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Oct 5, 2013
Before I start praising this series, let's look at negatives first.
For one, if you do not plan to read manga afterwards, don't bother. If season 2 is ever to come, then only in about 2-3 years. And even then you'll end up waiting for another season to conclude the story.
Isayama plans to have around 80-100 chapters over all. This season only covered 33-34 chapters. If you do the maths, you can see how many seasons are needed to see this story finished.
Instead of getting answers, you'll end up with more question by the end of this season.
You will also end up with half developed cast
...
because there are so many characters and not all of them get to shine this season what can make anime watchers go "Why were they even needed?"
Answers is simple "They are, but not in this season".
I honestly believe that this series would benefit far more by having one big season as FMA. If FMA was done in this fashion, we would have pretty much same problem.
Another problem could be slightly dragged story. While it is engaging, there are times when you wish the pace would pick up and get down to business already.
What also puts off are thick lines around characters what makes them really stand out from the backgrounds. Sometimes it looks great but other times you just go "No".
Having said that, let's look at positives now.
The cast that did get developed this season is entertaining and characters of the main focus got time to shine and develop.
A typical crybaby turned into powerful manipulator and liar.
Egoist started to care.
Unimportant character is important.
And so on.
Not a single character is white or black, each one is different shade of grey. Some are darker and some are lighter. Never the same.
While Shingeki does keep a lot of shounen stereotypes, it also destroys most of them. And I mean DESTROYS!
Tired of characters never dying like in Bleach? This is for you.
Tired of "friendship power wins everything"? This is for you.
Series also have some great and memorable soundtracks and action scenes with 3D gear are beautiful.
Titans will make chills run down your spine while others will make you go "WTF?". Yeh, their designs are just that unique. You are either creped out or laugh out loud.
While slowly, story keeps progressing. With every new answer, we get new question and with every new question we get closer to the truth.
While some scene might seem pointless, they actually contain lots of clues and once you re-watch it you go "How could I miss it?!". So do pay attention.
I personally enjoyed series a lot, the mystery of the world and titans are fascinating, characters are engaging and action is amazing.
Originally I planned to give this series 9 but after several last episodes it had to go down to 8.
Main reason is that anime team skipped some of the manga scenes which made events at the end confusing.
Because of the added filler material, some scenes were handled differently and I just did not like it. For one, they completely destroyed Eren's development as a character.
In manga he seemed to learn and develop while here he basically went to square one.
So yeh, if you plan to read manga later on, definitely watch this!
If no, better don't bother or you might end up with bitter taste in your mouth.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 5, 2013
By now I think every anime fan has heard about SAO and seen thousands of reviews for it but I still want to write my own version. It was actually one of the main reasons why I continued to watch this show.
To be honest, I have no idea where to begin...
Well for starters, do you like the main cover? Looks fascinating does't it? Some interesting character designs too! Do you want to learn more about the characters? Really? Well then... FORGET IT!
The things is, this shows doesn't have characters. Especially in the first and main arc. The only characters we ever see are Kirito
...
and Asuna, the main due. However, despite being main characters we still know nothing about them until like second arc =/
Are they interesting? Well they are not boring but I can't call them entertaining either. For one Asuna is your perfect wife and housewife. A type of woman any guy would like to have by his side. She is cheerful, beautiful and carrying. You will never get hungry for she is an amazing cook and your house will always be clean. She has every quality a dream woman should have and none that real woman does have.
Same goes to Kirito. He is always friendly, kind, loving and strong. He never gets mad unless it is an enemy who threatens him and his friends. In a way he is same as Asuna. A dream man that any woman would like to have. He has all the positives of a dream man and no negatives of that real man.
Though he is not a very good cook... so I guess he is less perfect than Asuna.
Story... oh boy, where do I even begin?
I'm sure everyone is familiar with the premises by now. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? I was beyond happy to start this series! Sadly the only good thing it had were premises, the real deal was horrendous! What could've become the best show ever, turned into a disaster full of lost potential!
Before anyone says anything, I'm talking purely about anime not novel. Never read it. It might be the best piece ever written but anime defiantly isn't.
