Reikichi's Anime Awards 2016

If you are familiar with Crunchyroll's anime award, you know what happened to the list. 6 out of 13 categories are robbed by Yuri on Ice! Well I've posted the review in my blog, last week to be precise (which you can check here if you are interested in my thoughts to that series). But I kinda see it coming why Yuri on Ice won a lot in this award since this is a popularity contest and this anime is really popular. And fyi, the fandom are a little bit too extra, How extra you may ask? They edited Yuruzu Hanyu (a REAL Japanese figure skating btw) into Yuri Katsuki (source). Yeah, it's that extra guys. I found it quite disgusting, frankly speaking. I must say that I enjoyed Yuri on Ice a lot, but the thing is, that show won a lot of category that they don't really deserved it. *cough* Best Animation category *cough* Most Heartwarming scene *cough*

But I'm not blaming the fandom for that awards. And they haven't announced the "Anime of the year" yet by the time this post is posted, but I'm calling it from now, it's going to be Yuri on Ice! Anyway, the nomination list that was provided by Crunchyroll themselves are a little bit weird.(if you are curious about the list, you can check it here) Most of them are popular shows. And please keep this in mind first, popular does not always equal good. For example, like why the hell Biba from Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress got nominated as the Best Villain while the show itself is a total trainwreck show after Biba showed up? I mean there are better villain that could be in the list. Although I know for sure that Kira Yoshikage should won this easily since he is the best villain, not only among the list, but literally the best villain ever! And why do they keep put Kabaneri in almost every list? It's reasonable for the best animation or the best fight scene since both of those category are Kabaneri's only quality in the show. It feels like CR didn't watch all of the anime in 2016 and only picked the popular ones (which they should have if they want to make an "award"). 

So enough with that CR's rant. I thought to myself, why don't I make my own personal awards list which I think deserves won the CR Anime Awards category list with their reason why. And since CR only stick to anime series, this list would stick to that rule as well. So without further ado, let's jam!

Hero of the Year

Josuke Higashikata - (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure : Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable)

Josuke Higashikata is the main character of this Part's JoJo. He's the most relatable JoJo among all JoJo that I've read (currently reading up to Part 7, and Johnny Joestar character is too dickish compared to this JoJo). He's smart, heroic, friendly towards his friends, funny, quirky, sometimes he's sly like a fox (or more like his father, Joseph Joestar), Even Hirohiko Araki himself (the author of JoJo) says that Josuke is his favorite JoJo among all JoJo that he's been created (by the time he's being interviewed, he's still working on Part 7, you can watch it here where he talks about Part 1-6). and here's his quote on that 

Villain of the Year

Kira Yoshikage - (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure : Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable)

Kira Yoshikage is the best villain ever created imho. And here's why he's the best. Kira Yoshikage is unorthodox villain. Usually, villain have a grandiose goal i.e rule the world or even destroy it. It's different with Kira Yoshikage. His goal is simple, Kira Yoshikage wants a quiet life. Normally speaking, who doesn't want that kind of life, am I right? But here's the catch, even though he wants a quiet life, he has unhealthy obsession of killing young women and took their hands for......unspeakable R-18 things ^___^;. 

And he sees nothing wrong with that because it's his "hobby". The thought of the serial killer is among all of us is quite frightening to be honest. Kira is just like us, he enjoys quiet life, eating his favorite lunch alone in the park, he loves his warm milk before going to bed, he loves cats and hates dogs #relatable, he loves sleeping for 8 hours straight and woke up like a baby without feeling any stress or any fatigue. And I believe there's people like that in real world, right? This makes his character really interesting as the main villain of a series. Because he feels like an actual person that we could encounter in everyday life. Without that detail of his perspective in life, we will only see him as your weekly stand user that is going to be defeated by Josuke. Indeed, he is a serial killer, but he's also a normal person who enjoys living his life the way he sees fit without any judgement or disturbance from others.  

He feels so human and relatable yet horrifying at the same time. Because deep down that human side, he is a psychopathic killer. And he walks among all of us, just like people normally do......

Best Boy

Kaizaki Arata (ReLife)

ReLife is one of the best drama anime that came out in 2016. Kaizaki Arata is a 27 year old NEET who is currently looking for a job. He tried and tried and tried but still haven't landed a single job. One day he is being offered by Ryo Yoake for a scientific project called ReLife where he must "relived" himself by attending high school again and interacting with high school students like what normally students do. So his appearance would be like a 17 years old boy, but deep down he is a 27 years old man. This guy is really relatable for adult audiences. And how he views the high school life with his "adult" perspective is really interesting. It's not an "edgy"-like perspective like Hachiman from Oregairu, but it's more a mature perspective. ReLife is a great show which can be enjoyed both by adult and teenager audiences! 

Best Girl

Akari Kawamoto (Sangatsu no Lion)

"WHAAT? REM SHOULD HAVE WON THIS TITLE! WHY DON'T YOU PUT REM IN THIS LIST! SHE DESERVES BETTER!"

okay hear me out first. Rem is a good girl, but she's not the best. And I know who deserves better than Rem. 

