5. One Piece Anime Review (Edited)

One Piece is an anime that is set in the "great era of pirates." The series was created and drawn by Eiichiro Oda. One Piece is an ongoing anime; the first episode aired October 20th, 1999.

One Piece tells the story of a young pirate by the name of Monkey D Luffy. Luffy's goal is to become the "pirate king." A prestigious title that was only ever held by a single man: Gol D Roger. Gol D Roger (AKA Gold Roger) was the powerful, well-respected, enthusiastic leader of the Roger pirates. The greatest pirate crew to sail the seas. When Gold Roger's journey of piracy came to a close; he turned himself over to the World Government (the antagonist organization of the series.) When Gold Roger was brought to his execution in Loguetown, his final words; when asked about where he hid his treasure, would start the great era of pirates. "My treasure? If you want it, you can have it. Seek it out! I left everything in my life at that place!" 
These words drove pirates all over the world in search of where Gold Roger had hidden his fortune. This treasure was dubbed "One Piece" by the lips of the world. Gold Roger is the inspiration to many pirates in the series; including Monkey D Luffy.
The series starts out on a cruise ship, where a party is being held. The men on deck spot a barrel floating in the sea, thinking it must of fallen off of the ship. They haul in the barrel; and bring it to the storage area below deck. Later on, a pirate vessel; led by a wanted criminal: Iron Club Alvida, sieges the ship; and promises not to hurt any passengers, as long as there is no resistance when the pirates raid the ship of all its valuables. Three pirates, including a young boy named Coby go below deck to steal the cargo. The pirates spot the barrel the deck-hands had stored down there. The pirates initially believe that this barrel is filled with alcohol; the older pirates decide to crack open the barrel and take a break. Despite Coby's warnings, the largest pirate tries to open the barrel. He is surprised, and struck by a man who was sleeping inside of the barrel, Monkey D Luffy. Luffy accidentally knocks the man out; the pirate who was not struck runs above deck to warn captain Alvida, leaving Coby in the room with Luffy. Before Coby can even ask Luffy's name, Luffy runs out of the room, and finds where all the ship's food is stored. Luffy starts eating all the food, but is interrupted by the confused Coby. Luffy introduces himself confidently as the man who will become king of the pirates. Coby is shocked to hear someone say such a thing with such confidence. His initial impression of Luffy is that he is quite mad. Their conversation is cut short by Alvida crushing the ceiling above them. Luffy quickly jumps through the ceiling onto the deck. He is surprised to find himself surrounded by pirates. They try to detain Luffy; but fail because Luffy has special powers. Luffy has become a "rubber man" because of him consuming a devil fruit.
Devil fruit are a very important concept in the series. Devil fruit bestow powers to anyone who consumes them. Devil fruit powers are divided into three categories. Logia (elemental,) Zoan (animal transformation,) and paramecia (everything else.) The biggest drawback to a devil fruit-user is the weakness to water. When one consumes a devil fruit, the victim can no longer swim; and if they come in contact with water, they will lose their strength, until they drown. The One Piece series introduces many characters with their own varying devil fruit abilities. Some of them are powerful, some of them are useless. Luffy's rubber body allows him to be impervious to bullets, electricity, and any attacks from a blunt object (maces, fists, etc...)

Alvida was unable to defeat Luffy due to his rubber body. Once Luffy has defeated her; he hijacks the nearest escape boat and leaves the ship, with Coby in tow.
Later in the series, Luffy recruits new members to his pirate crew, and even gains a ship. All of the crew mates Luffy recruits have different personalities, and some even have devil fruit powers.
One Piece is a terrific series, and a great watch for pretty much anyone who enjoys anime. This series even teaches some valuable life lessons. Such as never giving up on your friends, always fight no matter how grim the odds, and not letting anyone deter you from your goals. The story is so compelling that once you finish an episode, you will be dying to know what happens in the next one.
One Piece has action,adventure,fantasy,comedy, drama, and tragedy. The fan base of this series is quite extensive, since it fulfills so many different tastes. The series currently has 585 episodes and still ongoing every Sunday.
The artwork is somewhat "cartoon-y" but it doesn't reflect all the aspects of the show. This show is fantasy, not reality; so that may be a deterring factor to some watchers. The length of the series is another thing that might make it hard for some people to get into. Since One Piece is no longer airing on north American television. This is due to the handiwork of a well-known north American dubbing company known as "4Kids." When 4Kids did the English dub for One Piece, they censored a lot of things that made One Piece what it actually is. In this blog post, I will upload a video showing you exactly what I mean.
The music used in One Piece is (what is the best word to describe...) Extravagant! The openings of One Piece are quite catchy, and can get stuck in your head very easily. Even while I am writing this review, the first opening of One Piece is stuck in my head, along with other openings as well. That might just be because I enjoy the music of One Piece so much.
The last thing I will say in this review is that if you would rather watch One Piece in English, instead of Japanese; you should check into a dubbing company called Funimation. They are currently dubbing One Piece, and have not censored any of the episodes they have done.
It is my great hope that this review will make you, at the least, check out One Piece. It is an excellent, and well made series/anime.

