Anime-Breakdown: Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight’s Dream (2014) Movie Review

Persona 3 The Movie: No. 1, Spring of Birth was done by AIC A.S.T.A. studio which despite not being a good film I would have preferred if they continued making the films over A-1 Pictures studio. A-1 Pictures had their chance at the Persona franchise with Persona 4: The Golden Animation. Instead of refining Lerche’s earlier anime adaptation, titled Persona 4: The Animation, on the same game A-1 Picture created what is best described as a cash grab. Now they’re in charge of creating a sequel to an average video game movie adaptation. Like with Persona 4: The Golden Animation, A-1 Picture doesn’t seek out to make improvements, and instead makes sure you know it’s an A-1 Pictures product. What I find funny is during the opening sequence, Makoto says “I don’t know why, but I feel really good” looking up into the sky revealing director Tomohisa Taguchi name. Almost as a way to reassure viewers this sequel in good hands. It might seem unimportant, but this is the same director behind Persona 4: The Golden Animation. Persona fans, let that sink in as I delve into this bad sequel.

Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight’s Dream continues the story of Makoto Yuki from the first film leading a group of Persona users to eliminate “The Dark Hour”. This movie opens with a shower scene in a motel room. The film is gracious enough not to provide viewers with a recap of the previous film to pad the running time, but not smart enough to provide context as to why two teenagers are in a motel seemingly about to have sex. I know what happened since I played the game, but even with that said I’m watching a movie not playing it. External knowledge should not be required to understand the first scene of a movie. Once Yukari Takeba finishes showering, putting on a towel while Makoto takes off accessories around his neck. Yukari, and Makoto stare at each other in the middle of the room for a bit before Yukari blushed from embarrassment. The opening scene ends when Yukari slaps Makoto in the face then cue in title card. No scene, can better express what it felt like to see the film. It was, in every metaphorical sense, a slap to the face as a fan of the Person 3 video game.

A-1 Pictures: We care about plot!

Now, I want to emphasize this is an A-1 Picture production because it takes 17 minutes before anything significant like story actually appears in the movie. Yes, it takes that long before anything story wise actually starts moving forward in a film that’s around an hour, and forty minutes long. The most important thing relating to story that happens within those first 17 minutes is introducing the passive villains Strega. Everything else is spend on fan service like a scene at a beach involving Junpei Iori describing the swimwear of the female characters as the camera shows them off. Granted, this also happened in the video game, but at least they (the female characters) received some characterization at that point in the video game. Since the last movie didn’t develop the cast into dynamic characters it’ll make you shake your head as this is most of the female characters’ biggest contribution in the film. Another aspect it failed to do within those 17 minutes was introduced anything meaningful to use later on in the film story. After an opening action scene, the characters are next seen on a boat heading to an island, then proceeds for around 10 minutes on the beach on non-story related activity.

Now pass those first 17 minutes the film finally provides explanations for questions that should have been answered in the first film. So now you’ll finally get an answer for why Gekkoukan High School transform into Tartarus in “The Dark Hour”, why the Shadows were released into the world, how to possibly eliminate “The Dark Hour”, and how many of the powerful Shadows that appear during a full moon need to be defeated. All of this information would have been useful in the first film! This is basically damage control for the insane decision for characters to withhold information for no good reason. Narratively it leaves the viewers with no exposure to Persona 3 wandering in the dark when information needed to understand how the film world function gets addressed in the sequel. Thankfully, the one good decision from the story was explaining the concept of artificial Personas. Explaining what makes them different from regular Personas, and the consequences they hold. It’s not a focal point in the film, but at least some attention is given to it.

Welcome to the Pointless Room. A place between padding, and filler.

Out all the material that could have been cut from the film it’s beyond comprehension why the one, and only scene in “The Velvet Room” was left in when all that was said in it was enjoy life to the fullest, and beware of Shadows. This added absolutely nothing of value to the story. The inhabitants of “The Velvet Room” don’t appear again the film besides this one scene. The film was also in need of direction, and main goal to accomplish in the story. There’s a moment in the film where Shinji cooks for a dog while wearing pink cooking apparels. Then, the camera turns around to show an expressionless Aegis staring at Shinji. This causes Shinji to sweat with hip hop music (Mass Destruction by Lotus Juice) playing in the background repeating “Baby, baby, baby”. I just described a pointless moment in the film that the creators of the film approved to animate in the film, even though the first 17 minutes does nothing to move the story forward. Choices like these are the reasons why these Persona 3 films fail to tell a story properly.  

While still discussing the first thirty minutes of the film I should get across this sequel ruined one of my favorite scene from the video game. It’s after Yukari sees footage of her father dying (plus a revelation discerning Shadows too), and Makoto goes to the beach at night attempting to make Yukari feel better. I very much like this scene allot in the video game besides being a tender moment gave Yukari more depth as a character. It also ended with a humorous note showing the group strong friendship in hard times. So, when I saw the altered scene play out it was for a different purpose. What should have been a character defining moment for Yukari ends up being the set up to an introductory action scene to show off Aegis capabilities as an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon killing a dozen or so shadows. I wouldn’t have mind the action scene if A.) Cell Phones were working even though the first film establishes technology doesn’t work during “The Dark Hour”, B.) The action scene happens after Yukari sees footage of her father dying which dramatically voids Yukari of a meaningful moment, and finally C.) If in the previous film a single character had no trouble fending off a powerful Shadow in his first time of combat in Tartarus what makes you think I’m going to believe two unarmed characters will be in danger from an encounter where they are surrounded by a dozen weak Shadows.

Okay, with the first 1/3 of the film problems already written about there’s the rest of the film. With newly introduce Cyborg Girl Aegis now part of the main cast the film makes sure to tell audience she has an infatuation with protagonist Makoto Yuki. A love triangle would have benefited the story if done right. Makoto pays more attention towards Aegis in the film than Yukari even though they have known each other longer. Yukari is shown being jealous whenever Aegis says her purpose in life is to be next to Makoto Yuki side. If competently written this would be used to develop Yukari instead of just being used for humor. To add insult to injury Aegis proves to be more powerful, and useful in combat than Yukari who has been fighting Shadows for a far longer time. This romance aspect of the story doesn’t go far beyond Aegis stating she wants to be next to Makoto. Our protagonist shows no interest in either of them, but spends more time with Aegis in the film.

