use made good use of the tools he had to work with.

Overall Personal Grade: C+

The story is slow and there were moments when I was wondering why it kept going. I also felt like the editing and storyline jumped around and ended up being rather tedious. On the up side it looks good, but don’t expect any amazing special effects. The production of the film uses what they had to a higher quality rather than trying to push any special effect limits to make it mind-blowing. I appreciate that approach and have to grade the film up for that. If you are looking for an overpowering martial arts film don’t go here. If you are a serious fan of the Street Fighter franchise I believe that you will enjoy it because of the story. If you want to learn more about this popular game franchise don’t get your hopes up. I have to say that it is fair at best.

Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 4, 2014
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Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet HomeTitle: Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home the movie

Director: Masahiro Ando

Writer: Mari Okada

Studio: P. A. Works

U. S. Distributor: NIS America

U. S. Release Date: Oct. 14th, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / Feature Film / 66 Minutes

Genre: Slice of Life, Coming of Age

Age Rating: TV 13

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Synopsis:

In the days before the Bonbori Festival, Ohana’s friend Yuina comes to Kissuiso for training. While cleaning up after her, Ohana discovers a logbook kept by Beans from when her mother, Satsuki, was still a youth at Kissuisso. Through the logbook, Ohana catches a glimpse of her mother’s struggles, and realizes that maybe the two of them aren’t so different after all. Meanwhile, the rest of the inn staff are caught up in dealing with a blackout.

Commentary:

In a continuation of the series a this simple little film manages to keep in line with the same strong sense of self and family that the original series gave us. Although this may be a simple story that just gives us a glimpse into how a girl discovers how much she has in common with both her mother and grandmother there  is so much more conveyed. The ability to reach out cross the divide and touch each of us with a sentimentality that is most often tossed away and make us feel both glad and sad about our own connection is something very special. It is seen in other series like Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Air and even Kanon, but in Hanasaku Iroha it is brought forth by using family connections that tell of both love and rebellion. This might just be more faithful to what most families go through than what is seen some of the other series.

For Home Sweet Home I found it to be come together slowly. At first I was confused by what I was watching and once the plot was drawn out it made sense. I guess that I enjoyed the confusion, but would have rather it not be presented in quite this way. As the story progressed I was pleasantly surprised how it did manage to give us some meaningful interaction with several of the other characters other than Ohana, her mother and grandmother. That was one aspect of the original series that I enjoyed a great deal and getting to spend some time dealing with Minko and Nako who have just as important roles to play in the life of the story as Ohana.

The animation was slick and at times I found the hard edge of CG out of place with the softness of the characters and some of the background. Overall it was beautiful. The writing stood on its own merits and prove that the story is the thing that makes the series.

Overall Grade: A-

If you haven’t seen any of the Hanasaku iroha series, I strongly suggest it before you watch the movie. I not saying the move could stand on its own, but I think have some historical background about the series and characters will help it be that much more enjoyable.

If you are looking for a heart warming film that both reaffirms our own struggles with our past and the connections we have with family the Hanasaku Iroha: Home Sweet Home is a film that you will love.

Hellsing Ultimate Volume Three (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 3, 2014
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Hellsing Ultimate 3review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hellsing Ultimate Volume Three

Director: Kenichi Suzuki and Yasuhiro Matsumura

Studio: Graphinica

Author: Hideyuki Kurata

U.S. Distributor: Funimation Entertainment

U.S. Release Date: October 28, 2014

Format and Length: DVD/Blu-ray Combo / Two Episodes / 112 Minutes

Genre: Action,  Vampire, Supernatural, Military

Industry Age Rating: 17 and up

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Hellsing: The Complete TV Series

The Bird of the Hermes is my name, eating my wings to make me tame.

Synopsis:

The bloodbath to end all bloodbaths reaches its harrowing end. Alucard awakens with his thirst for vengeance stronger than ever before. He is the bloodthirsty monster who will unleash every heinous trick in his deadly repertoire while baring his sharp fangs at an army of snarling Nazi werewolves. As Alucard absorbs every drop of blood in sight, everyone involved will begin to realize that the ultimate slaughter might be too much to handle for even the deadliest of demonic slayers.

