Jeoffrey

I am not going to argue over how much of a powerful experience this was for some people. But Love Me, Love Me Not simply did not leave me emotionally overwhelmed or anything, and I was neither emotionally enraptured nor freaked out. However, I certainly do not think it is a bad romantic movie, quite the opposite, it had its good points. The weakest point in my opinion was that the "I love you, I do not love you" thing was a bit overkill for one movie. Also, (maybe it was poorly handled by the screenwriters) misjudging how much time should pass between each twist in the romance. I was convinced that at least one character’s feelings were changing unnaturally quickly, which I did not like. I also did not get much of a feel for one of the storylines, and in truth, I am still trying to work through what was going on between the two characters, whether there was any romantic chemistry thing going on, and why there was no closure/resolution to it all. Maybe I am going to pay more attention to this if I watch it again. The biggest strong points of this movie include the pleasantly easy and unpretentious feel of it all. I found it was pretty believable and that these things could easily happen to young people. I was equally taken with the characters. The characters are quite complex and the movie deals with this really well. I noticed that each one of the characters had a trait that I found utterly off-putting, which I thought was not a good thing, and yet at the same time, the same character had different qualities, which made me stop and think twice. That meant there came a time when I understood the characters and I was like, huh, right now they are behaving themselves. So a characteristic "A" irritated me and a characteristic "B" was fine (or vice versa). In other words, the characters had both strengths and weaknesses, and with the exception of that one guy in the police uniform, there is no one who is always either doing the right thing or conversely, doing nothing about a major problem. There is character development so what you do not like about some of them fades, goes away, and becomes the opposite over time as the story progresses. Similarly, their feelings develop, and most of the time (I mentioned one instance where I found it was not believable) there is a reason and a logic to it. So for me, it is a pretty good romantic movie with decent animation and accompanied by a nice and well-fitting soundtrack that I would have no problem watching again. I liked it even if it did not pack the emotional punch needed to leave any deeper impression on me. 6.8/10.

Defense of the Ancients - I still remember that mod for Warcraft III (FeelsOldMan), however, I never would have thought at the time that it would become a successful standalone game that would start the whole massive MOBA craze. I even watched some of those DOTA 2 competitions at one point. If it is played by someone who actually knows what they are doing then it can be quite entertaining to watch, even though the concept may seem terribly simple at first glance. It is like team (which is probably why I was never really into the game, personally) chess (or perhaps it is more like that game where you push each other), where the individual's skill is actually the deciding factor. Oh, and it has also been around a long time, during which DOTA has been taken over by the slightly more colorful League of Legends, so it is, therefore, necessary for them to reach new players, and I think that is why we have this show now. I imagine real fans of the game are going to like this show a lot even though I personally do not know much about the lore around the characters, and I can only remember a few of them. True aficionados are going to be able to recognize the various abilities of the characters in the game and discover and name some of the passives and the ultimates. I think they are just going to enjoy it a lot more than I did. For those less fortunate, those who do not know much about this TV series or DOTA lore, it will probably only feel like an average good-looking fantasy show. I personally appreciate that the characters are anything but black and white and that many of them are endearingly complicated. That is why I found this TV series often surprising. So even though I really do not know much about DOTA, this advertisement appealed to me, entertained me, intrigued me, and even though it probably is not going to get me to play the game again after all these years, I would still happily watch more of the show and enjoy some of that additional lore they added that probably was not in the game... 6.6/10.