“I can’t believe believe this goes nowhere plot point”. Now with everything you hate without the cholesterol.

Continuing what was the point of the first film if Makoto didn’t learn to be more open with his emotions! It’s like he reset as a character to learn the same thing in the sequel. However, this film ends on a tragic note which would have made sense for Makoto to be emotionless if that tragic event happened earlier, or if the film was longer. It’s headache inducing attempting to figure out why the filmmakers thought this was a good direction to take Makoto character in.

When it comes to characters instead of developing the already large cast this sequel decides to increase its number instead. With the exception of Makoto, all the characters from the previous film are delegated into the background. Including Yukari, and Junpei whom were important in the previous film don’t grow as characters in the sequel. Junpei for instance doesn’t know what he would do after “The Dark Hour” is dealt with, but there’s no exploration on it. Other characters who also pondered this same question in one scene. Beside Makoto Yuki, everyone else’s thoughts on the question feel unimportant. A negative that detracts from the whole group dynamic when its tries to get across SEES is made up of close friends. Any character that was in the sideline in the first film don’t receive better treatment except for Akihiko who receives some characterization. Unlike the first film where the climax allowed him to contribute to the story. In this entry, Akihiko ends up short as his connection with Shinjiro has to be rushed, nor is the idea that they (Shinjiro and Akihiko) are good friends is done convincingly.

A total of seven characters get added to the cast. One of them is Ken Amada who turns out the best developed of the new characters. He has a simple backstory that eventually turns into a sub-plot of revenge. This leads to Ken being more developed as a character since the reasons behind his negative feelings on living are addressed. Koromaru is a dog that can use a Persona who has no backstory to him. Ken says a single line that Koromaru got left behind, but that could mean anything from an owner who forgot his dog to a street dog with no owner. A single line won’t make me care Koromaru, even if he’s a cute dog who can use a Cerberus like Persona. Finally, there is Shinjiro Aragaki who joins SEES fifty minute into the film. Anybody who has played the game (minus maxing out Shinjiro social link in Persona 3 Portable female route) knows Shinjiro fate in the story. His late addition to SEES makes Shinjiro character be rushed, and his impact on the story overall weak. Without much time spend with him, along with other characters, there’s no reason to be invested in their story. He’s also a plot convenience in the film when he goes to the rescue of SEES.

I pronounce you Mr. and Ms. Sue.

If you complained about Makoto Yuki being overpowered in the first film; this film offers a solution by providing another overpowered character. This time in the form of Aegis who also just as powerful as Makoto. In this film, Aegis is responsible for doing most of the fighting while Makoto is given a handicapped depending on the context. The climatic fight in particular has Makoto pondering his purpose after eliminating “The Dark Hour” for most it. While on the climax, it does a disservice to Junpei, and Yukari characters as they get beaten quickly showing they had not grown stronger since the first film. As a character, Aegis is simply a robot that doesn’t blend well with other human with how she acts. Unfortunately, she doesn’t learn, or wants to seek out what it means to be human in the film. Though, given the archetype of Aegis it’s bound to happen. Her defining trait in this film is being overpowered, and being attached to Makoto Yuki allot.

Lastly for the characters there are the members of Strega. A group that only has one character who has anything to do in the story. His name is Takaya Sakaki who states his intentions, and make the heroes ponder the questions of their purpose without “The Dark Hour”. Takaya is only in this film to kill off a certain character whose death has not much impact because that specific character short screen time. The other members of Strega don’t do much beside exist. Finally, there’s the character of Pharos who also has little to do in the film. Much like the one scene in “The Velvet Room”, Pharos appearance could have been cut out since he basically states the obvious of something bad is about to happen.

I might hate this movie, but A-1 Pictures usually delivers in animation.

A-1 Pictures is in charge with the production, and thankfully at least that is carried over from previous film. A-1 Pictures doesn’t improve on the animation aspect, but there is not a decrease in quality either from film to film. There’s more variety in the settings. The majority of the movie takes place at night time with the presence of with lots of heavy shadows. Like in the previous film, it’s reliance on lighting to create an eerie atmosphere. When in “The Dark Hour” blacks into dark greens and the blues into reds. This carries in the film insistent on color saturation be it making day scenes intensely bright, or making night scenes really dark. Almost as if it’s unable to trust viewers with the time of day a scene takes place in. Particle effects are amped in the battles from the previous film as members in SEES equals to more Persona on screen using magic attack, or the characters killing shadows. When Aegis is killing a group of Shadows in her first action scene the animation is fluid as she quickly moves around the environment, the framing of shot making it clear to see what’s going on, and the effects to add to the impact of an attack be it heavy flames, or bullet piercing. There is some bad 3D animation during a major action scene that doesn’t blend with 2D animation. Besides this the 3D in the film is not jarringly noticeable through its duration.

Shoji Muguro continues to provide music for the Persona 3 films. This time around the film offers new music to listen that wasn’t in the original Persona 3 games. The hip hop track “Fate Is In Our Hands” by rapper Lotus Juice plays in the opening sequence during a battle scene. Due to the bad audio mixing the sound effect drown out the music being played, but the song itself is rather good. It’s more progressive than the actual film discussing the hardships of life, and the persistence to overcome them. There’s a stanza in the song where Lotus Juice tries to understand his foes, and quickly goes into how his actual worse enemy is himself. Subjects that are brought up in the film, but not expanded upon like in this track. Yumi Kawamura provides her vocal for the film ending theme titled “One Hand, One Heartbeat”. This melancholic, piano ballad track perfectly closes the film on a somber note. Unlike the film writing, Yumi Kawamura provide emotional vocals that can make the viewer feel something in the scene after it’s over. By itself Yumi Kawamura song is a heartfelt piano ballad about losing someone special. In general, the music itself tells a far better, and compelling story than the film writing does on its own.

