A Visual Version Of An Earlier Poem I Did.

A visual version of an earlier poem I did.

Gantz: O Movie Review

Within the first few minutes, it becomes apparent that this movie has a hard time determining its audience. Fans of the manga will be peeved by the various edits done resulting in potential favorite scenes being cut out. Viewers who haven't read the manga will feel confused by the fast pacing and lack of explanations. At the end of the day, this movie is an exhilarating thrill ride from start to finish.

How much you enjoy the story is dependant on your familiarity with the manga. As a standalone peice, this movie is the tale of a brave teen who finds himself trapped within a horrific survival game. Manga readers may see this as a rushed and clumsy adaptation of a fan favorite arc. It would've been much better Gantz: O was instead a cinematic miniseries akin to Digimon Tri with more time to flesh out the plot.

The film begins with manga protagonist Kei Kurono being killed off by a huge yokai alien before the scene switches to Kato getting killed by a knife-wielding maniac in the subway. This is the most noticeable change since Kato in this continuity is unfamiliar with the Gantz game while in the manga he had experienced prior to this arc.

The characterization is a bit messy due to the compressed nature of the movie but the core personality traits are still there. Nishi is still a complete sociopath, Kato is a noble hero and the Osaka team are careless hedonists. Reika has weaker characterization than the other due to her spending a lot of time reminiscing over the dead Kurono. This is mostly Hiroya Oku's sexist writing because even in the manga, Reika's personality mainly revolved around Kurono.

The action scenes are the definitive highlight of Gantz O. Every scene is backed up by gorgeous cg animation courtesy of Keiichi Satou. The man is no stranger to cg animation and even worked on the saint Seiya legend of the sanctuary movie prior to Gantz. The character models are expressive and fluid throughout the film which makes them feel like real people. Fight scenes are depicted with all the gore and brutality of the original manga. Bodies are crushed to bloody pulps and limbs are sent flying. Battle junkies everywhere should be able to enjoy this movie.

Rokka no yuusha- The mysterious fantasy

There exists a powerful demon god that must be slain by six powerful warriors blessed by the seal of brave. The only problem is that there's an impostor among them. Rokka no yuusha bills itself as a fantasy mystery anime, quite the rare combination. Mystery is a genre usually assigned to historical, contemporary, or sci-fi settings. Even when fantasy series has elements of mystery, it usually won't be the main theme.

Our story centers itself in Adlet Mayer, a loud and arrogant redhead who constantly proclaims to be the strongest man in the world. His strength comes from his wits rather than brawn. He and the other braves assemble inside a mountain cave only to find a seventh brave. The conflict quickly breaks out and each one of them becomes a potential traitor.BIt was fun seeing the mystery on the 7th brave unravel but it quite honestly dragged out for too long. RNY only has 12 episodes so the entirety of the show is spent searching for the traitor rather than killing the demon god. The anime feels like a prologue to a story that never was. I don't know how faithfully this anime adapts the novel but having the narrative get sidetracked so early on is a bad way to write a series.

Two characters I particularly disliked were Fremy and Mora, the former more so because she's a karma houdini. Mora is supposed to be the wise one of the group but adamant belief Adlet is the traitor based in her leap in logic. Her reasoning made little sense and there's no reason for her to accuse solely him when there's an assassin and serial killer on the team.

Fremy is my most hated type of character. She does horrific actions and faces no consequences for them. She's responsible for killing multiple innocent braves in her past but Adlet protects her because " she's one of us". That piss poor reasoning really dampened the respect I had for Adlet but he's still the best character here. Fremy feels no remorse for what she did and said plot point quickly gets brushed aside. It's ludicrous how the cast could be so comfortable hanging around a serial killer. The narrative seems to think her tragic backstory if having an abusive mother can excuse her actions but that kind of logic is beyond childish. Tired of watching shows that don't know how heavy murder is.

The others are mostly meh. There's an assassin and little girl who's in the teams but they don't really stand out and their character designs are so bland. Nashetania wins my love with her perfect bunny girl character design and her loyal knight Goldof brings in fan service with his gender-bent black rock shooter attire. The two make a nice pair of eye candy and their interactions were always fun. Nashetania is the upbeat princess who's a bit ignorant of how the world works and Goldof is Mr muscle who loves his princess and his answer to everything is usually violence.

Rokka No Yuusha had the unfortunate fate of being animated by a low budget small name studio, leading to hideous CGI monsters amidst some shoddy animation. I've seen PSP games with better graphics and the terrible CG messed up Nashetania since her sword attacks are always horribly rendered. Would animating actual swords cost too much money and effort as opposed to weird silver spikes?

