Why Do Anime Fans Still Pirate Anime?

Oh boy, this post is going to be loaded...

Pirating is one of those minor crimes that almost everyone's been guilty of at some point. Whether it's music, TV shows, movies, or anime, it's been pirated and many of us have indulged it before.

But recently streaming services have taken the world by storm, giving widespread access to movies, TV shows, and music legally. As you can imagine, the pirating of these entertainment mediums have declined over the past few years.

Why is this?

People are willing to pay their hard earned cash for good services. While piracy can never be completely stopped, high-quality services help reduce it.

So why does the anime community pirate content so frequently and not want to stop?

#1 It's Free

I know, I know. This is the most obvious answer but it does apply and for more reasons than one. 

How many times have you asked a friend to give your favorite show a chance? Well, if someone wanted to get into anime, they can't just change the channel. Sure, AdultSwim will show maybe a grand TWO shows a day, but you're really not getting much choice when it comes to tuning in for your favorite show.

Think of it this way, if you wanted to give a specific show a chance, if it's not anime and it's currently airing, you most likely have it included with your TV package.

We anime fans don't have that luxury. So for the many low-income people and honestly, most people already paying for their entertainment monthly, this comes at a great inconvenience for anyone wanting to find anime.

#2 Free (Legal) Anime Streaming Is Terrible

The number one thing people bring up in the comments (YouTube, forums, etc.) is;

"There are several free legal streaming sites you could be using. You're just making excuses at this point."

Uh huh, but have you tried Crunchyroll or Funimation? Yeah, it really isn't very good. The video players are complete trash. It takes forever to load, glitches all the time, and the ads are RAMPANT.

And Crunchyroll is the worst offender.

Now, I can understand having ads on free streaming. It makes sense, you gotta make the money somewhere. But if you ever watch their free streaming, the ads are for their own website and have 4 - 5 of them in one episode! 

Why is this a bad thing?

THEY AREN'T MAKING MONEY FROM THE ADS and it will take you almost 45 minutes just to get through one episode! This means they're just throwing them in there to waste your time and patience. 

Say what you will about the pirating site's, but even they aren't that invasive. Why is Crunchyroll screwing everyone over? I'll never know. Funimation is better but not by enough. With the way the free streaming is handled, why is anyone surprised?

As soon as a video starts glitching taking MINUTES to load, you can bet that they're going to go right back to pirating. 

#3 Anime Is Expensive, and Sometimes, Unavailible

Here's an unusual example: If you wanted to buy Fat/Zero for your library, you'd better be rich or starve that month, because the only legal release is over $300. Not kidding, and something as simple as this will turn anyone towards piracy.

$300 is far too much to pay. Even the "reasonably priced" anime costs $45 for part 1 of a whole season, so if you wanted to own season 1, it's going to cost you a pretty $65 - $90.

A normal season from any other type of show would cost around $45. Pricing like this is unreasonable. Luckily, this is slowly changing and you can find some shows for $45 on Amazon, but this pricing is varied greatly.

Also, you're pretty much out of luck if you live outside of the US and Japan, because a lot of anime isn't licensed for overseas. When you back that many people into a corner you're leading them directly towards those pirating sites you hate. Honestly, can we really blame them? 

Anime isn't a genre, it's its own entertainment medium.

This is like telling the majority of the world that they can't watch the new Marvel film or a popular TV show. It's cutting off too many people from something that they should have access to. Believe it or not, most people that are pirating right now would love to pay for anime, but this is making it downright impossible for millions.

If an anime isn't in your corner of the world, piracy is practically your only choice.

#4 Anime Streaming Isn't Worth The Money

What if there was a way we could have all the anime we want in one place for a reasonable price?

THERE ISN'T.

Okay, okay. But what if there was? Would you pay for it?

I think pretty much everyone with a job would, and piracy would be a bit less common. Unfortunately, this isn't an option that exists and most won't pay for a streaming service. 

Here's why:

- No one service has the shows you want

This seems reasonable at first, but when you realize that ONLY Amazon has Made in Abyss... you're going to be frustrated that you have to pay two companies to get the shows you want.

- Very few people can afford to pay for every subscription

As mentioned, no subscription has all the shows on your watchlist, so most people say; "Well unless you want to be a criminal, you're going to pay for all of your shows!" If someone could afford it they might. But seriously, this is beyond ridiculous to ask of the average viewer.

If you paid for every mainstream service this is what you'll be billed monthly: 

Crunchyroll - $6.95

Funimation - $5.99

Hulu - $7.99 + $4.99 if you want it ad free

Anime Strike - $4.99

Assuming you want this all ad-free, that'd be a grand total of:

$30.91 !!!

Yeah, a lot of people aren't going to want to pay that just to have their anime needs met. Suddenly pirating is starting to make sense.

This is the problem.

If people want it legally, they're paying $31 for their anime and it's not even in one place! Most of these services aren't even that good. Remember what I mentioned in #2? It gets better when you pay but the user experience is still deplorable, and it's for that reason many are unsubscribing. They're paying hard earned money for weak services. While I don't condone the act of piracy, you must admit it makes sense that it's happening so frequently.

So please, to anyone who's considering making a proper anime streaming service, you will have the customers if your service is good. 

In fact, we're all dying to pay for one. But until the right one comes around, I'm afraid that most anime fans are going to keep doing what they're doing, and pirating will continue on extreme levels.

Thanks for reading, guys! 

What do you think about anime pirating? Is it justified, or should it be condemned? Do you think the pirates would be willing to pay for anime if the right service was available? 

Let me know in the comments!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Why you should watch Megalo Box - A new anime classic!

Good day, readers!

Today, we'll be putting the spotlight on an anime that aired in February of this year. It was made as a love letter to Ashita No Joe but has an identity all its own. It took the anime community by surprise and was a delight for us to watch.

