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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Intimidation Game (2015)
Thinly-veiled slander against GamerGaters.
This episode of SVU was simply ridiculous. The disclaimer at the beginning says that the story is fictional and doesn't represent any real event or person, which I suppose is technically true, however it does represent a sort of strawman against video game culture and the events surrounding GamerGate. Some examples include a lot of buzzwords that were obviously very carefully injected into the script such as "social justice warrior," "feminazi," and "women in gaming," as well as a fake website called redchanit, obviously mimicking reddit and 4chan, the websites that helped GamerGate to turn into the huge deal that it ended up becoming. Even the main character of the plot, a female game developer named Reina Punjabi, is obviously some sort of chimera of some of the main faces surrounding GamerGate, namely Anita Sarkeesian (trademark giant hoopy earrings included) and Briana Wu.
The problem is that the whole plot is based on lies and propaganda, and even though there is a disclaimer at the beginning assuring the audience that everything portrayed is fake, we all know that that's not really the way they see it. Make no mistake - this episode was a slanderous attack on men, particularly white men, in video games as well as support for those who benefit from and propagate those lies, such as the aforementioned Sarkeesian and Wu.
And those aren't even all of the problems. The production of the episode is pretty flipping bad too, but the slander on video gamers is what I believe is the most noteworthy object of criticism.
Golden Boy: Sasurai no o-benkyô yarô (1995)
One of the funniest shows I've ever seen
I'll never forget the first time that I saw Golden Boy because I don't think I had ever laughed so hard at anything in my life at that point. This show is absolutely jam-packed with hilarious gags that work almost every time, many of them visual jokes centered around Kintaro's facial expressions. I really have to give props to the animators for how they were able to depict his various emotions. To this day this show can have me in stitches every time I watch it. My only word of warning is that our fearless hero is a huge pervert and this is reflected in his various adventures. The show is about as close to hentai as you can get without actually being there - there are no sex scenes or anything like that but it's still rife with perversion.
Nearly a perfect comedy. -1 star because, while the show is funny throughout its entire length, I do find that it peaks early.
Shinpi no sekai Eru Hazâdo (1995)
One of my personal favorites
Oh El-Hazard! I will never forget the first time that I watched this. It was in the spring of 1996. I was a sophomore in high school. My friends started getting into this really bizarre stuff called anime. There was one show in particular that they were always talking about. That show was, you guessed it, El-Hazard.
I had absolutely no idea what I was getting into when I first popped it into my VCR. But from the second the intro started and the lovely narrator first spoke "It is a place that dwells in the memories of those who still dream of its ancient glory" (words that will always dwell within me) I knew that I was in for something special.
To get to the point, El-Hazard has it all. It's got stellar artwork, lively and interesting characters, comedy (oh my, does it ever have comedy!), an epic (if somewhat common) story, magic, great action, demon goddesses, wonderful music, and a fascinating and beautiful world.
The characters in this show are some of my absolute favorites in all of anime. Masamichi Fujisawa - the alcoholic, chain-smoking history teacher - is my personal favorite, but others like Miz, Shayla, Ifurita, and Makoto are all fantastic as well.
I don't want to say too much more because I might be tempted to delve into spoiler territory. Suffice it to say that this show was virtually single-handedly responsible for setting me on a decades long journey of anime fandom. I highly recommend this to anyone who has a love for anime and/or fantasy.
Oh, and one more thing that can't be overlooked is the quality of the dub. As hard as it might be to believe, especially considering that this came out in the mid-90's, the dub is in my humble opinion far superior to the sub.
Easy 9/10
Ôkami to kôshinryô (2008)
Spicy!
So I wasn't sure how much I'd like this one at first. I saw it classified on Wikipedia as a romance and this is typically not my favorite genre. Thankfully, the romantic story is secondary to the main plot. I was grateful for this, for had it been the other way around I think it may have become tedious. The main stories revolve around the business ventures of Lawrence and Holo as they journey to Holo's ancient homeland hidden somewhere in the distant north.
Now one might think that a story centering on the business dealings of a traveling peddler might be mundane, but they actually succeeded in making it rather exciting. And while so many other non-comedy animes have mortal peril as the main consequence of failure, and while Lawrence and Holo both certainly have brushes with death, it is just as often that the potential cost of failure is Lawrence's financial ruin and bankruptcy. I found this to be refreshing.
One of the coolest things about this anime is that it is actually educational. It provides a (very basic) crash course in basic economics and touches on such subjects as supply and demand, market trends, currency trading and speculation, and others. The downside is that if you're like me and already have a relatively good understanding of these things the explanations in the show can come off as long- winded and a little tiring. However I absolutely appreciate the show's effort at being educational.
As for the romance angle, I felt that it was handled well. It is by far the secondary plot of the show and it rarely overstays its welcome. The only problem that I have in this regard is that Holo is an extremely violent person and often ridicules Lawrence and even goes so far as to shove, slap, and punch him. Sorry, but if domestic violence against women isn't okay then it shouldn't be okay when it's a woman striking a man. This is a common anime trope that has always bothered me and Spice and Wolf is simply the latest specimen.
Oh, and I also have to say that the English dub is incredible, especially the voice of Holo (Brina Palencia). Truly one of the best dubs I've seen recently.
And finally I will leave off with one more complaint. The ending is, in my opinion, not satisfactory at all. If I understand correctly, the anime only covers about 1/4 of the manga so there really isn't any true resolution in this show. But all in all I liked it very much.
