29 Jul 2011

Death Note

I can't say I loved this anime. Death Note was good in a mind bending way, similar to Code Geass. The main character Yagami Light is difficult to sympathise with or even like, but he does have his moments. The whole story is a little hypocritical and ironic, but I won't ruin it for you.


I've even heard there's a movie in production, but don't get your hopes up. Even if it does come out, films these days have a habit of letting you down.


Anyway, if you like tactics and strategy - this is another anime for you. The mental back and forth between Yagami and the antagonist, L is full of tension and is very engaging.  There are a few great twists, but as usual - the manga is better than the anime.


Some of the characters are epic and awesome, I found myself rooting for L instead of Yagami. Ryuk the death god was amusing and a little cryptic at times. The art is well drawn and animated, and in high quality the graphics are some of the best. As always, watch the subbed version instead of dub. Dub sucks. Bad voice acting central, thank you for wasting my time.

25 Jul 2011

Bleach


If you're looking to get into anime and you've only seen mainstream stuff like Dragonball Z, Bleach is an ideal place to start. Now I can't say popularity is the best way to measure the quality of something, but the Bleach fanbase is practically a cult following. In my opinion this anime should be on everyone's priority list.

There are too many awesome characters to name, although Zaraki Kenpachi is the king of badassery. For those of you that love long running animes like One Piece and Naruto, Bleach could be your next addiction.


Plot summary taken from IMDB: 
High school student Kurosaki Ichigo is unlike any ordinary kid. Why? Because he can see ghosts. Ever since a young age, he's been able to see spirits from the afterlife. Ichigo's life completely changes one day when he and his two sisters are attacked by an evil, hungry and tormented spirit known as a Hollow. Right in the nick of time, Ichigo and his siblings are aided by a Shinigami (Death God) named Kuchiki Rukia, whose responsibility it is to send good spirits (Pluses) to the afterlife known as Soul Society, and to purify Hollows and send them up to Soul Society. But during the fight against the Hollow, Rukia is injured and must transfer her powers to Ichigo. With this newly acquired power, so begins Kurosaki Ichigo's training and duty as a Shinigami to maintain the balance between the world of the living and the world of the dead.


There are a hell of a lot of episodes to watch, as the director Noriyuki Abe and Studio Pierrot has been pumping them out since 2004 and the manga is still ongoing. The mangaka, Tite Kubo uses a simple but fairly unique art style that gives the characters life and personality.


It might take you some time to get into the rhythm of Bleach, possibly up to 100 episodes. But I can assure you it's worth the watch. You'll be humming the intro songs in no time. Some of the characters are unbelievably badass - there's no contest who'd win in a fight versus Ichigo and Naruto. The only bad part is the filler, beware of the Bounto arc.

17 Jul 2011

Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion

Hey everyone, welcome to the first post on my anime and manga blog! It was difficult deciding on which anime to review and talk about first, so I chose my favorite:


Code Geass is an excellent anime for pretty much anyone. The series does involve Mecha but it's not an overly smothering feature, so if Mechas aren't your thing don't worry about it. Both the anime and manga are good, but I'd suggest watching the program since it covers pretty much everything that's in the mangas anyway. Here's a little about the plot:


Lelouch Lamperouge is an incredibly intelligent young high school student living in future Japan after a great world war in which the country Britainna took over the majority of the planet. Japan, renamed area 11 is under a harsh tyrannic rule with its citizens oppressed. On his way back to to the academy after winning an illegal chess match, Lelouch is accidentally involved in a terrorist operation and shot. He survives by assistance from a mysterious power and some quick thinking. And so begins his epic journey to take the world from the hands of the Emperor and Britannia as revenge for his family.


That's just about as much as I can reveal without spoiling the story. I do recommend this anime to anyone who likes strategy, tactics, total badassery and more. Lelouch is hands down one of the biggest winners ever, I have yet to meet a more smug protagonist. He is more of an anti-hero than anything else.


Overall, don't miss out on Code Geass if you like anime. Sponsored by Bandai, you can tell it's arguably one of the best out there. I can't promise you'll love it like I did, but you will be able appreciate this anime, you'd be mad not to!

15 Jul 2011

Anime blog under construction

Please check back in a few days if you actually want to visit here, thank you!