One of it's major problems is a pacing. It is jumping between months like a bunny! I'm not saying that we should have 100 episodes to show every level, that would be boring. But to skip 50 levels in one episode? Isn't that a bit too much?
First episode starts quiet nicely, then we have a whole month time skip in episode 2. Ok, I can tolerate that. But what about episode 3? At the beginning of the episode, series had skipped through another 2-3 months! But do you know what is the best part? By the end of the same episode it is already whole year! They skipped whole year in less than one episode! Do you realize how much material it is?!
Just look at you own life! Just how much happens in just one year? How do people change? How do we change in one year?! Sometimes there can be drastic changes in a week! Yet here show simply skips through a very crucial time for players! They are stuck in this game where they could die any day because monsters are everywhere as well as dark characters. It's a panic time! Even if not panic, it is a massive change of life for characters where they go through a lot not just physically but also emotionally. However, show decided that it is not import and skips this whole thing straight to the point where characters already accepted their fate and live normally. It's like if author/creators had no idea how to explore human mind as well as develop them and decided to simply skip to the easiest part of the story.
That's actually not the only time they did it. It happens in almost every episode. It felt more like episodic show!
This pacing also effected character development. Let's take Kirito for example. In episode 1 and 2 he is the biggest coward and then in a flash he is the bravest man on a planet. In episode 3 something major happens that turns Kirito into emo. However, in episode 4 he is all fine and happy. Why? Because another several months passed! Of course he would be fine! But does it really sit well with you? Once again it feels like if creators had no idea how to deal with Kirito's moodiness as well as how to solve it so they just skipped saying "Time heals everything!". They simply needed something dramatic to happen to drive MC forward. They just created an excuse for him to change. They did not develop Kirito, they just conveniently changed him to benefit their other future idea. That's called lazy writing.
Another issue concerning characters... in one of the later episode Asuna tells her sob story about how she was crying all the time but then came Kirito her light! Do you know what is the problem here? SAO breaks one of the main rules of story telling "Show, not tell." SAO does everything other way around. It is very hard to feel sorry for Asuna when in every single episode she was shown as a happy, strong character. None of the issues she said were ever shown or hinted at. Creators simply felt like she needed a sob story. If she was a side character, ok fine. But she is a freaking main heroine! You don't just skip things like that!
Talking about characters... every side character appears maximum for like 25min, basically just for one episode. You are lucky to see them at least for another few seconds later on. Most of the characters are already good friends with Kirito and forgave him everything. None of the issues were ever addressed.
Also it is a game, their real bodies are still out there and need treatment... where do they get it? How did they function for the last 2 years?! This question got answered only at the end of the arc when no one already cares. Bodies are taken to the hospital and looks like during that time characters had fallen asleep. One again we were told not shown. Show once again didn't bother to show us that abnormality. Don't you think it is important? Characters suddenly falling asleep? That's major! It could leave so much for speculation too! But no!
In all honesty it feels more like normal fantasy setting where characters have lived their whole life not like a death game where random people/gamers got stuck.
Deaths are pretty flashy and sometimes it is hard to take them seriously. Maybe it is my own opinion but I believe that series would have been so much better if we actually got to see what is happening in real life. What happens to the bodies? How are families dealing with it? How is government dealing with it? Did they just leave 10 000 people be?!
Kirito is the biggest lady magnet too. To make it worse every single female out there is probably a lock in who spent her whole life watching romance movies.
Females like that do exist, but every single one of them? Really?
This show has lost so much potential it is not even funny!
I have so much more to say but I'll stop and will address it's second arc now.
ARC 2
Unlike many others, I actually enjoyed this arc far more and for me it was a saving point for this series.
Story wise it was bad and quiet un-original. However, what made this arc better is the fact that we finally have a linear story and you do't feel like you have skipped something. Another plus is the fact that we finally have more actual characters! They still need more depth but in comparison to SAO arc they already have 10 time more presence. We also get to see what is happening in real world. Not much but better than nothing. We see how real bodies look and learn about consequences.
On it's own this arc was useless especially since main theme was a typical Dam in distress arc. Also players are taking game way too seriously. they make great speeches about sacrificing themselves, cry when someone dies and... what's the point? In few seconds the same characters comes back like nothing happened... it is not SAO arc! Scenes like this should be done there not here!
