Gen Urobuchi is penning script for the King of the Monsters’ first-ever animated theatrical feature.

Even before it was released, the previews for the currently-in-theaters Shin Godzilla made it clear that the movie wasn’t trying to be a kid-oriented, fun-to-watch giant monster flick. No, co-director Hideaki Anno wanted to take a genre known for its lightweight psychology and infuse it with the seriousness such situations would demand in real life, just like he did with robot anime Evangelion.

It’s a tonal decision that’s apparently resonated with audiences, as Shin Godzilla has become a huge hit in Japan, with its box office revenue already surpassing that of Legendary Pictures’ 2014 Godzilla. And it doesn’t look like made-in-Japan Godzilla content is going to be lightening up anytime soon, with the announcement of a CG Godzilla anime movie from serious-as-a-heart-attack anime scriptwriter Gen Urobuchi.

Best known as the writer of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (which did for the magical girl genre what Evangelion did for kids-piloting-robot stories), Urobuchi more recently crafted the scripts for science-fiction detective anime Psycho-Pass and lavish-looking puppet series Thunderbolt Fantasy. “For a Japanese creator, it is the highest honor to be associated with the Godzilla name,” said Urobuchi of his involvement, adding “I am putting all of my efforts into meeting the audience’s expectations.”

While Godzilla has been the star of two different U.S. cartoons, up until last month he’d never appeared in Japanese animated form. And since that appearance was just a guest spot on long-running gag comedy anime Crayon Shin-chan, the upcoming Urobuchi-written feature is Godzilla’s first time to be featured in Japanese animation in his true capacity as King of the Monsters.

Just as Shin Godzilla was co-directed by Anno and Shinji Higuchi, so two will a pair of directors, Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita, share duties on the CG Godzilla project. The two previously worked together on CG anime Knights of Sidonia, for which Shizuno is listed as director amd Seshita co-director. Separately, Shizuno has directed a number of Detective Conan theatrical features, with Seshita serving in the same capacity for the trilogy of Ajin anime movies.

Handling animation production is Polygon Pictures, the studio behind the visuals in Knights of Sidonia and Ajin. So far, only a single teaser image has been released, and while the titular kaiju himself is nowhere to be seen, the spacecraft and high-tech uniforms being worn by the trio of visible humans points to a more futuristic setting than the present-day Shin Godzilla or Legendary Godzilla.

With Legendary already planning a new Godzilla film for 2019, a crossover with King Kong scheduled for 2020, and the very real possibility of a Japanese-produced live-action sequel to Shin Gozilla, one could argue that the franchise’s handlers are running the risk of flooding the market with content. Still, the CG Godzilla anime is set to beat all of those other projects to the punch, with an expected release in 2017.

Source: Cinema Today
Top image: Godzilla anime official website

Review:

This episode brings back the girl Ashiya met at the temple and introduces a fox yokai that at first seems more annoying than anything else. I really enjoyed watching this episode as all the way through it there was a growing sense of unease. Shame the episode doesn’t resolve but it does leave off at an excellent spot if they want to make us wait for next week. Also, it’s kind of fun watching Abeno get flustered not once but twice this episode. Ashiya also get’s a moment where he actually uses his powers of observation. Anyway, great episode, a little darker than some of the previous ones, and now I need episode 8.

The Morose Mononokean is available on Crunchyroll.

*Spoilers to Naruto*

Zabuza Momochi is a name that is feared across the land. Known as “Demon of the Hidden Mist”, he works for an elite assassination group called Anbu, cutting down anyone that stands in his way. He possesses deadly skill with a long-sword, being an ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen, and is on every hidden village’s bingo book for Class A crimes. He has a bloodlust that cannot be stopped, a thirst for violence that cannot be quenchable, and a heart as cold as a stone. Zabuza Momochi is a man that lives and breaths death, following the name that he was given to him for his murders, bearing the identity of a true demon. 

Worst of all, he thoughtlessly takes advantage of a young boy named Haku for his Kakegenkai, a special jutsu passed down a specific clan that can only be used by it’s people. These abilities surpass the normal capabilities of regular ninja and the assassin envisioned great potential in using this for his own benefit. The only thing that Zabuza Momochi saw when he noticed the raggly child curling himself under his shirt in the dead of winter was a tool to be weilded, and he went too far manipulating Haku. The boy grew up devoting his entire life to him, even believing that without his master he would have no purpose. Zabuza used the most intimate part of human existence, life’s meaning, to persuade Haku to become a deadly murderer in order to further his own agenda. Turning an innocent boy into a cold-blooded killer was the worst thing that Zabuza Momochi ever did and even the assassin himself believes that he should be condemned to Hell by the actions.

