Angel Beats Episode 1-6

Episode 1. CONFUSING. Honestly, I found the first episode to be confusing. I had to watch it twice, and still couldn't comprehend all of it. It's a lot of information to take in. The rules of the world are confusing too. Supposedly they live in this school, but they can't go to class or join clubs without getting obliterated. So what is the point of them being in the school? Why are there only young people in this afterlife? Why are there so few? Why did she say "don't be a model student" because some people get obliterated? If you can't do normal school things then you obviously aren't going to be a model student. And why do only some get obliterated for it? Wouldn't being a model student be playing by the rules? Or is playing by the rules what gets you obliterated? If so, then how long do you have to play by the rules? How come they can eat in the cafeteria but can't go to class? These NCP or whatever they are, why do they even exist? What is their purpose? I'm still kind of confused. I'm certainly interested in watching more of this.

Episode two didn't really help make sense of anything from episode one, but it was a good way to spend half an hour :)
It's interesting. They treat death somewhere between as if it were actual death and if it were a bruise. Apparently it does hurt to die, but surely it can't be too bad since it's short and the healing is so fast.
The whole "guild" thing was kind of confusing. If all these people are high school kids, and there is only this high school, where the hell do they get gunpowder and metal? It's not like a school would have such things. Schools aren't self-sufficient. That begs the question of where do they get their uniforms or food, and pretty much anything. On top of that, how do a bunch of high school kids have the memories and knowledge to build such a thing! Someone please explain to me how this works. Where do all of these things come from? For that matter, how did they manage to carve out that underground and build all those traps? This is confusing.
Okay, so it's obvious I should never get stuck in a situation like theirs because I would pay way too much attention to these things and probably wouldn't get any answers. 

Episode 3 offered a new way to get obliterated, or perhaps just cleared up a previous mentioned option. Of course, I thought it was kind of sad Iwasawa accepted her fate after her beautiful song. However, I love how the girl on the floor tripped the guy as if she was just grabbing a soda or something completely uninteresting. On the other hand, the hacker dude was a bit nuts. (Poor Noba brought down by Pie.) Then again, they all acted like a girls dorm room was some computer controlled high tech booby trapped fortress when it was just a girls dorm room. The picture that Otonashi imagined when they told him about it though totally made me think of Howls Moving Castle. So far the show has some seriousness and some comedy mixed together, which I like. It's not really dark, but it's crazy.

Episode four. Not much to say about it except it's the funniest one so far. The relationships between characters are developing more. Also apparently one can disappear if they do what they weren't able to do in real life. We still don't know exactly how any of them died. We only know some of there stories, but not the death. The anime short, so we probably won't know anyway. It looks like a lot of fun to be in this place. If this is the afterlife then I don't think I'd mind when my time came. Looks like fun!

Episode 5 is interesting. How on earth does Angel not hear them planning? It's not like they are whispering. They are just across the room! How does she not know something is up? Not to mention, they are all in their own uniform so she should be able to recognize Otonashi as one of them. How come they don't get in trouble for having the wrong uniform? (Apparently I do not understand the ways of Japanese school uniforms.) I mean seriously. These people couldn't sneak past a guy who was deaf and blind! It's hilarious to watch, but shouldn't they have at least made their plans before entering the testing room? Perhaps all of that just makes it more hilarious.
We do get to see a new side to Angel. After the mission miraculously succeeds, she is stripped of her position. So who is the enemy now. If they can't shoot the student council vice president, who are they fighting? Does someone else get Angels powers? Is Otonashi going to try to be friends with her? He certainly seems to care about her. He thinks of her more like a human that the others do. I'm not entirely sure if she is human though. I don't see how she is the only different one, not an NCP and not a dead person. After she lost her position though, she seemed like another normal girl.

Episode 6 is definitely the most serious and intense episode of this series so far. I'm not saying it was super intense, but it wasn't as comical as the others. The beginning had some funny moments. I loved when they were all acting "bad" in class. The one guy, I don't remember his name, was so excited over eating chips in class. It's not like the teacher seemed to care what they did. You get told you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't involve the Ncp's and you pick eating in class? How lame. Lame enough to be funny though. Noda's reaction when he got woken up was a little over the top. The ones playing a game in class totally reminded me of my Sophomore year in high school when my friend and I drew a board game on our desk (not on paper, on the actual desk) and played with erasers that looked like dice in the middle of class. Good times.
The story takes a slight turn when Otonashi tries to hang out with Angel and ends up locked up. Turns out, the vice president is actually, no I won't say it. Anyways, from there it got serious. I have to say, the ending with Otonashi embracing the vice president like that shook me a little. It's no tear jerker, but it's still enough to darken the mood. About half way through the series, I think it was about time for something like that.

