Black Cat Review

The whole incident with Saya was sad, but not the clearest. I mean, what really happened. Why did Creed think Saya was a witch, other than the fact that he is just insane. I mean she was the reason that Train changed his ways but still. Why was she killed off so early?

The rest of the show brings her up over and over and is a big motivator for Train, but the friendship was never really developed. It was rushed through.




Up until episode 10, I didn't get very interested. From the beginning, I got the feeling that instead of starting at a beginning of the story, we skipped several chapters and started part way in. Once Train joined Sven and Eve, it got a little better, though the whole green giant guys was a bit lame.

When Train went off trying to find Creed to kill him and Sven ran to the scene to attempt to keep Train safe, it got interesting, sad, but interesting. Of course, how some one gets whipped that many times by a whatever and isn't at least bruised baddly, I don;'t know. Anime characters are invincible I guess. They can jump from high places, get beaten up, not sleep for days, get hit by a giant hammer, and they are still okay two seconds later!

Now I'm not usually one for giving the bad guys what they want, but episode 12, he should have killed Creed. He had plenty of time to kill Creed and save his friends!!! But no, he doesn't. Ugh. He had the perfect oprotunity. I don't like killing for revenge, but come on just shoot the guy. Just shoot the wacko brain.

I mean, yes, making someone live is worse than killing them often times but still, I'm not sure Creed is sane enough to know the difference between life and death anyways. I mean he was crazy from the start, but during the last fight between him and Train, he revealed just how nuts he was. Even I didn't think he was THAT nuts! It was so simple and people could have been saved and unhurt if Train had just pulled the damn trigger! Plus the whole Saya ghost like thing. Wha???
It actually turned out to be good that Train didn't kill him but um still whats with the whole light saber/sword/whip/fire torch thingy Creed has?.
I don't know, it's just when I watch something with assasins, I kinda want them to stay assassins. I'm not condoning assassination, but it's just how I am.

Also, how does Train not run out of bullets? I never saw any packs carrying them. There aren't a ton in his pockets. I doubt the gun regenerates bullets. So where do they come from and how come they can buy bullets and not food?
Why does Kyokos Popsicles look like they are radioactive?

What is the purpose of this dudes existence? Is there a purpose?

Also, why is it that so many stories that involve bounty hunters or doing odd jobs for money, the main characters rarely complete the job or if they do then end up screwing something up and end up with almost no money, then they are always broke.

 How do these people survive when they never seem to make any money. In this case, the person almost always dies, or they let the guy get away instead of turning him in. I don't see what's wrong with turning Creed in. It gets pathetic after a while. Like could these people even complete a mission to get a sloth out of a tree. I say sloth because it wouldn't jump away when they tried to grab it like a cat might. Doesn't matter though. They still probably couldn't do it. 

To me this show is like Cowboy Bebop meets Fairy Tail meets Trigun meets Requiem for A Phantom meets Detective Conan. Like what the hec.
I can't say I really enjoyed the show. It didn't flow very well and the story wasn't developed very well. I would give it about three stars out of five for having some sad moments and a few good action scenes. Plus some of it was actually rather funny. However, it still didn't seem very cohesive. It felt like a lot of random things were thrown together and left unfinished and skipped etc.

The ending was almost good. I loved how everyone came together to fight, even Creed came and helped. I'm a sucker for that type of thing.

Despite the first half of the last episode being all over the place, it still had a good chance of ending..and then.....the final moments.....Train left Sven and Eve. Before that I actually thought, "despite the not so good majority of the anime, it turned out to have a decent ending." Then it was ruined. Are you kidding me? The whole thing had a shot at redemption...and it didn't take it.

Granted, there is also the fact that the ending felt really crammed and the actual scenes weren't very good. You never really saw the fighting or found out what happened to the former numbers and the zero numbers or anything much. I hadn't thought of that until I started writing. So I guess, in all actuality, the moment I thought about it, redemption wasn't likely even if Train hadn't left. So, since the ending was rather crummy, I'd say maybe two and a half stars instead of three. 

oh, and whats up with these portal thingys. There are so many things that aren't explained and don't make sense. What is the point of half of this show????