Akari Kawamoto is the eldest sister in the Kawamoto family, since their mother and grandmother passed away, she's in charge of the family and took the role of "mother" in the family. She have 2 little sisters, Hinata (in the anime series, she's still in middle school while the manga she's already in high school), and Momo (currently in preschool). Akari helps her grandfather to run his Japanese Confectionery store in the morning, and she works as a hostess in a store that is run by her Aunty at night. She worked hard time by time so her little family can stick together. She took care of Rei (the main character) who was forced to drink alcohol (while he is still a teenager) by his shogi opponent. She's a caring and loving person like a mother would do despite of her young age. She deserves to be happy. But she put others happiness first before hers. She's a selfless character who deserves better. And hopefully she will get what she deserves. So that's why she deserves to be the "best girl" in this list :D

Best Fight Scene

Kageyama Shigeo vs Teruki (Mob Psycho 100)

If you want to watch the fight, watch it here

I personally think that a fight must be meaningful. Why do they fight? What drives them to fight? The motivation that drives them to fight to proof something. And that something is meaningful. In this fight, Shigeo (Mob) has a super psychic power but he tries to conceal his psychic power and want to live a normal life just like normal people do. And he fell in love with a girl and that girl loves muscular man. And that's why he joined body building club. While Teruki is a punk who thinks that he's the strongest of all punks since he has psychic powers. And he abused his power to get to the top for recognition. And then they fight, it's not only psychic battle that happen in this fight. But it's also the clashing of two very different perspectives. And this fight changes the course of the show for the next episodes that come after this.

Best Animation

Hibike Euphonium season 2 (Studio : Kyoto Animation)

Need I say more? The fact that CR lacks of Kyoto Animation anime in their list is just plain weird. (But among the list, Mob Psycho 100 has the best animation though, since they have a lot of sakuga in that series). Kyoto Animation is one of the studio that usually delivers the best, detailed, and amazing looking anime when it comes to series. And Hibike Euphonium season 2 is breathtakingly gorgeous. If you are a fan of classical music anime like Nodame Cantabile for example, I recommend this series to be watched. But be aware there's a hint of Yuri in this. By Yuri, I mean actual Yuri as a genre, Not Yuri on ice! ^_^;

Most Heartwarming Scene

Kayo's first home cooked meal (Erased/Boku dake ga inai machi) 

This my pick in CR anime awards. and Yuri on Ice won this category by "TWO MEN KISSING". I mean wtf dude, THIS IS the most heartwarming scene of 2016. Dear YoI fangirls who voted that kiss, are you even HUMAN? 

*cough* sorry

okay let's be fair here. Erased anime was starting off strong but lame and cheesy in the ending (that is to be expected from A-1 Pictures anime adaptation, please read the manga instead for a better conclusion and more detailed story, but I digress). This scene alone is one of the touching scene of all anime that I've watched this year. And here's why, Kayo is an abused children, her mom hits her a lot, and her mom tries to hide the bruises every weekend because the parental association gets report on her act to her daughter and wants to make sure that there's an improvement of this parent. But apparently not. Kayo never had a proper breakfast, she is usually given a pocket money or a piece of bread or even cup ramen by her abusive mother. And one day she is saved by her friend, Satoru (the main character) so she stays on his house for a day, And Satoru's mom cooked her a meal. And.... you can how she reacts to that in the scene here. *brb I need some tissue*

Best Drama 

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (Studio : DEEN)

2016 would be remembered as the year of slice of life and drama anime. There are a lot of great shows with that genre that came out on that year. And this is the best drama that came out this year. It's a show about Rakugo, an art form of Japanese story telling show where there's 1 person who told the story impersonate every character themselves and usually it's a comedy that has a deep moral story. This anime is a historical drama that took place in Shouwa era. And we will see the struggle from zero to hero of rakugo. And the story theme is really mature. I highly recommend this anime,

Best Couple 

No Contest

Well, here's the thing, I don't really like shipping characters (be it homo/hetero) if it's not canon to the original source material. So most of the list that CR provided are non-canonical pairing. Like Satoru and Kayo (Erased). They are not couple! and *SPOILER ALERT* Kayo marries another guy in the end. 

I'd say Koichi Hirose and Yukako Yamagishi (JoJo part 4 : DiU) are qualified to be the best couple. But unfortunately, we don't see much of their relationship in the anime (and even the manga), so I can't say much about them. Probably I'm missing a "canon" couple in the list. So that's why I put "no contest" in this list. Please understand

Best Comedy

Sakamoto Desu Ga? (Studio DEEN)

I know sense of humor is subjective. What I found funny probably won't be funny for you. But I really love absurd comedy like "Sakamoto Desu Ga?". And this is the only one that CR awards that I actually happy and completely agree with. If you love absurd comedy, you'll love this anime as well! 

Best Action

Drifters (Studio : Hoods Drifters Studio)

I personally picked Mob Psycho 100 in the CR, and it won the category. But I haven't watched Drifters when I voted for that category. And that I've watched it, my god this anime DESERVES to be the best action that came out in 2016! It's made by the team who made Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate. If you are familiar with Hellsing, you know what to expect from Drifters. A gory and awesome action scenes! To put it simply, Drifters is like Mortal Kombat but with historical figure. If you are into action, I highly recommended this anime!

Best Opening

Lay your hands on me 

Performed by : Boom Boom Satellites

Anime : Kiznaiver

The best opening goes to this song, (I can only found the song, not the entire opening sequence) The opening sequence is really trippy but calming at the same time. And we are introduced with the characters in the series. The song and the opening sequence really fit in. And I dedicated this award to the late vocalist/guitarist of Boom Boom Satellites, Michiyuki Kawashima, that passed away on 9 October 2016. May his soul Rest in Peace.

Best Ending

I want you

Performed by : Savage Garden

Anime : JoJo's Bizarre Adventure : Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable

The ending song really fits in with this part of JoJo. If you are a JoJo fan, you might be also speculating like crazy what will be the ending song to Part 4 anime? Is it going to be Shine on you Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd? Or is it going to be Killer Queen/Another one bites the dust by Queen? But nope, it wasn't. It's Savage Garden! I personally quite shocked when I know this. But the song really does fit in with Part 4. We are taking to the tour of duwang Morioh city in this ending. And as the episode caught on, we are shown the characters of the anime. So every time the anime introduces a new character, the ending is updated with new characters. So, not skipping the ending feels like a checkpoint or a bookmark "Yeah, I've seen that character". I must say, props to David Production who is really faithful adapting JJBA series until now, I really hope they continue adapting this awesome and bizarre series! XD

Anime of the year 2016

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu (Studio : DEEN)

This anime totally nailed every aspect of the "best anime" that should have, great animation, great direction, great soundtrack, great drama, great story, and also great characters and also their development! I've already made a review of this anime in this blog. You can check it here if you are interested in my thoughts to the series.

