This short movie is better than death note itself!

The audience for Anime content continues to skyrocket.  Re: Anime films will be the first Live action Anime production company creating films that are authentic and true to the original stories. 

Hello! My name is Nik Shaw. I’m a filmmaker  and cinematographer in Los Angeles and I think Hollywood can make better live-action anime.  

To show you what I mean, I've just released my first live-action anime short film - the origin story of "Death Note".

It's posted on my new YouTube page, Re:Anime - Made by Fans. For the Fans. Check it our here!  

I'm sure you’ve all seen the $40 million version from the ‘streaming network that shall not be named’. So many of us were disappointed! That’s why I decided to make my own Death Note. 

I wanted to show Hollywood it’s possible to tell the story of Light Yagami the way it’s meant to be told. For this Death Note film, I teamed up with producer Scott Carper and an awesome cast and crew of 33 super talented people – every one an anime fan. No, we didn’t spend $40 million but we paid for this one out of pocket  - and to make more films, I need your help!

'Erased': So, if you love our version of 'Death Note', please help us with our next project. We’re going to do ‘Erased'. It’s dear to my heart because it taught me so many life lessons and made me a much better writer. It truly inspired me. Ken Sanbe thanks you for telling your beautiful story. I want to translate its beauty and meaning into my next film!

Money Well Spent: The money raised will go to pay cast, crew and related hard costs. This includes, the actors, director, cinematographer, set and equipment rentals, sound recordist, music and sound design, production design, editing, make-up, lighting gaffer, steady cam operator, script supervisor, colorist, and CGI effects person. So no, this is not a shoot with your phone in someone’s basement kind of deal. But the quality I’ll deliver would cost at least $25,000 using a ‘standard’ production house. I will donate my time to create the project and manage the production from start to finish.

Timing: Once funding is in place, we expect to deliver the film in 6 to 10 weeks. Below is the 10 week schedule. 

In place now: The script is done. Weeks 1-4:  First we'll cast the film, gather the crew. choose locations and begin pre-production planning. Week 4: Shoot the film. Weeks 6-10: We go into post-production. That includes editing, adding music and sound design, colorist work, CGI special effects, etc.  We may need to reshoot a scene or add one. 

My Creds:  Being a cinematographer has been my passion since I was a young teenager when I started my first YouTube channel. And now, at 22, I've worked on over 200 professional productions in various capacities but for the last couple of years primarily as Director of Photography. I've also worked on in key production areas such as electric, Movi and drone operator, gimbal operator, and 1st Assistant Camera. 

You can take a look work here: www.nikshawfilms.com

I've lensed music videos for Wiz Khalifa, Sean Kingston, Angel Haze, Blackmore, Tim Schou and others. I did some principal photography for documentarian Robert Greenwald’s The Real NRA, and have worked pro bono for the non-profit Celia Center. Some of my commercial work includes Digornio Pizza, the Movember Foundation and Arizona Mead. Aside from working in the Los Angeles area, since 2016 I've spent three weeks in Denmark lensing a series of music videos, a month-long job DPing a travelogue in Thailand and a 30-day film shoot in Puerto Rico. This December, while the Kickstarter campaign takes place,  I'm booked on a feature film as Director of Photography.

Here's some press:  Blood Runs Thick, Morrison Music Video, Arri Alexa News

My Long-Term Goal: Ultimately, I want to produce and shoot a full-length live-action anime feature film. I believe the best way to get there is to create more short films like this version of Death Note, bring together a base of anime fans like we all are, and prove to Hollywood that a beautifully written and filmed story, made with authenticity that stays true to the original story is the key to success. Us anime lovers make up a huge fan base. We have power. You can help us be heard!

I hope my vision resonates with you. Please let me know which animes you'd like to see come to life as well! I'll try my best to make it happen!

Thank you all so much!

Nik

Risks and challenges

We've completed the first live-action anime, Death Note, and worked through production flow issues particular to anime live-action - a solid benefit for this follow-on production. Occasionally there are production delays, but with the exception of illness or severe weather events, the film will finish on time. Because we are not selling the films, or tickets to see the films, or allowing advertising on the Re:Anime page, we are not infringing on any copyrights. If delays or adverse events occur, we will inform all of our subscribers. The purpose of this project is to have fun and share the final film with anime fans everywhere.

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Should I watch Shingeki no Bahamut : Genesis ?

Well it might be weird if I say this, but do you like cartoon style anime ?

Yes, a cartoon style anime. I refer to an anime that have a realistic style of art that you may found in "Cowboy Bepbop" and "Afro Samurai". well I know not all of the character drawn realistically, or maybe it's really no realistic, though they do give a cartoonish feel on it.

That's what will you got if you watch "Shingeki no Bahamut:Genesis" also known as "Rage of Bahamut:Genesis" which is the 1st season of Shingeki no Bahamut's series. okay before all of the review thing, let me tell you this.

YOU MUST WATCH THIS ANIME

WHY ?

BECAUSE IT'S GREAT, AND

YOU'LL REGRET IT IF YOU DON'T

- - - - Don't worry there is no spoiler on this review - - - -

I my self is not a big fan of Cartoon style anime, which is usually boring. That's the same feel on my first impression when I watch the first episode of "Shingeki no Bahamur:Genesis", they do have some decent battle on it but it's just not my thing. well, to be honest I dropped it on the first episode for a while until my friend told me how good it is. the way my friend so excited when he told me about it make me curious and after that I rewatch again. I watch until the last episode and I'am amazed about how stupid am I that I could miss such a great anime like this.