Voice acting is satisfactory once again. With too many characters, and unequal screen time the majority of the main voice cast from the first film get sideline without being offered single a scene to display their talent. Giving more half of its talent the equivalent of thankless roles. New addition Kazuya Nakai who plays Shinjirou Aragaki gets the most ranged in a rush amount of time. His performance is noteworthy as despite the speed his character changes tone Kazyua Nakai always sound natural. He makes the swift change in his character easier to accept. Megumi Ogata plays Ken Amada has a more steady change in her performance. Going from uncertain scare kid, too optimistic, to gloomy is handle well through her performance. I might not like the character Ken Amada, but she makes the character convincing. Then there’s Maaya Sakamoto who plays Aegis who has plenty of screen time. Unfortunately, her character is a cyborg trying to learn emotion archetype. However, since Aegis hasn’t gotten philosophical of what it means to be human Maaya Sakamoto is monotone for the whole film. It goes with the character in this instance, but it ends up being a forgettable performance. Sakamoto monotone delivery of her lines does provide hint of a complex character making Aegis seem hollow than she might actually be.

Makoto Yuki: “I could be dynamic, but I’ll prefer to be static”

What really bothers me the most about the performances is voice actor Akira Ishida doesn’t get to expand on his character Makoto Yuki. So he once again has to play the same emotionless, broken leading character from the first film. Ishida is not allowed to be more emotional, more expressive in his portrayal of Makoto Yuki. This film does the biggest disservice to him since by not allowing Akira Ishida to gradually transition his emotionless character to a more expressive one. The film rejects Akira Ishida the opportunity to expand Makoto Yuki beyond what was presented in the first film. It feels like a retread of his performance from the first film. While his retread performance is not bad it doesn’t quite the same effect the second time around.

Persona 3 The Movie: #2 Midsummer Knight’s Dream is a bad film continuing being inaccessible for newcomers, and infuriating for Persona 3 fans for not making the appropriate changes for the material to function as a movie. None of the character are develop to care about, there’s no tension because of two overpowered characters, a large cast most of whom don’t contribute to the story, and is predictably boring for anyone who played Persona 3 as it does nothing to fans off guard. It looks, and sounds like Persona 3, but by the time the credits roll it won’t be the same emotional roller coaster the video game was.

4/10

Anime Breakdown: Sword Art Online Extra Edition (2013) Recap Movie Review

If you have never seen Sword Art Online I recommend you stop reading at the second paragraph (discounting this passage) since I go into spoiler territory past that. Using specific examples of important events in the series to prove a point on how badly this recap movie present the material. By the second paragraph I generalize the main issues without spoiling anything specific. I might not think the series is great, but I wouldn’t dare ruin the element of surprise for anyone seeing it for the first time if they choose to do so.

The anime Sword Art Online is a fluctuating experience. The story was stupid breaking its own logic, not understanding how video game programming worked and filled with some idiotic characters, yet it was for those exact reasons I kept watching it. Part of the appeal of watching Sword Art Online is that it was always entertaining no matter what happened. Whether it was good or bad there was something to go back to. Something this recap film fails to emulate in the same way and serves to further highlights season one weaknesses while barely displaying of the strengths it had in the series.

So in order to save both fans and newcomers time this film is basically a bad recap of the first season of Sword Art Online that lasts an hour and forty minutes. In the first hour and twenty minutes there is some new footage mostly of characters sitting and talking, but pale in comparison to the usage of clips from the series first season. The remaining twenty-minute is spent on a subplot involving Kirito and the gang exploring an underwater dungeon in Alfheim Online. For fans of the series I wouldn’t recommend seeing this film for the new material since like a character said in a scene before this movie ended it is unimportant.

The way more than of half of the film is set up is like an interview. A government official, Kikuoka Seijirou, wants some dangling questions regarding the Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online incidents cleared up. Despite Kitiro expressing that he told them (the government) like a million time what happened. Within the first couple of minutes this simple exchange of dialogue expresses how pointless it is for both Kirito and anyone who seen the series to go over what happened. While Kirto talks to Kikuoka Seijirou there’s a subplot involving Asuna, Keiko, and Rika teaching Suguha how to swim. This framing device among the girls provides some character moments with them commenting on each other story on how they met Kirito. It’s not a bad framing device even if the girls remain in swimsuits for most of the non-recap clips. Compare to Kirito narrative framing which adds nothing. The girls framing device provides the rare interaction between characters in the real world.

One thing that is fixed in the movie are certain plot holes aren’t made as noticeable in the film. In the first season of Sword Art Online it was established in episode two that beta testers were passing out guide books so non-experience players can learn how to play the game. Including clearly stating a couple of months has passed and people will in real life die if they die in the game. Apparently death is not a good motivation for some players to learn how to play the game. With that bit of information left out it managed to make the whole scenario come across grimer and make the players look less idiotic in comparison to the anime series. This is later counteracted when the film has Kikuoka Seijirou asking how Kirito he survived in Sword in Art Online despite it going against the video game programming. Kirito ignores giving any sort of logical answer. Simply put, he survived death by sheer willpower.

It does this on another important occasion including the cardinal sin of not showing what happened when Kirito faces Sugou Nobuyuki in the Alfheim Online arc. Before giving a flimsy explanation one of the last thing seen is Sugou about to seemingly rape Asuna in front of Kirito. After Kayaba appears to give Kirito a motivation speech, it cuts back to Kirito talking to Kikuoka. The only explanation that’s given regarding what happened to Sogou is he self destructed. Not exactly satisfactory when it’s casually resolved like that. I could only imagine how fed up non-viewers of the series might feel when seeing that.

For some reason Shigeru Nishiyama (the film and anime series editor) thought it was a good idea to cut out certain things for no reason. Near the end of episode ten when Kirito goes over to Asuna house there’s a misunderstanding. In the scene, Asuna finishes undressing after diner mistaking Kirito intentions, thinking he wanted to have sex with her when actually he just wanted to stay the night at her place. Kirito clears up the misunderstanding which intentional or not was a hilarious moment in the anime. In the movie, once Asuna finishes undressing and tells Kirito to take off his clothes it cuts to black. Fading into the two of them sleeping together in bed. So according to this movie both Kirito and Asuna had sex.

