A Death Parade

Last weekend, I checked out an anime. That's right.

It's called Erased.

witty caption and thnx crunchyroll

My thoughts on it? Longer than I anticipated. After the 2nd time coming back and getting his shit together, I honestly thought the show was done. Not to say it's bad; no, almost every episode was very enjoyable. The first episode was slow at first, but the intrigue and at the same time my interest piqued. Seriously, the creators have dabbled in the art of cliff hanging, as every episode almost always transitions smoothly into the next. I only recently checked this anime out from a friend's recommendation, but thought the idea was way too Encyclopedia Brown.

I'm glad I was wrong. Very glad. The show has a strong story; at no point did I feel that I was really burnt out from marathon'ing the show till' 5 in the morning. The main character could use some work, though. At points I find it weird he says some of the things he does because of who he really is, but I suppose it's a culture thing. I mean, yeah sure man she's twelve, but say whatever you want I guess. It scares me a little since he's 29 and the things he's genuinely feeling for her are flag raising. From what I've watched, which is up to episode 9 now, the story still has a lot going for it.

Overall, really enjoyable. There are no pauses in the tension, but my interest in events that would follow are too damn high to give a shit. Usually a show would suffer if you don't give it a low in between the highs, but I suppose that can be overcome if you have a show with so much intrigue.

Besides that, I'd like to touch on something western for a change.

I want this as a movie poster now.

10 Cloverfield Lane is the sleeper hit of 2016. Seriously, I almost vomited when I saw the trailer when I was watching Deadpool. I thought to myself, HOLY DRAMA FILLED NUCLEAR BUNKER MOVIE BATMAN, THIS SHIT IS GONNA BE HY- Cloverfield? Cloverfield. That word scared me. I'm not a big fan of vomit inducing found footage films. They tend to go off on the tangent that the mystery and intrigue will suffice for the budget decisions and leaving viewers completely confused as to what the fuck is actually going on. Luckily, having seen the movie now, I am completely colored. Colored surprised that is.

The movie has little to nothing to do with the 2 hour filming of a giant dildo taking over a city that was the predecessor.  I mean, that's what it was right? I didn't get to see what it looks like so I let my imagination do the work.

My imagination happened to be filled with dildos.

No. Instead, you literally do not have to acknowledge the previous movie to get your bearings in with the new one. In fact, I encourage not seeing it. Seriously, the twist is so good, and I can only imagine the face of viewers who have no idea what Cloverfield is. Thanks J.J.

Props to the casting. John Goodman plays a really creepy guy. So well that I must question his stance on Japanese laws regarding pornography. Seeing him in this movie, and then another, it's really hard to tell who he is. Great transition from jolly football coach dad to 'Wanna see the inside of my closet' conspiracy shut in. Mary Winstead is also new waifu.

Apart from a few questionable lines of robotic dialogue, the movie was really well made. To make a movie with just three people, and have so many interesting things happen between them in claustrophobic environment was tense. I honestly could not stop watching.

SPOILERS
I bet none of you fuckers saw that ending coming. What everyone thought to be nuclear bunker drama turned out to be a super badass origin story for an alien rebellion fighters. I loved the irony of Howard's paranoia and Michelle finding out the truth. I had to laugh at that.
END SPOINKERS

If you're into claustrophobic nuclear doomsday bunker drama or just have it in for Mary Winstead, I definitely cannot recommend this movie enough. J.J. Abrams, good job sir. What a glorious ending to the movie,  I cannot wait for part 2.

And finally..

 DEATH PARADE, BABY
okay, admittedly I am a year late to this party. BUT WHAT A HOMECOMING. My dog just sighed at me for playing this OP for the tenth time in the last hour.

ALRIGHT! ARBITERS! DEATH PARADES! JUDGEMENT! MEMENTO MORI!

From what starts off with a seemingly misleading OP, the show settles in with a grim atmosphere. Two. Always two. A pair that have died off at the same time show up at Quindecim and the bartender makes judgement through the use of games that expose the darker side of humanity.

