SaikoDragon
It's Judgement Time!
Note that all my reviews are of purchased DVDs and of DUBBED versions. Im not a Sub snob. I like Subtitles but I prefer to watch in Dub honestly. So keep that in mind as you read.
==============
Interlude - I got this anime and by looking at the cover, I wasnt expecting much. In fact, I figured it would suck. Honestly, the cover is really generic, and not really telling of what to expect. Never judge a book by it's cover but for alot of Animes you can judge it by the cover. This isnt the case here. The anime is only 3 episodes long (only one dvd! Good sale perk!) and its 2 hours overall. The story starts out really generic. You have your typical Japanese school guy. The cute girl who really likes him. Cute girls friends. The huge chested chick. Etc etc.
From the beginning of the series, we see alot of the "Nightmare" "Dream" type plot development. Where the main character has strange dreams and premonitions and doesnt understand them. And there's alot of them. They arent anything special at first but give it time. They give you enough of them that you can begin to piece together what's going on. But you won't really have things totally figured out till the end. Unless you are psychic. Which would suck cause then nothing would surprise you and there would be no entertainment for you. Annnywho.
This anime features two Voice Actors that I noticed only by hearing their voice. If someone else was there that I didnt notice then oh well. One is the main character. The guy is voiced by Tyson of Beyblade. It took me forever to figure out who the voice belongs to.
The second voice featured is... None other than the original voice of SAILOR MOON as the voice of Aya. Its hard to recognize her voice at first. But wait until Episode 3. And you should definitely be hearing a familiar Moon Powered voice. Her cry of "Nooo" is a DEAD give away as it sounds exactly like the time she cried "Noo" for Tuxedo Mask. It was great to hear her voice again. I love that woman.
Anywho, by the third episode, all the dream stuff starts coming together and the story comes towards a conclusion. All in all, I loved the anime and it was great. I was glad to purchase it and I definitely think you guys should check it out too. The dream/premonitions are explained and put together by the end. By then, you should have already guessed or explained most of them yourself. They arent that hard to piece together but seeing them properly explained. It was kind of sad too. And I like those Sad/Remorse/Happy type endings.
I dont want to spoil anything so I wont give away any hardcore story details. But the story is basically about this guy who has had some strange dreams. He keeps seeing this girl every now and then in his dreams AND in the real world and he strives to figure out what it all means. By the end, he does.
===================
Tenjho Tenge - This is another anime that I wasnt expecting much out of. Because lately, Anime sucks people. Anime of the 90s were the best ever. Sorry, but Anime after 2000 just really sucks. Because companies are no longer trying to give us the GOOD TV shows from Japan. They give us everything. They look at an anime and say "can we package this?". Where as they used to say "Is this good?". That's how we get pieces of garbage like MilkChan Show.
There's only been a few Anime that have been great after 2000. This is one of them. I wasnt expecting much. Because the character designs were very generic. Very old and stale. We've seen it ALL before. There was nothing new. But that's where looks are decieving.
The anime is about two guys, Nagi and Bob, who are good fighters. They go to school and school, beat up all the students and take it over. So here they arrive at a new school and plan on taking it over just like before. But the thing here is, this school has really strong fighters. They have no problems at first but then they get defeated by the schools WEAKEST martial arts club team.
The action is pretty good. Like Kenshin good. You see alot of the moves and the animation is fluid and flows really well. Probably not as good as Champloo action though. Not yet anyway. The story picks up from episode 1 and keeps going strong. I only got 1 dvd which has 4 episodes and I was really entertained. I plan on buying the rest of the series, definitely!
Action fans, this is a great anime. The story is basic and the character designs are basic. But they have good personalities. There are some generic cliche's in this anime. But I easily overlooked them because I was entertained mostly. I enjoyed watching it. Also, you should recognize the singers of the Theme Song. I mean it should INSTANTLY sound familiar to you. Because the band that sings the Tenge theme song also did a Song for Kamen Rider 555. Im sure you will figure it out quickly.
I say buy it. Definitely.
==================
Sakura Wars the Movie - I always wanted to see Sakura Wars. The Theme Song is catchy but I never got around to it. I grabbed the movie instead... Well. This movie sucked honestly. It's slow moving, the pacing is a bit off and the writing isnt that great. Sure, we get kewl characters, funny conversations, and kewl new villains to enjoy. The story is ok too but it was mostly boring. I mean, I think the Train/Launch of the Robots scene took WAY too long. This movie pays alot of attention to detail and slow dramatics. But it suffers from good writing. What did we get at the end of this? Nothing new really. Other than the power of loyalty and friendship. Which is a tired and overused story. Its not a bad one but you would think they would do something a little more special for a MOVIE of a popular series.
