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 :

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"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?

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"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

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"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 ??

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“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 .

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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.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

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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One Room Anime Review

One Room Anime Review :

ZephSilver

Tired of those pesky real life girls who clearly don't deserve your love and affection? All that unnecessary drama from dealing with human interaction, like seriously, who needs that, amirite!? Need more 2D waifus in yo laifu?! Well boy, do I have good news for you!

One Room is here to say that you don't need to suffer anymore! Grab your body pillows and hold on to your seats, we're going to take the ultimate trip through cartoon babez heaven! 

I hope your wrist is resting comfortably between that anime boob mousepad because when we get started you'll be jackhammering yo Piccolo like their ain't no tommorro! 

At One Room, we only provide the highest caliber of waifu material. From sensei-loving neighbors to doting loli imoutos, we got em all! Try your hand at our finest collection, with all coming complimentary with the signature raspberry face blush, buttermilk skin, sparkly doe-eyed expressions and dat cute, muthafuckin baby whimper!
Forget rejection, these girls never say no fellas! And best of all, they need YOU to comfort them. Who needs a self-insert when you can be their white knight instead, amirite!!?!??!

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Citrus Anime Review

Citrus Anime Review:

article credit : ZephSilver

Tinseltown has been coming under fire as of late. Celebrities' misdeeds are being exposed publicly on a weekly basis like a new sporting event. The #MeToo movement giving a platform to voice sex scandals that have gone unnoticed for far too long. Scrolling through your timeline, plastered on the TV screen, announced over the radio during daily commutes, the subject matter of countless memes, the focal point of water-cooler conversations; no matter where you turn, there it is. Accusation after accusation. Transforming popular figures into pervert pariahs overnight. Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Bill Cosby, Louis C.K., Dustin Hoffman, Brett Ratner, James Woods, Bryan Singer, Casey Affleck; an endless potpourri of bigwigs—the 21st Century witch hunt in full swing. No one is safe. 

And while all of this is going on, halfway across the globe, there's Citrus, minding its own business as it idly trolls along turning sexual assault into a provocative byproduct of step-sisters "bickering." While people are pooling together with torches and pitchforks in hand, shining a light on any sexual misconduct occurring in the dark recesses of the entertainment industry, Studio Passione persists with the biggest "whatever bro" shoulder shrug. What the rest of the world concerns itself with isn't going to stop them from showing girls casually molesting each other on their scheduled programming. It's actually pretty impressive. Fucked up, but impressive nonetheless. I guess you could extend that sentiment to Japan in general. Creating "fucked up shit" in a carefree manner has become something like their calling card:

Has mass-shootings and domestic terrorism been a hot-button issue? Well here, have some Inuyashiki. Concerned with gender politics? Don't worry, we got you covered with Skirt no Naka wa Kedamono Deshita. "If you want it, we got it." seems to be the motto, as they peddle anything and everything in the endless pursuit of creative freedom. Which brings us to latest foray into the "fucked up shit" unofficial canon, Citrus. 

From the land that gave us distinct high-school dramas like Orange, we're handed Citrus, the undesirable fruit.

The anime tells the tale of– oh, who are we kidding? It's about sexy-time with female characters. It's all lip service unless it "services the lips" of the females involved.

It's pretty average-looking too, the ugly kind of average-looking.

Hoards of CGI models in green linen jackets. Flat buildings without detail, walls bare of personality. Real-life inspired locations washed of any distinct features. Stainless steel structures, straight shapes stretching on endlessly without purpose, without care. Floorboards and walkways copied and pasted into an endless loop of lethargic worldbuilding. A kind of artificial sheen to everything. Devoid of human touch, the undeniable look of computer-generated polish. Clinically sterile and evenly lit. The feeling of being done to the bare minimum. Uninspired. Uncaring. Unconcerned with anything unless it's "sexy-time," and even then, it's barely a passing grade. 

Everyone has dark hair and moves forward in a unified step as if puppets to their boring world. A lifeless march towards an all-girl school, a place where our Yuzu would be attending. Yuzu Aihara is the rowdy rebel, our ball of "life" in a world lacking it, and unfortunately our main lead as well. The unlikable side character in any other show given a chance to take center-stage to problematic results. Makeup caked on, strawberry blonde hair puffed up, cleavage out in the sun, skirt hacked up, buttermilk tan, all manner of frilly things, school outfit altered beyond recognition, a personality as loud as her appearance; a self-proclaimed gyaru and a shameless attention-seeker at that—this is "much deep" cuz spunky gurl in a world of conformists.