That's right! Today, we're talking about -

Megalo Box

Since you've read the title of this post, I'll just jump straight to the point. 

Megalo Box is one of the best shows to come out this year (2018), but it's mostly been overlooked by the Ashita No Joe fans and not many people are actually talking about it. It certainly seems to fit in the category of a "hidden gem." But this begs the question... why?

It seems like people were watching, but its quality has been vastly underappreciated by our community. If you went to YouTube and looked it up, no doubt your favorite anime reviewers have covered it, but otherwise people are rather silent.

How can something be so highly regarded by reviewers and yet still have a dismal appreciation from the anime community overall?

Well, if you're on the fence about giving this new classic anime a try, let this post put your questions to rest.

Here's why you should watch Megalo Box!

#1 The Story

Compared to the many complex stories in the anime universe, Megalo Box's will sound almost too simple:

A small-time boxer called "Junk Dog" wants to break into the big leagues and has to work his way to the top.

Despite its simplicity, Megalo Box stands strong with this premise. There are so many ways this could have gone wrong, but the show is unapologetic with it and offers several other elements on top of this basic plot.

I've never been drawn into a sports anime like this before, and the writing is what makes this show so addictive. It's a show about futuristic boxing, but it doesn't rely on the fights to keep you interested. In fact, there are quite a few interesting factors to keep you glued to your seat besides the action:

- The interesting character backgrounds
- The respect between rivals... or lack thereof
- What real boxing is about, and what makes a REAL fighter
- Tech vs raw talent and skill
- The life-threatening stakes at risk if they fail
- The main antagonist
- What Megalo Boxing means to each fighter, both personally and professionally

There are many things that add to the overall story of Megalo Box, and I wouldn't dare spoil any of it for you here. But trust me, the elements listed above add so much to this show and make it truly unique from other sports anime.

It's not just about winning, but fighting for a brighter tomorrow :)

#2 The Characters

Oh my gosh, the characters!

Upon first glance or the first introduction to each character you may be thinking; 

"Okay. I've seen this before, but whatever. At least the designs are cool."

BOY is that an underestimation of these characters. Each of them seems so simple, but as the story goes on, the more we learn, and the more we learn the more we see these characters as unique and special. I haven't seen every anime so maybe they've been done to death, but I know good characters when I see them. 

Even the fighters that Junk Dog goes against are interesting. The one-offs are good fun, and the episode focused fighters are well developed. You actually start to care about the opposition, or at the very least understand them. This makes the fighting in the show less conventional and always adds something new to the Megalo Boxing match.

Yuri, in particular, is fascinating.  You can call him the villain if you want, but he is first and foremost an antagonist. 

"What's the difference?" I hear you ask. Well, let me tell ya.

A villain is a character with villainous intentions and is the hero's number one enemy. But an antagonist is more of an obstacle, someone not necessarily evil but still in opposition to the protagonist.

In Yuri's case, he's Junk Dog's main obstacle. The guy standing at the top that he needs to face... and in my opinion, the most interesting character in the show.

And trust me, every character in this anime is interesting!

You learn about their backgrounds, characteristics and make you want to see more from them. I can't say too much, otherwise, we'd be getting into spoiler territory, but these characters truly make Megalo Box great.

Jump on in and see for yourself. You won't regret it :)

#3 The Music

The last time I got so hyped by a show's music alone was the first season of Attack on Titan. This soundtrack is truly a treat and more than deserves a section on this list.

Anyone who's seen the show will tell you it's like a mix of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. The music by Aimer (エメ) has a fresh and unique sound and one track, in particular, will never fail to get you hyped!

Here, just give it a try and you'll hear for yourself :)

Now, imagine this playing at just the right moments, the moments that make you want to stand up and cheer. This music is truly something to behold and when it's paired with the story, characters, and animation, you too will feel the insane hype this show creates!

#4 The Animation

Do you know the main difference between Star Wars and almost every old sci-fi film and show?

If you're uncultured, this may not be an easy thing to answer. But for those of us who've watched media from different times, old and new, know.

Star Wars had grit.

Think about it for a second. The ships, the planets, the costumes, practically everything in (the OG) Star Wars felt lived in, dirty and grimy. One of the main things you could expect from a sci-fi film is a sense of cleanliness as if this futuristic environment had learned how to keep every spec of dirt off those bleached white walls.

While this may be aesthetically pleasing for some, there's something about seeing dirt and age in a film's environment. It makes it feel more... real. Star Wars felt like a real universe where people lived, and this was one of many reasons it stood out at the time.

This is the same reason it adds to Megalo Box's atmosphere. Too many anime in recent years have been animated completely 'dirt' free and thus feels more cartoony. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but just like the sci-fi films of old, sometimes we get tired of clean and hunger for a world that looks lived in.

This grit style is also reminiscent of anime from the 90's, which garners a nostalgic appreciation from fans of the older shows. The 90's style doesn't even hold it back. If you watch any episode you can see how much care and effort went into it.

The animation may not be as clean, but that doesn't detract from how amazing it looks!

Conclusion

Megalo Box is a great show with good characters, excellent animation, and unique music. Is it perfect? No, but nothing really is. One thing's for sure, this show is worth a watch... or a binge marathon, depending on how enthusiastic you get X)

If you're into::

- Underdogs

- Sports

- Interesting characters

- 90's anime shows with grit

Then this show is right up your alley!

Thank you so much for reading!

Have you seen Megalo Box? Are you going to give it a chance? What do you think makes this show special?