The Story it self is firm and have a proper ending. yes it's a series and they do have an ending on this first series. if you are a veteran you might notice that most of the anime that has a series usually ended with hanging story. but that's not the case with "Shingeki no Bahamut:Genesis". they do end the first season properly but still left some possibility for another plot to keep fan's excitement for another season for the series. 

That's not all, despite it's a cartoon style anime they do give some degree of moe (maybe) and Japanese anime style of battle scene that you may get on Anime (it's an anime after all). You know what, I think we won't get this kind of unique story again for a while so make sure that you watch it. I'am not exaggerates it, you just won't get it again for a while. the concept is fresh and the scale is just too large to copy.

The Soundtrack is not a masterpiece but it's great and so cool. I find myself cry at the end of this first series while listening on the soundtrack.

Overall I really recommend you to watch this anime but bear in mind that this is not a kid's show don't show it to your kids if they are not old enough. the art is fresh, the story is great and you might love the soundtrack.

you might found that you have a different opinion than my self. just to remember you, this review is based on my sole opinion. you are free to have your own opinion. and to end this review I'll put the PV of this anime. (R25)

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Should I watch Hikaru no Go ?

Image from Animenewsnetwork.com

Japanese Title   : ヒカルの碁

Original Creator : Hotta, Yumi (堀田 由美)

Genre            : Sports

do you hate sports anime ? or you just hate overpowered main character ? or maybe you only hate weird and illogical move ?

well in advance just let me tell you this. you might fall in love if you watch at least half of total episode on this anime. and you won't find weird move on it, since that's just how this sports works in real life (maybe). and the main character it self is not overpowered. so don't hesitate to watch this anime.

The Story of this anime will revolve around Shindou Hikaru which got possessed by the spirit of Fujiwara no Sai. Sai was once a great Go player, who committed suicide and continued to stay in the world as a spirit desiring only to play Go once again. That is how Shindou was forced by Sai to play Go and began his Go's Journey. 

before we continue, I think you need to know what we're going to see on this anime. for a brief, according to Wikipedia.org. Go is a Chinese abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. and yes it's a game that imported from China. if you want to know more you might want to see this video made by Udacity.

Okay, let's continue the review :)

The anime it self was made in 2001, so don't hope too much for a high quality graphic. Thankfully that they have a good art which make this anime watchable even now. I think it still be able to compete with current anime's graphic. well that's only my opinion though :)

Unfortunately the story telling in this anime is not well stabilized. which might make you feel bored in some part of the story. for an example there are some episode when they just neglect the main character development and tell the development of side character instead which I think they can just cut it and explain it with narration or adding little scene that explain it. Overall they do have a lot of potential on the Story.

I won't give a commentary about their soundtrack, just find out about it your self. I just don't like it and can't bring my self to love it.

You must have realize that in this review all the way here I used a lot of negative statement such as;

• The anime is old. 
• The story not well stabilized
• I don't like the soundtrack, etc

well I do tell you that they have a lot of potential though, and I do tell you how I like it because there are no overpowered main character and there are no illogical move here. I know that is not enough to convince you to watch this anime. Then, allow me to tell you why I love this anime. 

Despite the fact that they doesn't have a good story telling, they somehow manage to explain the development of all necessary character. The story is heartwarming which won't make you get bored too easily with this anime (we all love heartwarming story right ?). and of course the most important thing is they manage to deliver the message of the story. I think that's enough to make you reconsider to watch it :) (I Hope)

Well at the end it's too bad that they don't continue the anime, I read the manga instead though. That's all my review about this anime. tell me what do you think about this anime on the comment section. (R25)

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The biggest Dragon Ball theory?

• The One (2001): Travel between parallel universes in the Multiverse is possible by using "quantum tunnelling" technology, but restricted and policed by the Multiverse Authority (MVA). Alternate versions or "Multiverse Counterparts" (MVCs) of all living persons are connected by an "energy string." Gabriel Yu-Law, a rogue, former MVA agent learns that killing alternate versions of himself in parallel universes divides the "energy" among the surviving MVC's and subsequently embarks on a mission to kill all of his MVC's in order to gain ultimate power and become "The One." He travels to what appears to be our universe to kill his last remaining MVC, Gabriel Law. The task becomes exceedingly more difficult as Law realizes that the energy he shares with Yu-Law has given them both super-human strength and agility.
• Charmed, there exists an alternate dimension where all the evil are good and all the good are evil. The reason for this given that there has to be balance in the universe, so there can never be an area where everything is all good and one where it is all bad as this would affect the grand design of life. So for every good thing that the Charmed Ones do for good in this world, it is done for evil in another to keep things balanced. Mostly, everything occurs exactly the same way, mirroring the real world. Some differences are that all Whitelighters are Darklighters and vice versa, and that The Underworld is a Garden of Eden-like paradise. The Demon of Fear is the Demon of Hope, and Wyatt Halliwell faces a future in which he turns good one day as opposed to one where he turns evil. Some figures, such as the morally ambiguous Gideon, remain largely similar.

Guys just read those too. If you're an actual DBZ fan you'll get what I mean. Te highlited lines especially sound just like DBZ.

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Does Jiren Possess the Ultra Instinct?

Dragon Ball Super revealed an important new transformation called ultra instinct in Goku this week.This feature allows the user to fight without even thinking which makes them unbeatable. Also, this is a technique that is incredibly difficult to master.Despite Goku fighting Jiren using this incredible power he was still unable to beat him which without any double would raise a question is everyones mind. 

Does Jiren possess the ultra instinct ?

The main reason why this theory is even here is that Jiren was able to fight goku without any surprise "without even flinching". Since Jiren is said to be more powerful than most gods of destruction, it is very likely that Jiren not only knows how to use this new technique he has already mastered it.The other proof about Jiren possessing Ultra instinct is a mastered level is that he is fast and can fight Goku without showing any visual changes, much like Beerus and Whis.