At episode twelve of Naruto, Zabuza Momochi is hired by a wealthy business tycoon to murder a bridge builder in the Land of Waves so that his sea trade can be protected, a typical assassination job for a ninja of his caliber. The twist however is that the pair face against a group of unexpected enemies from the Hidden Leaf Village: Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Team Seven was hired for the sole purpose of protecting the bridge builder and a conflict of interests creates a long, ruthless fight to the end.

Going back and fourth, exchanging deadly blows between expert Jonin ninja, Kakashi gains the upperhand and catches Zabuza off-guard by sending attack dogs from underground to sniff out his location. Sinking large sets of teeth deep into his flesh, the assassin is pinned down with no where to run and the leaf ninja takes advantage of the situation by charging a brilliant jutsu to end the fight. Haku, despite the consequences, jumps right in front of the attack and takes a full Lightning Blade to the chest, shielding his master from any harm. Zabuza clearly sees Kakashi’s hand go through his partner’s body as he falls to the ground with blood covering his shirt yet feels no remorse for him.

Looking at all that Zabuza Momochi has done in his life, commiting hundreds of murders and ruining the innocence and life of Haku, he should never have any possible chance to redeem himself. This man, according to the natural punishments for his actions, should be executed without question and given a tortuous death. However it appears that the exact opposite happens during the end of episode nineteen when he sheds tears for his lost comrade after being brutally scolded by Naruto.

He realizes that he was extremely selfish for making Haku his slave for a dream that was intended for the harm of others. He knew that he didn’t even let his companion have a dream of his own; in fact, Haku’s only purpose for living was Zabuza. And after seeing his friend’s gentle heart for sparring Naruto and Sauske from certain death, he was content knowing that God would spare his friend from the punishment of Hell. Zabuza, acting in this contentment, gripped a kunai knife firmly in-between his jagged teeth and dashes towards the business tycoon that so poorly treats Haku’s dead body, slicing him up to pieces with his last bit of strength.

“Your words cut deep… deeper than any blade.”

At these last moments of breath, when Kakashi brought the raggly body of Zabuza and laid it beside his best friend, Zabuza began to warmly remember all the fond memories that they had together. Breathing one last time, Zabuza’s heart had melted right before his death and wished with everything that he had that he could stand by Haku’s side for eternity in heaven. These are his last words.

“You were always at my side, the least I can do is be beside you at the end. I know it cannot be, but I wish I could go to where you have gone. How I wish I could join you Haku.”

As I watched Zabuza’s conversion unfold before my eyes on-screen, another similar story that happened in 36 AD came to mind that had many connections to the deadly assassin, one that comes straight out of the Bible. This story is about “the thief on the cross”, a name given to one of the two men who hung alongside Jesus Christ during crucifixion, one on His right and one on His left. Two of the men were laid waste by the Roman punishment system because of violent crimes they had committed, yet the Prince of Peace was put on display unjustly. This picture of innocence nailed to a tree with blood dripping down his garments provoked many insults from the Roman soldiers and one of the criminals. However, “the thief on the cross” saw perfection right before his eyes and had a sudden heart change similar to Zabuza.

Their feet were nailed together with one long metal piece jotting out of the end of an old tree and their hands were done likewise with their own pieces. All three were forcibly pushing their chests an inch or so above their bodies so that they could breathe one last breath of oxygen. In these moments, three criminals, two condemned and one blameless, are in their dying moments, when a small conversation emerges while insults are being hurled at Jesus Christ.

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him:

“Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  

Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

(Luke 23:39-43, NIV)

Wrongdoing or immorality like the crimes that Zabuza and “the thief on the cross” committed are classified by God as sin, and it is based upon His perfect law. It is a rebellion against our creator and selfishly attempts to put ourselves on a plane higher than God. As is the nature of sin, it must be punishable by death and it becomes the destiny of all who partake in it. Humanity has had a sin problem sin the beginning of time and we are sealed to burn in the fire for all of eternity because of wrongdoing that we chose out of our own free will. Once we learn these truths, we understand the same condemnation that these two men felt for their crimes, that we are destined to die because of what we have done. Most importnatly, no matter what we do, there is no way to redeem ourselves.

Jesus, the man without sin, blameless in all, promised eternal life and heaven to a sinful thief that was being hanged for his crimes. Just like Zabuza Momochi, “the thief on the cross” deserved the punishment that he was receiving and even admits it himself. He knows that his murders, thefts, and violent acts cannot be undone and that he accepts his fate burning in the fires of Hell forever. Yet in the midst of this Jesus reaches out and changes the man’s heart, giving him full access to heaven that a perfect, blameless man would have.