Tell me what you think in the comments :)

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

THE BIGGEST ONE PIECE THEORY

THE INHERITED WILL, "ONE PIECE"

"THE VOID CENTURY"

Let’s summarize things first :

As we know, there was an age called “The Void Century” in OP’s world timeline. Except Roger’s pirate, not a single living soul on this planet have any idea what the really happened within that gap.

However an Oharan archelogoist, Profesor Clover, had a slight hint about it. He told us that in that time there was once stood a prosperous and powerful ancient kingdom that ruled over the ocean. However, They had a certain enemy. This enemy felt threaten by the kingdoms existence and their certain ‘policy’. So then they invaded the kingdom and succeded. The kingdom was fallen to shred and somehow, the enemy managed to wipe out every single information about them from history. 

Coincidentally, The end of the kingdom’s reign also marked the end of The Void Century. At the same time, an organization called The World Government was built for the first time. Clover had a theory that the WG was none other than the enemy itself.

Now let’s enter the theory :

================================================== =========================





"THE HIDDEN PATTERN"


“

There are 3 things that cannot be stopped :

Men’s Dream
The Flow of Time
Inherited Will

As long as people continue to seek the true meaning of freedom, they will never ceased to be!

”

-- Gol D. Roger --

As these words first appeared in chapter 100, they seems pretty meaningless to me. I took them as nothing more than some random cool quotes. 

However, as sthe story goes deeper, I realized (and some of you might have figured it out as well) that One Piece story has been consistenly following those 3 things : Man’s Dream, The Flow of Time, Inherited Will. 

Let’s see :

1. Hiluluk's Sakura

Hiluluk had an impossible goal, and that was to create a panacea capable of curing all kind of diseases or ilness. however his experiments kept failing for 30 years. though eventually, Hiluluk's Sakura was bloomed, it is still not a miracle cure. Chopper who greatly respect to Dr. Hiluluk inherited these will by setting sail and joining Luffy.

2. Golden Bell of Shandorian

Two best friends parted ways on the shores of Jaya. Their friendship didn’t end here, they promised to meet again someday. Calgara kept ringing the golden bell so his friend wouldn't get lost in his way there. Unfortunately, the fate decided to send Island of Jaya 10.000 m above the sky. Calgara died in the war, while Norland was executed in his hometown. Their promise were totally buried.

400 years later, a boy named Luffy succesfully found and rang the long lost bell, thus fulfilling the forgotten promise.

3. All Blue

Zeff wanted to find the legendary all blue, but a year of sailing the grand line hasn’t bear him any fruit. However he was still pretty assured that the ocean exists somewhere in this world, so he inherited his dream to Sanji, hoping that Sanji will achieve his dream someday in the future.

I only picked 3 examples, but there are actually more of them. So, does anyone see the bigger picture ? well, Here is what I meant :

1. In the past, there’s someone who had a certain dream/desire/promise, but for a reason or two they didn’t manage to complete it (Man’s Dream)

2. The dream was delayed for many years (The Flow of Time)

3. Eventually, there will be someone in the future who will complete his/her dream (Inherited Will)

That’s right, starting from the first chapter up till now, the storyline has ALWAYS been following this very pattern. I’m quite surprised myself, we’ve been through this pattern over and over again, though I’m sure fery few people are aware of it. I call it “the golden pattern” (because Gold Roger created it). 

This made me think, "wouldn’t Roger has the pattern of his own as well?" My curiosity was finally answered in chapter 576.

Spoiler: 

Gol D. Roger is the first and, as of yet, only known "D."-bearer in the storyline to have discovered its meaning. The second thing about the D is the "Inherited Will" which passes down generation from generation according to Roger and Whitebeard.

So apperantly Roger had this will, a will that has been inherited for hundred years. And he waited for certain somoene to carry on this will… somehow it also has something to do with One Piece.

So what’s is this all about? What exactly was Roger’s will?

================================================== =========================



"ROGER’S DREAM"

The Golden Pattern 

(everything for this point is a theory based on the intel we have collected so far)
MEN’S DREAM

Roger’s will that Whitebeard was talking about, isn't his original will. Roger inherited it as well from waaay back then, from 800 years ago to be precise. Yes, it was originally the will of The Ancient Kingdom (let’s call it AK from now on).

The AK was a big kingdom, it ruled over almost the whole world (just like WG does now). They apparently also had a pretty-advanced civilization. One could say that there’s almost nothing they couldn’t achieve with everthing they got at the time.

However they had an issue. As we know, the planet of OP contains of big four seas, east, west, north, and south, each were separated by the Red Line and the Grand Line. The AK saw Red Line and Grand Line as a big obstacle because they have been been preventing people from traveling from one sea to another, thus preventing the AK from reaching its full prosperity as well.

And So they made this project, an insane one, but has to be done. The project was about eliminating the Red Line and Grand Line to fuse the 4 seas into one big ocean, the united ocean. The called it the project of “One Piece”. In order to do so, they started to build some weapons which will be strong enough to destroy the red line (later called Ancient Weapons)

It turned out that not everybody was pleased by this project.. you know, politics. Some other kingdoms were totally against it, they smell a conspiracy was playing behind it. But the AK stood their ground no matter what. Guess what happened next? a huge war broke out. It’s the AK vs 20 kingdoms who were against the project of "One Piece”. 

The 20 kingdoms came out as the victor and they declared themselves as The World Government. Meanwhile the AK was reduced to shred, along with all their historiy, and the “One Piece” project was never heard again since then.


THE FLOW OF TIME
Unexpectedly, The AK has anticipated their downfall. Before the war begun they had carved historical notes on these certain metals which as hard as diamond(later called the poneglyphs) and hid them throughout the world, along with the weapons they’ve built. The AK really wanted to make sure that their desire wouldn’t die in case of anything bad happened to them.

the WG was mad with this fact and completetely prohibit any form of poneglyph dechipering.

but it's too late, the will has been passing through ages since then… silently waiting for someone to recieve the massage.