Another mishaps by editor Shigeru Nishiyama is how he presented Yui story in the film. This piece in the movie is terribly edited together with noticeable abrupt cuts that even non viewers of the series would be able tell had content cut out. Instead of showing at least a single scene of Kirito and Asuna bonding with Yui it just immediately goes to Yui telling the viewer what she is and then possibly dying. Not even the anime was as rush in the same way when presenting this storyline. Unless you have seen the anime this moment will leave viewers confused and with so many questions that won’t get answered.

There’s also a random cut where Yui is around the same size as Kirito in Alfheim when Kirito enters Alfheim Online for the first time. Later in that moment the next cut shows Yui in pixie size. There was no point in cutting out Yui shrinking herself within the same scene which by doing so also cut out the explanation Yui gives for still being alive in the video game. Why this was cut makes no sense.

A shared element of both the film and anime series is Asuna getting the short end of characterization. Like in the anime, Asuna personality is no different from a thin piece of paper with boobs drawn on. However, it’s not presented in the same manner. The film doesn’t introduce Asuna as a capable player which in turn makes her role in the story less of an issue. Her role does not receive a downgrade in the film, which is a slight improvement to how she’s presented in the anime. Unfortunately the movie does not make a good case for Asuna being the center of Kirito affection. In the movie she’s just presented as an another girl who fallen in love with Kirito on a whim.

Suguha on the other hand is presented as having an actual relationship with Kirito. Unlike the other girls, Suguha is the only one who is shown having a conflict with Kirito and solving it with him. Suguha side of the story paints her in a better light showing the rough side of her relationship not just the good moments. Just like in the anime, Suguha is the only female character who gets any good characterization in the movie. She’s the only character in the movie who has a conflict to overcome from the beginning of the movie all the way to the end. It’s not much characterization that gets added to her, but it is far more significant than what the rest of the cast gets. Nothing.

Music while good gets replaced or amped up version from the anime series. The most noticeable is when it splices both of Kirito attempts to conquer the world tree in Alfheim Online it uses “Innocence” by Aoi Eir for those scenes. This specific track is not as effective as the original track use in the series. For the most part, the soundtrack is thankfully untouched. While not good enough to stand on its own without the help of the anime visual it works just fine in the movie as it did the series. There were times I will admit the music did get me to forget the issues I had and got me to enjoy what I was watching. Also, there were times where the editing would use a track to unintentional comedic effect. Simply cutting or fading out at a bad time. The voice work for both the Japanese and English cast is similar to the anime series. If you want more emotional performances watch it with English subtitles or if you want subtlety (and no stuttering) albeit with some underplayed characters go with the English dub. Unfortunately for both cast, it feels like rehash performances.

The last twenty minutes contains all new footage and stills without splicing any footage from the anime. It’s a simple subplot of Kirito and the gang exploring an underwater dungeon. If it wasn’t included in the film the material would have been just fine released as an OVA. The new material in the last twenty-minute is decent as a whole. As usual, despite playing an MMO and how they are actually design Kirito is able to handle any situation virtually by himself. What the new material does get right is capturing the fun experience from the series. The humor is intact and the interaction between the characters prevent things from being boring. Where it stumbles is the new material is not entirely animated. There’s some action oriented stills which would have made up for the disappointing climax at the end of the movie. Setting up what seems like would be a cool action scene, only to have an outside force and one-shot character fix everything. I can’t forget how easy it was to figure out the identity of the NPC giving the quest. Surely a better name than Nerakk for an NPC could have been more clever to hide the true identity for English speakers. Just change around a couple of letters and you can solve what the NPC actually is.

This movie is pointless offering only twenty minutes of new material, but even with that new material it is pointless. Aside from Suguha getting a small bit of new characterization nothing significant is added. Failing to condense the material of the first season of Sword Art Online and getting it to work in a movie format. The one to blame for this terrible piece of a film is not the source material since in the anime it does have good scenes that work in favor of the story, but the editing and the way the film presents them is to blame. It was sloppy, rushed, forgetting about the tiniest details like showing what happened to Sugou for a resolution. Instead of at least being a pleasant walk down memory lane it come across as a waste of time. There isn’t enough new footage to recommend to fans and it’s not a good presentation of the series for newcomers. You’re simply better off just watching the anime series or reading the light novels. No matter how they turned out, they at least will offer a complete experience unlike this film.

3/10

Anime-Breakdown: Sword Art Online (2012) Series Review

From the moment I finished the first episode of Sword Art Online all promises of a good show flew out the window. Some problems became immediately clear to me and it first episode failed to capture my attention in any way. Yet, at the same time I stuck with it, hoping it would improve, and in some respect it kinda did. Not enough for me to call it or consider it a good show, but nothing I would consider bad in general either. For all it’s problems it always kept me entertain whenever it did something good or bad. The ideas it had were interesting even if not executed properly most of the time. It’s simply a well produced show that tells a story poorly, but in a very entertaining way.

Synopsis:

In the year 2022, the virtual reality game Sword Art Online is released. Using a Nerve Gear, players can control their characters using their own minds, and experience the world of Aincrad as if it were real. Unfortunately, it becomes all too real when the creator of the game locks everyone out of the real world by hijacking all the Nerve Gear devices so that if you die in the game, you will die in real life. Only by clearing the 100th floor and defeating the final boss can the players win their freedom.

Good: Solid Production Values

A-1 Picture is a studio that I just acknowledge exist. This studio hasn’t made anything that I liked or hated wholeheartedly. However, when it comes to their production values they are consistently solid including the very colorful Sword Art Online. Character designs are simplistic and the locations are diverse. A-1 Pictures take advantage to show off snowy mountains, grassy fields, ancient dungeons, and many more to their advantage. Colors are simple and plain because lightning is rarely a factor to how a scene will look. Don’t expect much shading from this show, let alone gradient. In movement the animation is smooth from beginning to end without any noticeable issues.

