Psycho Pass: Episodes 1 - 5

 

Psycho Pass is an awesome anime, especially for people who really like the theme of futuristic, high-tech gear. This series is somewhat like a usual North American police drama show on television. But this shit is waaay better.

 

... First thing I'd like to say about this series is that, personally, the OP is enough to give one an eargasm and get them hooked on the anime.

 

 The intro of the song especially is so appealing in-sync with the visuals that it just gives the series an edge, which makes a really good first impression.

When I found this series, the title is what first caught my attention. From there, it was just like a flash of light.
The OP was great.
I loved the idea and the concept of the entire series.
The characters had interesting personalities.
All of the themes seemed intriguing and freakin' awesome.
And, lastly, the first ED was an eargasm too.

It's good to make sure that an anime has a great OP and ED, or at least or the other, because that's what leaves you with a lasting impression after the first episode.
If you end up with a whatthefuckdidijustwatch reaction after a certain anime, I suggest you stop and watch something more suited to your tastes.

Oh, and the background music usually fits quite nicely with many of the scenes in this anime.

There's tons of bloody death scenes, so for all you gore fans, this could be just for you.

The introduction is a bit sudden and very in-your-face, but once you grasp the concept, it is fanatically faaaantastic.

Setting and concept is fucking AMAZING.

I love the design of the setting, it's really interesting both visually and in concept. The layout of what I've seen so far in eps 1-5 is pretty great.

I love the overuse of holograms in this anime.
It's an overuse, but not in a particularly bad way.
Yeah, it's repeptitive and everything, but it's used in really warped ways.
I won't mention, because that's too good of an idea to reveal here.

The idea of a city where personality issues and psychological problems are absent is really great.
Then the concept of those Dominators is just fabulous. I'm tempted to just visit a con, just to search for an awesome gun replica.

Like, HELLO? WHO THE HELL DOESN'T WANT A GUN THAT IS LIKE A MINI TRANSFORMER?!
Honestly, you want one.

 I know I want one.

I have no money though. (sheds a singular tear)

 

These things are practically the epitome of sayings like:

 

search and destroy

or

hunt to kill.

 

The results of being shot by one of these things ends with a big pile of guts, flesh and a pond of blood.

 

What's cool about the process though is that, the ammo doesn't explode or anything, as one would expect from a sci-fi gun in the future.

Instead,

YOU FREAKIN' IMPLODE.

AN IMPLOSION, MAN.

THIS AUTHOR IS PURE GENIUS.

 

But, seriously, admit it, that is pretty damned smart.

 

Characters are also really great.

 

There isn't much development so far, but I suppose it comes later in the series. And, also, I'd heard that there was a second season. If so, then there's definitely development in that 2nd one.

 

There isn't exactly a pinpointed main main character of the series, who is a hero archetype, but there is one who is involved in most of the crime-solving stuffs.

 

Her name is Akane Tsunemori. She's introduced in episode 1 as a newbie to the Sibyl system's* "enforcement" crew, which is pretty much the police around there.

(The Sibyl System is the government's system of maintaining everyone's psychological capacity, which is known as "Psycho Pass." If one reaches beyond their capacity, they are labelled as possible murderers and hence are killed)

 

During the first episode, near the end, the only emotion I felt towards her was annoyance. But afterwards, somewhere in episode 3, I started empathizing towards her idealogies and, well, I think she's a fairly okay character.

 

She looks really... young though, which made the first impression really trippy.

 

 This is one of the hottest characters I have ever scene.

Honestly, there is an entire scene in around episode 3 or 4 where he walks around shirtless for fanservice.

 

He is the badass out of all the characters so far and really takes his job seriously.

 

 

Kougami Shinya is like whythemotherfreakinhellareyousogoodlookingandyoureoncriminaloffensewhatthehellmanwhyyyyyy

was basically my reaction.

 

I can't really say much about him, because I don't want to spoil it too badly and, plus, there hasn't been much development other than the fact that he's one of those exceptionally mysterious characters.

 

Those two are the main-er-ish ones and the others are secondary to the development I guess.

 

Other than the feud between this guy

and this guy,

there aren't any other developed relations.

 

Another thing I'm pleased about this anime was the art. There aren't many gory crime anime that have a mixture of both aesthetic and horror art. The effects are also used nicely; not too much, not too little. Animation is fairly smooth, but smooth enough.

 

One thing that I would say is kind of a downer about such a great anime would be the momentum of the plot development.

As we've recently said, there is hardly any developments at all.

