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Vincent_Fjodor
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Barakamon (2014)
An enjoyable and heartwarming little show
I stumbled across this anime accidentally. At first I wasn't sure about it, but it turned out to be pretty enjoyable. There were some heartwarming moments in it and I liked the characters (with the main character's mother, who only appeared in the last episode, as an exception, she annoyed me so much). However, that is as far as it goes: a cute, heartwarming, slice of life story. It was nice entertainment, but not the kind of series that continues to linger in my mind after I've finished watching it. Not to mention it seemed to lack a certain level of depth that could have made the story much more interesting.
Overall I'd say that with a decent animation style, a decent soundtrack and a decent story, this anime is just fine, and I'd recommend it if you're just looking for some lighthearted entertainment. If you're looking for something more than that, however, this anime will not live up to your expectations.
Kodomo no jikan (2007)
Yes, it's controversial, but there's much more to it
I watched this series for the first time when I was 13. I'd heard about it and wanted to know what the fuss was all about. I've rewatched it many times. In a way, it's a huge part of my own childhood.
But was is also no surprise to me why this anime is considered extremely controversial. I believe that some fanservice in this anime was absolutely necessary for plot reasons. Especially the fanservice that was focused around the main character, Kokonoe Rin. Things such as flashing her panties were not shown to entertain perverts, but to make the viewers realize just how desperate Rin is, and how far she is willing to go to get the attention of her teacher, the male protagonist Aoki Daisuke.
However, if that was all there was to it, I would have given this anime more than 8 stars. But unfortunately there wasn't just fanservice that served the plot of the story. There were also some scenes that were extremely uncomfortable for me to watch and had no point in the story, especially the ones related to one of Kokonoe's best friends, Usa Mimi. Whereas the scenes where Kokonoe is trying to seduce Aoki and is saying provocative stuff helps the story progress, the scenes where Usa is shown making sexual expressions and whatnot are just uncomfortable and make you feel like a disgusting voyeur.
Overall I did like the characters, even the supporting cast was interesting. In a way, they all dealt with their own (very realistic) problems: the death of a beloved one, being neglected by one's parents because they are always out working, trying to understand the students you teach, afraid of being laughed at by your peers, wondering if your crush loves you back...
Thatis also the reason why I liked the story a lot: this is not some superficial lolicon anime. This is a story that deals with a lot of difficult topics.
About some more technical aspects of the anime. The animation was decent. I liked the characters designs, but the motion smoothness was basically nonexistent and the whole series was lazily animated (for example people in the background who don't move at all for an entire scene, or panned shots that are basically just pictures).
The soundtrack however, was superb in this series: it contained the delicate balance between the funny and the tragic parts of the series. Not to mention the soundtrack always helped greatly in constructing the right atmosphere for a scene. For example the tragic music that plays when Rin suggests she and Aoki should have sex, tells the viewers that this is not a nice moment for perverts to enjoy, but a moment that should make us feel concerned about Rin's behavior.
Overall I think this anime has been misjudged in the Western world. I would be lying if I said this series was unproblematic though. Yes, there is some uncomfortable fanservice, and the animation is not great, but there are a lot of strong points to make up for it. The characters in this series are all interesting, the story deals with important topics that we will all come across sooner or later in life and the soundtrack suits the story perfectly.
The most important question that is being asked in this anime, and one that I find myself wondering about more and more, is: "When do you become an adult?" Uncomfortable or not: this series helped me to think about existential questions like that one.
Cruella (2021)
Uncertain at first, but left the cinema pleasantly surprised
I've noticed that this film received a lot of criticism and partly I understand that. Another Disney live action? Another villain origin story? We've seen that, won't they come up with something new already?
Nevertheless, I don't understand why so many people gave this film 1/10 star on this website because it was a pleasant surprise to me. In the past, Disney has made some garbage live action movies, but this is not one of them. Google classified this movie as comedy/crime, so maybe that gave people the wrong expectations. There were some genuinely funny moments in this film, but I would never describe it as a comedy film, and there wasn't all that much crime going on either. Rather I'd call it a psychological action film or something.
I know little about fashion, but it is obvious even to a layman like me that they put a lot of effort in the costumes because they looked absolutely stunning. This film deserves to win an Oscar for best costume design. The costumes alone count for at least 3/10 stars, so again, I don't understand why so many people gave this film 1/10 star.
Secondly, the story was better than I expected. I've heard a lot of people complain that this movie was too long, but I actually haven't been bored for one minute. I liked that the story unfolded slowly in front of the viewer, because usually in modern movies the plot moves so fast that I tend to forget huge parts of it and can't remember all the characters. Not in this case: every character was neatly introduced and the story was easy to follow. Maybe, if you expect a fast action movie-type of story, you'll be disappointed, but otherwise I don't see how the pace of the movie is going to be an issue.
