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 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!
Ok when I heard there was going to be a live action Rurouni Kenshin (Ruroken for short) I thought I was being lied to. A quick google search later and I discovered it was all too real! “Oh no~!” I groaned to myself, “Its going to be awful…” I had images in my head of terrible red wigs and a butchered plot… oh how it haunted my dreams…
Then I went to an anime convention in May and I kept hearing “Have you seen the live action Ruroken movie? Its great!” and “Wow that cinematography!” Skeptical though I was, I agreed to go see it… Well long story short I couldn’t get into the movie due…
So there I was about a month ago and without having seen it went ahead and bought it on DVD.
And… It was FREAKING AWSOME!!!!!!
(hahaha you thought I was gonna say it sucked…. XD)
Sooooo good! I loved it! Sure it had a few corny moments but every action movie has those. Heck even the actual manga has its silly or clumsy moments!
Ok so how did they go about adapting Ruroken into live action? Well they had a couple paths. They could take the “red wig make people look like the characters so much its terrible route” or the “make them just regular people that bear little to no resemblance but everyone feels historically correct plan.” However this movie does neither and instead finds a delicate (and could have gone terribly wrong) balance. Kenshin is instantly recognizable as Kenshin but he’s been morphed into how he would look had he been a real person in that era. I’m not going to lie its pretty cool to see all my favorite characters in the flesh! The only ‘real’ human version I didn’t care for was Sanosuke, and that’s not saying he looks bad, he just wasn’t as good as the others in my opinion.
So the plot?
It’s basically the first 6 books or so of the manga squashed together. Kenshin meets Kauru, Yahiko, Megumi, Jin-E, Sanosuke, and bunch of other characters. Well once again this could have gone soooooo so very very wrong but it doesn’t. Whoever wrote the script knew what to keep and what to ditch when shaping this story together so it didn’t feel too rushed. A few parts still come off a bit pushed in or sudden but nothing that bothered me. All the changes made were good ones and none of them lost the Ruroken spirit!
The action scenes are great! I love me some good samurai battles and they did a really nice job! Its Kenshin’s sword style realized thanks to some fun camera work, a little subtle CG, and boss editing! (So freaking cool!) The villain is great, you can tell the actor is just embracing the part and finding his inner D*** and that makes him just so much fun to watch.
So yeah, I learned that a live action adaptation can… *gasp* be… good! And this movie which I thought would suck, is now a proud addition to my Rurouni Kenshin collection and now I absolutely can’t wait because they’re making the Shishou arch!!! And that is one movie I’ll watch as soon as I can to it coming out!
Whether you’re a long time Ruroken fan or even if you no nothing about it, but are a samurai action fan this is an absolute must see!
~Tsu
ps. I’ll still be doing a regular review this week but since my last review was short and I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile I figured this was the perfect week for a mini review!
I love this manga so much! It is hilarious!
A school place martial arts comedy, the story follows a high schooler named Kitano Seiichirou who has the heart of an angel…. But has a super scary face! The manga says it something like “Piercing small eyes, naturally frightening mouth and pale skin like that of a heroin addict.”
Anyways this up and up A student is constantly misunderstood with uproariously funny results! I just love it… its great…. He beats people up without touching them cause he’s so scary, and ends up the leader of the school hoodlums but he’s so innocent that he doesn’t know what’s going on!
“Ohhh poor baby!” But man if I don’t laugh my butt off every time I read this series!
This story is at it’s core about not judging by looks and letting the heart shine through, but its done in a not too heavy handed and very humorous way!
The fight scenes are great and fun to read, and I always love a good fighting manga! ^-^
This comedy is perfect for fans of school comedies or somebody looking for interesting take on the school gang fight genre.
~Tsu
Sorry this review is so short!!! I manage the editing for a horror movie review channel on youtube and we were having our annual horror movie party and top 10.
Next up to review is one of my ten anime! (that or I’m gonna be making wallies for all the commenters on Bebop…)
Hello!
Today’s manga series is Tista! A psychological, action, drama and one of my favorites! When I was browsing through series trying to figure out what I should share with you this week, I came across an old top ten list of mine and Tista was number 8 on my list. “Oooooh! I forgot how much I like this one!” I thought and promptly reread it so I could talk about it properly.
Oh man! This is a great short series! While it is only 9 chapters long and is a “young assassin associated with the church” manga it is really really good! The plot follows Tista a college student/assassin who inadvertently becomes friends with a senior at her school who dreams of becoming a big time artist.
Where this series sets itself apart from some others in its genre is in how the mind of Tista is show in the series. What she’s thinking and feeling and seeing is all very cleverly (And coolly!) shown through visual metaphor and literal hallucinations. It’s really fun to read and watch this character just struggle with morals and her feelings of revenge mixed with guilt and obligation. (Trust me its awesome!)
The artwork is nice too and filled with dark thick lines and moody shading. ^-^
This is just such a cool series! And it’s nice to see a female killer with practical clothes! Lol This series is emotional and hard hitting without being a downer and I highly recommend giving it a try!
Sorry this review is short, but I don’t want to give spoilers as it is a good read!
Also thank you once again for the views!
Got something you want me to review?
Leave me a comment or pm me!
I shall watch or read the series and before you know it you’ll have someone to talk to about that obscure thing you love!
KISEIJUU
Other names: Parasite, Parasyte
Author/Artist: Iwaaki Hitoshi
Sometimes you just need a good old school scifi fighting manga! That’s where the fun and enjoyablity of Parasyte comes in.
A manga from the 90s this series has actually been published twice. There’s a “flipped” version (Where they took all the pages and flipped them so the book would read left to right so us English readers would buy them) and then again by DelRey in the now normal and original format. Come on people liked it enough it got published twice!
At any rate the story begins with some unknown race of parasites taking over people brains by eating them. The main character Shunji was a victim of one such creature but the parasite failed to eat his brain and has instead taken over Shunji’s right arm.
Normal parasites eat human flesh but Shunji’s arm can’t do that and feeds on Shunji’s blood. The story progresses to follow Shunji trying to come to terms with his new life while avoiding the other parasites that may try to kill him due to his parasite’s failure.
This series is definitely worth a read! I found it an extremely enjoyable mix of scifi and action. It also has great drama and a strong plot. (Something action series don’t always have) Anyways this series is just great! Also all the parasites are quite cool looking, the character designs for them are really quite impressive! I loved it the first time I read it and I found myself reading it again while prepping for the review and am now addicted again! ^-^;;
If you love old school manga its a must, if you like action scifi, again a must. I think even if those aren’t necessarily your thing this series is still worth while for it’s writing and strong bold lined art style. A very fun and intense read!
Have you read it? Comment!
Read after reading this? Share your thoughts!
Want me to review a series? Let me know!
As always good and bad opinions are welcomed just keep it classy! lol
~Tsu
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