Vampire Knight Review

This review is unfinished and will  be finished shortly

Romance, vampires, action, and the supernatural! Don't be too fooled though. There is more romance of the biting neck and drinking blood kind than any kissing! Personally, I prefer that. Ultimately, it's a good show. I had my doubts going in to it. I don't care for too much romance focus and I don't want any glittering vampires either. Most of the comments I had read about the show said the ending didn't feel complete, which we all know I hate more than almost anything! If I had to compare the romance in the show to something, I think I would go with comparing it to whats in Inuyasha. It's a big component, but there is so much more than just the romance. Also, it may have a lot of talk about love and protecting, but it's not like there are any five minute scenes of making out, unless you call drinking someones blood an evolved form of french kissing. I guess tongue in mouth and fangs in neck aren't too different. As for the ending though, I actually was satisfied with it.

Five minutes in to the first episode and I was laughing thinking what the hell. It wasn't that the scene is funny, it's just, the continuity was screwed up and they hadn't even really started the show yet!! They haven't even played the opening song yet and already they are playing hand games. It cracked me up.
In case you didn't notice, I'll show you.

So here we have Kaname killing the bad vampire with his left hand. His hand and coat arm are covered in blood.

Then, he offers his still bloody left hand to Yuki.

Now Yuki grabs the extended hand, but the hand isn't bloody anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Are you seriously telling me that the blood disappeared in one second. It's not like he went home and washed his hand and jacket!! It's only a minute in to the first episode. COME ON!!! Continuity people.

I just want to point out that this is a waaaayyy better love story than twilight and the vampires are way cooler.
As is typical in many more modern depictions of vampires, these vampires can go out during the day, they don't turn into bats, they don't sleep upside down, and they don't have some Transylvanian accent. That being said, the day light is still very uncomfortable and harsh to them and it seems that some are less able to stand it than others.
Like several other stories involving vampires, the night class vampires have settled for drinking fake blood. They have tablets that turn the water into a blood like tasting drink. This is in an attempt to be peaceful with humans. Of course, they still wish for real blood. These vampires also posses power, or at least ones that are at least part vampire from birth. Powers can be turning things to ice, breaking things, and many other types. All vampires from birth also have the ability to put someone to sleep and to make someone forget certain memories.
Pure blood vampires are treated with great respect as if they were royalty. These vampires are the only ones able to turn a human into a vampire by biting them. The rest do not have this power. Humans turned into vampires turn into level E eventually, unless they drink their masters (the one who turned them) blood or the blood of another pure blood. Level E stands for end. When a vampire turns level E, they lose their humanity and their control. Vampire hunters are people with powers and part of the hunters association who track down and kill Level E vampires.

The setting is hard to tell. It looks like it was after some apocalypse or something that destroyed a lot of places.
The main character is Yuki. She is about 15 or 16 years old I think. She was left out in the snow ten years prior to the shows start, as a little child with no memories of her past. She was rescued from a vampire, who wanted to eat her, by a pure blood named Kaname. Kaname takes Yuki to the headmaster,Kross, of an academy. Kross takes her in and raises her. Six years later, a boy named Zero is also brought to Kross. His parents had been killed by a pure blood and he believes his younger brother was too. He hates vampires with a passion because of that. His hate for vampires causes a bit of clashing between him in Yuki since Yukis best friend is Kaname, a vampire. Things only get more irritating for Zero when the headmaster decides to start a night class for vampire students. The students have their own dorm seperate from the day class and are kept away from the day class as much as possible. It is Kanames job to handle matters for the night class and to keep them in line. Zero and Yuki are given less than enjoyable possitions as the only two members of the diciplinary committee, whose job it is to keep the day class and night class away from each other as much as possible. When it's time for class change, they have to keep the day class lovestruck girls from getting too close to the night class. They also have to keep watch while the night class is in session to make sure none of the day class students break curfew and try to get close to the building. Most of the vampires won't do anything on purpose, but blood lust can be powerful and accidents can happen. Of course, Zero would prefer to be far away from the vampires, and Yuki is glad she gets to see Kaname.
Spoiler Alert: The following may contain spoilers!!!!!!





