1 Year Anniversary Special: Top 5 Favorite Reviews and Top 5 Hated Reviews!

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to say happy one anniversary to me! That's right, one year ago today I started doing these reviews. Now I will admit I am very sorry for the hiatus I took I still feel as though I should celebrate being able to come back to this little blog and keep doing reviews. I know my reviews aren't the best or even the most thought out but hey, I never calmed to be perfect. But at the same time there are some reviews of mine that I have to admit that I just really liked writing and I feel came out really well. So how about I count down my Top 5 Favorite Reviews and my Top 5 Hated Reviews. Because there are some reviews that I will admit I hate looking back at now. So how about I start this list off with the best, here are my Top 5 Favorite Reviews!

Top 5 Favorite Reviews

Number 5: Fate/Zero Review

This was a review was one that I was really looking forward to for a while. Ever since I stared this blog I was really saving Fate/Zero for a while. So when I went on a little Fate marathon in the months of November and December I thought it would be the best time to hunt down the show and finally review it. I was very happy with how it came out. My only real problem with the review is that I didn't make it longer. But aside from that I loved writing this review and it's still one of favorite reviews even to today.

Number 4: Chobits Review

When I decided to do Romance Month, which I was very happy with, I knew for a fact that I would have to review this for two simple reasons. One; it's one of the most popular romance anime so it would make sense to review it for Romance Month. Two; when I first watch Chobits, I fucking hated it. I mean I hated it. But as years passed by I stared to wonder why exactly did I hate it so much. I really couldn't think of a good reason so I decided to rewatch it and see how I felt about it years later. I am very happy say that when I went back to watch Chobits I just loved it. I was very surprised by just how good this show actually was. So when I finally wrote the review it was actually insanely fun to do because I had just so much to say.

Number 3: Serial Experiments Lain Review

Not only does this anime have a special in my heart the review does too. When I was watching Lain it was during a time in my life when I wasn't too sure what college I wanted to go too and I wasn't really taking my education ever seriously during my final years of high schools. But when I decided to sit down and watch Lain I was just horrified by what I saw. The story of a girl who's life was quite literally fading away and how she started losing her grip on reality. This scared the living shit out of me! This was so damn scary that I completely changed and took my education very seriously. So this review sticks with me because this was one of the few times that an anime really made me rethink my life. I know that sounds silly but I can't deny that this anime was pretty damn freaky and this is one of my favorite reviews.

Number 2: Guilty Crown

This review, oh my god, was so much damn fun to do. This was my first really negative review. Because I fucking hated this show and I still do. Guilty Crown was an anime that I decided to watch in one sitting. I stayed up all night so that I could watch because the first 12 episodes were actually pretty damn good. So when I watch the last 12 I was angry at just how bad the quality dropped. So when time finally came for me write the review I went mad on my keyboard. I just typed and typed and typed, until I couldn't think of anything else to hate about this show. i went fucking ballistic on this damn show and it resulted into a review that I think was really funny. Due to how mad I was at the show. So I guess I have to thank Guilty Crown for giving me a great review. But seriously though fuck Guilty Crown. Don't watch it.

Number 1: Aku no Hana Review

I have to say. I really loved how this review came out in the end. When I was on hiatus I really struggled to find any anime to actually review. I felt really unmotivated to watch anything, it was a really dull time for me. So one day I decided to check out a manga that I heard was really missed up and was disturbing. When I finally checked it out for myself I could not believe just how amazing this story was. I found it really fucking hard to not put down my phone and look something else up, I read manga on my phone most of the time, I had to keep reading. When I was done with it I felt that itch. That itch I feel when I really want to review something. So I decided to say "fuck it, I don't care if I don't review manga, I'm reviewing this!". That is how I finally returned to doing my reviews. Because of one of the most fucked up but best manga I have ever read. But the review itself was also really good. I had a lot to say about the manga and I just decided that I am going to write until I have nothing else to say and just like that the review was made. It's my favorite review to date and the manga that got me back into reviewing.

But with any good review, sometimes you have bad ones. So it's time that I poke fun at myself and list the top 5 reviews that I personally hate.

Top 5 Hated Reviews

Number 5: Corpse Princess Review

The Corpse Princess review was a review that I felt was just a really poorly put together review. Not because it was my feelings on anime changed or anything like that. The reason was the actual anime was so lack-luster that when I actually had to write the review I had nothing to say. I was just struggling to find 11 different ways to say that anime was just "okay". I had nothing to really work with and nothing to get mad or praise about the show. I had so little to actually say that I felt that the review was one of my most boring and hollow reviews to write and review. It was a review that I just couldn't find anything to say and I just hated it once I actually finished it.