One of my two complaints about the animation is Sword Art Online misses depths of perspective. Everything in the show looks flat, making what little use of 3D there is stick out. Another complaint is the action scenes are very weak. The choreography for all of them are simple which would have been fine, but whenever a spell or a weapon makes an impact on a person there is little visual flair or particles effect to add to the action. It’s similar to lighting up a firework and waiting for the true spectacle to occur, but it never comes because it’s a dud. I should add that the first opening intro is very misleading in representing Asuna as an strong component character who is as skilled as Kirito. In the first opening intro it shows Asuna and Kirito beating “The Gleam Eyes” while in the actual show it doesn’t happen. It’s almost as if A-1 Pictures acknowledge in their own way “Yeah, this character sucks. Sorry”.

All the music in the anime is a good fit with the show. In particular the closing song “Overfly” by Luna Haruna perfectly fits the romance side of the series. Of course that could be due to the second outro being more visually creative giving bits of the character relationship in pictures where the first outro is just camera panning down two characters doing nothing. The opening themes aren’t impressive. “Crossing Field” sung by LiSA sounds phoned in (especially if compared to Oath and Sign) and Air Eoi “Innocence” is passable. Any piece of music that isn’t the opening or closing themes fits with the show. It’s never distracting, but at the same time hardly noticeable as it never fuels audience’s emotion to create a powerful scene. It simply works in the show.

Voice acting is good, though not a single performance stands out regardless if you see it in Japanese or English. Both versions have a different take on how the voice actors portray the characters. The English dub cast are (mostly) subtle in their delivery, but in Japanese there’s more emotion driven into the performances. If you have to choose, I would recommend seeing it in its original Japanese language if only because the animation doesn’t deliver spectacles worth your attention.

Mixed: Mixture of good ideas that fail to live up to potential

Sword Art Online first arc (episode 1 – 14) suffers from rush pacing. It’s damaging to the point that on episode 13 it finally decides to address a major plot hole established in the pilot episode regarding how the players’ bodies are kept in a stable condition in the real world. If it takes that long to address a gaping plot hole there’s less chances whatever the material tries to tackle will come out better. For example, Asuna is introduced as a player who is on or close to the same skill level as Kirito holding her own in a fight in episode two. That quickly changes when Asuna is pushed to the sideline and given little to do afterwards. Usually involving cooking, cleaning, and needing to be saved. Another drawback to the pacing is skipping around time. You frequently skip months in the story with the anime usually relying on generalizing events than actually showing. Like how did Asuna obtain a high ranking position in the “Knights of the Blood” made further questionable when seeing her contribution when working alongside Kirito.

When out of focus episodes will go off track from the main story. These side stories flesh out the world by showing how the game mechanics work, but all at the cost of being filler. On the other hand, these side stories do keep the story unpredictable, even if the outcome never changes. Some other positive points about the first arc is there is risks of losing inside “Sword Art Online”. Not anything the main cast will suffer because Kirito’s overpowered, but it is established and touched upon in key scenes. While not as explored as the subject of death, it does bring up the mindset of different kind of players. Showing some diversity to offset the goody two shoes the story focuses on. Another positive is the romance doesn’t end with two characters becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. It shows two characters as a couple and runs with it for awhile. Although the downside being the couple aren’t interesting as stand alone characters let alone when they become a couple.

If there’s one thing that can’t be overlooked is how often it contradicts itself. It’s more than willing to break its own rules to make its protagonist come across as being awesome. For example, Kirito said himself it’s much better to be in a guild, but in Episode 8 single handily defeats one of the toughest bosses by himself. This also applies to gamers in the show who don’t know how to play the games. In Episode 2, it’s established to take place an entire month after the first episode and gamers still don’t know how to play the game. Either leading to speculation that most players of SAO are idiots or don’t bother to learn how play the game knowing their lives depending on it.

Now due to the course of the anime I encourage you to avoid the next two paragraphs to avoid spoilers. I won’t go into specifics, but just the mere mention of it will spoil “Sword Art Online” Aincrad Arc (Episode 1 – 14).

———————————————-Spoilers————————————————-

Episodes 15 – 25 make up the Fairy Dance Arc that takes place in Alfheim Online. A noticeable improvement is the pacing is slower. Allowing more of the story to unfold in real time instead of generalizing important events in exposition. However, some issues in the Aincard Arc carry over to the Fairy Dance Arc. Asuna character receives another downgrade and becomes a plot device to move the story forward. Sadly, that’s all of Asuna contributions in the Fairy Dance Arc. It also does away with the consequence of death that the first arc got across. Stakes are smaller and the scope of what it tackles is smaller. Plus going from a setting that has dragons, ghosts, and Santa Claus gets replaced by a setting filled with Fairies. There’s no competition, which arc has the more interesting setting. It might sound like a downgrade, but it improves in one area with it counts.

Since the story becomes more personal there’s no filler in the arc. Everything done is to move the story forward. It still suffers from the same problem of giving supporting characters little to do, but it is not as noticeable since an entire episode won’t be dedicated to helping out a random character who won’t make another appearance. Then there’s Suguha whose characterization is better handled. From her introduction as an important character we see her progress from her conflict from beginning to end. Unfortunately, there’s never a love triangle that arises from her involvement. Just like every other female in the show, Suguha has to rely on Kirito to do everything in the end.

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Mixed: Likeable, but bland characters

Kirigaya Kazuto or Kirito as he commonly referred by is a bland protagonist. Kirito is overpowered to the point that if there is an ever moment of conflict, he’ll make sure to eliminate it. Every battle and every dungeon Kitiro goes in, there is never any doubt about his survival. Even without the “He’s the protagonist, of course he won’t die” invisible tag attached to his character. Diminishing any worthwhile investment since he easily overcomes any obstacles including boss fights. The worst aspect about this trait is the audience doesn’t even get to see Kirito become stronger. If it was another genre of gaming, it would make sense…except Kirito play games specifically designed for multiple people to play together. Yet, somehow with his lone wolf attitude Kirito is able to get to a higher level than any other player that play in a group. Anyone who plays an MMO will tell you how difficult it can be to level up, especially if you’re a solo player. What’s most questionable about him is the way he thinks. For some reason he keeps how strong he is to himself, despite the fact if he played at his full abilities he can prevent more people from dying. His actions are equally harmful to the people trapped in SAO as a antagonist.