And standing as her polar opposite, there's Mei Aihara, a soon-to-be molester dressed up as a Mary Sue. She suffers heavily from PerfectGirl-syndrome: honor-role pupil, top of her class, student council president, poised, admired by everyone, the chairman's granddaughter, built like a walkway model, good at literally everything she does. She probably farts out Chanel No. 5 too. You get the drill, she's as interesting as wallpaper. Perfect to a sickening degree. Well, that's all before she decided to turn her new step-sister, Ms. Rowdy Rebel, into her personal play-thing.

And who better to bring this together than Takeo Takahashi, a man that's equally known for his hentai contributions as he is his "safe for work" content. 

Citrus certainly has that kind of attribute to it. That sort of sleazy undercurrent that flows throughout every moment, well-intention or otherwise. Camera-panning that ogles the female form without concern for respecting boundaries. Narrative threads meant to help audiences relate to the cast quickly expedited to get to the next sexual encounter. Endless monologues for every characters' dilemma—subtlety isn't allowed in this universe. A sense of objectification, even if it's in regards to actions expressed with consent. Nothing is ever pure. Everything smeared with the fingerprints of hedonistic high-gloss. 

Even smut like 2017's Scum's Wish, at the very least, had small spurts of respect displayed for its cast, occasionally loosening its vice grip to allow a chance to express feelings openly. By comparison, everything in Citrus feels bought off. An act of slave-like procurement over the characters' bodies that's too readily apparent to ignore. Awkward half-chubs spurred on by involuntary stimuli. In a meta-sense, we're also made victims of visual misconduct (go figure). It's the kind of eroticism that arrives quickly and leaves you feeling dirty. 

An anime that will have a heated shower scene where non-consensual groping occurs, then follow it up with this dialogue exchange:

"No!"–Yuzu pushes away in abject horror– "Why are you doing this!?"–her eyes closed, as she stands there naked and vulnerable.
Mei innocently answers back without hesitation, a tone of motherly matter-of-factness:
"Because you looked like you wanted me to touch you."

The scene ends, never to properly address the disturbing exchange again. 
As long as the money shot was secured and a few man-tents were pitched, nothing else matters. 
This is the kind of "feeling dirty" I'm referring to. 

I love perverted content as much as the next guy, but sometimes, what Citrus attempts to do is genuinely off-putting. Sexual harassment shouldn't be confused with love. And if it is, a level of accountability needs to be put in place to avoid idealistic handwaving. But this is a show that thinks that if it holds a "this is wrong" PSA after it indulges in sexual misconduct, that it's suddenly not culpable of wrongdoing. An anime that sells Stockholm syndrome as a shot of Cupid's arrow. Where fighting sexual harassment with sexual harassment is treated as an actual solution. Serious issues trivialized to create marketable eroticism and comedic gags.

Any act of earnestness is completely lost in a title devoid of finesse. After a while, you sort of just roll with it. Jokes at the expense of serious issues. Illogical reasoning made by characters to justify their actions. You might even buy into the lack of audiovisual effort as a part of the "theme" to contrast everything against Yuzu's personality. Of course, you'll be wrong, as even her living quarters and look has been rendered flaccid, lacking in any sense of creative vitality or noticeable effort. It's all very surface-level. Pedestrian sleaze that isn't arousing enough to keep the Kleenex nearby nor respectful enough to genuinely stimulate discussions regarding the content on display. 

And that's perhaps this show's biggest downfall in a nutshell: it's vanilla, but a souring type of vanilla. 

A type of middling existence occupied by works of far more distinction than itself. If you're interested in the taboo themes that this anime addresses, there's no need to compromise with inferior goods to get your fix. There are better alternatives out there for those actually seeking integrity (Koi Kaze) or far more titillating eye-candy (Scum's Wish). Why settle for vanilla in a world full of flavor just waiting to be discovered? Is Citrus entertaining? Sure, at times. But when 17-minutes of content is glazed over just for 3-minutes of "sexy-time," and the "sexy-time" itself is neither well-animated or concerned with addressing the elephant in the room that surrounds its content; at that point, what you're left with is a show whose sole purpose for existing is left dead in the water from the moment it dives in.

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