Not just the pace, but the story itself too was pretty neat. It wasn't perfect to be sure, occasionally the script lines were cringy/edgy, but the great actors in this film still made it work and the story was always entertaining. There were some very creative findings in this movie and throughout the entire film I was wondering what other kind of genius plans Cruella and her friends would come up with.
I was expecting Cruella and the Baroness to be fascinating characters, but didn't expect much of the supporting cast. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised, because the characters from the supporting cast too were all pretty interesting. There were no characters that had no purpose in the story and they were all portrayed in a brilliant way by their actors, especially Emma Stone and Emma Thompson stole the show and seemed to enjoy themselves. Also Emma Stone deserves to win an Oscar for the monologue near the end of the film alone: no action, no other actors, just a close-up of her face and she still managed to make every second of it interesting.
Overall this movie definitely deserves a positive review, even if it is another Disney live action and was occasionally too edgy. The story was good and never boring, the characters were all interesting and the costumes were brilliant.
EDIT: After I rewatched the movie on my laptop, I loved it even more than I did after seeing it in cinema. This film is not the kind that is only interesting for it's epic scenes and shock value.
Kuroshitsuji (2008)
Mixed feelings to this day
I discovered this anime when I was 14, but I decided to rewatch it not too long ago.
DISCLAIMER: This is a review of season 1 only. I have watched season 2 but it's utter trash and not worth discussing. I have never watched any of the OVA's, films or extra miniseries (Book of Circus etc.)
First of all: I liked the animation a lot. It wasn't the smoothest thing I have ever seen, but the details were impressive. It really had a gothic style to it that really helped to set the mood and I think the aesthetic might be one of the most influential and iconic parts of Black Butler.
The music is also an attractive feature of this series and gave everything the right atmosphere. Especially the Latin chants that were being used were very effective.
I have mixed feelings about the story as well as the characters. There were parts and characters that I liked a lot and others that gave me secondhand embarrassment for being so badly written. However, I feel like the things that I consider 'flaws' could be considered the best parts by people who prefer the goofy, comedic side of Black Butler over the psychological, dramatic side.
What I personally found very fascinating about this anime were the characters of Ciel and Sebastian and their twisted, complicated relationship. The question that still lingers in my mind is: who was the one who was truly in control? Was it Sebastian since he was a much more powerful, supernatural creature? Or does he slowly get a soft spot for his 'young master' and let him gain too much power over him? Throughout the series it's like Ciel and Sebastian are playing a twisted little game that is just between the two of them. To me, that's one of the strongest points of this anime.
What also made up for all the flaws to me was the ending, which was in my opinion, brilliantly written and was the perfect ending to the story. It is therefore that I do not recommend watching season 2, because it 'disturbs' that beautiful ending in a crude, badly written way.
The mayor problem with this anime is that it doesn't know which genre it is: is it goofy comedy or supernatural psychological drama? Combining comedy and drama is of course possible, but it in my opinion, it didn't work very well in this case.
However, overall I think this anime has some extremely strong parts that easily make up for the lesser parts. But that could just be my own emotions playing up, because flawed or not, I am attached to this series.
Okuribito (2008)
Brilliant, well-balanced movie with stunning visuals
This film blew me away, it was brilliant in every aspect of the word. This film really deserved to win an Oscar, unlike many others.
First of all the cinematography was beautiful: it was like watching an anime film by Studio Ghibli, every image looked like it could have been drawn, colour- and compositionwise.
The characters were also well written: they were pleasant to follow and not over the top at all. Often, in arthousefilms, I feel like the characters are too emotional, to the point where it's unrealistic. Not in this film: the characters were calm, sensible people and it's not hard to relate to them.
The story itself is what made this film stand out most of all: it was a perfect balance between comedy and tragedy. The comical moments put an actual smile on my face and didn't seem forced, as is often the case. But the comedy did not nullify the tragic moments. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the audience will be moved to tears more and more as the story progresses. It is, however, not the kind of tragedy that makes you feel empty and depressed afterwards: far from it actually, it makes you appreciate the small things in life more.
In summary this is a brilliant movie with great characters and a story that is slow, but not once boring.
Bishôjo senshi Sêrâ Mûn (1992)
Review Sailor Moon Season 1 Japanese version
This anime was a pleasant surprise for me. I had pretty low expectations of this and I was expecting it to be sugarcoated, girly and definitely meant for young children. I could not be more wrong and got something much more interesting.
The story was what surprised me the most: it was genuinely fun and entertaining. It's pretty girly, it is still a shoujo anime after all, but unless you really hate girlish stuff with a burning passion, it won't bother you. There were also some dark moments in the story that surprised me: if this had been a Western TV-show some scenes would never have made the cut (which is also why I highly recommend watching the original Japanese version over the English dub, because they changed so much and not for the better). It made the series way more interesting to an older audience.