I think CR should add one more category, which is "Best soundtrack" as in the BGM in the anime (since the BGM is quite underappreciated). And yes, I'd totally agree if Yuri on Ice qualified to be in that category and actually won it. But this year we have a lot of good anime soundtracks like for example from Boku no Hero Academia, Rakugo Shinjuu, JoJo, heck, even Kabaneri. 

Okay so those are my personal "anime awards" list that I think should have won the anime awards. You might be saying "There's too much JoJo in this list!" but I think it deserves to win a lot since this is Part 4 that we're talking about, the best part in the entire series. But again, CR anime awards is not a relevant award since it's a popularity vote. I'll wait for Tokyo Anime Awards Festival for the official (and more credible) statement. Last year, Shirobako won the anime of the year (which is I think one of the best anime that came out in this decade). And hopefully TAAF picked Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu as the anime of the year! 

Okay that's it from me guys, those are my personal list. I hope you enjoyed this "rant" of mine about the anime awards. ^__^:

And let me know if I missed some show that you think deserves to be listed on this list on the comments below! 

This is Reikichi, signing out! XD

Yuri on Ice - Anime Review

Let's look back at 2016. Besides Re: Zero, there's one more anime that people just won't stop talking about on the internet. Yes, you guessed that right! It's "Yuri!! on Ice". Its misleading title fool every anime fan out there. Everybody thought that "Oh my god, girls on girls doing it on ice??", but apparently, it was Yaoi on ice! #originaljoke 

It's a phenomenal anime of 2016! Even the real figure skating athlete watched this anime too! Personally, I'm not into sports anime, I'll watch sports anime if it's as good as Slam Dunk or Ping Pong The Animation. So I was afraid that I wouldn't enjoy this anime, since I thought it was a sports fujobait anime just like "Free!" couple years ago. But man, I was wrong. 

So today I'm going to talk about Yuri on Ice! How was the anime? Let's just jump into the review!

Story

Yuri Katsuki is a figure skating athlete from Japan, he went back to Japan after 5 years of international competition. He ranked at the last place on his previous international tournament. He feels like a failure when he got back home. And then he remembers why did he become a figure skater at the first place. He saw Viktor Nikiforov's performance back then when he was a kid. A globally well known figure skating genius. One day, he tries to copy a figure skating program by Viktor, and then someone records it and upload it into the internet. And people are amazed by Yuri's ice skating performance. Every figure skater in the world also amazed by him. And then Viktor saw Yuri's performance. 

Later on, Viktor decides to come to Japan and train Yuri Katsuki so he can win the international figure skating competition. Will Yuri be able to win that competition?

My thoughts on the series

1. I am quite skeptical about this series at first, but surprisingly, I'm enjoying the hell out of it! Story wise, there's nothing ground breaking or new. But what makes me entertained with this series is seeing how someone develop from zero to hero. It has genuinely fun and hilarious scenes! 
2. This anime is obviously a sports anime with obvious shounen ai element in it. For me (as a normal hetero man ^_^;), it's still a good show if you ignored the shounen ai elements in it. and fortunately, it's not shown often. For you fujoshi out there, you will be pleased with this anime. If you are a normal hetero man and wondering "how gay it is?" it's twice as gay as Kaworu Nagisa and Shinji Ikari on Neon Genesis Evangelion. ^__^;
3. Speaking of shounen ai, the fanservice (or manservice should I say, right, ladies? ^_^;) in this anime is not the main dish of this series. I must say the this show has like 10% of fanservice in the whole 12 episodes. So it's not distracting at all. Because mainly the anime shows about the figure skating program. 
4. And now we're talking about the main dish! The ice skating animation! My god, it's so stunningly beautiful! It's so detail and smooth, It really is describing how graceful and elegant they are when performing the figure skate program. Even though, later on the quality suffers. But that is understandable since animating figure skating is hard. And in 1 episode they almost have 5-6 figure skating program to be animated! I also noticed that there are a lot of repeated and also recycled background and key animations (that includes the figure skating program but that is to be expected since they are performing the same program over and over again). But again, that's still acceptable. Because they have to finish the series weekly. Just imagine how hard would it be for the animator to keep up with that pace. And hopefully that "quarity" would be fixed later on in BD. I must give props to Mappa studio! Great job!
5. Personally, I didn't know anything about how figure skating competition works, and this anime did a great job of explaining the rule and how scoring system works. I appreciate that. 
6. I think this series should have been at least 22/24 episodes long for a better pacing. Because the formula is almost similar to Hajime no Ippo anime, (training, build up to the competition, competition, after match, and then train again and rinse and repeat). But the main difference is Hajime no Ippo is a long running series compared to Yuri on Ice. The story feels a little bit too rushed and too condensed. And in the later episodes, somewhat it's a bit underwhelming even though the previous episodes have a great build up to it. 
7. Okay let's talk about the characters! The characters are enjoyable to watch and feels like a real human that we can totally relate to. I really like how relatable Yuri Katsuki is when he tries to get back up from his failure. He feels depressed, broken, and sad. But when he overcomes it, it's really paying off! But, I prefer Yuri Plisetsky character arc. He's an ambitious person and he thinks that he is the best of all figure skater. But later on he learns that there's someone better out there in the world and he grows even better! He is a rival character to Yuri Katsuki and they are the exact opposite. Yuri Plisetsky's character arc somehow reminds me of Bakugo's character arc from My Hero Academia, which I personally liked too
8. Another thing that I really enjoyed from this anime series is the soundtrack. I think this anime has the best soundtrack in 2016. I really love every BGM in this anime especially the figure skating program songs. "Yuri on Ice" is my favorite track of all. But all of them are really good! Even if you are not into anime, I think you should at least listen to this soundtrack. 

