Due to the intense profanity, several thugs and Joe Pesci asked me to revise my original "review" for Unlimited Blade Works.
Unlimited Blade Works...
There's not really much to say here, but I'm going to give it an honest critique's shot.
Originally I thought it was going to be great! So many people kept telling me how awesome it was, and that I should really watch it; unfortunately, I listened to them.
Currently I am still finding people who think it was good and I'm honestly surprised. So now I have to weigh the pros (somehow find those) and the cons.
Pro: There's a ton of action.
Con: The action is OVERKILL (literally)
Pro: Different pov from awesome anime! Con: Messed up original story (which was a winning story)
(And some people like the following while others can't stand it)
BLOOD! EVERYWHERE!
Little girl is killed gruesomely.
This massive gory murder gives Elfen Lied a run for its money!
Just about everyone dies a horrible death.
I'm so serious. Now that I know what Fate Zero is going to be like, there's not a chance that I'm going to watch it.
If you like this movie, and try to defend it saying "The plot was dynamic!" Then you should actually be watching Fate/Stay Night. The only good you'll find in this was taken from Fate/Stay Night, but this should to no degree be a substitute for the anime.
Unlimited Blade Works was like a corrupt version of the anime that tried to jam pack 24 episodes (while totally messing them up and changing crap) into one movie. The result was very bad.
Then you also might say "But there were interesting new twists" Yes, yes there were. But does this make the movie worth watching? Not a chance. That's like getting hit by a car and getting a stick of gum for compensation. Not only are you left a little bit dead on the inside, but you also wasted 144 minutes of your life.
Alright I'm just saying, I watched this movie, and even if it weren't for the insane amount of blood and murder, I still wouldn't have liked it. The story was way too rushed and the events that happened were just ridiculous and didn't seem thought through at all. The story lacked so much, and you might say "Well you needed to watch the anime first!" But in fact, it's a different point of view, so you shouldn't have to. It's not a sequel nor is it a prequel. It's a movie and it should be able to stand by itself.
Overall Rating: (1/10)
That's the realistic score. Otherwise I'd put 0, or something in the negatives.
I'm disappointed in where most humans are today. Enjoying the suffering of others in movies. Call it fake if you want, but this has a strong effect on your subconscious mind. The more of this you watch, the more corrupt it becomes.
If you feel like there shouldn't be so much violence and hate in the world, understand that it should be started by avoiding watching movies such as these which promote those two vices.
If you try to say your reason of watching this is "But it has (an) awesome ____!" Then that's just a pathetic excuse to justify watching something so psychopathic.
That's my review. Thanks for reading.
Don't look forward to more on this movie.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Exactly How do I Label This?
This blog is going to switch off to a few different topics. It was originally meant to point out the unfortunate fault in adding unnecessary sub-genres to people who absolutely cannot stand spoilers to any degree. We can see how well that stayed on topic.
Often times, there are "sub-genres" in descriptions on movies or shows. Why!? It's starting to go overboard where a story can have like 15 genres. I mean, if the story really was them focusing largely on 15 different genres (long movie) then put those on the description. But if it barely touches a different genre don't add it. It's like saying you can speak Swahili when all you know how to say is "Sijui Kiswahili" - which of course means "I don't know Swahili". *Faceplam*
When sub-genres are given it leads to expectations of what is in the movie/show. Now, many times a story has been ruined for me because I figured it out what would happen, unintentionally, before it could happen. Avoiding that is another reason I write reviews *sparkles and rainbows*. Most people don't really mind if they see a spoiler or know a sub-genre, which is good, but I constantly feel like it's a crime against my grandparents - who are of course, nice.
Though I do enjoy reading Shirley's reviews. (And I am in no way saying that at all, just because she has the power to remove me from the page, and block me, and lead everyone into a mass witch hunt to burn me at the stake. Nope definitely not...) She writes as if she's speaking to you. Maybe "yelling at you" would be a better way to phrase it.... But it's more interactive than most online reviews.
But in all actuality, most reviews feel very formal, as if a lifeless computer is forcing me to read its uneventful text. It's too factual! It's the pinnacle of fact spitting! And that my dear, dear children, is boring. I mean, it's great to not be biased, we should aim for that, but I'm saying that people are either:
Not incorporating humor at all (or)
Aren't doing a good job at adding it.
So we should try to
At least try to add humor (or)
Be less formal
When we're less formal about writing, we can connect with each other better ね.
