Kill La Kill is Dumb..but I still enjoyed watching it

Kill La Kill is part of a special category of entertainment I like to call smart enough to know it's stupid. It doesn't try to create interesting characters or a creative story it just tries to be as over the top as it can be and you know what I think it works.
Story
So I won't get into the finer details here because I don't think the selling point really is the the storytelling. But Ryuko is looking to avenge her murdered father so she comes to a school run by Satsuki Kiryuin. At this school several of the students wear goku uniforms which um...gives them special powers. She finds a special uniform made by her father and uses it to fight the students while she tries to search for answers. Yeah it's really dumb. But again the show knows it's dumb. The action is over the top the fanservice is over the top (seriously how are skimpy outfits like this useful in battles at all). 

And essentially it's just one fun over the top nonstop anime. There isn't a whole lot to say about it. The show is definitely unique I'll say that. It's mostly fast past zaniness that is unlike most anime. Overall I'd say it's enjoyable as long as you don't mind turning your brain off while watching.
7/10

Future Diary Review

Future Diary is, for me, a bit of a guilty pleasure. I can see its numerous flaws and for the most part I'm able to overlook them. Because despite some of the stupid shit in the anime the show does have its moments.
The story begins when a loner high school student Yuki's cell phone is given the ability to predict future events (a future diary if you will) and he discovers he's in a fight to the death with twelve other individuals who have similar diaries. The last one standing at the end will essentially become a god. The fight to the death setup might be a bit familiar but it provides a good source of tension and the twist with the diaries does keep things interesting.
Characters
Our main character is Yuki a quiet loner who spends most of his time by himself. He might be the biggest detriment to the show to most people. Though I didn't find him as annoying as some people would have you believe his constant whining, crying, and spinelessness can get to be a bit grating at time.
Yuno is our other main character and honestly she makes the show. She's so batshit insane that every moment she's on screen you know something's going to happen. She is obsessed with Yuki and in love with him to a degree that is pretty unnerving. She's violent and callous but utterly devoted to Yuki. Again she's the most interesting character and she really is the driving force behind the show.
Along the way we get introduced to the other diary users who are crazy to some degree or another. This is also the meat of the show. Future diary is fast paced and very found of plot twists there's almost something happening whether we get to see another aspect of Yuno's insanity or fast paced action when another diary user is introduced. But this is ultimately the show's greatest weakness as well. It's so found of these sudden plot twists that it doesn't really care if they always make sense, relying instead on the fast paced action to keep the audience's from stopping to question things. And for a good portion of the show this works fairly well. The great pacing means that even at the dumbest of plot twists I was always engaged but for the sake of criticism here's a few plot holes I noticed.
***Spoilers***
Bombs everywhere. Almost every fucking action seen has the opponent rigging the setting beforehand with bombs (At a school, hospital, and tower) and I can't help wondering how the fuck that works. You mean to say they carted several tons of explosives and hid them throughout the building without anyone noticing? And again it would be one thing if this happened once but like I said it happens three fucking times.
Parachuting. Yuki and his dad both use parachutes to escape from tower rigged with explosives. How the hell did the know how to work the parachutes.
Yuno. Akise (who happens to be the show's second best character) finds three bodies in her backyard and doesn't trust Yuno. Why doesn't he have the police question her. Why has she been able to go on living in her house? No one's noticed her parents have been missing? Shouldn't she have been sent to a foster home?
I could go on an on...
***end spoilers***
For me though the moment the anime really starts to collapse is the final couple episodes where the pace slows down and a couple of the dumbest plot twists occur which I won't spoil here. It doesn't help either that Yuki makes some choices towards the end that made me finally hate the character. Despite all that though I still like the show. The action is good and the story (excluding the finally couple episodes) is fast paced enough that the plot holes were never too distracting. Yuno helped make the show interesting and it has one of my favorite opening songs of any anime. I also appreciate how the show is willing to go violent and took some risks with the material. (There's a good deal of violence and gore). Again it is a flawed show but it's apparent to me that a lot of effort went into making it and even if all the crazy plot twists don't always pay off at the very least I can say I was consistently entertained.
6.5/10

Bleach VS Blue Exorcist

I'm a fan of Bleach and Blue Exorcist so one thing I couldn't help noticing is how similar they both are which naturally lead me to ask, "which one does it better?" That's what I'm going to try to answer.

Characters

I can't be the only person noticing the similar character designs...

The most obvious similarity between the two is the characters. While Blue Exorcist's cast might not be as large as Bleach's (but then again whose is?) there is some unmistakable overlap.