This anime is great but it has its issues (besides the plot that I mentioned in point 6) for example, some of the characters are underdeveloped. They suddenly appears but we don't know anything about them. So it's hard to root for them. Unlike Ping Pong The Animation that really excels on their characters development. Every character have their own clear motivation to win that ping pong match. While in Yuri on Ice, we barely see all of their motivations. But JJ have a great characterization even though he only have like 2-3 episodes of screentime But they didn't do that to Otabek who shares the same screentime as JJ. And this may sounds like a bias, but normally I'd hate character like JJ since he is a narcissistic and obnoxious bastard, but since he is voiced by Mamoru Miyano, his character just works and epic! XD

Another thing that really bothers me is, at the first episode there's Yuuko, Yuri's childhood friend, and it's heavily hinted/implied that Yuri has some romantic feelings for her. I know it's just me being nitpicky, but her character was just vanished after Yuri went back for international championship. I think that could have been explored better.

So here comes the final verdict, should you watch Yuri on Ice? If you are a sports anime fan, you should watch it! And if you are a fan of "Animation" in general, you should totally watch it, you will see a beautifully animated skating scenes. It's a great anime but it has its flaws. Despite of the obvious shounen ai theme in this anime, this anime is really entertaining to watch. If you are "I don't want to watch this anime because it's gay" kind of person, well. you are missing out one of the great anime that comes out on 2016. And personally speaking, I enjoyed watching this series more than Re: Zero. 

Okay guys, so those are my thoughts on Yuri on Ice, I hope you will find this review useful. This is Reikichi, signing out! XD

Best Anime in 2016

Happy new years guys! It's finally that time of the year!.
And it's time to look back at things that happened in 2016, and honestly, mostly sucks...
Tragedy happens, A lot of famous celebrity passed away (David Bowie, George Michael, Prince, Mohammad Ali, Alan Rickman, and recently, Carrie Fisher). May their soul rest in peace. Ars longa vita brevis

Anyway, we're here talking about anime, and here are my personal favorite picks on Anime that released on 2016! But first I must state some ground rules first for this list:

1) I have to watched the anime series until the end and it has to be finished airing before 2016 ends. I really want to include the currently airing, Sangatsu no Lion by studio SHAFT, but it's still airing, so I can't put it here in the list. Let's save it for 2017! haha
2) I want to include movie anime too this year, But keep in mind that not all of them are released in my local theater, so sadly I didn't have the chance to watch them all including Koe no Katachi.
3) Speaking of "didn't have the chance to watch them all", yes, that includes series as well. And I'm quite picky when it comes to anime series lately. I haven't finished watching 91 Days, and I'm planning to watch Drifters since it's made by the same person who made Hellsing.
4) This list is not a ranking, I enjoyed all of them. So you can see this list as the anime that you should probably check it out.

So are we clear on this? Good! I think it's time we blow this thing, Get everybody and the stuff together, Ok! 3, 2, 1! Let's jam!

1) Girls und Panzer Der Film

Girls und Panzer Der Film is a continuation from Girls und Panzer series. You know what to expect from a movie anime like this, just another episode of anime but with movie budget! The animation in this movie is just really awesome and beautiful. The tank fights are much more smoother compared to the series. And they really deliver the intensity of the tank fights even better than the series. If you love GuP, you must watch this movie!

2) Kono Subarashii sekai ni shkufuku wo

I honestly kinda skeptical about any anime based on Light Novel and it's all about "isekai" genre. But this anime caught me surprised (I already reviewed this anime here in this blog). It has a good world building, genuinely funny scenes. If you are a fan of Isekai genre, you should watch this!

3) Love Live Sunshine!!

Love Live Sunshine, is the continuation of Love Live! well kind of, It has different characters from the first Love Live. The story is not about µ’s. This time we're looking at Aquors. They are group of girls who aspired to be Idol group just like µ’s. Animation wise it's much better looking than the first Love Live. And character wise, they are all loveable compared to µ’s. (because µ’s has Nico, who is pretty much obnoxious in my opinion, sorry Nico fans ^_^;). I have a lot of things to say about this anime, but that is another post for another day. But overall, I love Aquors! You Watanabe is best girl! XD

4) Mob Psycho

Mob Psycho 100 is done by studio Bones. This is based on manga by ONE, the one who made One Punch Man. And honestly this anime has great characters in it. And also have some really great and rather unique "Sakuga" animation. I know humor is quite subjective, but the humor in this anime didn't really hit me. *since I prefer absurd humor*, But overall, it's a good show and has some interesting character and story in it.

5) Flying Witch

I'm always a fan of "Iyashikei" (healing) anime just like Non Non Biyori, Azumanga Daioh. And I also enjoyed reading Yotsuba&!(manga). And this year we have Flying Witch that is done by JC Staff. Their animation is really awesome and relaxing to be looked at. If you are looking for something relaxing to be watched after you are done with your activities, I highly recommend this anime for you! XD 

6) Joker Game

Joker Game is a series about Japanese spies back in WW II. This anime is done by Production I.G who was responsible for great titles such as Ghost in the Shell and Psycho Pass (and also absurd comedy like Cromartie High School). If you are looking for an intense and thrilling spy action, go watch this anime! 

7) Boku no Hero Academia (Season 1)

This anime also caught me surprised. Honestly speaking, It's been awhile that I watch a shounen anime. And this anime have interesting fights and setting in it. I've already reviewed this anime in this blog here. If you want to have some good and refreshing shounen anime, this one is worth checking out!

8) Sakamoto desu ga?

