Thursday 18 April 2013

FINAL POST! Acknowledgments and Update

So this is it.  My final post on this blog.  Because of this, I have a few things I want to say:

1.  This MAY continue on a different blog, with a different name.  It really depends on how lazy I am and if I think anyones even going to read these things.  My Shiki Review got over 50 views, and by my standards, that's a lot.  If I ever start up another one of these, the link for it will be right here:

2.  Id like to thank Mr.Chiarelli for assigning such a free-ranged blog, instead of forcing us to write about certain things, as I've truly been able to speak my mind and write about what I think is important.

3.  If by any chance you have been following these posts, which seems unikley to me, please comment or send me some kind of message, as Im gunna need all the encouragment I ccan get to start up another blog.

And with that, I am done.  It's been a good run, and just as things were getting good, it ended.  Such is life with all its unexpected turns.  Id like to personally thank anybody whos ever read a post on this blog, and this will stand as a testament to my opinions, thoughts, and ideals.  This is John, saying goodbye.

THANKS FOR READING!

*Favourite Finale* Review: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

So my final review huh?  Lets end this with a bang.  Heres my favourite game of all time, Twilight Princess.

Story & Characters:  This Zelda game features a Link from the small farm town of Ordon, where he rides horses and cattles sheep.  One day, while talking with his friend Llia, an ogre comes, kidnaps Llia, and when Link goes to save her, he gets transported into the Twilight Realm, beocomes a wolf, and is caught by the ogres.  He's put in jail but then released by his new partner Midna, the former Twilight Princess of the twilight realm.  When they escape, Link realizes an evil wizard named Zant has turned much of Hyrule into twilight, and Link has to stop him.  Link purifies areas of twilight, fights different dingeons, and calls on the help of many light spirits to aid him in his quest of stopping Zant and freeing princess Zelda.  Link is actually really likable here, having a great design and a nice voice, and his face gives an aura of calm, but strong.  Zeldas great this time around, actually putting up a fight and not seemingly like a damsel in distress at all.  Midnas fantastic as a partner, with witty humour and helpful advice mixed in with a targic story of a princess cast out of the one world she lives to protect.  There are memorable characters around every single corner, with the rambunctious village kids, bruting Gorons, and wacky store clerks, even working in a very interesting story of the Zora prince getting depressed as he can't live up to his mothers expectations, as she has just passed away.  Even the villains are great, as Zant, first seen to be mysterious and bruting, is revealed to be a complete physco and merely a pawn for Ganondorf to use.  This is by far one of the most memorable Zelda storylines, and I can't picture anything topping it.

Gameplay:  What can I say, but perfect.  Absoutely perfect.  The mechanics of Zelda have been perfected as they've added smooth as hell horse combat, being able to slash while run, and adding tons of different sword moves so combat never feels stale.  Items are all executed very well, and all have there own purpose in combat and puzzle solving.  Wolf controls are also executed extremely well, featuring great mechanics like your wolf senses, digging, and using biting to attack.  Other aspects like swimming, somersaulting, and jumping all remain excellent and smooth.  Overall, since skyward sword has changed the Zelda format to the motion controls and one to one, there may never be a four slash style Zelda game again.  Given this fact, we can thank Twilight Princess for perfecting what the 3D zeldas were made from, and it'll stay as a testament to the greatness that is The Legend of Zelda.

Graphics and Presentation:  Okay, screw everyone who thinks different, this game looks fantastic.  Zelda has never been more realistic, and it's a beautiful but mysterious and dark looking game, featuring tragedy and emotion in the atmosphere and it's characters.  Nothing looks "muddy".  Anyone who says this can stand in the middle of Lake Hylia in daytime.  It is a sight to behold.  Characters are given an intense amount of detail and as a little sidenote, Link's running animation in this game, for some reason, looks awesome. Enemies are very firece and scary looking, especially the twilight demons.  Zant is a great new villian for the franchise, and his gastly mouth and teeth sent chills down my spine.  Hyrule field is grand and invites exploration, with huge fields with the enemy gangs, to the wonderous Lake Hylia, and the Gerudo Desert, filled with secrets and challenge.  A Zelda world has never been so epic and beautiful, and anybody who says different needs to seriously consider what they determine to be a good looking game.