Until Next Time, This Is...

The Anime Analyzer!

Signing off...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFpYrEkEiNY (P.S: This is a link to a Youtube video that shows the difference between the uncut and 4kids version of One Piece. Try to spot out the differences :P)

4. Anime Culture

In this article of the Anime Analysis Blog; I will be talking about how anime has come to affect the ways certain human beings live. Anime has a huge influential hold on many people in our community, in different ways
There are all sorts of different people who watch anime. These people all like anime in different degrees. There are people who like anime to lesser extent, (like myself) who take simple joy in just watching anime on television or on their computers, however, there are those people who take their admiration of anime to an entirely different level compared to the small amount of people who don't.
A very large part of the Anime fan base is quite literally obsessive with what they like in the anime universe. Much like "star wars" and "star trek;" many different anime conventions are held all over the world every year. People will go to these conventions dressed up as their favorite anime characters to show their support for whatever anime they are dressing up for. In a way; Anime can be considered its own religion.
Anime does not just come in the form of the cartoons on television. Anime doesn't actually start out as the animation itself. It starts out as a series of illustrated books called manga.
Manga are the first stage of what could become an anime. A manga is an illustrated comic book the author/creator of the manga will usually not have the funds to create an anime, and must build popularity through the manga itself, or by different means. There are many manga that never actually become anime, or become anime for a short time and end in a different way than the manga intended. There are many anime that start off with the same story-line as the manga, however, later in the anime the story begins to veer off from the original manga's plot. This is because the anime's story has caught up with the story of the manga. In order to keep the show going, the creator and his crew must create new story lines so that the show will continue to make money. This is not the only tactic used when this problem occurs.
In the anime world, there are three anime that are the most well known throughout the anime industry. The names of these anime are Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. These anime have developed a strategy where when the creators feel the anime's story is approaching too close to the manga's story. The creators will make a "filler arc." In anime slang; arcs diversify smaller events that happen in the anime. For example; in the beginning of One Piece, during the "Romance Dawn" arc; the main character: Monkey D Luffy, goes from being trapped in a barrel on the sea, to defeating the marine captain; Morgan. The Romance Dawn arc covers the first three episodes of One Piece. Arcs don't have a set number of episodes, and can be as long as forty episodes if that part of the story goes on that long.
A filler arc (as I mentioned earlier) is an arc in the anime that has no relevance to the actual plot of the series. Fillers are created to give the manga time to get further ahead of the anime story-wise. The manga never has filler, and is constantly updating the story. There are a handful of anime that use this "filler" technique, although, a lot of anime come to an "eternal filler" point, so to speak. As I mentioned earlier, some anime veer off from the manga, and end before the manga has finished.
From my time being in the anime "industry;" I have found that people are much happier watching the anime version of the manga's story-line, than watching filler. Which is why the big three anime always return to the story-line after the filler has ended.

There is more that I could cover in "Anime Culture," but I believe that is enough for now. Hopefully, I have taught you a bit on what strategies anime creators use to keep the populace interested. Even more hopefully, I hope that I've kept your interest.

Until Next Time!