Kakashi-sensei, after witnesses Zabuza take his last moments alive, mentions that maybe, just maybe, there is a place for him to spend with Haku after all, that they will be together forever. “Demon of the Hidden Mist”, an assassin his entire life, and a cruel man who manipulated a purposeless child to achieve more bloodshed, is perfect before the sight of God? Jesus Christ says the same to all who accept His sacrifice no matter how far they have gone or strayed from righteousness. Liars, murderers, thieves, prostitutes, prideful, and the sinners will all be honored and considered blameless for their actions before God the Father if they have made the decision to let Jesus take their burden off of their shoulders.

“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:10, NIV)

Every sinner who lives a life apart from Jesus Christ, no matter how far gone they are, always can return to the embrace of the Father!  Zabuza Momochi and “the thief on the cross” had the chance at salvation only minutes before their deaths, and any person who has the same genuine heart change towards grace has the same opportunity. No sin can ever separate you from God’s love and no crime can ever pull you away from Him.

As the massive geeks that we are, it was obvious to us that our first destination in Japan had to be Akihabara, Electric Town. After World War 2, in the shadow of a weak Japanese government, Akihabara rose as a prominent merchant district, and became home to Tokyo’s black market. Eventually, it became the home for all electronic goods (you can still find tunnels of kiosks below the railway tracks where the owners sell nothing but capacitors, switches and other computing parts) and, more recently, it has become the centre of Tokyo’s Otaku culture. 

Anime, videogames, music… If it’s collectible, you’ll find it in Akiba. Entire multilevel department stores where each floor is dedicated to a different type of geekery: collectible figurines, card games, anime, J-Idol music, videogames, military memorabilia, dolls, construction kits, you name it. 

Fortunately, Akihabara was very close to Ayase, a few stops and a single change on the metro got us there in less than twenty minutes. On surfacing, the grey skies and threat of rain couldn’t dampen our spirits. We were in the home of geek culture. 

We found some of the world’s rarest trading cards on sale for nearly £100,000; we found figurines from our favourite videogames and anime; we found everything we could ever have dreamed for to feed our inner geek. I picked up a Japanese copy of a videogame that I wanted that wasn’t out in the UK yet, and a construction kit to build a tank from another of my favourite videogames. Dan and Lee both picked up some figurines and manga. 

We had considered grabbing lunch in a Maid Cafe, an establishment where one pays a table fee in addition to the meal, in order to have cute Japanese girls (usually dressed as maids, or with cat ears etc) wait upon you and have proper conversations beyond what we would expect from a waitress. This sounds sexual and creepy but it’s not meant to be, it’s just a part of the culture and a sort of strange roleplay situation. Since we barely spoke any Japanese, we decided against it and instead opted for lunch in a little corner cafe. We placed our order with a vending machine by the door (paying with my metro card was a novelty), sat down and ate ramen and katsu curry. 

Arcades are something that, here in the UK, are sadly dying out completely. Gone are the days of pumping coins into the nearest Street Fighter machine. In Akiba, not so at all. We got to play games like Tekken 7 and Dissidea that aren’t even out in the UK yet, alongside classic rhythm game machines like Project Diva Arcade. The thunderous roar of arcade machines is something I’ve dearly missed, and I could have spent days, and tens of thousands of yen in those places.
Eventually, long after the sun had set, we perched our weary feet outside Cafe Excelsior with strawberry and banana smoothies. We sat crowd watching whilst we used our guide books and the WiFi box to make further plans, before heading back to Ayase to rest. 

“We all need someone to kiss us goodbye.”

Hey, all. D.C. here for a throwdown, not on a comic, but on an anime.

My love affair with anime and manga has been a very long one, though not as long as my affair with comics. However, this anime caught my eye:

Your Lie in April is a series created by Naoshi Arakawa. Originally published as a manga in 2011, the anime series ran last March. Your Lie in April is the story of a famous young pianist named Kosei Arima who, while living a gray life, finds his existence once again colored when he meets a young violinist named Kaori Miyazono.

Highlights

Confession: I don’t enjoy romance, but I LOVE Japanese and Korean romance stories. I don’t know why, because they’re often too melodramatic, but I can’t help it. So it’s not a surprise that Your Lie in April captivated me.

The gripping story between Kosei and Kaori is only one small aspect of this anime’s charm. A great deal of of the anime developed not only Kaori and Kousei’s relationship–which appears initially platonic–but also Kousei’s reconciliation with himself, and with his relationship with his deceased mother. Why did Kousei quit the piano? Why did he hate his mom so much? How did his mother feel about Kousei?

