10. Elfen Lied Review

Elfen Lied

Hello, I am the Anime Analyzer. In this installment of the Anime Analysis blog I will be reviewing an anime that has sent shivers up my spine in both anime and manga form.

This is my Elfen Lied Review

Lucy In Casual Clothing

Elfen Lied translates from the German term for "Elf's Song." This series revolves around a mutated, human species known as "Diclonii" or "Diclonius." A diclonius looks nearly identical to a human being with some key differences. For one, a diclonius has two horns on top of their head that resemble cat ears; and most diclonii's hair is pink in color (as seen above.) The most frightening difference between diclonii and humans is the vectors that are attached to the back of a diclonius. Vectors are invisible arms attached to the back of the diclonius that act as natural weapons. Depending on how old, what personality a diclonius has; the vectors may have a further range and deal more damage.  It is built in a diclonii's DNA to eradicate the entire human race so that diclonii can become the new dominant species of the planet. It is understood that diclonii are an advanced form of human. Now that you know what a diclonius is... It is time for me to explain the story of this frightening anime series. 

The story's main character is a young, Diclonius woman by the name of Lucy (real name is Kaede). Lucy was captured by a facility that was created for the sole purpose of "saving" the human race from the diclonius threat. Lucy was captured due to her attempt to save a friend. Considering that Lucy was about thirteen at the time of capture, I am assuming that she was imprisoned for five years with that knowledge.

 Lucy Imprisoned

During one of the routine checkups on Lucy, A guard had wandered too close to her. Due to Lucy's vector range of two meters, she killed the man without hesitation. Once Lucy had killed him, she stole the key from the guard's pocket and undid her restraints. This is where the viewer learns just how terrifying a diclonius' power truly is. Lucy casually walks through the facility; being ambushed by guards at several points. In each of the encounters the guards attempt to shoot Lucy down, to no avail. She blocks the bullets with her vectors as if it were nothing at all. Once Lucy wanders close enough to the guards, it is almost as if they are being cut apart by an invisible blade. At the final checkpoint, Lucy walks through the door to encounter a group of armed guards with one of the directors of the facility, Kurama. 

Director Kurama

Many years ago, just before Lucy was imprisoned, she had met Kurama. Kurama and his men had been given orders to capture Lucy by any means necessary. When Kurama's team had arrived in town, Lucy had been friends with a young girl who she played with daily. This girl was close to Lucy because of the fact she did not judge Lucy because of her unnatural hair colour and horns. When Kurama's team found where Lucy had been hiding, Lucy's friend had been caught in the crossfire. The young girl's life was in danger; Lucy was ready to kill every single man Kurama had brought to defend her. Kurama decided that the best course of action would be to make a deal with Lucy.
"If you come with us, I'll save the girl's life." Lucy agreed and went with Kurama to be detained. Unfortunately the young girl did not survive and Lucy had found out this had happened. Lucy's rage subsided slightly when Kurama himself had visited Lucy in her cell and personally apologised for not keeping his promise.

Lucy Is Ambushed

A young woman who is the assistant to Kurama trips over her own feet in front of Lucy while trying to deliver coffee to Kurama. Just as Kurama tries to beg Lucy not to kill her, Lucy tears off the young woman's head.
"Fire!" Kurama shouts.
Lucy lifts the young girl in front of her as a meat shield as the barrage of bullets assault the young woman's corpse. Once the bullets stop flying, Lucy begins to walk towards the group of men. One of the guards tries to attack, but is killed before he can do anything. Lucy continues to casually walk past all of the men; knowing fully well that they cannot harm her.

Sniper's Cross-hair on Lucy

Lucy is making her way out of the facility; a sniper has been issued orders to kill Lucy with an anti-tank rifle. When the sniper fires, Lucy's helmet is knocked off and it appears that she is still alive after the shot. Lucy falls into the water below....

Enough pictures; let me summarise the rest of the episode. Lucy meets up with two young adults by the names of Kouta and Yuka. Their meeting is a bit bizarre though. Lucy washes up on shore while Kouta and Yuka are reminiscing about the childhood they spent as this beach. When Kouta gazes upon the naked Lucy standing at the shoreline, he starts experiencing flashbacks. Lucy has apparently lost all her memories and has taken on a childish demeanor; also, all Lucy says is "Nyu" which is the Japanese translation for Meow.
As the series goes on, you find out more about how Lucy and Kouta's pasts intertwine. The agency Kurama works for is still trying to capture Lucy; the question is... Will Kouta be caught in the crossfire?
Elfen Lied is an extremely explicit anime. There is presence of profanity, nudity, vulgarity, murder, gore, and extremely depressing scenarios. I only recommend this anime to people who are incredible tolerant of emotionally impacting shows. I'll be honest, this anime had me crying by the end of it. Elfen Lied is not recommended for a young audience, faint of heart, or people who are sensitive to discrimination. The Ontario Film Rating System would rate this anime "R."