The Anime Analyzer

(This blog post has been edited: as of February 21st, 2013)

3. Gurren Lagann Review

In this issue of the Anime Analysis, I will be reviewing another personal favorite of mine: Gurren Lagann

Gurren Lagann is an action/adventure anime that has a very good storyline. The characters are so memorable, you will be thinking about them even years after you have seen this anime. Unlike most anime, I believe this anime teaches a valuable lesson about never giving up, paving out your own path, and working towards your goal no matter how many obstacles stand in your way. The kind of person who would like this anime is someone who enjoys amazing fight scenes, and scenes that will really grip at your heart. Gurren Lagann is an amazing anime, it's unfortunate I can't give too much away.
The story begins in an underground village known as Jiha. A hole digger by the name of Simon, he is thirteen years old. Simon is creating tunnels to expand his village, and to prevent the ceiling from crashing down on the village. During today's drilling work, Simon discovers a tiny drill while he is digging. This drill excites Simon and he rushes to show his find to his big "bro" Kamina.
Kamina is quite possibly the driving force of the entire series. When the show first introduces him, you will find out immediately that his personality is much stronger, and daring than his cowardly little brother. Kamina's dream is to make it to the surface world, like his father had done before him. Kamina often says encouraging things to Simon such as "your drill is the drill that will burst through the vault of heaven!" This can refer to Simon using his own willpower to achieve his goals. Kamina also tells Simon to stop relying on him. He tells Simon to "believe in the Simon that believes in yourself." Kamina's other dream is to have Simon to grow up and be as strong a man as him.
When Simon shows Kamina the miniature drill he found; Kamina develops an idea. Kamina's plan is to use the power of the local stampeding pig-moles to drive Simon and Kamina to the ceiling of Jiha village. Once they reach the ceiling, Simon and Kamina will start digging upwards as fast as they can.
In realistic terms this isn't possible, but that contradicts one of Kamina's most famous mottos. "Kick logic to the curb and do the impossible."
Kamina and Simon almost succeed, until the village chief stops the two boys for trying to dig to the surface. Kamina is arrested for attempting to drill to the surface, however, since Simon is such an excellent digger, the village chief lets Simon go free. Later on, Simon is drilling through the tunnels again, this time he finds something much more extravagant than a drill. Simon, again, excited drills into Kamina's prison cell to show him what he found in the tunnels. Before Simon can bring Kamina to the tunnel, the ceiling breaks and a giant robot falls from the hole in the ceiling. Light shines from the hole.
The whole village starts panicking and hiding in their houses, while Kamina takes the village chief's sword and goes to confront the giant robot in a most dramatic fashion.
The size difference between Kamina and the Robot are extremely different. This is to tell the audience how courageous Kamina is.
As the robot gets ready to attack Kamina, lightning shots come from an unknown location. A red-headed, beautiful woman falls from the ceiling and starts firing more shots at the robot, causing it to fall off balance.
Simon finally, completely panics and leads Kamina and the mysterious woman to his tunnel. Simon leads them to what he found in the tunnel; A miniature robot buried in the earth. Simon's tiny drill apparently is a key to start the robot. As Simon starts the robot, a hood appears over it, enclosing all three of them inside the robot. Drills appear on the robots hands, the robot then drills all the way out of the tunnel, and back into the main room where the giant robot is. Kamina instructs Simon to give the robot all he has, which Simon does. A bigger drill appears on the Simon's robot. Rockets appear on the back of Simon's robot and the drill begins rotation at a fast speed. Simon tackles the giant robot and begins charging it upwards through the hole it came. They all reach the surface, and the big robot explodes. Simon, and Kamina are amazed. The young woman introduces herself as Yoko.
As you can see from reading this, there is quite a bit of action in this series, and this is only the beginning.
My final thoughts on this review:
Gurren Lagaan gets your heart boiling, and your eyes glued to the screen. The storyline keeps improving, and Simon begins to grow throughout the series. Gurren Lagann is an excellent choice for any anime watcher. It has a mixture of action, drama, adventure, excellent storyline, sad moments, and an excellent ending. You will not be disappointed by dear readers. Until next time, I am the...

Anime Analyzer

Signing off.

2. Blog Synopsis and Hellsing Anime Review

The Anime Analysis Blog's main purpose is for me to give my readers detailed reviews on different anime. Anime in Japanese means "animation." Any kind of animation that is made in Japan is considered an anime. Anime that most of my readers will probably be familiar with are Pokemon, and Dragon Ball Z. These anime have obtained a high amount of popularity and have gained global recognition. Even someone who is not an anime watcher might know who Pikachu (Pokemon) or Goku (DBZ) is.
My main intention is to give my reading public insight on how certain anime are about, what the main characters are like, what the story line is about, the quality of the voice acting, and the quality of the animation. Finally, I will talk about what kind of mentality you should have when choosing to watch the anime I am reviewing at the time. There are anime that have certain extremities to them that most people may find unappealing. Do not think that I will only be glorifying the anime I will be reviewing. My intention is definitely to add criticisms as much as I am glorification. My final promise is that I will not spoil any story line in any of the anime that I review.
I will do my first anime review in this blog post. The name of the anime I shall be reviewing in this post is called Hellsing; my personal favorite.

