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Reviews
Watashi ga motenai no wa dô kangaetemo omaera ga warui! (2013)
A cute outlook on social anxiety
This show is somewhat difficult to rate and recommend, mostly because it has very specific and mature qualities, rather than being straight up exciting like some expect out of anime. It's about a bitter, socially awkward 15 year old girl that tries her hardest to fit in and become more sociable, but her fear and misunderstanding of people cause her to fail at it over and over again.
If you are the person that gets a lot of second hand embarrassment from witnessing awkward situations you are in for quite a ride. Feeling strongly related to the heroine, personally, this is what attracted me to the show so much. If it can make you feel things, than you know it is real, relevant, and it is refreshing to experience it from a third point of view. The people who made the show understand deeply what it means to be a shut-in.
If that sounded scary, don't worry! The whole show is done in a light comedy tone. If it wasn't, watching it would be downright unbearable. There are a ton of hilarious references to other popular anime.
I would strongly recommend it to people who experienced some degree of social anxiety while growing up, or people who want to understand it better.
Vikings (2013)
Amazingly bland, already seen Hollywood writing dressed with some historical flair
This review is based on the first 5 episodes, it's how much I could endure through.
If you, like myself, enjoy documentary television shows History channel provides, you might get surprised by Vikings. I was. It's not just about the lack of historical accuracy, it's about the lack of accuracy pertaining to real life or otherwise any quality at all.
The writers miss on a grand opportunity to draw from the historical knowledge of the vikings for inspiration and rather just paste it over these stereotypical characters and their Hollywood "weekend fun" plot for some novelty, which wears off 15 minutes into the show.
If you are looking for a show that will teach you something about the vikings (what I was expecting) you will be disappointed. If you were just looking for good old distracting fun, (which I'll admit, am not immune to) chances are Vikings will feel like something you saw already, it was everywhere for the past 30 years. Personally I found it boring.
Shingeki no Kyojin (2013)
An elegant, thrilling show mostly deserving of the hype
When you cast away all the flavor and skin, at it's core it's a story about heroes which fight the bad guys, odds always stacked against them. That being said, the setting is very gripping, clever, and subtly hints at relevant and serious themes. Characters are lovable but don't feel like they get much development beyond the setup values they are assigned at the start. Yet still, I cared very much about them and my stomach was twisting as I was watching what was going to happen to them next. Which pretty much sums it up. Even if, at times, it doesn't offer much in term of complexity when you try to dissect it and analyze it, it is thrilling to experience. It's the best distraction I afforded myself this year.
Some Pros:
Great setting. Nice visuals, even if at times a bit too bloody, with a very attractive combat style, great music which follows it well and promises quite some nerd-chills. The way titans are colored, their facial expressions just make them exceptionally creepy, as if they walked down from a weird modern art piece. They only add more to the special atmosphere of the show.
Some Cons:
Untimely internal monologues which can eat up nearly whole episodes. The very short episodes, not even 20 minutes of original material per, create inappropriately small chunks for how slowly the story progresses at times. I watched it all at once, but I can imagine it being a bit frustrating to endure through so many cliffhangers. Combat feels like it is driven by personal "anime awesomeness" skill rather than teamwork or some other clever aspect a tad more often than I'd like. It feel like there was a missed opportunity here to avoid falling into that mold.
Overall, it's a elegant take on action packed anime. I personally recommend it. You should be bought by episodes 4~5. Oh, and I recommend watching it with the Japanese audio if you don't mind reading subtitles, the English dub isn't so great as actors they picked don't match their characters very well.