Sherlock (TV - Series) - Review

Sherlock Holmes is the best detective character written out there in literature.

History:

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Referring to himself as a "consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.

Author:

Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, was a British writer best known for his detective fiction featuring the character Sherlock Holmes.

Originally a physician, in 1887 he published A Study in Scarlet, the first of four novels about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. 

In addition, Doyle wrote over fifty short stories featuring the famous detective. The Sherlock Holmes stories are generally considered milestones in the field of crime fiction.

Television Series Adaptation:

Sherlock is created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, it stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson.

Benedict as Sherlock

Martin as Watson

Sherlock has received critical acclaim, with many reviews praising the quality of the writing, performances, and direction. 

Most of us have been an avid fan of Sherlock Holmes from a very young age, and many of their first reaction upon hearing of a modern TV remake was "oh boy, they are so going to screw this up".

But, we needn't have worried. It was a terrific, fast-paced, edge-of-the-seat adventure. Benedict Cumberbatch (what a name!) brings a dark edginess to Holmes that gives the whole piece a 'delightful badass' feel, while Martin Freeman - if the first episode is anything to go by - will make a perfect foil as Watson. Casting is so important and this combination feels just right.

Unlike so many other TV adaptations and especially ones that are modernized, i found it witty, clever and above all, entertaining. It was extremely reverential of its considerable pedigree and included a large number of coded references and callbacks for the more avid fan, e.g. the use of scratches around a 

persons mobile phone charger port to indicate a drunkard rather than a pocket watches winding keyhole.

Cumberbatch is a fantastic choice for Sherlock Holmes-he is physically right (he fits the traditional reading of the character) and he is a damn good actor.

Rating:  10/10

A MUST WATCH!!

Main characters in the show

Trivia:

Seasons - 4

Episodes - 12

Specials - 1 - The Abominable Bride.

Mark Gatiss as Mycroft

One of the writers, Mark Gatiss portrayed the role Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's elder brother) in the Show.

According to overnight data provided by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (BARB), the highest overnight figure from the first series of Sherlock was 7.5 million for the opening episode, "A Study in Pink".

BBC created a blog on the name of Dr. John H. Watson (Visit Watson's Blog ).

Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) is the lead actor in Doctor Strange by Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Crunchyroll Anime Awards - Results

Crunchyroll announces Anime awards every year (since January, 2016) to recognise and appreciate the work of anime creators. This year awards have been announced recently. Have a look:

Best Opening Theme Song

Winner

 Peace Sign - My Hero Academia Season 2

Nominees

 "Shadow and Truth" (ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.)"Here" (The Ancient Magus' Bride)

"Shinzou wo Sasageyo!? (Attack on Titan Season 2)

"Peace Sign" (My Hero Academia Season 2) 

"The Other Side of the Wall" (Princess Principal)

"Imawa no Shinigami" (Descending Storis: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju Season 2)

Best Ending Theme Song

Winner

Ishukan Communication - Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid

Nominees

"Step Up Love" (Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond)

"Ishukan Communication" (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid)

"Kirameku Hamabe" (Land of the Lustrous)

"Hikari, Hikari" (Recovery of an MMO Junkie)

"Behind" (Just Because!)

"Kafune" (March Comes in Like a Lion Season 2)

Best Film

Winner

Your Name (Kimi No Nawa)

Nominees 

A Silent Voice 

Your Name

In This Corner of the World

Girls und Panzer der Film

Kizumonogatari III: Reiketsu-hen

Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel - I. Presage Flower

Best Score - Background Music

Winner

Made In Abyss

Nominees

Made In Abyss

Little Witch Academia

Land of the Lustrous

The Ancient Magus' Bride

ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Dept.

Re:Creators

Dragon Ball Z - Review

Dragon Ball Z is one of the earliest shounen animes along side others.Dragon Ball Z is epic. No doubt this is one of the most popular series that helped spread the art of anime in the world.

