Zíza

I was intrigued by the description of the series, and since I have some time off again for a while after a long and unforgiving semester, I went for it. After a long dash, another Taiwanese series watched. Starring the schmuck who’s amazing in Autumn’s Concerto, here it stinks to high heaven – first points down, and it doesn't end there. What I didn't like: dear Amanda using her child as a tool for emotional blackmail, the main character is such a good-looking duck that I felt like knocking her front teeth out while watching, the duck-heroine was being courted by two princes who did nothing but bicker for 16.5 episodes and did so in no interesting or funny way, the side stories didn’t hook me at all, and so on until at Episode 11 I was wondering where I would find the strength to finish the whole series, because I was not interested at all, but I gave it a go (I admit, sometimes I helped myself with the mouse and time skipped ahead...), towards the end they added a bit of business and bad family relations to the love story – of course, they had to stretch the boredom with more boredom... but what I don't understand is why the two of them didn’t just get on with "it" much much earlier? They loved each other dearly, but they weren't together because... of course, they had to fill those 21 episodes somehow. Aside from the fact that I was desperately bored for over three quarters of the series, that remaining one quarter contains some really nice scenes, some pretty mature behavior from the heroine in the beginning (she doesn't balk at things that make other heroines scream and cover their eyes), and a pretty nice soundtrack. I guess the biggest problem in my very negative view of the series is that I absolutely couldn't connect with any of the characters, they all seemed boring, flat, without a decent bit of character, and with thinking that really only fits in a soap opera. Once you can't relate to them in a story like this, it's over. Amen. A weaker 2 stars.

I was very interested at first, but I got a bit annoyed by Tsunemori. Then she stopped annoying me, but then the series turned into a run-of-the-mill crime drama set in the future where everything is run by the system (whose "ingredients", unfortunately, didn't surprise me in any way). It's not bad, it has a certain tension to it; I've seen the investigation procedures in cheesy crime dramas before, which is not to say they were bad, but it's just nothing new under the sun (no worries, it's still beautifully watchable). I didn't really like the OP, but I did like the ED. The animation was okay too, but I just couldn’t keep my eyes of Miss Investigator's snout. A nice crime drama in a sci-fi setting. A strong 3 stars. And I'm curious about the second season. If it's more action-packed and more "revolutionary", but still keeps up the same or higher level... it'll be worth more stars.

Something happens. Then blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah that pretends to be terribly sophisticated, deep, and everything for anyone with an IQ below 120. Except it's just empty air-locks, like this whole anime. It only got really interesting at the end, but that was only for about 10 minutes (end of episode 10 and beginning of episode 11), then it was back to the caged bullshit. Such a shame. I mean, I wasn't expecting anything from it (well, except for Kōgami, who didn't deliver anyway – at least not personally), but I still walked away kind of disappointed because it basically copied the first season, only it was more empty and less convincing (not to mention the villain(s)).

I'll preface this with the fact that it's a better 3 stars. Where this movie wins is the music. I watched it in the cinema, with my classmates around me, and quite a few of them flinched in horror at the murder of the private eye. But that's mostly because of the music. Unfortunately, it didn’t fire me up, which is definitely a shame. And the other problem was that it was clear to me almost from the beginning what the ending was going to be. But I think this film belongs in the "must-see" column, so I don't regret going to see it at all as part of Project 100. But the last scene (before the credits jump in), that was really awesome.

A lot of things are beautifully natural in the series and I'd say most of the dialogue is well polished; unfortunately, even though it's only 11 episodes long, it suffers from the malaise of Asian series – the ending is drawn out to the point of hurting the quality of the series. All it needed was those eight and it would have been a really good romantic series. Only it wasn't, it had to be muddled, stretched out, filled with unnecessary cotton wool; so I had to lower the rating. Not to mention the ending, which is so Asian. Fortunately, a big plus was the music by Queen and the acting by Kimura Takuya – when he plays ordinary guys, he plays them so convincingly that you aren’t surprised that the heroine falls head over heels in love with him. It could have been better. And definitely don't look for hockey in this, that's just a setup, a means for the two to meet and for things to get a little messy. A beautiful 3 stars.

This almost two-hour long special tells you the rest of how it actually ended, so it's such a must-see if you want more (which is no wonder after the end of the series...). Again, there are beautiful, sad (though not so much), and funny moments (I even laughed quite loudly at one comic bit). The atmosphere that surrounded the whole series can be felt here once again. Just such an orderly end to all of Proposal daisakusen.

Such a nice laid back anime, the central couple is cute, there aren't any brutal twists. It all plays out slowly and the viewer just watches as their awkward relationship moves on. And it does. I watched it for about three months because I didn't feel the need to rush off and watch the next episode, but I always liked coming back to it. Relaxing and mostly cute. Definitely not a waste of time. A nice 3 stars.

For me, this whole series rested on Takeru (an extra star just for him). The story isn't that phenomenal, but fortunately it's not far-fetched. The story centers around a few students who have their own problems and are trying to find answers. As to whether they succeed or fail, you can judge for yourself. I was terribly annoyed by Q10's voice more than half the time, but eventually I got used to it. I would have liked more of Atsuko with a normal voice, normal expression, because there was damn little of her like that. An average series with the above average Takeru; if you let it, it might even leave you with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Good acting. A good quality relationship film, Sakamoto Yuji is still going strong. Excellent background music. Interesting story. Suspense. Worth a look. But if you're expecting a music series focused mainly on how the quartet is doing and how they're overcoming all the obstacles in the music world... you might get burned. This is about the quartet, the four of them, not about classical music. But the first episode doesn't do much to impress.

A cute film, perhaps too long for its subject matter, made for dog-lovers. From puppyhood to the last days – we spend this time with Quill, a smart and loyal labrador. If you're wondering how dog training for the blind happens, this might give you at least a little insight into it – at least in Japan. Quill can bring out a smile and a tear. A passable film, but perhaps a little too slow and clichéd for my taste (which will be fine for dog-lovers, I suppose).