Commentary:

Finally after almost two years, we are able to reach the conclusion of the wonderful and amazing Hellsing Ultimate series! And what a bloody gore-fest it is. Alucard and Seras Victoria are in for the fight of their undead lives and who knows if both will survive the final battle. Episode Nine picks right up from where episode eight left off and it just goes on from there. The music is still the same gothic music for the opening and closing animations but they also added in some awesome German music that really sets the mood for the Nazi scenes. Seras Victoria really shows her vampire side in these two episodes and also seems to have grown as a character. Sir Integra Hellsing really proves that she knows what she is doing as she is also going around killing vampires and defending herself. I guess you could say that her father made to right choice by choosing her to run the family business. Alucard, of course, is kicking butt and taking names as he always does. The animation was well done and the English voice acting was superb as usual for this series. There is not much more I can say without giving away spoilers.

Extras:

Hellsing Ultimate: Volume Three includes episode interview sessions, episode commentary, R.I.P. In Memoriam, U.S. Trailer, and Funimation Entertainment trailers as special features. A quick warning though, the R.I.P. In Memoriam contains many spoilers so do not watch it until after you have watched the entire series. This series was released with both English and Japanese with English subtitles as language options. I recommend the English language option as Crispin Freeman makes an awesome Alucard.

Overall Grade: A-

Hellsing Ultimate volume 3 is a very gory and bloody anime series. But, it is also a well-done series about vampires and shows how true vampires act.

Hellsing Ultimate Volume 2 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 3, 2014
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Helsing Ultimate 2review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hellsing Ultimate Volume 2

Director: Tallesin Jaffe

U.S. Distributor: Funimation

U.S. Release Date: November 13, 2012

Format and Length: DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack / 180 Minutes

Genre: Action, Thriller

Age Rating: 17 and up

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Similar Series or Titles: Devil May Cry, Hellsing, Hellsing Ultimate Volume 1

Synopsis:

Alucard and the entire gang are back for Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two. Things are heating up between the Hellsing Organization and the crazy Nazi Major, but Alucard is far away on another mission. Whatever will Sir Integra and Seras Victoria (Police Girl) do? They will split up and try to survive until Alucard comes back to save the day. Police Girl and the mercenaries that Sir Integra hired will stay back and protect the Hellsing Manor while Sir Integra and the Iscariot, along with Anderson, try to protect the streets of London from the Major’s vampires and the ghouls that they create. Add in the fact that the Vatican decided to send in the crusaders and things get interesting quickly. Make sure to watch out for flying body parts and blood along the way.

Finally, Alucard comes back to save the day. He is finally allowed to show his true form and that allows him to fight against the crusaders and the Major’s undead army. Of course, the Major had planned for this and it does not faze him in the slightest. But of course, what would Hellsing Ultimate be without the fighting between the Iscariot and the Hellsing Organization? Never fear, Anderson and Alucard will make things interesting and not even give Police Girl a chance to break up their fight.

Commentary:

Once again, I can say that I really enjoyed watching Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two. This time around they decided to add some interesting animation within the episodes as comedic relief. Those short scenes had me holding my side because I was laughing so hard. The music was roughly the same as Volume One, slightly gothic and fit well with the theme of the anime. The ending animation and music was different for each episode. I have to say that this OVA series has worked its way into my heart and I hope that there are more episodes released soon. The animation was better this time around, which was nice.

The character development was greatly improved this time. They focused on Seras’ background mostly, but it added much depth to her character and made me like her even more. She is still the comic relief at times but she also turned into a serious character when the time called for it. It was also interesting to see the past between Sir Integra and the Minister of Defense because it showed their mutual respect for each other. They also gave insight into the Iscariot’s past, for better or worse. The Nazi’s also had their background focused on this time. We learn all about the “special experiments” they did during WWII and the consequences that the world faces due to them.

