Finished reading Cardcaptor Sakura

Finished reading Cardcaptor Sakura (1996, Clamp, 50 chapters) on 04/21/2017.

Kinomoto Sakura is an elementary-school student by day and magical card-collecting girl by... well, whenever magical trouble arises. When Sakura opened a dusty, ornamented book she found in her basement, magical Clow cards flew out into the world and began causing chaos and mischief. Guided by the book's guardian, Cerberus (or Kero for short) and a magical wand he bestowed upon her, Sakura vows to return all the Clow Cards back to their book before they cause too much trouble.

7/10 - Uhm... gee. Where do I even start. Alright, look, here's the deal. I watched the show before reading the manga. If you're familiar with both iterations of the franchise then you might know how I might be feeling about the manga. So, what are my thoughts? Well, a little confused. Y'see, even though the anime is the adaptation of the original work, the manga to me felt like I read a rushed adaptation of the anime. The two seem to have some, well, I wouldn't call them major differences, but they're pretty different for sure. I have to say though, I'm glad the anime decided to change a couple of things, specially toning down on - and brace yourself for this one -  the pedophiliac themes that the manga made somewhat blunt. Yeah, that's right! I really was not expecting that out of CLAMP, a group of female mangaka. Why did they do it? Why did their publisher approve it? Obviously they knew that stuff wasn't gonna fly when they adapted the manga into the show. Well, anyways, I don't wanna drag that subject longer than it needs because aside from it, it's a pretty good manga and just like in the show I just loved the whole thing between Sakura and Shyaoran. I feel like that was what kept me reading more than the magical aspect of the story. But, anyways, I think what I got out of the manga is that the anime adaptation has differences that really improved the story, added to the characters and... well, took away the unnecessary stuff. It just really makes me wonder how I would've felt if I had read the manga first.

Finished watching Macross Frontier

Finished watching Macross Frontier (2008, Studio Nue, Satelight, 25 epi.) on 6/3/2017.

Macross Frontier is a massive space colony fleet heading towards the center of the Milky Way Galaxy in search of a habitable planet for the human race. On its way there biomechanical insectoid mechas of alien origin attack and invade the fleet. Caught up in the chaos of the attack and its political and military aftermath is a love triangle between three young characters - Saotome Alto, an aspiring Valkyrie Fighter pilot; Sheryl Nome, a famed music idol also known as the Galactic Fairy; and rising star music idol, Ranka Lee.

8/10 – Hm, I don't have much to say about this show aside from it being pretty good. I feel like it was able to capture most of the themes that seem to be traditional within the franchise, like the focus on music idols affecting the plot and the ever-popular love triangle and work them into a new setting and set of characters. I think one of the episodes I enjoyed the most was the Macross Zero throwback ones. The fighter battles were pretty cool too and all the CG they used didn't put me off at all. It seems like production quality was pretty good too. Not too often did I notice anything drawn or animated awkwardly. I think it's a pretty good addition to the Macross series. However, it did leave me wondering what happened to the characters after the end of the series.

Finished watching Your Name

Finished watching Your Name (2016, CoMix Wave Films, 1h 46m) on 04/21/2017.

Mitsuha is a country girl who dreams of life in the city. Taki, is a city boy who spends his days juggling between school and his part-time job. Their fates suddenly become intertwined when they begin experiencing a phenomena that puts them in each other's bodies. While at first this confuses them, they get used to the common occurrence and attempt to communicate with each other in hopes of eventually meeting up in person.

9/10 - This is a movie that's loosely based on an older one by the same name. I think only the concept of meeting up with someone without many leads to go by is what they share in common. At first the movie explores the funnier side of swapping bodies. But eventually plot comes in and says "Hey, we got a movie to make here!" and drama unfolds the story into something that I assure you will be too much for your poor little heart to handle. All of a sudden they want to meet each other, and they plan things out and then... Well, spoilers happen, that's what! Now my heart feels played and I don't know how to handle my emotions anymore! Why are you still reading this stupid review! Go watch the movie! Nothing else can save you now! WAAAHAHHH! D:

Finished watching Crusher Joe

Finished watching Crusher Joe (1983, Sunrise, 2h 11m) on 04/18/2017.

Joe, Talos, Alfin and Ricky are a team of Crushers - folks who take up any job that pays them well. And their newest gig might be the strangest yet as they have to transport a royal woman in a cryogenic capsule to a different planet to be medically thawed. Easy enough, right? It would've been if midway through the trip the goods hadn't mysteriously disappeared and Joe's team blamed for the mishap. They must now uncover the mystery behind their mission and recover their cargo.