Why Jiren is NOT Using Ultra Instinct

Now that we have discussed why Jiren possess the ultra instinct lets look into a few things that suggest that he does not possess such power.First off, Looking at how the Gods of destruction were so shocked by a mortal possessing ultra instinct, including"Belmond" it is very clear that Jiren is not using ultra instinct.One of the theories actually states that Jiren is telepathic which is why no one could fight him and Goku could finally land some blows in his new form.

 What do you think: Is Jiren a master of Ultra Instinct or does he get his powers from elsewhere?

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Should I watch Muteki Kanban Musume?

Should I watch Muteki Kanban Musume?

Note: Im LA

"Inconsistencies in men are generally testimony to their immaturity."

Basically sums up Muteki Kanban Musume in a nutshell.

Muteki Kanban Musume is definitely one of those oddball slapstick action parody anime about a powerfully strong yet ditzy ramen delivery girl (just go with it) and her exploits in beating up her rivals and pissing off her mother in the process. By all accounts this kind of anime especially how each episode's skits have overarching plotlines that also spill into the continuity of it's latter episodes making this comedy anime a rare oddity, though it's in the realms of Shinryaku! Ika Musume style of skit-based story telling.


For characters, well start off with the titular character of Miki Onimaru voiced by Hitome Nabatame who is the most powerful ramen delivery girl in her shopping arcade, she has feuds with Megumi Kannzuki voiced by Ami Koshimizu a skewer-wielding bakery owner ojou who's on PAR with Miki for power levels thus their personal and business rivalry, Kankuro Nishiyama voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama for HIM wanting to fight Miki all the time and Toshiyuki voiced by Rokurou Naya who isn't in exactly good terms with Miki and is in similar power levels if not she considers Toshiyuki her biggest rival next to Megumi. The ONLY person to quell and stop Miki (and by extension any of Miki's rivals), happens to be Miki's own mother Makiko Onimaru voiced by Sayuri Sadaoka and she's kinda a badass in her own right to stop the psychotically uncontrollable fighting machine of Miki. Going a bit in depth with some of the sub-characters, LA actually REALLY likes Megumi to the point of favourites merely because even though she's a sneaky tactician-like character that wants nothing but Miki's downfall one way or another, she does have that side of her in which she's not "just" all that and she has some empathy in there.....ohh god it's gap moe all right but all the more that she's LA's favourite character. LA really didn't like Kankuro as a character, sure his contributions to many of skits are there and works to an extent and usually ends in the same way however with his verbal tic of ~nya got annoying very easily and VERY quickly (to point this out, because this anime's characters have NO INDOOR VOICES you can see why LA would get annoyed) and some of his skits were too predictable from journey to end (even if other characters contribute to his cause), the other character that LA kinda thought was annoying was Akihiko Ohta voiced by Yuuichi Nakamura the neighbor of Miki who owns a grocery, LA's problem with him is minor unlike LA's annoyances with Kankuro but LA just really didn't like his entire Sentai-a-la-Star Rangers scthick, LA "gets" why as he is the everyday badass and his strong sense of justice is a key feature to Akihiko HOWEVER, considering that we have Miki, Megumi and Toshiyuki AND Makiko who might as well be godly beasts comparing to Akihiko's (and by extension Kankuro) normal human power, BOTH Kankuro and Akihiko are essentially butt monkeys even if it's their respected skits and heck even the anime brings this up.



Even with the technical "useless fighter characters" in Muteki Kanban Musume, another factor is that Muteki Kanban Musume's use of character dynamics mainly in the line of "character with same motivations" allow even the most useless of characters to both have some presences, interact with other characters they wouldn't have during their initial appearances and not allow them to be turned into one-trick ponies (Again your circumstances will vary with Kankuro, but works brilliantly with say Miki and Megumi's interactions more), thus the dynamics between the rather minimalistic cast allows the comedy to be on the unpredictable or more so...the crazier side of things



Really the comedy of Muteki Kanban Musume lies in the absurdity as well as the immaturity of it's characters and how it stacks to makes the situation all the more crazier though predictability is kinda to be expected for the results...how it got there however is entirely unpredictable and sometimes characters comes out of nowhere for their own goals just to add to it's unpredictability. Muteki Kanban Musume also delves into referential humor through it's several skits that kinda adds to the situation (eg. parodying the MGM logo intro, The Ring, Sailor Moon, Babe Ruth, Pinocchio and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master), this was an anime released in 2006 so why not?.


In terms of animation by Telecom Animation Film, the animation if anything is limited most of the times resorting to overexaggerated facial expressions and ball of fighting at times. The battles are kinda stiff at times but if it needs to show some fights with a bit of fighting choreography again, limited but still decent. The character designs are decent and memorable to say the least as most of the characters always have their signature costume (easily making Megumi and Miki recognizable). The backgrounding again though limited is decent as well. Really for Telecom Animation Film although it had limited resources they used it to decent effect is the best way to put the animation of Muteki Kanban Musume...not bad even for a crazy action parody anime THAT NEEDS the animation to pull through in order to make it work.


In terms of voice acting, well there are some welcome surprises most definitely being Hitome Nabatame voicing Miki as she's usually typecasted as the brooding loner type character with a tragic backstory, HERE...she's a ditzy psychotically powerful ramen delivery girl in a COMEDY ACTION PARODY...it's pretty much a rare playing against the type role for her. Ami Koshimizu as well gets this treatment as she voices a ego-centric backstabbing ojou, considering when Muteki Kanban Musume came out she wasn't typecasted as the badass lead heroine (a la Code Geass as Kallen Stadtfeld not one season after Muteki Kanban Musume was released) again it's a rare role for her to do. -sigh- LA will say this again but Nobuyuki Hiyama was annoying, LA doesn't hate the voice actor, LA just found Kankuro to be annoying that is all and his odd verbal tics compounded by this anime's characters having no indoor voices sealed Kankuro fate for LA. The only other mention would be Sayuri Sadaoka as Makiko, voicing a mother you DON'T wanna mess with as Sayuri did it GREAT...NO INDOOR VOICES AND ALL.