Now and Then, Here and There Review

I think this story has a good idea, but I think a lot more could have been done with it. It has potential if they had just developed it more. The main character is rather annoying and there are some things that just don't make any sense. The graphics aren't exactly amazing either. The characters as a whole are rather shallow and simple.The only character that managed to surprise me a little was Abelia. Turns out, she wasn't all that she seemed after all.
The main character is rather naive and simple minded for sure. So much so that I didn't really like him very much. The plot is basically this. There is a girl, Lala Rue who has possesion of a pendant that holds a gigantic amount of water that only she can release. When soldiers from the future come to take her back, Shu, the main character, tries to stop them and ends up getting taken along with the girl. He ends up in a place called Hellywood, run by a childish crazy man. While trying to help Lala Rue, they get separated and he ends up with her pendant. Afterwards he loses it. Shu is beaten and tortured as the woman who took them tries to find out what happened to the penant. When it is decided that Shu doesn't know where it is, she forces him into being a soldier. The soldiers are children who were stolen from villages across the wasteland that is this futures world. They are taught to fight and kill, but Shu has no intentions of killing and continuously tries to stop the soldiers. This gets him into trouble and he becomes a prisoner again. After that, well just find out for yourself.
Lala Rue is needed because this futuristic world has very little water and for the ship, Hellywood, to run, it needs water for fuel. Now how the king convinces anyone to do anything, I'm not sure. He is seriously like a child with frequent temper tantrums.
The person who refuses to kill being put in a situation where he needs to kill, it's been done before and I imagine it will be done again. My favorite characters were actually Nabuka and Boo. 
Spoiler Alert - sadly, both died. Both Nabuka and Boo were soldiers. Boo obviously didn't like the killing from the start, and for all Nabukas talk, he didn't want to kill either. They both tried to follow their orders in hopes they could go back to their villiage at the end. Unfortunately, the king had never intended to let them go, and even if he had, the king had the villiages destroyed after taking what he wanted, so there was nothing to go back to. In the end, both did what was right. Boo managed to help Nabuka see clearly and Nabuka did the last thing he could to help Shu. In the end, Abelia delivered the final "blow" to the king.
The story was rather shallow and plain, but it wasn't too bad. Like I said before, it had potential. In the end, it turned out okay. I probably wouldn't give it more than 3 out of 5 though, if even that. Still, it's not a bad show to watch sometime if you have nothing better to do. It's not super exciting, but it's better than some things I've seen. I would certainly pick it over watching something on the current Cartoon Network. Then again, sometimes I think I would prefer just about anything over that....even if it meant reading Twilight, or worse.....Into Thin Air. That's off topic though. My point is, it's not a waste of time to watch, just don't go into it expecting too much.

Deadman Wonderland

Someone please tell me that was not the ending. How the hell was that the ending. That didn't explain a damn fucking thing. It was a pretty good story but where is the freakin ending!! Are you kidding me? Okay so now Shiro was somehow the red man? How? Did the other deadmen make it out and tell the world the truth? What the hell is Shiro anyway? She certainly isn't human. Humans don't have their leg broken like that then stand up and walk on it five minutes later! That was not an ending. Anyone who calls that an ending is out of their minds. Endings conclude things. That didn't conclude one damn thing. I suppose it left open the possibility that Red man and Shiro are one in the same but it didn't even confirm or explain that. In other words, that has to be one of the worst endings ever. I've seen some bad endings, but that was ridiculous. I almost gave the show a high score but decided I should wait to see the ending. I guess it's a good thing I waited. The show was pretty awesome but the ending destroyed it. Or rather, the lack of an ending destroyed it.