Zero's attempt to avoid vampires is impossible for him to do though considering he is a human turned vampire. The pure blood who killed his parents turned him, however Zero has managed to keep it at bay for four years. To make matters worse, he is one of the few whose bodies reject the tablets. He finally loses control one night and attacks Yuki.
Despite this, Yuki still feels it's her job to protect Zero. Kaname and Zero don't get along, but Kaname offers Zero some help for Yukis sake. Yuki lets Zero drink her blood when he needs it though. It's not an everyday thing. The vampires eat real food, but they do need blood or tablets too. As Yuki tries to protect Zero from his terrible fate, Zero opens up to her and becomes increasingly fond of her. Too bad for him, Kaname has already decided Yuki is his.



There are some things I don't get.
When Zero first attacks Yuki, she loses enough blood that she faints. However, it never happens again. I don't quite see how she can give him that blood and never have any ill effects. Then again, she barely gets any time to sleep between classes and disciplinary committee jobs and it doesn't affect her health so why not.
When Kaname bites Yuki and we find out she is Kanames sister but her mother had locked away her vampire genes to give Yuki a chance of a normal human life, Yukis hair gets longer. How does her hair suddenly grow twenty inches when he unlocks her vampire genes. I don't get it.
Zero's vampire hunter power at the end confuses me too. What is that on his arm?

Some scenes felt very awkward to me. Kaname came across as a major jerk sometimes. Usually I liked him but then he would do something arogant and jerkish and I didn't like that.

Also, again we have the guy who thinks of life as a chess game! What is with anime smart guys treating life like a chess game!!!


The head master is a bit crazy coo coo sometimes. Okay most of the time. He has a serious side, but he is usually silly. His silliness reminds me a bit of FMA characters. However different personalities remind me of Rurouni Kenshin. Headmaster Kross used to be a more serious man and one of the best vampire hunters. Now he is often silly, carefree, and reckless and a pacifist wanting humans and vampires to live together peacefully.

Phantom Requiem for the Phantom Ending

THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS SPOILERS!!

The following WILL contain spoilers since I'm discussing the last five minutes of the last episode. I will talk about the whole anime later, but I just watched the ending and I really want to talk about that right now. I'll add the rest at a later date.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the ending. Did Reiji die? Did Eren die? If so, how? If now, then what happened?
I suppose, we will never know for sure. I've read several theories about it. I guess I will start with discussing a few of those.

Theory one-One theory is they both died. Eren dies by suicide and Reiji dies from being shot. Some people think the flower Eren was looking at, looked like a poisonous flower, and she used it to kill herself after Reiji was shot. The missing petal of the flower was shown to explain Erens death, and the shell casing to explain Reijis death.

Problem one, the flower looks like a pansy, aka, not poisonous. Two, no poisounous flower can kill that quickly with just one petal. Is it possible she killed herself some other way? There is no blood, so she couldn't have died that way. If she took something before that scene, she wouldn't have said what she did. Nor would she have said those things if she was planning on dying. Right before Reiji died, she said "These are my own. I can take them and live." This implies she believed she was planning on staying alive. It's true that she no longer has to try to find out about her past anymore because she knows. So that goal is completed. With out Reiji, there would be no reason to keep living. Even so, that doesn't explain how she could have killed herself. That pretty much rules out the suicide theory.

Theory two- Eren knew that Reiji would be shot. That's why she didn't freak out.

Problems- This would explain the clam reaction she had. After all, Reiji goes down, and she acts as if nothing happened. It seems to me that she would at least have a shocked expression. Still, I can't believe that she would know and not try to stop it. That just isn't her character.


Theory three- Eren didn't die. She was just day dreaming. She didn't get upset over Reiji's death because she had all she needed and she knew she had to live.

Problems- Somehow, I think this is more like wishful thinking. Even if she knew she was dying or if she knew he wouldn't want her to be upset, she isn't some emotionless shell of a girl, she is a thinking feeling human being. She had a strong connection with Reiji. If he died, she would not be okay. She would at least cry a tear. This theory does not explain her reaction. The day dreaming thing is possible, but the why is still unknown.



For the most part, people agree that Eren is dead. I don't think so.


My theory- Eren isn't dead. Eren and Reiji weren't near each other when he dies. It would explain why she didn't freak out and why she was laying, staring up at the sky as if lost in thought. At first, Reiji is standing behind Eren by their bags. After Eren says "Yes, we don't have to go any farther, this is the sky I always dreamed about. It's part of my memory. I know this is it." Reiji walks away. We never see the both of them in the same shot after that. After that, we see them in two different settings. Eren is in the grass near scattered flowers. It's probably the same place she was previously. On the other hand, Reiji is near a tree, no bags in sight, and no flowers either.