Muteki Kanban Musume does have a theme of immaturity being a downfall slipped within it's skits and this theme does show itself from time to time and is easily manifested in MANY of it's characters (Miki, Megumi, Kankuro and the obvious one from Akihiko) and this does add into the comedic potential this anime has and delivers and again compounding with referential humor reflecting that immaturity leads to downfall and for an anime within the comedy action parody actually makes sense in the grand scheme of things.

Muteki Kanban Musume is a crazy romp through some wildly crazy adventures of one ditzy ramen delivery girl and her exploits in beating up her rivals and screwing up her job time and again...sure it might be repetitive with some running gags (LA is looking at you Akihito's Star Rangers and Kankuro in general) but with it's brilliantly timed comedic execution and somewhat cleverly done thematic nature of immaturity in a comedy action PARODY makes this simple action parody anime into something much more that LA even thought it would be. 

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Should I watch Ladies versus Butler?

Many criticize the harem genre of anime for its overly formulaic approach and execution. And Ladies vs. Butlers will probably not change the opinions of these critics, since practically every convention common in harem anime is crammed into this show.

The premise behind Ladies vs. Butlers is simple yet predictable. The main character, Hino Akiharu, attends a school for upper-class ladies that is also dedicated to instructing maids and butlers how to function in high-class society. The story basically details Hino interacting with the various girls at the school and the various ecchi situations he gets himself into. The majority of this series is episodic and, in all honesty, serves nothing more than to introduce the female characters and to show ecchi scenes.  

Ladies vs. Butlers includes almost every female archetype found in the harem genre: a tsundere, a childhood friend, a (reverse) trap, lolis, clumsy girls, foreign girls, etc. The harem lead, Akiharu, is also a fairly generic character. While he doesn’t fit the “total loser” persona as many other harem leads do, there is nothing really noteworthy about him. Also, there is hardly any significant character development, but that is to be expected of an anime of this type.  

The art is decent and very reminiscent of one of XEBEC’s earlier productions, Kanokon. And while some of the character designs may be slightly off-putting (for example, there is a 19-year-old girl who looks like an elementary school student), this will not detract from overall enjoyment of the anime.  

The opening and ending songs are appropriate for this kind of anime but nothing all that memorable, and the voice-acting suited each character’s personality well. The background music is virtually nonexistent, though you will probably be too fixated on all the bouncing breasts, panty shots, and nudity present in this anime to even notice.  

While Ladies vs. Butlers does not fail in one particular aspect, its main issue is that it does nothing to stand out from the countless other harem anime out there. It doesn’t deviate from the harem formula at all, and as a result, this anime most likely will not appeal to anyone looking for anything more than fanservice and comedy. However, if you are a diehard harem or ecchi fan, you should give Ladies vs. Butlers a try.  

Overall, this was a decent ecchi/harem anime, albeit nothing exceptional or ground-breaking. 

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Should I watch Ragnastrike Angels?

Should I watch Ragnastrike Angels?

Note: Im LA

Ragnastrike Angels............LA doesn't even know how to start this review.

Ok, how about looking at this with it's basics, this "anime" is essentially a glorified advert for the mobile game...LA is guessing and each episode spans 30 seconds. THIRTY SECONDS....Jesus, it might as well be an advert considering the length.

Animation and voice acting was ok on both fronts at least...well to say that about a 30 second anime episode sure why not. The animation done by Satelight, Satelight use of blooming effect on the majority of characters along with some ok backgrounds (though the blooming effect makes the character design's hair be prominent to say the least). Voice acting is to be expected even from this voice cast but quick highlight goes to Aoi Yuuki LA suppose.

The plot of this "anime" is essentially looking at the slice of life and umm "daily lives" of these 38 meter girls and maybe fighting aliens spanning 3 to 4 skits (2 to 3 episodes for each skit essentially) in total in no less than 6 minutes. Well if this anime has anything going for it it's mercifully short.

And because of that...LA isn't exactly angry at this glorified mobile game advertisers wetdream on a shoestring budget, because it is pretty much advertising a mobile game to us and it succeeded.....at not angering LA but annoying LA instead. To be expected with that, LA isn't gonna start playing it's mobile game even out of curiosity after watching it. Ragnastrike Angels is mercifully short and because of that...harmless (to an extent) to say the least.

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Should I watch Bakuman?

Should I watch Bakuman?

Note: Im LA

An anime about making manga, with all the gamble, dreams and effort that goes into it, this is Bakuman.

Bakuman is definitely one of the earliest "working anime" anime LA heard of before Shirobako for anime about anime and Sora ga Seiyuu! for anime about voice acting. Bakuman is about the struggles and dreams of Akito Takagi voiced by Satoshi Hino and Moritaka Mashiro voiced by Atsushi Abe wanting to become mangaka, more specifically Shounen Jump ohh LA means Shounen Jack. They face and work with their rivals, strict editorials "missions" and deadlines, hard work into their manga's as well as the process of even making different kinds of manga in the process.

Although Takagi's dream is just to be a mangaka (more on the writers side of things) by working together with Mashiro and getting rich with it, Mashiro (the illustrator) has another goal of wanting a manga to be serialized as a promise for him and his love interest Miho Azuki voiced by Saori Hayami to be the lead heroine and then get married after. Sure it adds in the romance element into this anime but it works for a huge degree for Mashiro's ambitions to be the best in Shounen Jack and his goal striving for him to do be number 1#.

