Anime Review: Another

Anime Title: Another
Episodes: 12
Genre: Mystery, horror, school, gore
Rating: R+

Pre-review Message
This review will be completely spoiler free, which is why some sections of this review might seem a little lacking. Another is an anime you should go into knowing little about the actual plot. That being said, there are a few things to note about it.

Story
Another is about a boy named Kouichi Sakakiboring Sakakibara and his move to a new school. He's had this lifelong illness, so we first meet him in a hospital room in his new town. His classmates go to visit him, and as indicated by the eerie music that plays in the background, something is not right.

Characters
Our first character is Kouichi Sakakeylimepiegyprwm, and aside from his really weird name that is both difficult to pronounce and spell, he is probably one of the most boring protagonists I've ever watched. He doesn't seem to have any interests, he always looks so emotionless, he's too busy being sick to try and figure out what exactly is going on in the story, which only prolongs the excessive amount of suspense in this anime.
Our next character is a girl named Mei Misaki, who is shrouded in mystery, which you can tell because she has black hair that covers part of her face, and even an eye-patch.

Art
You could technically say that the art is what drew me to the anime. The colors are very dark and gloomy; even in the mandatory beach episode the colors are a little dark, just to remind you that this anime is scary and creepy. Oooh atmosphere. However, there is one color that certainly stands out, and it should go without saying that the color is red.

Music
I personally wasn't too fond of the soundtrack for the anime. The opening had some creepy elements in the instrumentation, but it still sounded too upbeat for the anime. Most of the sounds in the anime consisted of raindrops, slow strings, and maybe something a little louder for the gory horror moments.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The Rating. This anime gets graphic. It's definitely one of those shows that you show a friend to prove that anime is not for kids. So, if you are seven, you can't watch it. That should go without saying.
My advice is to be aware of what amount of gore you can handle watching. If you are a squeamish person, this definitely isn't an anime you should watch. But if you watched something like Elfen Lied without a problem, then this is right up your alley, and you should be perfectly fine.
Streaming. Another is currently available on Crunchyroll as of August 2015.
Sub vs Dub. I've only seen bits and pieces of the subbed version, but I feel like it is better. My main problem in the English version was the casting for Kouichi, because while a boring voice should suit a boring character just fine, it didn't quite work for me.

To watch or not to watch?
Another is the perfect anime for when you want to watch something creepy and atmospheric, creepy being code for excessively gory and atmospheric being code for too damn slow.
I personally didn't enjoy Another as much as I wished I could, but I still felt the urge to watch the next episode. While Another may not be the best anime ever, and while I may have a lot of problems with it, I still did finish it within a few days and felt eager to watch the next episode to uncover the mystery.
If you are into the gore and mystery genre, Another is definitely an anime to watch. However, if you are just looking for a gory show to watch in a short amount of time, try Corpse Party instead. And if you're looking for a cute high school romance, look elsewhere.

Endless Eight and How to Watch It

For those of you who have never seen The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, I recommend that you go watch it and come back to this post when the "time is right." I would hate to enter spoiler territory to someone who is not at all familiar with the show.
For those of you who have seen the first season of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and have gotten to a part in the second season that feels strange, then . . . *deep exhale* . . . you have entered Endless Eight.
Endless Eight is a story arc in the second season of TMoHS. The first episode is a fairly cute episode about the gang enjoying their summer vacation and doing typical SOS club things. The next episode is a fairly cute episode about the gang enjoying their summer vacation and doing typical SOS club things. The third episode is a fairly cute episode about the gang enjoying their summer vacation and doing typical SOS club things. The fourth episode is a fairly cute episode about the gang enjoying their summer vacation and doing typical SOS club things.

Hopefully you can see what I'm getting at.

There are many ways you can go about watching Endless Eight, and luckily for you, I have them all laid out here.

Watching Endless Eight as a Whole

   A. "Lose your sanity" version: One option you have is to marathon Endless Eight. You sit down to watch the first episode, and you see it through the very end, to the final episode. This is a rather boring way to go about it, and I cannot guarantee that you will be mentally and emotionally stable by the end of it.

  B. "Slowly lose your sanity" version: You can watch all of Endless Eight, but put space between the time you watch them, like if you were watching them as they were being aired on TV (one week apart). You can watch an episode every day, one once a week, every hour, etcetera. This way, you can say that you have finished Endless Eight, but you will probably not want to bang your head against a wall for six hours after completing it. I would, from a medical standpoint, recommend you do this if you plan on watching the whole of Endless Eight.

Watching Endless Eight like a Wimp

   A. "Be both shunned and envied by all anime watchers" version: Watch the first two episodes of Endless Eight, and then the last two. This cuts Endless Eight in half, but you're still able to understand it.

   B. "Be mainly shunned by all anime watchers" version: Watch the first episode of Endless Eight, and the last episode. You may not understand it as much, you will lose your credibility as an anime watcher, and I do not recommend this, but you can do it.

Being a Disgusting Human Being

   A. "Devalue yourself as a human" version: Just watch a random episode of Endless Eight and look up the main points of what happened on Haruhi wiki. I know people who did this, and while you are still getting all of the information, this completely destroys the point of watching any medium of entertainment whatsoever. Theoretically, you can go on the wikipedia page for any story and look up the main points, but that would mean that we, as a human race, have literally become too lazy to enjoy things. Watching movies and reading books is supposed to be about escaping and enjoying and sometimes even learning, and when you go on wikipedia to do the same thing, it ruins the entire point. So yes, you can do this. But I only wrote about it to point out how terrible of an option it is.

All in all, I would recommend for you to watch Endless Eight in its entirety, because if you plan on watching The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya--one of my favorite anime movies of all time--you will understand the motives of some of the characters and the general plot better.

