Anime Decoy: 2016

Thoughts On Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Crystal Season I, II and III

DEMONS

Friday, December 23, 2016
2 Comments

Orange Review

DRAMA

Friday, November 18, 2016
0 Comments

Digimon Adventure tri. 3: Kokuhaku Review

ACTION

Friday, November 11, 2016
0 Comments

10 Anime That Will Make You Happy

LIST

Saturday, August 27, 2016
5 Comments

Aria the Avvenire: an extension to the Aria franchise, but most importantly, a gift to the fans who enjoyed the franchise in its entirety. More than a decade ago Aria the Animation made it’s debut, and was well received by the majority. The addition of Natural and Origination brought the franchise to a whole new level and elevated my personal view of what the “gold standard” in anime is.

Having said that, unfortunately the addition of Avvenire is only a three part special, but even so, those three episodes were everything... and more. Avvenire takes places a few years after Alice, Aika and Akari were promoted to Undines where they're mentoring their now kouhais, Ai, Azusa and Anya, in the mystical land of Neo Venezia. Avvenire brings a good mixture of stories from Akari's generation, the Water Fairies and the new generation, with very familiar forms of storytelling we've seen with the other three installments.

No complaints here with any of the episodes; the tone and vibe these specials gave off was exactly what I expected from the Aria franchise. Although produced by a different studio than Animation, Natural and Origination, I liked how Avvenire didn't just shove the new generation of gondoliers down our throats- which I originally was expecting. It's a good mix of short stories using all three generations of the gondoliers, which I enjoyed.

Let's not forget about the best aspect of Aria are those cats! Aria sachou and his antics on the side were amusing and a nice reminder as to why he's the #bestCat. That scene where Maa sachou, who grew A LOT, gave Aria sachou a good chomp to the stomach just reminded me how much I missed Aria.

The sound was pretty much consistent with what we'd expect from Aria. If anything I'm almost 100% sure that the OST is exactly the same. Which I might add the Aria OST is one of the best OSTs in anime. Not for nothing but the soundtrack is so soothing and the music is very, very serene.

Now one of the noticeably big differences between Animation, Natural and Origination in comparison to Avvenire was the animation. No comparison that Avvenire puts it's predecessors to shame- the animation of Avvenire is simply amazing. Everything to the stills, the buildings, the backgrounds, the water, the gondolas, etc... elevated to 2016 standards...haha. 2D animation is pretty much dominant in Avvenire with a touch of 3D when it comes to the animation of the water and fixtures in the background.

With all of that being said, it's sad to say but Avvenire is most likely the last chapter in the Aria franchise. Given what these three episodes unraveled, the final episode pretty much says it all- it's a bitter sweet goodbye to the Aria franchise. Out of everything Aria had to offer, the Origination installment is by far my favourite anime ever. However to end this on a good note Aria was a really simple, relaxing, soothing and nice anime; it's the antithesis of what usually grabs your attention. Sure the anime can be perceived as boring to others, but to me, it's a good series to watch when you just want to sit back and relax.

Monday, July 18, 2016
0 Comments

Kiznaiver Review

DRAMA

Monday, July 11, 2016
0 Comments

Kobato. Review

COMEDY

I just enjoyed this anime so much more than I anticipated. I was searching through the anime archives to find any anime to watch, and I've recently stumbled across Kobato. And what a joy it's been to watch this twenty-four long anime; no major drama to court your attention, plus no unnecessary antics to maintain your interests. Kobato was just a honest, and captivating anime about a girl with a heart of gold and lots of integrity.

The structure of the Kobato is somewhat episodic in the beginning but the anime gains a considerable amount of momentum as the episodes unfold and storylines strengthen. It's a story about a girl who've been granted a wish but under the condition that she fills a jar to the top with "confetti" by helping other mend their broken hearts. Under the supervision of the hot-tempered Ioryogi-san, Kobato gives a helping hand to those of need in hopes to gain confetti to fill up her jar. The concept of the plot is unique but how the whole story plays out is pretty much another run-of-the-mill predicable anime, but either way that doesn't take away the fact that Kobato is a great anime to watch.

What made Kobato enjoyable to watch was the polar opposite dynamics of Ioryogi and Kobato. Where Kobato is kind, gracious, oblivious, sweet and benevolent; Ioryogi is short-tempered, practical, pragmatic but secretly very caring towards Kobato. Why I liked watching Kobato herself was mainly because of her integrity, constantly wanting to help other with no personal gain for herself; even though she conveniently has something to gain from helping others with the whole storyline between her and Ioryogi. It's kind of refreshing to see good people like Kobato portrayed in anime.

Then there's Ioryogi, the counterpart to Kobato in the anime. Ioryogi provided comically relief to the anime. Not going to lie, even I had a few chuckles watching Kobato play the damsel in distress at times which most of the times got her in hot water by being subjected to verbal evisceration by Ioryogi.