Things I really liked:  Everything.

Things I really hated:  Nothing.

Emotional Connection (One time category):  Christmas 2006.  I was a young boy who was hot off the heels of Windwaker, and looking for my next adventure.  Seeing TP in a magazine entranced me, and when I finally got it for christmas, I literally spent 3 straight days playing the game, with my sister by my side.  Nothing can compare to the feeling and wonder I felt while being sucked into the world of Twilight Princess. The gameplay, story, and graphics all sucked me in and I still haven't gone out.  It gave me a new standard for videogames, and what a true game should look like it.  It initiated me into the world of Zelda and I'm now  a better gamer for it.  Even going back to it now, I still find myself finding something new and having fun just riding around.  There's just something about this game that is just....magic.

Overall Opinion and Rating:  What can I say?  The game is the epitomy of perfection.  The gameplay: perfect.  Story and Characters: perfect.  Graphics and presentation: perfect.  It hits every mark as a bullseye and theres absolutely nothing I can say wrong about Twilight Princess.  When a game has no real flaws, its usually a great game.  When a game has no real flaws, and is a ZELDA GAME, you have yourself the best game of all time.  Zelda Twilight Princess gets a 10/10 and a recommendation of Buy It!

Next Post:  FINAL POST!  Acknowledgments and Final Update

*Favourite Finale* Review: Death Note (Anime)

Okay, so i didn't realize this week was the last week the blogs will be marked.  Woops.  To finish off, I'm still going to do my favourite anime and favourite game, but they'll only b e one post long, and I'll try to make them the best i possibly can,  Starting off this farewell to the blog is my favourite anime of all time, Death Note. 

Story Synopsis:  Okay, this is gunna hurt when it comes to dumbing it down.  there is so much that goes on, I'll do my best to summarize it neatly and efficiently.  A young highschooler named Light Yagami finds a notebook called 'Death Note' fall out of the sky.  Book says whoever's name he writes in it will die of a heart attack.  he tries it as a joke, and it works.  he tests it again, seeing if he can control the way the person dies and their time of death, and that works too.  He meets Ryuk, the shinigami who dropped the notebook in the human world, and after getting the clearance that the Death note is Light's now until he dies, Light sets out to kill all the criminals in the world and be the God of the new world.  After a unch of killings, the worlds greatest detective L steps in and attempts to solve the case of who is Kira, Lights new alias and the Killer's name to the public.  L gets extremely close to finding them, but keeps hitting roadblocks as Kira kill FBI agents and other poilce officers.  l finally shows himself to the Japanese police, wher he believes Kira is.  They work together and L finally confront Light at his school.  they become 'friends'. and it all boils down to a second kira appearing, this time being a young, idiotic girl named Misa and her Shinigami Rem.  The girl actually hampers Light and allows him to be nearly caught by L.  Light barely avoids this, but at the cost of losing his memory temporaily.  The real Light actually helps L find the new Kira, as he passed on the notebook to someone else, and after Misa gets her memories back, she helps Light's get his bacvk as well.  Light, back to his Kira ways, kills L and sets out to be the new God, as well as replaces L.  l's successors Near and Mello hear of this years later, and bpoth try and track down the Kira who killed thei mentor.  Mello dies, Kira enlists some help, Near is extremely aggressive in his detective work, and it all boils down to  wargouse scene where Kira is shown to be Light, gets show 5 times by the pussy of the police group, and dies as Ryuk finally writes Light's name in his notebook, and Near lives to become the new L-DONE!