Another (lack of) trait is Kirito suffers little eternal conflict that gets explored. At one point the show explains why Kirito is into gaming, but doesn’t expand on it. Instead of adding on Kirito accepting the game he’s trap in as real life. It’s left as an interesting, unexplored characteristic of his character. Everything always seems to work his way sometimes without his involvement in the solution. This kind of character or wish fulfillment can be done correctly. For example, in Persona 3 you take control of a seemingly perfect character (that you could name him/her whatever you want) with a status of the chosen one. Much like Kirito, Persona 3’s Protagonists builds his/her stats until he/she is perfect at everything. The difference with Kirito is his backstory is never a focus at any point in the series. Whereas Persona 3’s Protagonists backstory is given fleshing them out. No longer are the characters simply overpowered, but developed characters that blend with the cast. From beginning to end Kirito remains static with no major difference from where he begins to where he ends up.

Asuna serves as Kirito love interest. She could have been a good character, but beyond episode two the series does everything it can to lessen her importance. Instead of being an equally strong character like Kirito she eventually becomes reliant on Kirito like virtually every female character in the anime. What makes Asuna case different is how she was introduced as an equally skilled player which is not the direction the story took her in. This introduction makes her the most disappointing in the cast especially with what’s done with her in the second half. Another significant female character is Yui whose an AI or little girl ex-machina. Her contributions are similar to Asuna in which she becomes a plot device to move the story forward in the second half, but early on is involved in a side story about family. To get it out of the way it was rather heartless, but at least it contribute to the main story and one of few times character development of Asuna and Kirito as a couple works.

The last significant female character is Kirigaya Suguha. Despite not appearing in the show as much as the series main love interest Suguha gets better character development. Suguha is a sympathetic character all due circumstances from her placement in the story. Her feelings in a situation are rely to the audience properly to understand where she’s coming from. Making her conflict in her feelings for Kirito that she never thought about much. She doesn’t know if her love for Kirito is right or wrong due to circumstances she’s not entirely sure played a part to influence how she feels. Like the other female characters she does end up falling for Kirito, but unlike the rest of female cast Suguha feelings has some depths. As a character she grows in the story for the better not taking steps backwards.

Male supporting characters won’t be as reliant on Kirito since an entire episode is never dedicated to Kirito helping out another male character on a dangerous quest. The most he does for a follow male is teaching them how to play, despite the person spending tons on money to get the equipment to play the game and having waited three days in line to get it. If it’s a male other than Kirito they’ll spend most of their time off screen. This rule changes if the male happens to be an adult than chances increases they’ll be evil. Most of the adversaries Kirito fight against are mostly male, which in itself becomes tedious. Although, that last sentence should be filed under personal pet peeves instead of a flaw in the show.

Personal Enjoyment: Surprisingly, I was never bored

Well you did just read a couple of paragraphs of me favoring the second arc of “Sword Art Online” over the first. Just because I prefer one arc over the other doesn’t mean “Sword Art Online” quality will change. It’s story is never consistent in quality, but it is always entertaining. Whenever there is a bad scene in “Sword Art Online” I find it entertaining. From Kirito gaining the very stupid and non insulting nickname of “Beater”, any scene involving those useless teleportation crystals, and seeing Nicholas The Renegade (Santa Claus) being a few stand out. Thankfully not everything in the series was poorly thought out as there are actually good scenes in “Sword Art Online” I liked. The ending in Episode 14 titled “The End of the World” was satisfying even if the outcome of it was completely due to deus ex machina. Another being episodes 22 & 23 where the scenes between Leefa and Kirito that made me realize I actually cared what happens.

(Likely) Possible Complaints:
Everything I listed
The main character is Kirito
Everything that isn’t on the technical side if you loathe the story and characters
How popular it is (this one’s superficial)
This review if you absolutely hate it or absolutely love it

Rating: 6/10

Production Values (Sound, Animation, etc.): 3/3

Story: 1/3

Characters: 1/3

Personal Enjoyment (Yes, my enjoyment is worth the least amount points): 1/1

Final Thoughts:

When I got to the final episode of Sword Art Online and sat through the closing credits with still images my thoughts on the show were immediately clear. It’s not something I would call a good show with a story that has good ideas that get squandered by poor execution and characters that receive little character development or get pushed to the sideline after a single episode. However, it was consistently entertaining and always had my interest no matter how it turned out. There’s is one thing that is for certain regardless where you stand on Sword Art Online quality. It’ll leave one strong impression on the viewer before and after it ends.

6/10

Anime Breakdown: Blue Exorcist (Ao No Exorcist) (2011) Series Review

Important to note:

I’m no expert on manga or its animated form so when it comes to regarding it’s position of quality I have no idea how high or high low this would rank. Honestly though this isn’t the first anime I’ve ever seen, although I doubt anyone who sees and read this stuff would take someone who only anime he has seen are Angel Beats!, Persona 4: The Animation, Tokyo Ravens, Attack On Titan, Noragmi, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and WataMote would take my criticism to heart. At the time this was posted I got confirmation from the official Blue Exorcist fan page that there is no plan for another season.

Lets get started into why I decided to check out the series in the first place. Looking through the animation section of my video store I was looking for something new to see. In the past I pretty much establish myself as a person whose sees the current state of animation in a negative light. Looking back at my reviews on animated movies most of them begin with me bashing current animation in some way. So with this incentives I chose to check out one of the more recent animated films. The one I chose just so happened to be Blue Exorcist and once I discover it was based on a manga that has a anime I chose to do my review of the film differently. Unlike in the past I didn’t just want to go into the film for just newcomers, but be able to tell fans if the film does justice to the series or not. Plus I had plenty of time to kill so there was no harm to be done if I checked out the series. This being a review of a television series and not the film I’ve chosen to adapt the wing-it style I originally developed for TV shows (which I haven’t decided to start or ignore) for this series review of  Blue Exorcist.