Thank you for reading this instalment of the Anime Analysis Blog. My hope is that this review has perked the interest of the right audience to view Elfen Lied. Until next time I am...

The Anime Analyzer

Signing off...

Elfen Lied Episode 1 (Watch At Your Discretion.)

9. Tales of Graces Review

(From Left to Right: Asbel, Sophie, Cheria, Hubert, Malik, Richard, Pascal.)

In this installment I will be talking about the story of a video game called Tales of Graces. In this review I won't be talking about the video game itself, but more-so the story in the video game that resembles an anime quite well. Tales of Graces has a better story than many anime I have witnessed. Tales of Graces was drawn in an anime style making it seem like an actual anime itself; this is because it is a style of video game called JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game.) It is a common occurrence for this kind of game to take on anime-like features. The game-play makes the experience of viewing Tales of Graces much more appealing, but I think my readers will find the story just as good.

Tales of Graces take place on a planet known as Ephinea. On Ephinea, there is no electricity to power things, but rather a magical substance known as Eleth is the main life-source of the residents on Ephenea. Eleth powers electricity, makes food, items, medicine, and adds elemental properties to weaponry. So... Eleth is pretty important is what I'm saying.

The story begins seven years before the real plot begins. Tales of Graces has an incredibly long story-line and for me to describe to you the first two hours of it would still leave you confused; for your convenience, I will summarize Tales of Graces with key plot points

From Left to Right: Young Hubert, Young Asbel, Young Cheria.

• Asbel Lhant is a seventeen year old boy who is a knight in-training. He is next in line to be the lord of Lhant, a small country inside the Windor kingdom.
• During Asbel's childhood, he met two people that would change his life forever; a strange, young girl by the name of Sophie who has lost her memories; and Richard, the prince of the Windor kingdom, and heir to its throne.
• Asbel decides one day to show Richard and Sophie the hill he likes to go to. When the three arrive at the hill, they are ambushed by Richard's sword instructor, Bryce; Bryce wishes to kill the prince so that he can poison the king and have a better shot at taking the throne.
• Thanks to the combined efforts of Asbel, and Sophie: Bryce is slain and Richard is safe. This causes Richard to feel a strong debt towards Asbel, which stays through the coming years.
• Later on... Asbel goes to Barona, Windor's capital, to meet up with the young prince. Asbel asks Richard if he can go inside the Windor castle. Richard responds with the idea that although they can not go into the castle, there is a secret passage through the church that goes to the castle.
• Asbel takes Sophie, Hubert (his brother) and Cheria (Asbel's friend) to go to the castle as well. The secret passage to the castle is long and filled with monsters; but our group manages to defeat the monsters up until a certain point. The group (Asbel, Cheria, Hubert, Richard, and Sophie) encounters a deranged looking creature that appears much stronger than the creatures the group has faced thus far. It defeats everybody except Sophie. It is at this time that Sophie reveals that she is able to use laser attacks and puts everything she has into obliterating the terrible beast. Asbel blacks out before he can witness the outcome of the battle.

• 2 months pass by...

• Asbel awakens in his bedroom with his father at the bedside. Asbel is informed by his father that he was brought back to Lhant by Barona's guards. When Asbel inquires about Sophie, his father tells him that she died protecting him. Asbel had made a past promise that he would always protect Sophie because she had no memory of her past and no knowledge of where her family is. Asbel feels that he has failed, and that he is not worthy of being the lord of Lhant. Finally Asbel is informed that Hubert has been adopted by the Oswell family of the country Strahta. This means that Asbel will likely not see his brother again.
• Asbel's emotions take a toll from his friend dying and his brother being taken away from him. In his rage; Asbel decides to leave Lhant and become a knight of the Windor kingdom like he always dreamed. He leaves a letter to his friend Cheria and takes off to Barona for the next seven years.
  
  

• Seven years later...

• Asbel has nearly completed his knight training when he encounters his old friend Cheria roaming the streets of Barona. Cheria tells Asbel that he is urgently needed back at Lhant; the Fendel kingdom is trying to take over Lhant. Hearing this information, Asbel takes off to Lhant without delay.

Tales of Graces only gets more emotionally impacting from there as you play on through the story. Hubert becomes a very well read young man, and a certain person makes a reappearance. From personal experience I can tell you that Tales of Graces is an incredible series and if it were made as an actual anime, it would make an incredible amount of money. The voice acting is exceptional, the music is just as terrific, and it will be a memorable experience for anyone who knows the whole story (like myself.) If you are a fan of RPG video games you will absolutely adore Tales of Graces. As for any surveyors of anime who stay to television... I suggest you just watch a walk-through of the game.

I hope this review encouraged you to check out Tales of Graces and hopefully you will take a look into it. Until next time... I am

The Anime Analyzer

Signing off... 

