Hello!
Welcome to The Anime & Manga Review!
It has been my dream to create a world on TheO where users can go for anime and manga reviews and finally here it is! I plan to make this world an active, exciting and helpful place for learning about and finding entertaining manga and anime to read/watch.
Ok! Halloween horror is over! (awwww….) So for those of you all horrored out and now terrified to sleep, here’s a great anime to help laugh those woes away!
So lets see… Cromartie High School is hard to describe… it’s a comedy, so that’s a start.. Each episode is more or less it’s own entity with the same characters, however the basic plot follows the story of a good boy living on the straight and narrow who ends up going to a school full of delinquents. The series is a parody of series about delinquents and is very very funny! Having everything from robots to Gorillas to even Freddie Mercury (lead singer of Queen) this anime is just a bizarre piece of Japanese goodness!
There’s really not much I can say about the plot… except that it’s absurd and funny. My favorite episode is probably the episode that includes stories like: Freddie getting a pet horse, aliens, and the epic horse + Elephant=hamster joke…. Lol I just love how absurd this comedy is!
There’s also a pretty hilarious live action movie version and a manga by the same name.
At only ten minutes per episode, it’s a fast watch and easy to rewatch.
I guess you wouldn’t like it is you don’t like comedy… (Can anyone dislike comedy?) Or if you like topical humor and only topical humor. (smart jokes0
This series is fun and should be watched with a light heart and smiles!
Here’s the opening song to give you all a little taste of Cromartie!
(And a screen shot from the live action movie)
Ok so last night I was reading a book and completely forgot what day it was…
FAIL! So here’s a review a day late, my apologies to anyone who actually reads these….
I promise I’ll do something to make up for it…
Any suggestions?
Anyways so today I decided I want to talk about Gungrave!
Hifsa wrote a post showing some prop guns from anime series and it reminded me of my love of this series! (Like I need reminding I’ve got a huge poster of the main character starring at me from my wall right now. Lol)
Anyways this series is based off of a video game, by the same name, and the character designs and story were done by Yasushiro Nightow. If his name is ringing some bells in your memory that’s because he is best known for the rather famous series Trigun, (Also a great anime and manga) and both his story telling and art styles are predominate in this anime and also why it is so good.
Gungrave is a supernatural action drama that takes place in some bizarre hybrid between San Francisco and Japan but it is America. (And perhaps a healthy dose of New York or Chicago for good measure) The supernatural element plays very little role in the overall plot until very late in the anime. Well, except for the first episode. I’m not gonna lie, not the best first episode out there… its almost not even important to the story at all, but it is very important to setting up the main conflict between our main character Brandon Heat and the antagonist Harry. The second episode begins a long and elegant flash back that gave me plot whiplash the first time I watched it. (I thought I missed an episode or something…) It is here that the real story begins about two street thugs that join the mob and climb their way up the food chain.
This may sound odd but trust me the characters are so relatable and the whole time you watch Brandon and Harry you’re just wondering how the first episode, for telling the future, could possibly come to be.
The story is ultimately one about loyalty, love and friendship, and I’ve watch very few series that made me feel this as much as Gungrave.
The animation is handled very well and is in that era between the 90s grain and 2000s smooth smooth styles. (if that makes any sense at all) I won’t give spoilers but the ending is handled extremely well, in a way that makes it feel real, gives it heart, and ties into the anime’s themes.
I could go on about the themes and symbolism in this series, but I won’t ‘cause that’d be boring and give spoilers, so I’ll just say it’s a well written piece (save maybe the flashback episode in the middle) that uses it’s visual medium to its full advantage.
This series is great for those who love action or drama series. While this is an action anime it’s not really that gory but is more in the style of a good shoot ‘em up gangster movie and the supernatural element is a nice touch. And let’s not forget the real story! Which is great drama between the characters.
This is a series with heavy drama and if you want something that’s a happy feel good anime today this may be one you save for another time.
Give it a watch! Stick with it past episode and trust me you’ll be enjoying this exciting ride!
So there aren’t really any good trailers that I could find for Gungrave, all the ones from Funimation really advertise him as being called “Beyond the Grave” as Brandon’s nickname. While this is true… only one person in the entire series calls him this and mainly in the first episode… This gives the anime a very different vibe than I think it actually gives so… Opening theme song!
Well as I’ve mentioned on some other posts I’ve made, I took a trip to a near by bookstore that gets Japanese imports and right around the corner is an Asian video store that has anime, dramas and just about everything else. (Including a rather large selection of plushies) And I saw it! Director Makoto Shinkai’s latest work, The Garden of Words! (The same director as of The Children Who Chase Lost Voices, which I reviewed several months ago. Check it out!)
Not surprisingly his work is once again gorgeous! I knew I was in for a treat when the salesman got really excited while I was holding it and came up to me and said “That’s my absolute favorite. It is so beautiful.” Nice to know anime can still bring people together lol.
Oh man! Even having seen his work before I was utterly blown away by the animation! I actually paused it in several places to make sure it wasn’t actually live action! (No lie I really did that)
While this movie is worth watching for the animation alone, I really enjoyed the plot as well. It’s about a high school boy who ditches school one mourning to enjoy the rain and work on his shoe designs. (He wants to design shoes for a living) He goes to his favorite spot near a pond and finds a woman already sitting there. Not to be deterred, he sits down anyway and sketches. He soon finds himself curious about her afternoon beer drinking and chocolate eating habits and before you know it, they begin to talk to one another.