Ichigo vs Rin-This is the most obvious comparison. Both are hotheads who don't always think things through. Both tend to get in fights and in trouble. Both mean well and would do anything to protect the people they care about. If I had to chose between the two I'd say Rin is the better character. He just gets a much better introduction. With Rin we get the tragic, albeit somewhat cliched story of revenge. Satan kills his father through Rin's own foolishness and Rin vows revenge. And this is made all the more effective because before and even after he dies we get to see examples of why father fujimoto is such an awesome guy. Ichigo eventually gets a tragic backstory about the death of his mother but it's not as developed as much. Again I like both characters but Rin is just slightly better developed.

Shura vs the countless bleach fanservice characters-I'd have to say Shura loses this one. Whenever I see her character all I can think about his how she's only her to the teenage boys reading the manga. At least some of the fan service characters in Bleach (Yuirichi) actually are interesting.

Shiemi vs Orihime- Honestly I can't stand either of them. They're both useless and only there to serve as love interests for the main characters.

Everybody else-I can't help but feel that Blue Exorcist is the superior of the two. Bleach just has waaaay to many characters. There's not enough time to develop most of them so they're essentially window dressing. Blue Exorcist on the other hand has focus entirely on developing it's smaller but better rounded cast of characters. Point to Blue Exoricst

Story

This is a bit more tricky not only because the similarities here are a bit more subtle but also because they both have their strengths and their weaknesses. So they both start off the same, our stubborn and rough around the edges protagonists find out about a whole other world beyond the one they've known their whole life. Namely some monsters (hollows and demons) that are unseen to most people pose a threat to their world and both characters, along with their friends take up the fight against these creatures. Now what do I like about each. Well with Bleach I do find the world very interesting, the hollows, soul reapers, and soul society are all very interesting concepts. I also enjoyed the first story arc were the heroes have to rescue Rukia. We get introduced to this interesting world and we're invested in Inchigo's quest because in the short time we've seen Rukia we've come to like her character so we want to see her saved. The problem is that after a fantastic first arc the story begins to collapse under it's own weight. There's too many characters, too much stuff going on. If the writer was smart the next couple of story arcs would have dealt with developing each of the many soul reapers introduced and showing us a bit more about how the soul society works. Instead we get another kidnapping story (this time it's Orihime) and even more underdeveloped characters dumped on us. And from there the story continues to devolve into mindless action. It's pretty upsetting actually because the first arc is so solid and is a pretty good set up. The whole thing just feels like a lot of wasted potential. Blue Exorcist has been more consistent in it's storytelling and while it's never had an arc quite on par with the rescue Rukia arc of Bleach, it's never quite let me down in the same way either. It knows what it wants to be and how to go about it. Blue Exorcist is a lot more consistent in tone and pacing and again, for me at least ultimately is the superior of the two. 

Action

But these are both Shonen so what's the action like? Well with Bleach we have a lot of really creative fights involving the different abilities of each zanpakuto (the soul reaper's swords) that make for really enjoyable fight scenes. The way the manga isn't afraid to have blood spew from every wound also helps to make the fights feel more intense, they carry weight and feel real. It's clear a lot of thought goes into every fight scene. 

Blue Exorcist has decent fights too, but none are quite on par with Bleach's. Blue Exorcist seems more involved with story telling and character development, which while I appreciate this, it also means the fight scenes don't get the same focus as those in Bleach. Point for Bleach.

Art

How does each manga look? Well Bleach certainly has more interesting character designs. In fact there some of my favorite out of any anime I've watched. Each character is distinct and unique but at the same time that's about it. Blue Exorcist has decent character designs as well, and beautiful detailed backgrounds. Seriously I love the backgrounds in this manga. I also appreciate all the extras and effort that clearly goes into making the manga volumes really nice. Something not nearly as evident in the bleach volumes. 

So again I'd say Blue Exorcist wins this one.

Conclusion

So if Blue Exorcist is clearly the superior of the two why is Bleach so much more popular? Well I can only speculate but I think there's several reasons why.

1. Bleach came first. It beat Blue Exorcist to the punch by almost ten years.

2. Anime. Bleach had a 366 episode run. That's a long time. A long time of new episodes and new twists and new things for people to discuss Blue Exorcist only got 25 episodes and the later half of the show didn't even follow the manga. The show came and went and so the conversation didn't last as long. The shitty second half probably didn't help either.

3. Bleach is more of a shonen than Blue Exorcist. Even though I think Bleach's cast is more of a problem than an asset as far as character development goes that massive cast means there's plenty for fans to talk about. Everyone can have their own favorite, fans can talk about which character they think would win in a fight, and everyone can have their own head canons. It caters to fan speculation. There's also the better fight scenes to take into consideration. Most people come to a shonen for the fight scenes and Bleach does do that element at least better.

