Jeoffrey

The Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of Uruk is an immensely exciting and slightly above average fantasy adventure with slightly below average jokes, innuendo, and parodies. You cannot ignore the fact that it is an animated continuation of an old arcade game. When you find out about this, you suddenly find the part where the main male protagonist is literally controlled to replay the original Gilgamesh adventure, actually quite funny and well done. In other words, for fans of RPGs, D&D (just for those who know the adventures from old role-playing video games series like Might and Magic or Baldur's Gate), this will be familiar, i.e., it will hold almost no surprises for them. However, with its setting and atmosphere, it could be pretty entertaining. The main male protagonist makes visible progress (levels up) during each episode. Even though he is constantly told that he is nothing special, it is still clear to everyone that somehow he is going to make it, and what he cannot achieve with his abilities, and he will overcome through sheer determination. Of course, he also achieves this through cooperation with others, which is common in heroic anime series (like they have panties in ecchi that are way too skimpy). However, people will like it and it cannot hurt if it is done well (which is not the case in this anime series). As far as the other characters are concerned, there are quite a lot of them since it is basically a multi-group race. However, the anime's authors try to give us at least a minimal introduction to each player to outline their motivations. In other words, they try to help us relate to the characters so that we get upset when they die. Unfortunately, with how many characters there are and how much screen time they are given, it only affected me once anyway. Even though the deaths were always appropriately theatrical with an attempt to be as moving as possible (at one point, I was even reminded of the death of the knife expert Britt from The Magnificent Seven), I was hardly affected. I was just a bit sad only once. As far as the narrative is concerned, as the reviewer Subjektiv wrote, it is not convoluted, and it is more of a linear journey. Every now and again, we get undeniable indications that there is going to be a huge twist coming, which is going to take our breath away. However, that does not happen. Maybe it just comes across as a bit interesting, and someone like me will think that yes - I want to watch the next season because I want to know how it is going to turn out. However, being shocked, tense, looking forward - forget it! I thought this first part only deserved 6/10, but I am going to move on because the second half looks much better, according to the other reviews.

This show has a considerable amount of jokes and funny situations, although most of them are not my cup of tea. It is simply not enough when you are only able to smile once or twice an episode when watching a comedy. Admittedly, the animation creates such a likable setting, making some of the (female) characters look very cute. However, this only partially redeems this show, in my opinion. The characters are too flat, typical formulaic stereotypes who are repetitive albeit in constantly changing scenery. So the punchlines of the jokes are often repetitive, as are the characters' reactions. Repetitive jokes and responses could get pretty boring for some, although for me, it just meant that the element of surprise had disappeared. Lack of surprise is not suitable for a comedy. Still, I did not have a problem with the characters; they were not irritating; it was watchable, although maybe just for only one viewing at most - to kill time. If I watched it a second time, I would probably just get really bored. 5/10.

This movie is a relatively simple and very moving affair, which in the very end, will probably test how sensitive you are because everything builds up in the concluding part compared to the rest of the movie. It is almost naive to the point of being a completely solid fairy-tale. This is the part which is the litmus test to decide whether you are going to be moved by this production or not. Will the narrative and its point fall on fertile ground, and is it going to be a powerful experience for you? Perhaps you are simply going to just sit back, thinking that this is way too over the top. You are merely going to be pissed off by the over-the-top fairy tale style because you are more of a pragmatist than a dreamer. You, therefore, would be more impressed by an ending like, say, the anime A Place Further Than The Universe. Plus, if you are conservative about the traditional animation art style, you are going to find it hard to get used to the artwork in this movie. The faces are strangely painted, and looking at the features of some of them made me feel like I was looking into the face of our pet tortoise. There is also the distinctive white framing of some of the characters' hair, which I had seen before, although in this movie, sometimes it seemed that the models were just shots of paper cutout figures standing there taken from a distance. Oh, and if you do not like 3D and CGI, then know that you are not going to be comfortable looking at the cars or trams in this movie. You are going to be immediately drawn to one of the first shots of the driver of a passing tram. He looks so lifeless, and combined with the CGI; he looks as if he is just a poster pasted on the inside of the window. What I am saying is that not everyone is going to be able to get used to the original visuals in this movie. I am, however, sure there will be those who appreciate it - I do not). Aside from the criticism, this is a straightforward movie; its subject matter made it somewhat warm, engaging, and likable. However, in the end, it did not strike me as intensely as it should have, or rather as hard as it tried... 6/10.

