I started watching Bluey and when I say I was absolutely fucking ENLIGHTENED.

Me: Bluey’s such a popular show and even my adult friends like it…but why?? Isn’t it just a show for preschoolers

Me, after watching one (1) episode: OH….I UNDERSTAND NOW…..

Just rewatched The Boy in the Iceberg, and man there's something really special in the original atla

In other news, water is wet, grass is green, and the sky is blue

vnc episode 12 thoughts

The thrilling conclusion to the Vanitas no Carte anime’s first cour is out, and I have thoughts! I’m still considering doing a full season/ fill cour review, but I have a Lot of episode 12- specific opinions, so this review / breakdown / thing will focus around e12!

A warning before we begin— review will contain spoilers for events that take place in the vnc manga and not in the anime, and will most likely spoil some sections of the anime’s next cour. With that, let’s get started!

Episode 12 of the VnC anime covers chapters 19, 21, 22, and 23 of the manga.

To begin this review in a brutally honest way, this episode was… in my opinion as a manga reader… bad. It did have some ok moments, but generally devoted a lot of its time to a plotline that (while adorable) isn’t actually super important compared to what was left on the wayside. Vanitas and Noé’s fight over blood drinking is fine, I guess, but why’d we get that minute long flashback compilation and not Dante’s conversation with Dominique, or Roland and Olivier’s complete conversation, or Astolfo’s excitement to hunt vampires, or Mikhail?

I really truly wish the show had taken some of the money and time that went into the Vanitas and Noé fight from chapter 23 and put it into the arguably much more important and interesting parts of this episode. Ruthven drinking Noé’s blood, Roland’s threat, and Chloé and Astolfo’s introductions all had some very janky stills and animations. It truly irked me to see that time and effort went into making Noé’s mouth move while he’s mentally monologuing about wanting to drink Vanitas’s blood, while Roland’s fantastic threat from Chapter 22 got… this. click on image for worse quality

The episode also decided to continue E11’s habit of chopping scenes up and mashing them together. In E11 this was a very not great decision, but was ultimately somewhat forgiveable from a tone point of view. In E12, meanwhile, it’s just all out chaos as the anime tries to string five completely separate scenes into something coherent (Noé and Vanitas in the hotel, Ruthven and Jeanne in the street, Domi and Dante on the stairs, Roland and Olivier in the chasseur compound, and a flashback to complete the Ruthven and Noé encounter from E11). Suffice it to say the anime does not succeed in this endeavor.

What really irritates me about this is that the manga already provided a framework for the anime to work these scenes together into. A frantic Vanitas reunites with Noé, Ruthven meets Jeanne in the street, Roland and Olivier speak about the beast, we see a mysterious flashback of Chloé calling for Jeanne as they talk, cut to Jeanne in the present as Dante and Ruthven’s attendants simultaneously tell Ruthven and Vanitas about the beast’s return.

I really wish the anime could’ve just given us the conclusion to the Ruthven scene at the start of the episode, done the OP, and then followed this series of events to a T. But it didn’t, and the result is a bit of a mess.

The anime’s choice to omit half of Roland and Olivier’s conversation means Dante’s announcement about the beast being back has no meaning or weight; Vanitas running to the hotel before we know what actually happened to Noé at the cafe ruins the drama and irony of the scene; Noé’s lack of memory of what happened at the cafe is muddled by the weirdly placed cafe flashback right afterwards; the anime putting Olivier’s “what that man believes in isn’t god” line seconds before the reveal of Roland’s intelligent and scheming nature doesn’t give the line enough room to breathe and stew; and the transition scene with Domi and Dante just doesn’t fit. I can honestly say I would have preferred Dante just teleporting from the streets of Paris to Vani and Noé’s windowsill than have that scene smack dab in the middle of what’s already a confusing mishmash of way too many unconnected events.

Wow. That was a long, critical paragraph. one might even say it was just as chaotic and disorganized as the episode itself. I feel like I’m really living up to my fullest potential as a bitter manga simp. So! Let’s turn things around and talk about some of the good parts of this episode!!

First and foremost I want to compliment this episode’s music..! The soundtrack of VnC is just all round fantastic no matter what— whether it’s playing during a goofy scene or a fight, it’s is bound to be fantastic. I think my favorite pieces are the ones that play at quiet, ominous moments— the music during Vanitas and Dante’s conversation about the beast is excellent, adding something truly incredible to the atmosphere created by the illustrations of the beast and the eerie green light of the scene. The way the music lines up with Olivier’s “what that man believes in…” line during that one flashback is similarly awesome.

This episode also has very nice voice acting..! Despite all of its struggles in the visual and plot department, pretty much everything to do with the VnC anime’s audio is stellar. I’ve become a big fan of Jeanne, Roland, and Olivier’s voices (I can’t wait to see how Olivier’s VA works with all his screaming in the Gévaudan arc); Astolfo’s voice is perfect for him (I am similarly excited to see his clipped, polite tone take a turn for the insane as the Gévaudan arc moves forwards); and as always our protagonists’ voices are great.

My one singular problem with the voice acting this episode is Chloé. I don’t know why, but she sounds like a catgirl from a fantasy anime rather than a multiple- centuries- old vampire. I don’t know what I was expecting from her voice, but this wasn’t it. I really hope Chloé’s voice will grow on me like Roland’s did, but there’s just something about it that feels off to me.

However! That one detriment doesn’t detract from the fact that this episode does have some very beautiful moments, especially during that one last scene with Chloé at the end. Visually, Chloé is absolutely spot on— I only hope the show has the budget to keep giving her pretty, pretty scenes like this. The scene where Vanitas and Dante discuss the beast is also very very nice to look at. The monochromatic red section of Ruthven and Noé’s scene is excellent. And, while I’m still annoyed that this scene got so much love put into it and others did not, Noé’s spotlight-lit monologue is aesthetically pleasing as well.

With that, we’ve covered all of my main thoughts on the final episode of the vnc anime’s first cour! My feelings towards this episode’s plot and pacing are overwhelmingly critical, and the episode’s visuals are a toss up (leaning on the side of bad, @/ that Roland screenshot), b u t the episode’s music and voice acting are both fantastic. And honestly? That’s kinda how I feel about this whole cour of the anime.

Episode 12 might not have been “good”, but I believe it’s a very neat representation of the best and worst of what Vanitas no Carte as an anime has to offer.

Despite all my critiques I am still legally obligated to love this anime, and can’t wait to see the Gévaudan arc in the next cour!

Fun Fact

The weirdly technological background when Noé realizes he’s hungry makes absolutely no sense for an anime set in 1889, but for some reason that just makes this scene funnier to me

So. About The Lion King (and other Disney remakes)

I'm going to preface this post by saying that I'm in no way saying you shouldn't enjoy this film and the others like it if you want to. I was firmly in the camp of hype for the 2017 Beauty and the Beast, but my feelings have changed since then towards current and future movies. That doesn't negate my legitimate excitement I felt then, so what I will say should not be taken as a slight on anyone's excitement for this movie. These are my thoughts and feelings as a lifelong Disney lover, a fiction writer, and a person with a mild background in film studies.

I really, really, dislike the new remakes of Disney's animated movies. Paying homage to the original in a new twist is one thing, unsucessfully recreating animated magic is another. Yes, I said unsuccessfully, because most if not all of Disney's animated movies are much more beautiful and cinematic as they are, and get more bland and generic when they are translated into live action or, in The Lion King's case, photorealistic CGI.

Take Beauty and the Beast (2017), for example. Be Our Guest barely holds a candle (pun intended) to its animated counterpart. The Tale as Old as Time ballroom sequence was not nearly the masterpiece of cinematography that helped win the animated movie Best Picture. Best Picture! How is it that the original animated film did so well, but the live action remake is barely in people's consciousness? Answer: It broke down a strong story into a convoluted mess and simplified everything else. The strongest bit that drew me to the film in the first place with the teaser trailer was the music, but the live action film can't take credit for that because it was composed before. Sure the instrumental themes sound incredible with the visuals of a crumbling castle and a magical rose. They're supposed to. They do no matter what. I did, in fact, enjoy the movie when it came out. I did listen and sing along to Evermore a bazillion times. But after a while it faded away. When it came on Netflix I still liked the movie, but I felt no desire to watch it. I would rather watch the original, because it was the stronger, better visual story. It's timeless in a way that the live action movie will never be. It's much more beautiful than the live action movie will ever be, no matter how impressive the CGI looks.

Regarding the CGI in The Lion King, I must admit, it is impressive. But it's something Disney has already shown us time and again. The original animated film used a blend of 2D animation and CGI, and that to me feels more impressive when you put that together with the stellar cinematography and shot compostition, the score, the voice acting, and the story. The 3D CGI Lion King is borrowing the score and the story. It's so far weakened the cinematography from the shots of Circle of Life which have been side-by-side compared with the animated film. The color is bland and washed out to look "photorealistic" which detracts from the visually pleasing element of the 2D animation. Speaking of photorealistic blandness, I'm sorry but who is who? Simba and Nala look identical as cubs, and Scar barely stands out. Adult Simba looks like a lion I would see at the zoo, or on Google images. Realistic, amazing, sure, but as far as unique character is concerned, I'm not sure if I would feel anything for him if I didn't already have a connection to the source material. can't speak on the voice acting yet, but I'm sure it'll range from "fine" to "great" notably because James Earl Jones is still in it which skews the margin. I do hope the voice acting is strong, but it can easily just be passable, like it was in Beauty and the Beast. It's looked so far like a shot for shot recreation and I'm not sorry, but that's not enough. If you're going to try to do a "new story for a new generation" it should feel different in more than just look. Take the very successful Broadway musical version for example. THAT is a legitimate live action adaptation, albeit for stage. It's still colorful and beautiful, it adds to the story in distinct ways while keeping the main structure of the movie, and it adds to the music and visual composition of the scenes. The acting has always been stellar when I've seen it, from actors with and without puppetry. *THAT* is impressive and innovative, and still feels incredible every time I see it. I *want* to see it every time it comes in a tour (and I almost always have).

Now, I don't want to be hyper critical of these remakes. You know one that I really enjoy still? 101 Dalmatians. Sure I don't watch it as often as I did the animated movie, but it feels like a different movie, inspired by the original. Roger isn't a musician, he makes video games. Yeah it's a bit dated but in a sweet nostalgic kind of way, and it's fun when at the end Cruella inspires him to make a better game because she's a stronger villain than he could think of. The dogs and other animals don't talk, but you get their feelings through their actions, and it's just as fun and sympathetic to watch. Is it perfect? No. It's a bit campy and weak in some spots but it's an enjoyable, rewatchable film. I'm not sure if it was the attitude around the film, but it doesn't try to proclaim itself as better. The general attitude around these newer remakes comes to be "live action/CGI photorealism is better and more valid of a medium than animation" which is pure and utter bullshit. Yet, how many animated movies has Disney put out in comparison to their live action ones in the past 5-10 years? Why do they need to remake great things and make them weaker when they can just create new great things? I know why, or one reason why anyway, but it's a disheartening reason. I've always looked up to Disney as storytellers because I am a writer, I want to tell beautiful and inspiring stories. I love Disney, but that's why I am critical with it as a company and a content creator. I know the incredible work it is capable of, and when it doesn't sustain that work consistently in favor of cheapness, I'm less likely to remain positive about Disney. I'm less likely to support it and its creations, because I don't feel anything behind them.

TL;DR- Disney's trend of "live action" remakes of animated classics feels *and* shows as hollow and bland, and the concept of them detracts from the legitimacy of animation as a medium of storytelling. Disney is capable of producing great, heartfelt, and intelligent content, and because of its corporate lifeless feel anymore, I dislike the projection of the company's future content in the pipeline.

I know this is largely a Steven Universe blog, but I have no where else to gush about this sooooo...