But this isn't much of an issue, because regardless of the plot's pacing, the action-packed detective work is guaranteed to keep you hooked.

  



Suki -tte Ii na yo [Say "I love you"] (manga)

 

Suki-tte Ii na yo is a moderately-good manga, as it has its pros and cons in the different categories.

(This manga is also an anime, and I hope to watch it upon completing the series. All the character photos are from the anime :P)

 

The setting is a usual shoujo, slice-of-life, romancey anime, which would be at a high school.

Normally, with high-school anime, whether it be shoujo or shounen, it always has its "type," such as supernatural-specialized or is known for one of its traits.

This high school's "trait" would be its students' relationships. Dating is a hot topic around the school, whether they're a boy or girl. Sex is often a pastime for girls and guys alike.

 

One of the the main characters is 16 year-old Tachibana Mei, who has never dated before and doesn't have friends. She, according to many, is considered odd and creepily quiet.

 

And not to mention that she has like...

FUCKING A BILLION SELF-ESTEEM ISSUES

 

Not a big spoiler, really, unless you're overly dramatic about spoilers, but one day, two popular boys, one of which was Kurosawa Yamato, were walking to class when one decides to tug on Mei's skirt. She frantically turns around, giving Kurosawa a mawashi geri* to the head. But, he wasn't the one who tugged on her skirt.

 

*Note: A mawashi geri is a karate kick.

 

Honestly, when I came to that point in the beginning, i was like:

YEEEEEEEES

THIS.

GIRL.

IS.

AWESOME.

 

So that's Tachibana for you.

 

Then there's Kurosawa Yamato.

Oddly, his hair is my hair length, which makes me feel weird as a girl, but eh, whatever.

 

So, he pretty much saves her from a stalker and,. from there, they start dating.

 

... what the fuck, right?

 

According to this, the anime is a "realistic story of first love."

 

... So, where the hell is MY stalker, HMMM?

 

... Thought so.

 

Kurosawa is one of those super popular boys that all the girls have a fandom with and an extreme obsession that often makes people narrow their eyes and ask "what the hell."

 

There isn't much to say about him, other than the fact that he is a generic bishie appearance in a shoujo romance manga and anime.

 

PLOT.

 

I kinda explained quite a bit above, so I won't go into this, I might as well be handing you a silver platter decked out with spoilers.

 

But, I just wanna say that it kinda sucks at the beginning, because it seems extremely unrealistic and kind of boring. The main characters are pretty generic, but the secondary characters are very interesting.

As plot develops and things start to happen, we get into the details of the secondary character's pasts and such. And with almost all romance anime, there's rivalry between girls and guys.

 

The thing that pisses me off about the main characters is that they get jealous too easily and are simply influenced by others too often. After a while, the story seems quite repetitive in ending and gets kind of boring.

 

Like REEEEEALLY BORING.

 

But, overall, it's alright.

It's a manga that doesn't hurt to read, but only when you have nothing better to do.

 

I'm not done this manga yet, because I believe the chapters are still being translated, but I suspect that it is what I've said it to be.

 

 



K-Project: Anime Overview

 

During the break, I managed to squeeze in some time for a short anime called K-Project, which is 13 episodes long.

 

The one thing that really captured my eye in this one was the great animation. The storyline looked so damn interesting that I couldn't put it off after I started. Character design is great and I like the concept. Overall, it's a great anime that I would suggest to anyone who has a thing for mysterious psychological thrillers with supernaturals interwoven with the plot.

 

Honestly, the first episode totally masks the actual plotline of the story, which is great for a mystery. Another thing, this anime is one of those mysteries that are made out of pure crap. The storyline is NOT very predictable and turns out quite differently than one would be led to believe.

 

Now to begin...

 

Firstly...

HOLY CRAP THE AMOUNT OF PASSIVE BROMANCE IN THIS ANIME IS BEYOND ALL LEVELS OF COMPREHENSION.

 

... Anyway, to start, we'll look at plot and setting.

 

The entire anime takes place in a high-tech Shizume City, which functions regularly like any other modern city. Other than the fact that there are a bunch of "clans" (functions sort of like gangs) who fight every other second over little nit-picky emotional things.

 

There are 8 clans in total, I believe, but during the anime, only 4 of them are present.

Some of these clans are not clans at all, and are only made of a singular person. Those people are referred to as "kings."

