bencarterxd Reviews

The Bystanders (2022)

A brilliant supernatural comedy

[9/10 · 24 October 2023]

Bystanders - the invisible folk who watch over us, guiding us through the troubles of life.

As a sci-fi situational comedy movie, The Bystanders excels and creating hilarious situations, never quite pushing too far past it's unserious tone - no matter what stakes are involved, the film always manages to balance it's comedy and story brilliantly. The humour feels like it was pulled out of a 2000s British comedy tv series.

I also have to point out, I took a strong liking to the 2D special effects used to convey teleportation, and the B&W filter was a great touch.

With a strong script, brilliant performances, and a captivating score (with some quality cinematography as an extra treat), The Bystanders is a fun, well-crafted piece of British independent filmmaking.

Bocchi the Rock!: Bocchi the Rock (2022) Season 1, Episode 8

Best episode so far.

[8/10 · 10 December 2022]

Thanks to the first half of it, this was definitely the best episode out of the first 8, putting Bocchi's character development is on full display - her evaluation of the band's performance and decision to take the lead was great, and really showed off her personal growth. Also, it was backed with some great music, and a kick-ass guitar solo that I couldn't stop replaying for some time after finishing the episode.

Unfortunately, although the first half of the episode was amazing, the second half slowed down considerably and was less engaging - despite having a pretty good title drop at the end. There were some pretty funny moments though, and once again the top-notch, surreal visual comedy that has made a frequent occurrence in the series was thrown in again to give jokes extra punch.

Overall, this was a great episode, and I can't wait to see how the show progresses.

Mob Psycho 100: Transmission 2 ~Encountering the Unknown~ (2022) Season 3, Episode 8

adaptation masterpiece

[10/10 · 23 November 2022]

This episode was... an experience. On the surface it's a simple, comedic, laid-back episode, effectively giving fans a final look at a handful of the most beloved side-characters of the series before the final, climactic arc.

But what makes this episode so special I'm particular? Bringing together some of the most incredible names in the Japanese animation industry, with the grand return of legendary director/animator Hakuyu Go (the visionary behind Fate;Apocrypha 1x22, and Mob Psycho 2x5)...

Resulting from a combination of stunning, lifelike animation, with simply ingenious storyboarding and shot composition/cinematography, this episode was nothing short of a spectacle.

Chainsaw Man (2022)

Episodes 1-6 review

[9/10 · 19 November 2022]

This show is both pretty incredible, and incredibly pretty - not only is MAPPA's workforce of animators full of some of the best in the industry, but the cinematography, music, voice acting, and use colour and storyboard off the charts, making it one of the best looking shows of the year.

The story itself is amazing, although that's to be expected from a work written by Tatsuki Fujimoto - the characters are all highly enjoyable to watch interact and grow, the worldbuilding is always interesting, the comedy is hilarious, the horror aspects are unsettling, the pacing helps to make the show entertaining constantly, the action is intense and bombastically over-the-top in the best way possible, and overall the show is a treat. If there's any show this month that you need to look out for, it's Chainsaw Man.

Bocchi the Rock! (2022)

The Introvert Experience

[8/10 · 28 October 2022]

First off, let's just get this out of the way: this show is comedy gold. Each episode has me laughing often - mostly thanks to the ridiculous antics of the show's lovably reclusive protagonist, Hitori. As the audience follows her experience trying to form a band, despite having absolutely no social skills, we meet a variety of enjoyable characters, and the interactions between these characters are always consistently funny.

As for the production, it's easy to say that Studio Cloverworks nailed the animation - the characters move very naturally and fluidly, and the color palette and compositing makes the show feel alive and beautiful. When matched with great music and voice acting, the show is clearly very well produced.

Chainsaw Man: Meowy's Whereabouts (2022) Season 1, Episode 3

Hironori Tanaka is the GOAT

[10/10 · 26 October 2022]

Tanaka has done it again - the minute it was revealed that he would direct and storyboard this episode, it was already obvious that this would be a wild episode. Visually, the episode looked amazing, with great layouts and use of color, beautiful backgrounds and powerful action animation throughout the second half, in the fight that followed Power's short but effective backstory.

This episode covered most of the Bat Devil arc, a short storyline spanning just a handful of chapters between the first 2 volumes of the manga, and presented an awesome, cinematic experience - being directed by Tanaka and also waving goodbye with its own EPIC ending credits song performed by Maximum the Hormone. This was undoubtedly an amazing episode.

Chainsaw Man: Arrival in Tokyo (2022) Season 1, Episode 2

Amazing episode

[10/10 · 22 October 2022]

The second episode of Chainsaw Man continued from where the first episode left the audience off, laying the groundwork for the events to come. It successfully managed to balance hilarious comedy, multiple core character introductions, and building up to the core themes of the series, presented through amazing cinematography, compositing and character acting.