I've read the manga long ago before this anime is announced. So I was pretty hyped on this anime! And my god, they did it! It's done by Studio DEEN, If you love absurd comedy, you'll love this! 

9) Saiki Kusuo Psi-nan

I honestly didn't know anything about this series, but my friend posted a screenshot of this anime, and that made me laughed out loud. This anime is about Saiki Kusuo who has psychic powers and he tries to live his life as a normal person. It's genuinely funny and entertaining. If you love Kamiya Hiroshi doing monologue just like Bakemonogatari, you'll love this anime. And if you love comedy in general, this anime is for you! 

10) Garo : Divine Flame 

Garo Divine Flame is a movie anime which is a continuation of Garo Honoo no Kokuin. Just like I said before, it's just like another episode of anime but with movie budget! And my god, in my opinion they have the best fight scenes in 2016. "Sakuga"-fest movie. Beautifully rendered 3DCG compared to the series. And just genuinely entertaining fight scenes. If you have watched the anime series, I highly recommend you watch this movie! It's awesome!  

11) ReLife

This year we have a lot of great drama anime. This time we're talking about ReLife. It's about a 27 year old NEET who is looking for a job but suddenly a person from ReLife lab offers him a job to experience his current life as a high school. This anime is really interesting, it has great characters, great setting, and more importantly, a great story that can be related by both mature and teenager audiences. I highly recommend you to watch this anime! I've already write the review of this anime in here if you want to know my thoughts about it XD

12) Mobile Suit Gundam : Iron-Blooded Orphans (season 1)

I really wanted to put this anime last year, but since the first season didn't finish at 2015, so here we are! I'm a big fan of Gundam series, and this Gundam series is really awesome! It's all about some group of orphans who works for PMC (Private Military Company). We never saw Gundam with this setting before, usually we saw both of strong political views, but this time, we saw it from a PMC which usually goes like "You pay me, I'll protect you". So money is the strong driving force in that kind of company. And this time. they are hired by Mars Politician. It has some great animation, great themes, interesting characters, awesome soundtrack and also great fight scenes! The second season is currently airing. I haven't watched it yet because I want to marathon it when it finished airing. 

13) Kimi no Nawa

Kimi no Nawa is another Makoto Shinkai movie, if you know anything about anime community, you probably have heard about this anime. And it's a mega-hit in Japan! And finally I have the chance of watching it in my local theater. And my god, I can see why this movie anime is booming. I've already review this anime here in this blog. If you have the chance to watch this anime, just watch it! 

14) JoJo's Bizarre Adventure : Part 4 - Diamond is Unbreakable

What a beautiful, DUWANG! It's the best part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, guys! Part 4 : Diamond is Unbreakable! It's done by David Production, and I'm really happy how faithful they are when they are adapting the manga (even though some scenes are not included in the anime). But overall, I'm really satisfied with this anime! This anime sets on 1999 in a town called Duwang Morioh. And there's a serial killer who lives in that town. and it's up to Josuke Higashikata and his friends to uncover the identity of the serial killer. What? A group of teenagers who have supernatural powers that comes from within themselves and hunting down a serial killer? It sounds familiar doesn't it? Yes, Persona 4 has the same setting with Part 4. But since Part 4 was made first (1992-1995). So, there you go! Part 4 has some great characters, great Stand, amazing soundtrack, great setting, great story, and also they have the best villain ever, Kira Yoshikage! Someday I will review this anime, but I have to review Part 3: Stardust Crusaders first XP.  I highly recommend you watch this anime if you are JoJo fan! The last thing that I can say that this anime is GREAT! 

15) Shouwa Genraku Rakugo Shinjuu

And finally, One of the best anime that come out at 2016, Shouwa Genraku Rakugo shinjuu! It's a great historical drama that touches upon the Japanese traditional verbal entertainment called Rakugo. It's a slow burner, but you will enjoy this anime! I highly recommend this anime. if you want to hear my complete thoughts about it, you can read it here!

You might be asking, "where's  Re: Zero?", If you read my after thoughts, you know I won't put it here because honestly didn't really enjoy that anime. Boku dake ga inai machi was supposedly to be in this list, but unfortunately the manga is 200% times better and A-1 didn't really make a good job on hiding the identity of the killer by making some unnecessary foreshadowing which pretty much uncovers the true identity of the killer. While the manga didn't do that. SO! If you want a better experience on Boku dake ga inai machi, go read the manga! I highly recommend that! ^_^

Some honorable mentions (since I haven't watched it yet, but a lot of my friends recommended it) are Amaama to Inazuma (another slice of life anime), Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari, Drifters, Fune wo Amu, and also 91 Days!

So those are the anime of 2016 that is worth checking out, in my opinion. I hope that you will find this list to be useful! And here's a hope for a better year in 2017!

This is Reikichi! Signing out! XD

Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu - Anime Review

People are always hungry for entertainment, that's why I want to entertain as many people as I can!

I've been always a sucker for any anime that touches the cultural aspect of Japan. From yokai, Japanese folklore, their history especially in Sengoku era, and many more! We have a lot of anime with that touches upon that themes like Gegege no Kitaro on yokai, Sengoku Basara on Sengoku war (well, it's fun and epic), Samurai X/Rurouni Kenshin and any other anime like that. You got the point.

And today, I'm going to talk about Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu. This anime is all about Rakugo. And honestly, I never heard of Rakugo before watching this anime series. "What is Rakugo?" you asked? To put it simply, it's a form of verbal entertainment in Japan where there's one person sitting on a stage who tells a long and complicated comical story and the Rakugoka (the person who tells Rakugo) plays a lot of role and you can easily distinguish it because they have a different pitch and tone for every role that the Rakugoka plays. It's almost similar with Stand up comedy, kind of.  But it's different on the way how it's delivered. They don't use the rule-of-third just like the regular stand up comedy punch line (as far as I know, because I learned how to be a stand up comedian once, but it was hard so I stopped doing so haha). 