Also who said that SAO is very original? I lost count on how many unoriginal ideas it has:
a) Deus Ex Machina, Kirito just loves it! To be frank, he is the most over powered character there even thought it is a game where everyone can upgrade.
b) Unrequited cousin love, it is almost in every anime now.
And so much more! But those are the most glaring ones.
To be honest, if creators had combined two arcs, we could actually get a decent show. SAO would finally have a linear story with actual characters and development but like that it was just meh...
About good parts... well animation and character designs are beautiful. I would love to see one of those worlds so I have no complaints here. It also has some awesome soundtracks.
Despite it's flaws SAO still had some nice and memorable moments that I liked but sadly there are too many minuses. I didn't even list half of them...
Sorry guys but I find this show average. It had some good ideas but with horrible execution. Also a lot of bad and over used ideas, some of the topics were never ever really dealt with like for example dark killer guilds.
I can tolerate 8 and 7 marks but I totally can't accept 9 and 10 especially when people themselves admit that show has flows and that novel did this or that better.
Before you SAO fans will start to scream at me, shouting "Fuck you, SAO still has high rating." let me ask you one thing... do you know why?
Think about it... how many so called haters have given this show 1 or 2? I'm for most part hater but I tried to be reasonable and gave it 5. Imagine that all of us were to lower our marks to 1 and 2... How big will be this difference?
It will fall, I guarantee you that. So before calling us names think, it is thanks to us that this show is holding the high score, not only you.
Besides shows have to be criticized otherwise we would have thousands of works with perfect mark and then no one could call fanfics bad.
Now to those who still didn't watch the show... you heard my opinion, it is a waste. Will it be a waste for you? Don't know.
I addressed some of its main issues, if you believe you can handle them then sure watch it. If no, stay away.
The way I would summarize SAO, especially arc 1 would be a children show because of how simple it's structure and development is.
That's all I have to say for now.
Thank you for your time, buy!
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 10, 2012
I'm not the best at writing reviews but if I don't write them, I'll never learn =P
If you are about to watch season 3 then I'm sure you have seen the other 2, otherwise why the hell are you here?!
Without season 1 you won't understand Goro and his family and without season 2 you won't understand the plot of this season for everything that happens here is a continuation of a conflict that started in previous season.
Ah! So you did watch them?
GOOD!
Then let us begin!
After season 2, this one might be disappointing for you and the reason is that we are going back to
...
the start of season 1 where Goro has to build up a team of rookies and keep them playing.
What made season 2 good is a variation of a setting where Goro was surrounded by professionals and training in sport camp. A very different fill while here we are back to the roots.
Disappointing isn't it?
However, don't let it discourage you! Despite going back to the start, things are not the same anymore!
One of main problems in previous two seasons, especially in 2nd one is that Goro was made to look like a self centered egoist with godly powers. In season 2 it was painfully to watch sometimes and that is where season 3 makes a massive improvement.
Yes, Goro is still strong and yes Goro still wants to play for biggest part of the team. But can he play alone as he mostly did till now? Is pitcher alone enough to win the game? That's what we were made to believe in season 2 for Goro struck out everyone without a fail. But is it believable? Is it really the case?
That's where season 3 shines and that's the questions it answers. It tells us if Goro really is a God of baseball or is it just an imagination. And if so, how can it be fixed? Can noobs make any difference or is it the same like if they were not there?
I don't know about you guys but Goro's personality till now was really making me mad. He just asked for a punch in the face!
This season made me actually care about him and look up to him. He finally is a person that we are supposed to admire and author managed to do that without ruining his character and everything we knew about him till now.
This is a development! This is what we needed all this time and this is from where great things will start. At least that's what I believe.
Games and new characters are fun too and we actually see some old faces as well. We get their stories and we get to know them better.
Games have more of a variation to them what makes it more exciting even though outcome is obvious for most part.
However, what really made this season almost perfect for me was the last game against Kaidou. I don't want to spoil anything but this showdown has delivered on so many levels in comparison to everything we saw till now.
It had tension, it had conflicting emotions, great animation, side problems and varieties of solutions. So many things going on!
This is what really makes this season shine for me.