The characters were pretty great too, in the beginning Usagi annoyed me a bit, but I got used to her pretty quickly and all the characters were well-written. What also pleasantly surprised me was the appearance of a canon gay couple (Kunzite and Zoisite). I had heard rumors about LGBT representation in this series, but I was expecting it to be either queerbait or just fanservice. I did not expect that it would be made canon, but I liked it a lot (apart from the fact that they were gay, Kunzite and Zoisite were also really good villains).
The animation was alright, but nothing special. It is very noticeable that this series was made for television. They recycled a lot of images over and over again, which did get a bit repetitive. Then again, for a mass-produced children's series from the nineties it was pretty good.
The soundtrack was also very good, it fitted this series perfectly and managed to find the balance between lighthearted comedy and tragedy.
So overall I can be nothing but positive: a great show with interesting characters, a solid story, nice soundtrack and okay animation. A very entertaining series that is mostly just fun but occasionally goes a bit deeper and will pleasantly surprise you.
The Nanny (1993)
Decent entertainment but gradually looses it's charm
This show started out really great. The first few seasons were a delight to watch. Unfortunately it could not keep up the high quality and the later seasons are not as good as the first. The jokes got less funny and the stories got more and more bizarre (Fran and Maxwell stranded on an abandoned island for example).
The same goes for the characters: most of them were well-written in the beginning, but got worse in later seasons. Fran started out absolutely lovely, but in the later seasons, she was an obnoxious, spoiled and whiny housewife who behaved like a complete idiot, only to serve unrealistic plotlines (like the time she decides to sit on the railing of a boat for a picture and falls). I have no problems with extremely dumb characters (for example I loved Joey from 'Friends'), but with Fran all I could do is cringe about her stupidity. In season 6 it's even worse: all she does is obsessing about wanting a baby and it got more and more irritating. Maxwell was never a very interesting character to me but he was decent. However, in the later seasons I feel like Charles Shaughnessy was no longer in touch with his role. Maxwell and Fran had more chemistry before they got married. After that it's 'darling' this and 'darling' that, but the chemistry is completely gone.
In the final season, the only reason I continued watching were the brilliant performances of Lauren Lane (C.C. Babcock) and Daniel Davis (Niles). Their roasts were the only things that kept the series funny.
In conclusion: this sitcom is no Friends, but it's decent entertainment.
Mahô Shôjo Ore (2018)
Disappointing parody on the 'magical girl'-genre
I had high expectations of this anime: a cute schoolgirl who, when she transforms into a magical girl, turns into a very muscular guy. I figured it would defy gender norms and make some sort of a statement, or at least be funny. Instead, I got a rather sexist anime with a sloppy story structure. Although there were occasional jokes (that weren't funny) this anime nevertheless took itself too serious, which made it even more cringy.
I must admit that I have only seen the first five episodes of this series, so I am sorry if this review gives an incomplete picture.
The story begins rather chaotically, but my girlfriend and I gave it the benefit of the doubt and continued watching: after the 5th episode we realised it was a useless venture: it didn't get any better. If anything, it got worse. To the point where I just couldn't follow the story anymore.
The characters also didn't speak to me at all. Saki Uno pretty much had a standard magical girl-personality without any interesting characteristics. At first her best friend, Sakuyo Mikage, seemed to be rather interesting. The way she boldly told Saki that she was attracted to her was an interesting turn of events. However, Sakuyo turned out to be the stereotype of a sexually agressive lesbian, which was dissapointing. Her brother, Mohiro Mikage, who is Saki's love interest was one of the most boring characters I have ever seen in a series.
This series also gives some sexist messages: in the first episode it is said that the magical girls have a men's body because 'men's bodies are more suitable for fighting'. I don't want to be one of those overly femist guys, but in my opinion, that is pretty sexist. Another thing that bothered me (that is not sexist per se) was how they kept focussing on age. Saki's mother used to be a magical girl as well, but had to retire because she became 'too old'. In the series, it is implied that once you are over 20, you are old and useless. I know that this series sjhouldn't be taken too seriously because it is a parody, but somehow, it doesn't pull that off well and just seems offensive.
There were some decent things about this anime that prevented me from rating it 1. The animation was alright but not visually creative. I think Kokoro-chan, the stereotype yakuza guy who was the 'kawai' mascot, was an amusing concept.
So to sum it up: the story and characters were dull, there were some disturbing messages about gender and age in this anime and overall the anime just couldn't entice me. The animation was decent and there were some amusing gigs in it. Even though I have seen only the first 5 episodes, I suspect it takes a real magical girl to save this series from another 7 episodes of cringe.