Elfen Lied - Review

"Aren't we all monsters inside? - Lucy"

Synopsis:

A humanoid test subject known as a Diclonius escapes from a lab somewhere, protected by some sort of supernatural powers. She literally paves her way through a sea of blood of her own making and falls into a sea after a failed attempt of stopping her permanently with a sniper.

Lucy is a special breed of human referred to as "Diclonius," born with a short pair of horns and invisible telekinetic hands that lands her as a victim of inhumane scientific experimentation by the government. 

However, once circumstances present her an opportunity to escape, 

Lucy, corrupted by the confinement and torture, unleashes a torrent of bloodshed as she escapes her captors.

History:

Elfen Lied is based on Lynn Okamoto's seinen manga series of the same name and premiered while the manga was still in publication. The anime follows the source material through the first 7 volumes, with several alterations to the story, and concludes with an exclusive ending. 

In an interview, director Mamoru Kanbe expressed his disappointment in having to 'condense' to story into 13 episodes and felt that more were needed to include significant plot details that would have made the series more emotive.

Review:

The story itself was okay, but not really anything special. For the most part it was somewhat compromised to favor action scenes. The only part of the story that really interested me was Lucy's past which did not disappoint, other than that the story wasn't that great. 

Before I started watching Elfen Lied I was informed by many that the series was amazing and groundbreaking because of all the blood and gore. 

Well they got the blood part right, but gore was not evident. Let me clarify, gore is not getting decapitated or losing limbs, gore is being cut in half and having your innards strewn across a lengthy flight of stairs exposing your ribs and spinal cord for all to see.

To sum up, it was average. Nothing to really hate about it, just didn't live up to the hype. The idea was great, the follow through was terrible.

Overall:

It's over-hyped, over-rated and most definitely NOT a classic. 

While it wasn't exactly bad, it wasn't the amazing show that people had me believing it was.

Rating:  3 / 10

Sorry folks, only three for this Anime!

Tokyo Ghoul - Review

"What's 1000 minus 7 ?"

World:

Tokyo Ghoul is set in an alternate reality where ghouls, carnivorous monsters who look exactly like normal people but can only survive by eating human flesh,

live among the humans in secret, hiding their true nature to escape from Anti Ghoul Squad.

Including enhanced speed, senses, and regenerative ability, a regular ghoul is several times stronger than a normal human. They have piercing weapons and has at least one special predatory organ called a "Kagune" & this mutation is known as a "kakugan."

Ken Kaneki

In the case of a half-ghoul, only one of the eyes undergoes the transformation. A half-ghoul can either be born naturally as a ghoul and a human's offspring, 

or artificially created by transplanting some ghoul organs into a human. In both cases, a half-ghoul is usually much stronger than a pure-blood ghoul.

Review:

For the most part, Tokyo Ghoul’s storytelling was decent. It explored the different aspects of the ghoul community and made its point simple and concise. There isn’t anything too fancy or well done with its storytelling.

Tokyo Ghoul is quick to establish the lore with the Wards (sectors), the Doves (anti ghoul police), and different types of ghouls.

This last point emphasized by Anteiku and it’s here that Kaneki spends most of his time deliberating between his new and unique situation. 

The plot itself didn’t seem to be headed in any clear direction, but splits itself into different ‘mini-plots’ (similar to different story arcs in the manga) as Kaneki observes the different ghouls coming in and out of the cafe, and learns their own perspective of being a ghoul. 

Touka

While this in itself is fine, it creates other problems for character development and overall pacing. 

This is clear at the show’s 9th episode when there is a ghoul invasion in one of the other wards.

It’s clear that this is the climax of the show, yet it feels blatantly out of place from the ‘mini-arc’ format the show was using so far.

There was hardly any buildup leading up to the massive invasion and the last 4 episodes seemed to compress as much content as possible by amplifying up the pace, shown by the sudden high stakes and side characters being quickly introduced.

It’s clear the ending was very rushed. 

Simply put, the show’s plot lacked focus. It did not take advantage of the interesting premise they had to work with.

Overall:

Tokyo Ghoul is one of the more hyped up anime this season for a number of reasons. Mainly because it was, as I have heard, a very popular manga.

To conclude in one line, we can say that the anime creators had done a poor job in adapting the manga master-piece.