Again this is all just my opinion but in my mind Blue Exorcist is the better of the two. I'm a fan of both but Bleach is definitely the more flawed story.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Review

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya perfectly expresses how I felt about high school when I was a kid. The show speaks to me because I, like Haruhi and Kyon, was so unsatisfied with my mundane life. That's part of the reason I think the show caught on. There's a good deal of lonely nerdy kids who just wish someone like Haruhi would walk into their lives and liven things up. Her wacky schemes and energetic passion to find something exciting out there spoke to a lot of people. Not to mention that in the world of show all these sci-fi elements actually do exist because of her.

And Kyon was essentially how I felt at the time, disillusioned and resigned to the unhappy dullness of everyday routine. Kyon strikes me as the sort who spent a good deal of his childhood reading stories of excitement and adventure, always sort of expecting that to pop up in his life at some point. Now that he is a 'mature' high school student he's felt he's had to let go of some of those dreams. But lo and behold we have Haruhi to kickstart things again. She's so excited, energetic and passionate that it breathes new life into the dull school atmosphere.
That is she spoke to bored aimless kids like me. It was the fantasy of some sort of adventure in our mundane lives coming to life in this show. And it worked because it was in the familiar high school setting, because the show was somewhat self aware and because it deliberately spoke to that desire for excitement and adventure.
So what is the story? As I mentioned earlier Kyon has given up on any sort of excitement in his life until he meets Haruhi an eccentric student in his class who still believes in aliens espers and time travelers. Together they form a club to find the supernatural and get three other club members to join. Mikuru, who is attractive and shy and more often than not the victim of Haruhi's schemes. Yuki Nagato the quiet and calm bookworm. And lastly Itsuki the transfer student. Oh and they each happen to be a time traveler, an alien, and an esper, in that order. And Haruhi is unknowingly the god-like being that caused them each to exist, maybe even the entire world as well. The show revolves around the comedic hijinks the group gets into trying to keep Haruhi from subconsciously destroying the world (often with Kyon's internal dry sarcasm commenting on everything).
All in all it's an enjoyable show that I would highly recommended. The animation is great as are the characters, story, voice acting, and music. The only problem I have with the entire show is the infamous endless eight arc which is entirely skippable. Besides that I would definitely recommend the show to just about anyone.
Rating 9/10

Blue Exorcist Manga Summary and Review (Volumes 1-11)

Blue exorcist is standard fare as far as manga goes, but it's the story's execution rather than originality that makes it memorable. Let me give a few examples.
So the story begins with our protagonist Rin finds out that demons exist in his world (unseen by most people) and that he is the son of Satan. Before he can properly process the information his father figure, father Fujimoto, is possessed by Satan and dies. Rin, understandably upset over what has happened vows revenge. So already we have a few tropes at work here. We have the protagonist finding out about an previously unknown supernatural aspect of his world. We have the struggle he feels between his demonic heritance and his good nature. And we have the death of a family member starting the character's quest for revenge. What makes this work though is how damn well it's actually pulled of. In the short amount of time we get to see father Fujimoto we instantly connect because the character is so likeable and even after his death we get several flashbacks throughout the story fleshing out his character more and making it so the sadness of his passing keeps hitting the reader.
After the initial chapter setting the story up, Rin joins the true cross academy an organization dedicated to fighting demons run by the enigmatic Mephisto. There Rin meets and befriends several other students training to be students as well as his twin brother who turns out to be his instructor and who it turns out knew about demons the whole time. The majority of the first four novels deal with introducing the characters and the class's progress towards becoming exorcists. I've arranged a brief character roster below.

Left to right (front row): Yukio, Rin and Shiemi.
Left to right (back row): Konekomaru, Shura, Izumo, Suguro, Mephisto and Shima.

Rin Okumara-hot headed and stubborn. He doesn't always think things through and he isn't the smartest but his heart's in the right place. In other words he's just like every shonen protagonist ever.
Yukio Okumara-Rin's twin brother who didn't inherit Satan's powers. Unlike Rin he is hardworking and studious. The dynamic between him and his brother is one of the best aspects of the series hands down. Their relationship feels very real and genuine in part, because they don't always get along. Despite this there is a strong sense that both would be willing to do anything to keep the other safe.
Shiemi- The ditzy love interest character. Completely useless damsel in distress that Rin has to save over and over again. Needless to say she's one of the less interesting characters.
Ryuji-Similar to Rin in temperament only not as foolish.
Renzo-Comic relief
Konekomaru-stereotypical nerd
Izumo- Token Tsundere
Shura-Boobies Mcfanservice
Mephisto-Mysterious demon who runs the academy and whose motivates aren't completely clear.