I also loved the interaction between Police Girl and the leader of the group of mercenaries, Pip Bernadotte. Their story is not the classic boy meets girl love story, but it is romantic in its own way. Thanks to them, we also learn what happens when someone willingly allows you to drink their blood and because of that Police Girl turns into a true vampire. That is the first thing that Alucard notices upon his return.

This anime is available in the Blu-ray Combo Pack and that includes 3 DVDs and 2 Blu-ray disks. All episodes are on the first Blu-ray disk and the extras are on the second. I believe that there are two episodes per DVD and then the final disk is the extras.

Extras:

Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two includes episode commentary, dubbing Hellsing – the 10th year anniversary interviews, Hellsing cast round table discussion, anime Vegas 2010 Hellsing Panel, fans’ questions answered, The Dawn: A Supplementary of Hellsing, textless closing songs, U.S. Trailer, and previews as the extras. Again that is a lot of extras but I do recommend that you watch The Dawn: A Supplementary of Hellsing as it shows the work of Alucard during WWII.

Overall Grade: A-

Hellsing Ultimate Volume Two is a very gory and bloody anime. This volume is much more bloody than the first one, but do not let that deter you from watching, just be prepared.

Hellsing Ultimate Volume 1

Posted by :Patches On : November 3, 2014
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Hellsing Ultimate 1review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: Hellsing Ultimate Volume 1

Director: Tomokazu Tokoro

U.S. Distributor: Funimation

U.S. Release Date: October 30, 2012

Format and Length: DVD/Blu-Ray Combo Pack / 180 Minutes

Genre: Action

Age Rating: 17 and up

Overall Personal Rating: A-

Similar Series or Titles: Devil May Cry, Hellsing

Can a secret organization save a country’s citizens from creatures of the night?

Synopsis:

Hellsing Ultimate shows how vampires should act. They are shown to be monsters but at the same time shows how two vampires kill other vampires in order to save us humans from them. Alucard (Dracula spelled backwards) is one of the main characters in this anime. He really is an anti-hero even though he saves humans from vampires. But he is pretty awesome and can pull himself back together after a gun battle and kick butt. Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, or Sir Integra, is the current leader of the Hellsing Organization. She controls her own personal army to fight against the undead and Alucard is her best vampire exterminator. Seras Victoria, or Police Girl, is Alucard’s new vampire assistant. But she does not like to drink blood so she makes for a very interesting vampire.

The Hellsing Organization is based out of Great Britain. Of course, being a vampire story, the Vatican makes an appearance with their vampire killing sect named Iscariot. The Iscariot’s number one vampire killer is Alexander Anderson. Now Anderson, Alucard, and Police Girl must work together to save the Empire from a satanic Nazi major who is making a ghoul army to fight against the Hellsing Organization and the Iscariot. Are Anderson and Alucard going to be able to put aside their differences and fight on the same side or is Police Girl going to have to break up fights? We shall see when Part Two of Hellsing Ultimate comes out.

Commentary:

I really did enjoy watching Hellsing Ultimate. I loved the music that was at the end of every episode as it was slightly gothic and really fit well with the vampire theme. The music at the beginning of the episodes was also interesting.

The character development was okay. I really wish that they would have expanded the background of Alucard and Sir Integra but I guess they are in the Hellsing tv series. I believe that Alucard has to be the most awesome vampire I have ever heard of. He can survive a gun fight and pull himself back together and still kill the other vampire! Sir Integra took over the family business from her uncle and has to prove to the British government that she can handle to vampire situations. The one character that I really liked was Seras Victoria. She really is the comic relief in this anime; plus she gets to shoot the really big guns so that is awesome.

There were some things that I did not understand throughout Hellsing Ultimate such as ghouls and virgins only being able to be turned into vampires. Ghouls are what happens after a vampire feeds on a human unless they are a virgin and then they are able to be turned into a vampire. That is what happened to Seras Victoria. Personally I believe that Alucard changed Seras because he was lonely and wanted someone to care about him.