THE INHERITED WILL
800 years has passed, a pirate named Roger sucessfully reach Raftel and discovered the true history. He knows exactly what to do, but unfortunately his body didn’t allow him to… he had this incurable disease, remember? whereas the project needs a lot of power and time to complete, 2 things that Roger didn’t have that time.

Therefore, he decided to create The Golden Age of Piracy instead, hoping that there will appear someone who is strong and righteous enough to complete the massage in his place. 

Who will be that ‘someone’? I think we all know the answer. :D

================================================== =========================


"THE PROJECT OF ONE PIECE"

Now… how exactly does this project work? Will fusing 4 seas into a united ocean make Luffy’s journey worthy?


Let me explain it… It’s gonna be a bit technical so I’ll include some ilustrations.


So here is roughly how the globe looks like.

And this is the flat(word?) version :

The idea of “One Piece” is to create a united ocean, a perfect ocean to sail. Therefore we have two jobs : fusing all the seas into one and eliminating Grand Line abnormality. GL’s abnormality? Is that even possible?

Apparently it is possible for the AK scientists. The trick is destroy a spot where every sea on the planet (north, west, east, south, grand line, new world, and calm belt) meet in one place. There is a spot like that? Actually, there are two, and both need to be destroyed. The two spots are reverse mountain and mariejoa/fishman island.

a simple ilustration :

And here is the meeting spot, the circled area one :

Think for a moment there… It made sense right? Mariejoa/fishman island also has a similar geography (minus the reverse canals).

The meeting spot are set. Next, the ancient weapons will do their job : annihilating those spots.

Ok let’s do it to reverse mountain first… FIRE IN THE HOLE!!

Even with the mighty power of the ancient weapons, the annihilation must be calculated and done correctly to get the wanted effect. If succeed, this what will happen next :

Losing a huge mass of land, The sea became even more unstable than before, a big whirlpool will appeared on the center of destruction spot, storms and tidal wave occuring everywhere. However they’re only temporary, after a couple days the raging storm shall be subsided.

And then, the magic began… 

disastrous random-weather on grand line and NW suddenly doesn’t occur anymore
the magnetic field which make a normal compass useless are completely gone
Even the wind starting to blow on Calm Belt 

How about sea monsters? Well, this is the time where Poseidon come to play. The Poseidon has fully taken control of the sea king and make them some kind of ‘police’ of the ocean to prevent other sea monsters from going wild. (yes I do think this is very possible)

The ideal united ocean is finally created . The project of One Piece officialy succeeded!!


But is that it???


It’s not. There’s actually one more after-effect, and it’s the most important one.

The big whirlpool that appeared after the destruction of reverse mountain, It happened because the water mass of the four seas simultaneously flowed into the center of destruction -- the place where reverse mountain was stood once. Logically, that means every kind of living things which originally lives in four seas were brought there as well. You literally could find every fish species from all over the world here.

Wait, was that sounds familiar? Exactly, the destruction spot has became that legendary mythical sea…

The United Ocean and the legendary All Blue

At least 6 of Strawhats’s dream will be accomplished because of these achievementt.

Luffy -> he wanted to be the pirate king, “the man who has the most freedom in the ocean”. now that the ocean has been united, Luffy has literally achieved this feat.

Sanji -> it's obvious, he finally found the All Blue

Nami -> now that the entire ocean is free to sail, drawing world map is not so impossible anymore

Franky -> same reason with Nami, Sunny now can travel all over the world

Robin -> all of this happened because she found out the true history

Brook -> Ever wonder how Brook will return to the Twin Cape to meet Laboon? It seems impossible because the reverse mountain was in the way. But now, it’s GONE! They’ll meet again with ease, Bink’s Sake will be played along their emotional reunion. It will be a perfect moment.

Now how about the spot at mariejo/fishman island ??

================================================== =========================


“THE PROMISED DAY”

This mermaid… she didn’t lie at all. . She was actually foreseeing the event we’ve been talking about : the project of One Piece. And It is indeed Luffy who will trigger the event.


The ancestor of FI were actually well awared of this upcoming event. 

How so? Here’s another theory : Joy Boy, he was actually the king of the AK.


Ok I know that sounds so random. There’s a theory for that but let’s save it for later… 


Like a said, destroying both reverse mountain and fishman island is a must to complet the project. Therefore, King Joy Boy made a proposal of destroying FI to the former mermaid princess, Poseidon. She agreed but as an exchange she asked Joy Boy to move her people to a better place on the surface. Joy Boy gave a nod and started building Noah Arc afterwards. 

Joy Boy managed to finish Noah but short after his kingdom lost a great battle against the 20 kingdoms. The promised cannot be fullfilled and he apoligized to Poseidon through poneglyph. However he still promised her “that day” would eventually come in the future, the day when fishmen and mermen live under the sun.

(You see that Oda used the another “golden pattern” again here)


------------------

Conclusion : 

“The promised day” and madam shirley’s prediction, they are actually the same thing. 

The scenario is pretty simple : at “the promised day” Luffy will trigger the attack on the destruction spot, but before that, Shirahoshi will command the seaking to move all of the FI’s citizen to a safer place (by using Noah).

Once destroyed, the same magic which happened to reverse mountain spot will also be happened here. The All Blue will appear, replacing the destruction spot. mermen and fishmen will move here later and make a brand new civilization around the Sunny Tree of Eve (if Sunny Tree has the same reputation with Adam tree, it will completely survive the destruction. There are ilustrations for this but I lost it somewhere ).





DISCLAIMER:

THIS THEORY WAS CREATED BY A CREATIVE PEROSN WHO GOES BY THE NAME :Ashura_KingFisher .

