Category: Reviews
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One Piece – Finishing Enies Lobby ~ To the ocean, back to the sea of adventure
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – Finishing Enies Lobby ~ To the ocean, back to the sea of adventureWhen you enjoy something so completely, it’s never easy to write a review about it, and, as if you didn’t know already, I love One Piece. Of course, I could just not bother with this blogging nonsense, but I can’t ignore my conscience. More people need to be watching this anime and, in my own…
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One Piece – A nostalgic comment, nearing the end of my adventure
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – A nostalgic comment, nearing the end of my adventureI’m up to episode 301 of One Piece; 15 more and I’ll have finally caught up with the current fansubs. It’s taken me nearly three years to get this far and now I’m almost there, I have this weird feeling. It’s been great knowing that if I’m ever bored with anime, if I ever wanted…
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The end of Death Note: a poison, creating wicked hearts
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/ ReviewsRead More →: The end of Death Note: a poison, creating wicked heartsDeath Note is a “… poison, creating wicked hearts”, said the concerned prudes at Chinese schools after some ‘corrupted’ kids were discovered to be using their home-made murder pages to curse fellow students. This was back in 2005; the first time I’d heard of the now famous Death Note. Since then, I’ve always been interested…
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The difference between original anime and manga adaptations: soul
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/ ReviewsRead More →: The difference between original anime and manga adaptations: soulFLCL and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Both are produced at everyone’s favorite GAINAX, but more importantly, they are original stories (i.e. not based on manga); conceived and animated by the same creative people. Cowboy Bebop‘s the same, Eureka Seven and even Last Exile too. Casting a net over this spring season’s offerings, we turn up arguably…
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Gurren Lagann (12) – May be now they won't be so quick to underestimate the human scum
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Gurren Lagann (12) – May be now they won't be so quick to underestimate the human scumTo be honest, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy episode 12 of Gurren Lagann. Obviously, it’s the cliche beach episode; and even from the preview, it looked like a waste of time. Mostly, the first half of this episode is tits and ass, constantly poking at the otaku, trying to incite moe. It has funny moments,…
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Digimon Adventure (Movie 1) – Believe me, it really is that good!
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Digimon Adventure (Movie 1) – Believe me, it really is that good!It’s brilliant to be in this position. The last thing I expected to be writing about is Digimon, but that’s just typical of life; ever twisting, ever unpredictable. So this morning I was reading about Mamoru Hosoda – a rising star of anime who is just now making an international impact with “The Girl Who…
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Impressions of Bokurano – It's alright, 'cause there's beauty in the breakdown
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Impressions of Bokurano – It's alright, 'cause there's beauty in the breakdownI’ve seen seven episodes, but I’m yet to pass much comment on the Bokurano anime. Given its rather controversial themes and notably downbeat tone, I’m not sure if it’s right to say I’m enjoying it. I don’t have fun watching Bokurano, it doesn’t inspire me to wax lyrical about it’s quality, in fact, I find…
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Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie – A thoroughly unpretentious lesson in arse-kicking
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie – A thoroughly unpretentious lesson in arse-kickingSometimes it’s hard to look at movies objectionably; I grew up in the 90s and during this exciting decade, Street Fighter II was the ultimate beat ’em up arcade game. Not only was it fun to play, it was a great source of competition too; anyone who put their money into the arcade version was…
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One Piece – I want to live!!
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – I want to live!!The time of writing this is 00:01; mid-night. I’m up for work tomorrow at 07:15. I should be in bed, but instead, I’m wide awake, filled with the burning passion to write this post, to write anything about One Piece. It’s kind of odd, really, I mean, why? What is it about anime — and…
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It's theEnd of the world! Reflecting on Eureka Seven!
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/ ReviewsRead More →: It's theEnd of the world! Reflecting on Eureka Seven!It’s taken me two or three months, but today I finally finished watching Eureka Seven. Like whenever I finish reading a book or watching a long TV series, I feel like I’ve accomplished something big, but at the same time, I’ve grown attached to the Gekko-go and I’m not ready to wave good-bye. I adore…
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One Piece – High gears, high drama and why Sogeking is the coolest
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – High gears, high drama and why Sogeking is the coolestPrior to this evening, it had been nearly two months since I last sat down with an episode of One Piece. I’d finally reached the promised land of the Enies Lobby arc but some what worryingly, it wasn’t clicking with me. I found the plot was becoming fairly predictable and excruciatingly slow, while even the…
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Gurren Lagann – 8 – Spoiler warning
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Gurren Lagann – 8 – Spoiler warningIt’s not fair. Amazing episode, amazing animation and amazing twist. I can’t believe we’ve just lost such a great personality. Gutted. I want to say more but there is no point, just watch this episode and you’ll understand this vast sense of emptyness. Where the hell does Gurren Lagann go now?!