I'll write more when I'm less pissed

Btooom Review

Okay, so this anime may only be twelve episodes, but it certainly contains a lot. However, I would certainly caution anyone who wanted to watch it. It contains a lot of "uneasy" subjects. Probably not a good idea for any extreme activist of any kind. On the other hand, if you are just against guns, you will be fine because there are absolutely no guns.
Like I said, this anime packs a lot into it. It deals with betrayal, rape, abuse, psychopathic killers, bombs, crazy people, gamers, love, hate, fear, death, murder, criminals, sexual assault, revenge, high stakes games, bulling, karma, PTSD, divorce, romance, etc. It's got blood and gore, big boobs, explosions, half naked women, insane dudes, popular dudes, bad ass fighting women, and I can't believe I just said some of those things, but I did. Watched it to. I'm not saying it's the best anime or even a really great one, but I do have to respect how much they put into twelve episodes.
I have to say though, I feel like this is the Japanese version of the hunger games. On an island, only given a few things to survive, have to kill off the others to win and leave, someone trying to get around the rules, someone else offering to die to save the other, crazy guy in control, people being picked to be dropped into some "battle field", someone not wanting to "play the game" and trying not to kill, it just sounds a little bit too familiar. The first episode when Sakamoto was on the beach reminded me of the arena in the second book.
I didn't expect the thing with the rape to be taken so far, though, it was pretty cliche. It was the overweight guy who seemed sweet and caring then turns out to be crazy and goes nuts and tries to rape someone. How many times have I heard that before?
I guess my biggest issue with the anime wasn't it's similarity to a book or the countless cliches, but the ending. Yes, here I go again obsessed with endings. It just didn't feel like an ending. We have no idea what happened to the people on the island or what was going on with the "technical difficulties", or at least I don't. If you know then please share. I don't know what that very last part was all about. The whole thing felt like there was supposed to be more, another season or at least another episode. It felt like it was supposed to have a sequel, only as far as I or wikipedia knows, it doesn't. It doesn't have anything after that. If it weren't for the fact that it's been like two years since the anime started, I would think there would be more coming out. It wasn't just the ending that felt sudden either. The beginning felt sudden too. The beginning also seemed unorganized. In my opinion, either the writer or the director doesn't have a good sense of the three major parts of a story called beginning, middle, end. It wasn't until towards the end that I thought it was actually getting rather interesting. I felt an interest in the characters and there were more emotional scenes. I'm not saying shows have to be weepy and angry, even comical counts as emotional, but for the most part, it felt rather devoid of much emotion. I did laugh at the beginning when Sakamoto took so long to figure out the bomb had a timer. Like what the hell did you think the numbers counting down were for!? Time to turn your brain on. I wish it hadn't ended when it was finally starting to get really interesting.
Over all, I would say a 3.5 out of 5. I respect it for how many subjects it addressed and how it addressed them, but the plot was to cliche, the I didn't feel very connected with the characters, and the ending was not an ending.

Here we have our child psychopath who just killed his father. He looks really upset about it doesn't he?

I'm sorry but what exactly is this characters purpose?

This would be the prince rescuing the princess...without the royalty.

Punching the guy who betrayed your confession of love and slept with your girlfriend cliche.

What if You Had the Death Note?

I'm really curious to know what others would do if they came upon the death note.
Would you use it?
If so, on who and why?
If not, why and what would you do with it?
Would you want that power?


(Please feel free to comment. Anyone should be able to comment even if you don't have a google account or blogspot.)