Now you'd think this anime is nothing but the intricacies of making manga, how Shounen Jack handles their manga and whatnot and it does but it also greatly develop their core cast and rivals as well. Some of the biggest surprises for LA for characters would go to Takagi and Kaya Miyoshi voiced by Sayuri Yahagi as they actually get together quite early on and with Kaya wanting to full out support Takagi and Mashiro venture into the strict and volatile world of shounen manga (this and because Kaya is best friends with Miho). Next would be Takagi and Mashiro's rivals more specifically Eijii Nizuma voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto and Shinta Fukuda voiced by Junichi Sawabe. Eijii for being Takagi and Mashiro's primary rival in the early episodes as Eijii is a genius yet hyperactively unfocused mangaka but becoming a sorta frienemy mentor to them later on and Takagi and Mashiro striving to be better than Eijii. Fukuda is more in line the actual rival to Takagi and Mashiro as he's alot more serious in wanting to be serialized like Takagi and Mashiro's goal for this season. Really in essences this anime season really doesn't have the typical rival scthick where the rival is the "bad guy" while making Takagi and Mashiro look better, each of their rivals had their quirks and styles of manga even making their rivals have more than the one dimensional personality of a rival making them to be memorable in a ways (well the exception is Koogy voiced by Shoutarou Morikubo but he never directly confronted Takagi and Mashiro in saying their his rival or his ethnics in making manga was the wrong way to do it etc.)

The other surprising notion is that both of Takagi and Mashiro's respective love interests aren't just one-dimensional cheerleaders. Again there's Kaya and how she supports their ventures into manga but she has personality outside being one of their cheerleader for them (by that, she your typical brutish tsundere but definitely more on the dere side and her even wanting to be a writer like Takagi) and even sometimes causes rifts between Takagi and Mashiro through Takagi wanting to take his relationship with Kaya more seriously while not concentrating on manga. Miho on the other hand, although in this season she's IS a sideline cheerleader love interest for Mashiro, Miho has her own ambitions of being a voice actor so she can be the lead heroine of Mashiro's serialized manga turn anime and she too faces adversity and fears by being an "amateur voice actor" albeit not in great detail to Mashiro's journey to be serialized.

And finally, LA would like to point out that even the editors of Shounen Jack develops along with their respective mangaka but the best focused ones goes to Takagi and Mashiro's editor Akira Hattori and Yuujirou Hattori, Eijii Nizuma and Shinta Fukuda's editor and Hisashi Sasaki voiced by Kenyuu Horiuchi the Editor-in-Chief of Shounen Jack gets some focus (mainly business-supportive-wise NOT personally of course). What else can LA say but the obvious for Bakuman, character development is excellently done even for this HUGE cast of mangaka's, editors, love interests and rivals of the sort get the subtle detail treatment and LA loves it!.

The animation done by JC Staff is greatly done in almost every front, from the slick character designs to the manga's that many of the mangaka's gives out are in superb quality, better yet are many of the scenes where people are reading the manga (and voice acted out in people's heads) and the manga is shown to great detail as well. JC Staff really outdid themselves with the animation and manga aesthetics with this one.

The voice work was also pretty great with no grating annoying voices in sight. Highlights would go to Atsushi Abe and Satoshi Hino of course, but the craziest voice actor easily goes to Nobuhiko Okamoto doing an almost 24/7 "Awakened Level 5 Accelerator" vocals on Eijii Nizuma...just JESUS Nobuhiko go all out with this one. However LA's favourite voice actors would go to Sayuri Yahagi as Kaya...because of her deredere vocals being amazing alright..simple as that.

Ok, LA didn't find many faults with Bakuman but just one little thing that kinda dumbfounded LA about Bakuman would be why Shounen Jump was changed to Shounen Jack, because here's the thing, Bakuman namedrops ALOT of manga from Shounen Jump, from Naruto, Bleach to One Piece and they even have manga covers showing them yet Jump changed to Jack?, was it because JC couldn't get the "license" to have Jump namedropped but their titles instead or that Jump just didn't want unblazened advertising in an anime because that would be unfair advertising for other manga magazines?, which doesn't makes sense due to Shounen Jump's titles being referenced alot but not Jump itself?...LA doesn't know WHY but still irked LA they changed it.

However if there is one little fault LA could see and this is entirely LA's perspective and that is Mashiro and Miho's long distance relationship as it were. LA already defended this relationship as Miho and Mashiro both have their own ambitions that leads into their dream, however besides the two being the cheerleaders on both sides, their interactions largely consisted of being twice shy and only rarely opening up to each other but being supportive nonetheless. LA isn't saying this relationship is horrible or anything and LA is sure this relationship would develop further from this in the next season but you can see why LA kinda already favoured Kaya and Takagi more due to their fast process and taking it further than most anime romances do even for a beta couple.

Bakuman is the gamble of the imagination taken real form, of dreams coming true be for the riches or the glory of being serialized. Bakuman is by all means a GREAT anime about looking at the inner workings of the manga industry and it's mangaka's and with fully fleshed out characters, a concentrated focused plot from both it's shounen and romantic aspects and intensity and anticipation of many of the competitions of the best manga being serialized. LA just can't wait to watch the second season!.

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Should I watch Accel World: Infinite∞Burst?

Should I watch Accel World: Infinite∞Burst?

note: Im LA

Accel World is probably LA's most favourite work from Reki Kawahara, that isn't an understatement by any means...so when Accel World announced it was getting a movie, LA was hyped to say the least.