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Guide to watching anime

HOW TO WATCH ANIME?

"What the f***?, Is this dude crazy or what?"
I know these are the things that most of you are thinking and I get where you come from. Just bear with me for 10 minutes. 10 minutes of your time and the way you watch anime will change for the rest of your life. Before I scare all my readers off, let me list a few problem that all otakus face while watching anime :

1. body ache 
2. eye strain
3.  difficulty in finding a comfortable "anime binging" position

And what do all these problems result in?
Well, let me list those too:

1. Hunchback
2. eye strain 
3. fatigue
4. headache
5. nausea 

And if you don't want to end up with  thicc glasses with -10 power or an ugly ass posture, you better stick till the end and read something useful for once.

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So now,without any further ado, lets get into the actual content.

All of us who have watched anime have had times where we plan on watching like 50 episodes of one piece  or any other anime just to catch up with the darn thing and ended up watching like 10 episodes instead. If you haven't had that experience, you can go somewhere else. This isnt for you. But if you have, which I know, most of you have, then this is the right place for you.

Now that I have listed all the problems, lets get to the solution. 

lets deal with the uncomfortable position first. in order to avoid the uncomfortable position do the following :

"1. Sit in a relaxed and supported position so that you are not "hunching" over your phone, and so that you have something holding you up/supported so that your muscles don't have to (a good chair, pillows, a rock, whatever)
2. Lay the phone on your lap so that you are not holding the phone up with your hand/arm; try to relax them at your sides/lap.
3. Try not to lean your head down/forward so you can avoid neck strain; use your eye position to read the phone. Let the head/neck rest against something (furniture, etc.) 

* The main idea is to have your body not exerting itself much to maintain the posture for the activity you are requiring it to do.  If you ignore this, the muscles experience fatigue and then strain, which produces pain and weakness.  While using your "device", whatever it is, wherever it is, close your eyes for a moment and feel which areas of your body are tensing to maintain the posture. " [QUORA] 

YES, IM LAZY I WASNT GOING TO WRITE THAT WHOLE THING

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Here are some great products that simplify the problems in a great way. Better to buy there for like 20 bucks instead or spending 1000's of dollars on a back surgery or an eye surgery later on.




1.  Avantree Cell Phone Clip Holder

This is a great product for watching anime or movies. Basically anything. This product clips onto your bed and a extender holds the phone for you while you lay down and binge watch anime.




Or you could get one of these:





Eye strain solution:

Most of us watch anime at night with all the lights turned off because there is no glare or any of that problem with the screen but this is absolutely terrible for your eyes. In order to prevent that I suggest using a dim light and maintaining ti distance between you eyes and screen. Also, take a 5 minute break for like every three episodes and look away from the screen from time to time. 



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Well, thats all guys. If you thought that this guide was helpful please share it. You might know all this stuff but hopefully if helped. If you are going to buy any of the products do so with the links above and no I'm not a salesperson. lol.
well, ill be back with more content later.

Thanks for sticking until the very end. 

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Should I watch Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei?

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei

To be honest, I was a little leery about picking up this installment of the Higurashi franchise. The first Higurashi series was a blast, but Kai left a bit of a bitter aftertaste with how it handled its two crucial arcs. Still, I wanted to see where the series could go despite not knowing what to expect and even after all of the questions were already answered. I’m glad I did.

Be advised: The first and last OVA are nothing like the rest of this short series. They serve as comedic buffers to the main storyline in which humor makes virtually no appearances at all. In light of this, some viewers may see these episodes as out of place and understandably so. If you are a fan of the brand of humor Higurashi had at the beginning of its arcs, then you’ll be right at home here. Both episodes are full of pretty good laughs, and that’s saying something for a series that is more known for shocking its viewers. If it’s not your cup of tea, then feel free to skip them. The remaining episodes make little to no reference of either one, so critical information won’t be lost.

With that out of the way, the focal point of this OVA can shine. The Dice Killing Arc, which consists of the middle three episodes, is everything that Kai could have and should have been. The storytelling displayed here is done exceptionally well, as everything moves at a decent clip. There isn’t an opportunity to slow down due to the short length of this arc, so each event cuts to the chase and moves on without having to resort to pointless dialogue or reiterated ideas to fill the gap. Despite the increased pacing, Rei never loses track of itself or advances too quickly to the point where information is lost. A note also has to be made for the vastly improved art and animation. Rei takes full advantage of an OVA’s increased budget and sports some very vibrant colors and smooth frame rates throughout its run. It’s nice to finally see a chapter of this franchise rendered with more attention to artistic detailing.

Suspense can be a tricky storytelling element to use; if it is used too much, then the story can drag for unnecessarily long periods of time and become tedious to watch. Thankfully, Rei handles this aspect wonderfully. No time is wasted between each reveal, which keeps things fresh on the plotline. As each pro or con of the new world is revealed, the situation becomes more engrossing, and the viewer is pulled even further into Rika’s shoes. The ultimatum that she faces is one that anyone would have trouble answering. This new Hinamizawa is Rika’s equivalency of the Garden of Eden; it is the world without sin or tragedy that she has desired for her entire existence without the sacrifices that had to be made to get it. Watching her agonize over which world is the correct one to choose left me hanging on the edge of my seat and made me wonder what I would do in her situation. That kind of connection with a character is a strong device to use, and it is used perfectly.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Rei takes the pacing of the first season, the suspense of the second season, and combines them both in a neat, little package that doesn’t fail to deliver a solid story. With or without the first and last episodes, this series still brings some redemption to the franchise and vaults itself high on my list of recent OVA releases at the same time.