Rakugo usually takes it sweet time for the punchline. But when it hit, it hit so hard! And sometimes it's not about the comedy, but sometimes it's all about the moral story. And the other main differences between Stand up comedy and Rakugo is Stand up comedy brought their own story and materials, while Rakugo's story is already existed and the entertainment comes from how it was told and delivered by the performer. 

So, enough talking about Rakugo, how was the anime? Let's just dive into the review shall we?

Story

The story starts off with Yotarou, a former yakuza who just get out from jail. After released from the jail, he went to the Rakugoka that he admires, Yakumo, and asked Kikuhiko to make him his apprentice. Yakumo is a highly talented Rakugoka and never had an apprentice before. After convincing Yakumo, finally he became the apprentice. And this makes the whole person who knows Yakumo feels odd about him taking on an apprentice. In the first episode which is a 50 minutes long episode, we will understand the what actually a Rakugo is. In this first episode, we will have the main conflict which spans throughout the series, which is the clashing ideals between the old and new generation. The old generation wanted to keep Rakugo as it is, a sacred traditional entertainment. While the new encourages Rakugo to be updated time to time so it catches on with today's generation. After the prologue, we jump back in time to see the Rakugo from Yakumo's era back then when Yakumo learned how to be a Rakugoka with his best friend, Sukeroku since they are children. 

My thoughts in the series

1. This anime is beautifully directed. From start to finish, the animation quality is really good, and I cannot believe it myself that this anime is done by Studio DEEN, and I think this is their finest work in anime. 
2. This anime series is all about Rakugo, and they show us literally the full Rakugo story in almost every episode. When I say, "beautifully directed" I mean, the animation when the rakugouka tells the story, it's really engaging to see. We don't see only one angle of a person who is sitting on the stage in front of us viewers. But we will see various angles, emphasized expression, sometimes Rakugoka sweat drop, audiences' reaction to the Rakugoka performance and so on! The direction makes a whole length Rakugo story seems engaging and interesting and makes me as a person who was oblivious about rakugo before feel entertained! We will see a lot of Rakugoka do their Rakugo from the apprentice until the master of Rakugoka and we will be able to see "the differences" of how polished they are when performing their Rakugo which is heavily emphasized on the first double length episode.
3. This anime really tells us that "Rakugo is not popular form of entertainment in this modern days". And the anime gave us how entertaining and fun a Rakugo can be. It feels like that the anime is telling us "This is how we appreciate our culture, and we want you, dear audiences, to appreciate it as well". 
4. Let's talk about the BGM, the music in this anime consists of two things, the first one is traditional shamisen that is usually used for "entry" song of the Rakugoka. And the second one is Jazz, which is really fitting the mood and theme. And the opening is really good too.
5. At the end of the first double length episode, the show tells us how the story will end in Yakumo's flashback since the series is mainly talking about Yakumo's past. Personally, I really enjoyed watching Yakumo grew from a helpless little boy to someone who is earned the title of Rakugoka master. It's not about the destination, but it's all about the journey how he get there to the end.

Personally, I don't have any problem with this anime, And it definitely needs season 2, and this January 2017, the second season starts! But I see people might not be interested in this anime and didn't find the comedy in this anime to be funny because of culture differences. Since they have a very different comedic timing if it's compared to the western comedy. But if you are like me, you'll enjoy this series like I do!

So here comes the final verdict. Should you watch Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu? Yes! I highly recommend this anime! It's a moving story from zero to hero. From no one to someone respectful. And it's really entertaining to see and learn about Japanese culture through anime. It's only 12 episode long, and the first one is a double length episode. It's the diamond in the rough in 2016's anime and personally I consider this as the anime of the year!

So that's it from me guys, I hope that you will find this review useful. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everybody who celebrates! 

This is Reikichi, Signing out! XD

Rogue One - A Star Wars Story - Movie Review

I'm a big Star Wars fan since I was a little. Eps IV was amazing, and I still held up to this day that Eps V is the best Star Wars among them all. I personally loved Star Wars Eps VII. (Which I already write the review of it last year in here). So here we are, another year, another Star Wars movie! And this time is a spin off movie. It takes place between Eps III and Eps IV. Or should I call it, it's Star Wars Eps 3.8 Final Chapter Prologue (HD ver)? (I'm sorry, Kingdom Hearts fans, I can't help it. The similarities are uncanny XP)
So jokes aside, This movie is directed by Gareth Edwards, the one who is responsible for Godzilla (2014) which honestly let me dissapointed. When I watch this movie, I was kinda worried about that. But my god, I was wrong. So how was the movie? Let's just jump into the review, shall we?

Story
In Eps IV, there's Death Star, the weapon of mass destruction that could destroy a planet in one shot! And in this movie, it's the story about how that Death Star's plan got stolen. You know. that title crawl at the beginning of Eps IV.

I just have to put it here, to make sure that we are in the same page. 