However...Accel World: Infinite∞Burst like MANY other anime movies with an original story, recap of the anime series events and movie-only characters deterred into LA loving this movie.

Case in point the extremely long recap recalling the events of the anime series however even as a recap, it had some questionable layered problems. For one, the recap only goes into full detail only during the Cyan Pile and the Chrome Disaster events of theanime series however completely skim over the Dusk Taker events to start the new story for this movie, LA "gets" why this anime movie recaps several events of the anime series as fans of the anime might not have remember all the details or newbies can get into this anime with the needed information for the new story HOWEVER the recap is by in large inconsistent to say the least, if your gonna do a recap movie recap and detail the ENTIRE anime series or don't do it at all (or better yet, spare us wasting our time and just make the recap movie fully for newbies then make the new movie with the recommended time a MOVIE takes) and yes the recap takes FORTY MINUTES, eating up almost HALF of the movie's screentime.

Well at the very least the new story of a black cloud disconnecting any Burst Linker in the surrounding area as it's new story for this movie was an upside all things considered. New and old characters are re/introduced and if people wanted the other Colored Kings to get screentime, then this movie is undoubtedly shows them in their full glory (where they put their differences aside concerning Kuroyukihime to take down the new villain of for this movie Nyx voiced by Aoi Yuuki).

The black cloud also adds in the additional factor as to why to make the audience see this as a "big" deal in a ways concerning Haruyuki and Kuroyukihime as if the black cloud spreads all throughout Japan, they won't be able to Burst Link and thus possibility of them losing their memories of Brain Burst and their time together (and by in large their relationship goes down with it)...thus the urgency.

The only other grip LA kinda had with this movie is with this new story, they didn't have time to flesh out the MANY MANY new characters from the Colored Kings (such as Green Grandee's power is never explained how he can NEGATE the black cloud effects?), Metatron voiced by Yukana who barely had ANY screentime and the only new members of Nega Nebulus, Rin Kusakabe and Utai Shinomiya voiced by Yumi Hara and this flaw could have EASILY be remedied by removing the long-ass recap and flesh these characters out more.

The animation once again helmed by Sunrise did a pretty great job overall, from the glossy CG-like Burst Link mechs of the majority of the characters (though one little flaw to this is probably Scarlet Rain's as the anime series didn't make the CGI THAT blatant but Accel World: Infinite∞Burst definitely shows this). Many of the fights were amazingly detailed and sometimes happened so fast but that "impact" is there in full force and LA loved it nonetheless when a big fight scene took place. Sunrise did their job splendidly and was expected quality out of them.

For voice acting, they were once again expected quality compared to the anime series with some additional voice cast seiyuu's from Yumi Hara, Chinatsu Akasaki and Aoi Yuuki. Aoi Yuuki as the new villain for this movie was a GREAT choice as Aoi wasn't playing a full-out evil villain but something of a sympathetic villain thus the vocals she used was expected and LA liked it to be fair, gave her an aura of mysteriousness and dread at the same time. LA's favourite voice actor?....well Sachika Misawa as Kuroyukihime is good option but she got second best for LA, no LA easily chose the hamminess seiyuu in this production...yes that's right Rina Hidaka as Scarlet Rain. Look, Rina Hidaka as Scarlet Rain brought her into LA's radar and her hamming it up is just glorious, LA couldn't pick anyone BUT Rina Hidaka.

Accel World: Infinite∞Burst falls under the same prejudice MANY anime movie with a compilation has fallen for, only this time Accel World: Infinite∞Burst has doubled down with trying to add a new story with new characters and a recap at the same time and expected it NOT to rush itself. Accel World: Infinite∞Burst could by all means have done SOOOO much better if the recap was scraped and allowed it's screentime of 82 minutes be fleshed out and realized with JUST the new story. Even with this HUGE flaw LA just can't ignore, LA still liked the new story as it expanded the world of Brain Burst even just a little as well as bring screentime to the Colored Kings in some respect and many of the climactic fight against Nyx were just amazing, but this flaw crippled ANY chance the new characters (apart from Nyx and Risa) they bring up by hardly fleshing them out or giving any chance of screentime with the few "helping out Nega Nebulus/Kuroyukihime and Haruyuki" as "compensation" not enough to know these new characters.

Accel World: Infinite∞Burst, LA wanted to love ya, but you pressed too many of LA's buttons with anime-original movies with a compilation especially with that HUGE recap being a HUGE detriment to the movie and with that it gets off with a slap to the wrist and LA crying out to anime movies to STOP. DOING. THIS. SHIT and LA thought LA gave Trinity Seven Movie: Eternity Library to Alchemic Girl a bad time.

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Should I watch Strike the Blood?

Should I watch Strike the Blood?

note: im LA
Strike the Blood as a series is one of LA's favourite battle harems in quite a while along with Campione!. The anime series gave off a To aru Majutsu no Index vibe under differing circumstances, you know like how Taboo Tattoo tried to do it and failed at it. Ramblings aside, did Strike the Blood II succeed from it's first season?...or did it go in the ways of Taboo Tattoo?...

Strike the Blood II follows the same arc system as the first season, this time consisting of 8 episodes spanning 3 arcs covering Swords-Shaman of Shadow (3 episodes), The 4th Progenitor on the run (2 episodes) and the Knight of Sinful God arc (3 episodes).