Synopsis:

Five years after winning the World Martial Arts tournament, Goku is now living a peaceful life with his wife and son. This changes, however, with the arrival of a mysterious enemy named Raditz who presents himself as Goku's long-lost brother. He reveals that Goku is a warrior from the once powerful but now virtually extinct Saiyan race, whose home world was completely annihilated. 
With his failed attempt at forcibly recruiting Goku as an ally, Raditz warns Goku's friends of a new threat that's rapidly approaching Earth. A war will be fought over the seven mystical dragon balls, and only the strongest will survive in Dragon Ball Z.

Story:

Story is good, drags out a little but good if you get into it, you will be disappointed the episodes come to an end. Although the same thing happens, bad guy comes, people defend, the fight sequences and opponents are mostly unique to their powers and reasons to wanting to conquer Earth. This pretty much keeps it unique.

Well, if you've never seen this show, you must have been living in some kind of strange alternate dimension.!

Positives:

Dragonball Z story is very enjoyable and will leave you hanging on the edge of your seat or cursing at your TV. The show has a lot of Fights and they are amazing it is what every one wants to see super powerful beings Kicking the Crap into each other. Dragon ball Z has quite a bit of Humor as well example: Krillin (not being able to get Girls or getting his butt Kicked all the Time) Goku (Food Humor and idiocy) Vegeta (Goku getting on His nerves).

Negatives:

Dragon Ball Z is best served on television serialization in daily basis (one episode per each weekday) than typical one season -per day -watchers.

so, you can't get the feel now if you watch it in laptop or stream it throughout the day. We have to grow up with it for the best Experience.

Every arc has almost the same plot line i.e a new villain comes to the Earth and starts carnage in the motive of destroying human world, when & where our Z fighters will come to save the day and finally, Goku finishes off in his style.

Overall:

I started watching Dragonball Z at a very young age and even when I was young I loved it although I didn't know what was going on. I grew up watching the English dub on Cartoon Network and fell in love with the Show. Dragonball Z is an Epic Anime with brilliant fight scene's and great characters.

If you are Looking for a Great Fighting Anime look no further. 
I can safely say that Dragonball Z is one of the contender for King of Fighting Anime.

Rating:  9/10

Trivia:

Creator : Akira Toriyama

Prequel : Dragon Ball

Sequel : Dragon Ball GT , Dragon Ball Super

Dubbed by: Funimation

Sagas : Original -12, Funimation -19

Episodes : Original -291

Movies : 15

OVAs : 5

Naruto - Review

If someone says they aren't familiar with NARUTO, then they have no right to call themselves an Otaku.

Synopsis:

Moments prior to Naruto Uzumaki's birth, a huge demon known as the Kyuubi, the Nine-Tailed Fox, attacked Konohagakure, the Hidden Leaf Village, and wreaked havoc. In order to put an end to the Kyuubi's rampage, the leader of the village, the Fourth Hokage, sacrificed his life and sealed the monstrous beast inside the newborn Naruto.
Now, Naruto is a hyperactive and knuckle-headed ninja still living in Konohagakure. Shunned because of the Kyuubi inside him, Naruto struggles to find his place in the village, while his burning desire to become the Hokage of Konohagakure leads him not only to some great new friends, but also some deadly foes.

Naruto:

Naruto is the story of battling ninjas, sure, but on the more personal level, it's a story of growing up. At the start, the main three characters, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, are very much children. They go to school, have classes, and are assigned to their very first team as apprentices to a master ninja. Then the story transitions into their learning to be a team and facing conflicts in their local area before moving on to steadily grander threats.

Naruto will be an addiction to anyone who watches the opening 4-5 episodes.

Graduation exam, team division, sensei introduction scenes are the type of ones every anime would like to as it's opening arc.

Zabuza arc is excellently illustrated and animated which will be a teaser for the insane fights that are to come in the anime.Especially, Kakashi vs. Zabuza is an obsolute bliss to watch.

The fights are well balanced with action and mind tactics, which is a very rare-ish thing to find in most of the anime world.

Next comes the Chunin Exam Arc followed by Destruction of Hidden Leaf by Sand which will be enough to make us watch the show no matter how long it is!

we can enjoy the action sequences which can be called as brains with beauty.

