Future Diary Review

By: 14thLord

Release: 2011
Genre: Action, Psychological, Supernatural
Also known as: Mirai Nikki, Future Journal

Ah Future Diary, also more popularly known as Mirai Nikki thanks to the low advertised release of the Funimation dub. What might have caused such a low level release you ask? Well, it could have something to do with the copious amounts of fully drawn breasts, and heavy mature elements being commonplace. Dont mistake that I'm talking about it being an ecchi, if anything it's the opposite. Be warned, if you're easily affected by mature content. This anime is not for the sensitive.

This anime is difficult to categorize into primary genres, because as it goes on, the genre mixes and changes. The tone will just as quickly go from light hearted comedy with fan service moments, to serious action, romance, and drama. In the end though, I believe it's Action, Psychological, and Supernatural that triumph for my genre categories.

The general premise of the show is Deus Ex Machina, (God of the world), decides to create a game. With 12 contestants in total, the winner shall succeed him. Each contestant is given a Future Diary, that is, their Diary now has entrees from the future. The entrees are those which the person would have eventually made within the next 90 days. Sounds simple enough, but here's where it gets interesting. In order to win, you must kill all other diary holders within 90 days. Usually these diaries were cell phones, but not always was that the case.

Yandere. If you've yet to hear of that term, let me explain it to you. Yandere is the combination of two Japanese words, Yanderu which means sick, and deredere, which means strongly and deeply infatuated. Knowing the meaning of these two words, one can simply assume the phrase to imply love sick, but it goes far beyond that, to an unhealthy obsession. It goes on to feature cute girls with blood splatter and butcher knives.

Now that you know what Yandere is, let me introduce you to the driving force of the anime. Yuno Gasai.

While not exactly the main character, few can say that Yuno doesn't drive Future Diary, from a watcher stand point or a plot point.

This is yet another anime that features what I found to be a very unlikable protagonist that is constantly making the dumb decisions that are the “moral” decisions. Please meet our central protagonist, Yukiteru Amano. A longer and more complicated name to remember to those not too faimilar with japanese names, but luckily he's often simply called Yuki. Just dont get him mixed up with Yuno due to beginning with the same two letters.

Of course Yuki's strong desire to do what's “right” often ends up with him nearly dying, before somehow surviving by chance and claiming victory. Throughout the anime, I must have called him an idiot or expected him to make a stupid choice at least once per episode. Not a good track record, Yuki.

While there exists a mystery element in who the other Future Diary holders are, it fails to take advantage of such elements and reveals things as soon as they're brought up. With the exception of the mystery behind Yuno and her love for Yuki, that is.

Such elements brought up but never utilized include the identities of the Future Diary users. Often they're revealed almost as soon as they're introduced. Oddly enough, all of them seem to know of Yuki from the beginning despite the anonymity of when they all met one another when Deus Ex Machina, god of the world, introduced them to one another. In addition, the Future Diaries are all supposedly unique to each person, but often people end up with either useless Diaries or it doesn't come into play except for awkward moments during fights. This is easily explained away due to the fact that Diary holders can just as quickly change the future, which causes the Diary updates.

Important note, if you watch this, there exists a single Ova titled Redial. This is a MUST watch, or else the ending will be a “What?” moment in a bad way. Unfortunately, Funimation has yet to dub this and there's no news of if or when it would be released.

Characters: 8/10
While Yuki is a weak protagonist, Yuno is a very strong character in and of herself. That and considering the surprising amount of depth within the other diary holders made this anime very enjoyable to watch and discuss. It's the characters that sell this piece, and how human they act when under such situations.

Plot: 7/10
The premise of this anime, I'll admit, was a tough sell. The idea of people combating each other with cell phones that could see the future did little to interest me. It felt a bit on the shallow end, and to be fair, it was. The plot doesn't do much in moving until vastly later on, but once it started going, I was hooked. I was at the edge of my seat, eagerly putting on the next episode until the climax. Unfortunately that climax ends up being quite premature as the episodes continue to drag on in an awkward manner. Despite a lot being revealed, it never captivated me as much as the episodes between 13-20 did.