The soundtrack is beautiful. I can’t remember the last time I fell in love with music like this. Almost like I’d forgotten my love of music (having grown up playing several instruments).

The classics performed in Your Lie is April are beautiful, vibrant, and inspirational. That is one of the biggest charms of this series. This series is just ripe with violin and piano pieces that tear at the soul with fervor. Each moment is perfectly set with each piece.

The series as a whole is a visual delight. There is undeniable beauty during the musical competitions, and there is plenty comedy between the four main characters. The shifts between ethereal, raucous, light-hearted, silly and somber makes this such a pleasant watch.

With a story like this, you will find your typical elements: friends who set up friends, friends falling for their childhood friends, a tragic romance. All typical and cheesy, yes, but this with its own endearing feel when looked at in its entirety.

And the ending? If you have a soul, you will certainly feel something. If not the ending, then how Kousei and Kaori’s struggle with themselves to the end, what the “lie in April” was, the final piece Kousei plays…each of these are powerful and entrancing.

Recap

Okay, enough rambling.

Your Lie in April. Even if you’re not an anime fan, a series with this much feeling, such potent repertoire of music, and desire deserves everyone’s attention.

END THROWDOWN.

“Mystery 7: The encounter”

It seems we will finally starting to find out more about Abeno’s past. Also, Zenko is back. She was bitten by a fox and was looking for Ashiya and Abeno since no one but them can see the mark on her arm. The mysterious demon from the previous episode makes his appearance and tells them that he will remove the mark from Zenko’s arm if they play hide and seek and win.

Everything was pretty childish but it seems Abeno and Yahiko (the demon name) have a past. Yet, Yahiko looked angry when asking Abeno about the previous Mononokean master. He and apparently other demons think that Abeno killed Aoi (the previous master) in order to take his place.

I don’t think this is true but I hope we will find out more about Abeno’s past and eventually also about Ashiya because there still too many answered questions.

See you next time.

Ana 💕

*So sorry about the 2 week absence of the blog writing. We have had some going ons in the little anime girl. We have been moving two of us into a nice home. We like it. Even better to write the blog in, with little kiddies running around in the background watching Frozen or something. Wow that was a long run on sentence but hey its all good. Now we are back and in full swing of things. YAY!!!!*

Once an all-boys school, Seika High, a renowned school full of reckless students, has recently become a co-ed school. However, with the female population still remaining a minority even after the change over the recent years, Misaki Ayuzawa takes it into her own hands to reform the school and allow a chance for the girls to feel safer in the rough environment. Even the teachers are on her side. Training, studying and even becoming the first female student council president of the school, Misaki has gained a reputation, among the male students body as an uptight boy-hating demon dictator and as a shining hope for the teachers and fellow female students. However, despite her tough-as-nails appearance, she secretly works part-time at a maid café in order to support her family.

The animation was done by J.C.Staff, a favorite it seems of ours lately.  Seriously we did not realize before we started blog, that most of our favorites are animated by them.  The animation is just fun.  The music as usual is not memorable, but that is to be expected, this is not a musical anime.

Plot wise, this follows the manga for how long it is, the manga however continued on even after the anime ended.  Which if you ask us, it ending was a travesty.  Trust us when we say, the manga is worth the read.

Ratings:

TV: TV-14; I feel like it is okay to watch with my child, but he can get a little handsy and there is slight violence.

Binge: 5 out of 5, totally binge worthy, get lost in the show, you’ll love it.

Libations: Lattes… of courseshe works at Maid Latte how can we not do Lattes.

AnimeNewsNetwork: 7.2 (very good)

Imdb: 8.2/10

Maid Latte Theme days:

• Nekomimi Day
  • In Episode 2 (Maid at the School Festival), and chapter 40 Maid Latte maids are wearing cat ears.
• Little Sister’s Day
  • In Episode 3 (What Color is Misaki? Natural Color?), Maid Latte decides to host a “Little Sister’s Day” where the maids dress up and act as little sisters to their customers. The maids keep their hair in two high pigtails.
• Maid Rangers Day
  • In Episode 3 (What Color is Misaki? Natural Color?), Maid Latte decides to host the ” Maid Rangers Day” where the maids dress up (every maid in different colors) and act like rangers to their customers.
• Twintail Day
  • In Episode 6 (Men and the Ayuzawa Cram School), Maid Latte maids will keep their hair in two pigtails.
• Bunny-Ears Day
  • In Episode 6 (Men and the Ayuzawa Cram School), Maid Latte maids are wearing bunny ears.
• Glasses Girls Day
  • In Episode 7 (Enter the Student Council President of Miyabigaoka), Maid Latte maids are wearing glasses.
• Ladies/Male Dress Day
  • In Episode 7 (Enter the Student Council President of Miyabigaoka), Maid Latte has a special “Ladies Day” event where the maids dress up as handsome men, with Misaki being a huge hit with the female customers.
• Kimono Day
  • In Episode 12 (Still a Maid even in the Sports Festival), Maid Latte maids are wearing Kimono and will be shown serving Fortune Cookies. And if you pay attention, the kimonos are similar with the ones in Episode 9 (A Maid, as Far as Momotarō Goes).
• Shrine Maiden/Priestess Day
  • In Episode 18, Maid Latte maids are wearing shrine maiden outfits.
• Witches/Anime-cosplay Day
  • In Episode 24 (Latte Magic Mellow Mellowing), Maid Latte maids are cosplaying as characters from the anime “Maid Witches”, so Satsuki gives Misaki the anime’s DVDs to do research and get into character.
• Suits and Glasses Day
  • In chapter 39, Maid Latte maids are wearing glasses.
• Maid Latte Academy Day
  • In chapter 43 Maid Latte maids are wearing academy suits.
• Gothic Day
  • In chapter 45 Maid Latte maids are wearing gothic outfits.
• Mini-Skirt Police day
  • In chapter 49 Maid Latte maid are wearing policeman outfits.
• Taisho Romantic Day
  • In chapter 66, Maid Latte maids are wearing kimonos.
• Friend Of The Forest
  • In chapter 69 , Maid Latte maid are wearing animals cosplay.
• Samurai Day
  • In chapter 74, Maid Latte maids are wearing samurai outfits.
• Supplementary Lessons Day
  • In chapter 76 the Maid Latte maids are wearing school standard uniforms.
• Pirates Day
  • In chapter 77 the Maid Latte maids are wearing pirate outfits.

We will see you next time for Wednesday Review Episode 21.

I’ve posted the latest chapter and it can be read here! This chapter brings us into the world of the notorious Angel Beats. The trip may be a short one, but I felt it was a nice one and mostly served to tie up that massive cliffhanger we were left with. I still don’t show much on the after, at least not yet, but now we can at least know with little doubt, that they did meet again in their new lives. We also got a peek at our next target, who I’m pretty sure you all had to see coming. Anyway, look forward to it and enjoy. Thanks for reading as always!

Anime discussion can be pretty wild. Online or offline there’s a wide amount of ‘knowledge’ that can be taken for granted. This in itself isn’t a bad thing. However, when people are trying to meaningfully express their thoughts and feelings on media they tend to use techniques that they’ve seen others use. When these techniques are flawed, either by being simply untrue or less relevant than the user intended, it can mess with getting a good grasp on the media in question. This week I’m going to talk about a couple of things that tend to be brought up in anime discussion that tend to be flawed. This isn’t to say anyone using these is necessarily wrong, anime production is not uniform by any means, nor is this to say anyone using these is a fool. I am just trying to help people have a slightly better understanding on how anime production works. Most of what I’ve learnt here I’ve learnt from @ultimatemegax, @Yuyucow and @B0bduh, who are all much greater writers and far more knowledgeable about various parts of anime and media discussion than myself.

1. Budget and ‘cheapness’

A common thing to call out in anime discussion is how the Studio used it’s budget. Whenever an anime has aspects which most people believe looks bad or out of place they reason out that it looks bad because it’s ‘cheap’ and thus the anime ran out of or misplaced their budget (Conversely, occasionally when people find a scene particularly good looking they attribute this to High Budgets). This kind of ‘common sense’ thinking comes from some implicit beliefs on what makes anime good. Throwing more money at a thing should make it better. This is the same kind of thinking that leads people to thinking name brand paracetamol is more effective than Tesco’s own. The more expensive a thing is, the better it must be.

We don’t tend to be told where and why production issues in anime come about. We may see signs suggesting they are happening – more animation directors or missing inbetweens and off model shots for example – but what exactly causes them we aren’t privy to. What we do know is that most of the cost in making an anime tends to be accounted for long before the first episode of a show airs. Similarly, we also know that there are strict deadlines in anime production as animation and airing tend to happen simultaneously. And we also know every episode of anime needs to have a key animator working on every cut, and they are going to need paying. Together this suggests that if something does go wrong, and it inevitably will, that there are heavy time restrictions on fixing it. The episode needs to air at it’s air time. That is the biggest restriction on anime production. If there genuinely has been production issues time and talented staff tend to be the lacking factor, not money.