 My thoughts on the movie

1. First of all, this movie is a breath of fresh air for me. It feels like "different" Star Wars movie that I'm already familiar with. In this movie, it feels like that we see a "different" side of War on that galaxy far far away. The wars seems more realistic and gritty this time. Of all times, we see that the Rebellion is the good guy and the Empire is the bad one. And Rebellion seems "clean". But it's different in this movie. We will see a morally ambiguous moments from the Rebellion side which make them have to "dirty" their hands because they have to make the call for it. 
2. I must say, this movie is the PREQUEL that we deserve and we need! It added a new layer to the plot. And that layer added a new perspective on how we see this universe in a whole. And it answers the BIG question if you watched Eps IV. 
3. Just like any other Star Wars movies (prequels are not included). This movie has some witty and quirky dialogue. And every humor in this movie doesn't feel forced at all. *pun intended
4. In my opinion, the main characters in this movie are very likeable. They have their own role in this movie, and they serve a purpose until the end of movie. They are there for a reason. K-2SO is the best character! Somehow I feel that he is Sheldon (from The Big Bang Theory) in Star Wars Universe! 
5. For those who expect to see a lot of Darth Vader in this movie, well, He's not in this movie that much. But when he do, OH MY GOD! I feel like that Darth Vader finally redeemed his image from the Prequel Trilogy. From a whiny teenager who used "I don't like sand. It's coarse, rough, and irritating, and it gets everywhere." as a pick up line to the most badass and menacing villain in the movie ever!
6. This movie has the most intense battle of all Star Wars battle ever! The stakes are high! And also there are some brilliant moments in the battle. It was really engaging, fun, and intense!
7. The soundtrack is done by Michael Giacchino, and maybe it's just me, the soundtrack doesn't really stood out to me. But it's still atmospheric and suits the tone of the movie.

One of the problem with this movie is just I wish we got more a background story on the main characters. Like Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus. They seem that they have been friends for a very long time. But we don't get a glimpse of their past in this movie unfortunately. The other problem in this movie is the pacing on the first act. It was really fast and it goes all over the place to introduce the characters and so on. But that doesn't take my overall enjoyment to this movie

So here comes the final verdict. Should you watch Rogue One : A Star Wars Story? If you are a long time Star Wars fan, You SHOULD watch this movie! For a new comer, this is not the best way to start your Star Wars experience. My recommendation to the new comer is at least you have to watch Eps IV first before you watch this movie. That'd make you have a better understanding of the overall movie! XD. Rogue one is an awesome movie, It is very entertaining. It feels like a "different" Star Wars movie, but it's still a Star Wars movie. And this is the prequel that we deserve! As a long time Star Wars fan, I'm satisfied with this movie!

So that's it from me guys, I hope that you will find this review useful. This is Reikichi, signing out!

Kimi no Na Wa (Your Name) - Movie Anime Review

First of all, I apologize that I didn't post any review last week because finally I got to play Pokemon Moon. And it's really, really, really a great game! It's been awhile I'm this hooked with pokemon games. So, please understand.  ^_^;

Finally, I've got the chance to watch this movie screening. Thank god, our local theater finally managed to get this "phenomenal" movie so early instead of, I dunno, SHIN GODZILLA *cough*. sorry.

I've read a lot of article about this movie. It's number 1 "top selling movie anime" for more than 9 weeks straight, Even "Spirited Away" by Hayao Miyazaki has been dethroned from "the most successful movie anime" by this movie. When I was reading that article I was like. "whoa, this movie sells more than my all time favorite childhood movie, it must be something, right?". 

Makoto Shinkai's name as a anime director is always been on my radar. Just like Mamoru Hosoda, Gen Urobuchi, Mamoru Oshii, and of course the legend, Hayao Miyazaki. They usually deliver in their movie. Makoto Shinkai's work is a piece of art, and deliver "realism" to his anime. And he also great at toying your emotions with the medium. Yes, I know, if you are a fan of his movies, at the end of the movie, it always left you hanging with 

The first Makoto Shinkai's movie that I watched was Byousoku 5 cm/s. It was a painful yet enjoyable experience. And then I watched all of his past works like "Hoshi no Koe/Voice of the Distant Star", "Kono Kanojo to kanojo no neko/She and her cat",  and also his latest work before this movie, "Kotonoha no Niwa/Garden of Words". Personally, I enjoyed all of his movies, with all of "dem feels" ending. I think it's safe to say if you are "I'm a man, and I don't shed tears on anything at all. Feelings are only for p*ssies!" kind of person. Welp, his movies are not for you. We have to realize that not every genre is for everyone. hahahaha

Anyway, how was the movie? Is it that good? So let's just jump into the review shall we? XD

Story

This movie starts up with our main character, Mitsuha who lives in a village, waking up from her sleep, touching herself, (how to write this without sounding so inappropriate) and she realizes that "Oh my god, I have female parts!?". Meanwhile in Tokyo, there's Taki who wakes up, and touching himself and he was like "Oh my god, I have male parts?!". 

Yes, Taki and Mitsuha swapped bodies. 

This movie is about both of the characters randomly wakes up as each other. And both of them have to figure out how they will live their other side's body during that day, why this is happened to them, and they eventually began to appreciate one and another while learning about each other's life in a very unique manner. 

My thoughts on the movie

1. Makoto Shinkai delivers! Story wise is not really a new thing actually, Swapping bodies is not a new concept (Silver Chariot Requiem, anyone? XD). But the way how everything is directed, the stunningly beautiful visuals, great animations, and also "camera work" makes this movie very enjoyable and entertaining to watch. Seeing this movie in the theater was totally worth it! I got chills so many times when watching this movies because the background are so beautiful! That is to be expected from Makoto Shinkai's movie! XD
2. The soundtrack fits in so much with the movie! The songs are delivered by Radwimps from the opening, ending, and also insert song. Since 5 cm/s, with "One More Time, One More Chance" and Kotonoha no Niwa "Rain", I can really say that Makoto Shinkai really knows how to pick a good soundtrack for his movies. 
3. Every character in this anime feels so human and real. I really like how both of the main characters learn about each other's life by actual being THAT person for a day. So they can know more about that person even better. Which is a really interesting way to tell a romance story. 
4. This is the most lighthearted Makoto Shinkai movie ever made. Usually the tone of his movie is rather gloomy, depressing, and serious. But this movie is different from his previous works. It's colorful, more fun, hilarious, and emotionally powerful! And the transition from comedy slice of life to a more serious tone doesn't feel forced at all. It flows naturally. 
5. This movie is quite fast paced. If you are familiar to his works, I think you are already used to his pacing. This movie have only 107 minutes to tell the whole story. A lot of things suddenly happened. They've been swapping bodies for weeks. But for us viewers it could be 10 mins. Yeah, it's that fast.

