Category: Anime

Barakamon Episode 1 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)

~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

[Underwater] Barakamon - 01 (720p) [CBC45C87].mkv_snapshot_03.19_[2015.06.07_12.38.58]

So, I’m writing for this new site called Funcurve now! Basically it’s a website where reviews are structured by a chart of our impressions of the series over time, which is a pretty neat system. Plus, we’re given free rein over the way we work with that chart. I’ve been asked to review Barakamon, which is great because Barakamon is a wonderful series that I’m super happy to rewatch and write about. Expect a full review in the next month or so. For now, I’ve got an excerpt from my first draft of the review. I decided I’d start by doing the first episode individually, because I feel it’s a really great first episode that stands on its own. You can find it below. Enjoy!

Continue reading “Barakamon Episode 1 Review (Full Series Review Excerpt)” →

Bristle’s Spring 2015 Anime Season Rankings and Mini-Reviews

~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

[HorribleSubs] Ore Monogatari!! - 01 [720p].mkv_snapshot_17.11_[2015.04.10_18.25.48]

It’s time for the Spring 2015 Anime season, and I’ve finished absolutely none of the Summer 2015 shows I set out to finish! I’ve watched all the first episodes of stuff I was interested in checking out. I tried not to watch too many (and somewhat failed as I ended up watching 7 shows when their first episodes came out), and I’m gonna try to only keep up with stuff I’m really eager to because 1). I don’t want to get the continual feeling I could be watching something way better and 2). As I’ve already established I’m terrible with keeping up on seasonal Anime. None of the shows I watched compelled me to immediately drop them, which is definitely a good sign. For now here’s my rankings for the season and brief descriptions of what wowed me and what didn’t and how interested I am in keeping up.

Continue reading “Bristle’s Spring 2015 Anime Season Rankings and Mini-Reviews” →

Hunter x Hunter (2011) Review (2011-14) (SPOILERS)

~ bristlebristle ~ 3 Comments

[Coalgirls]_Hunter_X_Hunter_138_(1280x720_H.264_AAC)_[E207675E].mkv_snapshot_23.18_[2015.02.18_23.39.00]

“It takes only one person, one person in the entire world who will trust you, to save you”

Hunter x Hunter is a story about many things, but fundamentally Hunter x Hunter is a story about detours. It’s a story about detours and a story about the human connections that change your world along those detours of life. It’s the detours of Hunter x Hunter that charge the unpredictable narratives, and the human connections that gracefully tie a thread through each of those narratives. Hunter x Hunter is a beautiful, insane, intricate, charming, enthralling and moving work of art and a phenomenal triumph that does more as an action shonen than I ever believed was possible.

Continue reading “Hunter x Hunter (2011) Review (2011-14) (SPOILERS)” →

Bristle’s Babbles #26: An Analytical Look Back on Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai! Episode 1

~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

[URW]_Chuunibyou_demo_Koi_ga_Shitai!_-_01_[720p][64775D00].mkv_snapshot_09.55_[2015.01.17_23.51.31]

Truth be told, Chuunibyou Demo Koi Gai Shitai! was the very first Anime I ever watched as it was airing. Looking back over an old Facebook account I was absolutely gushing over it right up until the very last episode where I suddenly soured on the series. You see, at the time it was airing I had just separated from the Brony fandom entirely and could only think of the shame of all the times I committed social suicide when looking back. I was outraged that the series ended with Rikka continuing to be a chuunibyou because I saw that as encouraging her social ineptitude. You might say I was a bit like Yuuta in my fear of that behaviour. Eventually I became open to the idea that my reading of Chuunibyou’s messages was a bit lacking, and when that thought got mixed with a nostalgic desire to look back on the series just half an hour or so ago I went through my folders and found the first episode as soon as I could, and boy am I glad I gave Chuunibyou another chance.

Continue reading “Bristle’s Babbles #26: An Analytical Look Back on Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai! Episode 1” →

Bristles Babbles #25: Koufuku Graffiti Episode 1 Brief Review

~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

[caffeine] Koufuku Graffiti - 01 [720p][22F021F1].mkv_snapshot_00.11_[2015.01.16_13.37.49]

So, I figured I should be more active and talk about them Japanese cartoons more on here. Brief episode reviews is a good place to start, though I’m really awful at keeping up with these shows and tend to just cluster up my backlog with each new season. Koufuku Graffiti is the first show I watched this season, though it would’ve been Rolling Girls had I been in the mood after powering through 58 episodes of Hunter x Hunter over the course of about a week (which I may talk about soon). To be perfectly honest I wasn’t quite as in love with Koufuku Graffiti as I thought I would be.

Continue reading “Bristles Babbles #25: Koufuku Graffiti Episode 1 Brief Review” →

Bristle’s Babbles #21: What’s The Deal With Scores?

~ bristlebristle ~ Leave a comment

zero out of ten

If you’re on MAL or Hummingbird or AniList frequently, chances are you’re pretty accustomed to ratings, particularly scores out of 5 or 10 or 100. I rate most of my Anime and so do most frequent users of those sites, but just how much meaning do those scores really have? I would honestly have to say not much. Scoring is always based on arbitrary personal standards, no one person rates the same and no personal way of rating has any legitimate inherent value. Does a 10/10 mean an Anime is perfect in your opinion or that it’s simply a favourite of yours? Does a 5/10 mean you thought a series was average or does a 7/10 mean you thought a series was average? There’s just so many different meanings each score can take. Continue reading “Bristle’s Babbles #21: What’s The Deal With Scores?” →