The action was ok. More so it was lazy because of everything being 3D. Honestly, Im sure Sakura Wars the series must be good. But the movie just flat out sucked. I wouldnt recommend buying it unless you are a die hard fan of the series.
================
Berserk - Dude... If you buy only ONE anime this year. BUY BERSERK the BOXED SET. I bought this bad boy more than a year ago. But I MUST tell you that this is one of THE best Animes I have ever seen since the 90s. The characters are great, the action is great, the story is WONDERFUL.
The Story is deep and engaging. Maybe not deep, but its very enjoyable to watch. Its about a guy named Guts. The first episode introduces us to Guts as he searches for a item called the "Behelit". But then, at Episode 2 the story shifts Backwards in time and we learn the story from the beginning. The story of Guts and why he is searching for a behelit. Why he has a mark on his neck. Why strange ghouls haunt him at night.
The story of Guts is just an awesome and adventure filled tale. Its also dark. I dont want to spoil anything. But we follow guts from a teenager all the way to an adult. He starts off as a mercenary for hire and it should be said, hes the best of the best. He's able to take down the mightiest of opponents and surprises everyone out on the battlefield.
But he does it for the money. Then, one day he meets a man his age named Griffith. This starts the true story of Guts. Griffith beats Guts in a fight and, because of a bet, Guts is forced to serve and follow Griffith. Along the way they become the best fighters and the best of friends.
the story takes them through many wars filled with great music and action. I mean, its just fun seeing how they win these awesome battles. They could be outnumbered, or have any sort of disadvantage. But you can bet that Griffith will figure out a way to win and Guts will ensure that they do win.
The rise of Griffith's army and it's future are GREAT. This story is just... You guys MUST see this. The ending of this anime shocked me BIG TIME. It comes out of NOWHERE. I will just say that DONT SPOIL IT. Trust me. Dont go to websites and spoil yourself. Pick up the anime and check it out.
You will be very surprised by the ending. Its just shocking.. really shocking. I couldnt believe what I saw at the end and it was chilling, depressing, sad, and delightful all at the same time. Mostly depressing and chilling though. I mean really depressing.
This anime is a MUST BUY for any Anime Fan. Or download. Or whatever the hell you want to do. I personally buy my shizzle though. Also, before you go downloading, I should mention (for you Sub Snobs) that the Dub of this anime is some of the best work ever. The voice of Goku is in there too. Its not too hard to pick him out. He plays various characters.
=======
Angelic Layer - I have alwayrs wanted to check this one out. I grabbed the entire series and I was hugely dissapointed. Sure the animation and the action is great. The music is alright too. But the conversations are painfully boring and stupid. I mean, whoever wrote the scripts for the English dialogue needs to be fired. It pretty much follows the Japanese scripts exactly but that's the problem. Americans dont TALK like the Japanese do. It's annoying to hear the main character quietly repeat EVERYTHING that's told to her and act befuddled at the same time.
"Boys?"
Yes.. Boys. Those kids you play with you STUPID GIRL! *slaps the stupid girl* I mean god damn. They could have at least attempted to change the wording of the dialogue a bit so it sounds more natural. Because Im sorry guys, it doesnt sound natural in English the way it does in Japanese.
If you buy this one, I guess buy at your own risk. Know that Japanese or English aside.. the story is alright but the conversations are completely boring and tired. Just not enjoyable to sit through at all. though it is an ok anime. I didnt like it that much. In fact, watched most of it then put it down for 3-4 months before finishing it. that's how boring it started becoming. Though the little robot battles were fun to watch.
===========================
So that's it for today. Just some recent aquisitions I felt like reviewing for the board.
Im not your typical Fanboy. I loved the anime I grew up with. I loved the anime of the 90s. Those were some of the best. Nothing but great titles. The anime of today is boring, generic, tired, stupid, and the Dubbing is HORRIBLE in todays anime. Everyone tries real hard to sound either REALLY high pitched and fucking crazy or they try to sound really windy and just like Japanese counterparts.
Like in Chrono Crusade. I cant stand that anime. Sorry but the Male kid, Chrono or whatever? No. The American voice actor tries too hard to sound like the Japanese counterpart but what he should be doing is trying to provide a NATURAL sounding english voice of a NATURAL english 13 year old kid. I cant stand it honestly. Nothing against Japanese but its just how you do proper Dubbing people. You dont try to sound like something you are not.
Like wtf is up with ADV putting these Old Exaggerated Texan accents in particular Samurai animes? That's annoying and extremely goofy sounding. I've heard these stupid, cliche' Texan accents in Kyo and Peace Maker. It's just stupid and funny and not really something I want to hear. How about having them talk NORMAL?
Sheesh. But then again, maybe Im too nit picky. But sorry. I dont praise everything just because its an anime. Thats not how I work. Just because its a anime doesnt mean its good. There are some gems left out there though. Amongst all the **** we are getting there are some good titles.