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Kuzu no Honkai Anime Review

Kuzu no Honkai Anime Review:

ZephSilver

When someone considers themselves or others to be connoisseurs of any storytelling media, there are specific prerequisites expected from that individual that's usually understood without the need to outright state it. These factors can include being well-versed with different genres within the medium in question, to more demanding things, like understanding the construct in which the medium expresses its ideas. But out of all these unspoken base requirements, I think the most important one is something that's usually acknowledged but often taken for granted. That something in question is a hands-on understanding of the subject matter itself. 

Without that attribute, an exhausted catalog of literary knowledge and understanding of narrative tools is rendered almost pointless. Being book smart amounts to nothing without practical experience, or at the very least, first-hand encounters. Think of it this way, knowing about an archetype or trope is only as valuable as understanding what worldly influence caused it to exist, to begin with. Anyone can comprehend a creator's intent all day, but without an inkling of relation to it, all diegetic information could only be taken for what it is at face value.

Now, with that in mind, it's time to take a quick litmus test; ladies and gentlemen, Kuzu no Honkai (Scum's Wish) is average.

Quickly, what was your initial thought after reading that statement? Did you think that was an outlandish claim to make? That Scum's Wish is far from average and that the claim made was purposefully contrarian or, for the lack of a better word, attention-seeking? How can an anime that explore sexual decadents with such unfiltered restraint be considered "average" by any means? Most relationship anime don't even get past first base, so how can that claim be justified?

If you've already come to a similar conclusion regarding Scum's Wish before reading my statement, bear with me, as for everyone else that possibly rattled off something similar to the aforementioned thought process, time to explain why.

One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, The O.C, Dawson's Creek, 90210, Pretty Little Liars, Gilmore Girls; what do these live-action TV shows have in common? Well, for one, they're centered around teens or young adults dealing with relationship drama in very exaggerated ways. And secondly, and perhaps more important as well, they're usually understood by most astute viewers to be conventional television programming. No critical thinker or demanding viewer worth their salt is singing high praises about these shows. The reason why is pretty simple, apart from being well-cultured in several different mediums that is. The discernment for shows of this ilk ties back to that essential requirement I mentioned: having hands-on experience.

If your firsthand encounter with the drama Scum's Wish wraps itself up in is close to none, praising it becomes easy to do. However, if you've ever been involved in any relationship, where you and the party in question were mutually in it for sexual gratification, then what Scum's Wish tries to depict gradually gets more juvenile and diluted with each passing episode. Anyone of the bottled sexual/sensual encounters it indulges in can be believable on its own, but when meshed together to the degree in which every single character in immediate circles in the show is involved in a daisy chain of intimate depravity, it becomes wholly unrealistic. Almost approaching the point of midday soap opera levels of contrived. This is sensationalized TV drama 101; the quintessential reason for why the phrase "sex sells" remain relevant for mainstay media.

Simply put, Scum's Wish is an animated version of your typical live-action teen/young adult drama TV show. 

Now, before we go on any further, let's make this clear, teen/young adult drama shows themselves aren't inherently devoid of substance. There are live-action TV shows like Friday Night Lights and My So-Called Life, and even animated titles such as Nana that receive widespread critical acclaim for the same kind of things depicted in Scum's Wish. But instead of sensationalizing the subject matter for the sake of capturing audience attention, those shows decide to represent the relationships of the characters in naturalistic ways. The key takeaway here is that those shows did NOT rely on sensationalizing its content. That's the difference between media that use sex in an exploitative manner, and those that incorporate it as just another facet of life in the narrative at hand. Having relatable scenarios don't amount to much if it's unrealistically presented in the confines of the story. The show takes itself seriously, but the situations themselves are vapid at best.

And that isn't even to say that theatrically sensationalized programming doesn't have its place in storytelling media either.

There's no shortage of TV shows that use sensationalism to its advantage; such is the case with TV series like Shameless. A show that purposefully acknowledges the fact that it's all about sex, violence, drugs, and mayhem. And if the namesake didn't already make that clear enough, it "shamelessly" uses these aspects to tell its story. But that's the difference between something that's purposely sleazy like Shameless and the likes of Scum's Wish. One show is self-aware of its overblown content while the other operates with an aura of conceit and pretension.

But enough with the long-winded preamble, let's discuss what the show is all about. Short answer: yearning for others and sexual depravity. Long answer:

For as long as she could remember, Hanabi "Hana" Ysuraoka has been infatuated with her neighbor, Narumi Kanai. Due to their single parent upbringing, from a young age, they quickly established their sort of family bond with each other, with Narumi becoming a frequent guest in Hanabi's household, to the point where she refers to him as her "big brother." Eventually, this infatuation Hanabi shares for Narumi slowly turn into a romantic interest. And as is the case with any story scenario of this nature, that love goes unnoticed as Narumi has his eyes set on someone else. That someone being the alluring music teacher and predestined rival, Akane Minagawa.
Being the object of affection to any guy that attends Hanabi's high school, Akane has no shortage of men fawning over her at any given time. With her strawberry blonde hair and an aura that just permeates femininity, Narumi became yet another victim piled up on that puppy-love laundry list.

With Akane and Narumi both being teachers, Hanabi's standing as a student further widens the gap between her and the one she loves, as she watches with each interaction they share slowly chipping away at her chances of ever having him to herself. Left in a state of emotional limbo, unable to do anything but watch as he gradually slips further out of reach; it's here, in this place of solitude that she finds out that she's not alone. A pair of eyes fixated with a familiar saddened gaze reflected in them stare at the cheerful adults as well. His name, Mugi Awaya. she may not know him, but that familiar bitter tinge of unrequited love that they mutually share leaves her a small glimmer of reassurance — "I don't have to suffer this alone." And so a pact is made by the pair, one signed with only physical comfort in mind; sexual relief; mutual resentment; a promise of no strings attached; emotions left harbored off from each other for that promised day. Friends with benefits with only one intent in mind, to eventually gain the affection of the person they truly yearn for.