Would I use the death note if I had it? Yes. On the people who live above me! Then I don't have to listen to the creaking and thumping and stuff all day long.
In all honesty though, probably not. I can't say I wouldn't be tempted, but I don't think I would go through with it...
If not, why and what would you do with it? Why? I don't think I could. It would go against my beliefs (and I'm not talking about religious). Even though I think I could do it without getting caught, I would probably eventually end up on the front steps of the police station confessing.... I don't believe killing can bring peace. The kind of "peace" Light created was fear. People didn't stop committing crimes because they thought it was wrong, they did it because they were afraid for their lives. Well hell, you might as well just make the world a dictatorship and strip away all freedom. The fact is, killing can't be stopped by killing. Killing a murder is not going to stop murder. Have you ever noticed that no matter how many criminals we execute or how many wars we fight, criminals still keep coming and wars still keep occurring. Think about it this way. It's a cycle of killing. We rage wars because someone killed someone else. We murder someone because they murdered our mother. We murder someone because they get in our way and then their best friend is pointing a gun at us to get revenge. You can't stop killing by killing. You have to learn to forgive and to show mercy. You have to find ways to help people instead of just getting rid of the ones you don't want or don't think should be here. So no, I wouldn't want to kill people. I believe Light was terribly wrong in what he did and what he thought. He was smart but he was blind.
It's also not my right or anyone's right to pass down judgement on who deserves to live and who does not simply because they did something we think it wrong. It's not my place to judge others and sentence them to death. I am no God. I am no superior being. I have no right.
What would I do with it? I honestly don't know. I think maybe, if anything, I would try to use it to help people. I think maybe sort of like assisted suicide for people who are suffering. Using the book kind of like a shot of mercy. If someone is terminally ill and ready to go, I don't think it's right to stop them. I don't think it's right to make someone suffer mentally and physically when they don't want to. There are times when killing isn't wrong. It's like on the battlefield if your friend is wounded and can't be saved and he asks you to make it stop. I think it would be wrong to just sit there and make him suffer till he slowly slips away if you can just end it and he wants you to. I know for a fact that if I was bed ridden and dying or unable to do things I liked and didn't even know where I was or who I was, I would really prefer it if someone just shot me and got it over with because I don't want to live like that. If I was in the middle of no where with my leg cut off and animals eating at me while I'm still alive, I would prefer some one just kill me fast. I don't want to die some slow painful death. I don't want to be kept as a vegetable either. Unfortunately, killing someone, even if that person asks you to and even if it's to end their suffering, isn't legal everywhere. With the Death Note, you could do it without getting caught. So if I had to use it, I would use it for that I think.
Would I want that power? No. I don't want that power. If you could do other things with it like maybe injure or scare but not actually kill, maybe. Still, even if I tried to help the dying, I wouldn't want that power. The stress of keeping it from bad people and trying to figure out if it's really okay to use it for any reason at all is too much. How do I know that I wouldn't somehow kill someone the day before the cure came out that could have saved them? How do I know that person was supposed to live and create some great invention. I can't see the gigantic picture. I can't see the future. I don't want to be responsible for trying to and messing up.