The show will continue to have this format for all of the following episodes right up to the finale. Really, you don't have to watch them all. You can watch almost all of the episodes individually and you'll still get the gist, as they all have separate stories. Although for the underlying main one, you'll wanna buckle up for the whole thing. Worth the price of admission. Whatever your price is, that is.

WATCH! As human emotions are tested. Situations that would make you think 'what would I have done?' Rules that set up the framework for the show are broken!

The characters aren't as fun as they seem in the intro, but they do at least have depth. Seemingly stone faced Decim acknowledges the complexity and simplicity of humans, Chiyuki is faced with an ultimatum and finds out the weight of human life through several judgements. The parts that shone for me are still the themes. Philosophical and sometimes just practical themes. It's all here.

SPOILERS
And finally the final and recurring theme. That life is fleeting, and we only acknowledge that we're living only when we're dead. It's really cool. Now the upbeat and jazzed up OP finally fits. A pleasant reminder to live in the present. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. Not to beat on an oversaid and overly exhausted bush here, but memento mori. You will someday die. But take that in a good way.
ENDU SPOIRURUS

Overall, it's a good watch if you enjoy a show with a bunch of studly bartenders or you like asking yourself questions of morality. Although it's a little weird it only took around three cases to have Decim's solid no human emotion foundation to be shattered, I'm sure there's a time lapse somewhere in there.

I recommend it.

It's time to get everybody and the stuff together, ok 3 2 1 lets go

Playing it by ear again. Honestly, I am burning myself out.

AND THAT'S IT. THAT'S A WRAP. GO ON. GET OUTTA HERE.

but come back next week. also check out this video.

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YOU'RE GONNA CARRY THAT WEIGHT

See you later guys. Much love.

In-Depth Anime Review with Every Bite! © - Your Lie in April

Here we go again.

We're going to have a pretty strong/lengthy start here, so brace yourself for an extended ride.
I'd like to talk a little more in depth about an anime I checked out a few yesternights ago called
Your Lie in April.

Your Lie in April, written by Naoshi Arakawa, started as a manga serialized and published on Kodansha. Just googled Naoshi Arakawa hoping it'd be a hot chick but it's a dude with a bowl cut. Aw man.

"Arakawa master of heart string tugging and bowl cuts, also fervent dabbler in not being a chick."

Anywho, the anime was release early 2015, and I, as of now writing this I today on 2/21/2016 at 8:10 PM, am now just watching it. My only regret in life is not catching it sooner, but better late than never right? So I don't actually regret it all too much. Sorry. Tangents. 

Anywho, the show starts off with our less-than-excited hero Kousei Arima working on transcribing some music. The writers do a pretty good job of introducing the characters with a little exposition; his best friend Watari being a total pimp and the energetic childhood best friend. We don't meet our pushy, free-spirited heroine until later in the episode where she is seen blowing a on a piano pipe contraption. I can't be bothered to look it up, sorry. 

The story rest of the story is a light-hearted(well, some of it) romp through several arcs pertaining usually to a competition. The show's development contains multiple themes of death, grievances, as well as new beginnings and finding oneself through your passion and through relationships. A pretty damn good majority of the show's story managed to resonate with me. In the not-long-enough span of 22 episodes, I enjoyed laughing, as well as crying, with the characters as they go through a few turbulence on their journey; holding close with them some very human characteristics that were, in my opinion, realistic portrayals of the situation and how it can affect the individual physically as well as mentally. Feelings of joy, loneliness, loss, and fear of the unknown, were explored almost exhaustively through the 24 minute episodes; a somber tribute to life itself, the show is a reminder that good experiences, as well as the bad, can be beautiful struggles that mature the soul. How even the worst situation can shine a million times over if you just have people you care about. This shocked me and my shriveled, old heart. I'm embarrassed to say this, but I felt like I learned how it feels to love again. Not something I like to express everyday, but this showed compelled me to. Damn you show.

