Kaze no Stigma – Review

Animes are good stuff, especially when you are looking for some excitement in life.

For 2007, Kaze no Stigma is probably one of the entertaining Anime around.

No need to think too much,

Action? GOOD!
Comedy? Fun!
Magic? Totally!
Romance? Definitely!

It is what i would like to call a relaxing enjoyable Anime that might keep you wanting to rewatch it.
I mean, i rewatched it twice, but it is not one of those that you want to rewatch right away of course, i mean you will want to rewatch some parts right away just to relive it again.

I will just jump to the anime rather than describe it, you can read the summary on AnimeNewsNetwork.
Summary on ANN

It is an obvious shounen Anime, you might even find it typical, but i love typical stuff. The idea of the weakest becoming the strongest and being underestimated. Then come time of revelation, *BOOM!* those people who underestimated him realised how wrong they were.

On the other hand, it is not just a shounen Anime, one of the weak sides would be they focused too much on the relationship between the hero and heroine. It would have been better if they cut the romance short by an episode or 2. Some things were not that necessary.

One good thing about this anime is that the hero has a dark past (you will find out later on in the series) and the hero is not just a normal hero but rather a tortured hero in the sense that he loses his away due to his feelings. Suddenly the phrase from the Spider-Man movies pop into mind “with great power comes great responsibility”.
Do not fret, that has close to no relevance to his anime, it is just that i got reminded of that suddenly.

If you are looking for a day of fun and laughter. Something light but not halfway stupid. Something decent then Kaze no Stigma is the choice.

It is just so light hearted without the lack of taste. Anime like these can go wrong so easily, it can become corny, it can appear to be trying too hard. But not Kaze no Stigma.

A sneak in an action scene in the beginning of the first ep….

dont ask what the purple thing is…haha, just watch and you will know

Pros
-read above ramblings… ^^-

Cons
This is one of Gonzo’s worser quality animations.
I cant remember how many times it was that i got irritated by how the characters looked and with the animation quality. It was quite obvious. If you surf the net you can find many people complaining about it.
This series ends with a VERY huge possibility of a season 2 but nothing has been announced.

Other than that, it is a good anime!

-8/10-

For:
People who like action and want to have a fun time

Not For:
People who are very particular about the quality of the animation
People who don’t like domineering female characters

-ra out!

comment: I don’t think that the seiyuu’s voice fits Kazuma cos he sounds a little too deep, but this is just my opinion. ^^

Ghost Hunt – ep01-25 Review

Ghost Hunt at AnimeNewsNetwork

Have you ever watched an anime that kept making you want to re-watch it over and over again eventhough you know that it is not the best Anime in the world but it just is able to capture your attention because of the way it was executed. From the sound effects to the use of different approaches, Ghost Hunt is the anime that I adore to bits. One of the main reasons might be because it is different.

It is not a happy go lucky anime, and despite its name it is not an anime that is out to scare the crap out of you.

It is an anime with character designs that makes you feel comfortable and at ease, and this contrasts with the spooky background music and the scary-at-times plot. The combination is just perfect in my opinion, and this is probably the reasons why i like it so much, because it is not here nor just, just sitting perfectly on the fence between uncomfortable and comfortable animes to watch.

Shibuya Psychic Research Center – SPRC
It is a business ran Kazuya Shibuya. SPRC as the name suggests, specializes in dealing with cases related to phenomenon happenings.

Characters

Taniyama Mai

She is just a normal high schooler who likes to tell the occasional ghost stories with her friend because it is exciting. She is not the brightest, but she is not stupid either. She is basically a nice down to earth girl who gets caught up with SPRC. She broke a camera in the first episode and helps with a ghost case to help ease her conscience. After the first case she was offered a part time job and became part of the team of SPR. She has a crush on Kazuya Shibuya but don’t expect this to be a romance Anime.

Kazuya Shibuya aka Naru the Narcissist

17 year old boss of the SPRC. He is nick named Naru-chan by Mai due to his narcissistic attitude. He is intelligent and good looking and loves to make fun of Mai’s stupidity. Naru is a workaholic and he works non stop be it on off days or even if he is hospitalized. His background is unknown except for the fact that his father is a professor. Even though he seems heartless at times, he shows that he is not as cold blooded as everyone pictured him to be. He is the love interest of 2 of the female characters.

Koujo Lin

Little is known about this man. He is Naru’s assistant plays the role of a guardian at times. He is chinese and a very very silent guy. Plus i think that he is really tall especially when he stands next to Mai. In the first arc he was injured and thus Mai was hired to take his place as being the assistant. But by the end of the first arc he makes a full recovery and Mai gets offered a part time job.