I am an unabashed and biased fan of the Is the Order a Rabbit? anime series, which I have always managed to find charming somehow. This fact is significant because, in retrospect, it is full of tropes and some scenes are just very emotionally over the top. However, it does not matter when ultimately, everything works perfectly for me. So with both the show and this movie, I can smile stupidly watching it and watch the cute little girls and their interactions with the same interest with which, say, a cat lover watches kittens playing. Even in this movie, I feel it is just as good as the anime series. For example, I still like Chino, followed by Cocoa, Chiya, and Rize, the best. In other words, there are no drastic changes. I still enjoy the relationship between the main female protagonists, which are sometimes moving, especially thanks to Chino's performance. However, Cocoa also has moments when she is really cute. In general, all the cute moments, plus the fact that even the most clichéd lines about how the characters like each other and even the weirdest situations manage to touch me, cheer me up, or at least intrigue me. Therefore, this fact explains why I still value this show so highly among all the "cute girls do cute things" anime series. Again, the movie does not fall short in this regard. I thought it had several powerful moments. As with the anime series, though, I ultimately do not feel like I have reached nirvana yet; there was no ascension to a throne of bliss. So, while the movie is at least as much of a good experience as the anime series was and thus deserves the same rating from me, I do not feel like it surpasses the anime series in any way. Therefore, I found that even this movie is 9/10, and please order for me one stuffed rabbit from Rize!

Artificial intelligence and artificial sentient beings are interesting subject matter. If you know how to produce good work from that, you could create all kinds of exciting masterpieces. This has been the case since the days of Czech writer Karel Capek and his book/play R.U.R. In recent times, some of you may have been captivated by a PS4 game called Detroit: Become Human, which also does a great job with the theme of what it means to be alive as a sentient android. How does this production by Netflix and Bones play with the subject of artificial life? Personally speaking, I think it is a cut above the usual anime series in all aspects. The animation is decent, and the soundtrack is rather pleasant, including the opening or the ending. Not many characters stand out apart from the main two protagonists. Most of the characters are forgettable, and I am not even going to remember their names tomorrow. They will end up lost to the past or perhaps simply known as ”the screaming hysterical one,” “the one with the artificial arm,” “girlfriend in a coma,” etc. Nevertheless, none of the characters are really bothersome. The main villain has his own classic and clichéd motivation for being a sad antagonist. Even though often nothing is as it seems, a lot of things can be deduced and figured out. Plus, I think I would have enjoyed a more bittersweet ending with some sort of strong message. The conclusion here is kind of weak or maybe underutilized. That is also precisely what I think about the narrative; it is a cut above. It is interesting; however, the potential of the philosophical aspect and the narrative is definitely not used to its fullest. Therefore, you are not left with the feeling that you have seen something excellent and powerful after watching it - rather just something quite interesting. 6.4/10.

Where most romantic anime series end, Shirayuki's narrative is actually just beginning. Even though it is nice that the main two protagonists have professed their love for each other, it is now time to start fighting for it, developing it, and protecting it. This aspect makes the second season much more interesting because something is going on almost all the time. Also, most of the events are pretty interesting. Zen is still too much of the perfect prince, although Shirayuki does not quite come across as a weak damsel in distress anymore, and I find that adds to her appeal. Plus, I have now grown quite fond of some of the supporting characters, especially Kiki, Mitsuhide, and my personal favorite, Obi. In other words, I am getting more and more into it now. Also, this time I am pretty sure that I am going to watch the next season when it comes out. 7/10.

The first thing I have to mention is the soundtrack, which is a really well-put-together musical accompaniment. It managed to grab me; I was pretty enchanted by it and it made my experience more powerful than it would have been if the soundtrack had been less striking. The other thing that caught my attention was the narrative itself. I have certainly seen a few variations on the "what if..." subject matter, where the screenwriters play around with time and reality. However, in this movie, it was well put together and was charming in its own way (like the "If" sign inside the sphere...). The characters were likable, even though, somehow, I did not feel the chemistry as strong as I had thought I would. I also felt a bit sorry for Yusuke; he did something that no girl would ever forgive you for. Despite that, I somehow naively believed that part of his motivation was knowing how Norimichi felt about Nazuma. At least I wanted to think this because then I would have found his behavior much more logical, and I could say that he did not piss me off. The other thing is the animation; some of the images are beautiful, like some of the variations on fireworks and the landscape shots. However, at other times the CGI is very distracting and almost unattractive (like the bike ride). So what I took away from this movie was that there are always plenty of options, and if you really want something, you have to at least try to reach for it. I also hope that I understood everything that was going on correctly and that the ending is not as open as someone who was not paying attention might have thought. I enjoyed it 7/10.