Unlike Children Who Chase Lost Voices, a kids/family movie, I feel like this film was aimed at an older audience. Not because it’s got mature action or anything like that, if anything it is a very tame PG movie, but because the subject matter is more about real life. The story is very simple but has that “yeah this could really happen” vibe that makes you think of similar things that may have happened to you. And that realism is a rare thing to see in any film.
Seriously watch this, its only 46 minutes and is lovely!
While my personal favorite is still Lost Voices, this movie was still just wow!
10 anime I’ve never seen, but are on a ‘top ten anime you should see before you die’ list, looked good and now I am watching them. For those curious what they are here's a link to the list I'm using: LINK
Man that’s a long name for my first ever segment on this world! But I do think this is a good place for a review site to start! As I watch these anime I shall be posting who would like it, who wouldn’t, and my opinions on them!
My personal rules for these are 1.) I must finish the anime (every last episode!) before I can post! 2.) I must give no spoilers 3.) I must watch them in a timely manor! No more than 30 days between posts! If I post on the 1st of the month I have to post again by the 30th! 4.) If I break a rule I must make a wallpaper for every person that's commented on any post in this series of posts. (Luckily I’m not expecting many commenters! ^-^)
(And thank goodness too! Since I haven’t done this since I started this world… >.> Luckily I’m still not expecting many commenters! XD)
Ok let’s do this!!!
Cowboy Bebop
If you consider yourself an anime fan and haven’t seen Cowboy Bebop yet… Well then you don’t count. (I myself didn’t count until I watched this several months ago in prep for this review series…) Cowboy Bebop is a classic and is totally deserving of that title!
Cowboy Bebop is very episodic. What I mean by that is instead of, like in many anime, where you have an over aching plot that lasts the entire season, Bebop focuses on smaller mini stories and has, I believe, only 2 story arches that last more than an episode. This doesn’t make the show bad, on the contrary I would argue it makes the series really great!
The plot starts off following Jet and Spike who are space bounty hunters. (Awesome right?!) Throughout the show several new characters are added, including the mysterious and awesome Faye Valentine, a very smart corgi and the rough an’ tumble hacker girl Edward (Ed). While I say there isn’t a true over arching plot, what I mean is they aren’t on the quest for the blah ditty blah, or trying to get to so and so. The series really focuses on developing these characters and the world they live in. Thus the over arching plot is simply watching them do their thing while learning more about them and the world they live in. All the stories are really interesting and very engaging, I found myself finished with this show almost too quickly!
I love it! The music and sound design are particularly great in this series and is part of what makes this anime so famous! In all seriousness I could watch the theme song over and over! (I may be doing that right now…) I freaking love it!!! <3 And I am picky… a serious has to do a heck of a lot to breach my personal top ten.
So would you like this?
Do you like scifi? If you do, don’t pass this one up! Outer space, pirates, bounty hunting, and lots of other scifi goodies!
Also the actual animation in Bebop is really quite something! Their play on shadows and light are particularly impressive.
Action! Gotta love some space action! Guns and a ‘western in space’ theme leaves you pumped!
An oh yeah... This series is hilarious and balances serious moments and great humor seamlessly! Who wouldn’t like this?
I suppose if you really hate scifi this might be a bit spacey. Also I figure you wouldn’t like it is you really hate action… but even then they’re episodes in here for you…
I think most people would enjoy this… Part of why its sooooo popular is because its so excisable and why probably most people reading this review have seen or at least heard of it.
~Tsu
ps. I do not know which of the 10 anime will be next. ^-^
Towa no Quan
Sometimes seen as Towa no Quan and Towano Quan
Towano Quan is a series of 6, 45 minute (Time wise it works about to be the same as a 12 episode anime) movies about a group of humans with supernatural ester (they're psychic) abilities. They are hiding out from a secret organization that is hunting them down, capturing some and killing others depending on their ability and danger level. The organization uses cyborgs to fight these dangerous "inhuman" espers. Anyways, to delve into the plot a bit more, the main character Quan, is the appearingly young leader of the group of espers. He has a dark secret and idealistic dreams as he and the other espers try to learn to control their power and survive while fighting this secrete organization and cyborgs. (How can you not want to see that?!) Also the cyborgs have a very fleshed out story arch themselves and produces my favorite character in the series.
This series has a lot of similarities to things like X Men and Tokyo ESP. So if you like those or are a fan of action/supernatural this is absolutely one to watch!
The animation is really cool! Especially a certain flashback scene that is stunning and different!
The story has quite a few anime cliches but this didn't bother me at all. I didn't think the recognizable cliches distracted or detracted from the story and I found them very enjoyable!
So in conclusion this action, supernatural, cyborgs, and scifi movie series is a really fun, action packed anime is really worth a view and I kinda even want to watch it again as I'm writing this.
Check this one out its worth it!
~Tsu
ps. Sorry this review is a bit shorter than usual as I am currently a bit busier than usual.
Next week I plan to do something WEIRD! So yeah look forward to that! ^.~
Not the best trailer but it does showcase the animation and basic plot of the first movie.
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