In other words, they weren't near each other. We don't know how far apart they were because we never saw them on the screen together after that but they probably weren't even in view of each other at that point. He probably was giving her some time alone to think and remember. So when he gets shot and falls down, she didn't see it, so she doesn't know he is dead. Unaware of his death, she finally is done with the flower and lays down to stare at the sky. Perhaps she looks up from the flower because she sees the wagon or she got a strange feeling. It could have been anything. She may have just been done with her thoughts. Either way, it's likely she didn't see it. As for why she stared at the flower for so long, she was probably thinking about all of this new information and processing it all. She lays down, but she doesn't look dead. She is probably thinking. She is staring at this sky that she dreamed of so many times, the only part of her past she had held on to.

This doesn't necessarily mean that the missing petal has no signifigance. I think it lost it's petal because Reiji was gone. I'm having a hard time finding the words to explain it, but I think the petal was kind of like his life. She didn't pick it off, it just fell.
This is the only way I can think of to explain everything that happens in the end. It explains her "reaction" or rather, lack of it, and it either avoids or explains problems with other theories.
The problem with theory one is that her words and supposed actions didn't match up and there was nothing to commit suicide with. My theory says she didn't die, so she wouldn't need something to kill herself and her words wouldn't contradict her options. The problems in theory one would be irrelevant.
The problem with theory two was that her character wouldn't just sit by and knowingly let Reiji die. She made it clear several episodes back that she didn't want Reiji to die before she did. She didn't want to live in a world without him. She wouldn't look so calm if she saw him dead. Since, according to my theory, they weren't actually in view of each other, these problems are irrelevant.
The problem with theory three is similar to that of the second theory. It doesn't explain her reaction to Reijis death. If she saw Reiji die, she wouldn't just lay down and start day dreaming peacefully. Therefore, she couldn't have known he was dead. If she didn't know he was dead, she wouldn't be upset.
Through observation and deductive reasoning, my theory explains her expression, the difference in scenery, the actions, and the words of the characters.
I'm not saying it's what actually happened, nor am I saying it's the only possibility. In fact I actually have a second, slightly different theory as well. The argument for this one is just stronger though.

What my theory doesn't explain is why someone would shoot Reiji in the first place. Who would have done it. As far as we knew, Inferno never worked in Asia. Who would want to kill Reiji now. The people in Inferno that had tried to kill him are dead. I highly doubt Shiga would try to go after him, not to mention, the way Reiji died wasn't his style. McGwire doesn't have a reason to go after him. Reiji isn't doing anything to trouble Inferno, he isn't even near Inferno, so McGwire shouldn't have a problem with him. Everyone else is dead.
Also, was it the driver, or someone hidden in the hay?

One thing I have a problem with is how long it took for Reiji to fall down. Talk about a delayed reaction. Maybe I'm just ignorant of some important fact that explains why he took so long to fall down, but it seems to me that it shouldn't have taken so long. Also, where did he get hit? It wasn't the head. Anyway, after all that guy has survived, I'm a little surprised a single bullet could kill him. He got shot three times, near the heart, fell into the water, and basically drowned before and was still alive. I guess it could have been a dart gun with poison but that just doesn't seem likely. There is nothing to suggest that to be the case. So why did he take so long to fall?! If it didn't kill him instantly, why didn't we hear a last thought or a last word or something. Why did his face look like he was fading out while he was still managing to stand.

Was this an appropriate ending? Was it a good ending?
I think so. It was the end. If he isn't alive, then his story is finished. He can't do anything else unless we follow him to life after death or he comes back as a ghost. Since he has been known to go back and forth between assassin and not assasin throughout the series due to various reasons, I think it was best to end with his death. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to know if he went on to live a normal life or if he want back to being an assassin or what. If he hadn't gone back and forth, we could probably have assumed he remained as he was in the ending. That wasn't the case though. By killing him off, we don't have to wonder what happened during the rest of his life or how he turned out because there was no "rest of his life."
It was a nice wrap up because we know what happened up to his death. We know who he became and how far his relationships ended up going. There isn't anything about him for us to guess. That isn't the only reason it was a good ending. Eren found out where she was from and who she was. She found a reason for her being. If she didn't die in the end, I think she had found what she needed to live and be happy, despite the fact that Reiji was gone. I'm not saying she wouldn't be upset for a while, but I think she now has the strength to move past it and find happiness.