Characters: These characters are simply mesmorizing.  light as Kira is amazingly intriguing, as you get into the mind of a high school kid transformed into a mass murderer, set on doing what he thinks is thr right thing.  The voice actors in the dub and sub do a phenomenal job at playing this role, and sounding absolutely diabolical.  But L steals the show, by far.  My favourite character of the show, hes the oddball detective, who loves sweets and is an absolute genius.  All he wears is a white shirt and jeans, with long, messy black hair.  he's the opposite of the prim and proper Light, and their exchanges in dialogue are some of the best moments in anime history, as you truly get the sense that the world is somply a chess board for these two geniuses.  Supporting characters are also great, seeing a Ryuk whos actually kinda funny, and is simply bored of the afterlife.  Misa is perky, but hilariously annoying to all the characters, which to me fits well into the storyline.  The father of Light Soichiro Yagami is noble and kind, which is deliciously ironic as his own son is the mass murderer Kira.  Near plays a great successor to L, being similar to him, but being interested in toys, rather than sweets, and avoding all social contact whatsoever.  mello is an angry teenager who likes to rebel against the L organization, but is still incredibly angry at Kira for killing his mentor.  All the characters flow and bounce off each other, creating a memorable story that will stand the test of time. 

Art Style:  Realism and yet surrealism is Death Note's game, as all characters are drawn as real people, and you don't see one anime face like ":3" and never is their any comedic exaggeration in characters faces.  this is as real as anime can get and I love it for it.  Sometimes though they have a bit of fun with some actions, as Kira writing down names in the death note is amazingly over the top, and the openings and endings are full of crazy art direction and effects.  eahc characters looks and feels like their own, and it's nearly impossible to not tell these guys apart.  The art team should be commended for finally drawing an anime truly realistic, and the dark and sinister tone of the show is something to be commended for. 

Things I really liked:  Everything.

Things I really hated:  Nothing. 

Emotional Connection (one time category):  This show affected me greatly.  It was all about the morality of killing criminals, and whether or not it was right or wrong.  Because of Kira, global wars stopped, and crime rates were reduced by 70%.  This means that kira, instilling fear in the people, actually achieved some great things.  Even now i ponder the worth of a human life, and think about whether it's right or wrong to kill another person.  L also taught me some things.  I constantly put myself into his mindset when thinking about a problem.  What would L do?  What would L say?  I use his thinking to pull apart and examine a problem at all angles, and it has greatly helped me in sorting out some tough issues and a lot of anxiety.  the characters in this show are inadvertant role models to me, and I don;t know how my life would hav been, how i would have handled certain problems, how I would have ignored these deep physcological questions, if I didn't watch Death Note.

Overall Opinion and Rating:  The best anime, of all time.  No anime can even hope to touch the emotion, the drama, the cleverness, the characters, the atmosphere, the...everything that Death Note has accomplished.  usually the animes that are hailed to be the greatest are 500 episode long action adventure epics, with lots of fighting and fillers.  But not death note.  death Note is the miraculous 37 episode giant that is in the top popularity of anime, mixed in with huge animes like Naruto and One Piece.  this is what i lvoe so much about this.  it's not a fighting show with ecchi moments and super crazy attacks, its a 37 episode drama about a guy who can kill people!  Its so different from other popular anime it goes to show its popularity is purely from the show's brilliance.  Death Note gets the first ever, and only for animes, 10/10 and a recommendation of Watch It!  Youll never regret watching this masterpiece of an anime. 

Next Post:  *Favourite Finale*  Review:  The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Gcn)

UR & UA: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (Part 2)

Let's wrap this review up with the juicy stuff....the dating and social aspects.

This is where this game shines brightest.  You can talk to the many villagers in the town, and build relationships with all of them.  yes, ALL of them.  Want to be best friends with the pervy priest.  You can.  Want to be BFFs with the old fisherman?  You can do that too!  Talking with people and giving them he right gifts allow for a friendship meter to go up, and everytime you reach a new level of friendship, you learn more about that person and develop a greater relationship with them.  This can also be used to get exclusive items and quests, as every time you reach a new level with them, a new quest appears on the quest board and gives you a chance to get some quick FP (friendship points) for the new level, and get some new items.  This encourages befriending a lot of the villagers, as you never know what items they'll give you next. 