After Sasuke left the village with Hidden Sound's 5, Sasuke-Retrieval Arc begins and each character's true power is unleashed.

Until this arc, we won't find a single filler in the anime and is an obsolute delight to watch.

Naruto Shippuden:

The main strength of the series is It's characters that drives the plot. which we will discuss in detail later. After the first 70 episodes , things begins to get lot more interesting really fast. The world of shinobi gets expanded exponentially , and If you're a fan of deep lore in stories , this will fit right in your wheel house because it begins to explore the roots of it's world , the history very deeply. 
A thing that the series does very well is explaining it's concepts to the viewer. The techniques that characters use , How the things in shinobi world works are explained in detail and the concept of Chakra , and what a versatile power system it is compared to other shounens really stands out.

The amount of themes explored in the series are vast , It explores all the basic themes and as it goes on it delves into themes such as the nature of humans , self sacrifice , discrimination , manipulation , roots of war and peace , difference of perceptions , the line between good and evil , alienation as such. It manages to deal with all these themes without abandoning the feel.

You will see friends become foes , foes become friends , Unlikely alliances formed and broken , That precious character you loved die. revenge plots , plot twists , characters grow , politics , romances , the world itself change. There are some flaws but it's a full package and the writer always seemed to have the ending and everything planned out from the very beginning.

Music:

One word - FANTASTIC MUSIC, I repeat it's FANTASTIC!. Yasuharu Takanashi (Music Composer) have made a masterpiece of an soundtrack for this series that manages to highlight the intensity , the tragedies and sorrow when the series needs to. The emotions that Kishimoto (creator) wants to portray makes it through to us so well because of this soundtrack , it connects us with the world of Naruto Shippuden in an odd way.

Soundtracks like Orochimaru's theme and pain's theme will haunt you.

I would give 11/10 rating! It's that good.

Flaws:

1. Fillers
2. Fillers
3. Repetitive Flashbacks / Backstories 
4. Fillers
5. Fillers

Overall:

Naruto Shippuden is more of an experience that needs to be experienced than just a mere show. It played with our emotions for over a decade and now it has been concluded. The enjoyment of Naruto Shippuden goes beyond just the series itself. 

This series got a very big community and fanbase that you could interact with. And it's lore is so vast that you would never run out of things to discuss about it. 

Although it has it share of major flaws , This series is an journey that shouldn't be missed if you're fine with being committed to the series.

This is a series that defined a generation.

I would definitely say that it is a MUST WATCH!

Rating:   9/10

Death Note - Review

Death Note is a unique show that brings a new meaning to the concept of Death Gods. Death Note would have to be the finest written non-action, non-romance anime/manga of our time, with a story that can easily get you hooked.

This is the setting of this incredibly unique show.The first two episodes are capable of getting almost any anime fan hooked, to this thought-provoking show. Underneath all the death and normal day-to-day occurrences is a battle of wits, where you have two geniuses Light and L, constantly trying to outsmart each other. During these mental clashes it is easy to change the side you support, as both characters are so alike but with different ideals.

Story: 

Death Note gets a 10 in the story department, because of the way the plot unravels.The story is unique one. A notebook falls from the sky, and the human who writes a name in it is capable of killing the individual pictured in his mind.

Yagami Light, who obtains this power to kill, utilizes it in hopes of creating a utopia in which he is god.

Death Note presents the viewers with questions  which cannot be easily answered.This series challenges the viewers morals and for that, it deserves highly.

Characters and Music:

The character designs are highly detailed and strangely enough, even a lot of detail is put into something as simple as writing that it can make anything seem so dramatic. There's really nothing negative that can be said about the animation because no corners were cut in the production process.

The music helps add to the spectacular viewing experience, with the addicting opening and ending themes and a superb orchestra score to back it up.This definitely has to be one of the most ingenious shows ever!

With great and power and ambition, Yagami Light is forced to play a chair gripping game of cat and mouse with those who seek to detain him.The way L attempts to persecute Light is something I have never witnessed in an anime.

The chase between L and Light is very very engaging. They are constantly out-witting each other and the mind games are exciting, always keeping you on edge. The first 15 episodes will magically draw you closer and closer to the scene as suspense hangs over their individual methods for identifying the other.