 I came into @vivziepop’s Hazbin Hotel pilot basically blind, no hype or nothing, and wow a few things really stood out to me about the design choices.

That animation is fluid like water except when it lends to the story not to be. What I mean by this is, like most animation, Vivzie and her team used less frames to convey sped up or harsher movement, just like any animator does. But when that wasn’t being done, the general, default style is this incredibly fluid one, even when it does have to be. Mouth movements, micro-expressions (even on background characters!)....even that one fiery demon saying “boooo” after Charlie’s musical number had ridiculously fluid movement for such a small gesture. 

The use of accent sounds is next level. Punctuating Katie Killjoy’s sharper (ha!) movements with the sound of a blade is a nice little touch that really adds to the “cut-throat bitch” vibe you get from her. The little squeaky-toy sound you get when Charlie does that Big Smile sets a very distinctive mood as well, one that constantly juxtaposes with everything else around her. Even small things like the sound of a rusty joint playing when Charlie is lowering her arms down after realizing people aren’t necessarily buying into her announcement really adds to the overall mood of every moment.

The character design. Holy shit man, I’m not even talking about just the subjective pop of those beautiful characters; there are objective ways this show excels in that department too. One really obvious one is the eyes; just look at the sheer variety of eye designs in this pilot. Even just eye shapes! They’re all unique enough that you can recognize several even when they are not on the character, and that’s stellar design, full stop. Those character silhouettes are great too, don’t get me wrong (just look at how well that was showcased in the intro), but the eyes are something a lot of creators struggle to give much variety to (and understandably so; in reality, most humans’ eyes don’t vary a lot after all).

I am a big fan of the story’s content (that’d be a whole other post), but the craftsmanship of this pilot alone is really noteworthy. You can just feel the love they put into it, you know? Also every single voice actor and actress nailed it. And the MUSIC....I don’t really have any technical know-how to comment on it, but as a casual viewer, it felt stellar too.

Favourite Films from 2018

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman  

If this movie had absolutely no story, it would still be worth the price of admission. It's an astounding achievement in animation that brings to life a moving piece of pop art. It does have a story, however, and a particularly affective one. Into the Spider-Verse is a deep dive into the mythology of Spider-Man, taking over 60 years of storytelling and condensing it into a few concentrated attributes. It then introduces us to the variety of characters who share these attributes, and convinces us to care about them. It rises above most superhero films and tells a story that seems simultaneously sensational and incredibly personal. It does not overwhelm us with spectacle, but rather takes the time to offer quiet moments of emotional resonance. And then wows us with the spectacle.

2. If Beale Street Could Talk

Directed by Barry Jenkins

Films should be able to make you feel something. And it is every directors goal to convey an emotion through their visual conception. Barry Jenkins does this better than most of his contemporaries. Much like Moonlight, Beale Street is a film that warms your soul with overwhelming intimacy and sentiment. The beauty in James Laxton’s cinematography- soft lighting in close-ups and graceful camera waltzes through long shots convey a sense of dreamlike wonder. There are darker moments in the film as well, and Jenkins allows us to feel ever moment of injustice, desperation and despair in them. If Beale Street Could Talk is not just a love story, but a story of the most resilient kind of love. 

3. Sorry to Bother You

Directed by Boots Riley

In terms of sheer originality this is the best film of the year. In his directorial debut, Boots Riley tells us a science fiction story that is funny, dark and deeply thought-provoking, in a way that most of Black Mirror dreams it was. Lakeith Stanfield leads with a stellar performance, presenting a frazzled sort of energy that is enough to make you laugh and/or feel pretty unsettled. He’s accompanied by Tessa Thompson’s effortless charm, and Armie Hammer’s effortless dickishness. Add to that some particularly clever voice-over performances and its already a standout film. But it’s the attention to detail from the production design, the make-up, hair, costuming, and music, that make this an incredibly well rounded, wholly enjoyable affair.  

4. Black Panther

Directed by Ryan Coogler

This is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s watershed moment. The care and attention that was paid in simply assembling the best team possible to work on this film pays off incredibly. Ryan Coogler and his dream team created a singular creative vision to inspire and entertain fans new and old. Wakanda feels like a living, breathing world, far more impressive than most of its comic book portrayals. Shot and lit by Rachel Morrison, costumed by Ruth E. Carter’s impeccable hand, and pulsing to Ludwig Goransson’s iconic score. And then there are the performances. Fierce moments between Danai Gurira and Lupita Nyongo, poignant exchanges between Chadwick Boseman and John Kani. And impassioned moments between Michael B. Jordan and pretty much everyone. Killmonger is the MCU’s best villain yet, but you already know that. Jordan’s performance is one that simply needs to be appreciated over and over again, his passionate command of Coogler’s screenplay stirs your heart, and may damn well bring some tears to your eyes, as it never fails to do so for me.  

5. Roma

Directed by Alfonso Cuaron

Alfonso Cuaron wrote, directed, shot, and cut this film himself, and you can certainly believe his passion for this project shines through in all of those aspects. Roma seems like an incredibly personal film, and it’s the mark of any great filmmaker to make your audience empathetic to a personal project. Cuaron’s story is one deeply rooted in Mexican history and culture, but the themes of infidelity, chauvinism and female independence are ones that we can and should engage with. Cuaron’s cinematography is incredibly beautiful in this film. Under his own hand rather than his best pal Emmanuel Lubezki, Cuaron’s signature long takes are moments of deep emotion, allowing us as an audience to simply sit back and soak in the gravity of a scene- its beauty, sadness, and joy.    

6. BlacKkKlansmen

A Spike Lee Joint

The film is upsetting, as it absolutely should be. That being said, this is the first time in a while I’ve seen Spike Lee have fun with a project. Ron Stallworth’s story is an incredible one, but it’s not without its moments of absurd levity. John David Washington and Adam Driver have incredible chemistry together, and they play off of each other as humorously as most buddy copy films. BlacKkKlansmen is a true story though, and ultimately an incredibly important one. How does one man fight racism in its most violent form, and do so with impeccable courage. Stallworth is one of history’s true heroes, but Spike Lee makes sure that we understand why this story is still relevant today, and why it is our responsibility to fight injustice with the same courage that Stallworth did.  

7. Eighth Grade

Directed by Bo Burnham

Its understandable that the most accurate depiction of social media on screen yet comes from someone with a prolific background in social media like Bo Burnham. This is just one detail out of many that he gets so right in his film. He chooses to tell the story of a lead character that would traditionally get no attention in the field of coming-of-age movies. Watching Kayla win an award for “most quiet student” sums up how real and relatable her character is. Elsie Fisher’s performance sells this, and winds up being one of the strongest of the year. With Eighth Grade, Burnham has shown how incredibly in touch he is, and it’s a quality sorely lacking in most standard Hollywood fare.  

8. Isle of Dogs

Directed by Wes Anderson

Obviously charming, as with any Wes Anderson film. Obviously cute, as with anything involving dogs. Throughout his filmography, Anderson has always managed to find the charm in adolescence, whether having children as lead or supporting characters, or telling a story that is young at heart. In Isle of Dogs, his story touches on that same charm. A child’s love for his dog is the main plot point, and his journey is one that touches on our intrinsic reminiscence of childhood adventure. All of this is accompanied by Alexandre Desplat's delightfully memorable score, which is worth listening to all on its own.

9. The Favourite

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

In comparison to Yorgos Lanthimos' other popular film The Lobster, it’s clear he's established a distinct voice in absurd humour. The Favourite is just as absurd, but far more darker. There are moments that are outright hilarious, but they are accompanied by moments of tragic sadness. Watching Olivia Colman's Queen Anne transition from cheerful to melancholic is heartbreaking. Supported by strong performances from Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone, and accompanied by assuredly strong production design and cinematography, The Favourite rounds out as one of the years finest films.  

10. The Death of Stalin

Directed by Armando Ianucci

Armando Ianucci has never told a darker story than this one. As with most of his work, The Death of Stalin is uproariously funny. His knack for showing the silliest sides of politicians is at its best here, and the political climate that he deals with is the perfect vehicle for it. We watch these characters scramble for power, and watch them commit horrible atrocities in the process. A lot of it is funny in the darkest of fashions. But by the time we get to the end, we understand just how disturbing the story has been and are left to contemplate how humanity can slip so far into horror, and hope we can learn from it.  

Honorable Mentions

Shoplifters (Directed by Haruomi Hasuno), Paddington 2 (Directed by Paul King), Christopher Robin (Directed by Marc Foster), Halloween (Directed by David Gordon Green), Incredibles 2 (Directed by Brad Bird), Crazy Rich Asians (Directed by John M. Chu), Avengers: Infinity War (Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo), First Man (Directed by Damien Chazelle), A Quiet Place (Directed by John Krasinski) Tag (Directed by Jeff Tomsic)

CR Features Argues About the Best Opening Sequence of 2018

Anime Awards voting starts TONIGHT and WE'RE SUPER EXCITED! However we have gotten so loud with our individual opinions on who we think should win that we’ve been told to duke it out via written words instead of continually disrupting our coworkers (sorry fam).

  We’ll hit each category by the time we hit the evening of Anime Awards! Today’s piece gets down to the nitty gritty of Best Opening Sequence, Best Ending Sequence, Best Animation, and Best Character Design. Let’s down to business!

Best Opening

Pop Team Epic from Pop Team Epic

    The opening so nice you saw it twice every episode, and it was a banger every time. It wasn’t just the song, either--the OP was full of little things to keep looking for, so you never skipped it unless you were a total monster.

-Nate Ming

Black Rover by Vickblanka from Black Clover

  The music for Black Clover OPs and EDs has always been top notch, but Black Rover is on another level. The sequence put together by the animators is also the perfect combination of cool, goof, and heart. It’s probably the opening I’ll associate with the series forever.

-Peter Fobian

  UNION from SSSS.Gridman

    This song, like SSSS.Gridman itself, made me so happy. It was light and deft, but somehow perfect for the opening of a show about kicking the crap out of kaiju. For a genre that can sometimes feel as tired as “robot man saves the world (and his friends),” this OP, along with the rest of the show, proved that SSSS.Gridman was going to pay a lot of tokusatsu homage, while still being a breath of fresh air.

-Daniel Dockery

Rightfully by Mili from Goblin Slayer

    I’ve been following Mili’s works since I played Deemo, and their songs always have a way of worming right in and refusing to leave. So when I heard that they were doing Goblin Slayer’s opening, it was a very welcome surprise! Mili delivers a powerful performance that has a calm, yet a very vicious tone to it. Combined with the opening visuals, it really ties it all neatly together to set the mood for the show.

-Nicole Mejias

Adabana Necromancy from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

    Dapper dancing zombies. Super sentai action scenes. Idol dancing. ZOMBIE LAND SAGA’s opening sequence somehow manages to straddle several disparate genres without losing its own unified personality. Set to the theatrical “Adabana Necromancy” performed by the main Japanese cast, main character Sakura’s defiant proclamations of chasing her dreams and the truly unprecedented amount of explosions meld into something strange and charming--a perfect fit for this series.

-Cayla Coats

Best Ending Sequence

Hibana from Golden Kamuy

    You always heard this one warming in the background as an episode would come to a close, and the striking imagery of  “Hibana” just made me more excited for what the next episode of Golden Kamuy had in store.

-Nate Ming

  Pulse from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

  Although I’ve still got Hizuru Basho bumping in my head from Fall, no ED in 2018 was as much of a thematic masterstroke as Asobi Asobase. After a misleading opening giving the series the appearance of a serene high school slice of life and a very confusing episode featuring mean-spirited pranks and Hanako shrieking, the ending dumps you straight into hell.

-Peter Fobian

  Book-end, Happy-end from Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

    I feel ya, nervous skeleton man. You had a hard day, and then you just go sit on the floor and read manga. And then you lay in the bed and read manga. What a beautiful life.