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Gungrave, last three episode of. Recommended times infinity.
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Gungrave, last three episode of. Recommended times infinity.Now that Harry’s henchmen have been all but vanquished, Millenion’s stranglehold on the city has crumbled into nothing but dust. Looking to avenge his old friends and settle old scores, the scarred and tired Brandon is left searching deserted streets for his arch enemy, while Harry scrambles from place to place, trying to regain control…
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Discovering Eureka Seven; mecha and dehumanisation
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Discovering Eureka Seven; mecha and dehumanisationIn my previous E7 article, “Discovering Eureka Seven; subtext and pop culture“, I briefly touched on the pervasive themes of war laced through out the series, going so far as to compare it to Akitaro Daichi’s post-apocalyptic (underrated) masterpiece “Now and Then, Here and There“. As a genre, we’re conditioned to believe animation is for…
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Seirei no Moribito – Rocks like a bears back
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Seirei no Moribito – Rocks like a bears backIt’s been a few years since I last enjoyed a Production I.G. TV series. The "mega-hit" Blood+ was a safe and predictable action series, while the elegant period setting of Le Chevalier D`Eon was dull and uninspired. All that is to say, I suppose I was expecting to be bored when watching Seirei no Moribito…
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Claymore – Searching for humanity in a violent world
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Claymore – Searching for humanity in a violent worldI’m really enjoying watching Claymore at the moment (as of episode 4), yet oddly, I’m finding it hard to pin down exactly what I like about it. It’s probably the setting; I just really like the European medieval period — a time when any person; strong in arm and sword in hand, could conquer and…
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Discovering Eureka Seven; subtext and pop culture
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Discovering Eureka Seven; subtext and pop cultureUnawares and unwilling, often the best anime passes me by. Deep down I think I always knew I would love Eureka Seven, but for whatever reason, like I said, it just passed me by. That is, until now. Maybe because it’s spring time; the grass is green and the leaves are greener, and I’m just…
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Big and dumb mecha show, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Big and dumb mecha show, Tengen Toppa Gurren LagannIn a word, the 2007 spring season has been AWESOME. So much so, I’m already fearing the potential back-log of episodes. Of the 7+ new shows I’m following, my favourite right now is Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. It’s hard to know what to expect from Gainax these days, but I had great fun watching this.…
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Hataraki Man – Entering the hard boiled wonderland
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Hataraki Man – Entering the hard boiled wonderlandWhile the spring season blossoms with new anime, I’m still frozen in winter wonderland with Hataraki Man. This is another show that, for whatever superficial reasoning, I had managed to avoid until this past weekend. Fate conspired to bring us together. These are my thoughts so far, but be warned, Hataraki Man is a (rather…
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Gunbuster – I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Gunbuster – I Love You But I've Chosen DarknessPutting aside the hyperbole and the fandom that seems to hold hands and religiously scream about every post-digisub series (myself included), the majority of newly crafted anime is objectively mediocre and creatively flat. Realizing this, yet still hopelessly attracted to spending an inexplicable amount of time rooted in front of the stuff, it’s about time…
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Naruto Shippuuden – 5 – Keep The Car Running
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Naruto Shippuuden – 5 – Keep The Car RunningThe massive clash of Gaara’s sand vs. Akatsuki’s blonde bombshell Deidara rages ever on while Naruto and Sakura celebrate with a bowl of ramen having again teamed up with their perverted old sensei; anti-social bastard that he is, Kakashi declines their company, no doubt to finish off the latest volume of his favourite romantic yarn…
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One Piece – Being the weak one sucks, just ask Usopp
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/ ReviewsRead More →: One Piece – Being the weak one sucks, just ask UsoppBeing the weak one sucks, just ask Usopp – beaten within an inch of his life and robbed of a new found fortune; the money was for everyone; for his nakama. They relied on him to carry it and he lost it. They wouldn’t lose it, but he did, because he is Usopp – the…
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Naruto Shippuuden – 1 to 2 – Well worth the wait, my fellow Narutards
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Naruto Shippuuden – 1 to 2 – Well worth the wait, my fellow NarutardsI forgot how damn awesome Naruto is when it gets serious. These first two episodes are brilliant, the new soundtrack is wonderful too; dramatic, epic and even a little nostalgic. It just looks and sounds all grown up. After this and Mushishi, composer Toshio Masuda is fast becoming my favourite anime soundtrack-er. There is an…
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Nodame Cantabile – Big fluffy clouds and endless blue sky
