Anime Review: Tokyo Ghoul

Created by: Sui Ishida
Show Run: 4/4/14 to 9/19/14; 1/8/15 to 3/26/15 *both are 12 episodes long*
Produced by: Pierrot
Manga run: *original one* September 8th, 2011 to September 18th, 2014
Additional information: Has a upcoming prequel online called "Tokyo Ghoul: Jack", another show "Tokyo Ghoul: Pinto", and have a couple of manga spin-offs that are still ongoing.
Premise:
Set in Tokyo, which is haunted by mysterious 'ghouls' who are devouring humans. People are gripped by the fear of these ghouls whose identities are masked in mystery. An ordinary college student name Kaneki encounters Rize , a girl who is an avid like him, at the café he frequents. Little does he realize that his fate will change overnight.

Rating: 3.5/5 wolf fangs

(No spoilers in this review)

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So today we are talking about Tokyo Ghoul  and its twelve episode sequel. This anime was iffy for my own personal taste because I was never and still am not a huge fan of ghouls/zombie related shows or books. After much nudging from the bf and several friends, I gave it a try. I did enjoy for the most part with the violence and the concept. However, I was not a huge fan of the characters, specifically the protagonist Kaneki. I get that he had to adapt to the new position he was put into as a ghoul, but he was just too whiny for my taste. Once he got to working at the café with the other ghouls, he did grew a little more as a character. But, it wasn't until he faced Jason in the final bits of the first season and I had to stop bickering with the bf about it because he wanted me to watch rather than question it completely.

I also had several questions with the cannibalism that involved the ghouls in the show. At first, its illegal to eat each other, but to gain power, you have to eat your own kind. That's great and all, but I was confuse about it. Why is it that the ghoul don't gain that power boost when its eating humans instead of a fellow ghoul? I find it where but I guess even cannibalism is tabooed for them as well. Who knows. Maybe they did explained it in the show and I didn't really hear it well enough to understand. Who knows.

The fights among each ghouls were wonderfully done in terms of animation and the action. they were bat shit crazy and I loved every bit of it. The other characters grew on me a little bit as well throughout the show, but I wasn't a huge fan of them. They had their own stories, but they weren't that heart breaking and angsty like I sort of hoped for a 'ghoul' to have considering a lot of them go into hiding throughout the series.

This show was interesting to say the least, but it wasn't for me in zombie/ghoul sense. But, as someone that likes gore and craziness in anime, I enjoyed it for the fights. I did like the overall concept and I'm going to hope for more in the near future. Have a good day people, and remember, drink coffee if you want to be a ghoul in the human world.







Anime Review: Loveless

Loveless (anime version): written by Yun Koga
Show Run: April 7th, 2005-June 30th, 2005
Produced by: J.C Staff
Manga Run: May 2002-Ongoing
Additional information: This is a Shonen-ai/in other words a 'yaoi'/boyxboy romanced based anime.
Premise: Twelve-year-old Aoygai Ritsuka is left with his insane mother as his only family when his brother, Seimei, is killed suddenly. After moving to a new school, he meets Agatsuma Soubi, who claims to have known his brother. Ritsuka eventually discovers that Soubi and Seimei used to be a fighting pair, whereby Soubi was the 'fighter' and Seiemi was the 'sacrifice'. Now that Seimei is gone, Ritsuka has inherited Soubi, who will become his 'fighter. After learning that Seimei was killed by an organization known as the 'Seven Moons', Ritsuka decides to investigate into his brother's death, with the sometimes useless help of Soubi, along the way.

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Rating: 4.3/5 Wolf fangs

(No spoilers in this review)

 

 



So today's review involves one of the few yaoi or boy-to-boy romanced based animes; Loveless. I remember watching this show a few years ago and it turned out to me a fascinating show. With the fantastical elements added to it, this show sparked an originally back in '05. The fantastical element involved the children having cat ears and tails until they lost their virginity and the chain fight between the fighter and the sacrifice with a special ability for each of them. At first, I was confuse about that mainly because I didn't read the manga at the time, but once the show continued onward, I was really into it.