-Daniel Dockery

Hibana from Golden Kamuy

    Banger alert! This song is incredibly GOOD! Not only is this song catchy, but the lyrics are a pretty good representation to what Golden Kamuy is all about, with lines about an “erased destination” and “accepting everything, pain and all.” If you skipped this ending, I don’t even know what to say; it’s too good of a song to skip!

-Nicole Mejias

Pulse from Asobi Asobase - workshop of fun -

  Peter pretty much nailed it. After the fake-out cutesy pop opening, Asobi Asobase presents us with three middle school girls who make heinously ugly expressions and are just really, hilariously terrible people. The death metal anthem “Pulse” is a perfect fit for the horrible little nightmare children that comprise the show’s main cast.

-Cayla Coats

Best Animation

Violet Evergarden

  You don’t really expect TV anime to look this good--and then it does, and you’re treated to gorgeous, theatrical-quality animation every single episode. I wasn’t invested in Violet Evergarden, but just witnessing it made it worth the watch.

-Nate Ming

Violet Evergarden

    This one is really difficult to argue with. It’s Kyoto Animation on their absolute A game. The studio doesn’t often delve into fantasy but their backgrounds and character designs were breathtaking. Kyoto is always top shelf but they maintained damn near movie quality animation for the entire series run. Even their 3D integration was something to behold.

-Peter Fobian

Violet Evergarden

  LOOK AT HOW PRETTY EVERYTHING IS. Look at the backgrounds! And the shadows! And the way that the hair is animated! I know that that seems like a really small thing, but it irks me sometimes when everyone seem to have immovable Super Saiyan hair (though there’s nothing wrong with your hair, my beautiful shonen bro’s). Violet Evergarden was a bounty to look at.

-Daniel Dockery

Violet Evergarden

    I’d be crazy to not pick Violet Evergarden for this category. I mean, just LOOK AT IT! Absolutely GORGEOUS and BEAUTIFUL animation! I initially thought this was a movie, but nope. Kyoto Animation weren’t playing any games when it came to showing off their amazing animation skills, and my goodness, was it ever a sight to behold! Just look at how they animated the characters’ HAIR! Amazing stuff!

-Nicole Mejias

  Pop Team Epic

If you asked me two weeks ago, my answer here would have been Violet Evergarden for sure. But then my mind was changed when I saw our own Noelle Ogawa argue for Pop Team Epic’s stellar animation in this article. Pop Team Epic employs a wide range of animation styles--from 16-bit video game sprites to the horrifying, MS Paint-esque Bob Team Epic sequences to the use of unfinished storyboards seen above. The series is practically a showcase for experimental animation, and that suits the surreal humor quite well.

-Cayla Coats

    Best Character Design

  Devilman Crybaby

  Akira Fudo and Ryo Asuka are some of the most iconic, memorable, and legendary characters in anime and manga, so seeing them (along with Miki, Siren, and the rest of the cast) get clean, modern redesigns for Devilman Crybaby was a real treat.

-Nate Ming

DARLING in the FRANXX

Just based no sheer amount of fan art, it’s hard to argue with this prediction. Masayoshi Tanaka has developed a well-earned reputation for his designs, in fact one of Atsushi Nishigori’s motivations for working with TRIGGER was the opportunity to work specifically with Tanaka. The character designs are great and so much work from accompanying DARLING in the FRANXX designs to multiple uniforms went into it. It’s probably my favorite part of the series.

-Peter Fobian

Hinomaru Sumo

There’s not a lot of amazingly intricate variety among the characters of Hinomaru Sumo. But I appreciate any anime where all the main characters look like they’d be equally at home being lackeys in a separate anime that get the crap kicked out of them in an alley by the Kenshiro-esque main character. Also, I love this show and so should you.

-Daniel Dockery

Cells at Work

Cells at Work is so beloved for the way it illustrates our hard-working cells as they work night and day to protect our bodies. Keep on kicking ass and taking names, cells! But on the other end of the spectrum are the threats and bacteria that invade our bodies, and some of them are depicted in very frightening ways. Remember to take care of yourself to avoid illnesses! Your cells are counting on you!

-Nicole Mejias

Laid-Back Camp

  There wasn’t a show I watched in 2018 that had more effective character designs than Laid-Back Camp. Everything visual choice made about these characters conveys something about their personality. Nadeshiko’s downward-sloping eyelids and messy pink hair are the perfect compliment to Rin’s alert eyes and neatly tied up hair. These choices echo how the characters themselves play off of one another, and gosh, it’s just delightful.

-Cayla Coats

    Anddd that's all folks! Check back in to see us argue about who else we think should win the rest of the Anime Awards categories. Don’t forget to vote for your favorites starting TONIGHT!

  Do you have a super intense devotion to a 2018 show or character or want your opinions shared to the world about Anime Awards? Send us an op-ed in written or video form. The nitty gritty details are in here and you may get published in a future article!

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Ricky Soberano is a Features Editor, Script Writer, and Editorial Programming Coordinator for Crunchyroll. She’s the former Managing Editor of Brooklyn Magazine. You can follow her on Twitter @ramenslayricky.

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Some thoughts on the horse accident simulator and sad outlaws :(

okay, so this is the big old game impressions post I promised. don’t know how organized it’ll be since I’m still in a state of grief but here we go. First part is spoiler free, whenever there’s a number after a comment you can scroll down to the end to find a more in-depth comment containing spoilers. There’s a clear separation between the spoiler-free part and the rest with a lot of empty lines so you can stop ready before it gets dangerous^^

General comments:

in case you somehow managed to miss this despite me screaming about this game for 3+ weeks: I loved it. So freaking much! I don’t want to rank it cause it’s all still fresh and it wouldn’t be a fair competition atm but it’s definitely in my top 3. there are so many things this games just gets right. Granted, others might disagree but to me, it was the perfect mix of main missions, side missions, RPG elements, perfect map size, dramatic dialogue without overdoing it, etc.

I actually wasn’t planning on buying this game, I was saving money for the new Fallout game (that was before that whole mess) and then more or less bought it on a whim because a) it looked amazing, b) I’d had a rough week and I wanted to shoot virtual things and c) my favourite online news website trashed it and whenever they trash an open world RPG I just know I’m gonna love it cause they have the absolute worst taste in games^^

I bought rdr1 a couple of years ago but never got around to actually playing it. I still know almost nothing about it apart from who the main character is and where it’s set. I’d like to keep it that way so I can enjoy that at some point as well :)

If you haven’t finished yet, I really recommend getting a good horse early on and sticking with it. The final scene with your horse will be even more emotional if you’ve had it for most of the game :))))))))))))))))))))

I suspected this game would wreck me and it did :)))))))) I think the only game that affected me more was ME3. But yeah, I cry easily when I watch stuff and I was gone from the moment Arthur put on his head in Chapter six to the end (which is quite a while and it involves fight scenes and everything! Try shooting people when you’re busy crying!) and then again through the credits after the epilogues.

This game is HUGE! Not because the map is big or because the plot takes so long, it’s just so full and alive. Very hard to describe but it’s just so big!

Stuff I liked:

THE HORSES! Absolutely amazing! That (and landscapes) are probably what people talked the most about when it was released and it’s understandable. The animations and the handling is just unbelievable. I can’t even imagine how much work went into this and that’s probably not even the most impressive thing about the game!

The landscape is stunning but honestly, HZD was just as stunning, had the same kind of diversity regarding climate zones and yet RDR2 does something I haven’t seen to that extent in any other game so far: It makes the land around you feel alive! That’s down to tiny things like being able to see the individual rain droplets in the fog when you hold up a lantern, the way a bush moves around you when you walk through it (the first time I saw that I literally gasped!), rockslides and avalanches, wheel tracks in the mud, localised dirt on Arthur or the horse when you fall down. And then, of course, there are the bigger, scripted additions like railroads being built, houses burning down or being erected as the game progresses, trees being taken down or burning after a thunderstorm, animals around you interacting with other animals, animal carcasses decaying if you leave them, predators hunting prey (like have you seen this stuff? It’s insane!). Then you have NPCs that remember you and make references to your last meeting, NPCs are repulsed when you still have some blood on you, people you beat up sporting a bandage the next time you see them, having to remember to cut your hair and beard and take a bath, someone you captures freaking out when you place them too close to water because they might drown, a farmer fixing their fence after you accidentally rode through it a couple of days ago, Arthur quietly singing when you ride for too long without doing anything, your fellow outlaws having interactions that don’t involve you at all! There is so much detail in this game and it’s not like other games haven’t done a similar thing but not to this extent. It generates an immersion that I think is currently unparalleled. Absolutely incredible and you can tell that (despite the frankly unacceptable working conditions that were reported) people put their heart and soul into it.

I loved the fact that there weren’t too many side quests as there often are in RPGs (and most of the times they are somewhat repetitive). I felt there were just the right amount of additional quest markers on my map at any given time and apart from like “Hey mister race me!” quests every single one of them was unique! And most of the time you met well-developed NPCs you could later meet again! (Mickey and Hamish and the widow whose name I can’t remember right now stand out here <3)

The lighting in this game is out of this world! I think there was only one scene in which it didn’t quite work but apart from that every in-game scene might as well have been a cutscene for its beauty

It’s utterly heartbreaking and since I apparently love being sad this is perfect for me ;)

I loved the fact that they took accidental dialogue interruptions into account with the whole “right, where were we” thing

The motion capture and voice acting is brilliant! And as far as I can tell many of the actors haven’t even really done anything big but everyone was so stellar and Arthur’s actor really delivered!

Love my outlaw gang so much :’) especially the relationships between Arthur and John, Dutch, Sadie, Hosea, and Charles

and I LOVE Arthur! What an incredible main character and what a fantastic character journey! [1]

(connected to the point above) probably my absolute favourite thing about the entire game: The game objective changes drastically 3/4 of the way through and suddenly things that used to be a disadvantage are the opposite and the other way around. It’s brilliant! [2]

The music is so stunning! Both the background ambient music during free play but most importantly the songs they recorded and worked in so seamlessly. I still get goosebumps thinking about “Might I (Stand unbroken)”

Stuff I didn’t like:

I don’t think I’ve had any bugs (which is really surprising for a game of this size) except two instances of the dialogue disappearing for like a minute or so. It didn’t bother me that much, just turned on the subtitles for a bit and it was fine but yep, I did find some bugs

I feel like a horse that is able to bolt if it sees a snake or a predator should be able to not hit a solitary tree that I obviously did not want to ride into ;) like I get the collisions in dense forest areas but in open planes I feel like the horse should be smart enough to take a step to the side without me prompting it ;) 

it’s really easy to accidentally murder someone :( and I feel like the bounty system needs an update. If I accidentally walk into someone who gets offended and then starts shooting at me even though I’m apologizing then I shouldn’t get a bounty for knocking him out so he won’t kill me :/

I really did not like the “supernatural” stuff... I know they were just easter eggs and not relevant in any way but they just threw me off completely

There was one character I think I was supposed to connect to and I just didn’t which was a bit of a shame [3]

I wish there was a mission to the west (think Arizona, Utah landscape) I would have loved to ride through there with Arthur

I’m sure I missed quite a bit and I haven’t done everything in the game by far (only like 80% completion). I didn’t hunt much apart from the first two chapters, I didn’t craft much, I didn’t explore as much as I wanted to and I waited until like Chapter five before spending money. So there’s lots of stuff I still want to do and even more, I want to do again and really take my time now that I don’t have to be worried about accidentally reading a spoiler^^

So yep, second playthrough (albeit a much slower one) is about to start :)

SPOILERS WILL START BELOW! STOP READING HERE IF YOU HAVEN’T FINISHED!

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SPOILERS APPROACHING!