The episode's early scenes managed to adapt the core ideas of chapter 2 of the original manga in a condensed yet comprehensive way, further/formally introducing Makima, an interesting character who plays an interesting role in the series, and whose dynamic with Denji is portrayed very accurately throughout the episode.

The introduction of Aki Hayakawa was great - his initial dynamic with Denji is awesome, and his voice actor did a great job presenting his seriousness and strict nature. However, it was Power's introduction that was truly perfectly executed - such a bombastic, unpredictable character could only be adapted onto screen by the best of the best, and Nakayama has pulled it off again by finding the perfect voice in Fairouz Ai.

Visually, this episode was beautiful, with incredible attention to detail in it's character acting, beautiful storyboarding and background art. This was an amazing episode, and I can't wait to see how the rest of this series will continue.

One Piece: The Conclusion! Luffy's Accelerating Fist of the Supreme King (2022) Season 1, Episode 1,033

this episode was insane

[9/10 · 20 September 2022]

This episode had some of the best animation in the entire series - the pacing, voice acting, lighting and animation was incredible.

It's impressive how they managed to take a fairly unremarkable chapter of the source material and make it amazing - Akihiro Ota, Dorian Coulon and the rest of the rooftop animators managed to create an incredible original fight sequence, while Henry Thurlow/Ryosuke Tanaka were able to elevate Big Mom's attack into an impressive, epic scene.

Without any recap, this episode was an incredible 22 minute experience with cinematic storyboards and lighting, and excites me to see what else Toei animation has in store for the Onigashima Raid.

The Imperfects (2022)

Very enjoyable so far

[9/10 · 8 September 2022]

Unlike the 1-star reviews, I've actually watched the damn show instead of giving up after the first 5 minutes. No, this isn't another Resident Evil - it's not nearly as bad. In fact, I personally find it to be pretty fun, and a large improvement over most other modern Netflix Cash-grabs.

The actors are all great, dialogue is fairly snappy (some rare lines are awkwardly written, but the delivery is still good). While the CGI isn't great, it's still decent for a modern 6-hour long Netflix series with a limited budget.

I'm kind of a sucker for the technical side of shows and movies, and thankfully I've found myself to be very satisfied with the cinematography - the camerawork, lighting, and mood is all great and elevates the experience of watching greatly. Also, the editing is good too.

Comedy is subjective, and personally I found the comedy in this show to be pretty good - it's pretty dry and witty, so it won't be for everyone. The scenes in episode 3 regarding Juan's girlfriend's fetish got a good laugh out of me though, and there's been many other funny moments too.

Overall, it's a fun, interesting, well-made series, and deserves far higher ratings - i mean really, guys, 1 star? You found nothing good about this show? There's plenty to love about it, and I wish Netflix doesn't brush it under the rug and pretend it doesn't exist (they've already done it a disservice by barely marketing it).

My Brother's Husband (2018)

Pretty good adaptation of a great manga

[8/10 · 31 July 2022]

"My Brothers Husband" is based on a manga of the same name, and depicts a single dad coming to terms with the death of his brother, and the presence of his Gay, Canadian Brother-in-law. It's short, with only 3 episodes meaning it could even be watched in one sitting.

After reading the original manga and finding out that a live action adaptation was made, i immediately rushed to watch it - despite a few scenes missing and some rearranged events, it sticks fairly close to the manga and is a very enjoyable adaptation. Unfortunately while some scenes are adapted entirely faithfully (and sometimes improved even more thanks to the incredibly acting from the main cast), some scenes depicting the protagonist's development are missing, which is sad as they were some of the best aspects about the manga. While the adaptation doesn't go as in-depth into the struggles of acceptance and homosexuality in Japan, it still succeeds in bringing the characters and story of the manga to life, and deserves far more attention than it has received.

Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo (2012)

This movie is far better when watched without waiting a decade for the next movie

[9/10 · 12 May 2022]

I feel like most of the hate for 3.0 comes from fans having to wait so long for the follow-up - this movie is very daring, taking this franchise in a very different direction and forming a more original take for these rebuild movies.

Unfortunately such a sudden change is tough to pull off in just 90 minutes, especially when most of the movie is confined to slower scenes focusing on the relationship between Shinji and Kaworu. Plus, the movie ends on what feels like a very abrupt 'conclusion', and it's painfully clear that this was intended to be released alongside 3.0+1.0.

The final nail in the coffin, however, isn't really related to this movie at all - it's the way that fans were forced to wait so long for the follow up - and it was only in the next movie that the many questions that bugged fans began to get given answers. 3.0 is not a great individual movie, and definitely works best when 3.0+1.0 is watched shortly afterwards.