At first I planned to give it 8 but after seeing conclusion I just had to raise it to 9.
This season delivered exactly what I was searching for and I'm sure that many others are looking for it too.
So watch it, you won't be disappointed especially with the last game.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 19, 2012
Writing review for other seasons is a bit pointless but I really feel like talking about it. I'll try to keep it short and straight to the point.
I really liked season 1 as well as the movie but this season I found quiet annoying and the main reason for that is Goro himself. As you know he is a determined and stubborn guy who does deserve some admiration. However this time it was brought to whole new levels which I did not appreciate.
One good thing is that Goro learned not to bash his team mates when they miss the ball but did it make
...
him a good team mate? No.
He still is as self centered as usual if not more. It's all about him! "I'm this this, I'm that and all of you are trash." though it was put in a much nicer way. He never gives mound to anyone and gets totally irritated when things don't go his way "Put me on the mound, put me!". Yes, he does have better skills than some others but you don't have to rub it in their face! If you are that confident in yourself then make up for their minuses later on instead of glaring daggers at them and taking fun away from them! With his logic you don't even need other pitchers in the team! If he doesn't change his way, I'll be surprised if other pitchers won't try to quit from the team.
Another annoying thing is that he never learns! He broke his right shoulder and do you think it made him realize something? Nope! He still pushes himself like before, not giving a damn about future. he is so stuck up in present that it makes you wish that he would break his left shoulder too so he could finally learn the lesson! There is a thin line between being cool and an idiot and he usually goes onto the side of idiots.
Again, once it comes to fight for the dreams guess whose dreams come true all the time? Being MC sure is a blessing, too bad none of us is one in real life.
There were also barely any games this season, I mean game variation. Because one game managed to last for 5-6 episodes! And there were 2 games like that! All together it's already almost half of the season! Where is some kind of variation?!
Most of new characters were plain and barely looked fun, the designs became quiet lame too.
However, what I really loved in this season was the whole training arc on the island. It brought in more depth to the series as well as realism. Besides it is good to see what kind of exercises are there. Actually the whole examination process was fun with all the tests.Also we learned few more techniques and names for them.
Over all I'm left disappointed. Was thinking about mark 7 but I guess I'll stop on mark 6... I honestly hope that next seasons will be more exciting with some interesting characters and that it won't be Goro centered. I know that he is the MC but it doesn't mean that he has to be mister invincible whose dreams always come true and who always gets it his way. Just because you train all the time and are a prodigy, doesn't get you away from the injuries, loses and troubles.
Feel free to disagree with me but that's my opinion. Goro needs to get off his high horse.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Apr 4, 2012
I never played the game and the first time I heard about this show was through Carnival Phantasm. Going by cover and the fact that it is created by Type Moon, I got really excited to watch and boy was I disappointed.
Have no idea how good the game is but anime felt really plain... at first it drags and then when you actually need to space things out, it rushes like mad!
Characters got under developed and over looked.
Spoilers up ahead.
Story: I really liked the idea of having a character who can see lines of life and expected something cool to happen but it never did...
...
the last fight was just, I don't know. For a last boss whose been haunted for centuries by Arcuied and Church, he went off too easily and by the hands of an inexperienced human. The tragic past was not explored enough and I barely could care for anyone. I wanted more depth, more details but I all got was a slight over look. Why exactly should I care for the boy/guy that went mad when I don't know a thing about him? Why Roa the mega vampire got killed off so easily? They really should have worried about those things more than random amusement park episodes.
Sound: Can't complain here, has some really good soundtracks especially every time Ciel appeared in her church dress.
Character: What I can say for sure is that characters that seemed to be interesting at first got totally misused. There is so much more they could have done with them!
With all those epic appearances, Ciel barely played any role in this whole mess despite having strong connection to what is happening. For someone as church warrior and who lives for centuries, she has no skills what so ever and was being pushed around like trash. With all those foreshadowings, I expected her to do something cool. To get to see the church too, but none.
Akiha is another misused character. When her hair went red and she happened to be partly a vampire of some sort, I expected her to do something. Especially having the powers she has but no, another push over who stayed in bed for most of the time. Even her life drama was not explored enough nor her connection to "Shiki".