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[1] Arthur’s Character:

Arthur Morgan is definitely one of my all-time fictional characters now. It was an amazing journey from someone who clearly has a moral code but doesn’t (want to) use it for various reasons to someone who (probably for the first time in his life) takes charge of it and stands up to the people who want to make into something he’s just not. I’m an absolute sucker for character growth and rough characters becoming protective and selfless and trying to make the world a better place before they go. For me, that’s what separates a good movie/tv show/game from an excellent one and RDR2 delivered!

And then there’s the’s the huge TB bombshell in chapter 5 which changes everything and accelerates what’s been coming for a while. I’m such a big fan of this, honestly. Normally you get that kind of stuff at the beginning (e.g. Breaking Bad, Deadpool, etc.) to motivate some kind of change but in RDR2 you get all this time see Arthur not be who he clearly should be but getting closer and closer and then the dam just breaks. I mean I hate it with all my heart because up until then I thought he might get out alive but damn what a wonderful character arc!

[2] Game Objective:

So this is the big one, very subtle I think but again something I don’t think I’ve ever seen a video game do and I’m just stunned!

I started writing a list for this post when I was in Chapter 2 and I had “Honour system” on my “stuff I don’t like list”. The reason for that was, I thought it was pointless and not well thought through. Sure it’s a nice idea (and not a new one) to give the player the option of being a very nice or a very bad guy and then depending on that some interactions might change. That’s the whole nature of RPGs. But the thing is, it should be equally easy to play as totally good or totally bad. And it wasn’t! For most of the game, you were at a severe disadvantage if you were trying to get high honour. You can’t rob people to get some money, you can’t rob carriages or trains to train for the larger missions and gain experience, you can’t refuse to collect a debt instead you have to beat people! Sure, now and then you can help someone and they give you some money or some supplies but that doesn't compare to what you’d get by looting corpses. And even if you somehow do something really good and your honour improves, you will still have to take part in Dutch’s raid so you fall back down to some area in the middle. I thought that was frustrating and I thought I was missing out on a big part of the game experience because my objective to be nice got in the way.

But then Arthur got sick and from that moment the rewards for being nice were insane! And I realized that the game objective was directly tied to Arthur’s internal struggle. He wanted to be a good man but life made it seemingly impossible so he kept stealing, he kept killing, he kept turning back to bad habits. But once he broke free of that, once he started to see the good in the world it was suddenly so easy to get high honour because for once the game (aka Dutch’s influence on Arthur) didn’t force you into dishonourable situations anymore. It’s so neat! Turning something that used to be a disadvantage (wanting to be good) into an advantage more than halfway through the game. I’m honestly so impressed by the total gear change that achieved!

[3] Mary:

Here’s the thing: I really want to like her and it’s not even that I dislike her, I’m just really indifferent. It’s obvious Arthur loves her a lot and it’s obvious she loves Arthur quite a bit as well but all I saw in the game are two people who might like each other but who are clearly not compatible. And I was wondering if the game wants me to root for them, to hope that they’ll make it and basically have the life John and Abigail have at the end of the epilogue but I kept thinking: “That will never work”. I think it’s mainly because we see so little of her and like 40% of what she says is “Oh, Arthur” (which gets old real quick the same way “I have a plan, Arthur!” gets old after 20 times). I feel like if she’d been around for more missions I might feel very differently. Or some flashbacks might have been nice. But with about 60+ hours of gameplay and about 30 minutes of Mary I just couldn’t connect. It seemed like a relationship that was way past it’s prime just like their outlaw lifestyle and just like the outlaw lifestyle Arthur just didn’t want to believe it. 

That being said, I don’t think Mary shouldn’t be in the game! I think she has a purpose and I did her first mission very early one, so that was the first time that I saw Arthur display complex emotions which was great! But as the story went on I just cared so much more about the other outlaws and I honestly think Arthur would have been happier being Jack’s weird uncle who drops in from time to time than Mary’s proper, upstanding husband. So in the end, some outlaws standing next to Arthur’s grave would have made more sense to me than Mary :/

A Review On Sword Art Online

Note: This review is not mine,I have posted this here because I feel this review has properly summed up Sword Art Online. I agree with most of the points made by the reviewer.

This review is taken from myanimelist.com from the reviewer iWriter88.

However I will be posting my own reviews in the future once I have more experience.

Overall Rating 7

Sword Art Online was one of the most hyped up animes of Summer 2012 and has probably the widest range of scores I’ve ever seen. Does it live up to the hype? Read on to find out! That being said, skip to the consensus (TLDR) if you don't want to read blocks of text! :D Please do not send anything overly negative to me; polite and constructive criticism is always appreciated.

PLOT:

The Good:

Man, they really went for a lot here. The light novels themselves were actually more action/adventure focused, something that doesn’t happen in the anime. I’m going to do my best not to give any spoilers, but essentially, the anime Sword Art Online aims to be a love story of epic proportions, where their relationship will experience highs and lows ranging from boundless joy to aching tragedy. Straight up, if you don’t like the main characters, you probably won’t like this anime. That’s how most love stories work. However, if you’re like me, and you absolutely adore the main characters, then this anime is definitely for you! Sword Art Online additionally does a brilliant job of easing us in to the massive, awe-inspiring frontier that is Aincrad. The concept of this anime -- being trapped in a strange, exotic new world and living in it -- is a dream that we all have had at one point, and it's fascinating to see it being unveiled before our eyes.

The Bad:

At the same time, however, the execution has been done terribly. Lots of fans/first-time watchers – me included – felt that Kirito and Asuna were not given nearly enough character development. It’s hard to root for someone that you barely know or hate. Another problem lies in the pace. The side stories were rushed, no doubt about, which is bad because they offered interesting insights into Kirito and Asuna’s relationship and personality. At the same time, you can't really justify having two episodes of precious anime time being given to the side stories, and they honestly aren't as interesting as the main plot. Something else that irks me about Sword Art Online is how it suffers from deus ex machina. That is, it'll solve really big situations with just dumb stuff like "it's the power of love" or "strength of will trumps everything". However, other amazing shows (Harry Potter, Clannad) have done similar things, so it's whatever.

CONSENSUS: 7/10. Sword Art Online attempted to create a love story of epic proportions…something that they partially succeeded in. Although they eased us in beautifully in the start, undeveloped characters, a rushed storyline, and miracle syndrome make it lose quite a bit of its impact. 

ARTWORK: 

The artwork in this anime can be summed up into one word: inconsistent. The sceneries are drawn very well and have a wide variety (ranging from icy snowcaps to flowery meadows to beautiful cities…), and the characters are done beautifully (a nice contrast to the stupid body proportions in Code Geass or the crazy facial expressions in Fate/Zero), but it gets stupidly bad during the battles. For some strange reason, instead of treating us to a smooth action sequence, we instead constantly gaze at character still shots. It’s really frustrating when you know that the battle sequences could have been amazing!! Background animation is probably the most inconsistent part in that it gets really bad in towns but great in landscapes. I really don’t know what to think. I think the animation of this anime is something that really sets it back from some of the great animes, and I’m hoping it gets better in the future (especially the battle scenes, they can really make those a lot more enjoyable to wach).

CONSENSUS: 7/10. Battle scenes are very badly animated, and backgrounds sometimes are drawn very sloppily. However, the sheer scope of sceneries in this anime is a delight to see.

MUSIC: 

The music is incredible. Yuki Kajiura is one of the biggest names in anime music, and her music is absolutely astounding. So far, the music’s been perfect and set each mood beautifully. In particular, the battle scene music. Oh my god. I found myself humming it when I was eating breakfast, just a testament to how well done it is. As for the OP/ED, they’re really generic. They’re being done by LiSa, who’s done so many OP/EDs by now, but they don’t really stand out…in a good or bad way. I don’t know, I think Yuki Kajiura’s music makes up for any disparities here though.

CONSENSUS: 9/10, Music is great and going to be developed by Yuki Kajiura, the person who did Fate/Zero and Madoka Magica. OP/ED are generic, but that’s not a bad thing. 

CHARACTERS: 

The characters are ridiculously hit or miss. Kirito is pretty much your perfect, flawless teenager. That’s going to be a deal breaker for many of people upon knowing that. Many people like their protagonists to have flaws, to be more humanlike, more down to Earth, and having a character that’s flawless frankly drops a lot of the realism. I would like to argue that the alternative of having a whiny protagonist that doesn’t do anything is a lot worse though (Guilty Crown, I’m looking at you). The same lies for the female protagonist, Asuna, our main character’s love interest. Frankly, the relationship just came together too easily. Asuna also has the privilege of being practically perfect in every single way. No really: she can cook, she’s incredibly beautiful, she’s good at swordfighting, she’s dedicated, and she’s a tsundere (personally I love tsunderes). The side characters and the villains lack depth as well. Can anyone else picture how much more interesting this anime would have gotten if Sugou was initially some good guy that Asuna begins to fall for...only to be someone rotten in the inside? Instead, we're treated to a generic villain who literally doesn't have a single good quality.

CONSENSUS: 6/10, Main character Kirito isn’t absurdly annoying like A LOT of other main characters, but he does get what he wants a little too easily. Side characters are overly generic and get far too little time. Same with Kirito and Asuna, we needed more time for their development! 

THE BREAKDOWN:

It's a great anime if you like Kirito and Asuna, but if you don't, you might as well watch another anime. The anime itself suffers from various flaws -- plot holes, shoddy animation, undeveloped characters -- that prevent me from giving it a high score. Still worth a watch though, if only so that you can rant about how good or bad it is on the forums after each episode. 7/10!

(+) The light novel for this anime is incredibly well done (#1 rated light novel on MAL).

(+) Incredible nostalgia for any MMORPG gamers.

(+) Music is stellar, designed by the best.

(+) Anime gets a lot better after episode 8.

(+) The landscapes are absolutely beautiful...one of the benefits of making the anime set in a fantasy video game.

(+) Tons of people to discuss this anime with since it's popular; since it's polarizing, you get some very interesting arguments too.

(−) Characters not developed thoroughly enough.

(−) Anime may be rushed in first few episodes.

(−) Suffers from very poor animation in some the fight scenes and in the background (budgeting). 

(−) Insertion of side stories before main plot may cause some viewers to lose interest.

(−) Anime suffers from miracle syndrome (occasionally will solve problems with a miracle).

(−) Causes you to waste time talking with people about the latest episode of SAO, whether you hate it or love it.

Favourite Albums Review - Seventh Tree by Goldfrapp

Seventh Tree - Goldfrapp

Main Genres: Folktronica, Indie Pop, Art Pop

A decent sampling of: Dream Pop, Chamber Folk, Neo-Psychedelia, Baroque Pop

“木漏れ日”, or “Komorebi”, is a word that only exists in Japanese. It describes the mystifying visual phenomenon that occurs when sunlight passes through a canopy of trees. Light filters through the leaves and changes slightly in hue according to the colour of the leaves.

At its core, Seventh Tree feels like a musical interpretation of the komorebi phenomenon. Shimmering in a haze of green and golden light, Goldfrapp’s fourth and greatest LP is a lush, fleeting, and pastoral record. With airy sound production and a prevailing sense of the ephemeral, the album pairs beautifully with the transition from Summer to Autumn. Likewise, I make sure to revisit it every year during the month of September, and every time I am once again completely floored by just how any group of artists could ever achieve and maintain such a perfect sound.

Goldfrapp’s debut was undoubtedly a hard act to follow. The British duo of Will Gregory and Alison Goldfrapp came on to the scene with Felt Mountain, an unexpected masterpiece marked by atmospheric alien worlds achieved via surreal studio sounds, filtered through film noir and golden age Hollywood aesthetics. The album went Gold in the U.K. and was even shortlisted for a Mercury Prize.

But where to go from there? Goldfrapp’s initial response to their immediate success, as well as their initial approach in attempting to exceed the heights of their debut, was to amp up the fun factor of their music tenfold.