If there hasn’t been production issues than the money criticism still doesn’t always hold weight. Sometimes what someone is calling cheap or bad is just an artistic decision. An art style they do not like, animation that does not appeal to them, or other things. Even a low budget show can be pleasing! A complaint over cheapness (or a compliment on expensiveness) is far more than a hot-take on the relative budget of a show, it’s a take on the show’s ‘quality’ in and of itself. In those instances there’s lots of other ways you can compliment it. Perhaps you really like the art style or art direction? The character animation? Or perhaps there is some wonderful debris and explosions. The point is here that making wild claims about budget aren’t going to convey what exactly your issue is with it. Anime, even lower budget ones, aren’t cheap.

2. This Studio is bad

Sometimes when talking about anime it’s studio comes up. With certain studios people assert that the studio is bad. The anime made by that studio are all bad and all will be bad. Why exactly they’re bad differs from instance to instance: having a wildly thought of bad adaptation of a popular source, or having done certain kinds of shows that are looked down on in the community in question are probably the most popular reasons why these studios are ‘bad’, but really the ‘why’ in this case isn’t important. What matters is ‘Studio X is bad, therefore anime produced by Studio X is also/going to be bad.’.

There are a couple of reasons why some communities hold this to be true. The first being that studios are an easy thing for the English speaking communities to talk about. Their names are readily available, as are every anime they’ve produced, and many they’ve worked on, easy to find on websites like MAL and ANN. It is really easy to look at a studio’s list of shows, see some names of ‘bad’ shows and just go “wow this studio sucks.”. Similarly, when someone hears someone declare “Studio X is bad because they’ve done A, B and C.” and it takes off in the community it’s near impossible to change their minds. They have good reason for thinking that! When an influential community just decides that a Studio is bad it can very well stick around forever, way beyond when, if it ever was, accurate.

Anime production is a group effort. This is true both in the sense it takes a large number of different staff to create even one episode of a TV airing show, and in the sense that animation is rarely ever done entirely in-house by a single studio. The vast majority of work on a show tends to be done by freelancers – who are also most likely to be juggling work with other studios and shows – and by staff at other studios. There are significant exceptions to this rule, Kyoto Animation for example, but for the most part this holds true. So whilst yes you can look at a studio’s shows and decide they’re bad, the staff involved in the show – the staff responsible for whatever you dislike about it – might not even be the studio’s staff! Or, even if they are part of the studio in question, they may not be involved in other shows by the studio. Yeah, Akiyuki Shinbou is on basically everything by Shaft at the moment, but the same can’t be said for other studio’s and their well known directors. The core staff working on a show are responsible for more or less everything about the show. The staff involved know other people who they can then call in to see if they’ll work on the show. Those important relations are what matter more when looking at a show than what ever studio is the main power behind the show. It isn’t the fact One Punch Man is a Madhouse show that let it have such brilliant and creative fight scenes. It’s the fact Natsume Shingo is a well respected animator and director who has worked with many brilliant animators in the past. Him doing work for Madhouse you can look at as being a strength of Madhouse, and the staff of a studio can very well be considered part of their strengths, but nothing is stopping a ‘bad’ studio hiring great directors, animators, and writers as part of a new show.

III. Conclusion

Anime production is complex. I haven’t even mentioned production committees and those kinda were the reason I wanted to write this (because disc sales mean fuck all about whether a show ‘succeeded’ or not 99% of the time). But as a quick summary, anime is always expensive and it’s often more a case of time and talent that can cause ‘cheap’ looking anime. You’re better off trying to target what about it made you feel it was cheap in order to properly convey your viewpoint. Studios also mean very little outside of the staff involved in each production. Every studio works different in some respect, and every anime produced by a studio can also work differently to other anime by that studio.

(If I any of my information is strictly wrong I apologize and am happy to be corrected. As far as I’m aware most of this information works in general, though particular circumstance will always vary it.)

Here we go with my review for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight…What? It’s called Rokka no Yuusha? Hmm okay…let’s do that then.As I mentioned previously, Rokka no Yuusha is one of the two CCWC anime of this week. If you are still uncertain if you should watch it or not, I hope this review can help with the decision.

Story:

If you watched The Hateful Eight you know what you are getting into, if not here a small spoiler-free summary. Six heroes are chosen to defeat the Demon God. However, there appear seven heroes at the meeting point. They get trapped by the fake hero and have to discover his identity.

The story has a good progression and doesn’t feel rushed. The focus of the show is the witty dialog between the heroes, so if you have watched Spice and Wolf or Bakemonogatari you know the deal. Rokka no Yuusha can still entertain with some good fights, but if you hate long talking sequences you probably should avoid this show. The conclusion is more or less a Deus Ex Machina, but that didn’t bother me too much. The execution of the story is done really well with great character interaction, which I will cover later in this review.

