Anime Review: Hataraku Maou-sama!

Genre: Comedy, Supernatural, Fantasy

Episodes: 13

Aired: 2013

Producers: FUNimation Entertainment, Lantis, Pony Canyon, White Fox

 

Dark Overlord, Sadao, is only one step away from conquering the world known as Ente Isla, when he is beaten by Hero Emilia and forced to escape to modern-day Tokyo.

 

What starts off as a dark, demon-filled tale reminiscent of Berserk! soon transforms into a light-hearted, slice-of-life comedy.

 

While Sadao and his general, Alsiel, figure out life in the modern world without magic, they realise that they are now in one of the most expensive cities in the world - and must earn money to survive.

And where else is most befitting for a demon lord to work at than... MgRonald's!

 

Yes, imagine from this: a bloodthirsty overlord with soul-crushing power and a harem of manical monsters...








To this!

And so begins their journey to earn a living as normal human beings whilst trying to find their way back home to Ente Isla. Sadao brings home the bacon whilst Alsiel takes on the housewife role, taking care of their daily needs while researching ways to recharge their magic.

At this point, I ought to mention Alsiel is a notable character that brings life to the series with his unwavering loyalty and comedic antics.

Just when you think life is getting mundane, Hero Emilia appears in modern Tokyo to finish off Sadao. She stalks and chases but mainly conserves her energy for when she gets her powers back to deliver the final blow. Yet she, too, has to take on a job to stay in Tokyo. Even heroes get no breaks.

As time passes, we find that Sadao's priorities shift. Instead of looking for ways to regain his magical powers and returning home, he begins to enjoy life at McRonald's and focuses his energy into climbing the corporate ladder under the guise of "world domination".  

The one big flaw in this series is the haphazard turning point from a tyrannical ruler into an enthusiastic part-timer (and eventually, full-timer). Nowhere does the story explain Sadao's reason for abandoning Ente Isla or his demonic nature.

Plot takes a backseat in this series so leave reason and logic behind when you watch. If you don't dwell on the big picture, then the various hilarious situations will have you enjoying each episode.

Rating: 6.5/10



Anime Review: Nagi no Asukara

Genre: Drama, Romance, School, Fantasy

Episodes: 26

Aired: 2013-14

Producers: Geneon Universal Entertainment, P.A Works, Rondo Robe, NIS America, Inc

Do you remember your puppy love days? This is a heart-warming story that will bring you back, set in a unique circumstance.

First let's introduce the four friends who are integral to this story: Hikari Sakishima the daring leader, Manaka Mukaido the crybaby, Chisaki Hiradaira the mature babe, and Kaname the gentleman.

They are childhood friends and are children that belong to the sea. So therein lies the unique setting: there are people who live in the sea, also known as Shioshishio, and those who have chosen to live on the surface.

At the start of the story, these four friends are on their way to a new middle school on the surface, because their underwater school had closed down. Interestingly, there is only this one village in the vast ocean ruled by the Sea God, but let's not pick on that flaw.

Due to some past events, there is tension between the folks on land and undersea. The four friends had to adjust to life on the surface as well as handle the discrimination thrown their way. Despite the odds, they became friends with surface-boy, Tsumugu Kihara, whom Manaka started to have a crush on. From here, grew the love hexagon. Manaka liked Kihara, but Hikari had a crush on Manaka, even though Chisaki had always been admiring Hikari, and Kaname had liked Chisaki forever.

Who did Tsumugu had his eyes on then?

It'd be a spoiler to reveal it now, wouldn't it? You'll know when the anime is about to come to its epic conclusion.

The light-hearted, slice-of-life mood turns dark when the story takes a dramatic turn. A catastrophe is prophesized when the Sea God became angered, one which would turn the surface into a frozen wasteland. To save the undersea village, it inhabitants have to go into hibernation until the danger has passed.

Due to a certain turn of events, Manaka becomes the sacrifice offering and both Hikari and Kaname fall into slumber along with the rest of the Shioshishio village. Five years later, Hikari and Kaname awaken to find that while time had been standing still for them, Chisaki and Tsumugu have progressed on with their lives. Along with their struggles to embrace the new reality, they seek to awaken Manaka and save both surface and undersea folks.

In general, the story is compelling even though it starts off pretty slow, and the artwork is top-notch. The only thing I don't get is Manaka's indecisive, little-girl character. Hikari falling for her feels more like sister complex than love. The rest of the cast, in my opinion, is quite strong. As a character-driven story, this hits all the right notes.

Rating: 8/10

Long Hiatus

"So what are some good animes?"

Someone asked me that recently and for the life of me, I couldn't answer without sounding like I'd been frozen in time. After all, the last review I did on this blog was in 2012!