Thus, the follow-up records Black Cherry and Supernature were mostly sassy electroclash romps chock-full of sexual innuendo (especially Black Cherry) and sing-along pop hooks (especially Supernature).  Very solid records in their own right, yielding some excellent singles like “Twist” and “Ooh La La”, but ultimately lacking the consistency and grandeur of Felt Mountain.

But then something great happened.

Alison and Will had long been inspired by nature and especially animals as symbolic motifs throughout their career. But for their fourth record, Goldfrapp decided for the first time to make an album that actually sounded like it came from the natural world. They allowed their trademark electronic inventions to take on a more supportive role, blending into the background seamlessly with gentle acoustic instruments, creating a uniquely harmonious folktronica sound.

The lyrics also take on a much more prominent role than on their previous records, delving deep into themes of innocence, tragedy, superficiality, and the ever-changing state of nature. Revealing both elements of poetic sadness and dark humour inherent to the many unfortunate conditions of human behaviour, Alison is found pondering over topics such as plastic surgery (”Clowns”) and cults (”Happiness”) throughout the course of the album.

The title Seventh Tree itself came to Alison in a cryptic dream. Visually and musically, the duo became particularly inspired by woodland imagery, as well as the symbol of the harlequin, a free-spirited and whimsical character found in traditional Italian theatre. These influences translate to an atmosphere on the album that feels elusive, wispy, and at times even day drunk.

“Clowns” introduces the sensory world of Seventh Tree with the record’s purest, most delicate folk song. Accompanied by faint swells of chamber strings over a steady and serene acoustic guitar riff, Alison Goldfrapp just barely enunciates her way through slurred, childlike speech, with similes about fake breast implants and clown balloons. The narrator here is almost certainly a little girl, failing to understand the reasons why an older woman would want to undergo surgery just in order to gain bigger breasts, thus emphasizing the blissful naivety of childhood that can never truly be recovered by an adult. More than any other track on the record, “Clowns” embodies the very essence of Seventh Tree, presenting a sylvan vignette that captures a very simple moment of human vulnerability.

The following track “Little Bird” introduces synthesized elements, starting off soft and sweet before blooming into a rippling display of psychedelic folktronica, with words inspired by the surrealist poetry of English artist Edward Lear.

“Happiness” is a carnival world of sunshine baroque pop appearing almost too picturesque, with stomping parades of dizzying horns and synths. The entire song presents a brilliantly perverse and whimsical satire of the ways in which cults advertise themselves in order to prey on lost and impressionable people. Alison’s promises of everlasting happiness are soft and enticing, but ultimately betrayed by the sinister undertones of her phrasing; you can practically visualize her forced smile and a morphine injection needle being clenched in the fist that she hides behind her back.

“Eat Yourself” sees Alison revisiting the vocal stylings of “Clowns” with a sauntering folk tune that reverberates like the footsteps of a gentle forest giant. Touching on feelings of loss, the title refers to one of the song’s only decipherable lines (without the use of liner notes), offering a particularly grim sentiment: “If you don’t eat yourself no doubt the pain will instead”.

Seventh Tree’s most sober undertaking is “Some People”, an indie pop carol that gradually forms a chiming ecosystem of sounds around a series of golden piano chords. It also serves as the definitive representation of the record’s central themes, listing off human vices and eccentricities with a listless, breezy attitude, as if the duo are accepting all of the good, the bad, and the strange things in the world.

And then, with all the stillness of an early morning mist, “A&E” merges with the listener’s imagination. A sentimental love song on its surface, this piece actually tells the story of a miserable, heartbroken woman who wakes up in a hospital bed, slowly remembering the details of the night before when she had attempted to overdose on pills and kill herself. It alll feels incredibly real and tangible, the way it so vividly captures the state of having a mental “reset” in the flow of the mind's stream of consciousness.

Precious few moments in music have ever struck me so profoundly as did the moment when I realized what kind of story Alison had been weaving on this track. With the brilliant execution of its concept in marriage with some the most crystal clear and subtly detailed production I have ever heard, this track earns the title of being my favourite Goldfrapp song. Altogether, “A&E” is a dreamy and sweetly cruel ballad that manages to embody the very zenith of story-telling through songwriting.

Things take a lighter turn for the last three tracks. “Cologne Cerrone Houdini” is an ornate psychedelic trip that pays musical homage to the sound of 60s hippie culture and the summer of love (as do many tracks here, to varying degrees).

Penultimate track “Caravan Girl” is a great big pop song celebrating wanderlust, with an insanely euphoric grand finale of exhilarating snare drums and a wave of soaring crisp bit-pop synthesizers, like 8bit butterflies flying across a 4k blue sky. Keyword for the production on that last part of the song is “orgasmic”.

Things are wrapped up quite nicely with “Monster Love”, an all-too-tender, folky dream pop serenade of mixed feelings that Alison Goldfrapp dedicates to her time on tour as an artist, particularly reflecting on her time in the glamorous but shallow world of Hollywood. It’s a very fitting ending; the song ties together the lyrical commentary and the musical spirit of Seventh Tree, retreating back into the ether with its closing lines “Everything comes around / Bringing us back again / Here is where we start / And where we end”.

Seventh Tree is my personal gold standard for an album listening experience. The record is its own masterclass in creating a diverse but cohesive sonic world, with songs that are varied but thematically linked, and with textural motifs that are revisited in many different ways over the course of the album. Will Gregory is a stellar lead producer; the man is clearly a master of detailed perfectionism, and this record in particular still sounds fucking immaculate 13 years later. Alison Goldfrapp herself proves that she is a wise and contemplative spirit with the beautiful voice of an immortal forest faerie.

On some days, this is my favourite record ever (the days when it isn’t that other one). Give this a listen if you haven’t already. Allow yourself to be cast in the verdant light and the mystifying shade of the towering Seventh Tree.

10/10

highlights: “A&E”, “Clowns”, “Happiness”, “Eat Yourself”, “Caravan Girl”, “Little Bird”, “Some People”, “Cologne Cerrone Houdini”, “Monster Love”, “Road To Somewhere” i.e. everything

Your Name (Kimi No Na Wa) - Review

To put it bluntly I watch a fair amount of anime, and Anime Youtubers as well for that matter. Mother’s Basement, Gigguk, Digibro, Exclamation Point (who deserves more subs to be honest), you name one: I’ll probably have watched them.

Recently one of them in particular, Gigguk, posted a video speaking about his own personal favourite anime film, the latterly released film “Your Name” (or otherwise known as “Kimi No Na Wa”), which was directed by Mikoto Shinkai. Of course, upon starting up the video, I was greeted with a spoiler warning, which understandably made me click off the video and gave me the urge to watch the film for myself.

Mikoto Shinkai is a name I’m definitely familiar with in the anime and film industry, primarily after watching his 2007 film “5 Centimetres Per Second”, which became one of my personal favourite films, mainly due to its bittersweet mood and the film’s main message of the harsh reality of “not knowing what you’ve got till it’s gone”, I felt spurred on even more to check his latest piece of work out.

First off let’s talk about the fairly obvious elephant in the room, the animation. By god, this film is breathtakingly beautiful. You can tell that Shinkai has put an almost extreme amount of effort into this film as each frame is bursting with colour and detail, specifically on buildings or natural landscapes. So much so that every single one would probably be adequate on your desktop background. Plus, there’s the very impressive tracking shot that flies off from Taki’s house in Tokyo between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, all the way out to Mitsuha’s home in Itomori. It’s a stunning shot and not only is it a complete marvel to watch, it also sells the in-movie distance between the two main characters. There’s another factor that also further improves the quality of the animation and that’s Shinkai’s usage of Licencing. Just as an example, in some of the scenes set in Tokyo during the film, a keen eye would notice that on certain buildings there are logos for such companies as Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba, the list goes on. This is how much Shinkai pays attention to the detail and it definitely pays off, immersing the viewer further into Your Name’s world.

Secondly, the best part of any film, the story – I’ll be covering the plot and characters of the film here.

The film begins from the perspective of Mitsuha Miyamizu, a high school girl living in the fictional Japanese rural town of Itomori. It’s apparent early on that Mitsuha isn’t keen on living a quiet life in the somewhat desolate town (or out in the boonies as the dub occasionally mentions) and wishes that she could be a handsome Tokyo boy in her next life. Enter Taki Tachibana, a high school boy working a small part time job at an Italian restaurant and living in Tokyo (what are the odds!). Suddenly and randomly every few days, the two swap bodies and are able to live out the other person’s life for a day (think of it a lot like Freaky Friday just not permanently). Thus, the two unanimously decide to work together to keep each other’s lives in check and also attempting to discover why both of them keep switching places, while also improving certain aspects within their lives (Mitsuha helps Taki to strike up a relationship with Miku Okudera, one of Taki’s co-workers, while Taki helps Mitsuha to become more popular at school).

I was considering going into practically extreme detail about the actual plot of the film but I realised that it would take up a large portion of the review and would (obviously) spoil the entire film. I’ll still be briefly mentioning certain characters or events that aren’t extremely important to the plot or that I haven’t mentioned so you may have to ya know, watch the actual film or follow the links below for the entire story overview.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Name#Home_media

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHEjDq9Lh1U

One of the main grabs of the film is that it is able to draw you in and can make the viewer really care for Taki, Mitsuha and their relationship with one-another. I’ve heard criticism of Taki and Mitsuha for being too simplistic and somewhat bland, but I would say that while you can’t call them perfect characters, to say that they are bad or mediocre would be just plain lying. They’re simplistic characters - because a majority of normal human beings are like that. Most people don’t have a hidden backstory or an underlying problem in their lives and don’t need to be incredibly complex characters in order to be good characters. The side characters are pretty good too, with Tessie being hot-headed, but friendly and understanding, and Miku being easy-going, yet thoughtful and likable. The actual story itself (which as I previously mentioned I won’t be spoiling here) is a genuinely heart-warming experience and the main twist of the film will definitely catch you off guard (trust me it’s very subtle and is revealed fantastically). The love story is also built up fantastically, and as Shinkai has done with his other films, he is able to accurately understand and portray a teenage romance, making it feel fairly natural and ordinary. The story and characters are comprehensively incredible (well to me anyway).

Next up, the soundtrack. This is a truly sublime soundtrack and the main songs of the film (“Dream Lantern”, “ZenZenZense”, “Sparkle”, etc) by Radwimps are stellar and match each scene perfectly both in mood and tone. Especially when you consider that the music was basically what shaped certain scenes of the film. Shinkai intentionally changed certain parts of the story / script to work around Radwimps’s music. This in turn helps to “supplement the dialogue and monologue of the characters” (to quote Shinkai himself). The music just syncs so well with the moments of the film and the soundtrack in general works wonders during the more emotional, awe-inspiring and light-hearted moments. Overall, a fantastic soundtrack.

Lastly, I’ll be going over the voice acting (subbed AND dubbed). And to be perfectly honest, both were pretty solid. While the dub’s no Cowboy Bebop (cause ya know every dub ever made has to be compared to Cowboy Bebop), Michael Sinterniklaas (Taki) and Stephanie Sheh (Mitsuha) put in a good shift with the exception of the odd occasional line coming across as slightly melodramatic, and (as much as I personally prefer dub to sub) the sub is of course as you’d typically expect pretty exceptional. Ryunosuke Kamiki (Taki) and Mone Kamishiraishi (Mitsuha) portray their characters and their emotions remarkably well. The side characters of both sub and dub are also fairly impressive and there is no specific actor / actress that could be pointed out as a weak point of the casting. The casting overall for both sub and dub was of the highest degree.