There is one thing that simply cannot be denied about Yasuke: this anime series is definitely not boring! It is a combination of unpredictability, crazy plot twists - just a show that surprises you with something new in every episode, until you start frequently cracking an amused, sometimes even ironic smile, and the thought "What the hell am I watching here?" crosses your mind. It is almost as if Netflix gave the screenwriters absolute freedom to do whatever they wanted, and they quite seriously threw absolutely every batshit crazy thing they could think of related to Japan and the fantasy genre into the screenplay. In truth, I just would not be surprised if Nazi zombies riding dinosaurs came out of nowhere, or if it turned out that aliens were actually behind everything, wanting to take over the world through the sale of soy sauce. However, even without that, there was still plenty of weird stuff... It is pretty insane at times, the story flies along at a pretty brisk pace, and a lot just happens because in the fantasy world it can, and when you might be subconsciously thinking you might want an explanation, if you are lucky you are treated to one terse sentence explaining why that character is there, or what just happened. It is weird, it is fucking nuts, it is even quite cringe-worthy at times, however, it all somehow holds together and works well. Yasuke is a strange combination of tradition and an unorthodox modern take on it, which by its very nature should contradict itself, and that does happen sometimes. However, after saying all that, it also combines the two things in a new and unusual way which ends up unexpectedly working in the way that it brings in a lot of innovative and refreshing ideas to the table. It is almost like they are trying to convince me that anything goes in the animation industry, and I kind of believe them. However, at the same time, I sometimes think that I have never seen such terrible narrative exposition or massive load of horsehit in my entire life. In truth, I am not sure, if the first season needed more episodes than this, but I wish some things had been explained in a better way, and that some of the storylines were better developed. I also wish that the secondary characters had been given more screen time in comparison with the main protagonist (because the only character I got to know really well and found likable during this season was him). However, on the other hand, the pace was just right and made the episodes fly by, and not get boring, which was refreshing (and again I repeat - I did not find it boring at all). On the whole, I am not really sure how much I really liked it. I alternated between amusement and "WTF?" moments which only signified irony and disbelief - sometimes I wanted to get excited about what I was seeing, sometimes I wanted to bang my head against the wall. It was not just about all the plot twists, there was the dialogue, which was sometimes very good and other times just, well, bizarre... What I can say is that in the field of animation, the MAPPA animation studio is doing extraordinary work. The fights are pleasantly fluid, gory, and graphic, and the battles look pretty epic. The magic is colorful, intense, and spellbinding, it just really feels as powerful and engaging (sometimes it is a bit over the top, but that is fine) as it should be in fantasy series. About the soundtrack, I am not very qualified to talk about electronic music, and I have always been pretty clear that I think it is primarily suited to science fiction games (like Mass Effect) and movies (Blade Runner), however, using it on the soundtrack to a fantasy set in feudal Japan? You would think someone must have lost it! However, surprisingly, it works really well... The soundtrack is great. The opening is a beautiful track that I am tempted to download and listen to in its entirety, the ending is not bad. The rest of the music in the background is a combination of various traditional motifs (like the drums) and electronic music, which suits the katana fights beautifully, and its beats are often in sync with the characters' movements, so you can tell that whoever did the fight scenes did them to on the music, or maybe the composer wrote the music to the fight scenes he was watching, in other words, they work well together. Likewise, if you are listening, the music really resonates, and it complements the atmosphere of the show... Flying Lotus really knows what he is doing in that regard, and I am now a fan! All in all, I found this to be an interesting anime series with high production values that is either something completely unique and innovative in terms of its plot or otherwise a total shamble. It could however quite possibly be a bit of both. Is it cool, or is it nonsense? I will leave that for you to figure out on your own, I do really recommend you check it out... Also, I guess any kind of rating is understandable, I ended up somewhere in the middle, however, on the whole, the animation and soundtrack raised it to a slightly above-average for me, so 6/10.

