Danganronpa: The Animation

DEATH GAMES. 

Who wouldn't enjoy watching shows where death is around the corner, and better off, the main character struggling to play according to the rules where losing means throwing your LIFE away. We can already guess from previous death game horror-thriller shows like Mirai Nikki, Death Note, The Hunger Games, Another, even Sword Art Online (yep it's literally a death game) earned so much praise for instilling thrill into viewer's minds.

So here I am making a review on DANGANRONPA; originally a video game for the PSP and PSVita, Danganronpa is a logic-based death game where the main character has to use his wits to get out of a murder school alive. To "graduate" from the school, the mastermind coerces 15 students to try and kill one of their own --- and if they get away with it, all the others are killed and the killer is free; but if the killer is caught, he is the only one who dies. So much for the mechanics, now let us proceed to the actual review!

Danganronpa: The Animation includes a new twist in thriller death games by setting the game in a school: making the viewer imagine how he, if he was in the same situation, would kill someone using school supplies and facilities, AND get away with it. The anime also appeals to the viewers' hidden detective side, as they encourage those watching/playing to think while enjoying the show itself.

The theme of the anime is not only games of life and death, but also Hope and Despair. How someone could possibly find hope in such a hopeless situation, how a person could keep on believing and not give in to despair.

The exaggerated art of every character and how their personalities have vast differences helps you remember each and every one of them (remember, there are 15 students) and the storyline twists will surely satisfy anyone with a detective or conspiracist side to them. A must watch for those who enjoy solving cases and demystifying enigmas with only the slightest of clues.

Comments are very much appreciated :)

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata

More commonly known as Saekano, or Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, the series offers a new perspective on romance comedy --- the main characters are all Otakus, and fans can very easily relate to the interesting dynamic dialogue.

So what makes Saekano different from other Harem-based Romance Comedies? Saekano focuses on the drive and determination of a person to achieve his own dreams through hardwork; much like Sakurasou, except with a lighter view on things and fresh otaku-based comedy to walk hand-in-hand with the interesting storyline: A male protagonist who's dream is to create a galge (dating sim) based on a girl he met on what appeared to him as a fateful encounter. What's interesting is the girl's lack of any impactful characteristics; in contrast to the other girls along side the protagonist, who are almost perfect stereotypical characters of a typical romcom anime.

The series doesn't offer heavy drama (at first), but rather light insights on the importance of following dreams, with a bot of romance and touch of otaku comedy. The anime only depicts the first 5 volumes of the light novel where the characters and their backgrounds are introduced, so a second season or an OVA/movie is expected to continue through volume 6 and volume 7 of the light novel, where the plot thickens. In volume 7, what starts out as a romantic comedy suddenly turns very dramatic, so if you've already watched the anime here's a link to summary translation of said volume:
http://msnkkan.blogspot.com/2014/12/last-note-first-trip.html

Saekano, overall, is a good watch; art is fluid and consistent, even better than average; characters may brush off as stereotypical, but btheir backstories revolving around the main character remains interesting and compelling to watch; and finally, the turn of events in the seventh volume provides a whole new twist to the story, the turning point of a fine romance-comedy series into something that touches the readers (or viewers) hearts. I hope Volume 8 gets published soon and translated and the second season to the anime gets released!~

Comments very much appreciated :)

The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan: SHE DISAPPEARED

Okay, so massive spoilers guys. This is an episode 10 review.

I had really high expectations on this spin-off series, partly because I was a big fan of the Haruhi Suzumiya series (I read the light novels up to the latest one) and partly because I wanted to see how they could pull of the parallel universe - romcom part. FOR 9 EPISODES, the ONLY TIME MY HEART ACTUALLY SKIPPED A BEAT was this particular moment in Episode 4:

OMG HARUHI X KYON PLES (although acc. to those who read the manga, nope)

So, call me a heartless bastard, but I wasn't satisfied with Nagato's dere-dere moments with Kyon (much like Onodera with Raku in Nisekoi) spanning 9 episodes, and there's little development between the relationship of the two. It did become more exciting with the introduction of Haruhi into the club, getting everyone caught up in the club-activity hyped roller coaster of a ride known as Haruhi Suzumiya.

AND THEN THERE'S EPISODE 10. Nagato comes face to face with a near-death experience; almost being hit by a car, she suffers a few bruises outside --- but something inside her Shatters. Her glasses being broken is a metaphor of how the accident breaks her dere-dere personality --- and her new one ever so close to the indifferent Nagato of the original series.At first noone suspects, but the last scene of the episode leads to Asakura questioning what Nagato has become.

"Who are you?"

This would be the climax point of the Anime: after 9 episodes of messing around, the last few episodes would show how the new Nagato would affect everyone in the club; especially Kyon. I can't even predict what Kyon would have to go through to bring the other Nagato back;so for those who already read the manga don't spoil hehehe.From here on I have high expectations on how the series would top-off the twist of such an intriguing event...looking forward to Episode 11 in 2 days ;)

Comments very much appreciated :))

Grisaia no Kajitsu: Visual Novel

Grisaia no Kajitsu --- I haven't watched the anime adaptation yet, but I am currently playing its highly praised source material: the visual novel.