Final Word

Your Name was just…wow. This was a very surprising movie to me, as I hadn’t really set the film any kind of benchmark going into it and I haven’t really been a big fan of romance films over the course of my life. But Your Name has changed that for me. It’s heart-warming and charming, upbeat and dramatic, detailed and visually stunning…there’s just no perfect word to describe the film... asides from maybe beautiful. The characters are memorable and are portrayed fantastically, the animation and detail is immaculate, the story just clicks perfectly into place, it is a modern anime classic and is truly deserving of the records it has broken; even if Mikoto Shinkai disagrees with it. Just go see it. Trust me. You won’t regret anything.

Favourite Quote: “This feeling has possessed me when I think from that day...That day when the stars came falling. It was almost as if...as if a scene from a dream. Nothing more, nothing less...than a beautiful view.”

Story: 9/10

Characters: 9/10

Voice Acting: 8/10

Animation: 10/10

Soundtrack: 9/10

Overall: 9.5/10

Got any suggestions for what i should review next? Just send them to me via messages or via a post on the blog and ill see what i can do! Thanks for any and all support! :)

Clear Sky, 24°C

2 Chome-4-8 Ōmiya, Chūō-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka-ken 810-0013, Japan

Day 12 Universal Studios Japan - Osaka Maddy and Ville had decided to head to Kobe for the day, however Vicki had been most insistent that I visited USJ as their Halloween celebration was on and they have a zombie takeover of the whole park when night falls. With that in mind I had decided to head there on my own - however Naoko luckily managed to get the day off work so I had a friend with me, which made the day even better. Strangely, in Japan, at all convenience stores, you are able to buy tickets for the local attractions, so to avoid queues we managed to do this in the morning before catching a couple of trains over to USJ. Even before you make it into the park-proper the surrounding areas are all set up like an American-style city, surrounding you with Hollywood style restaurants and shops including Hard Rock Cafe. We headed into the park and I was not expecting it to be so immersive - the closest experience I can compare it to in the UK is Boomtown - with all the different areas built up perfectly to match their themes. A true 'theme' park. First up we headed to Jurassic Park for the Flying Dinosaur. This is a rollercoaster that is similar to 'Air' in Alton Towers in that you're lifted up so you are facing the floor, 'flying' round the track head first. It's also the only roller coaster I've ever been on with a full forward loop. Really good fun, and an amazing view of the park and surrounding areas. Onward to the Jurassic Park ride - I didn't realise that this was a water ride until we were nearly on the ride. It's a boat tour of Jurassic Park, complete with theme music and giant animatronic dinosaurs. Starts off pretty tame going past herbivores and such, before a fork in the road where a 'malfunction' occurs, taking you into an unauthorised area filled with carnivores jumping out at you from the dark recesses of the generator area, culminating with a giant T-Rex jumping out at you from above before a steep drop into the water below. How could we have made the same mistake as at Fuji-Q and gotten soaked feet (and everything else!) once again at the start of the day? Thankfully at this point the sun came out, and we dried off pretty quickly! Space Fantasy was an inside ride where you queued in a space port before being whisked round a track on a spinning space ship with amazing space visuals throughout. Next up was Hollywood Dream - a long rollercoaster with a personal soundsystem in every seat that you can choose the track on, with favourites such as Justin Timberlake and Pitbull... I stuck with the J-Pop they select for you! No loops, but a fun ride none-the-less, that covers half of the park - again with great views. We chilled in the park area for a bit and took in the views over the lake in the middle of the park - once again beautiful!📷 The Chucky horror maze was pretty scary, with Chucky staring at you menacingly and jumping out at every corner. Creepy and shocking in equal measures. Spiderman was another inside rollercoaster, however this one was in '4D'. You queue through the offices of the Daily Bugle, with J Jonah Jameson greeting you at every turn through smart quips on posters all throughout - most of them threatening you with being fired. The ride itself had you put on 3D glasses and travel through New York whilst Spiderman fought villains from the sewers to the rooftops, often with you being attacked with flames (shot with heat cannons), sprayed with water (self explanatory), or electrocuted (vibrating chairs). It ended with a huge drop off a building before inevitably being caught by Spiderman whilst he simultaneously tied up all the villains. A really novel experience being part 4D movie, part rollercoaster and part flight sim. We checked out the parade next, which included dancing Minions and Persian Dancers, amongst other things. We entered the Cyberdyne Systems offices next where we were taken on a tour by a presumably insane and fairly demanding Japanese woman who I'm sure from the reaction of the crowd (and my own intuition) was making loads of hilarious jokes - unfortunately I couldn't understand a thing and it was too fast paced for Naoko to translate for me. We were led into a demo of the new Terminator models. This was hacked by John and Sarah Connor (I presume) who then intruded on the demo. The T2000 then attacked and killed the Japanese lady and before long a Japanese Arnie had somehow appeared on a motorbike to save the day! This was also in 4D and I must admit I did struggle a bit with this as it was quite a long show and fully in Japanese. Still good fun, but frustrating as I think it would've been a real highlight as the acting throughout seemed stellar - I just couldn't understand it. Next we entered The Maze 3 - A Nightmare On Elm Street branded horror maze. This one we were split into groups and all forced to march through the Freddie themed maze slowly all holding onto a short rope. Whilst being fully immersive and a great representation of the series I didn't find this one quite as scary as the first, although there was one jump scare which got me - badly! Finally 6PM was nearing, so we chilled until the main event of the day... Zombies! As darkness fell the whole park was invaded by multiple kinds of zombies running round in packs. From chainsaw zombies, to mental patients, to twisted kids, big fatties 📷 and zombie midgets we were harassed and harangued by hordes of the undead and (badly) protected by SWAT teams whose idea of saving us seemed to be putting us into more precarious positions than before. There were multiple mobs of zombies throughout the park with set pieces such as: -A human being attacked on the bonnet of a car by a group of zombies led by a midget (all the while being attacked by zombies from behind as we crowded around to watch). -SWAT team leading park guests onto a bus before the bus was raided by zombies. -SWAT team leading guests (including us!) into a cage for 'protection' only for zombies to break down the door and chase us all out. -A zombie flash dance led by a hench tribally tattooed zombie. -A zombie woman locked in a cage with other zombies joining her before they started feasting on something out of sight at the front of the cage... When we approached we were sprayed with blood (water!). -A little girl zombie stood on a podium maniacally laughing with a teddy bear. All in all there must've been around 20 types of different zombies, each with their own personalities, looks and sounds. Amazing immersion and acting. What an experience! Thanks Vicki for convincing me that I had to go. Taking respite from the Zombies we headed to The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. After a short walk through the grounds of Hogwarts, including a quick pass by of the Weasley's abandoned car, we were into a real-life Hogsmeade. It was absolutely incredible, with all the shops represented well, such as Zonko's Joke Shop, Honeydukes, The Hog's Head, .Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, Dervish and Bangs and so on. Again the immersion and style was spot on with Hogwarts Castle illuminated in the background. I was shocked to realise that we could walk all the way up to Hogwarts 📷 and inside it. Truly a sight to behold at night! Inside the castle we passed through all the sights including a classroom (unsure which), Dumbledore's office (complete with Dumbledore hologram), The Great Hall and up the staircase - complete with unsettling pictures where some would occaisionally subtly move, some would speak to you and even the ones that didn't had eyes that seemed trained on you at all times - I can't stress how cool this was as they appeared to be real paintings but were animated in a such a convincing way that you still thought them to be paintings despite the animation. Next up was The Forbidden Journey - another 4D rollercoaster in the same vein as Spiderman, however this one was half animation, half real models and took us all around the grounds of Hogwarts including The Chamber of Secrets, The Triwizard Tournament and a game of Quidditch. No sign of He Who Must Not Be Named, but plenty of Dementors causing all sorts of mischief before being Expecto Patronum'd away by Harry, just before he caught the Golden Snitch. I'm really running out of superlatives to describe how awesome this was! As we came out of Hogwarts suddenly the castle was illuminated by a blueish light. Harry, Ron and Hermione appeared as did another student - unsure which due to the half English, half Japanese dialogue. Suddenly there were Dementors flying all over the castle, before one attacked the nameless student on the roof with the Dementor's kiss. Many Patronuses were cast before they all joined as one to finally get rid of the Dementors for good. The nameless student was somehow alright as well - not sure how they got away with that one! A quick trip to look over Hogwarts Lake (again, amazing view of the castle), before we headed through the zombie horde once again to ride the Flying Dinosaur one last time before leaving the park We ended up grabbing Takoyaki for dinner📷 , this time with many different toppings - I somehow managed to eat 16 this time, quite a feat! Naoko also showed me the correct way to use chopsticks (post included picture) finally! We hopped on the train back and said our goodbyes - hopefully we'll meet again one day!

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Reflecting on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

Please click “Keep Reading” to view my concluding thoughts on Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Unfiltered spoilers inside.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is, simply put, a narrative masterpiece. One of those once-in-a-decade stories. But before I sing its praises, I feel I'd best get my complaints out of the way first thing. They're all laughably petty, as far as complaints go, and I'd hate to leave this reflection off on a sour note.

1: For how important he was, I felt Alphonse's role was too small. He had a very interesting mini-arc about his identity early on, but after that, he was very passive. He took the support role in both dialogue and combat. Though, he did have what is probably the show's single biggest "fuck yeah!" moment all to himself when he turned the tables on Pride and Kimblee. I dunno, maybe I was just hoping for FMA:B to be "The Edward and Alphonse show ft. a ton of cool characters." But it was actually "The Edward show ft. Hohenheim, Alphonse, and a ton of cool characters."

2: Let's be real. Trying to dethrone God and take their place is just about as cliche an anime/JRPG plot you can get. It was a bit underwhelming, but this complaint is completely dwarfed by the fact that the whole narrative I'm about to exclaim love for is written closely around it, and the fact that the villain actually succeeded (briefly).

3: I wish that one of the show's biggest twists, the Country-Wide Transmutation Circle, wasn't revealed so early. Though the plot certainly had some out-of-nowhere reveals (that always made logical sense when they happened), most were foreshadowed or hinted at. But around episode 20, Dr. Marcoh dropped a guess about the plan to sacrifice Amestris, just... out of nowhere. Looking back, I can't help but think it would have been so much better if we first saw the Xerxes flashback story, then learned about Father's plan for Amestris. It would have been a gut-punch double threat. But by the time we did see the Xerxes story, we were well familiar with the concept. We could have been surprised at the same time as "young" Hohenheim. We could have felt that "oh shit!" feeling when we learned it was about to be repeated on a larger scale. But we didn't.

4: Lack of side character screentime. This may actually be a compliment in disguise, because I'm complaining that the characters I really loved weren't around enough! Danny Brosh, Maria Ross, Barry, Alex Armstrong, Sheska, Jean Havoc, Izumi and Sig Curtis, Ling Yao (who disappeared for a chunk of the show, and then when his body was on-screen, half the time he wasn't actually there, if you get what I'm saying)... I guess too much screentime for some of them would have made them grating or tiresome. But as trickle-fed novelties, I ended up loving the characters and just wanting more. More of everything!

5: It's understandable why this happened, as the second half of the show is incredibly grim and serious, but I found myself sorely missing the humor found in the earlier episodes. There was a new joke every minute, once. By the end of the show we were lucky to get one joke in an entire episode. Again, completely understandable, maybe even necessary. But I still missed the humor... because pretty much every joke landed for me.

Um. That's it. That's all the complaining I have in me. Literally every negative thing I feel about this legendary show. Let's get to the good stuff, shall we?

This story. This story is just... it's just mind boggling. It had the illusion that every little detail was planned out from the start. It juggled over 30 important characters and plenty more in lesser roles with breakneck pacing that never felt too rushed (outside the first three episodes). And let me tell you, I am just sitting in stunned awe as I think back about every single nuance. Every major character was admittedly fairly simple, but it is perhaps this very simplicity that makes them so understandable, likable, and sympathetic. Nearly everyone had only one character trait and a very clearly defined goal from the outset of their introduction... The beauty was seeing these various traits bounce off each other and seeing how the characters got to their goal.