A tragic, bittersweet, ill-fated romance. A setup that could take so many avenues of exploration and be successful at all of them if done right. It doesn't have to do much, just simply show the consequence of that kind of entangled emotional dependence as it affects the characters involved. Anything that toxic and shortsighted is bound to cause psychological scarring to anyone that participates. A dangerous game that some of us may have personally felt the backlash for at some point in our lives, after foolishly thinking that because "it's me, I know better." That somehow that meant the consequence wouldn't apply to us. A foolhardy belief that we could handle it where others weren't capable.
A continuous physical/sexual dependence on others will always come with a steep price of admission, whether it's immediately realized or comes on later in life during a silent night laying in bed, as thoughts of it creep in, festering in your idle mind. The foolishness of our now bruised ego, as we reflect on the stupid decisions of our past selves. Hubris in its purest form, with humility being the bitter pill we're made to swallow. 

And to the show's credit, it does a good enough job depicting that inevitability. The problem is that it doesn't just stop there, as it decides to go the whole nine yards, and then some. Instead of just settling with a believable depiction to carry this core message, Scum's Wish is too greedy to call it quits. It doesn't just want to depict that scenario; it wants to portray everything under the sun, exhausting every possible love/lust situation imaginable in an attempt to make every possible outcome into an attention-seeking circus act of sexual decadents. And it's because of this, what once started out as a reasonably believable scenario, has now been turned into a ludicrously overblown orgy fest.

Without getting into specific names or details, I'm going to describe the general plotting of this show. And no, I'm not exaggerating here, this is what truly happens:

Person A wants to be with person B, but person B wants to be with person C, and person C only desire attention, and person D wants to be with person C but settled for person A, while person E wants to be with person D, and person F wants to be with person A, and person G wants to be with person F, and person H wants to be with anyone who's willing, and person C uses person H, while person D uses person E, while person J and D use each other, and person A uses person F, and person H tries to use person A... and so on and so forth.

And again, this isn't an exaggeration; this is what actually happens when you sit down to map out the plot for each episode. To say this story is insanely contrived would be an understatement. There are shows with fatalism in it that manage to feel more naturally placed together. Any character that's recurring or has a name in this story is actively trying to bone each other.

There is absolutely nothing realistic about this intoxicating nonagonal love-web. And it's this web that actively defeats any victory laps the show achieves with any one of these smaller stories stuck inside it. This show does have genuine character beats and character arcs, but when all that's mired in content that's essentially one big exploitative fuck fest, it's hard to give it any credit whatsoever.

And while a majority of the characters' depicted have very despicable personalities, the show does dedicate a decent amount of time framing their mindset properly so that the audience could understand what makes them tick and why they carry themselves in the way they do. You don't necessarily have to like them, but you do understand how their thought process operates under certain circumstances. This is the definitive attribute it has over its much more cruddy sibling, School Days, where no time or effort was dedicated to any of the main lead's concubines. Scum's Wish, at the very least, gives the illusion that the characters presented are their own person, as with School Days, they were all just assembly-line fuck buddies. Not that it isn't the same case with Scum's Wish, in due time, they're all just reduced to sexual encounter cannon fodder as well. But with the time given beforehand to at least probe their psyche and reasoning behind their actions, they could still be considered to be "characters" by the end of it.

And speaking of School Days, not surprising enough, this sleazy brainchild was also penned by the same scriptwriter as well, Makoto Uezu. The man tends to over exaggerate everything he writes, and where that proves successful with his efforts in comedy-centric shows, for dramas, they have the adverse effect, as demonstrated here, in Arslan Senki, Akame ga Kill and of course, everyone's favorite, School Days. Adequately written drama is not the man's forte.

And speaking of dramas that become unintentionally funny or cringy, Scum's Wish is also plagued with random "comedic" cutscenes where the characters go all silly-antics mode for no reason. This is something that usually follows up from an emotionally heavy scene, having the same terrible effect in the way Akame ga Kill randomly cut to comedic hijinks after someone gets brutally murdered. Whether we could pin this similarity as another fault of Uezu is unknown, as this might just be a result of what the manga does than what the adaptation might be responsible for. Either way, it's a lousy attempt at levity that comes across as awkward the first handful of times it's used.

Other than that, the actual art and animation of the show demonstrated some thoughtful consideration in how it was constructed. By incorporating panel strips to make scenes flow together, visually emulating manga image tiles, Scum's Wish was able to convey more information by not only accounting for the character's reaction to a situation but also drawing central focus to certain critical moments as they pertain to the people involved within the frame. This allowed the audience to get a general sense of the mood and mindset that's being conveyed by placing a fixated point of concern with things boxed off within the manga panel technique as it relates to the overall scene. The talented duo behind this thoughtful piece of storytelling was Yukie Oikawa, and Masaomi Andou, who's past collaborative efforts together created the technical wizardry demonstrated in Gakkougurashi, where they both made their best Satoshi Kon impression.

Capitalizing off that, the art department showed a keen eye for color placement as well, with cool and warm colors striking a delicate balance, bringing with it visual chemistry on screen. Nothing overpowers the other unless it's done to insinuate a particular mood. An example of which is when they purposely chose to plunge the entire palette in monochromatic blues and dark purples to help give a feeling of isolation, only to use that same coloring technique with soft touches and color highlights to be used for times of intimacy. It's this firm grasp the creators have over color theory that allows for selective color choices to serve dual purposes under the right guidance.