Swords-Shaman of Shadow arc consisted of a new harem member that Kojou meets during a beach episode by the name of Yume Eguchi voiced by Nao Touyama whom Kojou tries to protect and the titular Swords-Shaman of Shadow Kiriha Kisaki voiced by Yukiyo Fujii comes in as a opposite to Yukina Himeragi and comes to obtain Yume. Yume as a character isn't that bad a character though she meets another of the harem's lolicon status but after her arc she becomes like your typical clingy harem member which was a shame as they kinda wasted Nao Touyama here. On the other hand Kiriha is quite the interesting character being within the rival organization to Yukina and thus an enemy to Kojou and Yukina's goal to save Yume. The fanservice in this arc gets focused on Sayaka Kirisaka which was a bonus for LA and considering this arc starts at the beach...yeaaaaahhhhhhh...their servicing the fans for this OVA series. Overall Swords-Shaman of Shadow arc was the introduction of some interesting characters and saving the world (typical stuff from Strike the Blood) but had some faults with some of its new characters and arc plot points.

The 4th Progenitor on the run is nothing but building up the climax to the next arc, nonetheless it still has some pretty good moments. For one, Kojou's dad appears and like father like son, LA can definitely tell where Kojou got his perverted right timing scthick comes from, second is that Nagisa Akatsuki, Kojou's little sister gets focus in this arc being something of catalyst as to the events in the next arc. The BEST thing about this arc is Kojou vs. Natsuki of all things and ohh boy it's a glorious fight and LA loved it.

Knight of the Sinful God arc is the climax of this OVA series and betrayal is a foot and at first confused LA as to why the Akatsuki family wants to release Avrora Florestina the last Progenitor through Nagisa which backfires spectacularly. New allies and villains comes into play, but allies comes in form of Grenda voiced by Misaki Watada (who the true villains of this arc are after), Yuiri Haba voiced by Sayaka Senbongi and Shio Hikawa voiced by Kaede Hondo who are both Sword Shamans with Yuiri getting bit more screentime due to Grenda. The most interesting character would go to Shirona Kuraki a shaman who works for the Lion King Organization and LA thinking she was a villain at the start. Knight of the Sinful God arc is a good climax all things considered as even the villains have their beliefs of wanting their world to return to "normal" before all the demons came into play however their actions don't suit such a noble gesture making this arc's world building and character beliefs all the more better albeit with a small white and black morality to it.

The animation was pretty great from Silver Link and CONNECT, from the same character designs from the first season with some "exotic" character designs for the newer characters. LA overall for the new characters, LA really like Kiriha's design and character overall and being the Nega-Yukina in a ways. The battle scenes were pretty decent too what the Persona-esque monsters and beam spams along with some military grade battles mixed in with the supernatural, the battle animation was overall decent and enjoyed most of the battles especially the Natsuki vs. Kojou battle.

Since this is an OVA series...YES, if your wondering the nudity is there in full force with no censors whatsoever and LA didn't mind it AT ALL. Yes sometimes the nudity was forced at times, but in others they felt slightly justified (eg. beach episode, clothing tearing or damaged in battle or just some of the harem in *ahem* fanservicey outfits etc.)

The voice acting was on par with the first season and LA overall enjoyed it. LA will keep this section short, but there were TWO great as well as surprising voice actors from this and that was Yukiyo Fujii as Kiriha as the great voice actor for this anime as she plays a cold-hearted yet with a heart of gold character and just overall Yukiyo's mysterious and teasing dark haired girl vocals about her was an obvious playing against the type role for her. The other voice actor? Satomi Sato as Shirona Kuraki why?...because LA hasn't seen Satomi take on such vocals since her role as Nana from Golden Time, only this time she's a powerful shaman and she ACTS like one too...just DAMN was LA surprised it was her.

Strike the Blood II is a good continuation of the first season by adding in arcs that affects the majority of the main characters, new and old as well as previous plot points from the first season being brought up and put into focus in this second season. Strike the Blood II fulfills what any fan of this series wants what with it's "To aru Majutsu no Index"-like plot progression, awesome supernatural fights to save the world, world building, new harem members and *cough* uncensored fanservice *cough* and sure coincidences happen all these arcs and it does happen at times to move the plot forward but nonetheless LA still enjoyed this second season all things considered. Strike the Blood II had it's problems like it's first season but it also had the same to almost a better flair from the first season with higher stakes and utilizing it's new characters quite well in some respects even with its 8 episode screentime.

*cough* Sayaka Kirisaka best girl *cough*...

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Should I watch Princess Lover?

Should I watch Princess Lover?

note: Im LA
Money is a fickle thing, the richer your are, it's expected you will be better off but is that always true?.

Princess Lover! as an ecchi harem anime, there was actually alot of potential this anime had and by all means it succeeded in some, in others...well lets start with the characters shall we?

Character-wise, we have our typical harem cast archetypes with a semi-interesting main male protagonist. Shirou- Teppei Arima voiced by Takuma Terashima is our typical "wanting to protect and care for his harem" type with a tragic backstory added to him. The tragic backstory of his parents dying leaving him to his grandfather actually kickstarts the anime but that isn't really his bright spot for the Teppei as a character, it's more or less what happens when a normal teenager is now brought to a place of wealth (it might sound off but LA will get to this later). Sakur- Yuu Fujikura voiced by Yuki Matsuoka becomes Teppei's personal maid and is the typical nice girl who minds Teppei, she is LA's favourite character in this anime, no not only because LA has a thing for maids, but also because her typical nice girl and the minder to Teppei is a nice combination of NOT getting her annoying and helping Teppei's cause at the same time. Ride- Charlotte Hazelrink voiced by Ryouka Yuzuki is our resident genki girl and ALWAYS happy in any situation and she is our MAIN focus of this entire anime, why does LA say this?, well she's the first girl Teppei meets, she has the most screentime even outside of her main plotline and the anime itself is gunning for Charlotte and Teppei to be together as this relationship also gets the most screentime...LA didn't like this turn of events, she wasn't an absolute detriment to the anime as her plotline leads to one of the grander themes to Princess Lover!, but LA wished some of the other harem members could get if any screentime. Rin- Seika Houjouin voiced by Emiri Katou is your resident tsundere and strict "club president" type character and she gets a small arc to herself that ties into her and Teppei grandfather's family issues and LA didn't mind it but like any harem member with a small arc and gets added to the harem, she fawns and tsundere's over Teppei. Finally we have Sab- Sylvia van Hossen voiced by Megumi Toyoguchi the character with the most wasted potential within this harem and quite honestly the LEAST amount of screentime in LA's eyes. Why?, well Sylvia becomes Teppei's fiancee through Teppei's grandfather Isshin Arima. This is interesting as we could see how Teppei would have felt being forced to marry Sylvia and then later on Sylvia and Teppei might fall in love naturally and break the social structure OR Sylvia and Teppei liking each other but rebelling at their forced marriage just something like that but again...due to Charlotte being the main focus, this was just wasted potential from LA. LA still preferred Yuu as favourite, but Sylvia was probably the most interesting character in the harem. Also if LA's hinting isn't obvious enough, kinda a coincidence that the harem members were carbon copied from Fate stay night right?