The only thing that I did not care for was the animation. At times it was really rough and choppy. But then again it added to the mystery of the vampire story. My husband said that the animation reminded him of Trigun.

This anime is available in the Blu-ray Combo Pack and that includes 3 DVDs and 2 Blu-ray disks. All episodes are on the first Blu-ray disk and the extras are on the second. I believe that there are two episodes per DVD and then the final disk is the extras.

Extras:
Episode Commentary, Interviews with English Voice Director and Cast, Anime Expo 2007 English Cast Panel, Geneon Booth: Featuring Hellsing Mansion, Promotional Videos, Japanese TV Commercials, Karaoke of Major’s Speech, and Trailers. Wow that is a lot of extras!

Overall Grade: A-

Hellsing Ultimate is a very gory and bloody anime. Sometimes it goes over the top but the storyline makes up for it. If there had been a little more character development I would have given an A.

 

My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy: The Complete Collection
 (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 2, 2014
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My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy: The Complete Collection
review provided by Katie and Andrew

Title: My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy: The Complete Collection


Director: Takayuki Inagaki

Studio: Diomedea

Author: Hiroko Kanasugi

U.S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U.S. Release Date: November 11, 2014

Format and Length: Blu-ray / 10 Episodes and 1 OVA / 275 Minutes

Genre: Comedy, Romance, Harem, School

Industry Age Rating: 14 and up

Overall Personal Rating: B

Similar Series or Titles to Check Out: Date A Live, Excel Saga, The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat

Choose…

Synopsis:

Thanks to a very strange curse called “Absolute Choice,” Kanade Amakusa’s life has turned into a “choose your own adventure” game from the depths of Hades. A series of options that seem designed to cause him the maximum amount of duress and/or public embarrassment randomly appear in front of him, and if he does not choose one he suffers agonizing headaches. Due to his bizarre behavior because of this curse, Kanade is branded as one of his school’s five worst social misfits, and things get even weirder when he chooses one of the strangest options yet: “have a beautiful girl fall from the sky.” Not only does the sweet and adorable Chocolat drop on him like a bag of rocks, but she seems to have been sent to help remove the curse! However, she cannot remember how to because she has amnesia. But it has something to do with the missions this flippant God has him perform, and if he fails to achieve the objective of any of them he will be stuck with the curse for life! Will Kanade be able to complete all his missions and get rid of this cruse for life? You will have to watch My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy and find out.

Commentary:

My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy is a story about choices. We make them every day. Some we put a lot of thought into, and some we do not. Imagine if you are issued the choices for you to choose from. You cannot deviate or severe pain will result. Now imagine that your choices are absurd, and any one of them will damage you some way or another. That’s what you get with this series. It falls into the over the top comedy category, which really does not have many choices, because they all usually range from “meh” to “why am I watching this stupid….” This one chose to be better than that. Combining an absurd storyline, absurdly cute girls, and an even more absurd situation, picking up this one is a choice that you will not regret.

Overall this series (too long to keep naming) does touch into several other genres other than romcom, but it never really looses that romcom feel. I know it can be classified as a harem, and that is its second strongest category, but falls short of it in feel. The humor is strong with this one and looking for something other than the humor would be a poor choice. The characters were developed as much as you would expect. Some were developed better than others, and most fell into the standard archetypes like tsundere, kun-dere, dere-dere, imouto, etc., nothing too unexpected. It even makes fun of itself and this very issue in the later episodes. One thing that was different was the main character, Kanade, who seemed a bit underdeveloped at times. If it were not for the curse, he would have been a very boring main character. Another thing this series was strong in was the ‘moe’. If the three main female characters got any cuter, it would have hurt. With such characters, a series usually dives deep into the fan service, but this one kept it light. A few shots here and there and most had a point that related to the story, not just for the sake of exhibitionism.

