Delays

Hello everyone! I'm not sure if any of you are regulars yet, but this is just an update to let you all know that this blog is not dead. I've just been very busy lately and haven't had the spare time needed to work on posting weekly reviews. Since it has been so long since I last wrote I figured it was about time that I leave a quick update to say that reviews WILL resume.  However, this time I will be taking a few weeks to build up a stockpile of reviews so that if for some reason I am unable to write a new review I can just grab one I had in reserve for your reading pleasure.

Feel free to contact me if there is a particular review you'd like to see or just leave a comment. Thoughts and comments are always appreciated. Hopefully I'll be back to a regular posting schedule in a few weeks.

Soul Eater - A Lesson in Disappointment

Spoiler Rating: Moderate

Soul Eater, this anime is decidedly underrated, and for myself unexpectedly influential. The series took me by surprise, it really did, if simply for how little I had heard of it. One day, while browsing anidb.net to stay ahead of the anime curve I found an intriguing image buried amongst a hundred other forgettable titles. The art and character designs looked decent, the story at least mildly interesting, and I had nothing else of note to watch so I took a chance. (See image above.) I downloaded a fansubbed copy as (although I didn't realize right away) the series was still being actively released. Little did I know that I would be embarking on a title that would set a new precedent  for my watching habits and embed itself as a signature series in my mind. 

Soul Eater came into my life during a time period I like to call my "Golden Age of Anime", a term slightly inspired by the obsessive amounts of Civilization 4 I played at the time. That time period was also a relatively low point in my life in which anime was one of my few joys and passtimes that distracted me enough to, at least temporarily, forget about a myriad number of problems that made me feel as though my life was burning to the ground around me. So it was a time of outstanding anime, terrible life circumstances, and copious procrastination that helped shape many of my early impressions of Soul Eater. I was living in a house with some of my best friends from High School at the time too, so I generally always had someone looking over my shoulder during a series. I shared a room since I was less likely to care if awoken (if I wake up at all, I'm a heavy sleeper so I'm told) or for that matter go on homicidal sprees. Watching anime became a communal activity that, usually, eventually drew in everyone. That said, Soul Eater started out as a solitary activity strangely enough. 

Love Lab - A Lovely Lukewarm

Spoiler Level: Mild

As I finished up Love Lab, a late 2013 newcomer, earlier this week it dawned on me that the series occupied a relatively unfortunate place in my line-up. In the two previous weeks I had marathonned Kill la Kill and wrapped up the disturbing, yet enthralling Mysterious Girlfriend X (Nazo no Kanojo), two series that are largely built around some level of shock value. Then comes Love Lab following two highly memorable series to try and nestle somewhere in the barren wastelands of a new anime slump. (Inevitably, after watching several great shows in a row there will always be that downward trend where the animes you watch for a while afterwards just don't compare.) 

So where does Love Lab stand? Well, to start with, I stumbled upon Love Lab accidentally, and to my knowledge it was never a very high profile series to begin with. The series has humble origins in a 4-koma, aka. a 4 panel comic series, and was somehow adapted into a short comedy series tallying in at 13 episodes. That said it's not bad; Love Lab is still a decidedly above average show. Much like coffee though, once you've had a sip of the really good stuff it's hard to go back. 

Kill la Kill - So Over the Top It's Coming Up From the Bottom

   

Spoiler Level: Mild

     Hello readers! This is my first review so I figured I'd start it off big and flashy and it doesn't get much more flashy than Kill la Kill! Kill la Kill is a adrenaline pumped, beautifully animated, absurd ride from start to finish and it has taken the anime world by storm, largely renewing flagging hopes in the industry. For those of you just hearing about this anime for the first time, whether by sheer cruel coincidence, your choice of habitation beneath a rock, or because you have just recently emerged bleary-eyed from your bunker after delusions of worldwide nuclear holocaust, Kill la Kill is already in position to contend for top anime of 2014. The good news, though, for readers just finding out is that you've saved yourself the heart-ache of waiting for new episodes to come out. Kill la Kill started in Fall of 2013 and just concluded as recently as March of 2014.

     If you can't tell already Kill la Kill has captured a special place in my heart. Written and directed by the same people who worked on Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, you can definitely see the influences right from the start in the artwork and writing style. From the onset, Kill la Kill seemingly blends FLCL, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Soul Eater into one unique package that still manages to stand on its own without borrowing too heavily from any single source. Like FLCL you get a cast of 'quirky' and over-the-top characters that all have a surprising depth to them, as well as the frenetic and utterly insane fight scenes. Gurren Lagann has the most sway by far, which isn't surprising considering it was the director's last big project. You can notice the lingering influences in a little bit of everything from, again, the artwork and writing, to details like character design, cast size, animation choices, and pacing. Much like Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill suffers from a beginning that feels a little rushed, however the pacing soon irons itself out into a comfortable sprint that keeps you wanting more each episode. My only major complaint by way of similarities lies in character design. Many of the characters in Kill la Kill almost feel like parallel world versions of Gurren Lagann characters like Simon, Kamina, and Lord Genome's big four. I will provide my own counter to that though, and admit that less than halfway through the show the characters were well established enough that they all had their own identities independent of Gurren Lagann.

About This Review Blog

Hello fellow anime fans and curious passers-by! This will be my first serious attempt at a regular blog much less a themed one so I wanted to take a moment to give you readers an idea of what to expect. I have been watching anime for quite some time now and I'm probably nearing the edge of when I should have 'outgrown it' by now. So let's just say I'm an anime fan who has been around the block. Having seen my share of shows, AMV's (anime music videos), and conventions (and whatnot) I decided I wanted to join in the anime community a little more.

     This blog is intended for people who want a more well-rounded review of anime as well as other older viewers. One thing I've noticed is that it is hard to find good anime reviews that don't go something like "I KNOW I'VE ONLY SEEN THREE ANIME BUT THIS IS THE BEST SHOW EVAR!" or "This anime is the greatest thing ever to grace the Earth except for that other anime from last season that I've already forgotten the name of..."  So, that said, this is my modest attempt to provide reviews that have a bit more perspective while still having fun with it. I will be reviewing anime both new and old. New anime always gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so, but there is a lot of great older stuff that I feel gets overlooked a lot. So expect a little bit of everything. Oh, and if people like my reviews enough to start commenting I'll even consider suggestions for future reviews as well. Anyways, if you're still reading at this point go ahead and skip ahead to any reviews that I've written. Anything past this point is probably just me rambling.

     I feel like I left out something...but then again I've never been great with introductions. So I guess I'll just jump into it. Hopefully you can bear with me while I get my writing legs. Also, a big "Thank You" to anybody who is reading this in its humble beginnings. It all starts with you.

   

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     Oh, a few things I forgot:
- I will try to include a rough spoiler level as well as localized spoiler warnings for those who are concerned with such things.
- My reviews will generally contain an arbitrary rating of some sort. Maybe if your tastes magically align with mine you might find some use in it.
- No pictures posted within this blog are created or owned by me unless noted otherwise. (If I made it, you'll know, believe me.)
- My reviews will generally contain a "short review" section at the end in case you want a quick recommendation on whether or not you might like the show.