At the end of the fourth volume Rin's secret (that he is the son of Satan) is revealed and his friends are shocked. The next volume sets up the first real arc in the manga. That of the impure king. And it's one of the few sections I have a couple of gripes with. So someone steals one eye of the impure king (and an attempt is made on the other). We get introduced to a new villain and the students, now exwires, are sent to a temple where the second eye is guarded. This also happens to be the place where Ryuji, Renzo, and Konekomaru's families live, introducing us to a new source of conflict. My problem with this arc is that there's way too much going on at once. We get introduced to a whole slew of new characters. We have a new set of conflicts and we see all the characters struggling to deal with the knowledge that Rin is the son of Satan. With emotions ranging from anger and hostility to outright fear there's a good deal of emotional turmoil along with all this new information the reader is given. Thankfully by the next volume the story smooths out and there's actually a good deal of tension as it is revealed that their may be a traitor in the midst and that Ryuji's father is keeping secrets. Eventually the arc ends in a giant fight and is, for the most part, resolved. We're then introduced to another weak point in the story a short pointless arc dealing with a Kraken demon. The only saving grace here is a good deal of conflict between the Okumara brothers and the introduction of Yukio's insecurities and self doubt which made for some interesting segments in an otherwise dull conflict.

After this the students return to the academy. We get to see Yukio continue to struggle with his own personal issues and Mephisto finally has a good deal of time delving a little bit into what makes him tick. These are without a doubt the highlights of the arc. We also get introduced to a new threat (an expanding portal to the demon world). Rin and his friends have to deal with several demons (the seven mysteries of true cross academy) my least favorite segments in the series so far. And the eleventh volume ends with a bit of suspense that I won't ruin for those of you who haven't gotten that far.

In short I've enjoyed what I've read of the series so far. It's not perfect but the characters are well developed and the story seems to have a bit more restraint than most shonen choosing storytelling over mindless action most of the time. The components that make it up may be familiar but it's well executed and enjoyable. I have a few gripes here and there but they're relatively minor. For the most part it's a fun read and I'm excited to see where the story goes from here.

Why WataMote is Awesome

WataMote (or No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys' Fault I’m Not Popular!) is a show that would appeal to you entirely based on your taste in anime. Even though I really enjoyed it I could easily see someone saying it just isn't their cup of tea. The majority of the show focuses on Tomoko and the anxiety she feels with social interaction...And that's essentially it. There are a few other characters but they're in it so little they're barely developed. For the most part all we really see is Tomoko's struggles to interact with other people. I could easily see this getting old with people and even though I enjoyed it I did think it was wise to keep the length to a mere twelve episodes.

But that's not what I'm here to talk about. I'm here to talk about Tomoko and why she is possibly one of my favorite anime characters of all time. And that's not a title I bandy about lightly. Before I begin though I should mention that I, like Tomoko, struggle with a great deal of social anxiety so it's entirely possible that I'm biased here. 
What makes the show work for me is the way her social anxiety is portrayed which is to say, very realistically. There were dozens of scenes that, having experienced something similar myself, I could easily relate to. I think the show does a fantastic job of displaying the thoughts and feelings that people with this form of anxiety tend to go through. So without further ado here is a short list of some of the brilliant scenes that made this portrayal seem so realistic to me.

1. Tomoko almost always has some inner commentary on the things people around her are saying. It's a classic response of someone who wants desperately to contribute to the conversation but is unable to out of anxiety. Even the way her inner commentary sometimes bitterly lashes out at these people seems like a realistic example of frustration she feels at her impotence in the situation. A lot of the time Tomoko has a bit of a sour grapes response to being unable to socialize, again most probably, out of sheer frustration.

2. There's a scene in one episode where Tomoko takes shelter from the rain under a pavilion only to have to two other people take refuge there as well moments later. Her instant response is a strong desire to leave, but she cant bring herself to because she's worried it will come off as rude or weird. First of as someone who suffers from social anxiety it is also my instinct to want to leave a room as soon as someone else enters. Secondly why would they think anything of her leaving and even if they did what would it matter? The answer of course that they wouldn't really notice or care, but Tomoko's anxiety, which operates as a sort of hyper awareness of the people around her, is certain that all eyes are on her, weighing her up so to speak. This so perfectly illustrates the perspective of people with social anxiety that I can't help suspecting that the author either has it himself or knows someone who does.

3. In one episode Tomoko's class is preparing for the culture festival. Everyone is finding some task that needs doing except Tomoko who is too shy to ask for something to do. Eventually she does manage to get something to do (cutting some paper) and she immediately starts thinking of a way to drag it out so she'll have something to do the entire time these preparations are happening. As long as she is at least seeming to do something she feels comfortable, but standing around with nothing to do has her anxiety start to build up. Truth be told I found myself in this sort of situation more than once during high school.

Honestly I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point. It's an enjoyable show that I could relate to all to well. It's the first depiction of social anxiety I've ever seen anime that seems to really understand what it's talking about. And while I don't think the show is perfect by any means I appreciate it for going the extra mile and doing something a bit out of the norm.