Overall:

Death Note is definitely one of the best anime series of all time, for it presents a deeply unique and compelling story rivaled by few. I can truly say it is one of the best, if not the best anime I've watched.

However, there is nothing perfect in the universe.The flaws begin once it is apparent that there will be a second arc. This to me, seemed like an unnecessary way of drawing out the anime.Somewhere in between, an awesome twist comes and an awesome character disappears in an awesome manner. The episodes that follow are not so awesome anymore.

Although, there might be some minute flaws and a few boring scenes, we can blindly conclude that:

Death Note is a Gem. A masterpiece.

It's something that can bring your mind to an eternal state of thought.

Rating:  10/10

Trivia:

1. Manga - written & illustrated by Tsugumi Ohba - 12 Volumes
2. Anime - Directed by Tetsuro Araki - 2 Seasons - 37 Episodes

Cloister Black

Light and L are depicted as opposites in just about every way. Watch episode 2 again: you'll see that Light uses a PC and L uses a Mac.

When L wants to communicate without revealing his identity, he uses a capital L as his symbol. The letter comes from a real font called Cloister Black.

Early in the planning of Death Note, Near and Mello were intended to be L's twin sons. That idea was shot down because neither Ohba nor Obata could imagine L having sex. They must not write fan fiction.

Author Tsugumi Ohba has a hidden identity.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S and The Big Bang Theory

F.R.I.E.N.D.S and The Big Bang Theory are the most popular sitcoms of all time, in the whole television history.

If you have watched them, then you might have felt the similarities in the characterization and the emotions between both the shows.

Let us enter the descriptions. (Source : Wikipedia)

A brief description about plots:

F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Friends (stylized as F•R•I•E•N•D•S) is an American television sitcom, starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the show revolves around six 20–30-something friends living in Manhattan. After several script rewrites and changes, including a title change to 

Rachel Green flees her wedding day and finds childhood friend Monica Geller, a New York City chef. They become roommates, and Rachel joins Monica's social circle of single people in their mid-20s : struggling actor Joey Tribbiani, business professional Chandler Bing, masseuse and musician Phoebe Buffay, and newly divorced paleontologist Ross Geller, Monica's older brother. To support herself, Rachel becomes a waitress at Central Perk, a Manhattan coffeehouse where the group often hangs out; when not there, the six are usually at Monica and Rachel's nearby West Village apartment, or Joey and Chandler's across the hall.

The show started airing on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. All ten seasons of Friends ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings, ultimately reaching the No. 1 spot with its eighth season. The series finale on May 6, 2004, was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fifth most watched series finale in television history, and the most watched television episode of the 2000s decade.

THE BIG BANG THEORY

The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom which is primarily centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, both physicists at Caltech, who share an apartment; Penny, a waitress and aspiring actress who later becomes a pharmaceutical representative and who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's similarly geeky and socially awkward friends and co-workers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali. The geekiness and intellect of the four men are contrasted for comic effect with Penny's social skills and common sense.

Over time, supporting characters have been promoted to starring roles: Neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler, who joins the group after being matched to Sheldon on a dating website (and later becomes Sheldon's girlfriend); Bernadette Rostenkowski, Howard's wife (previously his girlfriend), a microbiologist and former part-time waitress alongside Penny; Stuart Bloom, the cash-strapped owner of the comic book store the characters often visit.

The show's pilot episode premiered on September 24, 2007.

MY VIEWS

To put it simple and in a single line, I felt that:

Big Bang Theory is an INSTANT ADDICTION! One can get addicted to big bang theory by watching the pilot itself.It may be the first show which completely focused on nerd comedy.

BUT, somewhere around & after 5 or 6 seasons, the show loses it's essence and some episodes will redefine boring. ALTHOUGH, it gets uninteresting as the season count increases, big bang theory can always be that show with which you can enjoy your holiday with a popcorn (large, of course).

Where as in the case of Friends, it gets BETTER and BETTER up until the very last episode.This is what I can say about Friends and that explains every thing in a single line.