 

The four clans that play their part in the plot accordingly are:

 

1. HOT-HEADED RED CLAN

2. COOL-HEADED BLUE CLAN

3. ALL-POWERFUL SILVER KING

4. CORRUPTED COLOURLESS KING

 

Each of these groups portray their unique sets of personalities and, well, is pretty fucking awesome. I mean, the colourless king is pretty screwed up in the head, but you gotta admit, he's pretty awesome.

 

The plot goes something like this (with trying to avoid spoilers):

 

ablondeguywhowasbestfriendswiththeredclangotkilledthentheredclangotreallyhotheadedandpissedoffthentheytotallyragedbecausetheyfoundavideoonacameratapethathadthefaceoftheguywhokilledhimanddecidedtodedicatetherestoftheirlivestofindingthispersonwhokilledhim.

blueclanwhoisalwayspissedwithredclangetspissednonethelessandstartstellingthemtobackoffbecauseeveryonethinksthatthekilleristhecolourlesskingwhotheythinkisevilandhencemustbekilled

butredclanistoopissedofftolistentoblueclanandeachofthembattleitup

meanwhileanekogirlwhoisprettymuchonlyinthestorylinetofuckuptheatmosphereandprovidetheviewerwithextremefanserviceofwhichifoundextremelyawkwardisobsessingoverthemaincharacterandabrokenricebowl

Themaincharacteriscompletelyoblivioustoeverythingthathasbeenhappeninguntilhepassesoutfromshockofafoxthinggoingintohiseyeandstartsglowinglikealightbulboutofsheerfabulousness

afterwardsheramblesingermaninaveryyoungmanlyvoice

thenhegoestofuckshitupbyusinghislevetationpowersandneko'sabilitytoscrewupwithpeople'sperceptions

heeatstheevilcolourlesskingandthenproceedstogetkilledbytheredclankingonpurposeandafterwardsthesameiswiththeredclanking

andtheneveryoneislikeholyshitiknewthisguyhewas...waitwhowasheagain?

 

... If you honestly read all of that, I am thoroughly impressed with your level of patience.

 

So, some of the main characters...

 

First up is Isana "Shiro" Yashiro, who is a paradoxal character, because Isana Yashiro is not Isana Yashiro at all.

 

I don't want to bring about any major spoilers but, during the plot development, he discovers that the life he lives is a lie. From there, shit get real.

 

But, away from plot and back to character, Yashiro is a kind-hearted friendly high school boy, the protagonistm, who seems to be close to everyone. Once again, the idea of a paradox comes back because, right from the first episode, his relationships with everyone is questioned as "Everyone seems to like him, but he doesn't really hang out with anyone in particular."

 

Okay, so I wont go any further with his chcracter development, but I'll just say that a fanservice cat girl, Neko, is completely obsessed with him, which obviously makes up for some very awkward scenes.......

 

Oh and, glowing scene to the right. Don't bother clicking it unless you wanna be spoiled.

 

Moving on to Yatogami Kuroh

 

Kuroh Yatogami is known as the infamous "black dog" or kuro inu.

 

He's pretty much what he looks like:

a cool-headed, long-haired bishie who wields a katana.

 

He also possesses a type of invisible force through his hands that makes him able to attack from far distances. Confusing, but you'll get it when you watch the anime.

 

He was out to hunt the colourless king and was going to kill Yashiro on site, but, out of sheer jokes, Yashiro escapes. Eventually, Kuroh learns that Shiro isn't the evil force he was ordered to kill and teams up with him.

 

He constantly declares that his former king, whom he served was Ichigen-sama. Kuroh is overly obsessed with his deceased master, who sent him out on this quest.

He carries around this voice-recorder thingy, which has messages of Ichigen on it.

 

Kuroh fangirls over this machine, and upon showing it to Shiro and Neko for the first time, i was like; .... this is not kuroh. what the hell have you done with him. (Kuroh's reaction to the right)

 

 

I'm too lazy to explain Neko for many reasons, one of which is because I've already explained some of her personality above.

 

She has two forms, one is an actual cat and the other is a gijinka, a human adaptation of an animal.

 

I'll just present a couple pictures.

 

Cat form

Human form

 

 

And those are the three main characters.

 

Another thing about this anime is the relationships.

 

Friendship.

Betrayal.

Bromance.

Hatred.

Trust.

 

It's got all the good stuff, so I suggest you go and watch it right at this instant.

 

As for a rant on the relationships themselves, I'll have to save for a different post some other time.

I've already made this too long.

 

 

DON'T DIE OF SUICIDAL BOREDOM, RANDOM VIEWER!!