I have waited a long time to see this because a CAM version, or a low-resolution version under 480p of Demon Slayer-Kimetsu no Yaiba-The Movie: Mugen Train, or anything produced by the Ufotable animation studio, is in my opinion a crime against its creators, its aesthetics, and the work itself. I understand people’s impatience to see this movie, however, it should at least be seen in HD, because if not, you are going to miss out on the visuals which is one of the best things about it. The movie’s producers prove that you can make a great CGI model of a vehicle inside a traditional animation that looks seamless, for example, the first shots of the extremely impressive train and its passage through the landscape. The producers of this movie manage to present the wonderful beauty of the surrounding environment in combination with the quality of the camera work, like the random several seconds-long shot of the train tracks, with the grass growing next to it, the graphics almost give you a visual orgasm and make you want to take a screenshot and have them as your screensaver for a few days. Then there is the winter landscape and the blizzard, which is done in such a way that you can almost feel it, it just looks so beautiful and almost realistic! The fights, well the first one is sensational due to the camera work again, it is incredibly dynamic, with unexpected angles and this reminded me of why I liked the Demon Slayer anime series so much in the first place. I am not even going to try and describe the last fight, the ending of the movie itself is on par with the best parts of the Demon Slayer anime series in terms of action, dynamics, and aesthetics. Both opponents are equally great, and that makes it perhaps even more insane and effective. The final fight was definitely worth five stars! Indeed, the animation and soundtrack deserved five stars too in my opinion, (although there is one part where I had to close my eyes, and for those who have already seen it I am only going to say SPOILER ALERT hands and tentacles END OF SPOILER). However, the rest of it is not that great. When I started watching it, and then again at the end, I had the impression that someone had decided that the more emotional the outbursts the characters had, the more believable their hysterics would be. OK, a lot of shonen anime have that aspect, however, it was really extreme at the beginning of this movie. At the end of the movie, I felt they had failed to achieve the desired effect. All the screaming and crying actually prevented me from getting emotionally involved. Maybe I am more cynical the older I get, or it just does not really work this way - that the louder and noisier it is the better it is (funnier, more dramatic, sadder = more emotional)! Apart from the old familiar characters you love, like Nezuko, because she is the only one who is silent, there is a character from The Hashira who takes center stage and has as much energy and enthusiasm as he has powerful vocal cords (and so the movie gets even noisier). At the beginning, I thought he was going to be a typically idealistic protagonist. I thought he would just be laughing non-stop, not even stopping to blink (if you can remember Mirio from My Hero Academia for example - same feel!). From the two main villains, the first one got more screen time, yet he lacked any sort of complex and compelling motivation and could have had a more interesting conclusion to his story. After all, in the Demon Slayer anime series, every villain was a bit pitiful anyway, however, I really did not care for this one in the slightest. The second villain just reappears without any sort of announcement and so his entrance seems to be somehow, well, I am not going to say weird, because it is just more like a typical shonen cliché that leaves you feeling: that was predictable... The same could be said for the finale itself (no surprises there), where the loudness overkill once again spoiled it for me, except maybe for one moment (SPOILER “You're a coward!!!”, is a big hint SPOILER END). On the whole, I am happy that I waited to watch it in HD, and I am still looking forward to whatever else comes out of the Demon Slayer universe (especially the second season of the anime series). However, like the anime series, it is still all about the show - the glitzy glamour, the craftsmanship of the graphics, the camera work, and the soundtrack that I am so taken with here. The content of the movie, however, is only slightly better than average. Personally, I was pleased that they did not give much time to Zenitsu, and when they did, he was in a "sleep mode". On the whole, there was also disappointingly little Nezuko in the movie... 7.5/10.

