GOSICK: The Two-Thirds Edition

So zak4994 commented on my previous post and asked what I thought of GOSICK so far, and I thought this would be the perfect time to do a post on it. Why now you ask? Because two-thirds is better than a half. Besides, a nice arc just finished. Beware of potential spoilers.

Overall, what I love about this is the elegant style. A 20th century European setting is perfect for a mystery and really adds to the whole feel of it. (Does anybody else love Victorique's absolutely gorgeous period dresses?) It reminds me a little of Sherlock Holmes. I also really like the way the story doesn't solely focus on the mysteries but also focuses on the development of the characters' relationships.

Characters

I absolutely adore Victorique. She's too cute for words. Her back-story is really interesting and at this stage, seems to be the driving point of the story. I also really like the development of the relationship between her and Kujo. Avril just seems irrelevant except for her own arc in the story. Grevil is an interesting one. It's as if he's torn between doing what his father wants and doing what he wants. I'm curious as to what the role of Brian Roscoe is, and Corderlia's relationship with him. Victorique's father, Albert, seems to have some sort of major role in this.

Forehead flicks do hurt. I know from experience.

Plot

I think initially, we don't really realise the point of all the mysteries. They didn't connect, and it was just one case after another. As soon as one finished, another one would start in the next episode. I've read a lot of comments and things about the mysteries, and a lot of people seem to be saying that the they're too simple. They really aren't that simple. If you watch this series while sitting there straining your mental ability to figure it out, you're just lessening the enjoyment for yourself. Just sit back and enjoy it. Seriously.

Now maybe I'm reading too much into this, but consider this. GOSICK is set in 1924 between World War I and World War II. Albert, Victorique's father, asked Leviathan to created an army of homunculi. An army of artificial soldiers to fight in the war. I'm guessing here that this is World War I. Now, before Leviathan died, he suggested that if Albert wanted to have power, he would have to have a daughter of unexplainable power. Enter Victorique. Although the biggest mysery right now might be the origin of the Gray Wolves. With that aside, the story of GOSICK seems to be an alternative path of history, rather than an isolated story. It's a take on 'what would happen if there was another country involved in WWII?'

Raspberry face.

After the Leviathan arc, the story has become considerably darker. I've started to view in a different light I guess. It's not simply just my mindless Saturday morning fun any more. It's like having a sudden epiphany that made it all seem worthwhile. I really was starting to wonder where the series was heading. That doesn't  mean I wasn't enjoying it. I really love this series. It is by no means a perfect 10 but it is definitely one of my favourites. I could probably watch it over and over again, just for the fun of it.

Future?
In terms of what's going to happen, I'm just as curious as the next person. However, I'm not usually one for trying to guess what is going to happen in the next episode or even at the end. It just lessens the impact if you turn out to be right. I prefer to take it as it comes. I'd like to find out the history of the Gray Wolves besides the fact they possess some sort of supernatural power. I don't ever want to see Victorique and Kujo separated. The thought of it pains me.

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So there you have my thoughts so far. For now, I'll leave you with some adorableness.

Kore wa Zombie desu ka?「REVIEW」

This was far from one of the best but it was quite the entertainer and not your typical zombie anime.

Most of the time I felt the story had no direction so after a while I pretty much disregarded the story and just watched the show for fun. Initially, it was about your average high school boy who happens to be a zombie on a quest to discover his killer but after he does find out (in episode 5) the show just loses direction and purpose. It seemed as if the story just ended and they had nothing left to tell. There were a lot of dark, emotional scenes but none without a mood killer or a joke tacked on the end. The show always walked along the border of serious, dark, action anime and a comical romance one. It seemed unsure in which approach it would be taking so I never really knew what to expect. This was really one of the downsides to this show that prevented me from scoring it any higher.

The characters were actually one of the things I really liked about this anime. They were really original in not just who they were but what they were. Take Seraphim for example, she's not just a ninja but she's a vampire ninja. Also with the 'masou shoujo' which is a play on your typical mahou shoujo, meaning magical equipment girl rather than just magical girl. They're really just not the typical characters you'd find in a harem. If you don't believe me, just look at Ayumu. He's a zombie. As a harem lead, he's not a complete failure. He does have his redeeming qualities. I mean he is your average teenager but when thrown into some ridiculous situation he demonstrates some pretty cool badassery.

While I really liked the characters, the art was by far my favourite part of the show. Artwork is generally what grabs my interest in an anime. It's always the first thing I look at even before what the show is called. In this case, it was at times the only thing that kept my interest. I loved the character designs, the soft lighting and the backgrounds. It was also great not to see any extremely exaggerated sizes in body parts which is rare in the ecchi genre these days. The way the violence was drawn, for example slicing a body in half, was more funny than gruesome and I'm the type to cringe at graphic violence. It wasn't so extreme in this case which was a real plus for me.

A further plus for this show would be the soundtrack. I can't really comment on voice acting because to be quite honest, I can't really tell if it's good or bad. The soundtrack on the other hand is a completely different story. It was done by some composer I'd never heard of but it went so perfectly with all the scenes conveying the emotion so well especially during action, suspense and melancholic scenes. My favourite song from the soundtrack is below.