The mystery concept of the 12 episode anime was well executed. Mostly because you want to see why Ritsuka 'lost' his memory and personality alter, and how Soubi and Seimei was connected to the Seven Moons organization overall. Not only that, the romance undertone was interesting in my eyes. I didn't see a lot of the romance that many fans of this show saw right away, but I did see bits of it. And it was weird to be honest with you all. Especially when you realize that Soubi is an adult, and Ritsuka is practically a brand new teenager. In a personal opinion, if Ritsuka was at least 16 going on 17, then I would love to see more romance, but I thought Soubi acted more like an older brother for Ritsuka. Maybe its different for the manga, but maybe not, I have to read it when I get the chance. The anime showed more action and Soubi helping Ritsuka become more accepting of himself and gaining confidence as a person so he can move on from his brother's death.

The plot of the story was fast paced and the characters were also a good mix into the story. I did enjoy Yukio, she was a bright and naïve little thing. She added to Ritsuka's reality in a positive matter. And, it made the anime a little light hearted after witnessing a lot of the angst-y feels with Ritsuka and Soubi. The one thing that I hated it the most about this anime was that it was really short. I wish that the anime was longer for us to enjoy, but overall, we have to read the manga now since its still continuing.

If you all are a fan of yaoi and good music, this anime is for you. Its a good start to get into yaoi if you want to try watching it, and the opening and ending songs are sweet and have a good vibe to listen too whenever you want.

Anime Review: Death Paradie

Created by: by Yuzuru Tachikawa
Show Run: January 9th-March 27th 2015
 Produced: Madhouse
(Additional information): There was a short film called "Death Billiards" that released on March 2nd, 2013.
Premise: Whenever two people on Earth die at the same time, they are sent to one of many mysterious bars run by bartenders serving as arbiters. There, they must participate in Death Games with their lives on the line, the results of which reveal what secrets led them to their situation and what their fates will be afterwards, with the arbiters judging if their souls will either be sent for reincarnation or banished into the void. The series follows Decim, the lone bartender of the Quindecim bar, whose role in judging these souls changes when he meets a curious black-haired woman..

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Rating: 5/5 wolf fangs
No spoilers in this review.

Hello everyone, welcome to the very first review of this blog, my name is xthewolfwriterx and I shall be your host of this blog. Shall we begin with Death Parade? Yes, let's start. Death Parade appeared in the beginning of the year and considering I didn't look up the anime beforehand, I was pleasantly surprised on how the entire thing went. This anime is wonderful for the fans of psychological, philosophical, and paranormal elements. Basically, Death Parade is about a arbiter by the name of Decim who is in charge of the Quindecim bar and slowly leads two people into playing games before going 'back' home. The major twist of the various games. However, is the people who are sent to the bar, are dead. They are living souls within an 'purgatory' realm to be determine whether or not they deserve to go to heaven or hell.

When I watched Death Parade, I quickly fell in love with the characters. Decim was so aloof and the minor characters were just as fresh and original as the 'focused' ones in the story. He snatched my heart as soon his doubts of being an arbiter were slowly emerging, he was almost completely human. As for the black-haired woman, she was an instant plot twist from the moment she step into the Quindecim bar. I loved how she brought out the human inside Decim and was treating him like a friend instead of a creeper. (Especially with Decim's 'lovely' hobby...). While I did enjoy them, I also did enjoy the other arbiters as well. Clavis was so cute and I wanted to see more of him instead of as a side character. Nona was cool, evidently, every character was awesome.

The only thing I wanted to see more was the other arbiters' development. The show was fast pace and I understand that the show was focused on the 'black haired' woman's journey with Decim, but it would've been nice to see Nona's struggles against the supposed god, Oculus and Ginti's point of view.

I'm sad to say that this show will not have a second season, but the show overall did develop a philosophical mindset for us viewers. The story for each 'soul' was unexpected, beautifully tragic and sweet for some of them. But, for the ones that deserved hell, they were still traumatic, yet shocking to the viewers. Each episode kept you guessing and wanting more. In the end, Death Parade was a great show and anime for 2015.