Number 4: Angel Beats Review

Okay let's get this out of the way, I fucking hate this show. It's shit. So when I review the show I thought I was fair but when I really look back at the actual show I can't help but point out just how shitty the anime really is. I just hate everything about it. So after a good year I decided to look back at the show and I shocked myself. I was so damn soft on this show it disgust me and I was most shocked at the final score I gave it. A 6.5. A fucking 6.5. What the fuck was I thinking?! This show doesn't even deserve a goddamn 4, and I a gave it a 6.5?! Was I high or something!? Now I don't like to go back to my old reviews and edit them, it's not my style. But holy hell I will never forgive myself for giving this show such a high score and that's why I hate it so much.

Number 3: Squid Girl Review

Okay so I know I don't get a lot of views on my reviews but I'm proud of the views I get non-the-less. When I reviewed Squid Girl I was pretty excited, mainly because I really liked the show and I wanted to share my opinion about it. Clearly no one really cared. Squid Girl is my least watch review ever and I am a shamed of it. I think the review itself is fine but it's clear that no one gave a damn about it because of how little views I actually got. It still haunts me to this day and I can never live it down.

Number 2: Mistudomoe Review

Oh god this review. One thing I love about reviewing anime is that it never feels like a job. I am doing something that I love doing and I never feel hindered by it, until anime came around. This anime sucked all of the joy out of reviewing and for the first time ever I felt like I was just watching the anime and reviewing it because I had too, because it's my job to review anime. That's why I hate this review. Not only that but this anime was just so boring and painfully stupid to actually write a review about. I just hated every damn moment of typing up the review. So in turn I hated how the actual review came out and I hate the show just as much.

Number 1: Elfen Lied Review

Seems kinda of obvious that my most hated review is my first review. Yeah I hate my Elfen Lied review. I always go back to it now-and-then and I just can't stand it. I mean damn that review was bad. I gave Elfen Lied a damn 9 even after pointing out a lot of bad things about it, really unbiased huh? The Animation Category was only 2 sentences long and I hardly talked about the plot or characters aside from the main characters. Every time I look back at it I can't help but be so ashamed by the fact that, that thing was my first review. But I can also look back at it and appreciate how far I came from that style of reviewing to how I review now. Elfen Lied, I may love the anime but I hate my own review for it.

So those were my favorite and not-so-favorite anime reviews that I've done so far. I'm happy to say that I'll keep doing reviews and I hope to get even better at them in the future. Also no need to worry, the 4th Kara no Kyoukai review will be released this Saturday. I just wanted to think back on old reviews and find a way to celebrate on one year of reviewing. Thanks for reading.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: A Remaining Sense of Pain

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue my retrospective of the Kara no Kyoukai films. This one is gonna be a bit tricky to review. Just to start off, this is one of the darker entries in the Garden of Sinners series. This film has some of the most brutal death scenes and contains a lot of rape. Yes, rape. To make this review short for those who don't like the idea of rape in anime and just want my opinion on the matter I will say that this is a good film. If you can handle it then you should check it out. If you don't think you can then skip this one. Now with that out of the way let's talk about this dark as hell movie. Kara no Kyoukai: Remaining Sense of Pain. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The movie follows a young woman named, Fujino Asagami. The first time we see her in the film is of her being raped by a group of thugs. Afterwards all of the thugs that participated in the rape just so happen to be getting brutally killed off one-by-one. This gets the attention of Toko as she is already on the case with the help of Shiki and Mikiya. As you would expect it's Fujino who's doing the murders but she almost seems to be joyful while committing these horrible killings. She also seems to be experiencing a horrible sense of pain that just won't go away as well as demonstrating powerful telekinetic abilities. So now it's a twisted game of cat-and-mouse as Shiki is hunting down Fujino and she's hunting down the men who violated her. This film is fucked up. This is probably the darkest anime I have ever had to review and oh god is it hard to review. The themes brought up in the film is the feeling of pain and pain of rape. The rape part is very unsettling due to how graphic the film gets with the scenes but at the same time the film shows how the pain of being violated can effect one's psyche. Fujino is like a fucking horror movie villain as she slowly hunts down every last member of the gang that did this horrible act upon her. There's also the theme of feeling pain and if pain makes of human. I wish I could talk more about this but I'd be giving away some major spoilers. So trust me when I say that the film does a good job at explaining this theme in very disturbing detail. The story is dark, unsettling, and very hard ti set through but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't done well.

Animation:

Just like always the animation here is great but holy crap, the backgrounds here are even darker then the first film. The movie has a very dark tone so in turn the setting is just bleak, ugly, and almost disturbing to look at. It goes hand-in-hand with the fucked up feeling that the movie is going for so in retrospective it does a good job. But the highlight of the animation here is the final scene. One big ass action sequence that is just batshit insane to watch. The final fight in the film is animated beautifully and is so tilling to watch. The fast pace movements as well as the intense cat-and-mouse style to the fighting made so interesting to watch. The rain effects during the fight was also extremely well done to. It feels like it's actually raining really hard while these characters are ducking it out to the death and the way the rain moves along with the characters is just amazing. So the animation is once again really well done here but that final fight scene is the real highlight of this film.