However, this movie is still a great movie. The gorgeous visuals/soundtrack elevate the experience of watching 3.0 greatly, and it's slower pacing to focus on a movie confined character-focused story made for a unique change to this franchise. The animation is as good as ever (the cgi really isn't that bad guys), and this alternate (yet reminiscent) take on Shinji and Kaworu's relationship gives their characters far more depth.

It's not a perfect movie, but it's a damn good one and is certainly better with the added worldbuilding of 3.0+1.0.

9/10.

One Piece: Straw Hat Luffy! The Man Who Will Become the King of the Pirates! (2022) Season 1, Episode 1,015

nearly 25 years of buildup, a perfect episode

[10/10 · 24 April 2022]

To put it simply: this episode was REALLY good.

The animation, voice acting, storyboard, cinematography, music, effects, lighting, pacing, and characterisation was all on point. This really is peak One Piece anime. Yamato's flashback was emotional and beautiful, and the confirmation of Luffy's and Roger's wishes aligning was brilliantly handled, with great visual representation of Yamato's realisation. The expanded scene of her rebelling against Kaido was great, and overall elevated his/her character even better than the manga.

The even juicier stuff was in the second half of the episode. The Worst Generation facing off against Kaido and Big Mom was a highly anticipated moment, with buildup spanning literally HUNDREDS of episodes. Luffy's promise to Kin'emon was emotional, and a great callback to Arlong Park and his promise to Nami, over 2 decades ago. Kojima's animation during the punch was INSANE, going beyond even the kind of animation seen in anime movies. The flashbacks through the final scene of the episode were beautiful, with amazing music behind them - but the punch, with "We Are", was the true highlight.

"I am Monkey D Luffy. I'm going to beat you, and become King of the Pirates".

Chills. 100/10 episode.

Princess Connect! Re: Dive (2020– )

A beautifully animated, mysterious fantasy series

[9/10 · 26 March 2022]

This is one of the few video-game anime adaptations that has actually blown me away - especially it's second season, which is fully worth getting through season one for. Gorgeous visuals, fun characters, great comedy, amazing action, and a very intriguing story.

The sole reason I didn't give it a 10/10 is thanks to the occasional semi-filler episodes, which don't tend to add much to the series besides promoting characters from the games - however, I feel that season 2 manages to handle these episodes far better than the first season, which felt a little sluggish at times.

I'm surprised this is so low rated, it definitely deserves at least a 7.5 in my opinion. Great story, animation, characters, mystery, fights, and emotion has made the second season one of my most anticipated shows to watch each week this season. A must-watch for those who enjoy the slice-of-life aspects of shows like Konosuba (same director, similar vibe but more wholesome).

One Piece: I Won't Forgive Him! Chopper's Determination! (2022) Season 1, Episode 1,006

Great episode

[10/10 · 19 January 2022]

Please read the whole thing - thanks for your time.

Despite covering only 12 pages, the episode was brilliantly paced, with it's first half expanding on a short sequence in the manga and creating an intense, beautifully animated sequence. Kaido's speech was awesome, and makes the ongoing Roof Battle even more hype. Great animation, bide pacing, overall great episode.

PS: anotjer great episode aired recently: the latest Attack on Titan episode, which deserves it's high rating (currently 9.4, an outstanding score on IMDB). Unfortunately, it saddens me that small groups from both the OP and AOT fanbases have decided to review-bomb episodes. What is the point? Both series are amazing, it paints a terrible image for both communities that these small, loud groups have resorted to acting so childish.

Tower of God (2020)

A Genuinely Great anime based on a genuinely amazing Webcomic

[9/10 · 3 April 2020]

The Tower of God anime, in my opinion, has hit off with a great start. Within just a few days, it has reached near the top of the Crunchyroll app's Popular section; and with good reason. The original manhwa (Korean comic) written by S.I.U (Slave in Utero) has received over 4.5 Billion total reads worldwide in the last 10 years of creation, with its extravagant worldbuilding and lore, and the anime has so far represented this well. With some of the anime's scenes almost identical to their non-animated counterparts, the Character's designs, backstories and voice actors are the best of the best. To top it all off, Kevin Penkin's exhilarating soundtrack really whisks you away, when paired with the loud, pop opening and ending songs brought to the stage by the hit Korean band 'Stray Kids'.

There are currently very few cons circulating this newborn anime; a handful of scenes in the webcomic have been removed to make space for time, and the main character, 25th Bam, has currently displayed little development towards the story. But after reading some of the original manhwa, we can confirm that this show may be the start of a new era of Anime.

Sky: Children of the Light (2019 Video Game)

One of the most incredible games I've ever played.

[10/10 · 28 November 2019]

This game is one of the most amazing games I've played. I tried it first on an iPhone 6; the graphics are amazing, and, even on the old phone, there really isn't much lag. It's a truly incredible adventure, and likely surpasses the previous game by that Game Company, Journey. I love this game, and I'm surprised it isn't more popular.

Easy 10/10