I will admit though, it's tough to add humor into writing since the reader may interpret it differently than the writer intended it to be. Also keeping the readers attention can be tricky! So here! Have a cat!
^neko
I try to make my reviews at entertaining as possible for you - so! I'd like to ask you! (Why yes! This is out of the blue! :D) To help me, help you, by helping me, help you, having you, send me - feedback (feedback being the key word here)! If you tell me what you want, what you really really want, I'll try to incorporate it in what I write for your reading contentment. ... (yes really) ...
The genres are: Action, Romance, Thriller, Supernatural.
Side note: Ok I'll get this out of the way. Romance is good, just as good as any other genre right? Yes, but it can be really predictable in my opinion - as in you know who's going to get with who. I mean, it's not like the genre romance is there because the supporting character who's a janitor goes on a date with the cougar principal. Note only is that lame, that's just... really strange....
So most of the time I don't like reading that one of the genres are romance, then it just ruins it for me. If you guys feel the same - tell me and I'll always exclude romance from the genres if it's part of the anime, just to make it less predictable ;).
The following are some afterthoughts about this series on almost every episode (missing eps. 1-3). There are some mild spoilers (as in they don't really ruin anything, unless you're good at piecing the story together with small details), so if you want to skip over them because of those mild spoilers or you think it's just too long, I have added a picture after the last afterthought. So you can just scroll until you see the next picture, and everything else will be under that. There is a lot of information in there that could give you a great idea of the anime. But you could also always read the afterthoughts after you watch the anime.
Episode 4: Part of the intro sounds like the Resident Evil 5 Mercenaries result screen (mouth full), that's awesome. I originally wasn't too enthusiastic about the comic relief and she was a bit annoying to me. But now I've kind of latched onto what the feeling and aura of the series is, and she's become a nice element in it all. I really like Saber. She's a true knight, meaning right there she's extremely loyal. She's not anything stereotypical. The battle scenes are realistic. People get tired, and it's not like they just keep fighting after a chunk of their trunk is gored out. The dialogue is a bit corny, as well as the theme: Justice - but I'll respect the virtue. There was also what may be, a red herring at the end of the episode when it was a close up on Sakura's face.
Opening and Ending are pretty cool. The lyrics don't really seem to mean much though, it's more like trying to add fantasy and adventure, mysterious and this sense of being so much different than what we're used to. I guess it sparks as cool to some people to hear about dark forests and tragic love.
Episode 5: I can see that this drama is able to incorporate comedy well so far. We have both a comic relief, and actually snippets of comedy thrown in at, well, timely manners. I finally see what my friend means by those animes where when people eat, they are just eating clumps of white rice. I don't know why, but it's a bit annoying. Oh and Tohsaka... how merciless. Though Emiya is largely at fault for being so incompetent. I mean, he doesn't even ask questions. I'd be asking how to improve my magicianship and about other crap that could help me out. And damn, at least learn some self-defense. He's never asking the right questions.. son I am disappoint.
Episode 6: Emiya seems to have his morals over his head. Yes, morals are good - however, he doesn't know he's gone too far. In this situation, one would overdo it, and cause everything to end up with an even bigger problem/mess.
Episode 7: Tohsaka to Emiya: "Go Straight home, don't make any detours on the way home ne?" Naturally Emiya makes a detour. I can tell that the intro is supposed to make us excited for what we're about to watch. You can see that this episode opened up a few new doors; Bonding with Tohsaka and Emiya (Where will that take us? These seems may replay in later episodes), Emiya's best friend's obsession against Tohsaka and Sakura's seeming attachment towards Emiya. Realized Sakura probably likes Emiya.
Episode 8: So yea, this anime is actually really slow. There is a lot of dialogue. Though I believe it's building up for something massive and great (some kind of epic resolution with flashbacks, meaning motifs and powerful themes). Emiya is kind of annoying me, but when I put myself in his shoes, I can better see his reasoning. I was proud of Sakura for sticking up for herself ;).
Episode 9: Action, and Saber doesn't reveal her name. There's an assassin servant and... a Witch servant? Emiya is really annoying me - well at least it proved worthwhile to run all the way there. And thank god Tohsaka and explained everything. Emiya is finally going to learn something, took him long enough. There needs to be a lot more practice everywhere in my opinion.
Episode 10: I bet Saber's name is Fate. I don't like how the little girl laughs. Shirou's FINALLY training melee/magic!!