9/10P

Visuals:

The art and animation quality is average most of the time and the only downside for me were the CGI usages, which luckily weren’t used all that often.

7/10P

Sound:

The voice-actors do an exceptional job in capturing the unique personalities of the heroes, which is important for a show focussing on dialog and intrigue between the characters. The soundtrack was alright. They never stand out much, but always fit to the situation. Opening and Ending were not bad, but at the same time not outstanding.

8/10P

Characters:

The characters and their interactions is the main selling point of the show. The cast is diverse with everyone having his own personality and motives. You start knowing nothing about the characters, but learn more just by watching them react in situations and interact with each other. As mentioned previously, the voice-actors do a great job to breathe life into each and every character.

10/10P

Enjoyment:

I loved Rokka no Yuusha for the same reason I loved The Hateful Eight. Unique characters are forced to stay with each other for one reason or another. They know there is a traitor, but they don’t know who it is. They start to trust/mistrust/manipulate people to achieve their goals and try to outwit each other.

If you like intrigue and mind games you will have a great time. If you are only in for the action, I would avoid this one.

9/10P

As well as anime, I am interested in cooking. I have started to read Sweetness and Lightning, as well as watching it. I found this recipe and, it looked absolutely delicious, so I gave it a try. 

Three more cast members have been announced for the forthcoming Magical Girl Raising Project anime:

• Ayane Sakura is La Pucell
• Yumi Uchiyama is Top Speed
• Kurumi Mamiya is Fav

Hiroyuki Hashimoto is directing the anime at Lerche, with Takao Yoshioka supervising and writing the scripts. Yukiko Aikei is designing the characters for animation.

Magical Girl Raising Project is scheduled to premiere on Japanese television on October 2, 2016.

Source: ANN

Five more cast members have been announced for the forthcoming Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON anime:

• Ayaka Asai is Mil
• Michiyo Murase is Hyoro
• Yūma Uchida is Jini
• Itaru Yamamoto is Stone
• Takanori Ohyama is Noel

Mitsuru Hongo is directing the anime at David Production. Natsuko Takahashi is writing and overseeing the scripts, and Takuya Saito is designing the characters.

Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON is scheduled to premiere on Japanese television in October 2016.

Source: ANN

Five additional cast members have been announced for the forthcoming Tōken Ranbu: Hanamaru anime:

• Junji Majima is Nikkari Aoe
• Kazuyuki Okitsu is Hachisuka Kotetsu
• Kento Hama is Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki
• Sōma Saitō is Namazuo Toushirou
• Kaito Ishikawa is Kasen Kanesada

Takashi Naoya is directing the series at Doga Kobo. Junichiro Taniguchi is designing the characters, and Pierre Sugiura is writing and overseeing the scripts. Kenji Kawai is composing the music.

Tōken Ranbu: Hanamaru is scheduled to premiere on Japanese television in October 2016.

Source: ANN

Humanity Has Declined – Episode 1

Score: 7/10.

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! – Episode 1

Score: 6.75/10.

It’s time to draw out your artistic side!

Becoming an artist requires skill, patience, creative thinking and other attributes, but as the saying goes; ‘practice makes perfect!’

Click on the link below to read the full review at BrashGames.co.uk!

http://www.brashgames.co.uk/2016/08/17/comic-workshop-2-review/

Thanks!

Stephanie x

Hi! I’m waifuchansan, the shady figure behind this blog. I suppose I’m going to be using this post to talk about myself, so let’s start at the beginning of my early experiences with anime.

Asides from watching Dragon Ball, Pokémon, and other 4Kids/Cartoon Network anime, I didn’t get into anime until the end of elementary school, with my first subbed anime being two iconic KyoAni shows, Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, during the glory days of anime subs on YouTube with episodes that were split into three or four videos without getting taken down immediately. Those were the days…

Those initial experiences served as a mold for my anime tastes, and haven’t changed much since then (for better or for worse, take it as you will), with my favorite genres being slice-of-life and romantic comedy. Of course, I don’t constrain myself to only these genres, keeping my options open from anything from shoujo, shounen, yuri, yaoi, josei, and even ecchi.