==============
Interlude - I got this anime and by looking at the cover, I wasnt expecting much. In fact, I figured it would suck. Honestly, the cover is really generic, and not really telling of what to expect. Never judge a book by it's cover but for alot of Animes you can judge it by the cover. This isnt the case here. The anime is only 3 episodes long (only one dvd! Good sale perk!) and its 2 hours overall. The story starts out really generic. You have your typical Japanese school guy. The cute girl who really likes him. Cute girls friends. The huge chested chick. Etc etc.
From the beginning of the series, we see alot of the "Nightmare" "Dream" type plot development. Where the main character has strange dreams and premonitions and doesnt understand them. And there's alot of them. They arent anything special at first but give it time. They give you enough of them that you can begin to piece together what's going on. But you won't really have things totally figured out till the end. Unless you are psychic. Which would suck cause then nothing would surprise you and there would be no entertainment for you. Annnywho.
This anime features two Voice Actors that I noticed only by hearing their voice. If someone else was there that I didnt notice then oh well. One is the main character. The guy is voiced by Tyson of Beyblade. It took me forever to figure out who the voice belongs to.
The second voice featured is... None other than the original voice of SAILOR MOON as the voice of Aya. Its hard to recognize her voice at first. But wait until Episode 3. And you should definitely be hearing a familiar Moon Powered voice. Her cry of "Nooo" is a DEAD give away as it sounds exactly like the time she cried "Noo" for Tuxedo Mask. It was great to hear her voice again. I love that woman.
Anywho, by the third episode, all the dream stuff starts coming together and the story comes towards a conclusion. All in all, I loved the anime and it was great. I was glad to purchase it and I definitely think you guys should check it out too. The dream/premonitions are explained and put together by the end. By then, you should have already guessed or explained most of them yourself. They arent that hard to piece together but seeing them properly explained. It was kind of sad too. And I like those Sad/Remorse/Happy type endings.
I dont want to spoil anything so I wont give away any hardcore story details. But the story is basically about this guy who has had some strange dreams. He keeps seeing this girl every now and then in his dreams AND in the real world and he strives to figure out what it all means. By the end, he does.
===================
Tenjho Tenge - This is another anime that I wasnt expecting much out of. Because lately, Anime sucks people. Anime of the 90s were the best ever. Sorry, but Anime after 2000 just really sucks. Because companies are no longer trying to give us the GOOD TV shows from Japan. They give us everything. They look at an anime and say "can we package this?". Where as they used to say "Is this good?". That's how we get pieces of garbage like MilkChan Show.
There's only been a few Anime that have been great after 2000. This is one of them. I wasnt expecting much. Because the character designs were very generic. Very old and stale. We've seen it ALL before. There was nothing new. But that's where looks are decieving.
The anime is about two guys, Nagi and Bob, who are good fighters. They go to school and school, beat up all the students and take it over. So here they arrive at a new school and plan on taking it over just like before. But the thing here is, this school has really strong fighters. They have no problems at first but then they get defeated by the schools WEAKEST martial arts club team.
The action is pretty good. Like Kenshin good. You see alot of the moves and the animation is fluid and flows really well. Probably not as good as Champloo action though. Not yet anyway. The story picks up from episode 1 and keeps going strong. I only got 1 dvd which has 4 episodes and I was really entertained. I plan on buying the rest of the series, definitely!
Action fans, this is a great anime. The story is basic and the character designs are basic. But they have good personalities. There are some generic cliche's in this anime. But I easily overlooked them because I was entertained mostly. I enjoyed watching it. Also, you should recognize the singers of the Theme Song. I mean it should INSTANTLY sound familiar to you. Because the band that sings the Tenge theme song also did a Song for Kamen Rider 555. Im sure you will figure it out quickly.
I say buy it. Definitely.
==================
Sakura Wars the Movie - I always wanted to see Sakura Wars. The Theme Song is catchy but I never got around to it. I grabbed the movie instead... Well. This movie sucked honestly. It's slow moving, the pacing is a bit off and the writing isnt that great. Sure, we get kewl characters, funny conversations, and kewl new villains to enjoy. The story is ok too but it was mostly boring. I mean, I think the Train/Launch of the Robots scene took WAY too long. This movie pays alot of attention to detail and slow dramatics. But it suffers from good writing. What did we get at the end of this? Nothing new really. Other than the power of loyalty and friendship. Which is a tired and overused story. Its not a bad one but you would think they would do something a little more special for a MOVIE of a popular series.
The action was ok. More so it was lazy because of everything being 3D. Honestly, Im sure Sakura Wars the series must be good. But the movie just flat out sucked. I wouldnt recommend buying it unless you are a die hard fan of the series.