Episode 11: That's very good. That's impressive. Yes, I can tell this is definitely going somewhere. It might actually be able to compete in the same category as with Azumanga Daioh!!! I'm excited for what's next :)
Episode 12: Emiya never fails to piss me off. Looks like Emiya is becoming more open, and Tohsaka continues to be unhelpful. The little girl! What! Finally that song played, at the right time though.
Episode 13: This episode gives us a lot of insight on Illya and Saber. This episode seems like it was a setting up episode, not to be confused with a filler, it actually serves a purpose. It sets up the stage to make a later scene more epic, maybe the next episode, or one of the last. Shirou's stubbornness actually seems useful in this episode, where he is ambivalent on whether or not to make Saber steal mana by attacking people. Don't do it! There must be another way! And we can tell here that Saber's story seems intertwined with King Arthur, excalibur, and probably the Knights of the Round Table. What exactly does it mean? I don't know. But I have had a certain liking for chivalry that started a year ago or so, so this is even more epic. Loyalty ftw.
Episode 14: Oh jeeze, Archer IS a badass afterall. Powerful words, but can Emiya interpret them correctly?
Episode 15: New opener song is ew, though the visual is pretty cool. Screw the first half of this episode. Second half jumped back into awesome, nice! It's a good idea to use flashbacks, especially right before the resolution to the rising action, but I feel like this series over uses it. Emiya seems to finally understand something.
Episode 16: Oh wow! Haha, that was awesome. Emiya does something useful! Impressive that he creates a sword saber used to own, but a bit odd that it killed Beserker 7 times in one stab. Anyway, that he housed Illya is a bit odd, and it's sad to see Saber feeling like she's not a real woman. :[ Can't wait to see what happens next! Oh and thank god Beserker's arm didn't grow back...
Episode 17: A lot of dialogue, this seems to be setting something up. Shirou has impressed me, he seems to be quite useful now! Powerful interesting enemy, how will they beat him? And oh god no, not a damsel in distress *facepalm*.
Episode 18: Alright, it's setting crap up, but it's a bit annoying. It's very slow. I see that it's revealing the past of a few right now. As for the Witches' past, I don't care. I'm not going to feel sad for a monster. As for Tohsaka and Sakura, I'm actually a bit confused. As for Saber, damn straight. Now getting back to the fighting. Saber v. Assassin, that's legit, but less talk more rok, mmkay? With Shirou and the teacher guy, wtf, just fight. In fact, it should go Star Wars and move between all three fight scenes. As for Tohsaka v. Sakura, oh god that's just getting lame. No offense to anyone who likes magic, but it just seems cheap and like a quick fix. Most of the time magic just comes out of no where and it seems like anyone can be a pro. With this whole abduction thing, that's pretty abused. I mean, this anime is like, 5-7 years old, but still, not old enough to use this who kidnapping and make it seem like the first of its kind. Also, where did Tohsaka get more jewels? Also, how did Shirou manifest those blades so quickly? Also, what the hell did the Witches' Noble Phantasm do to Saber, I don't really understand. If this magic crap continues, (btw those skeletal grunts are also lame) F/SN is going to lose some of its greatness points.
Episode 19: Wow, fanservice? Because this episode has those Star Wars style fight scenes. Thank goodness the magic crap was only really for last episode. Saber's a badass, as expected Shirou didn't win the battle, but he seems to be winning the war. Lucky for them this "Golden King" dude showed up and just destroyed Caster and the teacher. Good that the past is being revealed. Where is this series going to go now? Seems back on track.
Episode 20: Good episode! The first half actually made me laugh quite a bit. I knew Shirou would buy it! Good talk they had, things were necessary to get out of the way. Happy that they didn't do anything rash. Cute. And of course, as expected at the end.
Episode 21: Holy f***ing shit. I felt chills and my jaw dropped. what thef***. no really. what the legit f*** - In a good way that is. I knew it! Well not that it would happen there - and what a surprise! But damn, it would have been nice if the audio wasn't messed up. And screw the fact that some random dude commented a MAJOR (in my opinion) spoiler on a random soundtrack video on youtube... I can't even rate this episode.
Episode 22: Bit creepy in the first half but, wow. oh wow. Hey, wow. You know what - wow. I didn't see that coming! Oh dang I didn't know that! However I thought that might happen. Keep it up! We're almost there! :D
Episode 23: The suspense! It's killing me! Those guys are pure evil you can tell! Saber and Shirou are pure good! TOHSAKA!! This is intense!! And weren't those just a bunch of spoilers in the preview to the next episode @_@?