This was not a story where characters changed and grew. I think this story was about how the characters fought hard not to be changed. Ed and Al were tempted to drop their morals, and they didn't. Hohenheim was tempted to hate himself, and he didn't. Winry was tempted to take a life, and she didn't. Mustang and Scar were changed-- into monsters-- and were pulled back from the abyss by their friends. It... genuinely feels like everyone was mostly the same person at the start and end of the story. And somehow, it actually all works. Though, saying this sounds a bit silly because Truth scolded Father for not changing... Oh well.

Moving from the macro to the micro, let's talk about the tiny little details. There were so many elements introduced that seemed innocuous and unimportant, but were actually extremely important. Edward's short height, the butt of many early jokes, was because his body was sustaining Alphonse's. The motion of clapping hands to form a Circle out of your body, a "gift" from God, looked like praying. Havoc's family business ending up being a munitions store. The creepy tubes beneath Central, which I didn't even think to question, ended up being the pumps that fuel the Mannequin Army. As I said, it feels like every single remote detail of this grand story was planned from the very beginning. From the small to the large, it all feels so complete. There's not a single part of me wishing something was more fleshed out (aside from wanting more screentime for my favorite characters, of course).

Indeed, I'll be fondly remembering and respecting this show's narrative and characters for a long, long time to come. It started strong, stayed strong, and though it may have slowed its pace at the start of the Briggs arc, it never faltered in its step. Best of all, it even delivered a very satisfying ending. So satisfying. So happy and perfect and sweet it almost made me diabetic.

Let's wrap things up with what's left, shall we? Thinking hard, I can't exactly recall most of the background music in the show. There were one or two standouts, but... Well, I guess none of the songs were jarring or displeasing, but all the same I can't exactly praise them. They were... serviceable. Yeah. Though, I do really like most of the OP and ED songs! They all grew on me more and more, and a few I still can't get out of my head.

Then there's the animation! My goodness, the animation! For an anime of this length, I was blown away by the effort put in to make all the important fight scenes look damn good. And damn, did they look good. This show had some stellar fight choreography, even with the more fantastical magic powers, and I won't lie when I say I immediately went back to re-watch a few fights the moment I had finished a liveblog session.

Well then. That's everything, I think.

I guess there's only one more thing I have to say.

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has succeeded Gurren Lagann as my favorite anime of all time.

In the hopefully long-running lifespan of my blog, I expect that no show will ever top the final score I've allotted FMA:B. By averaging all scores, I calculate the final score of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood to be a stunning 9.3/10!

Experiencing this show was an absolute pleasure. But even better was taking this journey with you guys.

Thanks for reading.

Some thoughts on every single disney animated feature film I've currently seen

-Snow White: This movie is nowhere near as boring as I expected it to be, but still pretty boring. Its technical innovations are incredible within context but it truly couldn't capture my attention whatsoever. The only reason I watched it is because I had to write a paper about it.

-Pinocchio: Clunky. There was a logic at the time at disney that the movies would more or less be a series of related cartoons tied together with a through-line and this is very much that. While it is still a cohesive narrative, it's very much a series of events rather than a story.

-Dumbo: More of a narrative here, but still very disjointed. The animation is good and it has much more personality since it's more or less a contemporary setting, but outside of the famous pink elephants sequence, it's not much.

-Bambi: This is what I'd consider to be the first truly cohesive story from disney's feature. This movie is truly phenomenal and well earned its way into the canon of epics. Bambi's journey from young fawn to prince of the forest is beautiful and moving. The jokes about dead moms only stick because this movie is just that good.

-Saludos Amigos: The first of the package films. Doesn't hold a candle to the superior Three Caballeros but still incredible in its own right. It's short enough to do a double feature with Three Caballeros so that's how I recommend viewing it.

-The Three Caballeros: Now THIS is what I'm talking about! The finale gets due recognition for being truly one of the best pieces of animation to come out of disney, but everything up to it is still pretty incredible. Horny donald is the best donald and I love the flying serape sequence.

-Melody Time: This one's very disjointed but Pecos Bill is one of the best and funniest shorts disney's ever made. I highly recommend at least watching just that segment.

-The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad: Sleepy Hollow's disney adaptation is the much more famous half of this feature but in reality, it's got practically nothing to do with the headless horseman. Mr Toad however, is truly phenomenal as an epic crime thriller that will keep you in suspense. I know that sounds like a joke but truly it's not. Go watch it.

-Cinderella: Boring

-Alice in Wonderland: Also boring

-Lady and the Tramp: I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this one. It's fun, cute, and even funny at times. It really drops the ball in the finale, but for the most part, this romantic comedy is a real gem and definitely holds up. I recommend to kids and adults alike.

-Sleeping Beauty: It's wild how contemporary this one feels. The first half is a teen romantic comedy about mistaken identity and sneaking away from strict parents to get some time with your secret crush, but the second half falls apart with its focus on action instead of the characters. Special shout out to the incredible colors and moving tapestry art style which is great throughout.

-One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Again, surprisingly contemporary. Disney's first foray into the 1960s gives us a fun romp with memorable characters and gorgeous animation that feels down to earth compared to the more fantasy driven works of before.

-The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: Is Pooh disney's greatest character? That's hard to say but I wouldn't disagree with someone that thinks so. Cute, fun, and funny, this movie is truly a warm blanket. For as much as we give shit to sickly sweet disney, this movie doesn't pretend to be anything but a small little story of cute characters. The surprisingly somber ending will leave you more contemplative than you expected, but still content to have spent time in the hundred acre wood.

-The Little Mermaid: I am always saddened to remember that this movie doesn't hold up as much as I wish it did. For every memorable song or character moment, there's a piece of clunky animation or just plain weird dialogue. It's so clear the studio was trying to get back on its feet. This first step pushes forward, but not where it needs to be.

-Beauty and the Beast: A slow first act leads to a truly phenomenal second and third. A triumph in animation, songwriting, and the studio itself. Far more nuance and beauty in this story than detractors like to claim. Well deserving of its nomination.

-Aladdin: It's not a heartfelt movie with some laughs, it's a comedy with some heart. Great action sequences, stellar animation, and just plain fun. After the regal romance of beast a year earlier, Aladdin's vegas style romp is a welcome addition to a studio that often takes itself way too seriously

-The Lion King: Like with bambi, this coming of age story deserves all the praise it gets. Incredible music, awe inspiring animation, and a tight storyline with memorable characters make this movie worth watching over and over again.

-Pocahontas: Maybe the most contrived, try hard, fucking boring movie the studio has ever made. Almost unwatchable.

-The Hunchback of Notre Dame: I am always shocked to find out this movie isn't a beloved classic. Truly incredible art and an amazing score/soundtrack make this one an instant classic to me. If you haven't watched it since childhood, give it another shot.

-Hercules: If it was just funny and had good music this one would be good, but it also has some of disney's best characters and a beautiful story of dueling world views.

-Mulan: Would've been a 10/10 if it weren't for fucking Mushu which makes it a seven to me. Otherwise, a fun, story with great music and truly epic action scenes.

-Tarzan: Often considered the weakest of the renaissance, this adventure about identity and family features a great (if too in your face) phil collins soundtrack with truly amazing animation innovation being displayed.

-The Emperor's New Groove: It's not funny.

-Atlantis: The Lost Empire: I truly can't think of a single bad thing about this movie. Incredible art, one of disney's best scores, and a story that will keep you captivated on its adventure. This movie is near perfect.

-Lilo & Stich: I once heard someone say this is disney's best film and I'm inclined to agree. The gorgeous water color backgrounds and Chris Sanders' beautiful character design play out a beautiful story that reflects a story of two abandoned children, with nuance about colonization to boot. Hawaiian Rollercoaster Ride might be the best original disney song too.

-Treasure Planet: Such a hit or miss movie. Amazing action set pieces, but contrived characters. A phenomenal score, but a terrible soundtrack. This might be the most studio noted film disney's done and it's all the worse for it.

-Brother Bear: Not perfect by any means, but the beautiful animation and even more beautiful backgrounds are worth a look. The story is a little too basic and a little too predictable, reeking of white writers.

-Chicken Little: This is the first time I realized movies could be bad.

-Meet the Robinsons: Your nostalgia lied to you.

-The Princess and the Frog: Way too many cooks in the kitchen. Everything is good, but it's all a little muddled. It's a shame to because Tiana deserves better.

-Tangled: Like with mermaid, this return to form isn't perfect but it moves the studio forward. Rapunzel and Flynn are great characters and the subtle tweaking of the "formula" show the studio's willingness to innovate.

-Winnie the Pooh: Cute, but a very pleasant, fine movie. Worth watching.

-Wreck-It Ralph: I applaud this one for being so different. Lots of comedy here and a far better response to dreamworks than chicken little ever was.

-Frozen: Unfortunately, this movie is worth the hype. Is it amazing? No, but it's certainly very good. It's easy to see why this was the phenomenon it became.

-Big Hero 6: One of many in the series of attempt for disney to do an action movie. This superhero coming of age is definitely one of the better superhero stories not explicitly based on a comic, but it still feels like a comic book themed movie rather than a story that truly connects to the media that inspires it.

-Zootopia: Nowhere near as poignant as it wants to be, but plenty of fun with a great score by Michael Giacchino.

-Moana: Easily the best of the new princesses and a damn shame that it hasn't gotten the recognition it deserves. Moana's stellar animation and blast of a soundtrack create a beautiful film that's perfect for young girls. Seemingly a stealth remake of mermaid by the original directors, this one deserves to be a classic.

-Ralph Breaks the Internet: A surreal comedy from disney with a weak story but certainly some story innovations you wouldn't expect from the company. Watch it if only to see something you'd never expect the studio to do.

-Frozen 2: A surprisingly lore driven film that I really didn't expect. Probably the closest thing the company has done to a lord of the rings style story in recent years and I'm excited to see what this potential leads to next.

-Raya and the Last Dragon: Rips off way too much from Last Airbender in a way that is never bad, but man it gets kinda borings. Can't focus on any one thing unfortunately.

cxc.

1. Your first OC ever? >> Technically, my first ever OC was probably a teenage girl named Clarissa, or an Earth-loving (in the time of moon habitats) young man named Eden, or a moon-dwelling girl named Deirdre Halloran, or Aidan Quinn or any of the other characters from my Beauty and the Beast rewrite... because I made up all these guys when I was still in single-digit age and continued to develop them throughout middle school. Although that development didn’t get very far, because back then I knew way less about how to write humans than I do now.

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs? >> I have too many OCs to have an actual favourite.

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else? >> Darya, a friend from my early RPing days, let me ‘adopt’ one of the lesser-known (amongst our circle) members of her Katin clan -- Mikhail -- once. I don’t think I got to play him much at all, but it was still flattering enough to be entrusted with one of them in the first place.

4. A character you rarely talk about? >> All of them????? Except the fandom ones.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?  >> Eh, that’s quite all right.

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related? >> A lot of my characters probably look alike because I gravitate towards certain physical traits. I can’t think of two particularly stellar examples off the top of my head, though.

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories? >> Some of them are. The Bayou Devils crew is part of a kinda urban fantasy-ish nWOD-based thing I was going to write. The Anathema was part of a very formulaic urban fantasy story I’d written last decade that I sometimes fantasise about overhauling and rewriting... except I’m not sure I can take the Anathema out of that particular formulaic urban fantasy mold without having to do away with everything about them.

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here! >> I roleplay a fandom OC, Anand, who’s based in the Dragon Age fandom but is meant to be compatible with a wide array of fandoms. He’s not really fully formed. I’d planned on fleshing him out during the act of RP.