For the kind of anime series A-Channel is (considering it is a cute schoolgirl comedy), I really do think that it is an above-average slice of life anime series. Like in the other similar anime series I have seen, A-Channel has a mix of different characters whose personality types I am quite familiar with, and I think they work well together within the show. Run, in particular, is the type of character which works really well in this type of anime series. I found her naivety and carefree (sometimes even harebrained) attitude amusing. Of course, I found that Toru also has her charms, I think she is very cute and funny, even though she does not actually say much (ever since anime series like Bleach and it's Rukia Kuchiki and maybe even the likes of Rurumo from Magimoji Rurumo, I have had a certain fondness for petite girls with short hair). Then there are Nagisa, Yuko (and maybe Yutaka, Miho, or indeed all the teachers) who are delightful, distinctive, and can be surprising. In other words, I thought the characters were complex enough, and their characteristics worked really well, and thanks to that I was not bored for a second. In addition to that, I enjoyed the way they interacted with each other. Of course, this is a comedy sketch show, without any majorly serious underlying theme running through the season, it is more about focusing on one common subject in each episode. That is quite usual within this particular genre and actually works well enough for a relaxing, easy-going piece of entertainment. The themes chosen are predictable enough and are mostly pretty ordinary and contain all sorts of clichés (like the beach episode). However, thanks to the girls' interactions and how they made some pretty funny jokes, it made for a very entertaining and endearing (if not particularly original) show that was quite funny. Besides the great characters, a decent amount of humor, and run-of-the-mill stories, there was one more thing that changed my overall impression of this show: that is the superb soundtrack that meant I preferred to keep on watching this rather than finishing K-ON!. Truth be told, this whole anime series was musically superb (and I mean in general music really complemented the show all the way through, not just the music in the opening and ending), and I was pleasantly surprised by the songs towards the end of almost every episode (however, I do not mean the ending here). They even soundtracked some entertaining montages of the girls doing various activities (for example, soundtracking a group having fun together, sometimes simply portrayed in static shots of the various activities during a certain time period accompanied by different music). I also liked the way it was all animated. I was really happy with it, my satisfaction-meter which measures how much I enjoy an anime series, how much I relaxed watching it, and what causes the intensity and frequency I wore a stupid shit-eating grin, means I am awarding something like 7/10 for A-Channel. I think it is not as good as Azumanga Daioh, Sketchbook, Strawberry Marshmallow, Aria the Animation and many others, but then again, I enjoyed it maybe more than the likes of Lucky Star (which I think is very pleasant, if not really very funny show), and so I think I am in the clear and would say that A Channel is definitely not an average show.

"Until the new Mortal Kombat comes out, I am going to have to make do with the old Tekken." Yes, it is not the first time I have used that phrase in my life, and it marks how I roughly rate both of those franchises in my imaginary popularity rankings. It also shows you how much I know about their characters and stories. However, I should probably clarify something here - I have played every Mortal Kombat video game, if I am not mistaken (at least the multiplayer ones) so I know almost all of the specific details about it, like what is going on in it and who is who and what is what. I have even seen three movies and one TV show (three live-action and one animated) in the Mortal Kombat franchise. Tekken was always in second place, Street Fighter was in third place. I have only played two of the video games (parts five and seven), I probably only know the skeleton of the plot at the very best and could maybe name about six of the characters I have played so far. Anyway, if I did not know anything about the world of Tekken, then this cinematic adaptation of the video game series would just strike me as a completely bullshit movie with a moronic narrative, really weird dialogue, and idiotic plot twists. At least some of the 3D graphics are good, and of course, it has some pretty sexy characters, and I think the best is Nina in her leather suit during the first ten minutes or so... Fortunately, by knowing the skeleton of the plot, and therefore something about the "Devil Gene", I was able to understand even the bonkers ending. So the bullshit ending did end up making sense to me, give or take, and by having played as three of the characters in the game in the past, I was sometimes able to spot a special move! So if you are not familiar with the Tekken video game series, then it is going to be just a big mess (what the hell did I just witness?), and if you do know it, then it is still going to be (mostly due to the confusing storyline and quality of the dialogue), a meh experience at most, which is what I felt. However, if you are a Tekken fanboy, then there is absolutely no point in reading what Jeoffrey has to say about it. It is Tekken and it is actually pretty close to the video game series itself... I am only awarding this 5/10.