Episode 24: I would have stood up and applauded! I should have! In fact I am right now! The values, have all been not only restored, but improved. The rising action reaches apex and begins to a fall. The love, is unconditional. Things have all been put in a better place. The ending really was able to sum up all of the adventures, that brought us where we are now. This is satisfying. The end truly is satisfying - it's of a higher level. Fate/Stay Night, truly is awesome. Peace be with everyone, and good night.
The gentle smile, of an Epic Hero
Originality
There are tons of action animes (though nearly none as good as this one) and loads of other fantasy/supernatural. I mean, what's an anime if it doesn't have supernatural/School (excluding Slice of Life). Think about it.
Fate/Stay Night has its fair share of original ideas - like the "Holy Grail Wars" and the summoning of actual and mythical heroes from history - though that's not what is important here. It takes true skill and talent to take common themes and ideas to make a masterpiece (in this case, more like a classic). It's become original by using the average so well, that it's incomparable to the rest of most else (How's that for original?).
Themes
It all started, with justice. You think I'm joking? No I'm serious. Shirou was driven by the desire to protect justice at whatever cost. Now it sounds kind of lame, in fact Bill Cosby thinks it's lame. But at least it's the theme that counts.
Shirou's Father speaking
Shirou Speaking
Shirou was really dedicated - and even though people kept telling him that valuing the lives of others more than his was a bad thing. But towards the end, we see that you should persist in what you believe in.
Though this is the main underlying theme, there are some others through out the anime. To Protect goes hand in hand with justice, and Saber shows great loyalty.
Theeeen we have some words of wisdom from Shirou every few episodes.
It can be quite inspirational.
Motifs
In this particular anime, it uses a lot of flashbacks. Flashbacks can add way more to a story if used correctly. In this case it uses flashbacks as its main motif. However there are other points where it has something you might have thought of only briefly and had then been reminded a few episodes later with its important use in the story. You're doing it right.
And quite a bit of foreshadowing...
Some I didn't even catch *cough cough*. But I won't add any more, it may spoil it before you have the chance to spot any side motifs just for fun, or major ones that play a large part in the story. Trust me, they're there, it's evident in the first episode!!
Plot Development/Execution
Yes.
I'm excited to say that the development in the anime is obvious and you can see that awesomeness wasn't just attempted to be created by half-assed writers throwing in training montages at the last minute to save their sorry series. No. This anime you see progress.
Trace, on!
This gets epic. There are people who watch a series mindlessly, not even knowing why they may like a good anime. There are so many factors that will lead you whether you know it or not, to like or dislike a story.
Here you'll clearly be able see development of the characters - especially Shirou and Saber - and have a kick ass execution. How can you expect something awesome at the end if you haven't failed a good couple twice every episode. Oh Shirou ;)
The story is linear, but is almost like a circle. It is able to end similar to how it started off. If you don't understand, and think what I said is contradictory, just watch it and you may see what I mean.
There are many ways one can finish where it ended, like the main character starts off by telling of the story of how he got to where is was currently. However this one is more like everything was resolved, and things went back to normal - but with a few extras.
Recommendation
If you're purely after something very very original, get out of here, seriously. First off, those aren't easy to find (though I did critique a very original one) and what does it matter how original it is, as long as it's good? Also if you aren't patient enough to watch slow anime's, you've been watching too much Nichijou, and won't be able to enjoy the necessary time to create a mature development and support in characters and rising action.
If you're looking for suspenseful action, surprising dynamic and realistic characters, unpredictable twists and "WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!?!?" then calm the f*** down and keep reading! :)
Action: 10/10 (Perfect) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
There isn't action every episode, but there is, a lot, of action. And it's intense. The action isn't limited to the same crap either. There are different styles of fighting that may appeal to more of an audience, including skillful swordplay, hand-to-hand combat, archery, magic and specials! The fight scenes are also realistic. I mean, of course magic isn't per se realistic, but I mean when someone is stabbed he falls to the ground.... And f***ing limbs don't grow back...
Fanservice: 1.5/10 (Low-) ☆ ✰
This was a bit hard to rate to be honest. I don't look for Fanservice but I notice it when it's obvious, and this didn't have enough to really stick. I mean, there is a little, (at least I only remember a little) but it's almost none.
Originality: 6/10 (Above Average) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Must I say more of this topic? The horse has long been dead.