7.5/10 - This is a good movie. I think what I enjoyed the most out of it was the character designs. The space suits are really cool and vibrant, it was kind of inspiring for me. But the animation quality was just as good with lots of movement and light effects. Heck, there's even a disco place that gets destroyed by too much partying. Well, there was a whole fight that started out anyways. The dialogue and the characters are fun too, and the plot of the movie is really interesting. I just think the movie dragged on for a bit though. It's a two hour movie and I might've drowsed for a little bit. Maybe I'm just gettin old, hahahah! I bet I would've watched this over and over if I had a tape back in the 90's.

Finished watching Diebuster

Finished watching Diebuster (2004, Gainax, 6 OVAs) on 04/10/2017.

Nono is a clumsy, bubbly girl from a rural Martian town who dreams of going to space. One day she finds herself in the middle of a brawl between a Buster machine and a giant alien creature. Nono's clothes get caught on the alien's body as the Buster and its pilot, Lal'C drag their foe to space. Surprised by Nono's ability to survive in the vacuum of space, Lal'C brings her home to the Fraternity, a group of elite Buster pilots called the Topless.

8/10 - I feel like this would've been a better show if there were a couple more episodes exploring some of the elements of the world and its characters. Regardless, this was still a great show and since this is an action-packed Gainax production, you're guaranteed that crazy, over-the-top animation that take you back to those legendary FLCL days with a hint of Gurren Lagann. But what really topped the cake for me was the very final moment of the last episode.

Finished watching Macross Zero

Finished watching Macross Zero (2002, Studio Nue, Satelight, 5 OVAs) on 03/30/2017.

Set one year before the events of the original Macross series, Macross Zero follows the story of Shynn Kudo amidst the final battles of the U.N. Wars between the U.N. Spacy and the Anti-U.N. Forces. After being shot down by a strange aircraft that can transform into a humanoid fighting robot, Shynn wakes up in an island inhabited by a tribe that seems to hold great secrets about a sunken alien spaceship. A spaceship that would soon become the main focus of the wars.

7.5/10 - Hmm. Maybe I'd have to watch this show again, but I feel like I didn't really understand what these OVAs added to the franchise. Maybe it was to sort of explain the origin of the VF fighter technology? I'm not sure. Maybe it was just its own thing altogether. Either way I enjoyed the show, it was nice to see Mr. Focker again. The quality of the show was pretty good. So overall I had a good time with it. Lots of CG Valkyrie fights. I guess those are cool. Not sure how I feel about the framerate differences between the CG and the characters though, but whatever.

EDIT: After having watched Macross Frontier I began to make some connections that clarified a couple of things for me, but for the most part it made me realize that Macross Zero introduced, or expanded more on the idea of an earlier alien contact with Earth. Still, I think I'll watch the OVAs again for a deeper understanding of the story and concepts.

Finished reading Dragon Ball

Finished reading Dragon Ball (1984-1995) on 1/23/2017.

Story & Art: Akira Toriyama

Chapters: 519

Son Goku is a super-strong young boy with a mysterious tail on his back. When he meets a boisterous young lady named Bulma he learns that the four-starred orange crystal ball his late grandpa left him is one of the seven legendary Dragon Balls that summon the magnificent Shen-Lon dragon who can fulfill almost any wish. The two depart to travel in search of all seven Dragon Balls and on the way they make countless friends and enemies. As Goku grows older the fate of many worlds are in his hands as incredible foes attempt to misuse the power of the Dragon Balls.

9/10 - Yes, I know. But hear me out. Reading Dragon Ball was a very interesting experience. I've never witnessed a manga go through such drastic storytelling phases. As I was reading Dragon Ball I found myself often laughing at Akira's amazing jokes and slapstick. Sometimes it was just how wrong those jokes were. Some things he wrote and drew would obviously not fly today, hahah! And it just kept on coming and coming. It was so much fun! It was like reading the "funnies" but with plot and character development. But then came the Saiyans, things gradually tensed up but Akira's comedy was still there. Then Freeza tensed things up even more, I found Dragon Ball wasn't making me laugh as much as it used to. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just... interesting. The manga was maturing right in front of my eyes, something I had never witnessed before. But it wasn't until Cell came into the picture that things got really serious. The Cell arc wasn't playing around and things got really serious and even gory at times. But I feel like Akira knew that, otherwise he wouldn't have created Hercule. A character that was supposed to liven things up. However, for me, that didn't work very well. I found Hercule to be a nuisance and a distraction. Finally, I feel like Akira found a good balance of funny and mature with the Buu arc. Not only was Buu fearsome he was also very goofy. But that wasn't the only source of comedy in the arc. Young Goten and Trunks were quite the mischievous duo, and when you put them together (literally) against Buu, well, you get the perfect Dragon Ball recipe. And that's my story, folks.