I can agree that this movie is stunning visually, however, truth be told, I prefer movies about Chinese legends when they are done in a more traditional fantasy style rather than a more modern one. That is basically why I was much more captivated and enchanted by movies such as White Snake and Legend of Deification. Story-wise, it is quite interesting, it almost seems like the Chinese producers wanted to make the ultimate movie, and therefore put everything that they could think of into their modern 3D animated universe. Therefore I found the appearance of the Monkey King absolutely predictable, and unfortunately, nothing else in this movie was very surprising either (a logical reference point is 2019’s Ne Zha). Was it a storyline that had me sitting on the edge of my seat, an intensely emotional experience, a movie that gave me a sudden rush of nerves? Unfortunately and sadly not! In the end, I thought this movie was not all that bad. However, I still felt the motorcycle and car chases did not look that great even with the really high-quality 3D graphics, to me they looked more like weirdly animated models, but I thought the rest of it was actually pretty good. 6.8/10.

This movie is just tolerable, simple nonsense, that combines Men in Black with a classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm... Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing amazing, nothing offensive - 5/10.

This is an enjoyable show that is still as charming and endearing as ever, never going off in any significant or surprising directions. It is like a nice short nap on a sunny spring afternoon, it really helps to chill you out a bit. Some might even find the final two episodes quite moving. However, the mood of the show could be said to be a bit too pleasant and relaxing, and lacking enough energy at times, a little too languid, it could have also been a bit funnier... I found it a bit too easy-going, and thought they should have changed the mood occasionally, to break up the monotony a bit. It would have provided a break from the constant tranquillity of the show, which was produced so well, it made me quite drowsy, and I almost fell asleep twice while watching it! Also, I had to take my time with this show, and getting towards the end of the season was a slow process, as I could only handle one or two episodes a month, sometimes less (depending on my mood). I cannot imagine binge-watching Tamayura: Hitotose in one go. You just have to take this anime series in smaller doses, so that the healing and enjoyable aspect of it works for you, and it does not start getting boring or sending you to sleep. In the end, I am quite happy after watching it, and also a bit curious if the next season, entitled Tamayura: More Aggressive, is really going to live up to its name, and if I am going to be able to finish that in less than a year (I saw the first two episodes of Tamayura: Hitotose on 6/28/2020, the last two today...). 6.3/10.

For me personally, this anime series was an absolutely amazing experience! It is like eighty-percent of cute girls do cute things, and the other twenty-percent is about the music, and that is totally OK with me. I was hearing about K-ON! From people around me, I had been reading about it, and whenever it was recommended, I knew I would probably like it. After all, both of the genres are completely my kind of thing, and when I was introduced to the characters, I was absolutely sure that I was watching the right thing because these are exactly the types of girls I like. I immediately fell in love with Yui, Ritsu, Mio, and the rest of the ensemble, including the crazy teacher who kept wanting to get them into cute new outfits for some reason and had more major personal issues than all the girls combined. There is simply a barrage of cuteness, simplicity and is very much a feel-good thing. I appreciated and enjoyed the light humor and the intermittent attempts at musical performances (because I do not mind it, on the contrary, I seek it out). I found the atmosphere of the show just wonderful, and the first season just flowed so beautifully (I watched it all over two afternoons). What I was a bit worried about was the music, or rather the genre of music used, because, for example, I do not listen to J-Pop and K-Pop at all, so I was thinking, who knows what kind of music they are gonna squeeze into this show, since it is supposed to be a club with easy-listening music. I was surprised by the excellent opening, which had the right amount of energy, and when they mentioned Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page in the very first episode, I thought that this could actually be very cool. Seeing the bass, guitars, drums, and keyboards, I was sure that if you put those things together, there would be some good music. I enjoyed the music and how it worked in the show, not just the opening theme, however, I did like the music at the end and most of the original songs the girls performed in the show. Even the regular background music caught my attention and I thought I heard something that sounded just like Popcorn, then (episodes eleven and twelve) I heard keyboard tones that reminded me of ABBA, I was very comfortable with it and felt musically at home... I was extremely satisfied with this show, I enjoyed every episode and was smiling from ear to ear. I love K-ON! 10/10.