Even though I have continued to watch animes all through these years, there were so many that I couldn't remember the names cos they were in Japanese. And I didn't want to trawl through MyAnimeList.net not remembering if I had watched this or that before.

Hence I'm back here.

Be happy.

Anime Blacklist: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Anime Blacklist is the dishonourable blackboard, where animes that try to pass off as decent get the slap on the wrist. These are the ones I never managed to sit all the way through. -.-

And to open the ceremony, we have...

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni aka The Moment the Cicadas Cry

All I can say is... wtf?!

As I try to recall this anime, I am cringing with every memory. Yes, it is a bloodbath but no, I am not wincing because of the fantastic gore or mental torture that the series supposedly portrays. There is simply no quailty-control here: not for the characters, not for the stories, not for the drawing.

This debuted in 2006 but I wouldn't have known from its lousy artwork.

It is a mess that I simply gave up trying to decipher halfway through.

Fans will probably drag me through the mud for not being intelligent enough to appreciate the 'genius' of it.

Rmour has it that the real story will be unveiled by the end of the series, but I tried and couldn't make it till the end. But do let me share what I know:

A young boy moves into a new village, where he meets and befriends four girls. Then the violence begins.

Some people die, a few go missing, others get tortured, the rest become bewildered. And in the next story arc, the cycle repeats, only with a different kind of murder or a diiferent murderer. There are six story arcs that apparently have no relation to one another except the characters and the setting are the same.

Surprise, surprise, the ones committing these atrocities are none other than the four innocent-looking girls. Why? There is no good reason why! That is the most stupid thing about this anime.

Before long, the story writers have dropped all pretences and let viewers know straight out who the villain of that story arc will be. Oh look, innocent girl with yellow/black/brown hair is standing in the junkyard, a look of madness in her sweet eyes! I wonder, could she be the murderer this time round? But then, the other girls are just as loony, maybe this is a deception!

Reviewers who rave about this series - and gave me high hopes - all seem to agree that each story arc is a mystery for the viewer to ponder and decipher the reason behind the madness. As though each arc is a puzzle piece that leads to the final picture. Seriously, none of the arcs on its own ever made sense, except for two of the arcs that completed each other. Even then, it was like, suddenly one of the girls has an identical twin that messes with everybody's head. Like, duh, one of the lazy ways to wrap up the story - introduce a new secret character.

If you ever manage to finish this and understand what this madness is about, pray do tell.

Anime Review: Ouran High School Host Club

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School

Episodes: 26

Aired: 2006

Producers: Bones, VAP, Nomad, FUNimation Entertainment

What do you get when you have a prestigious school, attended by a clique of super wealthy young sires, who met and fell in love with an impoverished young lady?

Hana Yori Dango, of course!

Eh, wait. My bad, you also get Ouran High School Host Club (OHSHC).

While it may not rival the classic, OHSHC does have its own charms.

Charm #1: Tamaki Suou.

He's the life of the Host Club - literally. Having young, suave men entertain and please young ladies with too much time on their hands is his pet project.

His character is also flamboyant - hardly the brooding, aloof leads that we usually see in romance animes. In fact, he tends to be quite silly and childish, which is the foundation of his charm.

Charm #2: Haruhi Fujioka

She stumbles onto the Host Club by accident and then gets into a real accident by stumbling and breaking an expensive vase in their club room.

Due to her tomboyish nature, short crop and nonchalant attitude towards dressing, she is initially mistaken as a guy, and is forced to repay the debt by becoming a Host Club member.

All too soon, the penny drops and, though her identity is exposed, the Host Club helps her keep it a secret.

Charm #3: Takashi Morinozuka, aka Mori

Suou always refers to Mori as the 'wild' type (each character is cast into a stereotype for their customers) but that is just wrong.

He's the strong and silent type, seen here carrying the lolita of the group, Honey sempai.

He usually only speaks when necessary, and responds to questions with monosyllabic answers.

Mori's family served Honey's family until a marriage two generations ago made them cousins. Even though the servant-master bond was technically broken, Mori still serves faithfully as Honey's guardian and best friend. Although, as the audience will find out, Honey is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and any trash that stands in his way.

Their relationship borders on shounen ai. And certainly, Honey takes the most important place in Mori's heart, leaving no room for any girl.

So in 26 episodes, we see the silly antics the club gets into for their customers, and peek into the lives of each character - and find out why they are the way they are. The rich have their own troubles too!

During which time, Suou is slowly falling for Haruhi, although he does not realise it, being the dimwit that he is. The plot takes a turn when Suou is suddenly betrothed to a lady from a wealthy family. This twist only comes in during the last few episodes, and the storyline accelerates from there.

The ending, too, is reminisce of Hana Yori Dango, but far too rushed for my liking.

Rating: 6/10