They also used splodges of ink and watercolor paint during cutscenes to represent a myriad of emotions and ideas, like lustful desire and deflowerment. While done with no subtlety whatsoever, it was still a nice touch. And even when everything was more than likely digitally colored in, they didn't use that for shorthand around adding personal touches, often giving things soft pastel-like textures and occasional color penciled in still shots placed throughout for good measure. Even the character designs are an excellent standout, having anatomically believable body postures and models that help the viewer buy into their placement as people within the story.

With sharp edits used to juxtapose certain situations and letterboxing being applied to convey certain pivotal moments, every idea here is given careful consideration. Yukie Oikawa's acquired abilities from their early work on Noir up to now has made this a show with a steady hand for cinematics, even if on a smaller, simpler scale. And to be honest with you, this overall care given for its presentation might be the most significant saving grace for this show. Without it, the show's gimmicky content would be way more apparent than it is now. 

Well, at least for everything within the show, the opening and ending songs, however, couldn't be any more ridiculous had it tried. Starting off with a goofy blaring vocal performance and a flurry of rose petals, the imagery and song throughout is just a tad bit on the overblown side. Especially when it hammers home symbology that feels extremely tacky in comparison to what they did in the show. But to its credit, the tune wasn't bad on the ears if you just let it play out. As bad as it may have gotten at times, it doesn't come close to touching the ending theme's issues.

The ending song visuals are so blatant and try-hard that they actively make me cringe. It reminded me of Zayn's "Pillowtalk" music video, which is never a good thing since that was basically someone screaming:
"Get it bro? The FLOWERS represent VAGINAS and WOMEN'S WOMBS..., and like SEX, ain't I clever fam?!" — like no, just no, stop. You're embarrassing yourself and society.
It's the kind of imagery a 15-year-old going through their "emo phase" would create, as they wear their Sid Vicious necklace and blast Linkin Park and Pierce the Veil in youthful revolt. By using a mixture of kaleidoscopic visuals to create phallic images, the whole thing aims for contemporary sex appeal along the lines of an FKA Twigs or Beyoncé music video but ends up falling incredibly short. Taking on the appearance of a former Nickelodeon child star trying desperately to break free of their kiddie image by being super racy and raunchy.

Having "mature themes" and being "maturely handled" aren't the same thing. An applicable distinction whenever the show crosses the line thinking they're one in the same. And one that's needed when addressing the other pending issue the show can't shake; the character's awareness of each other.

The characters all have this uncanny ability to not only know the inner-workings of their own thought process but also that of everyone around them as well, like if they were all psychology majors. The internal reflection was appreciated, but knowing the mindset and framework of everyone else was a bit ridiculous. Realistically speaking, there should only be two characters in the entire show with that kind of mental capacity.
I've been in similar situations, acting on sexual impulse, but was I fully aware of my decisions to the point of self-reflection? No, because I was horny, not some man musing about life and his choices. This anime treats teens like adults. The phrase "young, dumb and full of cum" isn't just passed around to describe youth for shits and giggles. It's an expression born from the fact that during that turbulent time of change in your life, teenagers are shortsighted and driven by impulse. You don't start thinking with your prefrontal cortex, the rational part of your brain until you've hit your early to mid-20s.

Whenever the characters experience emotional woes regarding their actions, that's natural, and again, commendable for the show for trying to depict that. But it's the moment they all become Dr. Phil that it loses touch with itself and reality.

And I think I've danced around this long enough.

I'm trying my best not to state the obvious here, but fuck it, time to state the ugly truth of the matter. If your closest thing to intimacy is the love you received from your family, with little to no experience in an actual relationship, then what Scum's Wish depicts may come across more realistic to you than what is actually true. If you only watch anime and haven't ventured out to other mediums, then Scum's Wish offerings may also seem more novel than what it is. However, if sexual relationships, especially in the brand of "fuck buddies" that this title plays with, are something you've had some passing experience with. Or hell, if you've seen/read enough other media centering around the subject, then chances are, what Scum's Wish offers to you may be nothing more than animated sleaze.

This anime's value could easily sway in either direction given the experience of the viewer that looks at it. As such, it's a show that's bound to cause contention among those that adore it and others that mock it. Of course, all of this doesn't even matter if you just want to be entertained, because if that's the case, there's nothing here worth reading that would dissuade you in the slightest. But if for some reason, you happen to fall into that smaller collective that dissects and discuss the content they watch, this show would be met with coin toss results.

Your level of acceptance for what the show depicts depends entirely on your tolerance or love for certain narrative decisions. As for me, I don't see any reason to get up in arms about it. If you see it for what it is, there's no reason to get upset.

Scum's Wish lives in a vacuum. Real life is never so perfectly contrived. So instead of focusing on what it mirrors from societal norms, what should be looked at is what it does within the confines of its narrative. And when seen for what it is and not what outside influence it is not, the answer derived is pretty clear; Scum's Wish in its rudimentary form is quite literally animated smut. Meaningful at times but smut nonetheless. That age-old adage "sex sells" that's expressed by everyone, from your critics to your everyday viewer, isn't one to easily shake off. It's a commonly known truth for a reason. Sex in and of itself is not a bad topic to center around. It's a natural act we partake in. The issue is when sex is reduced to nothing more than a meal ticket to get audiences through the front door. At that point, any kind of message the show may have had becomes null and void.

In the end, what saved me from entirely dismissing Scum's Wish was the overall care given for its presentation, the extra time dedicated to at least exploring the characters involved, and the fact that content of this perverse nature is easily digestible on a basic entertainment level. As far as anything content-wise is concerned, it falls incredibly short of any meaningful passages in its narrative, save for the individual pockets of occurrences that get drowned out in all the clutter. When everything is said and done, Scum's Wish is a pretty porcelain vase; something beautiful to look at for awhile but when peered into, just turns out to be a hollow shell on the inside.

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