Fun Factor: 9/10
Yuno sells this series and makes it very fun. She is absolutely MAD and that's a massive understatement. The series goes through fun action sequences with amazing moments of Yuno being absolutely scary and bonkers. I admit, that character alone made this series SO much more fun than it would have been had there been a normal character in her place. Throughout the series, Murmur, (Dues Ex Machina's small chibi assistant) gets into absolutely hilarious antics that had my friend and I on the ground laughing.

Music & Animation: 8/10
The animation, art, and the soundtrack aren't anything incredibly remarkable. That isn't to say it was a bore, but I won’t be eager to listen to any of the music outside of watching the episodes.

English Dubbing: 10/10
Funimation has come a LONG way since the early 00's. The voice cast was simply amazing throughout the series with very charismatic actors. You may recognize Yuno's voice actress, Brina Palencia from her work as Holo (Spice and Wolf), Ciel (Black Butler), Nina (Fullmetal Alchemist). Brina Palencia brought so much more life into Yuno, making a big selling point to watching the dubbed version rather than a sub with a more generic sounding voice actress. Special appreciation goes out to Leah Clark (Murmur), Kent Williams (Deus Ex Machina), and Ian Sinclair (Twelfth).

DVD Extras: 8/10
I figured to make a extra section where I'll briefly lay out the extras that come with the DVD's / Blurays to the curious buyer. Future Diary is split into two $40 DVD sets, the "limited edition" part one coming with Future Diary themed valentine day cards, and a bland box placeholder until you get part 2. The Box art and the DVD art itself is surprisingly bland despite the anime being nicely stylized, and I'm not too sure I'd say I personally liked it. Besides a few random Funimation trailers, it comes with a "Omake" which I didn't exactly understand, since it seems to be just the same episode as it's the "omake" of, except without the dubbing. Subs and language can be switched from the main menu, and it comes with 4 episode commentaries, each featuring 2 cast members discussing the episode and floating off topic. These commentaries were fun to watch, with my favorite being the last one which features the voice actors of Yuno and Yuki discussing things that my friends and I found ourselves discussing either later or prior.

Overall: 8/10
While the story is a bit weak and drags at points, the diverse and lively cast of real believable characters really made this anime something special. The premise itself of Future Diaries is very original and makes this a unique experience. Again, this anime is graphic and requires mature audiences that can handle these tones, which I find regrettable. Unfortunately because of the mature content, the United States distribution is far smaller than it deserves to be.

PS: Watch after the credits of each episode for amazing and hilarious moments with Murmur.

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DBZ: Battle of Gods Review

By: 14thLord

Release: 2013
Genre: Action, Super Powers, Comedy

It's been 17 years since the last Dragon Ball movie came out. Not counting certain specials, such as Episode of Bardock, Goku and His Friends return, etc. Was it worth the wait? More or less.

Lets get this started with the Dragon Ball Z / GT franchise have never been about... well, continuity, story, plot, depth, etc. Its always been at its core a series about light hearted action and being of immense super powers. If you'd argue this, literally every movie and special breaks the canon and cannot of happened based on the series. Even in the series canon is often brought up and forgotten at moments notices. So to be clear, the story isn't anything amazing, but it's nothing poor if you're into Dragon Ball Z.

Lets not bring up math and how Trunks and Goten should be in their teens by this point. Honestly, it doesn't matter too much. The story itself is simple. Bills, the current God of Destruction has awoken after a 15 year nap in a comedic way, at once showing that the new Dragon Ball Z material will be making its return back to more comedic and fun times of the original series.

Again we meet wonky looking aliens in the new drawing style that looks quite foreign to the old, which was used sparingly in the Dragon Ball Kai relaunch. Filler is near non-esitant as charging for power is kept to a minimal, and the focus is more on fun, so scenes that add nothing to the story fits quite well. Even the name Bills isn't the most serious name for a God of Destruction, and as you learn his character, he becomes increasingly comical despite the threat he presents.

Overall, Dragon Ball Battle of the Gods is a must watch. Unfortunately due to legal issues revolving around Fox, it may be awhile before we see Funimation dubbing this movie. On the bright side, projections are looking to say that this movie will be released sometime 2014, so stay tuned!