Premise:

The world of Blue Exorcist consists of two dimensions joined as one, like a mirror. The first is the world in which the humans live, Assiah. The other is the world of Demons, Gehenna. Ordinarily, travel between the two, and indeed any kind of contact between the two, is impossible. However, the demons can pass over into this world by possessing anything that exists within it. Satan is the god of demons, but there’s one thing that he doesn’t have and that’s a container in the human world that is powerful enough to hold him! For that purpose, he created Okumura Rin, his son from a human woman, but will his son agree to his plans, or will he become something else…? After killing Rin’s guardian, Father Fujimoto, in an attempt to bring Rin back to the Demon world, it led to Rin’s journey of becoming an Exorcist in order to become powerful enough to defeat Satan and also face the consequences of being the son of Satan.

Good: Accessible, Easy To Define Characters

If there’s one thing Blue Exorcist does correctly, it’s its characters. Each of them have an easy to define trait and backstories. Motivations become much more about the characters personal goals over simply being a battle of good vs. evil. Facing their own weaknesses even overcoming preconceived notions when facing each other. Taking time to do something with it sides character albeit be an entire episode or a moment where they specifically shine. Despite a being a series about orphans, devils, and demonic creatures it finds time to have a little fun with itself thanks to its balance of varied personalities. They have the right balance of comedy and genuine emotion that sells you on whatever the characters are currently going through their situations.

Rin Okumura, the protagonist of the series exemplifies the series contrast of the typical cycles we assume of good and evil. He’s the son of Satan, contains his powers, but ultimately decides to go on a different path from what’s society expects from him. Okumura goes against the norm of how to perceive a demon even if the series itself plays it pretty safe with it story. What makes Blue Exorcist easily accessible is the relationship between brothers Rin and Yukio. From first impressions, it came across as if Yukio’s accepting his brother’s status a demon would be a central arc, but gets resolved rather quickly. However, the key to maintaining the brother dynamic interesting is them seeking their parents past all the while facing several issues together. It’s this kind of brotherly love that makes it worth getting involved behind the protagonists.

The series best character moments are with Shiro Fujimoto who raised the spawns of Satan. Early on in the series his character bites the dust, a shame too since it leaves as little impact as you would expect, though that is to blame more on poor plotting than the character himself. Fujimoto slowly becomes more developed through the course of the series from the words of either the children he raised or those who knew him from the past. This father is a certified badass because of how strongly he sticks to his beliefs. Not only does he retain the good word, but always searches for a non violent solution if possible. He’s a pacifist if he sees other ways of resolving an issues, but not to the point he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. It’s just unfortunate Shiro Fujimoto takes a back seat to his sons given how his backstory has a better setup for three act stories than the direction the series went in.

Good: Interesting World With Religious Elements

Admittedly I never once really thought much on the hierarchy of a church. I bring this up because religion is one of the series main elements. To an extent it does establish the rules in which the priests should do business. They are pretty clear using what the average person associates when it comes to exorcism and priests. It’s not an shoehorned element as its usage of religion ideas is solid. Baring some similar element to its inspiration is easy to compare, but free enough to explore the concepts with modern updates. For example, there’s five ways a Meister (an exorcist specific combat style) ranges from; Dragoon (guns), Knight (swords and what not), Aria (reads holy text scripture), Tamer (summon Demons), and Doctor (self explanatory). We get a good picture of how everything functions and works in the system.

Using religion as a starting point it yet again makes a number of contrast from established concepts. For starter the lord of evil Satan has far more characteristic than just a demonic being. His one trait of punishing is kept, but it’s the idea of what makes Satan who he is that we are given a glimpse off. Understanding why a human would fall in love with Satan and understanding Satan as a person not just as a mere demon. This exploration comes pretty late in the series although very much appreciated putting a different spin on a legendary figure. Further supporting the against type the series highlights with the demonic protagonist. Knowing it limits the religion elements never become overbearing to the series.

Mixed: Production Values

From a technical standpoint there’s nothing about Blue Exorcist that stands out from animation, visuals, music, or anything for that matter. It simply does its job adequately which isn’t enough to leave a permanent impression like the series so desperately wants to achieve.

When it comes to sound the only thing that comes close to registering on radar is it music. The series only has two notable tracks which are the opening themes; “Core Pride” by the (can’t believe I actually recognized this) band UVERworld for the first 12 episodes and “In My World” by Rookiez Is Punk’d for the remaining 13. UVERworld is a good band, but “Core Pride” isn’t a good representation of the shows first season. Opening with an uproaring saxophone accompanied by fast drum beats within seconds “Core Pride” goes from Jazz to a rock song in seconds. I definitely like the song “Core Pride” and how it expresses its subject matter, but that same notion can’t be applied vice versa. “Core Pride” transforms into another genre in seconds something the typical opening does not do; title appears with flashy fire effects, protagonist is running late to something, protagonist head facing down while walking alone with hands in his pockets, protagonist laying out in the rain holding his weapon, protagonist gets picked up and runs again, and ending with the protagonist holding out his sword just to look cool. Man I spend allot on a single track which honestly defeats the point of watching 12 episodes. Sure you’ll get more context if you see the first twelve episodes, but those moments are pretty insignificant when compared to the big picture “Core Pride” gets across a lot more efficiently in four minutes.