:)

The art was something that nagged at me. Coming from a manga, I'm glad they maintained the style of the original source. However, for an anime, this transition is not so solid and does not appeal to some people; by some people I mean me. I wish for an art style like this, big eyes and visible thin, lips, to stay in mangas. It just works for it. But I would hate it if they changed it so I'm having a lot of mixed feelings in the bag. The good of it, however, are the backgrounds. Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The colors were used vibrantly in the first couple of episodes. Rightly so, as it maintains the more lighter half of the events. Later on, colors will be used rather cliche-ly to represent the mood and even state of being of characters. Cliche is not always bad; however, later down the road it sort of choreographs events untold. I don't mind foreshadowing, but the show does a huge no-no and drops too much foreshadowing. Every other episode I was reminded which took away some of the impact of the ending for me.

"Picture to narrate my point"

Back to the positive. Something very opaque about an anime about music are the sounds. Let me tell you, this show definitely delivers status quo. From the exuberant, hopeful tune of the main song titled "Your Lie in April", to the more somber, but weirdly uplifting song "Again", to the wonderful opening songs done by wonderful people; objective one after I finished this show was the find the soundtrack. Of course, not all songs strike home, but the ones that do have such an impact aurally as well as visually; by visually I mean as you watch the anime, no you can't see music unless you have perfect pitch or are an x-men. I can recall several times in the show when I was just watching when suddenly I am a huge babby crying babby tears. The timing is just perfect. Fucking audio crew, showing emotion is for newborns please don't make me cry ever again. 

The show has some downs. A few cliches here and there at parts where I wasn't supposed to laugh made me laugh, as well as the sad attempts from Japanese voice actors singing in engrish made me chuckle a good bit. However, cuddled with a memorable narrative, realistic characters, and an amazing, impacting soundtrack easily lets me recommend this to anyone wanting a story with heart.

"Crying like a baby" out of 10.

As for my other portion of the week, I watched more Dagashi Kashi finally. It seems to release in two week intervals? Wtf. Sorta lame, but I already caught up on most of the manga so whatever. Sad part is that I can't read past chapter 35 cuz this shit is licensed. Lame.

I also watched How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. It's entertaining. Really clever starting out the season with some fourth-wall breaking fan service; these kind of jokes pop up through out the season. The tropes are a strong point. It's about a guy having a visual novel event unfold before him in real life, and now he wants to make a game about it. Some really good waifus here, you should give it a three episode run and see for yourself.

Other than that, my week has been filled with homework and work. Nothing too exciting right now, other than filling my free time with Street Fighter V and ErgoProxy. I'll probs review ErgoProxy next. I preordered Disgaea on PC, and bought some DLC for Pillars of Eternity. Spent wayy too much money on that, but whatever. Should be good. I wanted to do an LP on Danganronpa, but the visual novel style might be too much for me to stay enthusiastic about. Anywho, let's rap this up. 

Goals: 

*Finished Your Lie in April

(x)Did not renew my drivers license on account of it going to expire in 2 years. wtf DPS.

*Finished next lesson's quiz

(x)Did not get to do a Let's Play this week; botched a recording session by recording in the wrong format :( Oh well, at least I learned. 

*Made a post, got in contact with a few people. 

(x)Did not go out for a run, I am simply lazy. Also really busy :(
*But hey! Apparently I'm eating healthier since I lost 16 pounds. Like what the fuck, that's not even healthy. I'll check again. OH I also bought a scale so booyah. 

(x)Did not apply for University of Virginia on account of needing some academic reccomendations- Actually, just did some snooping and I am not even close to finishing. Shit.

Next week(?): 

*Apply for University of Texas

*Release another Let's Play
*Do some marketing

*Look into some colleges
*Lose two pounds
*Go for a two runs

*Finish next quiz
*Watch some ErgoProxy

*Work through some of Yakuza 5
*Work on making english lyrics for Kirameki

And that's it. I won't be posting next week, SO DON'T LOOK FOR ME

I'm really disappointed with all the X's of last week, but I'll make up for it with a sterling next week performance. Alright homies, stay real. B-rye out.

As always, with much love.