As for the problems, I don't really have one actually. The ending caught me off guard. But overall, I'm really satisfied with Kimi no Na Wa! Probably my all time favorite Makoto Shinkai's movie right now! And I'm excited to watch his next movie! 

So, should you watch Kimi no Na Wa? Yes! Moreover if you are a fan of Makoto Shinkai's work, you'll be pleased! and PSA, go watch it on the theater! 

I can understand why this movie was hyped by a lot of person. But personally, I think both of Spirited Away and Kimi no Na Wa are great animated movie. We can't just compare Hayao Miyazaki with Makoto Shinkai because both of them are great on their own! ^_^

So that's it from me. I hope that you will find this review useful. This is Reikichi, signing out! XD

Gojira (Godzilla) (1954) - Movie Review

Before watching this movie, I honestly never watched the Japanese version of Godzilla (shameful, I know). I grew up with the crappy Hollywood interpretation of Godzilla back then in 1998 starring Matthew Broderick. The movie sucked so hard and so cheesy. And they were teasing at the end of the movie that they'd make a sequel out of this. Thankfully that didn't happen haha.

Moving forward to 2014, yet again another Hollywood attempt on making the "King of the Monsters" movie. I had high hopes on that movie since it has interesting casts like Bryan Cranston (famously known as Walter White from Breaking Bad, which is an awesome series! You should watch it!), Ken Watanabe, etc. And again, was let down by that movie since it focused a lot on human drama rather than Godzilla itself. Seriously tho! Godzilla barely have screen time on this movie! Even the Mutos have more screen time than Godzilla! 

And the fight scene! Oh my god! Don't get me started on that! It's filled with a cock tease! We thought that we are going to see Godzilla and Muto duking it out! But NOPE! You won't see them fight! Even the movie is making fun of itself. "Let them fight!" says Ken Watanabe on that movie. But on a serious note, 2014 Godzilla movie is a far better movie rather than the 1998 one. And that final battle between Godzilla and Muto actually have a satisfying pay off!

So I was thinking to myself, where can I have the most authentic Godzilla experience? Of course the first movie! And then I watched it. Today, I'm going to talk the first Godzilla movie that was ever made in 1954. How was it? Let's just jump into the review! XD

Story
There's a ship get wrecked near the Odo Island. Japanese government sent a rescue team on a boat as well to save the remaining survivor. However, the rescue ship met the same fate as the first ship. It is believed that the ship is destroyed by ancient sea creature that is known as "Godzilla". The fishermen has learned about this legend and was told to be aware of that creature when sailing to sea. Reporters came down to the island to found that many things on the village is destroyed by something enormous. Hearing that information, the Japanese Government decides to send a paleontologist, Kyohei Yamane, to investigate the island. Later on, he found a giant radioactive footprint and a trilobite. Suddenly, the Godzilla appears on that island. Yamane saw the Godzilla. Fortunately, the Godzilla just showed up and returns to the sea.
Yamane came back to Tokyo to report his findings in the Odo Island. He told the government that Godzilla is evolved from ancient sea creature into terrestrial animal being. He also concludes that Godzilla showed up because he feels disturbed on his underwater habitat because of the hydrogen bomb testing. And later on, the government figure have some debate on the matter whether they should kill the monster or let him be alive.
What will happen to Japan? What will they do to Godzilla?

My thoughts on the movie

1. When you watch this movie in particular, you will see that Godzilla is actually an allegory of the atomic bomb that happened during the World War II. And this movie really nailed it on portraying the metaphor on the situation back then. When you watch this movie, you will feel the fear, depressed, the sorrow, and also how horrifying it is to live on that era.
2. The special effects on this movie seems dated if we look from today's perspective. (well, it's a 60 years+ movie, duh). But it's still pretty convincing and horrifying to see. I think people back then when watching this on a theater will feel scared back then (since it's just almost a decade after WWII). If we look at Godzilla, we know for sure that Godzilla is a person on a rubber suit. But still, this effects was a breakthrough back then. I read on the trivia (or you can watch it here) that the suit is too heavy for the suit actor that he can even barely move. What I love when I watch a very old movies is that the limitation is a big constraint back then. And how they overcome it with anything that they got to make a great scene is really admirable. And the result is a well-known classic that will be watched by generations to come.
3. When I watched the Hollywood Godzilla, I don't really care about the humans. But it's different on this movie. The characters actually matter to the plot. And most of the main character have some depth and development. Especially the scientist guy, Serizawa. We can see his dilemma on this movie. And it's not just a stupid moral dilemma. It's a high-stake dilemma that actually matters. 

So here comes the final verdict. Should you watch Gojira (Godzilla) (1954)? Yes you should! This is a classic movie that everybody should watch (moreover if you claimed yourself a Godzilla fan). The movie might seem dated (which, I realize that is a huge turn off for some people) but this movie is genuinely great. Everything in this movie is serious and there's no silly jokes just like the Hollywood one. Heck, I think there's not even one joke on this movie. You will feel the terror and horror of Godzilla in this movie. Every time he showed up, You will say "damn this monster is terrifying" especially when Godzilla destroys everything on his sight. The metaphor that Godzilla carries throughout the movie still quite relevant to this day (the effect of nuclear bombs and wars to the people). Stop the war and make peace people! And now, I can't wait to watch Shin Gojira. I hope this movie will be released soon here in Indonesia! It's directed by Hideaki Anno, the guy who made Neon Genesis Evangelion. The anticipation is real guys! XD

And that's it! My review on Gojira (1954). I hope that you will find this review useful. This is Reikichi, signing out!