Music:

Just like the other movies before it, the music does not disappoint. The music here is very similar to the first film. The music is very atmospheric and very hunting. It almost feels like the further we dive into Fujino's mind the music in return gets more and more disturbed. You also have the music during the final fight. The music during this fight is very intense and fast but the song also has a very quite tune to it as well. Not only that but the film also knew when to completely stop using music to further deliver the straight of the scene itself. The music here is very good and I feel like the music just keeps getting better and better as these films go along.

Characters:

Okay so to be honest none of the main cast here have any real development in this film. We see some at the end but I'm not going spoil that. However the real star of the movie is actually Fujino. Holy shit is she one fucked up person. Fujino's character is displayed as someone who isn't quite sure what it really mean to be alive. She basically comes off as someone who's completely devoid of any emotions or feeling at all. But when Fujino starts to feel the pain in her abdomen this is when her character really changes. Before when we saw her she was just an emotionless shell that didn't even care about being raped constantly. But once she feels this horrible pain she turns into the near monster of a person. She starts to find enjoyment in the killing and mutilating of the men who raped her. But even as she starts to go even more insane through out the film you can't help but feel sorry for her. She seems like someone who just wants some basic human connections is her life but her emotionless state and now her new murderous intent she just seems too far off to help her.

Overall:

To close this review I would like to say that this is a good film. However I would like to warn you that is the darkest film in the Kara no Kyoukai series so this film may not be for everyone. But overall I thought that this was a very good film. Just really fuck up and hard to watch.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: A Remaining Sense of Pain an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry 

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new anime review. Yeah sorry about no review last week. I was a bit busy with college stuff. Nothing important. However this review being on a Saturday is not me being late with reviews. Nope this is a new thing that I'm gonna start doing now. Reviews will no longer be on Wednesdays but insisted being moved to Saturdays. Also as you might have been able to tell from the review I did two weeks ago, the Nitpick category will no longer be used anymore. I don't like it and I feel as though it was hindering my writing for these reviews. But anyways let's move on. Last I was here I reviewed the first Kara no Kyoukai film, which is actually like the the 4th film in the timeline of the movies. So now today we jump back in time to the origins of Shiki, when she still had SHIKI. Today I'll be covering Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1. Is it just as good as the first one or does it pale in comparison? Let's find out shall we?

Story:

Now as you would be able to guess, this film takes place a couples years before the events of the first years. We go all the way to Mikiya's high school years and follow him when he first meets a young Shiki. The story here is not as intense as Overlooking View but still is a very high quality story on the same level but with different content in it. While Overlooking View was very much a story that talked about suicide and was built as a ghost story. However, A Study in Murder is more of a murder mystery while also having a very odd romance thrown in there. The movie doesn't tackle any major themes that the first film did but it's okay because this movie has a very good story behind. The story mainly centers around Mikiya trying to get to know Shiki more as he ends up becoming interested with her and eventually falls in love with her. All the while a series of murders are happening around the town that they live in. Even worse is that Shiki always seems to be at the scene of the murder. We don't see her actually kill anyone but she is always at the crime scene and standing over the corpse. This leads into Mikiya basically trying to convince himself and even Shiki that she's not the killer. Now even though the story here is really good it also does the dirty little things that a lot of movies in series do, give you a lot of questions and no answers. Now I can understand that this was made to be apart of series but the answers to who is doing the murders and why is he doing them actually doesn't get answers until the 7th movies. That's a pretty long wait. But aside from that small point the story is still very strong and really fleshes out these characters as well.

Animation:

Just like before, Ufotable delivers in this category. But I am very happy to say that the feeling of the animation here is on a very different tone then in Overlooking View. While Overlooking View had a very dark, washed out, and creepy atmosphere to it, A Study in Murder actually has more colorful scenery while mixing in the darker tones as well. This gives the movie a very different feeling to it because by showing what the modern day world looks like and then bringing the darker side of this world into the spotlight it makes it seem even darker. Not only that but the animation for the characters is still just as damn good as it was in the first movie. There aren't any big action scenes like in the first movie but the movie doesn't skip on the quality either. The animation is on par and even at some points better then the animation in Overlooking View. The anime looks really damn good and it just a joy to watch.

