Anime Review : Steins;Gate

Hi all ~

Finally, it's summer! Vacations!!! No more deadlines!!...okay, so not that. Anyway, to commemorate the beginning of summer, I am going to post a review of the anime I just finished watching : Steins;Gate (I wonder why it's a semicolon o_O)

The main reason I watched Steins;Gate was for one, it was ranked number two only after Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood (on myanimelist) which as obvious from my previous post is my one true love and secondly there are no good jdrama to watch. Atleast not good enough for me to rant and make a post about anyway. Going off topic, I heard that Hero (KimuTaku Jdrama) season 2 is coming this summer. For those of you who do not know Hero, please skip the next few lines :). When I first heard about the Hero sequel I went: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATT? a Hero sequel without Matsu Takako and Abe Hiroshi?! This is a disaster. That said, I will watch it, but I am not expecting too much. End of Hero rant.

Back to the point, Steins;Gate for me is a big leap from the genre I usually watch. I have not ventured much into the sci-fi world (unless you count Detective Conan which I don't because it is more mystery/crime/detective than sci-fi), atleast not pure sci-fi without action/detective or any other such tag also attached. It was surprisingly captivating. Was it on par with Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood? I think not. But it really is very good in its own way.
Steins;Gate is basically about university student and self-proclaimed "mad scientist" Okabe Rintaro AKA Okarin AKA Hououin Kyoma who spends his days in his "Future Gadget" laborotary with fellow lab members his ditsy, cosplay-loving childhood friend Shiina Mayuri (AKA Mayushi) and the token perverted "Super Hacker" with a love for Maid Cafes, Hashida Itaru (AKA Daru). Okabe is not without his own quirks, prone to loud proclamations of scientific babble, talking to no one in his phone about some organization that is out to take over the world and tops it all with his evil laughter. They are joined by 18 year old genius scientist with an academic publication to her name, Makise Kurisu (AKA Assistant AKA Kurustina AKA Zombie AKA whatever other nicknames Okabe comes up with), and a few others When Okabe and the others build a time machine that can send texts to the past, they recklessly use it and finally have to face the consequences of their actions.
In detail,

Plot : The plot was probably the best part of the series. It was pretty slow in the beginning. Although I have heard people say it gets better after episode 4, I didn't think there was such a clear demarcation. It just gradually got captivating and by about 10th or 11th episode you are at the edge of your seat. The whole series tied into a nice loop with an amazing ending despite a confusing first episode. Steins;Gate is basically about time-travel. It starts off with a bunch of eccentric nerds wasting time in nerdy ventures in their dusty, run-down lab which results in disastrous consequences which they may or may not be able to undo. Their time machine initially can only send texts to the past which convinces the reciever of the text to take a different course of action that results in a different future. Starting with silly stuff like the number of the winning lottery ticket, they eventually realize that changing the past changes a lot more than they are aware of. I expected the time-travel to cause a very confusing and convoluted plot where the direction it veers into is so different that you forget how the story started. (one good example for a confusing plot was Tsubasa Chronicles. I still don't fully understand it and I don't think I ever will), but that is not the case here. All in all, the plot is the most definitely what kept me glued to this series.

Characters: At one look, the main character Okabe Rintaro is probably just another eccentric guy you've seen in many other anime and similarly voiced by the GOD of voice actors : Mamoru Miyano. But then again he is not. And that made him interesting. Despite being annoying initially Okabe becomes so endearing that I missed his stupid conspiracy babbles after the series took a serious turn. The side characters, individually, also appear like copies from other anime but it is their interaction that made them better. The downside for me was that I could not connect with even one of the side characters even though they made a fun bunch together. Separately, they were just that : characters. And since Okabe is the only character who retains his memories after a time-leap (everyone else forgets), he's the character with the most growth and obvious character development. Of course this means less character development for the rest of the characters which is to be expected as from their point of view, it's the same day only Okabe knows it's the same day but different things happen. The two best parts about the character design was. 1. Okabe's relationship with Mayuri. It was nice to see someone would go so far to save someone else who was neither family nor a lover. It spoke volumes about Okabe as a person, that underneath all that mad-scientist bluster was a kind and caring person. Unfortunately, there was no explanation given as to what formed this strong bond between Okabe and Mayuri. The fact that they were childhood friends was just thrown at us viewers. I would have liked to have seen some flashback that caused such a strong friendship between two seemingly very different individuals.  2. The chemistry between Okabe and Kurisu (romance non-withstanding). I loved that no matter how many times Okabe time-leapt and everyone lost their memories, Kurisu always believed what he said (even if it would have seemed unrealistic or far-fetched) and had his back. That she was his one constant. Their constant arguments surprisingly endeared them to me and I usually dislike tsundere characters because they always end up hitting/punching/thrashing other characters (mostly the love interest). And my favourite character was definitely Okabe.

Overall Steins;Gate was a very interesting (albeit a bit short) anime. Would I rank it number two after Fullmetal Alchemist : Brotherhood? I don't know. I am not fully happy with the any other character except the main character and their development was minimum if there was any at all.

Special mention : I usually watch anime in the original language as I can understand most of the Japanese and I am a huge fan of Mamoru Miyano (Voice actor of Okabe) but I have to mention that the English dub by Funimation was really good. More than the voices of the characters, I thought the English script was excellent. Usually a lot is lost in translation and cultural references, but despite that, Funimation has done a brilliant job.

Recommended if you like anime with good plots and/or are bored like I am with nothing to watch!


El  Psy Congroo!!

~Charana

Anime/Manga : Reminiscing FullMetal Alchemist

Hi all ~

For a change, I'm going to talk about anime/manga today. Please note that there will be some SPOILERS in this article! And, everything written in this article is strictly my opinion, please do not take offense if you don't like what I'm writing!! You are entitled to your own opinion and I respect that. I am mostly going to be talking about the characters in the manga, so I will not be talking about how the anime is fast-paced/ruined the first half of the first series etc etc.

Honestly, it's been ages since I last watched an anime. None of the recent anime seem to hold any interest for me. In my opinion, now-a-days,the genre of anime being released seems to hold no interest for me. I guess my standards for anime to be qualified as "good" is a well-rounded plot, (even if it contains some unbelievable aspects such as fantasy genre), solid characters and character development. Off-late, Anime/manga that I was once a (huge) fan of, are all starting to annoy me. For example, recent developments in Naruto (manga : the war arc) and Skip Beat! (manga: Cain heel arc) are starting to seem senseless and dragged out to me. When I say huge fan, I mean really really really obsessed, re-reading/watching favourite parts countless times, watching/(sometimes making) random fan-made music videos, writing/reading fan-fics, discussing spoilers and going hopping-mad waiting for next chapter etc etc. Yes, I was THAT crazy about some anime/manga. Seriously, I was starting to think something was wrong with me and not the anime/manga in question.

So, while I wait idly with nothing to watch, I decided to re-watch (and reread the manga) my OBSESSION, my one-and-only, my answer to what-would-you-want-if-you-were-stranded-on-a-deserted-island-? : FullMetal Alchemist : Brotherhood (henceforth known as FMA:B). And I've reached this conclusion : I have REALLY high standards.

I know many people liked the first series of FMA and felt that the initial parts of the second series, FMA:B, were an unnecessary repetition, I (humbly) disagree. From the beginning, we knew that the first series initially followed the manga and later changed into a different direction. So it should not be surprising if the initial parts of FMA:B were also the same. It was quite obvious they tried not to repeat as much as possible, which resulted in some of my favourite parts from the manga being omitted/modified.

Frankly, I did not like the first series as much as I liked the manga/FMA:B. Yes, they'd maintained the humor, most of the characters and yes, it did have a solid plot but for some reason it left-me feeling hollow. The end did not make me feel like, "Yes! That's how an epic series should end!" My first reason for that was Ed and Al getting separated. After all they'd been through, they deserved a happy ending. From the beginning, in the manga (and earlier episodes of FMA), the author built a premise for a positive future, at-least that's the feeling I got!

1. The plot: As I said before, I like a well-rounded plot (which I love about the Harry Potter series as well). I love that we got to know about Xerxes, that Amestris was born out of the greed of one tiny "Homunculus" in a flask. That every war, every blood-shed, was all the work of this greedy, prideful creature with a god-complex. And all that was blown-apart by the very humans, the homunculus-in-the-flask looks down upon so disdainfully. "Humans are violent, miserable fools" (~ Lust), this is absolutely true because humans are not perfect, but they still managed to put aside hatred and come together to save the entire country. The whole concept of how the "Truth" takes away what you want the most was brilliant, how Ed and Al want to see their mother and feel her warmth ends up with one losing his only remaining family and the other losing the ability to feel warmth, how all Izumi ever wanted was a baby but loses the organs to have a baby ever and finally how Mustang who has a vision to lead his country loses his eyesight. Arakawa-sensei dealt with several issues such as politics, human psychology, war etc very neatly. The premise of the story, lead me to believe that the series would have a dark, tragic undertone (as is common in anime/manga with the "tragedy" tag/ tragic summary) but despite that Arakawa-sensei manages to give the series a humorous and positive feel, which impressed me the most!

2. The characters : One word : Brilliant. Every character in this manga/anime had depth, they were believable. I loved how Ed and Al, retained their naivete despite everything they'd been through. I cannot talk about the characters in general when talking about FMA, so I will give each character a special mention. Let's start with the series protagonist and everyone's favorite (mine included) :
Edward Elric : An amazing lead character, Ed may come-off as the classic arrogant, rude genius but ruins any "coolness" factor associated with such shounen-manga heroes by not only being short but also reacting badly whenever said height is mentioned turning any situation into a humorous one; without seeming misplaced.
Alphonse Elric :  I agree with the popular opinion, that Al made a very good balance to Ed, character wise. Calm and kind-hearted are Al's most obvious traits but, like every character in FMA, there's more to Al than just that. I like how the mangaka depicted Al's inner fortitude (like giving up his body to save his friends) and his ability to accept people as they are.
Mustang and crew : Fangirl Alert! I love Mustang ~ he's insanely cool!! -Ahem- In my opinion, Mustang is similar to the Elric brothers in his naive notions but unlike them in his willingness to dirty his hands/use underhanded tactics to get things done and this difference marks a maturity in him (as compared to the Elric Brothers) that comes with both age & experience. Sly and manipulative, Mustang appears almost-perfect in terms of his ability as a Military officer as well as an alchemist. His fight with Envy, however, proved that he can also be reduced to blind rage and hate, which I think was needed to show that despite his "perfect-ness" he is also human. As for the rest of his subordinates, I liked their staunch loyality to Mustang. I loved Riza's relationship with him. There was obvious affection without being overdone or out of character. Speaking of Riza as a character, she is one of my all-time favourite characters both personality and strength-wise. The good thing about the manga/FMA:B is that the rest of his crew had more/better roles than the first series. I loved how Arakawa linked Havoc's general store with Maria Ross's return from Xing so beautifully! This is what I mean by a well-rounded plot!
Winry Rockbell : I'm only mentioning Winry because I've seen her being called goody-two shoes/ Mary Sue but that's not true. Yeah Winry cannot do alchemy, fight, jump from one rooftop to another but that doesn't make her a weak doormat! She is cool! She's an amazing automail mechanic and has been since age 11! Ok, so Ed and Winry get marries and happily-ever-after (blah, blah) but that's beside the point. I didn't care what happy ending Arakawa-sensei gave them as long it was a happy ending! That doesn't mean I was against Ed and Winry, they make a cute couple but I'm glad the story did not focus too much on that. The moments they had through the story were good enough.
Xing crew : A nice addition to the manga/FMA:B was the presence of Xing and the characters, Ling Yao, Ran Fan, Fuu and Mei Chang (I know not many people were not fond of her, as they thought of her as the usual annoying girl-type but I disagree. My most favourite role of hers was saving Hawkeye). Of course Ling (with and without Greed) is a fantastic character, and I feel his presence opened some insight to Greed, my favorite Homunculi. But even individually Ling was a strong character and added a good flow to the story.
The Briggs crew : Once again a very good addition to the series. Headed by Olivier Mira Armstrong, the entire Briggs crew made a strong impression in me and definitely deserve a special mention. Strong, ruthless and defiant, Olivier is a stark contrast to her more soft-hearted brother Alex Louis Armstrong. She held her own in a fight against the Homunculi. I'm impressed how Arakawa-sensei managed to depict several female characters each with different personality but still strong, independent and not with the usual whiny, crying and love-sick/boy-crazy personality as many authors tend to do. When I say strong, I don't mean physically (like being able to throw trees or something), I mean strength in personality. It's ok if there are weak characters as long as they show some growth during the course of the series. (Like Kanzaki Nao from Liar Game) It's also ok to be in love as long that doesn't make said character weak, annoying or a nuisance to other characters.
And finally, The antagonists
The Homunculi and Father : I did not like the concept of Homunculi being failed human transmutations, to be honest (it could probably be my bias because I loved the manga and was not very enthusiastic about the original story-line, no offense to fans of the original series) somehow it made everything sadder, like seeing someone resemble Trisha so much but not actually her, so near yet so far. Like with every other character, Arakawa-sensei had once again given each of the Homunculi a personality besides their namesake, which made them all the more interesting.


Alright-y! This post has become long enough. A quick conclusion : I absolutely loved FullMetal Alchemist. They're just not making such good stuff anymore! Maybe I should just re-watch it! (Again). Once again, I apologize to fans of the first-series of FMA as well as Naruto and Skip Beat!, I'm not saying that these shows are horrible, just that I've lost interest in the them. You have every right to be as crazy about them as I am about FMA (manga and Brotherhood) This is just my humble opinion, that needed an outlet.

~Charana

Fall 2013 JDrama - The ups and downs

This is not a review for any one jdrama but just my random thoughts on all the jdramas that I watched (completed/dropped) this last season while I wait (not very eagerly) for the start of the next season. And it's not (hopefully) going to be me gushing/fan-girling about Sakai Masato-san, my current most favourite j-actor (as much as I want to).

Anyway to start off, the drama that really made me want to bang my head against the wall this season was (no offense to fans) Ando Lloyd. Not that I was really anticipating the drama or anything because I've been wary about everything KimuTaku's acted in after Mr. Brain plus the cheesy title (AI knows love? Seriously?? Ando Lloyd..ugh an awful pun) and the overdone plot line did little to inspire me. Despite this, I did watch the first episode the moment it was out but it did nothing to encourage any interest in me. Watching the rest of the series was just mechanical for me, just because I had nothing else to do. There were several aspects that disappointed me to the point that later in the series even the simple things like the endless repeatition of the dialogue "Ando Asahi is prohibited from dying"  began to grate on my nerves. Speaking of Ando Asahi, I really didn't like her character. Shibasaki Kou is a beautiful actress and extremely talented (she was amazing in Galileo) but Ando Asahi was just not good enough to be portrayed by her. Asahi is introduced as a career-woman in her 30s who is working in a huge IT firm. But to me she looked like a spoiled little child especially when she pouted.
I am a fan of KimuTaku as well, I really liked him as Kuryu-kenji in Hero but the robot role was really just bland and boring. The plotline was messed up, out of nowhere we find out that Matsushima Reiji's younger sister has split personality and what was the point of Kiritani Mirei anyway? And God, Honda Tsubasa really needs to chose her roles better cause Suppli was pretty damn (excuse me) annoying. The only thing that was glaringly obvious was the huge amount invested in the project because the CGI was good. Besides that it was nothing but the same old overdone story line of how a robot develops feelings after it meets a woman/human or some such variation.

Although it had all the elements for  hit, a love story bordering on tragedy, awesome CGI action sequences, KimuTaku, sci-fi etc etc, it performed pretty poorly. I don't know why Hanzawa Naoki became such a huge hit (even though, I did enjoy it a lot) but I think if some other people felt the same as me about Ando Lloyd then I'm not surprised it flopped so badly.

Moving on to the next j-drama on my list, Miss Pilot. It was exactly as I expected. An uninspired heroine tries something new, gets interested, meets/overcomes challenges, makes friends and they all live happily ever after. Not that I hate such a storyline, I'm a always cheering for the underdog. But Miss Pilot did not have lead or supporting characters that made me want to cheer for them. The heroine was bland and all her friends were forgettable. I don't know why Aibu Saki has recently only gotten roles of annoying side characters, she's pretty and talented too.

Tokyo bandwagon was really boring. I liked the Hotta Family but the plot was not strong enough to support an entire series. Otto no Kanojo was meh too. Dokushin Kizoku had a different setting of movie producers and scriptwriters but take that away and it's the classic girl and guy being pulled apart by circumstances/annoying boyfriends/girlfriends and fiance(e)s.

At this point, it seems like I hated all j-dramas this season but that's not true. I did enjoy Yorozu Uranaidokoro Onmyoya e Yokoso, despite the episodic setting although I have not been able to complete watching it.
And the only drama that made this season worthwhile was Legal High 2. I'm not going rehash what I already said about Legal High (my previous post) but I've noticed a lot of people complaining that season 2 was not as good as 1 due to the absence of the Namase Katsuhisa-san and the introduction of the classic good-looking love-interest (not really) Hanyu Haruki (Okada Masaki) but that's not true (No, it's the not the Sakai-Masato-fan-girl in me talking) On the surface it seems like Hanyu is just that, but he's also twisted and weird just like the rest of the cast and what ensues is a hilarious but cut-throat battle between Komikado and Hanyu and is definitely a must-watch!

That's all the j-drama I watched this season. Hopefully the next season j-drama will be better than my expectations.

~Charana