Finished reading Uwakoi

Finished reading Uwakoi (2011) on 1/17/2017.

Story & Art: Masahiro Itosugi

Chapters: 36

Yukiteru-kun is a college student with many lovers, but he is trapped in a love triangle with the two he is closest to, Yuno and Rena. But as Yukiteru tries to juggle between all his affairs without them knowing, will he come out of it unscathed?

7/10 - Wow... Wow... Y'know, I always try to type up my own synopsis for these reviews and I think this may have been the hardest one yet. I honestly don't know how to put this manga into words without spoiling much. For those of you familiar with Future Diary (Mirai Nikki) you'll notice an uncanny resemble between the two. Not only are the plots somewhat similar but the character's names, Yuki(teru) and Yuno and how they behave as well. Honestly, it was very interesting reading this manga and I really couldn't put it down, however the ending was underwhelming and a bit abrupt for me. If you're just reading this for the light-hentai like I was, you got nothing to lose, m8. And the art style is pretty interesting, I guess... Hahahah!

Finished reading Gun-Jou

Finished reading Gun-Jou (2011) on 12/12/2015.

Author: Sakamoto Kou | Artist: Kirihara Izumi

Chapters: 30

Yomogihara Michi is a petite girl whose running speed leaves bikes to shame. After living abroad, she returns to Japan and decides to start an Ekiden (long-distance relay racing) club at her new school. However, if she doesn't gather five club members before the time is up, she will have to fulfill her promise to a fellow student and move to another school.

Her path to success is filled with drama and high emotions as she opens old wounds in the people around her as Ekiden was once a painful experience for them.

7/10 - Albeit short, this was a very enjoyable manga, addicting too. I really recommend it for those of you who like to get hit right in the feels. I even found myself cheering for every character throughout the whole story. I would love to see an anime adaptation. I really think it deserves one. It'd be nice to see more chapters come out too, but at the moment that doesn't seem to be happening very soon.

Gotta go fast.

Finished reading Mushishi

Finished reading Mushishi (1999) on 9/10/2014.

Story and art by Urushibara Yuki.

50 chapters.

Ginko is a wandering doctor. And the ailments he treats are that of a supernatural nature caused by tiny, shy, spirit-like beings known as mushi, which despite their size can be the cause of large-scale, devastating phenomena.

7.5/10 – This manga has a very interesting concept and is presented in a magically nostalgic and melodramatic way that connects with me in a weird, scary, yet gentle manner. However, even though I'm happy with getting into Ginko's past and how he became a mushishi I still think the story had a lot more potential for a deeper complexity that it never really reached aside from some exposition. Most of the stories were self-contained and at one point they got really repetitive to the point where I almost gave up. The final story was also a sort of self-contained two parter that almost made me think that Ginko was going to become something more. But he didn't, and I wasn't aware that that was the end of the manga until the last page where the author says 'farewell'. Still, this is one of the best manga I've read so far and the idea is very original. I just really wish the story would've gotten more interesting.

Finished watching Gun Frontier

On July 10th, 2014 I finished watching Gun Frontier (2002, Vega Entertainment, 13 epi.) 10/07/2014.

Follow best friends Tochirou and Harlock in this comedic adventure as they travel the perilous Western Frontier of the United States looking for Tochirou's lost clan of Japanese immigrants. Along the way they pick up a mysterious young woman named Sinunora and together they challenge all sorts of wild west baddies and corrupt officials.

5/10 - Now, I don't know about the manga, but this show was absolute crud compared to what I was expecting out of a Leiji Matsumoto product. I came into it thinking it was going to lead up to the Space Pirate Captain Harlock events. But, no! There's no sort of connection whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned this was just a show with two characters who just happen to look like and have the same names as the ones from SPCH. Not only does it not lead up to that show but most of the episodes are just ridiculous with its pointless, blatant nudity from Sinunora. Most of the time she ends up getting naked for no reason whatsoever. If you asked her to strip in front of you in the middle of the street, she would, with no hesitation, with the most stoic face you'll ever see in your life. Oh, and did I mention how the women in this show have no nipples? What lines are you trying not to cross here? You already have blatant nudity on almost every episode, might as well just save me the cringe and add the damn nipples. The only thing that sort of saves this show is the art and animation quality. The lineart tends to be varied in value, which is rare to see in an animated show. Probably because it makes it difficult to animate. But even if I had watched this show for just what it is, I still don't think I would've liked it very much. The ending wasn't lead up to very well and wasn't that well written either. Definitely not one of my favorites.