Another key character in Kobato is Kiyokazu Fujimoto. Kobato spends most of her time assisting children at a daycare in the anime, where Fujimoto works there as a student teacher. Fujimoto comes off as a very coldhearted person towards most people, Kobato in particular. Most of his alienation towards others is explained in the story. But if you've seen the anime, it's pretty sweet as you keep watching the anime seeing his iced out heart being thawed out by Kobato.

If you know of CLAMP then you're probably familiar with Cardcaptors and Tsubasa Chronicle. Since Kobato was created by CLAMP, if you like the art from their other popular anime, then you'll probably like the art in Kobato since it's somewhat similar to their other pieces of work. Kobato has it's quote "moe" moments/scenes throughout the anime, if you don't mind stuff like that you might like the animation.

As for the music in Kobato, nothing really stood out. The OST was pretty... meh. Nothing spectacular. The sound is something you'd expect from some Disney fairytale: whimsical and magical- not my tastes but it works for Kobato.

As per my personal tastes for Kobato, I found the anime to be quite awesome to the point where I'd place the anime in my top... 20 favourites ever. What I liked about Kobato was watching Kobato herself. I loved watching a selfless girl put herself out there to help others with needs and problems with no malicious intent or fiscal gain from being kind and helpful. I also loved watching Ioryogi, although it was repeated every single episode with the whole verbal hammering down on Kobato, I found him very funny with a subtle compassionate side to him that I liked seeing. I even enjoyed seeing Kiyokazu social phobic issues being....altered thanks to Kobato.

If you haven't watched Kobato, I'd recommend you go and watch it! It's a great anime, with a main character that has the utmost kindest heart ever. If you've already seen Kobato, leave in the comments below your thoughts on the anime! Did you think CLAMP did a good job with this one? So anyways... thanks for reading!

Sunday, June 12, 2016
4 Comments

One Punch Man Review

ACTION

All hail lord Saitama! The anime Gods has blessed us once again with another marvel a few months ago with One Punch Man. I'm a fan of superhero anime, though I haven't seen much, the ones I have seen like Gatchaman Crowds and Tiger &Bunny have not failed to entertain me. Knowing the hype surrounding One Punch Man plus knowing that it's a superhero-based anime, I was more than pleased to begin watching it.

One Punch Man is plain and simple, our hero Saitama drifts around fighting crimes. In terms of plot, there's not much more too One Punch Man than that. So why is there so much hype behind this anime? The magic potion to the success of One Punch Man in my opinion is based around three things: the art, the lack of recognition for Saitama's skills and Saitama himself.

I think one thing that fans of One Punch Man really want to see is Saitama getting the recognition he does not get within the 12 episodes of the show. I felt so sorry for the poor guy when people like Tanktop Tiger (lol) tried to discredit Saitama from saving a city from a disaster. This is also a problem when we have Saitama discrediting himself, like after the Deep Sea King arc where he discredits himself and awards the accolades to his fellow heroes. Give Saitama the recognition he deserves! Saitama needs to be put in S-rank, please.

Saitama is the ultimate key to the success of One Punch Man. Those facial expressions, his comedy, his abilities, the satire surrounding his character makes him so much fun to watch. When I initially read the title of the anime, nothing came to mind after reading the title. After watching the first episode and seeing Saitama defeat the first villain with "one punch," it finally clicked in my brain and at that point I got it. The title of the anime is embedded with Saitama's abilities as a superhero, which is so damn smart of ONE and Yusuke Murata.

You'd expect in a typical superhero-based show that superheroes keep their cool during tense moments. That's not exactly true for Saitama. I adored those silly facial expressions Saitama makes during "serious" moments in the anime, it adds to the satirical value of the show making it hilarious to watch. Madhouse did a great job with the art and animation of the show. The movement during fight scenes were flawlessly done, the colouring of all the character's were great, and that "contouring" of Saitama's face was an excellent tactic to separate the guy's state of mind.

I feel like my review doesn't do the anime justice. You have to watch the show to experience the fun of One Punch Man. It's a simple anime that's meant to be playful and joyful to watch, it's not meant to be interpreted like a piece from scripture (like I see when others review this anime). If you do decide to watch it or if you've already have watched it, I'm sure you'd enjoy every aspect the anime had to offer, since I absolutely enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading, that's it for this review! Please comment down below on your thoughts about One Punch Man, I'd love to hear your thoughts on g0dly Saitama. Ahem, by the way; I like Genos more than Saitama.

Tuesday, June 07, 2016
4 Comments

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime Review

DRAMA

My blog-posting has been very slow lately, and I apologize. So here's a short review for a very sweet anime.

I needed my shoujo fix because my crave for that genre is real. If you don't know me, shoujo is probably my favourite genre of anime, it's so formulaic and repetitive from anime to anime that you basically know what to expect when you watch a shoujo. That's why I like shoujo a lot- you know what to expect so you tend to be less disappointed. So going into watching Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, I knew what I was getting myself into, and needless to say my shoujo crave was very well satisfied.