Truthfully, almost every character got mistreated. There is so much more they could've done with them since every character looked promising. Teacher Aoko is still is mystery to me... who is she? How did she find Shiki? where did she get the glasses? Why did she help him?!
Enjoyment: I like slow shows, mysteries, dark atmospheres but this one over did it. The whole drama felt forced and most of the times I wished for them to just get over with it. It took about 7 episodes to finally get to good parts which sadly got down played.Many opportunities to make it good were missed and a lot of questions were left unanswered.
Over all it was an average show so mark 5 fits it well.
I really hope that game deserves all the praises it gets because anime was meh for most part.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 19, 2012
I've been dying to make a review for this show since like forever! Didn't want to write one in the middle of the series so I waited until I'm done and DAMN that took a lot of time!
I'll start with negatives since they are just too glaring for my eyes. Also this review will be spoiler full!
1) Who in the right mind starts series with filler? I wouldn't mind if it had some point but it didn't! It was a replay of same jokes and scenarios all over! The whole character introduction should take maximum 10 episodes and even that is too much! If I
...
didn't hear that actual story starts at around episode 20, I would've dumped it long time ago!
2) Jokes are too repetitive what makes them boring! Some weren't funny to begin with... Come on Gokudera, get yourself together and stop getting sick every time you see Bianci! Besides glasses don't change her that much -_-
3) WTF with all those Pokemons?! Box weapons totally ruined action in the series. For the first 100 episodes it all was about skills and techniques and now it became "My Pokemon is better than yours!"
There are only few characters left that still rely on their physical strength, most of them rely on box powers what makes the users look pathetic especially when they start to run away after their box got crashed! I mean seriously, how are you supposed to take those villains seriously?! I really miss Gokudera's bombs, it feels like he has totally forgotten about them =/
What was the point of learning to use them till now?
4) The whole future arc was a disaster after disaster. For one, who in the right mind replaces future characters with old cast in an instant? What's the point? And why Lambo of all people had to be replaced right from the start?! Ok, we were given the reason to it but still! Hibari and Ryouhei got replaced only towards the end!
5) It's not really a minus but I'm still confused as to why they just couldn't kill Byakuran back in the past?
6) It always bothered me how everyone were so easily able to control their boxes and knew what powers they had without training. There was this conflict at the start of the arc but the more series progressed the more it got forgotten. I still don't get how Ryohei learned to make copies of himself...
7) For series about mafia there is a huge lack of deaths, especially on good side. I don't remember anyone dying at all! Actually no, lying. Two characters died towards the end but since everyone went back to the past and can change everything, it doesn't count.
8) Characters! I didn't meet anyone dumber and more 2 dimensional than them! Especially during first 70 episodes!
It took almost 50 episodes for Yamamoto to realize that it is not a game and actual war! Just how dumb do you have to be?! There are bombs and rockets flying your way and you think its a game?!
Ryohei is the biggest idiot out there! When he said that he can't destroy huge rock with bare fists my jaw dropped. I was sure that he would storm it without thinking... I guess that's the point of the series where he started to get some kind of personality and it is already 50 episodes into the series! It took another 100 to finally get some kind of 3 dimensional personality.
Hibari... I like quiet and cool characters like Saito from Hakuouki or Kanda from D.Gray Man but this guy takes it to new level! How on earth he became the most popular character of the series is beyond me! He has 0 personality what so ever! The only things on his mind are fighting and his school with which he seems to be in love. 203 episodes passed and I still have no idea why he loves it so much as well as why in the world he is as strong as some professional mafiosi especially at the start of the series.
Kanda and Saito at least had some ideals, they had some interests and emotions despite being cold, Hibari has none! What I mentioned above are literally the only things he ever mentions and shows any interest in. Mukuro is probably the only living being in whom Hibari has some kind of interest as well as in Reborn.
Lambo... JUST SHUT UP! The most annoying character ever! Why is he among main cast? I don't mind his future self, especially 20 years old one which is damn cool but his baby self should be shut somewhere! I understand that he will become super cool in the future but making him a guardian at this stage is just stupid! Besides where is his real family? Did they just abandon him?!