Some of my favorite anime include:

1. Hyouka – a slice-of-life school mystery anime by KyoAni
2. Chuunibyou – a slice-of-life school romantic comedy also by KyoAni (I love KyoAni with a passion)
3. Steins;Gate – a sci-fi thriller about time-travel
4. Saekano – a harem romantic comedy about making a visual novel with a top-notch girl (it’s Megumi Katou <3)
5. Re:Zero – a fantasy thriller with more than meets the eye. If you’ve seen Sword Art Online, it’s a similar premise, but good (^;

I’m sure there’s more, but those are the ones that really stand out right now. I’ll be posting about the new anime seasons as they come and go, so please join me in my adventures.

For the time being, my schedule will tend to be weekly posts with a few side-posts here and there, but this may change over time in accordance with my free time. Eventually, I may start a podcast with my friends (though it may not be solely based around anime), so stay tuned for that.

Anime: Watashi no Ashinaga Ojisan (My Daddy Long Legs)

| Episode: 3

(This Recap doesn’t include 2nd/3rd seasons or those ones who weren’t that interesting in my opinion.)

–

All of them haven’t finished yet,but i watched them so far i could get my own opinion to them.Spoiler-free.

This recap includes:

1. 91 days
2. B-Project: Kodou*Ambitious
3. Battery
4. Cheer Danshi
5. Days
6. Mob Psycho 100
7. Orange
8. Taboo-Tattoo
9. Tales of Zestiria the X
10. Tsukiuta. the Animation

–

1. 91 days:

Could be a pretty good thing.It’s something i’ve never seen before and Avilio is such a perfect character.The episodes themselves are always like really exciting and you are most of the time riveted by its good story.9/10.

2. B-Project: Kodou*Ambitious:

It’s okay.Really nothing special,just another Idol-Anime.Some episodes are mostly boring and fillers,but sometimes it has its highs,too.More like a thing to watch if you are bored.5/10

3. Battery:

It was boring at the beginning,but it turnt out to be really good at the end.The main character ist selfish and most of the time over-reacting,but that fits in here perfectly.You can’t be serious,if you say ‘It’s just another sports-anime’.8/10

4. Cheer Danshi:

‘Boys Cheerleeding is boring and gay,such a waste of time!’Well,definetely not.We have really good characters and a good message behind it,even if the story is sometimes a little bit too fast.8/10.

5. Days:

And another sports anime.The characters are mostly casual and not that unique,but here the message and the feelings are told pretty good.A little bit less episodes would’ve been great,could get boring at some point.7/10.

6.Mob Psycho 100:

It’s funny.You can’t expect a masterpiece here,of course not,gets boring pretty fast,but has its good moments,too.Also good to watch if you are bored.6/10.

7. Orange:

My favorite.The story is good,the characters are awesome and it never gets boring.You can’t wait to watch the next episode and the plot-twists and cliffhangers are well placed.Literally a masterpiece so far.10/10.

8. Taboo-Tattoo:

It’s pretty weird.Like really,some characters aren’t easy to understand.The story is okay but a little bit too less explained sometimes.I enjoy watching it,but it’s not that special.6/10.

9. Tales of Zestiria the X:

Honestly,it’s total garbage.It’s boring (it was hard not to skip some episodes),the characters are not really interesting and the story is doubtful.I like the look,pretty impressive,but nothing more,i’m a little bit disappointed.2/10

10. Tsukiuta. the Animation:

And another Idol-Anime.The beginning was good,but after like episode 5 it was more boring than interesting.Some characters are good,some aren’t.Could’ve been better.6/10.

–

Lara S./08.20.16

Cute high school girls are in the navy…?!

“In the sea we live, the sea we protect, and by the sea we go… Blue Mermaids!” is the motto that both Misaki Akeno & her childhood friend, Moeka China, live by while they were children and both lived up to their hero’s; The Blue Mermaids.

Both Misaki & Moeka got into the navy school that the Blue Mermaids are enrolled in and they lived their dream out into the sea.

The sea however had other plans for Misaki, the captain of Harekaze.

Verdict: I thought it was something else like a cutesy anime but holy damn son; it wasn’t anything that I was expecting at all.

Every action scene with Ship vs Ship made me very excited because it would be the impactful sound that they created to imitated real ships and how much these girls are strategies and try to go through that and try to achieve that with harsh results or a achieving victory with smiles.

I really like how they try to fit everyone that goes from Main to supporting to give them some screen time and make them fit with that situation.
For example; Isoroku, the orange cat. He was given screen time from the beginning of the season to the end also even though it didn’t seem he wasn’t there.
The MC Misaki & Mashiro + their head crew were given a lot because they’re the important main characters that need to be there.

That’s all I can put into words.
Everyone will have different options about this but for me it was a really good anime from animation & characters to my first military anime and it also had me really excited from the preview of the next episode to the battles & outcomes.

Rate: 8.5/10