But friends, in the end, are just friends.  What you want, is a *lover*.  Aw yeah kids, it's time to tgalk about the dating aspects.  At a certain point in the game, you need to get all girls up to Friendship level 6 (the max for the time being) in order to progress the story.  After this and a couple errands, you can face the final boss.  After which, your FP turn into LP (love points) for the girls, and now getting a new level means another cutscene, but another step closer to marriage.  Cutscenes will reveal the feelings of the girls towards you, can once you get to a certain point, if you choose not to ignore certain girls, every single girl on the island will want to be with you.  yeah, you're quite popular around the town now.  Finally, once you get to LP level 10 with a girl, you have a cutscene with them, and in it you can choose whether to accept them as your girlfriend, or reject them and choose someone else.  this is nice because if you accidently get a girl to 10 LP, you can just reject her, and say yes when the girl you want gets to 10 LP.  Once you say yes, you go on a couple dates, forge a wedding ring, and purpose on the second or third date you have.  A wedding ensues, the town supports your marriage, and then your wife moves into your house.  And guess what, WERE NOT EVEN DONE YET.  After THAT, you can talk to your wife in your house, and after a while she mentions a baby.  you can actually choose the gender, or have it be a surprise, and after a month, she says she's pregnant.  Wait a month or two, and then you have your kid.  Every kid is special based on your partner and the gender of it, so it really feels like a kid born from the two spouses.  You name it, then after about another month, a little cutscene shows the kid grown up into an adolescent, and at that point, the game is finished.  You can still live out your days to your heart's content, but your child has grown up, going to inherit your farm and such after you've gone, you've lived a full life, had you adventures, at this point, the game is finally over.

Wow.  All i can say is wow.  The game puts a staggering amount of effort into post-game decisions and love aspects, and this is why this game is amazing.  you're not just some random avatar, you're a real person, with real decisions.  Deciding who to marry, having to reject other lovers, having a child and slowly watch them overtake what was yours and is now their's.  This is an experience that is nearly impossible to find in any other videogame, and my hat goes off to  Yoshifumi Hashimoto for doing a brilliant job of bringing the real world to the videogame world, in such an elegant and well done fashion.  All the people and girls are nice, but relatable.  They don't beckon to your every wish, a lot of times they get upset with you and sometimes just plain don't like you.  But that's okay, and once you get to know them, i could honestly have chosen any one of the girls and been happy.  I chose Lily, the innkeeper who loves to clean and cook, but sucks at both.  She has a complex about having to do everything for her younger sisters, but being unable to do those chores at the same time, you see her grow as a person, and once you finally ask her out, she has doubts o even being able to do it because she feels she needs to look after her sisters.  You tell her that all her sisters wanted was to see Lily happy (which is true) and don't care about chores and such.  It all ends remarkably and screw all logic and pre-determined mentalities of our society, I felt as if Lily was real at some points. I'm aware she wasn't and this is probably sounding extremely pathetic (which it is), but goddammit if i can't commend this game for emotionally pulling me in and not letting me go...ever.  even now writing this review has given me some chills as i remember my experience with this awe-inspiring game. 

You can even play as a girl once you finish the final boss, so I don't even know how the game would change even more to commendate the player.  throw in some great voice acting, Viewable jewelry on the characters you can customize, and a fantastic soundtrack, and you got a game you can remember, and a game that's criminally underrated.  Any fan of Harvest Moon or games with depth and social interaction, is doing themselves a huge disservice by not buying this game.  Rune Factory tides of Destiny gets a well earned 9/10, and a recommendation of Buy It! 

Next Post: *Favourite Finale* Review: Death Note (Anime)

Thursday 4 April 2013

Update: Formatting and changes to the blog

So, I've written a decent amount of posts for this thing, namely about 15 up until now, and I'm starting to get a hang of writing down my opinions....except in the reviews.  For some reason I tend to rush these the most and they come out sub-par and they never really meet expectations for me.  I get sidetracked a lot and it's very messy when I try to organize it.  Sometime's it's easy, like NintendoLand, but sometimes it just ends up being a cluttered mess, aka this Rune Factory review I'm doing.  Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to change it, but thankfully this will be the last of the messyness in my reviews, as I have ome up with a new format to organize myself so it doesn't come off as messy.  Game Reviews will be split up into these subtopics, in this order:

Story & Characters

Gameplay

Graphics and Presentation

Things I really liked

Things I really hated

Overall Opinion and rating

Conversely, Anime Reviews will be formatted like this, in this order as well:

Story Synopsis

Characters

Art Style

Things I really liked

Things I really hated

Overall Opinion and rating

Also, my review scoring system will be changed.  i am now going over to the Angry Joe scoring system, making 5 now an average score, 6 aboe average, 7 is good and solid, 8 is great, 9 is seriously fantastic and 10 is masterpiece material.  So if I rate a game a 5, DONT THINK ITS TERRIBLE.  It's merely, average, as a 5 should be.  6 doesn't mean trash either, as it's above average, but nothing really that good.  The recommendations will stay the same though, for game reviews having either:

Buy It/Download It!

Look Into it! 

Or Stay Away!

And anime reviews will be slightly different, featuring:

Watch It/Buy It!

Look Into It!

 Or Stay Away!

For the most part the other segments will stay the same, as FIMP, NAG, and WOM are meant to be kinda just me speaking my mind, with no real formatting involved.  

I guess I should also announce that for the last month of June, I have plans for my last 8 blog posts.  First will be a 4 part review on my favourite anime of all time:  Death Note.  Then the next 2 weeks will be another 4 part review of my favourite game of all time: Twilight Princess.  I think this will be a fitting way to close off this blog, giving you a taste of my favourite anime and game of all time, finishing off what I've been meaning to talk about all this time.  

So for now I'll finish off the Rune Factory review as is, and give it a classic rating and score.  Just know after this things are gunna get a lot more organized and the blog's gunna improve on a whole.

Next Post:  UR & UA: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny


UR & UA: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny (Part 1)

Yes, this is my first two parter and it's a game that well deserves this treatment.  I;ve talked a lot about Rune Factory, so let me finally explain why I like ti so much.  This first part will explain farming, combat, story.  Without further adieu, Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny!

So Rune Factory starts off with your guy Aiden (you can custom name him) waking up and having amnesia about where he's from and how he got here.   You realize your friend whos a girl (im sorry i have to say that) is inside you!  Her soul is trapped inside your body, but she can still talk to you and other villages...someway. "Here" I mentioned previously is the island of Fenith, where a  humble group of village folk reside, carrying out their daily lives, whether it be blacksmithing, bartering, running a church or just plain exploring.  Odette, the village innkeeper, welcomes you to th island and gives you a place to stay.  You learn the basics of living your life, when suddenly a rock golem sprouts from the side of the isalnd, and is now your companion, who you can ride the seas with and explore other islands.  You defeat some dungeons, find out these orb..things, the local dragon on the finally leaves, lays an egg, it hatches, you name it, you defeat all 4 deungeons, you fight the big boss, the girl inside you leaves, you name her, games over.  Yeah, as you can tell the over-arching story is kinda weak and I didn't really care for it.  But whatever, noone really cares about that stuff anyways, lets get to the good part, living out your life!

The great thing about Rune Factory is you can do whatever you like and live out your life freely.  Want to explore dungeons, level uo your weapons and advance the story?  Sure can!  Want to simply farm, cook and  interact with villagers all day?  You can do that too!  It gives you a great amount of choice in this aspect, so some days you can chill out, while others can be spent fighting and leveling up.  Which brings me to the 3 main aspects of Rune Factory:  Farming, Dungeon Crawling, Sea Exploring, and Village Interaction.  I'll talk about the first three in this part.

Farming is what it sounds like-you farm.  Your golem has a teleporter to bring you to the special farm-islands.  Here you can use a spirit wand to plant sprouts in certain plots.  Here your monsters (which I will explain in a sec) will grow those plants, and eventually they will grow into fruits, vegetabkesm or even trees, depending on which monster you have out, as certain monsters only plant certain things.  In past Rune Factory games, farming as a lot more direct, having you water each plant directly and harvest them yourself.  Now the monsters do literally everything, and all you have to do is pick up your plants in the mailbox on each island.  Plants and harvest is used as the main source of income in the game, as well as sources for ingredients for cooking.  Overall, I liked this aspect.  It was a lot less direct, which made it a bit less satisfying, but the money I got was fantastic and I eventually had over $200,000, which is about 100,000 more than id ever need.  This allowed me to explore other aspects of the game I wouldn't have, due to the fact taht i'd be focused on farming.  It's alright, but a lot of fans didn't like this focus away from the farming.