7.5/10
Brave (2012)
Beautiful animation can't make up for the lame feminist storyline
Before anything else I will get the good stuff out of the way. Brave is a beautifully animated film. The characters and textures are all very detailed and nice to look at and the landscapes are, quite simply, breathtaking. The Celtic scenery is incredibly lush and just really pops out. Visually, this movie is stunning. If the technical aspect of how this movie was drawn was the only metric used to assign a score, Brave would be a 10/10. Yet alas, there is also this little thing called "plot" that also has to be taken into consideration.
The first 20 or 30 minutes aren't all that bad. The story at least is coherent by that point if not good. The bulk of the story ends up centered around the heroine's mother being transformed into a bear and their quest to reverse the spell (by repairing their mother/daughter relationship) before the deadline makes her new form permanent. Nonsensical slapstick ensues. Seriously, was that really the best the writers could come up with? A bear?! Ugh...so stupid.
The worst aspects of this movie, by far, are the attitude of the heroine and the depiction of the film's male characters. Every single one of the men in this movie is portrayed negatively. The most favorably depicted male character is the father, Fergus, who while being a competent warrior is also a bumbling, stupid, savage, lovable idiot who jumps whenever his wife cracks the whip. The other males are even worse, notably the suitors and their fathers. They are all portrayed as pathetic, ugly, oafish morons who spin incredible lies in order to make themselves seem competent. Meanwhile, the women are shown to be just the opposite - calm, rational, beautiful, collected, competent.
Merida is the worst, which is unfortunate since 90% of the screen time is devoted to her. She is one of the most selfish main characters I have ever seen in a movie. She is unwilling to accept responsibility and is willing to risk the lives of thousands of people as well as the stability of the entire kingdom and to poison her mother all to shirk her responsibility to her kingdom. And she even steals the "positive" physical characteristics of the men by trouncing the suitors in archery and besting her father in a sword fight.
So basically the moral of this story is "screw everyone else, it's all about me me me me me," and "women can do anything men can do, and they can do it better, and they can do it in heels." Basically Feminism 101.
Seriously, don't waste your time with this nonsense.
Les Misérables (2012)
The definitive Les Miserables movie experience!
As someone who has been burned by every single Hollywood adaptation of Les Miserables, let me categorically state that this time it was done right! Everything from the acting to the music to the sets was borderline perfect. The only thing that could possibly be considered a negative was something that was absolutely unavoidable. That is, when you are taking a novel as voluminous as Les Miserables and condensing it into a feature length movie, some things will be cut or rushed. This is no exception. The movie moves at breakneck speed. Anyone who is fond of the Broadway musical will no doubt not be bothered by it, but people new to the story or those who have only read the novel might be put off by it.
As far as the acting and music is concerned, I can find very little to fault. Russel Crowe was the weakest of the lot as I just didn't find his voice to be up to the task of singing some of Javert's songs (Stars immediately springs to mind). Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Samantha Barks were all especially good. The intense emotions their characters experience throughout the story are perfectly performed.
This naturally leads to a critique of the music. Anyone familiar with the Broadway show will undoubtedly find themselves joyously mouthing along to the familiar lyrics and might be surprised at a couple of brand new songs written specifically for the movie. Just as in the show, the music is brilliant and meshes wonderfully with the story.
One of the biggest treats, however, were the sets and special effects. The beauty and squalor of 19th century Paris was showcased magnificently and it really allowed you to become engrossed in story.
This is a movie that both fans of the novel as well as fans of the musical can both fall in love with, since even though there are some deviations from the novel this is still the closest a film version has ever come to being completely faithful to the book. Additionally, this movie is a perfect chance for those who have never read the book or haven't heard of or had a chance to see the Broadway show. I wholeheartedly recommend this film to everyone. My only warning is to limit your fluid intake, since at 2.5+ hours your chance of encountering an overflowing bladder is a very real danger.
Ergo Proxy (2006)
Ergo Tedium
Oh my God, where to start? This anime is up there on my list of all time biggest disappointments. Being a huge fan of the cyberpunk genre and dystopias in general, and seeing it recommended by so many others, I knew that I simply had to watch this show. And after watching the first couple of episodes I was convinced that this was going to be a spectacular story. Unfortunately, the series peaks right around this same time and it is a long, slow, boring decline for the next 20 episodes.
This anime commits one of the cardinal sins in storytelling. That is, it relies HEAVILY on exposition. "Show, don't tell" is a piece of advice that Ergo Proxy would certainly have benefited from. Instead we are subjected to entire episodes full of almost nothing but exposition. It is just not fun. And if the heavy amount of exposition isn't bad enough, we are also forced to endure tedious one-off episodes that are of, at best, questionable value to the rest of the plot.
Then there are the characters. I'm going to be honest - for the most part, they are dull as hell. Vincent Law, in addition to being fundamentally uninteresting, is a whiny, weak-willed shell of a man. Re-l, on the other hand, spent vast spans of the show being little more than a huge, huge bitch. Pino is the only character that I had any sort of affection for but she's hardly an important character.
There is some good to be said: the music is top notch. The art and animation is also good for the most part but is of inconsistent quality and suffers overall as the story progresses. The setting is also quite interesting.
All in all, I had to seriously force myself to finish this. After realizing how disappointed I was in it I knew that I wanted to write a review, but I refused to write a review for something that I hadn't bothered finishing. The last six episodes took me 3 days to watch. That's how excruciating the experience was.
My recommendation is to avoid this one.
***1/2 out of **********