The art was nothing special, with exception of character design of the named females. They chose to take special care in making them sickenly cute and colorful. Outside of that the scenes where normal. The occasional CG worked in was annoying, but I always find CG worked in with regular animation annoying, and the overall backgrounds were nothing special. Sadly as I write this, I cannot really remember the opening and endings themes, so they were nothing special either. Your standard J-pop with character scenes. But those are not the reasons to choose this anime. You choose it for the comedy or the moe, or if you want to rile the flippant god, choose it for both.
Extras:

My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy: The Complete Collection 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

My Mental Choices Are Completely Interfering With My School Romantic Comedy: The Complete Collection is a weird series but it is also very funny. Be advised though that there are a few dirty moments in some episodes. Watch out for episode nine especially.

I couldn’t be a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job. Yusibu (anime review)

Posted by :Patches On : November 1, 2014
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Category: Reviews

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I couldn't be a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job. YusibuTitle: I couldn’t be a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job. Yusibu: The Complete Series

Director: Kinji Yoshomoto

Writer: Masashi Suzuki

Studio: Asread

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: Nov. 18th, 2014

Format: Blu-ray / 13 episodes / 325 Minutes

Genre: Harem, Supernatural, Action, Adventure

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Rating: C+

Synopsis:

Raul Chaser never wanted to work in retail, but when the war against the Demons ended unexpectedly, the Hero Training Program he was in shut down. But although combat-trained Raul may feel out of place dealing with customers in a department store instead of dealing out death with hardened steel, his newest co-worker’s culture shock is even worse. While Fino Bloodstone is ready, eager, and willing to please, she’s also the daughter of the now-deceased Demon King!

Not only are her social skills a little challenged, but it’s going to be up to Raul and the staff to teach her the finer points of the human concept of a “pleasant shopping experience”… not to mention when it’s proper to wear what kind of clothes and whose bed you can sleep in. And they’ll have to do it quick, because there’s a sinister major retail chain moving into the area with plans for global domination.

Commentary:

First of all I want to say that I feel like the rating on this series is off the mark. I honestly believe that because of the amount of nudity that Yushibu should be rated TV MA. It is not just the fact that there is some partial nudity, the issue I have is that in almost every episode there are fully developed undressed breast showing and it is not like the old days when the breast were just round bumps, these are as realized as possible and meant to arouse the viewer not just an teasing prop.

Now that I have said my peace regarding the rating I can get into the series. I think that the plot and story line are a fun and light approach to a classic fantasy genre. The idea that the demons have been subdued and that there is no longer a need for heroes is a great idea and then add in the thought of what they would have to do with their lives. This is also approached in the popular series The Devil is a Part Timer, but for Yusibu the main characters haven’t lost their magical powers they just have to forget that they have them and adjust to being a normal work-a-day person. Then they through in the mix of demons and humans having to learn to live together without being at war is a great play on a very real subject that our world has to deal with all too often.

I think where it falls apart for me is that they try to hard to make it funny and sexy at the same time. I think that the focus was more on the bouncing boobs rather than the story. At times the sexual humor was funny, but most of the time it felt like pandering to a very specific fan base. I know that this is not unusual and that there is plenty of money to be made appealing to this fandom. Shows like Sekirei, Ikki-Tousen and Tenjo Tenge have proven the viability of this approach to story telling.

Overall Grade: C+

When I get right down to it I would have to say that this may be a funny and inventive series, but the overall focus on fan service overwhelms the rest of the story. It really want until the end of the series that I began to really connect with several of the main characters. This help bring my opinion of the series up a little and would now like to see how the series would develop now that stability has been established between the Demon King and the Hero.

There is one other series that pulls the female Demon King and Hero together and the story take a completely different approach to how the two realms can co-exist. That series is Maoyu, but if you want funny and bouncy breast then I couldn’t be a hero, so I reluctantly decided to get a job: Yusibu is the series for you. I id find it better than other series like Sekirei and Ikki Tousen.