Dusk Maiden of Amnesia/ Tasogare Otome x Amnesia Review

For someone who isn't crazy about short animes, I sure have been watching a lot of them. I'm glad I watched this one though. I was uncertain when I started the first episode, but it got better. The second episode confused me though. It turned out, the second episode wasn't what confused me, the first episode was. After the first episode, it went to a part of the story before the first episode and I never really figured out where the first episode fit in the storyline.
The story is basically about a ghost that died on school grounds sixty years ago that haunts the school. She has no memory of how she died or anything. She meets a first year student and she gets him to help her start a paranormal investigation club to work on finding out what happened to her. As they spend time searching the school for paranormal things, the boy and girl fall in love with each other. Eventually, they figure out why she doesn't remember anything and what happened in her past. I won't say any more in case you haven't actually watched the show yet.
The show is a bit dark but also a bit comical. It's rather serious however, there are still plenty of laughable moments. There is a mystery to be solved, some romance, some nakedness, some psychological issues and talk, and a little bit of a star crossed lover idea. The ghost in the story isn't necessarily how we normally think of ghosts. She can't fly or walk through walls or do anything that living humans can't do. The only differences between her and the living is that only some people can see her, she doesn't need food or sleep, and she doesn't age. Teiichi, the boy she falls in love with, is one of the people who can see her. He was made aware of her when walking through the old school building and looking in a mirror then turning around. His awareness of her was deep enough that he didn't lose the ability to see her. Another character and member of the club, Kirie, can also see her because she is related to her. Kiries grandmother is Yuuko's, the ghosts, younger sister. The other member, Momoe, is the only member of the group who is not able to see Yuuko. Supposedly, if one is aware of Yuuko's existence and their awareness is deep enough, they can see her, however they will see her how they expect to. Even though Momoe is told about Yuuko, apparently she isn't aware enough to actually see Yuuko.
As I said, the show is dark in content. There is good against evil involving the pure Yuuko who has no impure emotions and can't remember her past, and the shadow Yuuko who harbors all the pain and impure emotions as well as the memories. The way she died is a rather sad unfortunate story though I'm not going to tell it to you. Some spiritual things are also included. The school was actually built on top of a mountain shrine and the shrine still exists below the old school building. This fact comes in to play when we learn about Yuuko's death.
The whole show isn't super gloomy though. Yuuko loves to mess with Teiichi. Teiichi doesn't exactly know how to deal with girls and gets embarrassed sometimes, especially when he accidentally grabs Yuukus chest. Momoe is a rather simple minded girl who gets scared easily and admires Teiichi and all that Teiichi does. Kirie acts tougher than she is. She acts like she isn't scared of anything but then ends up crying over a rat and falling down. She also doesn't see herself as very feminine. It all makes for some funny moments.
The mystery of course is finding out Yuukos past and why she doesn't remember. Later in the series, a second but related mystery appears as the group tries to figure out the connection between the Yuuko they know and the shadow Yuuku.
It's not a majorly romantic show. For one thing, these kids aren't old enough to be too romantic. Most of the real romance happens towards the end between Teiichi and Yuuko. In a way, they are somewhat star crossed lovers. Humans and ghosts aren't meant to be together. Ghosts are simply humans who can't leave the human world because of unfinished business. It's hard for the two to really date since Yuuko can't leave school grounds. It's also hard for her and Teiichi to interact in school unless they are alone because most people can't see Yuuko so it would be odd if Teiichi started kissing air. Whether they can continue their relationship or not isn't known. Unlike Yuuko, Teiichi will age and it will be hard for him to stay on school grounds forever. They would never have children either. It's possible they find ways to overcome these issues. I prefer to think that they do because that makes for a sweeter story. Perhaps their love is strong enough the Teiichi won't care about those problems.
One of the main things that bothers me is how the things Yuuko does are only noticed sometimes. For instance, when she knocks on night watch door, the man inside heard her. During gym class, Teiichi accidently throws the ball to Yuuko and Yuuko throws it in the hoop. Then she tackles Teiichi. Mean while the rest of the class acts as if Teiichi must have been the one moving the ball like that and assume him laying on the ground flailing around must be the effect of making such a shot. How do they not understand how unlikely that is? Still, the point I was making was they saw the ball. However, whenever Yuuko is pulling Teiichi by the arm down the hall, no one seems to notice that he is running with his arm outstretched as if being pulled. Sure, everyone has heard the ghost stories, but it's as if no one even notices. Another time, Yuuko is carrying cotton candy down the hallway and no body notices the floating cotton candy? No one thinks it's a little odd when cotton candy floats down the hall. It's almost as if sometimes any object she is moving or holding becomes as unnoticeable as she is. Other times, it's as if this school needs to educate their students better because clearly they do not understand the laws of science especially physics! Though apparently, at least Momoe, understands that hair does not suddenly stick up on it's own. She gets scared when Yuuko pulls up Teiichis hair. I really do have to wonder how it works though. I mean if the things that aren't a part of her or at least a part of who she was are visible to others even if they can't see her, then when she wears clothes that aren't hers, people should see it right? If only those aware enough or open minded enough can see her moving objects or holding things, then how come everyone in the gym class notices the ball? The rules never seem to be very clear when it comes to these issues.
Another thing that bothers me is what do Teiichi's parents think. I suppose they think the club just runs really late when he doesn't come home till dark, but what about when he is there all night. I never see him pull out his cell and call his parents.

Spoiler alert!!

 I give the ending an A. I can hate or love a show based on it's ending. I'm big on endings. I don't like a lot of questions left. I want the story to feel like it's closed. I want closure.
I feel like this show actually ended twice. If you haven't read the show, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER THAN THIS. STOP READING NOW!
The "first ending" was heartbreaking. Let me put it this way, I don't cry during movies, tv, or books. The only time I had tears fall from my eyes over a movie was at the end of the third Lord Of The Rings movie. I've had my eyes water a little a few other times, but no tears fell. Well this ending I came pretty close to tears falling while watching. Teiichi and Yuuku were on a date and they were having so much fun. The mysteries surrounding Yuuku were gone and her memories returned. Her dark half had joined her pure half and everything was fine. They could finally be happy. Unfortunately, it was because they were happy, because they solved the mysteries and put Yuuku at ease, that meant Yuukus time was ending. She started moving through objects and becoming faint. If the fact she had to go wasn't bad enough, Teiichi was unwilling to let her go. Yuuku wanted him to just leave before it happened but he couldn't. Watching them write back and forth again because Teiichi could no longer hear Yuuko, was touching. They shared a long kiss......and she was gone. He just stayed there for who knows how long. Of course they couldn't be together. She was a ghost. The purpose of being a ghost was to finish business that was left unfinished at death, not get a second chance at life. Yuukos last request was that Teiichi forget about her and find someone else to love and move on with life. She didn't want him to remember her. She wanted him to be happy and able to find someone to love that he could be with forever. Once she was gone, he locked up his memories of her and put them away because that was what Yuuko wanted him to do.Still, the two loved each other. It wasn't fair. Like Romeo and Juliet, love was not enough. They were unable to be together...