If you must know the overall plot, it follows Bills the legendary God of Destruction on his search for a threat to him. This threat was told of him by a oracle, and during his latest slumber he dreamed of it. Something called a Super Saiyan God. If you're familiar with DBZ and GT, you can instantly tell this is something new, never before seen. Of course the Saiyan race is all but gone, with all the remnants of it (besides Tarble) moving to earth. Oh and Goku who for some reason is just relaxing on King Kai's planet, which I thought was destroyed during the Cell Games. Alas, I'll just assume it's been either brought back in show or by some other means.

Characters: 7/10
Overall, all the characters act in character for themselves. Unlike all the other movies though, the other characters seem to get more of a highlight even if they're quickly forgotten. Still, the new current cast of characters all play a part, with a big thumbs up pointed at Vegeta's way. This is the first time that Goku won a battle where it felt like others actually mattered, even if they (as always) couldn't even weaken the villain for him.

Plot: 5/10
As mentioned, Dragon Ball Z has never been plot heavy. Yes there's a plot and it's not senseless, it takes us where we need to go. Even if it recons and forgets things here and there.

Fun Factor: 9/10
I have to say that this is where the movie shined its best. The feel of the movie was quite fun, humorous, and I never once got bored or felt the need to pull out a stop watch and time how long a fight took or how long it took to power up.

Music & Art: 8/10
You may remember the new art direction from the previous specials. While it's different than the style we're used to, it adds overall to the tone of the movie. The music itself isn't anything to speak of in particular.

English Dubbing: ---
This will be added when the movie is officially dubbed (and I've seen it).

Overall: 7/10
This movie gets a thumb up for watchable, and a +2 for longtime fans of the show. This movie stays true to the series and is just so much more fun than any of the older more serious movies.

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Psycho-Pass Review

By: Lostsakana

Release: 2012
Category: Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Thriller

Tired of sexism, clichés, stereotypes, and copy and paste storylines ruining your love for anime?

Psycho-Pass is an anime from last year that pretty much flew under the radar. It explores a dystopia in which people are regulated based on brainwave patterns that predict deviant behavior before it is committed. The main character, Akane Tsunamori, (a female in her early 20’s) is on an elite police team designated to hunt down criminals and capture or kill based on how far gone they are on a number scale read by detecting brain waves. Basically, if you’re crazy enough, they kill you.

I can’t begin to recommend this series enough. While it may not be for everyone, it’s dark and thought provoking. Twenty two episodes long, this series ran into early 2013 and there are rumors that a second season is in the works.

Before you dive into Psycho-Pass I’d like to explain three things.

1) The music is TERRIBLE. Not the background music, but the opening themes (there are two) are just atrocious, especially the first one. And the second opening theme… Sounds unmistakably like it was sung by the youtube flash video creator Weebl…

2) The premise is fabulous. It will remind you of ‘Brave New World’ and pretty much every other dystopia book you read in high school.

3) I’m so happy to see a heroine who is strongly written and non-sexualized. Her character is maybe the best part of this series. She and much of the rest of the cast show character growth as the series goes on.

Animation: 8/10
Yeah, not much to say here.

Music: 5/10
The background music is generally strong but the terrible opening/closing themes really drag it down… I’m serious: that first opening is a must see, merely because it’s so bad.

Story: 8/10
Psycho-Pass does have its problems, but they don’t take away from the general story or the enjoyment very much. But you may find yourself asking questions like “Why is this 99-floor government building completely unoccupied under ANY circumstances?” BUT I’M SERIOUS, YOU SHOULD STILL WATCH IT.

Characters: 8/10
Yep, I love the cast.

Premise: 10/10
I point this out because even if Psycho-Pass isn’t an epic classic that will rock the anime world, or even one of my favorite anime of all time, it is still the best effort I have seen in attempting something new I’ve seen in a VERY LONG TIME. Yeah, everyone should watch this, if only to encourage the writing and production of more series like this one.