Tsuna why the hell can't you stay in your super form all the time? Whenever he has no flames he becomes a pathetic loser who is scared of a single fly when in the past he kicked some major asses. Whenever he turns into his battle self it feels like if it is a totally different character, their believes, actions, thoughts and speech don't match at all! Pills should change his power level, not his whole character! Beside why is he the only one taking pills?
Super intuition my ass! Most of the situations where logical! Let's take the moment when G swoped with Gokudera... He seems different? HE IS DIFFERENT! All of his actions were off and no one except Tsuna noticed that!
Gokudera... I have weird emotions bout the guy. Most of the time he is such an idiot despite being a genius. I still have no idea why he so blindly follows Tsuna when the guy didn't do anything worthy at the start of the series. No matter how pathetic Tsuna is he still admires him like an idiot and there was never a reason given for that. At first he got excited just to serve Vongola but you would expect a mafiosi to make a fuss about a weak boss at least once!
I also have no idea how Mukuro the enemy could become one of the guardians. At first Vongola kicks everyones' asses, gets angry with them and then 5 mins later welcome them with open arms. Just WTF?! Even Naruto didn't take it to such extremes!
9) I always believed that Naruto and Bleach were sexist but even two combined won't compare to THIS! And it doesn't help that the author is woman! Author, don't you have any self respect?!
Almost every female character in the series could be described in just this one sentence: "BACK TO THE KITCHEN WOMAN!"
That's literally where they spent most of their time...
Won't bother with Haru and Kyoko.
I-pin, the only real strong female character is completly unapriciated by the author... I-pin got only like 2 small fights! All the rest time she is playing or babysitting Lambo! Why was she introduced at all when she plays no real purpose?!
And why didn't she get a ring?! She is ranked as 3rd very potential hitman and she owns Lambo at every age!
25 year old Lambo is cool and all, but he appeared only ones. It also takes 20 years for Lambo to become cool while I-pin is a high class fighter in just 10!
Chrome... Mukuro's vessel, nothing more. She is totally useless and barely can do anything. Whenever she manages to make at least one useful illusion, she instantly faints!
Yuni, not a fighter again... at least she could heal though even then she didn't do much. Ryohei's kangaroo was of more help -_-
At least her sacrifice served a purpose.
Lal, was very excited to finally see a female that kicks asses but boy was it for long? After one major fight, she gets hospitalized and spends there the last 100 episodes -_-
Enemy side is the same.
FEW! I think that's all I wanted to say...
Positives? Truthfully there aren't any, standard shounen that is aimed for kids. However, since I finished series I guess it did have something good. Arcoboleno were interesting, first 100 episodes of action were entertaining...
All I can say for sure is that this show is OVER RATED! It doesn't deserve the rating and praise it gets. I can't see anyone older than 12 to enjoy it...
Sound and animation are good though.
Over all I can only give it 5. Despite so many negatives it still had something to keep my attention so average mark is right for it. Not higher, 6 is the maximum I could give it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 24, 2011
Idolm@ster are series which you will learn to love or will keep hating from the beginning till the end.
The basic impression series give are K-ON style and if you hated K-ON then there are very little chances that you will like this series.
However, in comparison to K-ON, Idolm@ster actually tries to have some kind of story even if it is a basic one. Series also have some kind of progression, Idols are actually progressing in their careers while K-ON members spent whole series drinking tea =/
A minus is the fact that Idolm@ster has a VERY huge characters cast which just didn't get enough time
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to develop and some characters felt left out. However, I still think series did well since every character got at least one episode dedication which is far more than some other series do. Shiki is one of examples, I really liked those series but biggest part of characters barely even got 5 minutes of spotlight there while Idolm@ster offered at least one episode per character.
Also characters always keep interacting with different people, not just with the same circle of friends. Of course there are those with whom characters are more close than others like for example Haruka/Chihaya. But it doesn't stop them from exchanging several words with someone else.
The biggest highlight of the series were the last like 6-7 episodes, where the drama had struck in. Episode 20 had one of the best executions I had seen in anime. The outcome was very predictable but creators managed to bring a real impact and I think that this episode alone has to be seen.
Series also had a good set of music, some better than others. A really huge variety of songs, though we barely ever heard full versions, but they did serve as good teasers.