Soundtracks: 10/10 (Perfect) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Hey, this really added well to the mood. Especially that one song...
Values: 7/10 (Good)
Well I mean, it hit values, it really did, but it wasn't one of this animes strong spot. It has enough to be above average, but does'n't really strike me any more.
It was so close to perfect, I bumped it up. The timing and unpredictability on this was just, well, 10 stars!
Resolution: 10/10 (Perfect) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
It did't leave anything major open, and I felt no burning questions that were still unanswered. As I said before, it was like a circle.
Stress: 9/10 (Amazing) ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
So many times it was able to stop on something suspenseful and make you yell "WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN!?!?" It could actually range from 8-10 depending on how well you can handle suspense, I just put 9 to compromise, so expect any of those ratings.
Humor: 3/10 (Kind of Low) ☆ ☆ ☆
This isn't a comedy, and comedy wasn't meant to be largely incorporated in this; However, since there was a comic relief, and other brief funny moment, there were able to add up and actual contribute to the humor.
Nothing to be said here
Concluding here. I actually don't have much more to say about this anime. If you've read the entire review and you're not adding this to your "to watch" list, I'm surprised actually. My favorite genre is Comedy the opposite of Drama, which this falls under, but this has become one of my favorite animes and I really believe this is a must watch for just about everyone. It'll probably end up being a classic, and why not give it a shot - there's also a movie, a prequel which is currently releasing its second season, (read the review of the movie, before watching, you'll thank me later) the game that got this anime started. That way, you won't get watchers remorse when it ends ;).
Thanks for reading and look forward to more on Fate/Stay Night.
All comments and emails will be greatly appreciated!
Art Style: I'm not quite sure what art style this is, but it's nothing gay I can tell you that :)
OP/ED: They're appropriate and very suitable to set up and close what will and has happened.
Personal Opinion: It's now actually on my top three favorites. I really enjoyed the large majority of this. I guess the only really problem I had was it was a bit dark at some points and the other thing would be this picture:
Seriously, how does a guy get away with drawing an ear like that? It sickens me.
FIRST OP
SECOND OP
ENDING
Sunday, April 1, 2012
What's so Funny?: The Theory of Funny
So the other day I was thinking to my self. And I started to wonder, why are things considered "funny". Why do people laugh? Or rather what causes people to laugh? I'm not studying psychology and I'm not studying anatomy of the brain - but here's my take on it. Let me repeat "my take on it". This is not a challenge, I don't want to debate with anyone who thinks differently. It's not a law or religion, it's a theory. It's something to perhaps expand off of, or get you think. Purely just of interest. All kicks and giggles.
No, Really, what's so funny?
There are laws, laws of the universe that is. Not laws as in "Free Speech" (which is a joke by the way, laugh with me, it's part of the comedy). But we learn and development and understand through these laws. For example, if you're trying to fix something on your roof, you can't just float up there and do it (well most of us can't), due to the law of gravity. Such and such there are more examples that neither you want to read about and I frankly don't give a crap to write about. Seriously, that's just boring.
Our mind is almost programmed with "how to get along (in life)" and what we have to complete to achieve our task/goal. There's a door - open it by using the handle. It's the norm, success, carry on. But then here's where we start to get off the norm. There's a door - RAM THE INFIDEL DOWN! And clearly that's not how (most) people's thought process works. It's astray from the norm, it's (here's the key word) 'ridiculous'.
Now we can actually perceive different things as ridiculous since we all have different mind-sets. If it's not serious, it's ridiculous. If I'm not opening the door the way its meant to be opened, that's ridiculous! Slapstick, ridiculous! Pun, ridiculous! Sarcasm, ridiculous! Anticlimactic, ridiculous! Abrupt happenstance, ridiculous! And so on.
So when something is 'ridiculous' it triggers a "da fuq?" moment where what should have happened, didn't. Then we think "Quite humorous! Such as that was not as expected!" Or, erm, maybe in a slightly different way? And from there it gets into feelings "That wasn't supposed to happen. Non-serious things don't apply by the laws I live by. Escape from reality! No restrictions! Yay! Happiness!" But it's so sudden it comes out in bursts of laughter. Laughing because of the ridiculous, we call it "funny".
Oh, that's what's funny.
And that's where I concluded my wondering: Ridiculous = Funny. Just my take on it of course.
Thanks for reading, feel free to comment or send me an email with the link below! じゃね！