Overall, I'd recommend this if you like light comedy and want to watch something purely for enjoyment. If you're looking for something a little deeper, unfortunately you won't find it here. If a well defined plot is essential for you then this probably isn't your cup of tea either. Plot aside, I found it a thoroughly enjoyable series although a little disappointed with the mood killers and the plot that wasn't really there so in overall quality I'd rate this a 7/10.

IS: Infinite Stratos「REVIEW」

It was so close to perfect for me. The art, the animation, the music. Everything was so perfect except the story. The end. If the series had been extended to 24 episodes, there potentially could've been a lot more development in terms of plot and character but 12 was still great. A second series would be very nice. People were surprised I liked this as much as I was.

Initially, I was hesitant to begin this series and I didn't actually start until episode 9 was released. I read the plot and it just sounded like another badly done harem anime but what really caught my eye was the mecha. The nice mecha that didn't cover the entire body. It looked like a nice change from the typical mecha that doesn't interest me so much. I found the plot to be a little lacking in climactic battle scenes but it was 100% enjoyable regardless. It had many stereotypical harem elements but it was better than many other harem anime I have seen. (Seriously, why do I even watch so many harem anime? I'm a girl.)

With the harem lead, we obviously have the weak guy who is oblivious to all the girls that like him. I didn't like him very much but who ever likes the male lead in any harem? Name one likeable one. I dare you. The funny thing is I actually liked the girls in the harem. I found them all the be quite interesting and charismatic in their own way no matter how stereotypical they seemed on the surface. Actually except Cecilia. That blonde egotistical rich girl. She was a little annoying.

Another reason I simply adored this anime is because I just couldn't take my eyes off the screen. The art, the mecha, the backgrounds, the colours, the animation. It was all just so wonderful and eye-catching especially the battles. They were so EPIC. (I hate that stupid overused word but there are no words to describe how cool the battles looked) The music was also spectacular especially during the climaxes.

The ending was a nice attempt at a tie-in with the pilot even though I didn't even notice until it was brought to my attention. This led me to realise many things that were left unexplained but a second season would suffice.

Entertainment-wise IS was funny and dramatic. It was everything! Well, almost so a 8/10 on this one for me.

Dragon Crisis!「REVIEW」

Aww. Isn't that picture simply adorable? In all seriousness though, this is just another of your typical shounen anime with the happy fairy tale ending that we all love complete with your loveable (or very annoying depending on personal tastes) lolita love interest, your average teenage boy, his hormonal friend, well endowed sister and the shy girl who has a secret crush on him. Not to mention all those stereotypical minor characters but I won't go there.

Now the plot. Credit there for some originality in terms of the concept. The spin on the conventional mythology of a dragon was quite interesting. Other than that it was all quite bland and predictable. You have your boy meets girl in a really random scenario, complications arise but ALAS! there's always a solution and then you have your wonderful happy ending. The romance was way too superficial though.

The series was interesting initially with the high action and not so many elements of a harem but after episode 4 (the compulsory beach episode in any harem anime) it kinda of just...died. Episode 9 seemed like somewhat of a filler. The story did seem to be quite fast paced until mid way and then the ending was just too rushed for my liking. There was also way too much story and not enough back story I mean not to spoil the story or anything but they suddenly spring the fact that Onyx and Maruga are childhood friends on you in the last 10 minutes of the entire thing. I mean it's not like it was relevant or anything so WHY?! Ryuji's irrelevant parents also made a cameo in the last 10 minutes. That was weird.

Don't even get me started on the art. That picture I put up there might look amazing but the actual art was pretty drab.

Here you won't find the normal bright colours and nice character designs that you'd usually find in a shounen anime. Everything seemed terribly ordinary so it didn't do too well at keeping my attention. It wasn't eye-catching like say.. Star Driver. The only bright thing in the entire series is Rose's hair... and dragon mark.

COMPARE THE PAIR! Which would you choose?

The animation seemed a little inconsistent at times. Battle scenes seemed lazy and not so dramatic. There were some other pretty strange things I noticed but in case of spoilers, I won't post them. I really had no idea what the hell was going on in the director's mind sometimes.

Now let's consider the music. I actually quite liked the OP but the EP was just ridiculous. I found that the music conveyed the emotion better that the somewhat superficial sounding voice acting.

OVERALL:

+ Points:

• concept
• high action, well-paced first couple of episodes
• in spite of how rushed it was, the ending was nice
• music
• non-convoluted, easy to follow plot
• potential rewatch factor

- Points:

• predictability
• slow middle, rushed end
• character designs, boring colours
• animation
• voice-acting

Enjoyment factor:

Using Clannad as a level for boring, this was fairly enjoyable in comparison. It did have it's boring bits but there were entertaining parts to it.

Score: 7/10

Winter 2010-2011

The winter season will be over in a couple of weeks with a few of the anime being delayed a little longer. I will probably be posting reviews in the coming weeks for the ones I have seen.

Anime that will be watched to completion/already completed:

• Haiyoru! Nyaruani: Remember My Love(craft-sensei)
• IS: Infinite Stratos
• Yumekui Merry
• GOSICK (won't be ending for a while)
• Dragon Crisis!
• Kore wa Zombie desu ka?

Potential completion/will watch:

• Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica
• Beelzebub
• Fractale
• Goulart Knights
• Fortune Arterial OAD

Dropped:

• Starry Sky
• Horou Musuko
• Cardfight! Vanguard