Movie Monday: Kara no Kyoukai Overlooking View

This week for Movie Monday I’m covering the first in a seven part series of movies covering one of the Nasuverse’s greatest stories. It’s Kara no Kyoukai, or the Garden of Sinners, Overlooking View!

Plot Synopsis: September 1998, Mikiya Kokutō brings over some ice cream while visiting Shiki, but Shiki is not happy to see him and says that she does not like ice cream so she decides not to eat it. Later at Garan no Dou, Shiki and Touko discuss the recent spate of unusual suicide incidents where several high school girls fell to their death, but left no suicide note and had apparently no reason to commit suicide. Tōko concludes that the girls did not intend to die. At night, Shiki visits the deserted part of town containing the Fujō buildings which have now fallen into disrepair and are about to be demolished, and while there stumbles upon the body of newest victim….

Plot: This is the first in a series of movies that are an adaptation of a novel by Kinoko Nasu. That being said if you get confused at first, just keep watching. It’ll make sense in the end.

Characters: Shiki is probably one of my favorite female characters of all time, and not just because she’s a badass. However my particular reason is pretty spoilerific and I’ll leave that for you to figure out. Though those who know me might be able guess after watching all the movies. However the entire cast is great, although fairly small for this first movie.

Artwork: This was animated by ufotable, so you should expect amazing visuals. Overlooking View doesn’t disappoint at all in that regard.

Music: The music is also pretty damn amazing, being done by Kajiura Yuki who is a legend in the Anime business.

Overall: Definitely a must watch for those who enjoy any type of mystery series. That being said, it’s not for kids at all.

For those who like: Mystery, Supernatural, Urban Fantasy, Nasuverse, Action, Drama, Awesome Plot, Fantastic Cast of Characters, Masterwork Animation, Excellent Musical Scores.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Manga Monday: Neo Maou Dante by Go Nagai

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got a Quick Review of a remake to an old series. It’s Neo Maou Dante by Go Nagai!

Plot Synopsis: The story begins with an expanded account of God’s attack on Sodom from the original Maou Dante series. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that this is a very dark series. Kids absolutely should not read this.

Characters: We get introduced to the main cast, Dante a child prodigy turned weapons developer, his Sister Olga, and Medusa his beautiful and highly intelligent assistant.

Art: The art is incredibly old school, which is probably intention on the Mangaka’s part as this is a remake of a series that was abruptly cancelled in the 1970’s.

Overall: It’s a pretty dark series, but if that’s your cup of tea then Neo Maou Dante will be just for you.

For those who like: Tragedy, Action, Drama, Remakes, Dark Plots, Interesting Cast of Characters, Retro Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.

Manga Monday: Halcyon Lunch by Samura Hiroaki

This week for Manga Monday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Halcyon Lunch by Samura Hiroaki!

Plot Synopsis: Gen, a recently bankrupted and now homeless guy, meets an unusual and hungry girl named Hios who can eat anything with her chopsticks.

Plot: This is another Gag Manga, something I typically don’t enjoy, and this was not an exception. It was way too random to make me laugh like it was intended. I’m guessing others felt the same way as this series only lasted for two volumes before ending.

Characters: Gen is an oddball main character, but he is completely normal compared to Hios who is just plain bizarre. I’m unsure if the rest of the cast we meet in this chapter was even going to stick around, but given the short nature of the series I suppose it really doesn’t matter.

Art: The art is decent at least, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of story or plot direction.

Overall: Skip this, it’s just too out there for most people to understand I think.

For those who like: Slapstick, Comedy.

Not for those who don’t like: Either of the above.

Sensate Saturday: Pika Ichi by Mochida Aki

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Pika Ichi by Mochida Aki!

Plot Synopsis: “Pika Ichi” is the story of two painfully shy teens who love yakuza movies. An incident at school pushes them over the edge, and they decide to drop their mousiness in order to dispense some “justice”.

Plot: The plot is okay, but where the lack of presence was endearing in a series like Kuroko’s Basketball, in Pika Ichi it’s just annoying. It might be because I don’t get the whole Yakuza movie subculture, and that is probably a big reason, but I just felt like the series was really boring.

Characters: Tarou and Hanako are our leads, and they are so average it’s painful. Frankly the rest of the cast isn’t much better except for the oddball school doctor.

Art: The art is okay, but again nothing really amazing either.

Overall: Like it’s main characters Pika Ichi is very average, it’s not terrible, but it’s not interesting either.

For those who like: Drama, Slice of Life, School Life.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above, or mediocrity.

Sensate Saturday: Suki ni Naranai yo Senpai by Hatsuharu

This week for Sensate Saturday I’ve got another Quick Review. It’s Suki ni Naranai yo Senpai by Hatsuharu!

Plot Synopsis: Falling in love with a painting while at a school’s festival, Iku is able to meet the gentle high schooler who created it. She falls in love at first sight and with that feeling in her heart, decides to enroll in that high school! But, what happens when she joins the art club and discovers her gentle prince has disappeared and a sleazeball has taken his place?!

Plot: This is a pretty stereotypical story. Frankly I’m not interested in continuing to read it. However it is completed in Japan so maybe I’ll read it if I ever get desperate enough and lack something else to read. The likelyhood of that is fairly low though.

Characters: Iku is a pretty normal girl, in fact she’s pretty damn average in just about everything. Nagaike on the other hand is more than a bit of an ass. However that’s fairly normal for high school aged boys, so again nothing new.

Art: The art at least is good, but it’s not enough for me to continue reading the series.

Overall: A fairly average series, if you are super desperate for a Romance to read it would do in a pinch, but there are better series out there. It’s still a better love story than Twilight though.

For those who like: Romance, School Life, Drama, Good Artwork.

Not for those who don’t like: Any of the above.