Music:

Just like with the animation the music is beautiful but is a different kind of beautiful. The music here works really well with the animation and really likes to keep things very quiet. While the first one had amazing music as well it was more of a dangerous and almost occult sounding, giving a lot of to the supernatural aspect of the first film. But this time around the music has more toned down and somber tone for all of the creepy scenes. But also has more uplifting and relaxing music for the more quiet scenes. If two people are talking and having a normal conversation then the music will be subtle and faint or no music will be used. However if a conversation is being had with a much heavier weight on then the music will be a little louder but will also have a much more sinister tone. The music works great here and is easily the strongest to the movie.

Characters:

Another strong aspect to this movies is it's characters. Just like the first film we don't have a very large cast. The only two characters that have any real importance in the story, Mikiya and Shiki. Mikiya comes off as a normal guy who just ended up falling for a very odd girl. Then again it's Shiki so I can't blame him. So his character is pretty damn determine to prove Shiki's innocent even if she herself believes she's guilty. You can really tell that he genuinely loves Shiki and wants to her to have a normal life. Shiki also comes off as a different person from the first film. That Shiki was a cold but good hearted badass while this Shiki is more of a shut in that doesn't want to get close to anyone. We even learn that she has another personality called SHIKI, (Note: The capitalization of her name means male in the Japanese writing. So the direct translation is just her name in all caps.) her other half that is more out going then her and is even more friendly as well. We get to learn a lot about the two personalities here and get a good sense of who Shiki really is. We see why she's so cold and why she's so shut in. But what sells these characters even more is the fact that they have great chemistry. We can get a good idea of how Mikiya could fall for Shiki while also seeing her warm up to him and how this starts to scare her. The characters work great off of each other and even more so are great characters in of themselves.

Overall:

This is a pretty damn good follow up to Overlooking View. Or a good beginning to the Kara no Kyoukai series seeing as how this is the beginning of the timeline. Oh fuck it, it's a good movie! It has a great set of characters and has some damn fine music. Not all of the questions raised in the story are answered but at least we got an amazing movie in the end, and that's really all that matters.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: A Study in Murder-Part 1 an 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals! It is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you with another anime review. Now that I'm back In decided that I would like to actually do something special for all of you! The one year anniversary of when I started doing reviews it coming up so I thought why not give you guys a series a reviews for the next seven weeks of one of my all time favorite anime film series? That's right for the next seven weeks I'll be taking a look at the whole film series of, Kara no Kyoukai: The Garden of Sinners. So to start this series off right lets jump right into it with a review of the first film, Overlooking View. Let's begin shall we?

Story:

The story begins in the 1998 with our hero, Shiki Ryogi. A young woman with an amazing gift, the ability to see the death lines of anyone or anything. We also get to meet her two coworkers, Toko Aozaki and Mikiya Kokuto. They are a supernatural investigation group who, as you can imagine, deal with with anything that may seem to dwell into the surreal or supernatural side of things. They get a case that has been getting a lot of wind lately. Over at the abandoned Fujo building a group of young high school girls have been committing suicide unexpectedly. None of the girls seem to have anything that relates to one another and even more odd is the lack of a suicide note to at least explain why they did it. As Shiki inspects the building she finds that things are not all that they seem and something dark and twisted is happening inside that old forgotten building. Now the set up here is a bit odd, what do I mean? Well it's odd because the film does this really weird thing of name dropping characters, events, and certain places that all of the characters in the movie knows but not the audience. That's because the first four films in the Kara no Kyoukai series are actually out of order. So this film is in fact the 4th film in the series. Now while some may be a bit turned off by this I found it to make the film very interesting to sit through. Because know what's up and all of the major pieces plot development are put to the side of the audience but we know that we'll see what the film is talking about sooner or later. But for now we're just left in mystery, which may turn some off to the idea of watching these films. Also the subject material in this film may be a bit too heavy for some to handle. Suicide is a big subject matter in this film and it doesn't really pull any punches on how some of these characters feel about the notion of suicide and whether or not it's okay to take your own life. It's pretty heavy and some may feel a bit offended by the film but I personally thought they tackled the problem with taste and didn't really lean on what side was "right" or "wrong". They kept it very even and I thought that the film was pretty damn good with how they presented and commented on the issue of suicide.

Animation:

The fact that this is a Ufotable anime should already tell you already just how damn good this animation is. But just in case you need a reminder, this animation is amazing! Once again Ufotable shows off once why they are my favorite animation studio by just how jaw-droppingly beautiful this film looks. The design of the city is just so damn good and you get a lot of shot of the city just to give you an idea how big this place is. Not to mention the atmosphere that is created with the more darker and empty setting of the Fujo building as we get to look inside it as well. The animation during the two fight scenes are also done really good as well. You get a very claustrophobic and uneasy vibe from the first fight but then during the final fight you get this whole show of colors and fast-paced action that just never lets you go because of just how well it's animated. Character designs also look very simple, clean, and nice. But this is a Type-Moon product. These guys could make a redhead in jeans and a baseball shirt look iconic.......wait. Anyway animation is great and really gives a wide scope to the film.

