Reverse episodes 1-4

The mystery part of Reverse feels very tired; People keep repeating the phrase that incident 10 years ago like that crappy dorama Triangle and Kinpachi sensei keeps haunting the people involved in the incident just like in Byakuyakou.

Revelations about the incident are slow to come by but even then doesn't get my excited because it feels like the show going on a merry-go-round where everyone has motive and is a suspect for an episode and it doesn't feel like all the clues are building up to something.

However, there is one good thing that prevent Reverse from becoming another Triangle which is exploring how the incident has haunted the characters who were involved. I quiet enjoyed the characters from Toda Erika wanting to be with Fujiwara Tatsuya despite his past haunting him and the teacher who is all too aware how lies will always come back to haunt the liar.

Unfortunately, the characters aren't enough to get me to sit through the boring flashbacks and I've decided to give up at episode 4. Meh.

Jmovie review: Destruction Babies

Destruction Babies is the most violent Japanese movie I have ever seen and I've seen plenty of B grade blood and guts movies like Ichi the Killer. What makes Destruction Babies so violent is not the blood but the sheer rawness and grittiness of the fight scenes.

The kid from Nobody Knows plays the older brother of two siblings Taira, who is a force of nature and spends the whole movie picking fights with everyone and for no good reason. Soon, Suda Masaki and Komatsu Nana's characters get involved him Taira and crazy things happen. Suda Masaki plays a delinquent who is drawn to Taira propensity for violence and Komatsu Nana is a shoplifting hostess

I love how the fight scenes are filmed. They are freaking raw, almost from an observer's perspective. A huge part of the movie is about people's reaction to the violence. I could not look away in disgust as fists and knees pummel skulls again and again, almost like watching a car wreck.

Storylinewise, Destruction Babies is very nhilistic especially with a wtf ending but to me its about how people react to violence. We are disgusted but yet we cannot help but look and take videos and watch in awe.

Destruction Babies is not for everyone but if you're into violent and nihilistic jmovies like me, its a godsend. Very watchable. Destruction Babies and Himeanole show that Japan can continue to make excellent movies.

Hyakuman en no Onna tachi episodes 1-5

At first glance Hyakumen en no Onna tachi seems like your typical harem.

Shin is a struggling writer when one day, 5 women turn up at his house.

All five received a mysterious invitation to stay with Shin and to pay him hyakuman en every month for rent.

What are the contents of the mysterious said letters that made these 5 women spend so much money to live together with Shin?

What are the true identities of the women who clearly must be loaded enough to pay hyakuman a month in rent?

Who is the person who sent the letters and what is the purpose of the exercise?

We slowly get glimpse to the women's back story one by one and they turn out to be interesting.

I'm just happy its not the typical anime sob story problem where the main character fixes it by being nice and going Dr. Phil on the problem.

Up until episode 3, Hyakuman en no Onna tachi was ok but as it is bframe's recommended show of the season, I soldiered on.

Then the end of episode 4 happened and now I could start to see the show heading into interesting places. I don't care its got a harem premise as long as it leads me down interesting places.

I downloaded the first episode from nyaa. You can stream the series from 7tv7dorama. I've got a add-on for downloading streaming videos on my Opera browser so I can download the episodes. Very intriguingly watchable and could potentially be very good in my book.

Big anime reviews roundup 18/5/17

BERSERK EP 19

If you look on the internet, you could be forgiven for thinking that Berserk was the worst anime ever with all the complaining and moaning about the stiff CG and animation. While the complaints may have some merits, its still Berserk which means its better than 99% of all anime out there. I love how we finally get to see Guts' new group in action! I look forward to it every week.

ZANKYOU NO TERROR

Nicely paced 11 episode anime about two teenage terrorists and this girl who gets caught up in their plans. I watched this based on a recommendation and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Mature and beautifully animated, Zankyou no Terror is why I like anime. While watching I kept thinking who was this producer who got this show greenlit with a very good budget cause its not a shallow popular anime. Very watchable but I hope they never turn it into a jdorama.

YOUJO SENKI

Don't let the loli main character full you. She's actually a Japanese salaryman stuck in this alternate reality world war scenario with magic and flying witches. The main appeal of Youjo Senki is that we have a smart, pragmatic main character who knows what he wants and schemes to get there instead of the boring nice characters who luck their way to saving the world. My only complaint is the whole loli thing is so unnecessary but its Japan so whatever. Watchable.