Another glaring flaw is how utterly underutilized it's Meso-American setting is. Fantasy series are European based 99.99 percent of the time and Japanese or Chinese based if its anime, completely ignoring the other cultures of the world. The Meso-American setting is really only apparent in the first episode and the cast are ridiculously pale-skinned European looking. We could've of finally gotten a Mayan based fantasy but any meso lore to be found here is simply superficial icing on the not so well done cake. This flaw doesn't influence my rating but it certainly shows japan has its head stuck up its homogeneous ass.

      SPOILERS!!! SKIP THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH AND SKIP TO THE LAST ONE IF DESIRED

After several episodes of our heroes fighting over whodunit, Adlet reveals in the impostor is none other than Nashetania! Certainly didn't see that one coming and I don't mean that in a " Wow you got me!" type of way. There were no hints or clues to this reveal besides Nashetania briefly acting psycho in one episode. We find out her motive to create harmony between the human and demons by reviving the demon god, even if it sacrificing thousands of people. A villain who's so innocent and pure-hearted they can't see their own vileness is an interesting concept but we barely get know about her before the show ends. The anime has the audacity to end things off by having a cow costumed girl show up at the last minute to join the heroes on their journey to kill the demon god. The cast barely even react to it and accept it as they head off. All that struggle and conflict over who was the seventh brave turned out to be for nothing. 

Overall, I'm gonna have to give this a 6.5/10. There were definitely some good concepts and characters to keep me interested but not enough to genuinely make me excited. I recommend it if you're in the mood for a mystery with a unique setting but don't expect much from this. BTW, I love Robbie Daymond’s performance as Adlet. He really captured his confidence and playful personality.

Kusakabe San is an Enigma

As expected from Oshimi Shuuzo, Kusakabe-san offers a look inside the dysfunctional relationship between a disturbed man and woman.

Our introduction to Kusakuba is a strong one; laid out in front of the nameless protagonist's apartment while proclaiming she had just been raped with a carefree grin on her face. This is probably one of the more subtle bouts of insanity displayed in an Oshimi manga. The two waste no time in starting a sexual relationship before they quickly begin dating. It's also implied Kusakabe has an eating disorder due to her alternating between not eating and then binging followed by purging.

Kusakabe is a complete enigma. We don't know why she does what she does or what her backstory is. It's probably better that way. There's no reason to explain her insanity because her worldview only makes sense to her. The protagonist isn't much better as he feels worthless without her and doesn't do anything besides yell when Kusakabe brags about how many men fucked/raped her and how it was better than the sex they had. These two are damaged people who probably only have each other to confide in.

The short length of this one-shot is its biggest hindrance as there isn't much room for character development to make the pairing feel alive. We only know the bare bones of who they are and can only speculate what in life led them to where they are. If nothing else, this manga shows that even two losers in life can find true love.

You can read this manga on the official Denpa website.

Die Manga Review

Though it is incredibly short, Die does a great job introducing to readers what to expect from the works of Yuki Kaori. I'm tempted to call her the Goth queen of shojo manga due to her iconic dark style.

The story of Die is told entirely through the suicide note of a nameless woman read by her nameless brother. Readers are at first led to believe that the brother is kind and caring due to all the gifts he gave her. That reality is soon shattered when the sister reveals his true intentions. He does indeed love his sister; perhaps a bit too much. The sister is entrapped in the man's basement, but she already predicted such a thing would happen.

We don't see the sister's face until near the end and her appearance opens up a few implications. The sister is the spitting image of the brother, to the point that she looks like a man in a wig. Its possible that the sister is actually a male sibling that the brother groomed to look like a female version of himself. It's also possible that the brother only loved the sister because he sees himself in her. Either way, its clear that the brother is a depraved narcissist who will do anything to fulfill his desires.  The story ending with him kissing her dead body makes that point all the more clear.

This wouldn't be the last time Yuki Kaori would write such a story. Themes of incest, toxic relationships, and the depravity of humanity are present in a lot of her manga. It's her calling card. I feel that Yuki Kaori isn't talked about anywhere as much as she should so I'm taking it upon myself to read all of her major works and write a review for them on this blog. I don't know how long it will take, but it'll definitely be a fun ride.

Poem 3- My Today, Your Tomorrow

( 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘨 " 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦" 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘴)

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘯𝘬

𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦

𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬

𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦?

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺?

𝘐 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘸

𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

𝘊𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺

𝘕𝘦𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘰

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘦

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴

𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳

𝘔𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘢𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥

𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺

𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘴

𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸

𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘥𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭

𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴, 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵

𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘭𝘴

𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦

𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