Music:

Oh my God this music. This music! Yes the music is really good here well. The music, very much like the art and animation, set up a tone of somberness, loneliness, and overall dread. It's a hauntingly beautiful sound that set up a very eerie stage for the film. Not to mention that the music would become creepy and ghostly at the right moments to invoke a sense of fear or weariness. But the film doesn't go to over bored with it's music too. When the film needs to be more quiet and subtle the music would also get a downgrade in scale or no music would be used in certain scenes This gave the film more room to breath and not overuse any of it's tracks like a lot of anime does. The music is used very well and it's a treat to listen to. But then again what do you expect from Yuki Kajiura? Greatness that's what.

Characters:

This part is going to be a little tricky. Now while I already know what these characters go through I know that at a first time glance you're gonna be a bit lost. The characters here don't get a lot of development because this film is the 4th installment so their at the halfway point of their characters. So that means this film does very little to actually give a lot of in-depth development for these guys. But that doesn't mean that they come off as stale either. Shiki comes off as a harden badass who takes shit from no one but you can still tell that there is a softer side to her that we've yet to fully see and we can also tell that she has kind of relationship Mikiya. How deep this relationship goes though we don't fully know but you can tell that they are special to one another. Even if Shiki doesn't reveal it very much. Toko is another character we get a good idea of. She comes off as a very cool, collective, and smart individual. She clearly has a lot more going on then she leads on but for now she's just one cool boss that I personally would love to have. Mikiya is also kinda hard to get a point on. That's mainly due to the fact that he's not in the film a lot. But as stated before he has a very odd connection to Shiki and the moments that we see them together we get to see more of his character traits shine. He seems like a cool guy and we wait to see why he's so into to Shiki later down the films.

Overall:

Well in the end Overlooking View is a bit of an odd choice to open up the Kara no Kyoukai series. Now while there are six more films to go through it is understandable for some to be a bit lost after watching this. But even not fully knowing what's going on I still feel that this movie is a interesting first watch for the series and has enough plot and subtext that it can keep a person's interest long enough for the next installment: A Study in Murder-Part 1.

Arcane Reviews gives Kara no Kyoukai: Overlooking View an 8.5 out of 10.

You can watch "Kara no Kyoukai" on:

No legal streaming sites. Sorry.

Arcane Reviews: Aku No Hana: The Flowers of Evil

Guess who's back?

Hello ladies, peoples and animals it is I. The one. The only. Arcane Reviewer! Man it's good to be back! Now yes I did say that I was going to return in late August but some things came to where I was unable to really sit down and do any reviews. Hell I wasn't even motivated to watch any anime or review any of it either. But it wasn't until I came across this little piece of "What the fuckery". See I am a bit of a manga reader. It kinda goes hand-in-hand with being a fan of anime. Now I'm not much of an advent manga reader. I read a couple of chapters in a series that I like or even read all the way through short or completed series. Yeah I just don't read a lot of it but I do read quite a bit. So while I was looking for an anime to review I kinda got stuck and gave up until I could find something that really caught my interest. So far nothing came to mind. It wasn't until a friend of mine mentioned a little series called, Aku No Hana. The name rang a bell so I looked into it. It turned out that I actually did hear about this series through another friend of mine who mentioned how "fucked up" it was. But he also made it clear that he actually liked the manga. So I thought, hey might as well give it a try. This ladies, peoples, and animals is what brought me back. After reading this manga I felt compelled to jump on my computer and give this book a review!

Now first off; this is my first time reviewing a manga so this is going to be a bit different from my normal reviews. Here are some of the things that are being changed up.

1. I will not be covering the animation. Because there isn't any animation......you freaking dumb-ass
2. I will not be covering the music. Because there isn't any.......you freaking dumb-ass.
3. I will be covering the art.
4. I will be going into spoilers about the ending. This won't be the stranded for when I review manga. It's just that the ending of this manga is something that has a lot of people split and I feel as though I need to discuss it in full detail.
5. There will be no Nitpick category. I'm pretty much thinking about dropping the category completely but until I deiced I'm just not going to put it in this review.

So now that all of that bull is out of the way let's get on with my review of, Aku No Hana: The Flowers of Evil. What was it about this show that made me come back? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

The manga starts us off in a small town in Japan in which we are introduced to our main character, Takao Kasuga. A middle school student who is pretty damn shy and is a pit on the pretentious side. He has a crush on the class idol, Nanako Saeki. In fact he has such a huge crush on her that when he realizes that Saeki left her gym uniform back in class he does what any normal person would do. Pick the clothes up and smell them. Because that's obviously the first thing one should do in that situation.