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Nodame Cantabile – Big fluffy clouds and endless blue skyHoney & Clover was a great show, and a cherished, personal favourite of mine. That was what first attracted me to Nodame Cantabile. They share the same animation studio, director and character designer; a.k.a winning formula. I’m trying to emphasize that expectations are a bitch, and this time the benchmark was set particularly high; so…
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MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno – Kissing The Christmas Killer
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno – Kissing The Christmas KillerFor what seems like forever, I’ve been a hopeless follower of Yoko Kanno’s music. I adore almost every single one her soundtracks, from the jazzy Cowboy Bebop to the sweeping, epic sound of Vision of Escaflowne. With a lot of anime composers, I tend to blow hot and cold – meaning I can love a…
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Hokuto no Ken: The Legend of Raoh – Demonic fist of the devil
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Hokuto no Ken: The Legend of Raoh – Demonic fist of the devilAlong with Ninja Scroll, I grew up watching the Fist of the North Star movie. I was attracted by the unapologetic gore but this was no mere action flick – set in a post apocalyptic world ravaged by nuclear holocaust, I felt in awe of the endlessly barren landscapes, the grandiose struggle for power between…
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Naruto – 219 – For the love of god, not long now
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Naruto – 219 – For the love of god, not long nowWe join the “fun” just as Gaara corners the warrior from Takumi, and given his murderous ability, a simple win for the ultra-strong sand man is expected, but the warrior turns to confidently exclaim, as diabolical villains often do, that in fact, Gaara is now “the one cornered! Muhaha…” Naruto arrives on cue just in…
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Death Note – 15 – It's been all sorts of fun, L
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Death Note – 15 – It's been all sorts of fun, LIt’s around about now that we realise Death Note is becoming more than a very good anime series. It’s becoming one of those “OMFG-WTF-CLIFFHANGER!?!” types. I can feel the hysteria surging within me. 15 episodes in and the twists and turns of the story are still as unpredictable as ever. Watching it makes me a…
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Berserk – 3 – The Hawk that soars ever higher
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Berserk – 3 – The Hawk that soars ever higherThe moustache twiddling decadence caused by extended aristocracy is an issue central to the narrative of Berserk. Regardless of social standing, we all like to dream that we are destined for greatness, to achieve something worthwhile. Aristocracy exists to elongate wealth and protect respect no matter what the cost, and that often includes suppressing the…
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Red Garden – Only in death do they find true happiness
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – Only in death do they find true happinessI’ve been an advocate of Red Garden since the first episode, but until this past weekend I hadn’t seen beyond episode three. Red Garden isn’t easy to watch – if the characters aren’t paralysing my brain with screaming, tearful grief, they start singing instead. I like that the show is trying something different with the…
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Berserk – 2 – Sparks fly as the wheels of fate spin
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Berserk – 2 – Sparks fly as the wheels of fate spinEpisode two introduces us to the important characters that make up the “Band Of The Hawk” – in other words, the personalities that dominate the rest of Berserk. The dark-skinned Casca is an exceptionally talented swordsman who just so happens to be a woman. That she commands so much respect amongst her comrades suggests that…
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MP3 Spotlight: Conquer the world with Death Note
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Conquer the world with Death NoteI’m sitting here feeling like I can take on the world, I’m listening to the Death Note soundtrack. This is the music that makes Light scribbling in his notebook"¦, hell, eating a packet of crisps, rock us like it’s an earth shattering moment. Understand then that this music is overblown and melodramatic, and love it…
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Berserk – 1 – An introduction to obsession
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Berserk – 1 – An introduction to obsessionI’m just going to come right out and say it — Berserk is my favourite anime of all time. I became an anime fan because of Naruto, but Berserk and its alluring quantities of bloody violence, epic action and tragic friendship immediately captured my heart and held onto it ever since. I still remember having…
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D.Gray-man – 12 – Limitless sacrifice?
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/ ReviewsRead More →: D.Gray-man – 12 – Limitless sacrifice?Like most of its Shonen Jump brethren, D.Gray-man is weakly balanced on a thin line between generic and fun. Just this evening I’ve caught up to episode 12 and feel torn by the somewhat superficial character development. Moody bishonen Kanda is a good example of how utterly archetypal some of these characters are – to…
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MP3 Spotlight: Highlights of Welcome to the NHK!