However,if you are interested and patient enough, you can go through the full contrasting from here on.

1. Ross is similar to Leonard. Both geeks ending up with a hot girl.
2. Rachel and Penny, the hot girl, who is the love interest of geeks in the series.
3. Pheobe's ‘Smelly Cat ' ,and Sheldon’s ‘Soft Kitty '.
4. Both, Roschel (Ross + Rachel) and Lenny(Leonard + Penny) are on and off.
5. Howard-Rajesh and Chandler-Joey bromance.
6. Both Joey and Penny are struggling actors, waiting for their 'big break '
7.  Chandler and Sheldon, both of them have a sarcastic nature but it is portrayed very differently, while Sheldon is more towards geek and weird in nature, Chandler is more normal and uses sarcasm as his tool for every situation he lands up in.
8. Howard and Joey, the flirty ones and the weirdos.
9. Both plots show a group of friends going through similar stages of life, including complications in job life, getting hold of their lives, moving towards a stable life and managing the complications of relationships and  at the end of the day yet sitting together and enjoying food/drinks with them.
10. Rachel, Monica, Joey and Chandler were neighbors, in the same way as Leonard, Sheldon, and Penny.
11. Both, Leonard and Rachel’s mothers reveal to their kids their plan of divorcing their spouses.
12. Pheobe and Howard’s father left them at an early age.
13. Joey’s agent is Estelle LEONARD.
14. Most importantly, it all revolves around an APARTMENT.

Here's a surprise to all The Big Bang Theory and F.R.I.E.N.D.S. fans.

FRIENDS & BBT for LIFE!

Stranger Things and Elfen Lied

Firstly, the Descriptions

Stranger Things:

When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends, must confront terrifying forces in order to get him back.In a small town, this incident starts a chain of events that leads to the disappearance of a child - which begins to tear at the fabric of an otherwise peaceful community. Dark government agencies and seemingly malevolent supernatural forces converge on the town while a few locals begin to understand that there's more going on that is hard to believe even seen by our own eyes.

Elfen Lied:

Two university students come across a seemingly harmless girl named Lucy, unaware that she's actually a mutant serial killer with a split personality.

Comparision & Similarities:

As we can see, both have a quite different plots except for a single character and a few scenes/shots involving that character.

we can find many similarities in Eleven character(excluding appearance).

Here are the ones I noticed:

• The young girl who is experimented on by a secret organization lead by her cruel father-figure.
• She is given a number for a name.
• She is kept isolated and her psychic abilities are tested to their limits for weapon use.
• She kills some guards with her psychic abilities and she escapes and then she makes friends with a boy who feels a strong trust for her but her friends are unsure of at first.
• She speaks very less & doesn't know the meanings of some words.
• She is hunted by hordes of people and her father-figure.
• She has a quiet and gentle side which suppresses her horrid past and abilities.
• She has the darker side which is triggered by flashbacks or bad situations where she will unleash her power recklessly.
• Elfen - Eleven - El

About the Scene in which El will be shouting("papa") while she was being taken forcibly to test her abilities.Later, she kills two guards with her abilities.

 Now, this scene is EXACTLY the opening scene of Elfen Lied. Any one can easily be reminded of it while watching Stranger Things.

NOTE:I'm  not saying that ST is copied from EL, but just bringing out the character influence.

This is what Duffer brothers, creators of ST said about this in an interview

In Jurassic Park, the secret DNA is the frog DNA that makes everything weird. What is the secret DNA that people aren't picking up on in this? That you haven't seen anyone nodding to?

Ross: I think there's two things. One is anime. 

Matt: Everyone's picked up everything. There's a kind of obscure anime called Elfen Lied, and it was like the first trailer, someone was like, in the comments, someone pointed out, "Oh, this reminds me of Elfen Lied." 

Ross: They picked up on that, but not very many people. That's deep cut.

Matt: I'm like, "Oh, wow." I don't know how that came through in the trailer. I was like, "That's crazy, I didn't realize anyone had even seen that anime." That's an older [series], it's very very violent though, so in that way it's very different, but a girl who escapes from a laboratory.