I personally didn't like series at first and planned to drop it several times. The stand alone episodes weren't that entertaining, and seemed to lack in humor area. However, it started to get more funny somewhere around episode 8. That's where I decided that it is worth to keep watching the series at least just for a good dose of humor once a week.
Some kind of story began at around episode 11.
As a person who likes drama, the real highlights for me began at episode 19/20 and sometimes I couldn't wait to see what happens next.
If you are searching for relaxing series with some kind of story, Idolm@ster will do perfectly.
If you are searching for series with good/strong story and character development, you'll hate it to bits.
The best way to orientate yourself is to compare series to K-ON. If you hated the whole idea behind K-ON, there is no way you'll ever like this series. If you had at least some kind of interest in K-ON then this series are worth a try. Just don't drop it from the start and let it build up. If you still will hate series after episode 13, drop it. And maybe just check episode 20 on it's own.
And don't get put off by episode 1, it was done game style. Every other episode is normal.
P.S. I never played the game but I heard that main idea behind it was that you are playing for Producer and helping each girl in their career and maybe even start some kind of relationship.
I really liked the fact that anime didn't follow that rode. Producer did keep helping the members and he did get closer to some members more than to others. But there were those cases where things were resolved thanks to someone else or by characters themselves. Producer didn't serve as a constant saver, and that made series look more 3 dimensional.
Over all I think this series deserve 8 as a good relaxing series.
As series with strong story and character development, they would probably only get around 4/5.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 21, 2011
Few, I'm finally done with the series! What I'm about to write will be a bit spoilerish so be wary.
As you know, the main story is about a girl who takes bad guys to hell after they were cursed by the victim.
The main idea is fighting the morals: is it right to curse/kill bad people or no? Almost like Death Note.
The problem is that series don't really explore it that well since every episode things end up the same way. The bad guy never admits the fault what is a bit refreshing though I really believe that there should be some exceptions.
Victims are ready
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to send people to Hell almost for everything and without even trying to do anything themselves about it! A lot of cases could be avoided if the victims actually tried something! There was one exception where the girl seemed to change her mind though when she saw a computer, the old idea of vengeance instantly came back. Every single person had pulled the string, is humanity really that dumb and ready to suffer for eternity just to make up for one bad moment?
This whole set up was cool for the first like 8 episode but then it just got too repetitive.
Angel Beats suffered because of lack of the episodes while Jigoku Shoujo suffers because of having too many of them. The whole series could easily fit into 13 episodes.
The thing started to change somewhere in the middle when journalist got involved. But even after that the interest got lost fast because despite his involvement thing still stayed the same. If anything, he actually was an eye sore in most cases. The moment he pissed me the most was in the episode with that inheritance obsessed woman who killed everyone in her way.
He didn't help at all, if anything he caused more problems. How do you expect to stop someone from cursing when you do nothing to help and just watch from the distance and sneak around the house which is very suspicious? What kind of idiot tries to stop someone when they already have their hands on a string? Why not talk and try to actually help sooner than that?! And by help I mean to actually help instead of saying "It is bad, don't do it". You are not helping one bit!
The real fun only began at around episode 22 when we finally saw a different side to Enma and found out just who exactly is she.
This show really suffered from the pacing and because of that I can only give it 7 because I really was getting bored in the middle.
If the show was around 13 episodes, it would get a straight 9 from me because I was that excited when I began to watch it.
Well I heard that season 2 is better so I will definitively check it out and hopefully I'll be able to give it 9 this time :)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 19, 2011
Where do I start... this shows had risen so many emotions that I don't even know what would be the best part to start with.
Well for starters I defiantly enjoyed it far more than I expected. I didn't have any high hopes for it and had delayed the watch for a quiet a while but now that I'm done, I'm really excited to check other seasons.
Even though the main topic is baseball, it still covers a lot of other themes such as family, death, dreams, hope, determination, friendship, bullying... such great variety! I barely know any other good shows that have so much covered. Besides
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a lot of this stuff seems pretty realistic.
The episodes seem to last longer than they actually are, and no, it is not because it is dragging. The reason is because one single episode manages to cover that much content. Some popular shows such as Bleach really should learn from it.