Need another excuse to watch? The anime licensing company Funimation, which has perhaps the best PR department in the industry, is streaming the entire Psycho-Pass anime for free on their website via Hulu. Fuck yeah.

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Initial Thoughts: Attack on Titan (No Spoilers)

By: 14thLord

Release: 2013
Category: Action, Horror
Also known as: Shingeki No Kyojin, Advancing Giants

Shingeki No Kyojin, Advancing Giants, or Attack on Titan. Ah anime's will always have a fun variety of names, wont they? Beginning in April, we're witness to our newest flavor of the week. Attack on Titan is currently still airing, and as of the time I wrote this, 13 episodes have come out (not including the recap episode). By the time I publish this though, a couple more should have followed.

With a week break to recap the events of the prior episodes, I decided to get my initial thoughts out. This is the mid-seasonal break, and would serve as a bridge between Chapters, where my opinion may vastly change. I first heard about this anime in June, where my friend described it as being influenced by old European stories about giants, with them attacking human cities. I instantly pictured the old Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, a live action series from the 1990's, and was immediately disinterested.

Despite my ill opinion, the night of AnimeNext, we went on a short marathon of the first few episodes until our party members began to pass out from exhaustion. The marathon started strong as we were all blown away by a intro sequence that couldn't be described as any less than “Epic.” Perhaps one of the most engaging opening soundtracks, we're first treated with a Medieval crest. Soon we get a picture of the titans and wow, does the intro look impressive. It really starts strong and shows off the European mythology that spawned its creation.

Once the first episode begins, we're treated by the whiny, arrogant, annoying little brat that happens to be our main character. Besides Erin, we meet Mikasa, his sister who we later learn was adopted, and Armin, the blond boy. For some reason, this characters hairstyle very much reminded me of old King Arthur stories. Whether that was intentional or not, we'll see.

The first episode ends with perhaps one of the most shocking scenes I've seen. It is there that we gain full perspective of the titans that was spoken of throughout the episode, and at last, does giants come off as threatening. Perhaps its all the goofy giants in modern culture now, that made this scene so unnerving.

Throughout the next many episodes, we're again and again treated with shocking imagery, and learn to respect and fear giants once more. Understanding the weakness of giants from lore, the creators of Attack on Titan gave them quite a few tricks. Not only are these titans impossible to kill except by a surgical strike to their Cervical vertebrae, there exists abnormal Titans. These abnormal giants are capable of many unpredictable traits, making them far more dangerous than the standard mindless creatures.

While Attack on Titan starts out fast and hard, it quickly loses its momentum. Starting at episode 5, we're treated with a NINE part long chapter, “Battle of Trost District”. In this chapter, we spend whole episodes with nothing significant happening to move the story long. We literally spend the entire Episode 12, following Erin who's unconscious. Yeah.

Characters: 6/10
Erin, our annoying main character that I absolutely HATED the first 3-4 episodes. After which, I remained indifferent. Armin, a useless and afraid kid who too, is part of our main cast. Finally we have Mikasa, our quiet, yet competent character for a change. Out of all the characters, Mikasa took the greatest shine to me, making me like her even more once we're treated with her back story. Almost every character is portrayed as being extremely afraid of the Titans, and while it may work to build up the audience's fear of these creatures, after the first few episodes I was left more annoyed than anything else.

Plot: 6/10
While it's constantly wowing the audience, the more we learn, the more weird things we learn. While at the moment, it's more annoying than interesting, we'll see whether or not these questions will have compelling answers. My answer is on it either turns out bad, or is just plot holes.

Fun Factor: 9/10
The art starts out as fresh and unnerving, especially for the titans. We're taken through a fearful journey and are quickly treated with action. The anime thus far has been quite eventful, except for episode 11 and 12 which was spent with the main characters just running and sleeping. We'll see if it regains the momentum.

Soundtrack & Art: 8/10
While the art starts out somewhat surreal and attention grabbing, it has slowly been devolving into what comes off as very generic of anime. While it's still very good, only in the very beginning does it come off as attention grabbing. The opening theme though is by far one of the more amazing and “Epic” intro's that I've seen in awhile.