8. Death Note Review

Left: L
Right: Light Yagami

In this installment of the Anime Analysis Blog; I will be reviewing an anime that has made quite a name for itself due to its suspenseful story-line and unforgettable characters. This is my Death Note review.

Light Yagami is an extremely intelligent high school student who has become bored of the world he lives in. Crime is at an all-time high; death and bad happenings almost completely surround the media. Light thinks that "this world is rotting."
In the world of the Shinigami (Death Gods,) life has become dreary as well. This is extremely apparent to a certain Shinigami by the name of Ryuk. Ryuk decides that the human world is boring, so he drops one of his "Death Notes" into the human world. Once he has done so, he goes into the human world to "retrieve it." When in reality Ryuk wants to see who will pick up his death note, and how that person will use it.

A death note is an extremely special kind of notebook. The notebook has a special power, and rules on how to use that power. There are many rules, but I will display the important rules for your convenience.

1: The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
2: This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
3: If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.
4: If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
5: After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
6: The owner of the note can recognize the image and voice of the original owner, i.e. a God of death/Shinigami.
7: The human who uses the notebook can neither go to Heaven nor Hell.
8: The notebook shall become the property of the human world, once it touches the ground of (arrives in) the human world.

Light is on his way home to work on his school work when he notices a notebook fall from the sky and land on the grass. Curiosity gets the better of him; Light walks over and picks up the book. It is a black notebook with a single distinguishing feature. The book reads "Death Note" at the top..

Light reads through the rules of the notebook and assumes it's some prank played by an immature student (who wouldn't?) Despite his better judgement, Light brings the book home to test it out. 

When Light comes home, he immediately goes to his room and tries using the Death Note. He takes the rule of thinking of the person's face when writing the name into consideration before he writes. Light turns on his T.V; there is an urgent news broadcast of a man holding an orphanage hostage for ransom. The criminal's face and name is shown on the television screen; Light writes down the man's name (Kurou Otoharada) on the first page of the Death Note. Forty seconds pass by and nothing happens. Light is not surprised by this fact and goes back to his work.
Suddenly the victims of the hostage situation run out of the building; none of them are harmed. The police force charges the building and finds Kurou dead on the floor. The report says that he died by a heart attack.
.

Light is astonished by this information and immediately considers the possibility of this being a coincidence.
Light: "I have to make sure this thing actually works, to make sure that wasn't a coincidence."


Light goes out to a local convenience store to buy some comic books. Outside there is a young woman being harassed by a group of bikers. Light overhears one of the men introducing himself, his name is Kasaragi Tetsuo. Light remembers the fifth rule of the Death Note. 5: After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Light writes Tetsuo's name down in the Death Note then writes that he will die by being hit by a truck. The men try to molest the girl, but she runs across the street after 40 seconds. Tetsuo tries to chase her on his bike; he hops on his bike and goes onto the street. A truck comes out of nowhere and kills him instantly.


Light has no doubts anymore, he knows the power of the notebook is for real. Light races home.
Later on, while Light is at his desk, he encounters the Shinigami (Death God) Ryuk. Ryuk informs Light of the darker meanings behind having a Death Note.
Ryuk: "Having the Death Note means that you can go to neither heaven nor hell. When anyone touches the notebook, they see the Shinigami who originally owned that notebook; which is me." Light says that he already prepared for Ryuk's terrifying arrival, and says that " I'm glad you're here Ryuk, I want to show you something."
Light reveals to Ryuk the first three pages of the Death Note; each page is packed with the names of the worst criminals in the world. Light's plan is to rid the world of all the evil people who are corrupting it. Humans will begin to notice all of these criminals dying and think of it as too convenient. They will know there is someone out there judging the wicked, and all people will learn to start living their lives as good people.
Light's goal is to be the God of this new world of kind and hard-working people. The populace has designated this bringer of judgement as "Kira" (which means killer in Japanese.) When the world has accepted the way of Kira, Light will reveal himself and take over the world as its God.
The Death Note series gets much more interesting as you continue to watch it. A highly respected, and talented detective by the name of "L" has been contracted to find out the identity of Kira. L and Light have many mental confrontations over the series that overjoy the viewer. Death Note is a true intellectual anime.

The music in the series adds to the drama perfectly, it helps to keep the viewer on the edge of their seat. The voice acting is very well done as well, like most of the anime I have reviewed. Death Note is suggested for an older youth audience and over. If you are a fan of suspense, story, and crime mystery; Death Note is definitely the anime for you. My hope is that this review will urge you to try out the Death Note anime.
Until Next Time; I Am...
.
- The Anime Analyzer

Signing Out...

http://justdubs.tv/death-note-episode-1-english-dub/


^ First episode of Death Note; Youtube has taken the full episode down so I must link you to it in this manner.