"UMU Extra: Last Monogatari" really only has ten episodes? Anichart promised thirteen, and the end of the tenth episode, interesting as it was to some extent, it certainly did not provide a satisfactory conclusion. So, I felt like I was watching a horse die before it reached the finish line. It was a weird anime series at all... I was probably most amused by the UMU counter, which a funny subtitle writer added in for a few episodes (which I thought would have been an excellent guide to the drinking game). Aside from that amusing weirdness, I also liked the treatment of the different floors, so varied and at times imaginative and well done - well, the studio that brought us the Monogatari anime series did not disappoint. I would also add something about Saber, who was so weird she was actually cute. Plus, there was also Rin, because damn, who is not fond of Rin? Anyway, unfortunately, that is kind of it; the fights are neither epic nor interesting. To a person who is not familiar with the game, the narrative is going to seem weird and uninteresting, and well, the main male protagonist? I think I would rather have had the girl who kicked the bucket right at the very beginning... 4.6/10. Edit 01.08.2018: So they were not bullshitting on Anichart, and there really are thirteen episodes; we just had to wait a while for the last three. So, today I finally watched a reasonably satisfying conclusion. It was satisfying mainly because there was an ending, and it may have made a little sense. I got another eighty minutes (because the last episode is over forty minutes long), the UMU counter stopped at eleven this time, which is surprisingly relatively low. I said goodbye to the weird and chatty Saber, who I still actually quite like even with all the UMU. I also saw a blonde version of Rin, which was a novelty. There were some pretty short fight scenes and a bunch of philosophizing and debating about human society and whether it makes any sense to save us. However, my impression still has not changed. I did not mind this new entry in the Fate universe, even though it is different from what I am used to (if only because the battles are Instanced rather than Battle Royale style). It is pretty weird, and I cannot say I am incredibly fond of it. However, all things considered, I may have enjoyed it a bit more than the whole Fate/Apocrypha, even though you know I am not going to award this more than 5/10 anyway.

Imagine that Mozart and Salieri were little boys who met each other by a magical piano deep in the forest. One had an incredible talent while the other was working so hard, and they both somehow consciously and unconsciously helped each other grow. Forest of Piano is a poetic and lovely movie that I got into mainly because I was very interested in the first episode of the anime series, which started this year. I am grateful for it; it was sweet, endearing, and (also) funny thanks to the girl who imagined playing the piano in the toilet in the company of her dog. I am definitely greatly satisfied by this movie accompanied by classical music, which is close to my heart. 9/10.

It is so easy to find faults with this follow-up to the first season of Overlord, especially when the main shortcoming is the all-too-common absence of the main protagonist. After all, everyone expects to watch the main male protagonist rise upwards, conquering everything around him along the way. Well, you should have watched a different show, because, in this show, they spend quite a bit of time on what we call worldbuilding. In other words, this show does not simply revolve around the main protagonist. It is interesting to see how the NPCs, who were previously flat and only acting on pre-programmed action, begin to think for themselves and work towards a common goal. Well, this is what happens during the second half of this season because the significance of the first half of the season with the lizardmen still kind of escapes me. While in the second half, I got to know the character Sebas with his weaknesses and I also got to know the cunning and perfect sense of subterfuge displayed by the Demiurge. Yet I do not know what I was supposed to learn from the first half of the season. Mainly, I suppose, how the courting rituals of lizardmen work. I guess I also saw things that even the main character had no intention of seeing. I am wondering if the whole anabasis lizard thing was somehow extremely beneficial to the plot and if the new characters in this subplot were going to be somehow important to how things develop in the future. I have no doubts about the second part, and I believe we are going to see more of the psychopathic princess Renner, or maybe Evileye (my new favorite character), because after all, even Brain Unglaus is coming back. In other words, I do not really know what to make of the second season, because I could easily do without one half of it, while the second half is again just divine and shows how our main character has "everything under control," even though many times he himself does not know how to. However, this whole show, the strategy of playing by yourself a little bit and with other people a little bit, still amuses me a lot, and I still like Overlord. I am still looking forward to future episodes – just please do not make them as irrelevant as those with the lizardmen. 7.5/10.