I felt that Tokyo ghoul is purely overrated after watching the anime.

But, for the case of manga, you can see a huge difference in storytelling and it paces with clarity whereas anime includes some confusion as it moves on.

Many of my trusted & well-known sources agreed unanimously, that Tokyo ghoul falls under those anime which has an excellent source of manga but didn't succeed that much in anime.

It will bore you out in the middle of season 1 and picks up in last few episodes with some real good action sequences.

Season 2 can generate some interest on the show as it reveals more backstories of all characters.

Rating:

Season - 1 :  7 / 10

Season - 2 :  8 / 10

The Flash - Review

After being struck by lightning, Barry Allen wakes up from his coma to discover he's been given the power of super speed, becoming The Flash.

Overview:

The Flash is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns, airing on The CW. It is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, a costumed superhero crime-fighter with the power to move at superhuman speeds.

The Flash premiered in North America on October 7, 2014, where the pilot became the second-most watched premiere in the history of The CW, after The Vampire Diaries in 2009. It has been well received by critics and audiences, and won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama" in 2014.

Review:

If you had asked me a couple of years ago what the best super hero TV show at the time was, I would have said The Flash.

The show started excellently well with a gripping pilot and a good story line. It starts with how Barry Allen becomes The Flash starting with how he gets his powers, then learns how to use/control them and then tries to solve the mystery of his mother's death to avenge his father. Overall season 1 was superb! Season 2 was weak when it comes to the story line but the excitement of seeing new metas, cross over episodes and 'team flash' developing some individual abilities of their own makes watching the season worthwhile.

Season 3 has been average at best and my rating of flash that started from a full 10 has dropped to 7 over two years. Constant time traveling and meddling with things not only gets confusing in my opinion, but also makes you lose interest.

I would definitely recommend people to give this show a go (especially if you are a DC fan) but the eventual and constant decline of the show is pretty obvious as you go on with the episodes.

Rating:  8 / 10

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - Review

"In order for something to be obtained, something of equal value must be lost."

Synopsis:

Alchemy is bound by this Law of Equivalent Exchange - something the young brothers Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric only realize after attempting human transmutation: the one forbidden act of alchemy. They pay a terrible price for their transgression - Edward loses his left leg, Alphonse his physical body. It is only by the desperate sacrifice of Edward's right arm that he is able to affix Alphonse's soul to a suit of armor. Devastated and alone, it is the hope that they would both eventually return to their original bodies that gives Edward the inspiration to obtain metal limbs called auto-mail and become a state alchemist, the Full=metal Alchemist.

History:

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is an alternate retelling of Hiromu Arakawa's Fullmetal Alchemist manga that is closer to the source material than the previous 2003 adaptation, this time covering the entire story.

First anime, Fullmetal Alchemist was made (previous version of FMA: Brotherhood) and got good response but it caught up to the manga and continued it on it's own with the anime creators making it different from the actual manga.This version's ending is an extreme disappointment for major class of audience. 

So a new series which follows and adapts the manga up to the ending has been released.It is named as Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood.

Positives:

The animation in FMA Brotherhood is crisp and very well done (although it does sometimes dip a bit in quality). Compared to the original FMA it's a bit simpler but that's just because the original set a very high standard to follow. The facial emotions of the characters are also perfectly presented. The action scenes are brilliant and VERY well animated, with a variety of alchemy techniques and other talents being displayed nearly every episode. The various battles are consistently exciting to watch, but somehow get even better towards the end of the series.

The voice acting is of an excellent and consistent quality, and I think that pretty much all the characters have voice actors which suit their personalities. The majority of the openings/endings are a pleasure to watch due to fantastic animated sequences and theme songs. The background music which play during the episodes usually fit very well with the situation, although some tracks seem to be overused a little at first. This becomes less of a problem as the series progresses, with plenty of new music being introduced to support the story as it reaches the finale.

Characters:

Characters are the best thing about this series.

Though it explores side characters to great detail the majority of the spotlight is still on the two brothers New characters include a group of people from Xing (a neighbouring country), another person from the Armstrong family, Oliver Armstrong (who I think has become one of the coolest members of the supporting cast), and a new main antagonist. For me, the Xingese characters in particular (Ling Yao and Mei Chang among others) provide a new dimension to the FMA world, by showing us a different culture to the militaristic one we're familiar with. Plus, Winry Rockbell now has a much more active role in the story.