Combat has a huge focus in this game.  Not only is it the only way too progress the story, minus certain instances, but it also got the most attention in development and has been the thing fleshed out the most from previous Rune Factory games.  It's a lot more dynamic and up close, featuring combos, many different weapons to speak of and 4 dungeons, but each being incredibly long, with a tough boss fight at the end.  You can get high level weapons by crafting them, or gaining them through special quests.  Sometimes the items through quests can be absolutely DEVASTATING, and some rods I got early on I used throughout the entire game.  The dungeons usually contain mini-puzzles for each floor, and you can warp to any floor from the dungeon entrance, which is nice.  Monsters can be recruited for the farming I mentioned earlier, and since each monster has it's own special ability, experimentation is required. Overall combat feels fun and satsfying, and it's dissappointing that it's probably never going to be this fleshed out again.

Amd finally, Sea Exploration.  Using your golem, you can travel around a humonour sea, and lift up islands out from the bottom of the ocean.  Some islands have special story purposes, but others are merely there as mob spanwers for grinding, and maybe a hidden treasure chest or two.  This is actually a really cool concept, as you can easily get lost finding the huge amounts of islands scattered across a vast ocean.  It does give a very literal feeling of adverturing aqnd exploring uncharted territory.  You can even fight with your golems in awesome sea battles with sea monsters.  Overall it provides a great way to explore it's world, while simultaneously creating a new story aspect and an easy way to acess your farms and monster barn.

So what did I like about these aspects?  Well, a lot actually.  First off the graphics in this game are excellent. Loading times have been drastically reduced, so it all feels very smooth and fluid.  Environments, while not terribly detailed, are great to look at and the changes between seasons is very nice to look at.  Character designs are also great, getting a mix of cute and perky girls, to rough and tough fishermen.  It does tend to lag a bit in dungeons when multiple enemies are on at one time, but attacks are really flashy and full of visual flare, so it makes up for it in the long run.  The vastness of the sea ia also a spectacle, and makes you feel very small, as you should.

I reall enjoyed the farming, dungeon crawling, and exploring.  Each one I feel were improved and fleshed out for the better (maybe not the farming) and are aspects I hope Yoshifumi (creator of series) keeps in mind when creating the next Rune Factory Games.  Theres also cooking, crafting and forging, all skills that can be leveled up in yoiur house by use of various apliances.  This adds a whole nother level of depth to the game and just adds replayability.  Mini features like being able to see where people are on the map and being able to jumpo GREATLY add to the experience, and overall there's never really a dull moment in Tides.  There's always something to do, and I love it for it.

Check bak in Part where I talk about eh good stuff, dating aspects!  Juicy!


FIMP: Gurren Lagann (Anime)

A new segment, a new anime, a new thing to complain and whine about.  Just another day at John's Super Blog.




Let me just clarify: Gurren Lagann is a good show.  It has good action, and its entertaining.  I'm going to be complaining about it a lot in a second, so just know that despite it all, it's still okay.  But it has it has it's fair share of problems, one of which is unforgivable and unfortunately typical for certain anime of this type.  I'm only 8 episodes in out of 27, so bear that in mind while reading.  Alright I've beaten around the bush long enough, let me start talking.

Gurren Lagann is a mecha anime set in the future, where humans have been driven underground by evil aliens in gunmens (mechs) that have conquered earth and turned it into a desolate wasteland.  Or at least I'm pretty sure thats what it is, Im not too sure on the setting and the villian here, so I'll just do my best.  Cut to Kamina and Simon, 2 antsy villagers wanting to explore the world above the surface.  A gunmen crashes into their village whilst fighting a teenager girl sharpshooter from above, a pair of bre-I mean Yoko.  After that they steal the gunmen, get introduced to her village and set off to find the gunmen headquarters and put a stop to it.  Overarching story is okay, the typical set off on an adventure with 3-4 characters thing, but I've always liked that so the overarching story was actually pretty good.  Setting's pretty boring though.  Like deserts?  Thats all it is.  Don't like deserts?  Well too bad.

Mech designs are good
So in the 8 episodes I've watched they've fought a gunmen every episode, which sounds great "awww yeah, robot fighting action!" but its very underwhelming.  The fights dont seem dynamic in the slightest, and I dont feel like the characters are truly fighting, merely advancing the story.  Many times gunmen or even our heroes just sit there and take hits from the enemy, without the defense we all know they have.  I know, I know, this is to make the fight not seem one sided, and the animation is limited because of how much detail they have to put into the mechs.  But still, a lot of humans in One Piece are pretty detailed, and they had fantastic fights!  because of this all fights are merely "meh" and only serve as visual entertainment for their crazy attacks and graphics.  I mean, yeah, they're fun to see, but never engage you like other shows and fights do, so you end up feeling very disconnected from it all/  Sucks from a show thats all about fighting, doesn't it?

The characters are hit and miss so far.  Kamina was AMAZING as a lead.  He's strong, confident, cocky, yet oblivious to everything as all hell.  Always wanting to be a man about everything and never back down, Kamina's spirit really made you excited for each battle, and and he was just plain fun to watch.  Simons shy and nerdy, but great in a pinch, which translates to boring.  Yoko is almost too perfect, having great hair, body, skills, and just about everything.  She's hugely popular on the internet, and I'm pretty sure why.  She's literally every guy's dream girl, which makes her extremely unappealing as all I can see is a pair of breasts with a mouth.  Other side characters are so underdeveloped and ignored they're not even worth mentioning.  The enemy, as little as I've seen from them, has been alright, but nothing special.

So seems like am pretty average show so far, right?  Well no, it screwed up.  Big time.  IT KILLED OFF KAMINA, THE MAIN CHARACTER, IN THE 8TH EPISODE.  THEY KILLED OFF LITERALLY, THE ONLY THING THIS SHOW HAD GOING FOR IT.  What the hell guys?!?!? They were a big fight with one of the gunmen generals, then he just takes like, 10 hits for no reason, just sitting there taking it, they finish off the enemy with one attack, and hes dead.  What.  The.  Hell.  His personality was literally the only thing that kept me from being completely and utterly BORED from this show.  It shows such arrogance to kill off someone they know the audience likes, and I hate them for it.  No doubt this is going to lead to Simon becoming stronger for the sake of his friend, Yoko and Simon finally being able to have a relationship, probably a time skip, and whatever.  But I don't like pussy Simon!  I like Kamina!  Everybody likes Kamina!  Ugh, this pisses me off so much.  The worse part is, in an earlier scene Yoko said she had his back, and was covering him for a while from  other mechs.  Uhm, WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU, YOKO?  The way he stupidly died just to keep the story going infuriates me.

RIP Kamina
So what do we have left?  Boring mech fights with no Kamina, boring characters with no Kamina, boring setting with no Kamina, and  a boring SHOW with no Kamina.  Yipee.  I look forward to more perversion on Yoko and side characters getting no development.  Sounds like fun.  Oh, and mech battles that are about dynamic as a sloth fighting another sloth?  Count me in!  Btw a random complaint but they really need to turn on the lights in this show.  It's so dark, even when it's daylight you could mistake it for overcast.  No doubt a way to save money by not having cleaner lines, but it really distracts you from the experience.

But it's not all bad.  The first 2 episodes were fantastic, offering a great introduction into the surface world, and had one scene where they finally burst upwards that still gives me goosebumps when I watch it.  Mech designs are pretty creative, same going for the attacks, and the opening and ending themes have been awesome.  I guess this means the show isn't afraid to do anything risky like this, so unpredictability may be one of it's better points.  I'm still looking forward, curious to see how they handle this and how the characters change because of it.  But for now, I friggin hate Gurren Lagann, and want my Kamina back!!

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