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Highlights of Welcome to the NHK!Looking back on 2006 we have seen a handful great series come and go, but even fewer great soundtracks have enlightened our senses. And when I say great, I mean music you can listen to at home, at work and on the bus. Toshio Masuda’s beautifully sparse work on Mushishi was a relaxing and naturally…
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Welcome to the NHK [END] – And so dies the NEET
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK [END] – And so dies the NEETIt was cute to see NHK end with a role reversal between Misaki and Satou – there are big differences between a lazy hikkimori and having a genuinely mixed up life. In spite of his personal problems Satou was always a fairly normal person just in need of tough love. When his parents’ money dries…
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Again the fate of the world is in the hands of 14 kids (Bokurano)
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Again the fate of the world is in the hands of 14 kids (Bokurano)Its been a while readers, 7 days to be precise, and as we all know, 7 days on internet may as well be a lifetime. I won’t labor you with the details, but suffice to say that this gradual slow down in blogging is sadly down to cliche reasons; I have found a new job…
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Observations of Everything: Bye-Bye November
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Read More →: Observations of Everything: Bye-Bye NovemberStill hopelessly hooked on… Black Lagoon (2nd Barrage) Episode 19 and counting The bog-standard Naruto fillers would be a lot more interesting if they managed to nab the creative bastards working on Black Lagoon. With that said the 2nd season has often flattered to deceive and appears to be more content to up the ante…
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Welcome to the NHK! – (Never) Learning to Fly
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – (Never) Learning to FlyHaving just finished watching episode 19, this must be the first time I’ve left off Welcome to the NHK feeling happy! It was fantastic to see a smiling Torotoro-san biking around and about the streets of Tokyo; you can see in his grinning face that suddenly life is worth living again. Despite Satou’s constant whining,…
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Reflecting on Kemonozume – Too cool for otaku
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Reflecting on Kemonozume – Too cool for otakuIt’s fair to say that the creative staff “working on” (more like playing with) Kemonozume must have had so much fun, from flying heads and sexed up monkeys to a perverted old man shoving a pair of severed female arms down his skanky speedos – this is a show that clearly had no pretension of…
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Giant Robo – Man-size anime
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Giant Robo – Man-size animeAbly piloting his nuclear powered giant robot (sensibly dubbed "Giant Robo"), Daisaku Kusama is a brave young kid charged with the every day fate of saving the world. We join his story with his team mates in the internationally renowned "Experts of Justice" jumping (and teleporting!) from country to country fighting off the monstrous terrorists…
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Kemonozume – 10 – Sex-starved monkeys and eating fish with giant detectives
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 10 – Sex-starved monkeys and eating fish with giant detectivesSince we’re now hitting the final couple of episodes, Kemonozume is building up to an action packed climax. The villain, or “big boss”, has turned out to be the fat Ohba – I liken his bizarre appearance to that of a clown, and deep down, we’re all scared of clowns – their smiley made-up faces…
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Welcome to the NHK! – 16 – The Ultimate NEET
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – 16 – The Ultimate NEETThere was always going to be a twist behind the real world identity of Mia. “She” was too perfect, Satou loved her too much, and NHK! isn’t about Satou being in love. I certainly didn’t see it being Yamazaki though – jeez, that was cruel of him. And then there is the flash-forward to Satou’s…
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Red Garden – 3 – Theatrical heart break
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – 3 – Theatrical heart breakEpisode 3 of Red Garden is the best yet; the viewer leaves this instalment drenched in suspense, mystery and blood, and all the while we’re slowly beginning to understand what’s happened to the girls – or rather, how they died! There are still big question marks hanging over why they were all together on *that*…
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Kemonozume – 9 – Old habits die hard
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 9 – Old habits die hardStill on the run from the Kifuuken, we join the love birds Yuka and Toshihiko aimlessly wandering down vast and empty roads when they are offered a lift by an old married couple. Their journey (squeezed inside a white van) is a chance for them to reflect on their young relationship, inspired by the beautiful…
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Kemonozume – 8 – Hard violence, hard sex, hard feelings
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Kemonozume – 8 – Hard violence, hard sex, hard feelingsAt the beginning of this episode a boy student is excitedly kissing his innocent girlfriend for the first time. They hold each other in an emotional embrace, it is a pivotal moment in their lives, “Ah the day has finally come, Takako-Chan’s warm, soft, slippery thing is in my mouth…”. But the boy gets too…
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Red Garden – 2 – Expensive shirts and werewolves
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Red Garden – 2 – Expensive shirts and werewolvesI do love mysterious horror stories, especially when the viewer is as much at a loss as to what is going on as the characters themselves. The supernatural Red Garden is growing with this creeping intrigue, it’s bizarre and confusing and a lot of my interest is now centred on eventually finding answers. In some…
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Welcome to the NHK! – 14 to 15 – MMORPGs destroy lives… mmmk?
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/ ReviewsRead More →: Welcome to the NHK! – 14 to 15 – MMORPGs destroy lives… mmmk?The relentless waves of depression continue unabated with these two episodes as Satou (hardly recovered from his suicidal exploits) stupidly falls foul to the life sucking world of MMORPGs. These highly addictive and never ending online games are undoubtedly one of the major forces behind what is becoming a worldwide epidemic of hikkimori, but what…