Negatives:

FMA: Brotherhood belongs to those group, where it is hard for us to point out the flaws.

The only drawback in my view is that the backstory of Elric's father and his relation with homunculus (in the jar) linking with the transmutation circles drawn over the country wide and the promised day concepts can be confusing. Little more elaboration would have been better.

Apart from this, everything is Excellent.

Overall:

One of the many good things about this series is that there has been absolutely no filler at all, which prevents the story from losing momentum. All the episodes are concise and every scene is important as part of the huge plot. The dialogue fully explains everything and is straight to the point.

There are moments which leave you smiling, laughing, sad and simply amazed. 

Try this anime, it's absolutely worth a watch for everyone.

Rating:   9 / 10

FullMetal Alchemmist : Brotherhood  has one of the best endings in the all time Anime history.

Fairy Tail - Review

I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW!! FIRE DRAGON'S....ROOOAARRRR.....!!

Plot:

In the mystical land of Fiore, magic exists as an essential part of everyday life. Countless magic guilds lie at the core of all magical activity, and serve as venues for like-minded mages to band together and take on job requests. Among them, Fairy Tail stands out from the rest as a place of strength, spirit, and family.

Fairy Tail Guild's Emblem

Pros:

The members of the Fairy Tail guild are an interesting bunch to say the least. Since they can all use magic their fighting styles are extremely diverse. After the first season you will feel like you know the members of the guild personally. There are dozens you are introduced to and you will most likely remember their names because the show does that good of a job at giving the characters a long lasting impression. When something happens to one of the members of the guild it will probably make you sad.

You won’t even realize you have an emotional attachment to these characters until something happens. It is almost as if you are blind-sided a bit by the connection you have with the Fairy Tail guild members, and you will most definitely have a connection with the members as you will most likely see yourself in one of them. I guess it doesn’t hurt that this anime had an all-star voice cast to help with making you like the characters.

It's comedy, drama, action, some romance, all in one. The great thing about Fairy Tail is that it contains not as much fillers as other shows. There are so many twists to this show it's always exciting. Though, in season 3, I did feel they slacked off a bit. No surprise because none of season 3 was in the manga so basically it was a big filler tied in with the main story line I suppose. When it got to the games arc it really picked up again. And that last episode (175) is a much watch.

Grand Magic Games arc is alone an obsolute worth to watch Fairy Tail.

The plot of seven dragons and their mysterious disappearing maintains a good suspense and generates curiosity for watchers.

Zeref is one helluva villain for the series who will be introduced around 90th episode of the anime.

Acnologia and Zeref are introduced in the same arc (Tenrou Island - S-class promotion arc) and thereby uncovering many details about dragons. 

Zeref

Music:

Sound Tracks make you go "hell yeah, go fairy tail!" every time the main theme for their fighting scenes plays.

The score, done by Yasuharu Takanashi, does well in delivery the tones from intense to sad to flat out silly (and in many ways, saves the show in its weak moments).

Cons:

Fillers!

Yes, there are fillers, but not as many as other ongoing Shounen series such as Naruto or One Piece, and Fairy Tail moves at a quicker pace then both and the fillers for the most part are stand alone episodes in which the animators and studio story writers have a ball doing. The humor is very silly and childish, which is actually a plus I think.

It's definitely not the best series out there, but it has a lot of potential.

Repetitive plot arcs, deviating dramatic scenes from the main plot stories.

Side plots aren't much of a help. (say, Celestial Rebellion Arc)

Influences from other Anime like Naruto and One Piece.

Overall:

As a watcher of many animes, and the way one can tell how good or entertaining a series is is how it captures me in the first few episodes. Fairy Tail manages to do exactly that. Sure there are going to be a few weak points and continuity within the story, but there are plenty of strong points too. A good and bad note for the series is how there are so many characters within; it can be good because some characters you'll connect with better then others, but that is also a bad thing since it divides much needed attention to what is relevant at the moment, however Hiro Mashima handles it quite well.

It is a good solid series that I recommend.

Rating:   8 / 10

The Seven Dragon Slayers

The Strongest Team Of Fairy Tail