It was a long time that I got engaged in anime, lately everything seems to be medicore and my scores started to get 7 or below when it used to be 8 and above. Yep, I became picky.
The biggest part of characters are also enjoyable and the main cast gets well developed towards the end.
Possible spoilers up ahead!
Originally I planned to give this show 9 but... just as many other shows, the outcome at the end was predictable. The worst part is that show actually tried to flash out some rivals by giving them goal and dream but sadly only main cast got their dreams realized. No matter how much opponent tried, they were destined to lose and I find it beyond unfair! After having such great improvement and game, I see no problem as to why the main team couldn't lose at least once and let someone else to reach their dream.
Besides Goro was created as too much of a hero to my liking, especially in the last episode.
Another thing that ticked me off was the attitude of some characters, Goro's included. However, it did't effect my score.
There are those who give up without trying what really makes you tick and then there is Goro who never gives up even when his future and health is put in danger. As a sportist who got many injuries which had delayed my progress if not totally ruined my dreams (I still have time and hope!), I really can't relate with Goro's stubbornness. My hands were itching several times. He might say all these cool stuff now but if he were to get injured for real as his father, he would 100% sing another song. It is good that he wants to support his team and continue to play with them but once you get a life time injury, all of that can instantly get crashed... You have to think about future at least some times.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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May 30, 2011
It was about a year ago since I watched the series and only now have I decided to leave my review. I know that I will get bashed most likely but hey! That's my opinion!
As you can see I gave this series only 5 but before I mention negatives, I'll start with positives that allowed me to give this series 5 and not lower.
In comparison to many shounen out there, characters actually DIE here! Be you a good or a bad guy, you won't be saved like for example in Bleach. Series also have some unexpected deaths which will get you suprised.
Lots of action, constantly
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something is exploding and plot does not stop, it keeps moving. Once again Bleach will be an opposite example where fights lasted for years and barely moved a plot at all.
Lots of characters, some do have interesting and unique personalities.
A time skip with all grown up characters, you can see what happend to the characters later after they had won the war.
Now comes the time for minuses...
Despite having lots of action, it also most of the time has NO LOGIG what so ever! Things just happen out of nowhere with nothing to back up the outcome! A small robot suddenly transforms into a giantic space ship and so on, just how did it fit in there?! There is a lot more ridiculness like that! None of the actions have logic behind them (I mean the way fights go, not the reason to why fights happen in the first place), it just happens for the sake to happen and to provide something huge with huge explosions! If that's all you care about... well you will love it then.
The fact that there are lots of characters is also a minus because the biggest part of them has no personality at all, they are just stupid and plain, and know only how to press "FIRE!" button. How some of them managed to take big positions in councel and stuff is beyond me.
The famouse Kamina was a bad ass yet at the same time he did things without thinking and obviously payed the price for that.
The famouse Yoko... is there anything good about her except her looks? And she is freaking 14 at the beginning of the series! Yes she did have some nice and cool moments but most of the time she didn't do anything outstanding. Though in comparison to many, she actually had personality and brains which could think off far more useful things than just press "FIRE" button all the time so I guess she is not that bad.
The famouse time skip... also happened to be a minus... for one, characters and world had developed WAY TOO MUCH in such a short time! It is simply impossible! The plot did try to give explanation to such sudden change but it still does not fit right.
A lot of characters personalities had drasticly changed and there was never given a real explanation as to why that happened, at least not for everyone. Like for example one of 3 sisters who was all cheerful suddenly became all cold, why? I can't find logical explanation to such change myself.
Animation... No, not my cup. For one a lot of characters simply look ridiculous, their faces tend to get disordered and sometimes animation is simply roigh! It doesn't happen always, but most of the time it just looked plain. The only well animated things were probably explosions and some details in Mechas.
Did I enjoy the series over all? Sorry, but no. There are some scenes I would like to re-watch but over all it is just a waste of time. How this series managed to get to the top is beyond me.
If creators tried to give at least some logic to how things were happening, it could have been good then.
However, if you just want to see mindlees explosiots without caring why it really happens, well I guess you'll love it then as many others did.
But if you want to see something with logic behind, to look at least a bit realistic... forget it, this series will never meet your expactations.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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