Overall: 7/10
Attack on Titan starts out amazing. It really does. Perhaps if it wasn't for the horrible characters, I may of enjoyed it far more, but at the end of each episode I was instead left ranting in annoyance about how much I want them to get eaten.

The first two episodes are a must watch, with each episode weaker than the last. I'll come back at the end of the shows run, and we'll see how much my opinion may have changed.

Also I swear, if this turns out to be a mecha, with humans piloting these giants, I will RAGE. I don't know why, but I've been expecting it since episode 2, and nothing has shaken that opinion.

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Heavens Memo Pad: No Spoiler Review

By: 14th Lord

Release: 2011
Category: Detective
Also known as: “Kamisama no Memochou” and “Gods Notebook”

Heavens Memo Pad, another in a short line of mystery detective animes to come out in recent years. There's few other anime's to compare the show to, taking notes from the slice of life genre, Heavans Memo Pad feels like that of a mature Detective Conan/Case Closed. Let me begin with this. If you enjoyed Detective Conan for the mystery aspect of the show, and wished it was better dubbed and had a more mature feel, this anime is right up your alley. If you hadn't gathered by that statement, this review is entirely based upon the dubbed version, as will all my anime reviews be, unless otherwise mentioned.

Beginning with Episode 1, we meet our main protagonist, Narumi. While he's presented as a generic everyman, a freshman student who happens to bump into a dubious operation in the scummy X rated district of town. After getting man handled a bit by a small man with a assault rifle and a army helmet. As Narumi's a High School freshman, that makes you ponder whether this stranger is legally a midget, or a tweeny that somehow got his hands on heavy artillery.

Well, he does continue to wear that helmet around the entirety of the anime, so that only adds more questions to how he's able to get his hands on heavy weaponry to carry in public. This clearly takes place in Japan, not America. Alas, this is only the first of the “NEET” detectives we meet, Shosa, who somehow made it to college.

While Shosa has a minor role, next member we meet is Ayaka, who happens to find Narumi as he isolates himself on the school roof. Off topic, but does anyone know If awesome rooftops actually exist on schools, or is it just anime's excuse to get the characters away from teachers and classrooms, while still being in school?

Anyway, while Ayaka is a fun and cheery girl, she's presented to be a bit on the absent minded side, often putting Narumi in suggestive positions, only to smack him and call him a pervert for it. Despite the fact that SHE was the one forcibly undressing another girl while he's in the room.

Speaking of Forcibly undressing, the poor victim of all this happens to be Alice, a small girl that has her own apartment above a ramen shop that NEET uses as their headquarters. Whether she's extremely smart or far older than she looks, I couldn't say, but I can say that she has stuffed animals bigger than her. And that's just adorable.

Last important cast member, unless you consider the woman that happens to run the ramen shop they fequent, is Soichirou. At least, I think that's his name. This mysterious yet noble yakuza crimelord is called several names, such as “The Fourth” “Yondaime” “Zone(Sou?)”, and Hina. I attempted to look this up and ended up only more confused on his name than I was to begin with. Lets just call him the White haired guy.

While Heavens Memo Pad could potentially make a good long running series, with each weak another mystery to unravel, it keeps itself short and sweet. Unlike Detective Conan, Heavans Memo Pad is a short series, only featuring 12 episodes, most of which personally involving the main cast, in a loose, story-arc light format.

Story Arcs include
Episode 1 (Stand Alone)
Episodes 2&3
Episode 4 (Stand Alone)
Episodes 5, 6, 7, 8
Episode 9 (Stand Alone)
Episodes 10, 11, 12

With only 4 episodes revolving around a “core” storyline (The first and final three), Heavens Memo Pad is easy to get into, take breaks, and finish off. Each of its story arcs are completely stand alone, and can easily be watched out of order. If you happen to start midway in a arc, its easy to figure out what happened based on whats going on, and thoroughly enjoy the episode. Unfortunately, this also means there's no truly strong and compelling storyline to speak of.