The second opening track “In My World” by Rookiez Is Punk’D is more in line with the series quality as the opening is even less inspired. However, “In My World” should basically be labeled “Core Pride 2” as both songs are pretty much the same thing lyrically. “Core Pride” talks about a person considered to be an outsider in his community having big dreams he knows are unobtainable. Over the course of his life he never loses the passion to obtain them knowing that if his future is never bound to change like people have told him throughout his life he knows himself he can change. Long summarization I know. It’s just the way the song presents that life experience is a lot classier because the person going on the journey is facing it head on with no excuses even if everyone is trying to put him down. “In My World” is the griefing version of “Core Pride”. Literally opening with “Dark side in my heart is a black box” it mopes around with an unenlightened outlook. Lyrically the song’s attitude is “F**k all to the world” for the majority of it until by the end the person embraces life and all bad things it throws. Notice a problem with the two? If not, “Core Pride” is a life experience where as “In My World” is a temper tantrum. “In My World” is a bad opening because it’s drastically smaller in scope compare to “Core Pride” and going against the big scope the show is aiming for. Worst of all “In My World” doesn’t in any way build upon anything that’s been established simply restating facts viewers at this point would have already known about the series.

Now with that off my chest how’s everything else that actually matters for longer than a minute and half. Well the sound effects are dull. Gunfire sounds are similar and at times when a bullet hits an object the effect can be missing. Things such as fire burning, swords clashing, broken gate falling, or any various series of action sound stock. There’s literally editing programs with same level of quality sound effect. Visually the animation is smooth, but there’s nothing notable about it. Feeling very restrictives it attempts to make up for it with a more stylized approach to make its battles appear big. Granted this works to make battle look cool, but the restrictive animation prevents from the action scenes from being elaborate. Art design is generally mixed. Demonic creatures for the most part are based around animals and unfortunately the creators don’t stray too far off from the animals anatomy. Everything from the color to the body structure, nothing about the demons look visually demonic. Take a look below.

Character designs are thankfully varied minus the protagonist Rin Okumura. While researching images I did not expect to find a character so similar to Rin’s design. So while the protagonist isn’t entirely original, the rest of the cast established their own identity. Although the animators did get carried away with the design of a particular characters breasts. I kid you not when I say there were times when the only things on my screen were animated breasts.

Mixed: Promises a lot, delivers very little

Seeing how many negative things I have to say about the writing, lets get out some positives. Story arcs that have little connection with the main story bring satisfying closure. These stories could be from the celebration of a certain character birthday to a husband finally forgiving himself to what happened to his wife. The downsides to these arcs varied as some do make character development progress, but overall these stand alone episodes neither strengthen nor weaken the overall story. Now for to the long rant.

Blue Exorcist throughout its 25 episodes follows the pattern of a Stephen King novel; it has excellent build up, but the outcome is underwhelming. It has the characters and world to fulfill the epic scope it has its eyes set on, but the stories themselves suffer from mediocrity. In order for Rin Okumura to be become an exorcist he must attend True Cross Academy. This ends up making the series just another high school anime. Character archetypes are pretty typical for a high school setting from the bully, the loner, the nerd, and so forth. Like the high school setting it has some twists like the lack of any actual romantic tension. The characters are good, but unfortunately what the series decides to do with them amounts in unfulfilling transformations.

Another problem with the series is protagonist Rin Okumura never overcomes any major obstacles that doesn’t require the use of his demonic powers. It pretty much throws away the idea of the usage of his power consuming him which prevents Rin Okumura’s having a sense of growth. From the beginning of the series all the way to the end, progression is absent with Rin having learned little to nothing at all. Also the subplot about Rin Okumura learning to control his blue flames for several episodes is thrown away by the finale. Without spoiling it, simply put another character inherits a similar power and immediately knows how to control it.

Another weakness is Rin’s rival Amaimon. Amaimon is meant to come across as the snarky rival, but rather comes across as a overly powerful brat. Everytime Amaimon fought with Rin it usually resulted in expositions between attacks preventing momentum from building up. Even when something did happen in the battles between Amaimon and Rin it resorted to the same trick every time. It’s amazing that despite how short the battles are they can take a while to get to the point.

Hands down the biggest issue with Blue Exorcist is the lack of closure. When reaching closer to the finished line it all feels rushed with elements being left unexplored or underdeveloped even a mysterious character that’s hinted to be more important is left as is. Sure the big finale is wrapped up insultingly easily, but it’s not a way to end a series on a high note. It leaves unanswered questions and teases at the end that our heroes still have a lot more adventures to go on that we’ll never see unless we read the manga. As it stand the ending pretty much promotes anyone who likes the series enough to check out the manga. Coming from someone who’s not an expert on the whole anime culture it doesn’t leave much of an impression other than “it was decent I guess”.

Mixed: Action with flare, but fizzles in execution

When it comes down to the action it’s the closest the series ever comes to being visually impressive. Undermine by battles that just look cool. Just about every single action scene is heavy on the spectacles as the characters fighting styles differs from guns, to summoning creature, spouting bible verses, and weapon combat. Pretty visuals can’t hide the fact the action scenes are basic. This wouldn’t be a problem if the series actually had a fair amount of action scenes, but it is due to the fact that the heroes spout exposition in every action scene, it can’t be forgiven.

Staging on the other hand fares a little better. Making use of its characters varied combat styles leads to seeing these different techniques coming together. Rather than simply using these techniques to pad out the spectacles their strengths and weaknesses are always present. With a clear understanding of how capable each combatant is, it brings excitement not knowing how things will play out. Although this doesn’t apply to whenever Rin fights an opponent. His fights usually are won by summoning bigger blue flames or lazy writing that makes his opponent incredibly easy to defeat. Rin Okumura battles have the most visual flares, but are also the most disappointing due to how easy everything is for Rin to overcome.

Final Thoughts:

Blue Exorcist is a decent show that can’t overcome mediocrity, but neither becomes a victim of it thanks to some twists and good characters. At one point while watching Blue Exorcist you see a glimpse of a show that reaches its potential, but sadly that moment is short lived and by the time you get to that point more than half of the series is done and past that mark it removes all progress to quickly wrap things up. Unable to come close to reaching the aimed epic scope in emotional values and losing momentum when reaching its high point Blue Exorcist entertains while it lasts, but that’s about all the height it’ll amount to.

Characters: 2/2

Ideas: 2/2

Production Values: 1/2

Writing: 1/2

Action: 1/2

Rating: 7/10 – Genre fans will find a lot to like, but for the average viewer its numerous flaws prevent it from standing out to similar series.