Jolien_Goedleven Reviews

The World Is Still Beautiful (2014)

Wonderful

[9/10 · 2 July 2016]

This is by far one of the funniest anime I've ever watched. I've got an enormous 'anime to watch list', so I picked this one because I really liked the plot. It sounded magical and so rare. But that's not really fair, because all anime is unique and wondrous. That's what I like about Japanse anime, it's so much more than Hollywood will ever be. It comes up with the weirdest, most fantastic plots I'll ever experience. And I adore that about anime. It goes beyond everything on this planet.

But back to Soredemo sekai wa utsukushii. The story is about a princess, from the Rain Dukedom, who's about to marry the Sun King. Princess Nike is very relatable as a protagonist. I think we all share traits with her. Her easygoing personality makes her hilarious and caring. She cares about flowers, good food, her family, her new people, the King's servant... She's just lovely. When I first heard her Rain Song, I thought it was a bit soft and kind of annoying really. But as she sang it more and more, it kind of grew on me.

The relationship between Livi, the Sun King, and Nike is interesting and keeps your heart open. It never gets boring, it never explores too far or is suggestive. It's true and genuine. It teaches the value of not judging a book by its cover. It teaches us that when you dig so deep in someone's soul, you'll eventually find that one thing you can connect to. That one thing, that you have too.

Just watch it. It's really enjoyable.

Assassination Classroom (2013–2016)

Hat off

[10/10 · 30 June 2016]

When I watched the final episode, I just stared at my screen for some time. I was left with tears in my eyes, and that's something that has never happened before when I watched anime.

You know what the thing is, this anime has overall little characters starring in it. So it's very easy to care for all of them. And boy, did I care.

Ansatsu Kyoshitsu is about an assassination class, the E-class, who has to kill their teacher. Their teacher has already destroyed the moon, and is about to destroy earth as well. So, as to keep him a state secret, they give the E-class a chance of killing him. I thought this plot to be very strange and appealing. But when I watched the first episode, it was really really strange. But when you get passed that, the appealing part starts. And when you're passed the second episode and you kinda get what's going on, you won't be able to stop watching. The students grow and try out plans to kill their teacher. As the series progresses, they all develop their own skill, which allows the viewer to get to know each and every one of those students. And I really loved them. Especially Nagisa.

The anime itself never gets boring. It is funny, very emotional and it even has plot twists you didn't see coming. It has it all. Lovely characters, romance, bloodlust, secrets, tense music,... Overall, it stays with you.

The lingering and final idea the anime gave me, was that killing isn't easy. It may seem so at the beginning of the series, but it isn't. Not just because of all the planning and the risk of your own life. But because those students got in way too deep. They were too involved. And it is because of that, that this anime is so strong. It wouldn't have been if they followed one of the random assassins the government hired.

I think I'm gonna watch them all again tomorrow.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

Best out of 3 so far.

[8/10 · 26 November 2014]

The Hunger Games felt like a warm-up run towards this one. The concept of the Games is epic, yes quite. Killing until one remains the stage. I loved watching it. Struggling to survive. Struggling to live, to love, to become and to be. If you're watching for the end battle, you're still a movie too soon. Like Harry Potter: Deadly Hollows pt. 1, they're preparing for battle. For the ultimate fight against the bad guy. They don't rush into it. Little side stories develop and get their own time.

Mockingjay is the best one made so far. Here's why: I believe I needed more. I needed a story behind it all. I needed a reason for Katniss to come back. And they gave me that. They gave me a Mockingjay. It doesn't bore. In the beginning of Catching Fire, it took quite some time until something truly interesting happened. Something relevant to the story. In Mockingjay, from moment one, Katniss' in the picture after doing the impossible: surviving two Hunger Games. She struggles with e-v-e-r-y s- i-n-g-l-e following moment. She can't be the Mockingjay, she falls on her knees when she sees her home District destroyed, she feels like she can't help anyone, like she can't even get herself back together. And still. She becomes the messiah. Following behind the scenes of some propaganda clips. Quite interesting.

The ending I felt to be a bit weird though. Why would Peeta be struggling on the bed when he's conditioned to hate and want to kill Katniss? They could have stopped after Beetee's explanation of Peeta's condition. They should have. It was clear enough. But I get somehow, you want the Mockingjay herself as final shot. I get that.

I missed Haymitch in this one. They focus all the scenes on Katniss. About her trauma, struggle and trying to fight back.

Catching Fire was, besides a run-up for the rebellion, a good action movie. Don't expect that from Mockingjay. I get that if you like the Hunger Games on a surface level, you can better wait for Mockingjay Pt. 2 to come out. But please people. Don't give me that nothing happens in this one. You just need to see behind the overall picture. You need to see Katniss' struggle. Her fight. You need to see President Coin's hope when she finally sees what Katniss's capable of. Her envy for Katniss and her sorrow. You need to see what they're all going through and went through. Please, look behind all the action and specific events going on. Mockingjay is so much more than blowing up a bridge or rescuing Peeta.