Characters: 6/10
Unfortunately for this anime, the characters are where it drops the ball. While there's hints that the characters may be interesting, only Alice actually stands out, with the rest falling under categories of character-types. Narumi's the everyman that's more capable than he expects. Ayaka is the bubbly girl that reaches out to the male lead, while at the same time being abusive and proclaiming he's a pervert for her inappropriate conduct. The rest are just plain forgettable. By no means though do I imply this means they're bad characters, perhaps with a longer season, or a second season, the characters could get a chance to grow on me more.

Plot: 8/10
While each arc is a stand alone, they all have a well thought out plot to each of them. The fact that most these stories are stretched across multiple episodes, really gives the writers room to expand and explore the situations as they come up.

Fun Factor: 7/10
If you love a detective story, you'll enjoy this. Unfortunately there's not enough clues that you might be able to guess the resolves, they do exist and if you have a imaginative mind, you might just be able to figure it out. The story itself is a bit slow, and if you're used to more excitement, it's easy to become bored while waiting for something to occur.

Sound & Art: 8/10
Heaven's Memo Pad, while nothing particularly notable about its art style in comparison to commonly produced, it is on the better looking side. As for sountracks, while most are quite forgettable, their intro piece, and the piece played when a revelation is made is very memorable.

English Dubbing: 9/10
Localized by Section23 (Otherwise known as Sentai Filmworks), Heavens Memopad has voices a large range of talented voice actors. While some of the voices can seem a little off for the characters, they are well acted, and well picked.

Overall: 7/10
While this anime's enjoyable, perhaps the greatest drawback is how short it is. I believe if given a longer run, the anime could equal the enjoyability of its rival mysteries, such as Detective Conan, or Gosick. Ironically enough, at the same time this aired, so did Gosick Like Heavens Memo Pad, Gosick features a very young and very short detective girl. If you're craving something else similar to Heavens Memo Pad, that anime might be of your liking.

The ending felt a bit on the empty side, which upon seeing that Heavens Memo Pad has had its run, leaves me disappointed. Perhaps if we see a Season 2, and this anime was given a longer chance to flesh out its ideas, it may of been so much better.

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Chaos;Head was Terrible. (No Spoilers!)

By: Lostsakana

Release: 2008
Category: Super Powers, Psychological

It's difficult to put your finger on exactly what's wrong with Chaos;head. But having watched it the whole way through, it's impossible to deny that the series is deeply and powerfully bad. Character motivations are conflicting and almost constantly they contradict themselves. I watched the dubbed version of Chaos;head but I have a feeling that not even the worst English-language director could be responsible for this many problems with the dialog and script-- I suspect that they didn't have much to work with; not much to make worse.

The main character, voiced by Todd Haberkorn, a talented voice actor in his own right, can’t save this terrible protagonist. As I stated before, the motivations aren't clear, and even Haberkorn can't carry the radical shifts in tone and script that the dialog seems to demand. Chaos;head is embarrassingly bad. It's almost as if the team of creators took a white board full of ideas and crammed them all together into one 12 episode piece of crap. There are too many things going on at once. I've heard it argued that the team didn't have enough episodes to work with so the plot was rushed, but I don't buy this excuse. The first 3-4 episodes were nearly unbearable to watch. They were jumbled, disorganized, and PAINFULLY slow...

I've seen few anime which promised excitement, drama, and horror and instead include almost exclusively bad "twists" with plot holes and failed directing. Few times I have been THIS bored and uninterested in an anime series even after several episodes in.

No, Chaos;head COULD have been pulled off. It really could have, but the directors, writers and animators all seemed to be working on a patchwork of failed ambitions. Even by the finale I was still just praying to be done with the show, but I kept watching: perhaps exclusively out of loyalty to the Steins;Gate team-- but not even a willingness to enjoy the series could survive after the first episode. This series is BAD. I am HIGHLY tempted to compile a list of all the flaws, but I'm too horrified by the prospect of having to skim through this terrible anime once more.

Overall Rating: 3 / 10
It’s just frustratingly bad, maybe because we know it had potential for so much more... It’s like if you were served bellow average food at an extremely fancy restaurant: it’s not HORRID but it’s bellow average and SO, SO, SOOOOO much lower quality than our expectations that its pathetic.

I don’t know. I really do think that it was a 3 at best.

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