SHINGEKI NO BAHAMUT

Beautiful anime with fantastic character design. Based on a smartphone game, the story is generic and sometimes headscratching but its saved by nice character dynamics and very good pacing. Kept me entertained until the end. Surprisingly watchable fantasy anime. I wish the story and characters were from an old school RPG game instead of smartphone trading card freemium game. Watchable. Did I mention it looks so pretty?

GANGSTA

Gangsta at first glance looks like my kind of anime. Its about two handymen who do all sorts of jobs in this city where lawlessness rules. My big problem with Gangsta is the world building. We've got the four factions and anti-twilights stuff but the world doesn't feel real. The characters explain a lot about the world but don't really see any world building stuff. You can say I feel like the world is lacking in details. I gave up 3/4 of the way. Meh.

SHINGEKI NO KYOUJIN S2

I've kept my expectations low and its been surprisingly watchable and even at times exciting.

EROMANGA SENSEI

This feels like a crappy version of Ore no Imouto mass produced for the otaku masses with no soul. ZZzzzz.

Final Fantasy 14: Daddy of Light Episodes 1-4

My must anticipated jdorama of the season and it does not disappoint. The plot is simple. Son does not have a close relationship with his father, Osugi Ren who just retired but introduces him to Final Fantasy 14 as a means to get close to his father.

My favourite thing in this show is about how problems that Osugi Ren encounters in the game are used to solve real life problems that the son faces. For example, in episode 2, the Osugi Ren declares that he is quitting FF14 and the reason he gives is a hoot but so Japanese and it helps the son solve this problem at work.

Daddy of Light is simple, not preachy because of the runtime and gamers will totally enjoy the Final Fantasy music and real life gaming experiences. Most of all, the characters feel real and relatable compared to stupid shows like Tokyo Tarareba Musume.

Daddy of Light is not available for non-Japanese Netflix at the moment. I've been watching at jplovetv. If you've got basic Japanese, I'd encourage you to give it a go. (Its called Hikari no Otousan) Who knows how long the links will stay up.

On the whole, a very watchable show I would equate to nice, warm chicken soup.

Onna no Naka ni Iru Tanin

Based on a 1966 movie, The Stranger within a Woman is about a wife (Tanuma Yuriko) who finds out her husband has accidentally killed his lover who happens to be the wife of his best friend and instead of leaving him, helps cover up the crime to protect their family.

I was really attracted to the premise of this show. Anything dark and nihilistic is right up my alley. Unfortunately, I did not like the execution very much. Firstly, its very soap opera-ish. Not just the acting but also things like characters doing inner monologues out loud and directing style.

Secondly, the pacing is too slow and 7 episodes is too long for a movie adaptation. They presumably added the subplot about the wife's old best friend but it just distracts from the main story which is the psychological breakdown of the husband and the wife who wants to save her family at all cost.

I still finished Onna no Naka ni iru Tanin. I haven't watched a jdorama with Japanese subs in a while its great for Japanese study. Thanks to keiko1981 for timing the subs. The show can be downloaded from the private tracker AOX. Other than watching a show with Japanese subs, I would not go out of my way to watch it. I just feel WOWOW would have done a much better job with this adaptation. Meh.

Nyaa is dead! Long Live Nyaa!

As everyone on the internet knows by now, the biggest free anime tracker nyaa is gone because a Dutch court ruled that fansubbing is illegal. While nyaa was mostly known as an anime tracker, it was also a great source for jdoramas, jmovies and raw manga.

I had a whole bunch of jdoramas and movies that I was procrastinating on downloading before nyaa got taken down. Where else can I download raws for 100man en no onna tachi?

While this is ruling is for the Netherlands, who knows whether other countries will follow suit? There are so many questions to be answered. If a fansub was created outside the Netherlands but hosted on a server in the country, would the host be liable? What if three different people were involved in the creation of a subtitle; the translator, timer and editor and the timer lived in the Netherlands?

Fansubs are such a grey area of the law that I don't think most courts would want to make a ruling on it. The best way for rights holders to get their money is not going after fans but by making their product cheaper and easier to get. (I'm looking at you amazon.jp and your digital mangas)

Goodbye nyaa. Now that you are gone, I miss you so much. :(