But when he hears a bump in the thought-to-be empty class room he freaks out and does another logical course of action. Stuff the gym clothes up his shirt and run away. I get the feeling that Kasuga isn't all that bright. After that awful situation, Kasuga runs into the freak of his class, Sawa Nakamura. A very odd individual who reveals that she saw Kasuga steal the gym clothes. She threatens to reveal Kasuga to the whole school unless he makes a contract with her. What does this contract entail you might ask. Oh nothing much. She just gets to do horrible things to him and systematically ruin his life and any chance he had at being normal. You know I never had to go through any of this shit while I was in middle school. So the scene is set and Kasuga's life is going to get a whole lot more interesting than it was before. Now from the surface this not seems like a very odd idea for a plot but you have to wonder just how far can they go with this concept. Well this is where Aku No Hana actually pulls the rug from under your feet. You see this story is nowhere near as straight forward as my little synopsis made it out to be. This manga has a lot of depth when it comes to it's story and the themes that it tackles. To it's core the manga is a coming of age story about a young boy who is lost in the world that he lives in and we follow him from his teenage years into his young adult years. The story does a great job at showing a youth who is pretty much not motivated by much and when he is it really isn't because it's a life choice he has decided to follow. It's because he has no one else to go to so he just follows what seems convenient at the time. The story also dells deep within the psyche of our characters so we get a little too familiar with them. The story is strong and dives deep into the mind of madness and these are what makes the manga so damn good.

Art:

The art here is handles extremely well by Mr. Shuzo Oshimi. He does really damn good job here, at points. The artwork for environments, backgrounds, and some of the more trippy scenes look amazing. Oshimi has such a great style with how heavy shading needs to be and this heaviness in shading actually help put a lot more tension and even some impact in the most mundane actions in the manga. His character designs though are a bit rough. Now granted this manga was first published in 2009. The fist couple of chapters has some pretty funny looking expressions and character designs looked really goofy and a little unsettling. I will say though that the art did get better over time and everything looked much better at the end of the first major story arc. I'll also say that when art got better I was really able to appreciate the look at all of his major characters. None of them have any really big stand out looks to them, they all just look normal. But that's the thing, they all look normal. None of them looked like the stranded anime main character, they all had very average looks, builds, and features that you would see on an average individual you'd see walking down the street. I really liked this because this story is so grounded to reality that the art and characters actually helped my immersion and had even more into the story then I was originally. So even though I had a bit of a rough patch to get pass through, the art here is top notch and drives home the narrative even more.

Characters:

Now with every great story you need great characters right? Well it's a good thing that this story had some pretty damn good characters. First off we have the main character himself, Kasuga. What I really liked about him was that he actually wasn't very like able in the beginning. As I said earlier he's shy, cowardly, and has a bit of a stick up his ass. But this is what's so good about him on a character standpoint. We get to grow along with him. Yes he starts off as a whining little shit bit that's understandable because he's an 8th grader. He a kid. Most kids his age are whiny and annoying. But as the story progresses we get to see him mature little-by-little and eventually we see him become a much better person then who he was at the start of the manga. We also get a good look inside his head and we really get to see what he's thinking and how he's handling all of the crazy and fucked up situations that he finds himself in. We get a great idea of what it's like to be him and we can at points completely see things from his side of spectrum. He is a very well developed main character who felt like he had a complete characters arc once the story is all said and done. Now how do the side characters hold up, the same as our main character but without much focus. Sawa's character is indeed a very strange and even psychotic person at points. She is rude, nasty, and doesn't take shit from anyone. This is what makes her character so interesting, why would she take such an interest in someone like Kasuga? Well we do get to look inside her head as well and see just how much of a mess she really is. We see some dark stuff from her and even though she's painted as a horrible person in the early stages of the manga you can't help but to find interest in her and once her character is revealed a bit of sympathy as well. She's a really good character because the manga had you guessing just what the hell her deal was and even made some feel bad for her. Now we move on to Saeki, was she a good character? Well the manga just kind of shows her off as the class idol who just so happens to have a thing for Kasuga. Nothing really special. That is until we get to the later half of the second story arc. Saeki has some of the most disturbing and darker moments in the entire manga. I won't spoil exactly what happens to her or what she does but I will say this. What the fuck!? She was a very well written character and was the most shocking out of the whole cast and I was just dumbfounded by her character development. Overall, she was a good character.

The Ending( Warning I Will Spoil The Ending Of The Manga! If You Wish To Not Have the Ending Ruined For You Then Skip To The Overall Category!)