Hellsing loosely successes the 1897 Dracula novel by Bram Stoker. The events of Hellsing begin in 1995; 50 years after the end of world war 2, and 98 years after the events of Dracula. A secret organization by the name of Hellsing, is led by the descendant of Abraham Van Hellsing; the man who defeated Dracula: Integra Fairebrook Windgate Hellsing. The main purpose of Hellsing is to defend the country of Great Britain from creatures of a supernatural entity. These creatures consist of ghouls/zombies, cultists participating in the black arts, and most importantly vampires. Hellsing eradicates these creatures through means of holy bullets, water, wooden stakes, and basically anything that would kill a vampire or zombie regularly.
Hellsing's most powerful weapon is an actual vampire by the name of Alucard. Alucard is a stronger sort of vampire than his common brethren. The regular way for a vampire to be born is for a vampire to drink the blood of a person who is the opposite sex of the vampire. The victim must also be a virgin. Alucard was not born this way, as you will discover as you watch the anime. Alucard uses a .454 Casull Auto, his own hands, and other "interesting" means to destroy the creatures of the undead. He is capable of taking fatal damage to his body and regenerating his wounds.
Enough about Alucard; I will now explain the story to you.
It is the year 1995; vampires have been appearing around Great Britain at a higher rate than ever before. Integra's forces are having difficulty keeping up with how many undead creatures are appearing. There is something definitely unusual about all this. During a mission in Chedar; Alucard saves a dying police woman by turning her into a vampire. The police girl; Seras Victoria now must adapt to the life of a vampire, which she is reluctant to do. On Seras' first mission, her and Alucard encounter the Catholic Vatican's strongest warrior: Father Alexander Anderson. Alucard and Anderson engage in battle, and Anderson appears to have won, by decapitating Alucard. This is just a ruse however, since Alucard regenerates himself and makes Anderson retreat. At the scene where Seras and Alucard were supposed to kill a vampire, it was already dead thanks to Anderson. In the ashes of the vampire there was a chip. The chip had technology capable of controlling the vampire to do whoever the chip's owners will was. Later in the story you find out who the chip belongs to.
Hellsing is quite a violent and intense anime by all accounts (even mine.) This anime is for watchers who enjoy some good action, and blood-spill. The storyline gets more intriguing as you continue through the anime. It is not for the faint of heart. If you are squeamish or cannot handle animated gore please steer clear of Hellsing. There is some religious conflict during the series as well, so keep an open mind when watching this. The voice acting and animation in this anime is phenomenal and epic to say the least. There are two different Hellsing television programs; Hellsing and Hellsing Ultimate. This review has been about Hellsing Ultimate. If you give this show a chance, you will not be disappointed.
Thank you for reading my first review and I hope you will stay tuned for my next review.
I will try to make it less "scary" next time. Until then.

The Anime Analyzer

Note: This post has been edited on Febuary 17th 2013

1. Online Responsibility and Etiquette

What it means to be responsible when posting online is to be aware of what you can and cannot say when you are on the internet. There are a few things on the internet that are irresponsible to put online; such as the following... It is irresponsible to post private, personal information about yourself; such as your exact home address, your full name, and other people's full names (friends,family, etc...) You also should not post inappropriate pictures, statements on your blog relating to sexual themes, racial slurs, and gore. These are the highest forms of inappropriate posting on the internet.
These rules are of the utmost importance, because they are enforced for your own protection. Rules keep the peace on the internet, and stop those who would take advantage of you. When I speak of people taking advantage of you; I refer to internet "pros" who make their living off of taking advantage of people who are uninformed enough to give away their usernames and passwords.
Online etiquette is something I actually take pride in. My definition of online etiquette can be summed up in two sentences. You should always respect other people's opinions and thoughts. Do not discriminate against people because of the way they decide to display themselves. This goes for both parties.

(This post has been edited; as of Febuary 21st, 2013)