Zíza

Zenigata is simply a likeable character (especially as played by Suzuki Ryohei), an indomitable soul of law and justice. Such a classic detective story and one detective who does things a little differently, but that doesn't mean he's anything special (except in his persistence and slight obtuseness, though we could easily call it straightforwardness). An okay short series, but I liked the previous four episodes a bit better – it must be because of the other partner; after all, Miura Takahiro is a better actor than Maeda Atsuko, who didn't really fit here.

For the first two episodes or so I thought, that’s a main character, such a total psycho. That label stuck with him, a label no one would unpeel from him for the entire series. And that Ken'ichi played him perfectly. But then I got bored. It was so stereotypical. And some of the scenes went on too long. Plus, it seems like the Japanese don't know how to handle a camera. For a while I didn't know whether to sympathize with him or wish him dead. Even now I don't know. But for the idea it carries, for the last few episodes where some parts really spoke to me and I really enjoyed them, and for the last episode where it showed what we might call a parallel universe, I give it 4 stars. But I hesitated because I really didn't want to see a screaming, drooling Futaro sometimes; it gets old. BOOM

The first two episodes or so weren't that great, but eventually it picked up the pace and made you wonder what would happen next. The series consists of different episodes where Mao digs around in the bodies so much that he eventually figures out how the owners died. Fortunately, the entire series is interspersed with the story of Mao and her motivation for wanting to work as a pathologist. Takei Emi's acting was decent, she basically played a similar character to the one in Otenki onee-san, only she was a bit more human, making her more sympathetic to the viewer. The supporting characters were mostly the usual shrubbery to fill in the plot and the background, but it wasn't anything annoying, and occasionally something interesting came out of it. Sasaki Kuranosuke really dialed up the Osaka dialect until after a while it was impossible to listen to in the midst of all the Tokyo-ese. Maya Miki portrayed a character with an interesting personality that was fully revealed at the end, and I have to admit that it was a bit of a surprise for me, I was expecting something a bit different. The series is eight episodes long, so it's over before it gets really boring. :-D But it had something to it, and it certainly won't hurt to check it out.

Boring, uninteresting... maybe it was supposed to be a parody of BL clichés, but it only kept that up for the minimum amount of time, and eventually even that got annoying, and it ends up sliding all too easily into what it wanted to avoid. The best parts were the opening and ending. The acting... like there was some, but it wasn't really needed. A quickly forgettable void.

Granted, I was still enjoying it at the beginning, but then it turned into such an awful melodrama with everyone licking their wounds and traumas that it became unwatchable. I realize you can't expect anything realistic from a show like this, but this was too much. The characters became unbearable after a while, and it was about watching the eighth episode that I realized I absolutely didn't care how the characters ended up, whether suffering or laughing. And with a show like this, if you don't care about the fate of the characters, you're just not going to enjoy it, and you end up thinking it’s the biggest bore in the world. The actors tried their best, but it just couldn't overcome the obnoxiousness of the characters. Besides, everyone considers Barbie Hsu a beauty and a perfect actress and who knows what else, but after a few episodes I couldn’t stand the sight of her. I found her annoying (could it have been her character?). Anyway, the masochism in me said to hang in there, so I watched the whole thing, but I'm not happy about it. Overwrought, silly, unnecessarily tragic, and downright whiny.

It all looks awfully cool. Bullies with tough talk, but they've got pain, grief, sensitivity hidden inside. Wow, girls' knees buckle, guys pat them on the back, "Hi five, Low five", cool, let's keep going, let's go kill zombies to pay off the debt, yeah, yeah, even cooler. Well, we need to add someone to the party, two guys smacks of shōnen-ai, so the third to the party will be a girl (who ends up, poor thing – probably fanservice? – showered with a little shōjo-ai). Yeah, yeah. But it's gotta be that naive Pollyanna who awakens the core of each of them, you know, so that they have someone to sort of protect and yell at sometimes. It's not bad to watch, it's perfectly watchable, except that you might – maybe – occasionally grimace at the would-be terribly moving and crucial scenes or speeches. To kill or not kill a friend? I'd say kill, rake in the cash and have tea, but I guess I’m just a bit too fond of living. It's just such a bland, dull animation with everyone looking horribly pointy and freshly released from Buchenwald. The music didn't stand out to me, neither the opening theme nor the ending, nothing, which means it wasn't anything special. Maybe it has a nice facade, maybe the story sounds interesting, but it's not that well crafted. Such a pity. The manga might be better, but I'm not going to try it. Bottom line, I’m giving it a better 2 stars for the fact that I wasn't even that bored with it. P.S.: Watch 11 episodes and you have, let's say, a complete story, watch 13 and you might as well continue with reading it...