A commoner/herbalist becomes one with a prince, sounds like a fairy tale eh? Akagami no Shirayuki-him follows the story of a herbalist name Shirayuki as she unexpectedly finds herself ending up in the kingdom of Clarines with the help of Prince Zen. The story kind of feels like a Disney fairytale, there's really no other way I can think of describing the story. I personally think that Akagami no Shirayuki-hime has that fairy tail cliche aspect to it- and there's no shame in that, just don't expect anything more from a this anime.

In terms of the characters, there's nothing really proprietary about either Prince Zen or Shirayuki. Shirayuki is more of a lady trying to establish herself and prove her worth to the Clarines kingdom by working towards being a court herbalist. Whereas Zen is more laissez fare and...eh. So I guess what spices up the anime is watching Shirayuki getting herself in and out of these so-so conflicts and watching her journey attempting to prove herself against the people in the Kingdom who doubt her.

Now a days I barely comment on animation since it seems like these days people don't bat an eyelash caring about it since everything is quite up to date these days. Though I will say Bones did a great job bringing Akagami no Shirayuki-hime to life. Everything from the character designs to the stills to the amazing colouring were absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing at times. I mean look how beautiful Shirayuki and Zen are! Maybe that's why I was in awe of this anime.

That's it for this review. Sorry if the review was kind of bland, it's difficult to review shoujo I find; unless it's an out of this world type of shoujo like Nana or Kimi ni Todoke. So Akagami no Shirayuki-hime kind of falls in that category of "typical shoujo." If you're a shoujo fanatic like me and need to watch another shoujo go for Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. If you've seen so many shoujo to the point where you're numb to it, don't bother with this.

Please leave a comment down below on your thoughts about Akagami no Shirayuki-hime!

Sunday, May 22, 2016
2 Comments

Ajin Review

ACTION

Sunday, May 08, 2016
2 Comments

Digimon Adventure tri. 2: Ketsui Review

ACTION

Wednesday, March 30, 2016
4 Comments

8 Anime You Should Watch On Netflix

GUEST POST

Monday, March 21, 2016
0 Comments

5 Problems With Sword Art Online II

ACTION

Tuesday, March 08, 2016
6 Comments

Diabolik Lovers More Blood Review

HAREM

Tuesday, March 01, 2016
4 Comments

Ookiku Furikabutte Review

COMEDY

Tuesday, February 23, 2016
5 Comments

Top 10 Romance Anime

LIST

Sunday, February 14, 2016
13 Comments

Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji Review

COMEDY

We've all been in that situation where we've felt like the odd one out for being the only single one in our group of friends. It only feels like it could happen in the movies that if you're in a situation like that, you'd show a picture of your fake "partner" to your posse to convince them you're just as "relationship normal" as the rest of them when you're actually not. Well... Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji shows us just that when Erika Shinohara finds herself in this sticky situation.

So what is it with girls and bad boys? I have never understood the unusual attraction some girls have towards guys who are just flat out, dare I say it, misogynistic. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Well when Erika shows her friends a photograph of this mystery man she calls her "boyfriend," bragging how over the top their relationship is; little does she know that the photograph she showed was a picture of a fellow classmate. From then on things get... messy.

That man in the photograph is named, Kyouya Sata decides to listens to Erika's story and decides to play pretend boyfriend with her. Only to find out that he'll play ball if Erika obeys whatever the man tells her to do. Sounds very funny and in the beginning I found the anime to be comical, with the whole idea of Erika being Kyouya's "dog" and whatnot. But then it got to a point where Kyouka becomes like one of those vampires in Diabolik Lovers, a super soft-core version. I didn't like Kyouya's demeanor throughout the entire anime, not even in the end since he still was uptight about everything- though he does have a couple of good moments on the show. Not a big fan of Erika either since she comes off as this presumptuous girl who seems to have it all but actually doesn't.

It's not always that fun to watch a girl be disrespected and mistreated in anime, but hey, there were people who liked the Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji. Now since this is shoujo you better expect a love rival. I think this is one of the very few times where I wanted the main character to end up with the love rival. If I remember correctly the love rival was Takeru Hibiya who's the complete opposite of Kyouka; nice, charming, chivalrous, and respectful. In my mind I would go for the love rival, but something went wrong in Erika's messy brain.

The animation was pretty low quality in terms of what I'd expect the standards for these days. I would have preferred a bit more dimension with the animation rather than seeing everyone so planar. TYO Animations could have put a bit more work into the animation as well as the colour for Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji.

That's it for this review. It's one of the few times where I sort of not liked a shoujo anime as much as the others; I still enjoyed it for the most part but it left an aftertaste in my mouth. Mainly because the combination of the two main characters didn't mesh well together. An ego driven male and a desperate/ delusional female didn't make for the best combo to watch. Though I did like Kyouya's "trash" comment he made in one of the episodes, I thought that was sweet.

Anyways, please leave a comment down below sharing your thoughts if you've seen Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji.