Clannad ~after story~ Review (tears may follow while watching it...XP)

I'll be crucified for saying this, but I'll say it anyway. 


There's no need to watch the first season to comprehend or like the second season. If you're not up to excessive moeness and a dull story, the prequel might end up making you don't watch the sequel, which would definitely be a waste.


You can get a pretty good idea of what the first season was by watching the first 8 episodes of Clannad ~after story~. All the mistakes from the previous series are there. Lame humor, dull drama, unlikely reactions to over-dramatized conflicts and a weak soundtrack.


I was very close to dropping this anime thanks to KyoAni stupidity in copying every single aspect from the prequel. There were some improvements, it's true. After episode 8, the soundtrack was much better and even the art seemed more beautiful. Also, I have to admit that, thanks to being 4 episodes long (contrasted to 7, 8 episodes long arcs in Clannad), it wasn't that hard to watch Sunohara's and Misae's arcs.


Thankfully, some light shone upon Kyoto Animation and they realized that a more tangible plot without relying in nonsense supernatural references or in bad jokes every two minutes would work way better to actually create a dramatic environment.


From episodes 9 to episode 21 we are delivered a beautiful and extremely saddening story of the hardships of becoming an adult, having dreams, seeing they fall apart and getting over dark times.


Hardly did an anime approach these topics in such an effective way without losing focus that they are dealing with human beings and not perfect beings who are flawless or solve everything with some tears and "I'm sorry" all the time (which basically summarizes the first installment).


Tomoya's adult life's story unfolds in a carefully detailed account of how life can be a bitch. It's really easy to connect with him, suffer with him and cry with him many times, too. It was a wonderful development to his personality making him an extremely likable character, probably one of my favorite male characters ever.


Nagisa had some development, too. But overall, I still felt a bit annoyed by her quite often childish personality. Even when she acted a bit more independent and adult-like it was hard to not think of her as a child.


Ushio goes without saying. Probably the main reason many tears were shed in this series. Her voice actress did a wonderful job in giving life to such a special child.


But in the end KyoAni couldn't resist revisiting old mistakes. In the very ending it was decided, in a way that seemed completely out of the blue, that after causing so many tears, telling such a beautiful, tangible and human-like story they would laugh hard at your face and say "Just kidding, it was all a lie".


It was completely uncalled for. It fell like a rock, crushing everything that had been done up to that point. I understand the need of a happy ending. But one thing is ending happily, another thing is destroying 13 episodes of development just for the sake of an unreal conclusion.


I was more disappointed from this outrageous flaw than I was from watching the first series. The feeling I got was "Oh, we didn't have the guts to make the story follow the pace it was following so far, so we decided to change everything in the last episode just not to make you sad anymore. Here, have some candies".


Once again, a poor ending causes tremendous damage in a very promising show. It always angers me the desperate need of a complete surreal "happy" ending that so many movies, animes, series, etc have rather than showing a more soothing and human-like ending.


Still, it's a highly enjoyable show. Just don't expect much of the conclusion. 

It's time for another random post =D *Weeeeeehhhh*

Comment or my friend will get you!ò.ó

The one or two people who occasionally have a look at this might wonder why I insist on posting here. Well, I feel like doing it, and then I do it, mystery solved!XD

Well, another very boring week as a whole. If I sleep any more I'll probably be mistaken for a bear @_@ My days have been basically 12 hours watching animes, 2 hours between eating and bathing and 10 hours sleeping. The only good thing is that I actually came across some really good animes =D There was the average Arakawa Under The Bridge, but Durara!! and Katanagatari were something else! I'll be posting some more reviews in the near future.

I also watched A Single Man (with Colin Firth), a very sad movie, but very beautiful. I definitely recommend it! Maybe I should consider writing some movie reviews... Another pleasant surprise was the Lovage concert I was able to download from Zomb Torrents! Even though it was recorded by a fan and the audio is not very good, it was enough to make me feel extremely jealous for not being able to be there! Lovage definitely needs to do another album!ò.ó

My The Big 4 DVD and my Rock In Rio card have finally arrived!! =DDDDDD They were supposed to have arrived on Christmas ¬¬ But the important thing is that they're finally here! Can't wait to see Metallica, Sepultura and Motorhead live!

Well, that's enough rambling for today!;D
As for the music of the week, to celebrate the arrival of my two late Christmas gifts, Metallica it shall be!;D

Good anime scriptwriters needed! Urgently!

I've finished watching a few animes in the last month and I must ask: What the hell is wrong with those scriptwriters? It almost feels disrespectful towards the fans the way some stories and endings are presented. 

Among the over 150 animes I've watched the general feeling I got in 90% of the endings was "Lalala, it's so nice doing an anime! Oh, wait, we have to finish it! Just come up with anything and let's call it a day!"

Seriously! It's not that difficult doing an ending that goes along with the pace of the anime for pete's sake!

When it comes to Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin, it's not only the ending that makes no sense. Don't get the wrong idea, the anime is good, but they simply  proposed on doing something, to completely forget it during the series and remebered to pick it up again on the ending in a completely nonsense way.

If this was simply an anime to tell the story of a group of teenagers facing supernatural occurrences it'd have been an amazing one. After all, there wouldn't be any kind of commitment to a larger story.

And that's where Occult Academy went wrong. They offer you an interesting premise only to abandon it afterwards , and, even worse, to "suddenly" remember it on the very ending.

This mistake has been repeating itself in SO many animes that it's getting on my nerves. If you don't know how you want to end a story, don't even get started!:@

Soul Eater was another one that totally lost focus on the last 10-15 episodes. 

The feeling of  "Oh, gee, we have to conclude the story! Let's just put everything together in a very mediocre way and that's it!" is outrageously present in this show.

 The fight with Asura is just lame. From the Shinigami to Maka the whole "OMG! I've just discovered I have a mega powerful blast which is really cool but won't do anything" and the "Ah, well, we have tons of characters but 90% of them will just be standing by watching while everything happens" made me want to murder the writer. 

For real, this show had such an outstanding beginning. An amazingly well done  development of all the main characters, a very interesting premise. Such an awesome stage preparation, only to throw it all away afterwards? And this is just to mention the two most recent animes I've watched.

Sometimes I really feel like, overall speaking, animes are for children. Only they would accept such lame plots and endings.

Time for another review \o/

The Kouga and the Iga clan are in peace after many hundred years fighting. 
The current shogun, after seeing a representative of each clan fight each other, becomes afraid of their power and in order to get rid of such fearsome creatures, resolves to use them to decide his political issue on the choice of a successor to his post.
Each clan representing one candidate to be the next shogun, and the war starts once again. The best 10 fighters from each clan shall battle to death refueling a hate that was only pretended to be forgotten.  
However, unknowing that the war has begun once again, the successors of each clan: Kouga Gennosuke and Oboro Iga are living their happiest days in love with each other, blessed by ignorance.

The stage set, the story starts focusing on the characters and their fights. Fights that happen with the other clan, among their own clans or even with their inner selves. The plot advances in a very dark tone, blended with action and romance all of it in the right amount, making for a perfect combination, if I may say.

The art in Basilisk is outstanding. The best I've seen so far and the same goes for the music. The way one complements the other and both complement and enhance every single minute of the anime is unparalleled. The characters design and sceneries are really beautiful. Also, I must confess, I was driven to tears more than once while watching it, and much of this was due to the powerful work of Nakagawa Kou behind the soundtrack composition, although there's a lot of credit to the voice actors/actresses, who were brilliant, as well.

It's really easy to get mixed feelings towards some characters in Basilisk, which proves just how well built and developed they are. They go through inner conflicts, have their own thoughts and act for their own reasons. Some of them really surprised me, which, considering the constant cliches we have in so many shows out there, was another quite welcome characteristic of this show.

I've watched Basilisk 6 years ago, and I can assuredly say it's beautiful and moving from beginning to end. I can still remember quite vividly the impressions, emotions, music, art and story of the anime. A feat that very few achieved and, although I wish for otherwise, even less will in the future.

Random Blabbering...XP

Ah well, I'm not quite used to writing random things without a preparation but today I thought "Heck, I'm gonna give it a try!XD"

It's been a rather busy week, considering the last 2 months (I did barely nothing at all in these past 2 months, except for reaching whole new levels of boredom, watching animes and reading books). There are still so many things to do that I already feel lazy again...XD Hate Brazil and its stupid bureaucracy and huge lines to do anything from the bakery to the bank @_@
The year has just started and I feel like it's dragging on sooo slowly (probably cuz I've been doing nothing for 7 months, but that's just a minor detail...XP) I wanna my Psychology course to start at once!
Ah I've also decided to start an Italian course!=D All thanks to Assassin's Creed 2!XD I fell madly in love with Italy after playing it! And the sound of Italian is so beautiful!*o* I'm hoping to be able to get an Italian citizenship since my great grandparents were from there =D And who knows, maybe spend a year or so there!
Another thing I've been head over heels with is Elysian Fields! If I get married one day I so wanna them to play on my marriage!XD It'd be perfect!@_@ A full-moon-night, at a beach, half-lit tents dancing to the sound of Passing On The Stairs...*o* Okay, I know I'm sounding like a girl, but that's one of the first images that comes to my mind when I'm quietly listening to them...XD
Thus, for song of the week (Yes, I'll try changing the blog's song every week!) I'll choose Passing On The Stairs from Elysian Fields!=D

To end this random post, a random image

Run and tell everybody to visit my blog, homeboy!XD

Bakemonogatari Review

Bakemonogatari OP1 - Stable Staple

After a long hiatus (2 and a half years) without watching animes I've come across several good surprises during these past months watching as many of them as possible. (And some really bad surprises as well, such as Vampire Knight and High School of the Dead).

Among the many pleasant surprises, the top one was definitely Bakemonogatari. 

The story is quite simple, actually. It goes on something like this: Koyomi Araragi is a young boy with a fast healing ability who gets involved with 5 girls that are being possessed/disturbed by spirits and ends up lending a hand to them helped by Meme Oshino. And, as far as story goes, it's pretty much that.

What impressed me the most on Bakemonogatari (and what made so many people despise it) was the incredibly rich visual complements, the totally nonsense long dialogues and, specially, Senjougahara. Her irony, sarcasm and seldom cuteness turned her into my favorite anime character.
The other characters are amazing as well, with an interesting background. And for those complaining Araragi, Meme and Shinobu had little development they'll have their share in Kizumonogatari ;D

The fanservice didn't seem excessive to me, as I've seen stated in many places. Plus, however short, the action scenes were pretty neat. Even though there's a harem feeling on the anime it is not anything that would hinder the overall enjoyment of this great production.

The music is never off and the openings are something else.
It's hard to put down in words why I've been so impressed by this series. The fact is, I liked it, and I liked it a lot!

I recommend an open mind to watch it, and have fun!;D

Just a random post...XP

Well, nobody reads this blog anyway, so I'm just gonna post something random, cuz I'm feeling like doing it!;D Also, I had a hard time doing the new layout of the blog so I wanna feel rewarded for my efforts...XD Even if nobody gives a damn. That's the "forever alone" style of life =D
I'm a huge metal fan, specially trash metal (the more noisy and aggressive, the better...XD). However, lately I've been in a kind of different musical mood...XD I've been very keen on trip hop and noir rock. I often say that trip hop is the kind of music to raise the ideal mood, if you know what I mean...XD Noir rock, on the other hand, has a certain melancholic aura which pleases me a lot, and with Jennifer Charles on the vocals is also very suitable for raising those libidinous feelings...XD. She's the amazing leading vocals behind Elysian Fields, who also took part in a trip hop project from 2001, called Lovage. To be blunt: Jennifer Charles' vocals = eargasms!XD
I'd love to listen to a new Lovage album! T_T Jennifer and Patton took trip hop to a whole other level!
I'm gonna post some YT videos from my fave songs from Lovage, Portishead and Elysian Fields, hope you, ghosts out there, enjoy it. =D

Lovage - Sex (I'm A)

Portishead - Glory Box (Live)

Elysian Fields - Passing On The Stairs