Fear, or even Terror, surely pierces the heart of those who have tried conquering the said visual novel. Not only does it set the bar on heavy psychological drama, but it makes the user discover their hidden fears through the character's stories; the visual novel makes you fall in love with every heroine, then they break your hearts with their horrifying past experiences---events that weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of the readers. But those capable of living through the heroines' ordeals gain a deeper understanding of human nature and our emotions that apply to our everyday lives. Grisaia no Kajitsu is a well-written masterpiece and it deserves the high praise and good reviews it has received.

Well enough with the scary review and let's talk about lighter things ;) like every other well produced visual novel, the art is spectacularly done and consistent from beginning to end; every route equally tempting to take and every heroine capturing the heart of the reader.

Though I haven't seen the anime, I can already predict how it couldn't possibly live up to the glory of its predecessor. Grisaia no Kajitsu (VN) has a very high level of psychological drama that can't be reproduced in an anime; the reason being visual novels create multiple storylines or 'routes' that the player can explore to learn about each of the characters' backstory. An anime can't possibly have the main character go out with every single one of the girls involved, and so the possibility of the visual novel being fully adapted into an anime is impossible.

Overall, I recommend everyone that's fan of the anime (or even if you aren's) to play the visual novel. I myself have only finished 63% of the game, 2 routes out of 5 girls (Sachhi and Amane) and I have nothing but good reviews and higher expectations. By the way it's rated 18, but restrictions probably won't stop anyone anyone from something this good anyway. I'd love to hear about your comments!

Plastic Memories 10: Isla's Confession

 Kazuki suddenly becomes the protagonist for 1 episode

Episode 10 serves as a major turning in point in Tsukasa and Isla's relationship and how the rest of the series would pan out, and I'm really curious as to what lies ahead. So let's start with a short summary shall we?

In the previous episode, Kazuki ends up having to dissolve Isla and Tsukasa's partnership.
The viewer would first feel shock of course: Isla only has 1 month left! If she doesn't spend that one month with Tsukasa, they won't have a happy ending!---so they resent Kazuki at first, but the episode later reveals that Kazuki only did it out of concern for both Isla and Tsukasa. In fact, Kazuki plans to "knock some sense into her"; only showing that Kazuki has no objections to Tsukasa's romantic feelings toward Isla and she maybe even supports him.

This episode shows more about Kazuki's perspective. She later reveals that she regrets dissolving her partnership with Isla three years ago. She tells Isla that pulling away from Tsukasa would only cause him more grief as Tsukasa will only have sad, painful memories of her. This makes Isla reflect on how she truly feels about pulling away from Tsukasa. She realizes that she wants to be with him until the end. She confesses to him the next morning at the office and everyone feels happy for them.

Episode 10 finally closes off the issue of "pulling away would be the best for both of us" arc and opens the final arc: the memory-making phase. Since they only have one month left I think the remaining episodes would be focused on memories Isla and Tsukasa would form, escalating up to a peak of happiness so that when the final episode comes and Isla has to go, the viewers would be devastated. But the ending has to be more than that right? There has to be a final conflict to intrigue the viewers, something along the lines of "Tsukasa desperately needs to find a way to save Isla" or "Isla and Tsukasa wants to run away together" type, so I'm going to wait for the directors to surprise me. Overall I think Plastic Memories has been a fun ride: it isn't really particularly good, as it lacks the twists and turns of other romance series but let's not get ahead of ourselves just in case. I would've loved to see more Michiru x Tsukasa moments but that was impossible right from the start because Tsukasa did say he "fell in love at first sight" with Isla right off the bat. Anyways, I'm looking forward as to what episode 11 would bring us. So~

Hajime! The First Step

Hello everyone! (Or noone since I just created this blog)

My name is Henri, an otaku-slash-gamer who will be bringing you the freshest reviews on the latest releases of popular, ongoing anime. I had just 'quit' playing League of Legends and that gave me an awful lot of free time to spend on other things; hence, the creation of this blog. Right now I'm starting of with 3 ongoing anime:

1. Plastic Memories

- a romance drama series, Plastic Memories focuses on the love story between the main character and a Giftia (artificially-intelligent androids who only have a few years to live).

2. Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru.Zoku

- harem-romance-comedy-drama. Unlike most harems, Oregairu (an alternative name) doesn't focus on ecchi and fanservice, and has a good balance between comedy and drama. I'm reviewing its second season.

3. The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan

- a spin-off series of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" set in a parallel universe, it focuses on the daily school life of Nagato Yuki and the progress of her love life with Kyon. 


I'll be doing completed anime reviews every once in a while, and I'm only doing per-episode anime reviews for these 3 (for now). I don't feel the need to make reviews on ongoing anime adapted from manga since the manga would probably be further from the anime and you're better of reading that instead. But I'll be doing a lot on original anime and light-novel-based anime since light novels aren't translated quickly and most of the people would probably watch the anime on its own. I hope you enjoy reading my reviews in the future. Comments and suggestions are really, really appreciated!