Haruhi is a unique anime experience, and it's one I think everyone should get around to seeing at some point. Because even with an eight episode loop, it still manages to be entertaining and interesting.

Anime Trivia #3

Which of the following anime does NOT have a harem/love triangle?
A. Ouran Highschool Host Club
B. Clannad
C. Amnesia
D. Vampire Knight
E. Sword Art Online
F. Soul Eater

If you got it right the first time, congratulations!
If you got it wrong, this is your punishment. 

Anime Memes #2

Anime Memes #1

Manga Review: Hikaru no Go

Manga Title: Hikaru no Go
Volumes: 23 (197 chapters)
Genre: Comedy, drama, shounen

Story
The story is about a boy named Hikaru Shindou who discovers an old Go board in his grandfather's attic. To his surprise, there are blood stains on the board that only Hikaru can see. Soon after he notices them, a ghost emerges from the Go board (Go being a game similar-ish to chess) and haunts him, forcing him to do things against his will.
Okay, not really. He finds the Go board, and out pops a really friendly ghost who is completely obsessed with playing board. This ghost, Fujiwara no Sai, convinces Hikaru to take up Go himself, and the ghost both mentors him and plays through him. This eventually leads to some really interesting plot points.
The two go through the manga and battle other go players, eventually leading to a tournament, which shouldn't be much of a surprise.

Characters
Hikaru no Go has a huge cast of characters. There are only three that I feel someone new to the series needs to really know about.

Hikaru Shindou: He's our main protagonist. At the beginning of the manga, he's middle-school aged, and he's pretty much your typical shounen protagonist with the traits of bravery, courage, and not thinking things through completely and letting his ego get in the way sometimes. However, Hikaru starts off not knowing how to play Go at all, so he has a goal that seems out of his reach and a lot of determination and focus to reach the goal, making him a more tolerable shounen protagonist than someone like . . . Naruto.

Akira Toya: He's our other protagonist, but in a way he also serves as the antagonist. From volume one, he finds himself stuck as Hikaru's rival, and he finds himself very fascinated with Hikaru, to the point that most fans speculate that there's a subtle romance between the two characters. He's the opposite of Hikaru in the sense that he's almost a Go prodigy. He has a bit of ego because of that, but he definitely seems more cool and composed that Hikaru.

Sai: The ghost from the Go board. Sai is absolute Go trash, and is so happy that he gets to play Go again once he meets Hikaru. Needless to say, he's insanely good at the game, and that's all you need to know.

Art
The art was done by Takeshi Obata, who has also done the art for extremely popular series like Death Note and Bakuman. So it's hopefully obvious that the art is really good. The character design is great (and look better in the manga, but that's just my personal opinion) and clearly, a lot of work went into making sure that the Go boards had accurate game illustration. The physical development of the characters is also very noticeable, and is one thing that I really appreciated. I have nothing bad to say about the art.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The Feels. This is an intense manga, actually. It is very dramatic, very intellectual, and you'll learn a lot about the game of Go. I cried once I finished the last volume, not because it was sad, but because I felt empty after it was over. You really get attached to the characters, and some of the plot twists will probably have you close to tears when they happen.
The Rating. Unlike in my anime reviews, I couldn't put a rating here because there really isn't one. That being said, I do think that this manga is suitable for people of all ages. It has young characters that younger readers can relate to, but it has an intellectual enough plot that readers past the typical shounen age range could enjoy it.

To read or not to read?
I would absolutely recommend this manga to all fans of manga. I enjoyed it so much, and I know that other people will too. One of the things I notice when people are writing reviews about this series is that they were surprised that a story about a board game could be so interesting. The cast of characters is unforgettable, the story is so well thought out, and this might not count for anything, but it's my favorite manga to date. If you get a chance to read it, take it.

Anime Review: Mars of Destruction

Anime Title: Mars of Destruction
Episodes: 1
Genre: Horror, sci-fi, trash
Rating: R+

Pre-review Warning
Mars of Destruction is highly regarded as the worst anime ever. However, as an anime fan, it is your duty to suffer through it at least once. It's a twenty minute OVA, and it's pretty bad . . .

Story 
Mars of Destruction tells the harrowing story of some girls who fight against some sort of evil force from outer space. MyAnimeList has the actual synopsis but I feel like mine is more accurate.

Characters
My favorite character from MoD is Girl With Pink Hair. Her personality definitely shined through the most. Other characters worth mentioning include Girl With Brown Hair, That One Guy Who Seemed to Have a Backstory but was Ultimately Unimportant, The One Characters That Got Her Head Blown Off, and others. MoD did not do a very good job of developing their characters, so it was hard to get attached to them.

Art
The animation in Mars of Destruction was sub-par. The colors didn't stand out very much, and the characters moved unnaturally. It seemed like this anime had a small budget, so there were no scenes that stood out in a very good way.

Music
While Beethoven is a fantastic composer, his music didn't fit very well into most of the scenes.

Other Thoughts/Things Worth Mentioning About . . .
The Feels. This anime may cause you to cringe intensely. If you feel any pain due to the amount of facepalming that will occur, you should probably stop watching, cleanse yourself by watching an episode of a worthwhile anime, and come back.
Streaming. This anime is available on YouTube.
Sub vs Dub. It is only available in sub.

To watch or not to watch?
Humans naturally are interested in things that are absolutely terrible. It's the reason we watch thirty minute long compilations of American Idol fails. If you enjoy causing yourself pain or you want to understand why people hate MoD, then I think you should watch it.
But if you are actually looking for an anime that's decent, you should stay as far away from this one as possible.