I really like the idea of two strangers getting together, slowly getting to know each other, and slowly feeling something for each other until it grows into love. An awesome, beautiful fairy tale. So I was looking forward to it; unfortunately, this series has been a terrible disappointment. It's basically a show about bickering and unnatural twists and screenwriting crutches that don't fit the plot, but are there to stretch it and make it dramatic. Unfortunately, I'm not buying it. Plus, I didn't even feel like there was any proper chemistry between the leads that would have pulled the weak script into something better and watchable. I kind of don't understand the point of this piece's existence, in my opinion we could have lived without it, the Earth would keep turning and I would have saved myself a few hours of clicking and searching for interesting scenes that unfortunately didn't come. It's hokey, but not in a nice way that you can watch and smile at. I didn't like it; if it were food, it would stink, look disgusting, and even the taste would be pretty unappealing. I don't think they'd even sell it in McDonald’s. Sadly, a total disappointment, one of the worst Taiwanese series I've ever seen.

I liked that the series is an accurate reflection of how religion works in Japan – the complicated intertwining of everything, the fact that just because one works doesn't automatically mean the other doesn't work or have substance. That's why I liked this syncresis. Another plus was the heroine, because she was exactly like a sixteen-year-old girl – she wasn't just relegated to the "he's handsome so I must automatically like him" box, but she wasn't a bitch either. She was just a real human being, and that's something I rarely see in a sixteen-year-old girl in anime. Otherwise, it's a perfectly ordinary ghost story, episodic, with the house in the mountains story sticking in my mind the most because of its atmosphere. If you're in the mood for exorcisms and a pretty decent group of people, don't skip this one. A weaker 4 stars.

I haven't seen such a severely underrated series in a long time, I tend to see overrated ones more often than not. This just isn't Shōnen or seinen, this is a beautiful example of sentai. Or the Power Rangers in the animated version. Nothing more, nothing less. And within the genre, it's really well done. Not only does it poke fun at itself, but at the same time we go through all the stages of superheroes with the hero, which basically replicate the clichés of the genre, but are presented in a quite endearing way that you simply enjoy watching it. If you haven't spent at least some enjoyable time with Kamen Rider, it's clear that you won't be digesting this anime either. Masayoshi starts us off from scratch, overcoming obstacles, amassing followers, and fighting all sorts of odds to ultimately triumph, albeit bare-bottomed. Everything makes sense. The characters have their (sentai-esque) depth. Plus, it's just a comedy about a universe that decided to make one fool's dream come true. Pleasantly goofy.

What I loved incredibly about Hibiki was that the girl never fell out of her role, even though her surroundings may have pushed her into a mode of behavior she thought was right, she didn't let herself get used to it and continued to keep her role because it suited her best and she felt comfortable in it. The relationships between the characters in the film are very well portrayed within their quiet complexity and loud simplicity. Hibiki is straightforward, and in the end, when one gets to know her a bit, it's clear what she wants, though she may not say it out loud. In her differences, Hibiki is simply beautiful and as a character, it's easy to succumb to her. Plus, she's good at what she does and knows what she wants. I wouldn't be at all surprised if everyone said after watching this that they wanted to be at least a little like her in some ways. While the lead role is a high school girl, you couldn't say that this is a movie about a purely high school setting. It intertwines with the adult world and forces all the characters to grow up. However, I felt that in the end it was Hibiki who was the most mature of them all. I definitely recommend watching it. The movie has a lot to say and will definitely get you reading, maybe even writing. Not to mention that your heart will sing for Oguri Shun's character.