For minor characters, it's expected that most of them supporting characters for a harem anime, but LA would note that the majority of the minor cast do have some semblance of screentime whether it be Haruhiko Nezu voiced by Minoru Shiriashi the butt monkey of the cast, Ayano Kaneko and Erika Takezono voiced by Nozomi Sasaki and Kaoru Mizuhara being Seika's posse members and Alfred voiced by Yousuke Akimoto, the extremely clingy butler of Charlotte.

Princess Lover!'s plot progression is albeit quick even for a 12 episode anime, consisting of 3 "arcs" in a ways, the Introduction arc focusing on what's going on and introducing the majority of the characters along with Teppei's situation of finding his parent's killers, Seika's arc along with the Hot Springs Meta Episode (Don't ask) then Charlotte's arc that gets serious. Now how the mood is placed, LA thought this anime would get extremely moodswinging due to how it gets "serious" and "comes out of nowhere" or stupid comedically ecchi moments appear but LA by the end didn't really see this, the anime was always goofy and ecchi as hell even when it's serious, minor characters and especially Charlotte backs up it's goofiness even in the most serious at times (also see the two dorky "terrorists", Nezu and gratitous amounts of fanservice). Like harems that are comedic ecchifest animes doesn't ALWAYS need to be like this, look at The World God Only Knows: Goddesses arc and hell Highschool DxD did this!, a harem isn't just limited to it's premise.

If there was anything LA could actually be annoyed by the plot is Sylvia's screentime taken away by Charlotte instead and adds to the missed potential Sylvia as a character would of had. Although it wasn't from the first episode, but it becomes quite noticeable almost blaring out like an S.O.S signal that this won't be a balanced harem and the Hot Springs Pact disguising as if it would was a lame attempt in thinking that no one other than Charlotte would win this harem.

So about Teppei's situation of being brought into a world of wealth through his grandfather is actually an interesting theme to this anime, as the majority of the harem and characters are aristocrats or of royalty or wealthy businesswomans, seeing Teppei being the average guy and STILL being one by the end of it is actually quite interesting as he is unaffected by money or power and this fuels his want to protect people due to his parents dying. This dynamic actually works pretty well and even Charlotte's arc main villain is essentially a polar opposite character to Teppei only this time the villain took the wrong path and doesn't care about anyone but himself and his ambitions. Princess Lover! underlying theme tucked under the forced panty shots and harem antics does shows us that even if your rich, you can quite easily have even newer problems as well as the fact that you might self destruct yourself if your not careful with your money. Cheesy enough as it sounds, this notion is kinda manifested in Teppei of that having power and money isn't everything.

On speaking of fanservice.......HELLLLLLLLLLLO uncensored glory, yup the anime is completely uncensored and although the forced panty shots and jiggle physics is strong in this one, the fanservice is pretty plentiful albeit forced typical for an ecchi harem anime.

The animation done by GoHands has GoHands'...hands all over it. From the typical shining effect to the decent enough backgrounds that could make JJ Abrams blush. The character designs are pretty polished and exotic, this is kinda obvious to the wealthy characters, special mention probably goes to Sylvia's normal outfit. The fights that happen in this anime is sparse but ok enough, though the fencing and swordplay are decent to look at. Overall, yes LA thought the animation was typical of GoHands and decent to look at.

The voice acting.....well NORIO WAKAMOTO as Isshin Arima, man LA heard him in quite a while. Yuki Matsuoka, Megumi Toyoguchiand Ryouka Yuzuki were pretty good however LA's surprising voice actor would go to Emiri Katou as Seika, mainly because Emiri is typecasted as the genki of the harem members, here?...she's the strict tsundere character?...yeah LA wasn't expecting it and she does it pretty well.

LA also thought that because of it's themes being taken full circle along with Teppei's resolution taken place during the finale, LA thought the ending was done pretty well for Teppei and this anime's themes quite well. Not so much with how the harem ending...ends with a harem ending with Teppei still not choosing even though it's goddamn obvious that he's gonna be with Charlotte.

So Princess Lover! kinda got LA torn over many elements to it by the end of it. LA liked it's grander themes of being rich not always being ideal and safe, Princess Lover! knowing itself and it's limitations and wanting to be different if it could and tried, the decent ending, the animation and voice acting being decent, however with Sylvia's and Yuu's lesser screentime due to Charlotte highjacking the plot and forced panty shots and fanservice and finally having that harem ending. Princess Lover! isn't that bad, yes it has it's problems and sometimes those problems are due to LA's own bias due to best girl and all but LA just can't hate it but it's not great either.

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