 

So yeah, that's K-Project for you in a cinch.

... A rather long cinch.

 

 

 

STILL ALIVE!! (Merry belated Christmas!!)

... WOW. I haven't blogged on this for the longest time ever.

Yeah, sorry, I kinda ditched you guys, but I had school and shit to do.

But other than that, I'm still watching anime.

 

Sorta anyway.

Not as often as I'd like to, but eh whatever.

 

So recently, i've started reading a bunch of manga and finished a couple anime.

And well, I'll post again about that later.

 

Just wanted to let my viewers know that I AM in fact still alive and breathing in the awkwardly-awesome world of anime.

 

Oh, and three more things before I finish this post:

 

1. MEEEEEEEERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

 

2. I've started another blog recently, unrelated to anime. The topic is excessively trending media in the modern, first-world North America, where I, er, live.

Great humour, mild cursing and tons of "that's so true" stuff, here in NA.

 

Check it out here.

 

3. I've also started a tumblr recently, so feel free to check that out here.

 

 

 And well, I'll start blogging off and on again, since exams are coming up and this is the last day of my winter break.

Procrastinate with passion. :)

Irrelevant Post: GHIBLI!!

Ghibli films are awesome. Plain and simple, but the obvious truth.

So anyhow, just wanted to share this pic with you.

Jormungand - Quick Overview

I'd just realized that I haven't done a rant on Jormungand.

 

Season 2 is going to begin airing tomorrow, October 9th.

--

 

Jormungand is one of those animes where shit happens just 'cause it does. The main feature of this anime is mainly guns, drugs, knives and mafia bosses.

I really love the opening; it really does match in theme with the anime, music and all.
 

There isn't exactly a protagonist-antagonist relationship in this first season, but there's rather  featured characters as the story moves along. I do like this method of development, rather than focusing on a single viewpoint, because, in this way, all personalities, backstories and personal feelings evolve throught the entirety of the series.

 

Throughout this first season, the only backstories developed would be of Valmet, a crazy murderess, who has been used several times for fan service (?), and Jonah, an emotionally-lacking child soldier. It would be questionable to say that Koko's backstory has developed because, technically, since she's an arms dealer and the boss of the collective team, most of the season involves her, or at least, revolves around her.

 

Okay, honestly, this is a serious anime, with hardly any animated humour.

Jormungand is, simply put, an anime about a bunch of crazy psychotic humans who like to roughen enemies up with knives and artillery.

 

If I remember correctly, every episode contains at least a bit of bloodshed.

 

 

 

I love the range of characters in Jormungand.

 

Okay, so, you got your partially-generic characters, including that one character who constantly smokes and acts like he's your uncle, that spiky, blonde-haired dude who thinks he can do everything, that nerdy tech-support guy with round-framed glasses, that blonde-haired CIA agent with a foul mouth and a cocky attitude, that stupid blonde female character who gets about 15 minutes of screentime throughout the series and the rest of the unimportant side characters.

 

After that, you have your very abnormal and strange characters who further enhance the story, including that super-busty, overly-muscular woman with only one functioning eyeball and her asian doppleganger who is part of some asian organization led by an old guy who is all talk; that crazy sadistic bitch who can't contain herself when she loses her hat, a white-haired female drug dealer who has assembled a team of ex-FIB/CIA/CORPS/etc. members, does not accept cocaine as a method of payment and has a weird fetish for feathered necklines and her brother, who's backstory is not yet revealed, except for the fact that he's sadistic to the point where he locks a 9 (?) year-old kid in a holding container for weeks with only water; and an old arms dealer dude who has an excessively-bulging chin and is known as "Curry" and much more.

 

Jormungand is pretty straight to the point. Unless you're talking about the plot's backstory.

Current events are quite obvious in terms of "what" and "why": Point, Shoot, Kill.

 

This is a "filler anime, but not."

 

Oh, and, Jormungand did what we all thought was impossible: inserting a beach filler episode into the middle of a bloody violent arms race series.

 

Just a little rant about characters in Jormungand as I await tomorrow's airing of season 2: Jormungand - Perfect Order. 

 

 

 

Marvelous Works of Artistic Ranting - YT Link

I wasn't doing anything much today, so I was browsing youtube for some interesting videos and I came upon this guy's channel.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/gigguk

 

His anime rants are quite the marvelous masterpieces.

 

 

And so, I bid you all a most joyous Thanksgiving.

And a wonderful time with relatives you don't even know.