================
Berserk - Dude... If you buy only ONE anime this year. BUY BERSERK the BOXED SET. I bought this bad boy more than a year ago. But I MUST tell you that this is one of THE best Animes I have ever seen since the 90s. The characters are great, the action is great, the story is WONDERFUL.
The Story is deep and engaging. Maybe not deep, but its very enjoyable to watch. Its about a guy named Guts. The first episode introduces us to Guts as he searches for a item called the "Behelit". But then, at Episode 2 the story shifts Backwards in time and we learn the story from the beginning. The story of Guts and why he is searching for a behelit. Why he has a mark on his neck. Why strange ghouls haunt him at night.
The story of Guts is just an awesome and adventure filled tale. Its also dark. I dont want to spoil anything. But we follow guts from a teenager all the way to an adult. He starts off as a mercenary for hire and it should be said, hes the best of the best. He's able to take down the mightiest of opponents and surprises everyone out on the battlefield.
But he does it for the money. Then, one day he meets a man his age named Griffith. This starts the true story of Guts. Griffith beats Guts in a fight and, because of a bet, Guts is forced to serve and follow Griffith. Along the way they become the best fighters and the best of friends.
the story takes them through many wars filled with great music and action. I mean, its just fun seeing how they win these awesome battles. They could be outnumbered, or have any sort of disadvantage. But you can bet that Griffith will figure out a way to win and Guts will ensure that they do win.
The rise of Griffith's army and it's future are GREAT. This story is just... You guys MUST see this. The ending of this anime shocked me BIG TIME. It comes out of NOWHERE. I will just say that DONT SPOIL IT. Trust me. Dont go to websites and spoil yourself. Pick up the anime and check it out.
You will be very surprised by the ending. Its just shocking.. really shocking. I couldnt believe what I saw at the end and it was chilling, depressing, sad, and delightful all at the same time. Mostly depressing and chilling though. I mean really depressing.
This anime is a MUST BUY for any Anime Fan. Or download. Or whatever the hell you want to do. I personally buy my shizzle though. Also, before you go downloading, I should mention (for you Sub Snobs) that the Dub of this anime is some of the best work ever. The voice of Goku is in there too. Its not too hard to pick him out. He plays various characters.
=======
Angelic Layer - I have alwayrs wanted to check this one out. I grabbed the entire series and I was hugely dissapointed. Sure the animation and the action is great. The music is alright too. But the conversations are painfully boring and stupid. I mean, whoever wrote the scripts for the English dialogue needs to be fired. It pretty much follows the Japanese scripts exactly but that's the problem. Americans dont TALK like the Japanese do. It's annoying to hear the main character quietly repeat EVERYTHING that's told to her and act befuddled at the same time.
"Boys?"
Yes.. Boys. Those kids you play with you STUPID GIRL! *slaps the stupid girl* I mean god damn. They could have at least attempted to change the wording of the dialogue a bit so it sounds more natural. Because Im sorry guys, it doesnt sound natural in English the way it does in Japanese.
If you buy this one, I guess buy at your own risk. Know that Japanese or English aside.. the story is alright but the conversations are completely boring and tired. Just not enjoyable to sit through at all. though it is an ok anime. I didnt like it that much. In fact, watched most of it then put it down for 3-4 months before finishing it. that's how boring it started becoming. Though the little robot battles were fun to watch.
===========================
So that's it for today. Just some recent aquisitions I felt like reviewing for the board.
Im not your typical Fanboy. I loved the anime I grew up with. I loved the anime of the 90s. Those were some of the best. Nothing but great titles. The anime of today is boring, generic, tired, stupid, and the Dubbing is HORRIBLE in todays anime. Everyone tries real hard to sound either REALLY high pitched and fucking crazy or they try to sound really windy and just like Japanese counterparts.
Like in Chrono Crusade. I cant stand that anime. Sorry but the Male kid, Chrono or whatever? No. The American voice actor tries too hard to sound like the Japanese counterpart but what he should be doing is trying to provide a NATURAL sounding english voice of a NATURAL english 13 year old kid. I cant stand it honestly. Nothing against Japanese but its just how you do proper Dubbing people. You dont try to sound like something you are not.
Like wtf is up with ADV putting these Old Exaggerated Texan accents in particular Samurai animes? That's annoying and extremely goofy sounding. I've heard these stupid, cliche' Texan accents in Kyo and Peace Maker. It's just stupid and funny and not really something I want to hear. How about having them talk NORMAL?
Sheesh. But then again, maybe Im too nit picky. But sorry. I dont praise everything just because its an anime. Thats not how I work. Just because its a anime doesnt mean its good. There are some gems left out there though. Amongst all the **** we are getting there are some good titles.
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