Now this ending has a lot of fans split. I'll talk about it for a bit and explain my own opinion on the ending itself. So at this point in the story Kasuga has moved out of he old home town and lives in the city. He was able to overcome his weaker self of needing to follow someone because he was aimless and has actually taken charge of his own life now. Hell he even fell in love with another character, Aya Tokiwa. He was able to love her for her and even convinced her to show her true self and not be afraid of who she is and what she loves to do. This in turn made her fall in love with him and the two became a couple. But everything isn't all sunshine now because Kasuga wants to finally put an old ghost to rest. He wants to see Sawa one last time to bury the hatchet once and for all. This was a very big moment in the manga because to this point both Kasuga and Sawa hadn't seen each other within 3 years. So a lot of suspense of building up to this moment. Now the problem that a lot of people have with this ending was that it didn't go out with a bang. Because when Kasuga meets Sawa again after all these years she is nowhere near as crazy. Sure she's still a bit of an oddball but she isn't psycho anymore. Plus the whole confrontation ends on a light note. After some arguing and even Aya admitting that even if she loses Kasuga here she'll be happy that he was finally able to end things. The whole thing end with them actually getting along and playing on the beach. Okay the scene makes sense if you read it, just take my word for it. Sawa tells Kasuga that he's normal now and he should never come back to see her again and we end with a flash forward in time to see Kasuga in college. Him and Aya are still a couple and are still very much in love. This ending had people a bit let down because they thought that they were going to get a huge melt down of shit going wrong and Sawa acting crazy and shit. But in all honesty, I really liked they way it ended. Because as I said before this is a coming of age story. Kasuga isn't the same little kid that was too afraid to stand up for himself anymore, he's a changed person. Same goes for Sawa, she's not the same anymore. She's grown up. We clearly see that she has matured a lot during the 3 year skip which makes a lot of sense. If Kasuga was able to mellow out surly Sawa could too. The story at it's heart is about growing up and we clearly see the characters have indeed grown up. Which is why I personally loved the ending.

Overall:

So to wrap this up I"ll just say that this was one of the best manga that I've read in a long time. The art was dark and atmospheric, the characters where detailed and dripping with depth, and the ending was very satisfying and left me with a big ol' smile on my face. So yeah if you haven't been able to guess I quite liked this manga a lot and it felt like the perfect piece of entertainment to get me back into the reviewing mood. So if you haven't been able to guess I highly recommend this manga to anyone who's looking for a dark story with a cast of disturbed but brilliant characters.

Arcane Reviews gives: Aku No Hana: The Flowers of Evil a 9.5 out of 10.

Thank you all for reading I"m glad to be back......Oh.

You're probably wondering my opinion on the anime adaption right?

Well I only have three words for that show.

DON'T WATCH IT!!!!

Now I wonder. What should I review next?
I know!.....My treat to all of you......

               Next Time: Kara No Kyoukai: Overlooking View                

Update!: I Am So Sorry

Yeah.........my bad.....

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to say I am so sorry. I have been M.I.A. for about a damn month. I have been a bit busy since I have been finishing up school. But what about the couple of weeks after I finished school? Well I've just been lazy to do any reviews. Forgive me!

So I'm here to say that I will still do reviews. I am not quitting. But I probably won't be posting any reviews for the month of July, don't worry it's not because I'm being lazy here I swear. The reason being is that I will on a trip that will leave me away from my computer. I have a desktop which makes it a little hard to write any reviews or even watch any anime.

Now if I can get my hands on a laptop or a desktop then I can put up reviews but as of now I don't think I can. But to make it up to you guys I do have two reviews that I'll be working on to release when ever I come back. So I hope you guys enjoy your summer and I am once again sorry for being gone for so long.

Upcoming reviews

Nanana's Buried Treasure

The Garden of Words

Arcane Reviews: Casshern Sins

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to bring you a new review. You wanna know what I love? Well too bad because I'm gonna tell you anyway! I love post-apocalyptic settings. You can get really creative with just exactly how a world fell into dismay and then see the aftermath of it. Now while this anime I'll be reviewing doesn't do a lot new with the setting it does how ever do a bit different with the story of this destroyed world we see. So I bring to you my review for, Casshern Sins. How does it stand out from other dystopian futures in other anime? Well let's find out shall we?

Story:

The story for Casshern Sins is a bit of a mess but for good reason. When we first meet our main character he has no idea who he is or where he is. All he knows is that he is a robot of some sort and he is crazy strong. Along with his strength is a kind of berserker mode he has. Simply put; when Casshern is put under a lot of stress due to battle or hell even his memory coming back to him from time to time he well completely lose it and kill just about anything that's in his way. This actually comes in handy as he is constantly being hunted by other robots who all want to eat him. Yeah these robots believe that if they eat Casshern then they'll be saved by the Ruin. Oh yeah, you also have the Ruin too. The Ruin is a type of disease that only effects robots. Seeing as how this world is only inhabitant by robots that's actually quite scary. The disease causes the victim to rust away slowly and even fall apart, considering what part of the body is heavily infected. Casshern though is one of the very few who isn't effected by the disease. It's also hinted at that he may have caused this world to fall into ruin. So you have  all of these half-crazed machines all gunning for Casshern in a last ditch effort to try and save themselves. This paints the world of Casshern Sins as a very dark and really depressing setting which it handles really well. As I said before the story is a bit of a mess but it's done so purposelessly because you're not exactly sure what's going on and what exactly happened to everyone. You're lost, just like Casshern. You are put into his shoes and you feel just as confused as he is until someone explains it to him which is not only a reveal to him but to the audience as well. The story also takes a some que from Cowboy Bebop. Now what I mean by that is that the show will break away from the main story of Casshern trying to figure out who he is and instead focus on another character who is only in the one episode that they're introduced in. These episodes will focus largely on this one character while Casshern takes a bit of a step back mostly just observes the character's actions. This helps in world building as you great a better scope of just what exactly this world is like and the people that inhabit it. These episodes are in my opinion some the best episodes in the whole series and they lend a of growth to this world and what the history is behind it. So I feel that the story here is very strong. Well, sort of. There is one big problem to the story but I'll touch apon that a little later.

Animation:

The production side of things here is very good. The animation is very slick and fast paced. But when the time calls for it the animation will be slow and patience as well. Action scene look good and in times when things need to get heavy on the drama the animation well go along with whether it's a crazy dramatic moment or a melodramatic moment quite well. The animation will also get a bit fancy with trying to pull off very artsy shots and slo-mo segments. This does give the anime it's own identity and I feel as though it was a very welcomed change of things. One small problem I had was that the scenes were sometimes a little too claustrophobic for my taste. What I mean by that is that sometimes the camera was pulled in really close to the action and it would be a little hard to make out just what the hell was going on in a given scene. This doesn't hurt the anime too much as it didn't happen often but when it did it was a bit annoying. But aside from the close ups the animation here is very nice ans stylish too.

Music:

Music in the anime was pretty good. Though nothing except for the opening theme really sticks to my head. The music is used not too often and when it is it's mostly for the fight scenes or the more calmer but heavy scenes. Like a couple sitting together taking in the possible end coming for them, things like that. Music was also used in times a very dramatic moments in the story but these moments didn't really happen a lot until the later half of the series. But in the beginning and middle the times when this did happen the music did stick out and helped the scene have an even more emotional weight to it. So even though the music for me is a bit forgetful it's still pretty good at points.

Characters:

Characters are okay to tell you the truth. Yes this is where the anime kind of drops the ball but not too badly. Like I said earlier the episodes that featured a one-time only character where great. They added to the atmosphere and overall harshness of the show. But the main cast is hit or miss at points. We has have Casshern who is a good character, but really only towards the middle of the show. In the beginning he really has no emotion at times and just kind of makes the same depressed face all the time. He's kind of boring for a while but he does however get more interesting as the show progresses. I won't spoil the villains as they are fun to watch but only two of them really. The main two you meet have some fun personalities and even have a small sympathetic side to them as well. While I feel that they were still pretty selfish villains I could a t least understand where they were coming from. The third villain was just a cookie-cutter villain. Also small spoiler, they build the asshole up to be a big threat but Casshern just kills him in a second. Pretty fucking anti-climactic for a guy you spend the whole series building up. The supporting cast fall under the same class as Casshern, nothing really interesting about them until the later half of the show. Which is pretty shoty writing to be honest. But I still feel that the characters from the one-shot episodes were still very good and the m,ain cast did get better over time. They're just okay but still enjoyable.

Nitpicks: (Warning!!!! Small Spoilers!!!!)

Now remember when I said that the story was kind of strong? Well allow me to elaborate. The anime had a strong story all the way through until you get to the end, or lack there of. Yeah the show doesn't really have an ending. The anime shows us Casshern getting back all of his memories and pretty much telling us flat out that crappy world that he's in right now is actually his fault. Then it shows that he's trying to live a life of peace with the main cast. Everything seems fine until we get another villain out and Casshern goes to stop her because of a sad moment which I won't spoil. Casshern goes, stops the villain, and then the show ends. Just like that. We get a monologue telling us that life returned to the world, I think because it was kind of vague. Then they tell us that Casshern became a legend. That's it. Nothing really happened in this ending and is was really unsatisfying after following all these characters and not even getting a conclusive ending to tie up the show. That's kind of bullshit.

Overall:

Would I recommend this show? Yeah I would. The show is pretty different and has an interesting story of a hopeless world with dying robots. That was enough for me to check it out and I left really liking it. But the ending does kill it a little bit so I have to deduct points because I don't like the ending too much. Still a good show but a disappointing ending.

Arcane Reviews give Casshern Sins a 7 out of 10.

You can watch "Casshern Sins" on:

Funimation (Dub and Sub)

Hulu (Dub and Sub)