Ayako Matsuzaki & Houshou Takigawa

John Brown

Hara Masako

These few are psychics and exorcists. Ayako is a priestess, and Takigawa is a monk. But neither are your typical priestess and monk characters. John Brown is an exorcists from Australia and Hara Masako is a famous spirit channeler. They were hired by the client in the first arc and were subsequently asked by SPRC to aid in other cases.

—–

Those were the main casts and I think the chemistry between the characters and the behavior of each character complements one another and no one is useless in this anime. Maybe that is why i just love all the cast that make this anime such an enjoyable one. The anime is a arc by arc anime, and each arc is not related to each other. There is little character development except for Mai and this is probably one of the faults. It is more of an entertaining anime than one that is deep and well developed.

Pros

The characters are pleasant
The animation is good
The opening is really good, with its spooky lyric-less music.
Each arc is interesting and captivating
There is a nice balance
I just adore the characters.

Cons
The fact that each arc is slightly too individual. I understand that the show is suppose to be about ghosts and not about love but i would have like to see some development between Naru and Mai.
I also don’t like the fact that Naru’s past is closed by that you dont really know anything about him.
I dont really like the Masako character. she seems spoilt (i know, this is so random. haha)
It would have been better to see a development with a main focus as a overall story rather than just cases one after another.

—-

Overall, i like to eat cornflakes in the middle of the night and watch this anime. ^^
It is entertaining, it can frighten you at times, it can make your giggle at times too. Not too shounen nor shoujo. If there was such a thing as a balanced anime I would list this as one of them.

I would give is a 9/10 just cos i love it so much. But if i were to be fair i would say it is worth 8/10

Osamu Yasuhara

He is my favourite character, too bad he appears only halfway through the series. I think he is so cool and funny. LOL.

Alright then, that’s all for Ghost Hunt.

-ra out! ^^ take care! ghoooost hunt is great! you should reeeeeally catch it!

Tales of Symphonia OVA – 01

AnimeNewsNetwork Summary

Tales of Symphonia, it sounds so…. musical.. but it is not, it reminds me of an RPG game.
The main character has to complete a mission and to do that she has to go from one point to another etc.
It is only natural that the anime is like a game since it progressed from a Game Cube/PlayStation game to an anime.

Colette Brunel

Anyway, in this story, the priestess – Colette Brunel (i know, weird name), has to go on a journey to awaken spirits and become an angel and that will save the world that she is in. She likes this guy and he lives in that world and that is probably one of the main reasons behind her accepting such a task.

If you don’t like to play RPG Games, or watch anime that are so obviously adapted from games, then this might not be for you. It is really obvious that this story came from the game since the moment the Angel came to deliver the sacred message to the priestess. This is the angel..

Naturally, she accepts the task and the story begins.

The first episode starts off with a interesting opening of just a few words on a black background and a narration by the main character about how that world is – ” In this world, there are lots of sad moments.” It sounds like a nice story that might present a slice of life. But you soon realize that it is not.

Sir Kratos

Like most games where the lead is a female, she would be accompanied by her knights in shining armor.
I have to say that this knight(Sir Kratos) is cool with his funky medieval sword moves and his stylish clothing. (quite typical, but it is still pretty cool).

Lyold

There is of course the guy (Lyold) who she is in love with that fights to protect her. I have to say that watching his moves was like watching a person playing a street fighting game in the arcade where they have those combi moves. This was probably where i started to lose interest in the show. He is super powered by a gem in his left hand called the exsphere and there is a mystery behind that gem.

The 2 guys and the girl have a slight meeting with the enemies(the Tethe’allans) and it is there where you get to see the fighting skills of the 2 characters.
And so the journey of this group of people begins…

Overall, to summarize what this anime is about…

1- it is from a RPG game
2-it gives the viewer the feeling that they are watching a game play out
3-the quality of the animation is not bad.
4-there is suppose to be a mystery behind that world
5-it seems like an anime to watch if you are just looking for some fun to kill time.
6-can be quite corny/typical at times

I would give it a 6/10 just cos it can entertain a person without making the audience exercise their brains.

I am not particularly enthusiastic about this anime. But maybe those people who love playing RPG games would love it. ^^

Note – It is a 4 episode OVA that covers the first half of the original game and ends after 4 eps. There might be more to come but no official statement has been given.

-ra out!