Except perhaps I should say like Katniss and Peeta (they were refereed to as star crossed lovers in the book as well but found a way for both of them to live, sort of). The "second ending" was even better than the first. I would have considered it a fine ending if it had ended after the "first ending", but I'm also happy that it didn't. It made it even better. It turned out that because of that last kiss, Yuuku ended up returning. The love between the two made new unfinished business I guess which meant she had to come back to the human world. They were able to be together! It was a shocker but a pleasant one. Of course, I don't know if they were able to stay together forever, since she was still a ghost who probably still couldn't leave school grounds. I suppose you could say there were questions left unanswered, but I feel like those questions are irrelevant. For one thing, I'm not sure I really want the answer. I would prefer to just believe they made it work some how and leave it at that. Secondly, questions of what would follow weren't really approached during the story so I don't think there was any reason to expect answers. I feel like there was closure. The story had a beginning, middle, and end, or two ends. My point is, it had what was necessary. If the show itself wasn't five star in my opinion, then the ending made it five star. That's what I give it. :)

Fairy Tale Review Episodes 1-4

"Lucy is a seventeen-year-old mage with the power to summon stellar spirits, but what she really wants to do is join a guild - and not just any guild. She has her eyes set on Fairy Tail, a notoriously reckless and outrageous group of magic users who are likely to be drunk or destroying buildings and towns in the process of completing a job! While in town one day Lucy meets a perpetually-seasick boy named Natsu who, through a series of events, reveals to her that he's none other than the fire-eating mage Salamander of Fairy Tail! Lucy is finally able to join Fairy Tail and quickly begins to take on odd jobs with Natsu and his gang for fame and profit. Along with her fiery friend, Happy the flying cat, Natsu's archrival Gray and their overseer the invincible and beautiful Erza, Lucy sets forth for epic adventures that leave an epic amount of destruction in their wake. After all, destroying a city or five doesn't matter as long as they get the job done... right?!" -Synopsis taken from Anime-planet website

As soon as the show started, it wasn't what I expected. It sounded more like a disney movie than an anime. Still, despite the bed time story sounding narrator, I decided to keep watching to give it a chance. The narration is used quite often though and I find it a bit annoying. I've never cared for narration in animes, but the sound of this one is a bit worse. Any way, after a while, it got interesting enough that I watched the second episode. Unfortunately, this anime reminds me a bit of One Piece in the style and characters. I say "unfortunately" because I don't like One Piece. I'll admit, I'm in to the darker animes, not so much comedy and silliness. As for the magic in the show, I'm not entirely sure I would label it as magic. This isn't the type of anime that makes me want to keep clicking on the next episode till late at night because I'm eager to find out what happens next. Other than some cursing and possibly inappropriate subjects, it kind of has the feel of a kid's cartoon, and I'm not talking about the ones from the good ones, I'm talking about the crap they put on tv now. 
Before I go any farther, I want to make clear that I don't hate the show and I don't think it's crap. It just has a similar feel in some ways. Still, I think if I had to pick something I have seen that is most like this show, I'd pick One Piece. Anyway, I know it's gotten pretty good ratings, but then again, so did Pokemon and I lost interest it that once the original characters were gone, actually more like once Misty was gone. And now I'm getting off track again. 
I plan to keep watching the show. I have only seen the first four episodes, so it could get better. I really hope that eventually the main characters won't still be so half-brained and pathetic like. How they win anything is beyond me. They have good hearts though. That's something at least. Hopefully this will get more interesting. Since it's a rather long series, I'll wait a while before  deciding my absolute final opinion about it. It wouldn't be the first show that i didn't like at the start and ended up liking later.