I think Reiji was at peace when he died. He had hurt so many and killed so many, he felt like a destroyer. "I lived a life leaving nothing behind except shattered dreams and broken promises. There was one promise I could never break. I promised to make you smile. You'll be truely happy, I know you will." Are his last thoughts. Killing and hurting others never really sat well with him. Even though his memory was wiped, he wasn't a mindless killer. The pain he caused was a heavy burden for him. Even in the end, I still don't think he liked himself very much. He couldn't forget what he had done. He couldn't forget all that he had been through. However, he managed to do one thing. He kept Eren safe and he made her smile. He helped her find happiness. I think Eren has a chance at happiness now. I think she will find a way to move on and live. I'm not sure Reiji could have done that. I'm not sure he could just forget. He looked peaceful when he died, not like someone with regrets. I think keeping that last promise put him at peace with himself. I'm not doing a very good job of explaining this, but based on what he said, I think what happened was best.
I can't say the ending was sad. I don't think sad is the right way to describe it. I think it was peaceful sort of melancholy ending. Perhaps even bittersweet. Rarely does the audience want the main character to die, but that doesn't mean it's the worst thing ever every time. I think what is sad is that there are no more episodes.
As for the rest, I will put in another post later. I have a feeling I have a lot more to say about this anime.

Elfen Lied

 The following may contain spoilers.

 They seriously need to put warnings on the screen before hurting animals!!!! Seriously, was that really necessary? Couldn't they beat up a doll? The doggie was innocent. WARNING: The end of episode 8 contains animal abuse that is waaaay too detailed. You don't see the dog die...but you hear it.....Stupid writer putting in such an awful scene. Anyway, I should rate it 1 out of five stars just for that scene, but it wouldn't be fair. Below is the poor doggy they killed. How can you kill such a cute puppy. They got what they deserved (the second picture)

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Anyway.......on to the rest of things.

I think the amount of nakedness in this show was unnecessary. Is there a reason these girls must be kept naked while being isolated and researched because I highly doubt it. Put clothes on them already and stop making your own kiddie porn. You're torturing naked girls. Call it science if you want, but I call it pedophilia.

As for the show itself, it was alright. It wasn't very exciting, but it was interesting enough for a rainy afternoon. There isn't much action or mystery or anything, just a simple story. Well, maybe not simple. The ending was half good. I say half because it only summed up one side of the story. By that I mean, we know what happened to the girls and all. Well, sort of anyway. There is the very last part where someone is at the door and the clock randomly starts working. We never get to find out what all that is about. We don't know for sure that Lucy is dead either.
However, what happens to the facility? Do they keep sending others to go after the girls? Do they continue their research? Do they go after Kouta? What was the point in showing us the guys horns? Did that woman ever get to take that bath? That whole side of things was left completely unfinished. Therefor the ending wasn't very conclusive. Maybe they planned to have a second season and never did.

It's gory and bloody and includes lots of nakedness, but that's about it. It's not the most exciting thing to watch in my opinion. It has some laughable moments, but not a whole lot. I know some people say it's "fucked up" but I don't think I would quite call it that. I'd say it's not all that weird. Okay, so the severed head on the office desk was a little bit messed up. Actually, the amount of floating severed heads is a little creepy. I think someone really likes floating heads.

The ending is a little sad. The situation with Kurama, Nana, and Mariko is rather unfortunate to say the least.

  Koutas past is pretty messed up though. He makes a friend who ends up killing his sister and father. He gets so messed up that he rewrites his memory. I don't totally get how that worked. I mean, so much went down on the train and the father took so long to bother interfering. Was he just super dumb or oblivious?
By the way, if a mutation can be born if the parent has contact with a mutation prior to conception, shouldn't someone let Kouta, Yuka, and Mayu know? I think that would be important.
Overall, I give it a 3 out of 5. They way overdid the nakedness, the ending wasn't conclusive, there wasn't much excitement, but it wasn't a total waste of time. The animation style seemed well enough and the characters were interesting. The whole dog thing though, was NOT NECESSARY!!!!!! Kill all the humans you want but damnit, leave the puppy alone!!!!!!!!!!