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else? >> Sure. I’m a storyteller, not a hoarder.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?  >> Er... I’m not sure how to answer this.

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?  >> Like, someone with a really sunny disposition? Dax Kessler is a bit like that. But he’s a mutant, so there’s also the fact that if he’s attached to you, he will literally hulk out and destroy anything that even looks like it’s trying to hurt you. ...That’s ideal, right? An attentive, good-humoured six-foot-seven genetically-modified mutant? Hell, I’d take it.

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot >> Dmitri Katin. He’s Darya’s and I love him to death. I love him like I love my own self. I would kill for Dima.

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?  >> Do I have any OCs that aren’t troublemakers...? They pretty much all are, in some way or another. I’ll pick one, though... Severin Sane. He runs a bar called the Church of Ill Repute, where everyone calls him ‘Reverend’, and he’s a vampire. That all just sounds like trouble, doesn’t it. Well, it totally is.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory  >> Siobhan Caine was born of an archangel and an archdemon, making her a very potentially-powerful nephil but also making her incredibly cursed by both factions. She was under a spell of forced celibacy for a good few centuries. It sucked. At some point she became the Mistress of a faction of darkling creatures in a particular region, House Umbra, and after some time she met this one particularly powerful and particularly determined darkling who was determined to break her curse. He did, long story short, and the Seraph who’d cursed her punished them both, but it was a short-lived punishment, and so they got complacent. Until the Seraph came back and took her away from House Umbra, and the region it was a part of was destroyed... presumably by archdemons.

Like, her story was so fucked that it’s mostly the reason I don’t use her anymore. Where do you even go from there...?

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people? >> Of course. Let’s share.

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)? >> Oh, I don’t know. 

17. Any OC OTPs?  >> Logan Iritian’s first and strongest love is always gonna be Siran Kezerian, who’s another one of Darya’s. We had a lot of OTPs amongst our children.

18. Any OC crackships?  >> I don’t know.

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why) >> Man. I don’t know. They all mean a lot to me. I guess I’ll go with Doyle... well, he’s not Doyle anymore, he’s Rhys mac Keltar, because he got all his memories back and he doesn’t have to live by a borrowed name anymore. He was the first character I played in Legion of Darkness, the RP group that I met Darya in way back in 2009, and he’s gone through so much in that group. He was very loved, though, by everyone. I remember I killed him off because I needed to free up a character slot for a Faction Leader I wanted to introduce... and I immediately realised what a mistake I made because I was so distraught afterward. So the staff all made an executive decision to increase the number of character slots for staff, and thereby enable me to get Doyle back. <3 Good times. Real good times.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)? >> A lot of them do, yeah. For example, Danny Aubrey, whose musical style (and personal aesthetic, honestly) is based on Volbeat. He’s also part divine, so his voice can project to an astounding degree. That’s very helpful.

21. Your most artistic OC >> Just gonna do what I’ve been doing and name an OC at random (I have so many that inevitably there are multiple that fit a question, ok, and I’m not even using fandom OCs for this!). 

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?  >> No? I don’t know how they would get an opportunity to do that.

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like? >> Mistral Vane was originally a formidable giant of a demigod, a physical representation of the eternal storm... but I had him sacrifice a piece of his divinity to become human-passing, so I could use him in more RP groups. There just wasn’t a lot of playing room for a freakishly huge avatar of electricity, you know?

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why? >> Any of them. All of them.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?) >> I really don’t think I have any blatantly obvious self-inserts.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?  >> Why on earth would I have to do that?

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?  >> Danny Aubrey, whom I mentioned earlier, was inspired by Danny & Lucy (11PM) by Volbeat. Part of his backstory reflects it, as does the fact that his musical style is based off the same band.

28. Your most dangerous OC?  >> Logan Iritian is pretty dangerous, considering he’s the avatar to the pure undistilled entity Ira, or Wrath (hence his name). The thing is, he hates being the Iritian. He was the Avaritian (when he hosted Avarice) once, and that was only marginally better. I think if I write him again, he’ll probably be the Luxurian (give you a hint what sin-entity that’d make him the host of), which was kind of fun to write him as for the brief time that I did.

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going? >> Dane Skjöld. He’s always been a shade too curious. That’s how he got trapped in a house ‘haunted’ by one of my more frightening OCs, VII, who almost eviscerated him. Luckily, Dane’s twin, Thorin, came through and saved his bacon. He got away with just a brand (the numeral “VII”, of course).

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?  >> Seth. Ramesses Set Khaldun is very sensual, as in they love being touched and touching nice things. He’d love being surrounded by stuffed animals. Just one nude blissed-out incubus buried in a mountain of enormous plushies from F.A.O. Schwartz. <3

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really) >> Domenico Sauvageon would have one of those dolce-vita-lifestyle type blogs, with the fancy foods and luxury items and headless men in suits. He’d have a three-column layout with a Louis Vuitton-inspired background and his own face as his icon. But he’d also sometimes make really useful and informative posts about fashion and makeup and how to pair your wines and shit, and he’s only a snob in that he prefers the finest things -- he doesn’t snub people who can’t access those things. In fact, he loves to share. He’ll spoil you until you end up a snob just like him.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?  >> I don’t know enough about horror games to answer this. VII would make a great horror game antagonist, though, I’m sure. It’s got a bit of a Silent Hill vibe about it.

33. Your shyest OC? >> Rhys mac Keltar. Or Silas Carmichael, who can’t speak and who is very self-conscious about it.

34. Do you have any twin characters? >> Thorin and Dane, mentioned earlier. They’re... uh, also quite Lannister about it. But I’ll just leave it at that...

35. Any sibling characters?  >> Danny Aubrey has a sister, Lydia. Acheron Cruor Dane has a sister, Isolde -- but I don’t use Isolde much as an OC in her own right.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?  >> I can’t remember any that were made specifically for that, but I have plenty that turned out that way after the fact.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human  >> Oh my god, almost every character I’ve discussed in this survey has been nonhuman, or at least augmented-human.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?  >> Seth. He’s a very good and very hypnotising belly dancer.

39. Introduce any character you want  >> I’ll introduce one if someone sends me an ask with a letter in it. I’ll pick a character whose name begins with that letter or the closest letter.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share! >> This whole survey is fond memories, lol.

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!) >> People have drawn fandom OCs of mine, but none of these guys.

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?  >> Well, Danny -- Daniel Apollonius Aubrey, whose lineage includes a Greek god. Also, Zion. He’s fascinated by mythology, despite the fact that he’s a Judaic angel.

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess >> Sure. I like ‘em tall, dark-skinned, long-haired, and nonhuman/superhuman.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general >> I don’t know. I’m very attached to them all. They were so much fun to conjure, and they hold so many possible stories in their existence.

45. A character you no longer use? >> There are a lot of those-- OCs I created specifically for a certain RP group that have no real use elsewhere, OCs that never got developed enough for me to care about keeping them, OCs that were just too tropey for me to even bother with. There’s a veritable OC graveyard in the back of my mind.

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly? >> I don’t think so, no. Sometimes I did, though. I try to be fairer to them these days.

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?  >> Probably.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure >> No such thing. I make monsters. Gods and monsters, one and all. Even my nice guys are monsters (Logan, for example, who’s the most affable and loyal guy imaginable, is a high-ranking demon).

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes >> Logan would fucking love them. Except he’d be the obnoxious guy to send you memes you’ve already seen a thousand times, but he just saw for the first time. Because he’s slow on the uptake. 

The Top 20 One Page Websites from 2016

Below are my Top 20 picks out of the 485 One Pagers I reviewed last year. There is no ranking order but each is given a reason why I think it was worthy of a Top 50 placement.

Deciding factors were of course the quality of the One Page website but a few are included due to the huge amount of social sharing they received.

Hope you get your inspiration topped up to create something beautiful in 2017:)

Cheers, Rob

Quick shout out to Bluehost – who is our official Round Up sponsor.

Bluehost is the most affordable hosting option to host your One Page websites. They have an incredible $2.95/month deal exclusive for One Page Readers where you can host your website with 50GB diskspace and unlimited bandwidth. They also throw in a free domain!

A Bear’s-Eye View of Yellowstone (Long-Form Journalism)

Incredible long scrolling One Pager that takes us on a journey with 4 bears as they navigate the heart of Yellowstone, as seen from the bears’ own point of view. Yes, there is a footer site navigation that we don’t normally allow (as this makes the website technically multiple-page). But what an excellent reference to a Long-form Journalism website – a big trend in digital publications that we’re seeing much more of. Make sure you read the case-study by Hello Monday that dives deep in the build. Stellar work by them.

Launch Website Full Review

Keep Portland Weird (Experimental)

Wonderfully fun One Pager having a laugh at the items we’ll need to “keep Portland weird” if there ever was an earthquake. One of those sites debatable if it’s a true One Pager but the transitions are just gorgeous and absolutely seamless. Excellent work by the Oblio team.

Launch Website Full Review

Seedlip (Product)

Absolute jaw-dropping design in this One Pager promoting ‘Seedlip’ – the world’s first non-alcoholic spirits. The Single Page website is built into the Shopify framework with a slick off-canvas shopping cart integration. There is so much to love in this site; the whitespace, the stunning product shots (not to mention that branding), the cocktail recipe slider with downloadable PDF and this complementary typography blend of ‘Brown’ and ‘Baskersville’ fonts. Possibly the most gorgeously designed One Pager we’ve featured this year. Top work this by Rotate° from London!

Launch Website Full Review

Navigating Responsibly (Case Study, Informational)

Incredible parallax scrolling One Pager providing information on what Danish Shipowners are doing to help with environmental and climate challenges. So much to love in this Single Page site but highlights are definitely that mobile navigation load animation, the stunning big typography and that seriously gorgeous load transition of the off-canvas case studies. Top work this by Danish digital agency, Spring/Summer.

Launch Website Full Review

Resn (Portfolio)

Phenomenal One Page website for New Zealand based digital agency, Resn. The Single Page website starts with 6 unique sections where you hold your cursor down to load the interactive animations. Each incredibly impressive. Clicking top-right reveals the menu where you navigation swiftly to their work. The transitions are gorgeous and overall execution just top drawer.

Launch Website Full Review

Rogie (Portfolio)

Dazzling One Page portfolio literally bursting with color for designer/dev, Rogie. The Single Page website has so much flavor including an intro confetti animation, a colorful background wavy gradient (that moves!) and a beautifully slick portfolio arrangement that slides projects into a central device. Final little shout-out to this awesome use of an .ie domain:)

Launch Website Full Review

Cybeer Bar

Oh man, just when you thought you’d seen it all. Digital agency Leavingstone have created this fun interactive One Pager that digitally pours a beer – using your phone. Yup, you have to see it to believe it. If you’re reading this on your mobile, here is a video demo. Looking forward to the fun future when we’ll be interacting more with websites like this.

Launch Website Full Review

Structure (Event)

Beautiful minimal design in this unique One Pager for an upcoming exhibition in Milan called ‘Structure’. Love big typography (and font choice) and what a fun feature where you can drag around most the content within the page.

Launch Website Full Review

24 Lever Street (Accommodation)

What a gorgeous colorful One Pager filled with fun character animations representing ’24 Lever Street’. The long scrolling Single Page website features a tall illustrated building showcasing which tenants occupy each floor of ’24 Lever Street’ along with the vacancies. Lovely collaborative work this by Nine Sixty & True North digital agencies from UK.

Launch Website Full Review

56 (Portfolio)

Great vibe portrayed in this long scrolling One Page portfolio for Toronto-based design studio, 56. Couple really nice touches in this site; the initial load transitions with the 3D hover sensitive background pattern, the hand icon that changes direction as you scroll up and down, the whole site color scheme adaption to align with the current project you’re browsing, the funny tagline that randomly changes and the META title tag that keeps changing it’s algorithm but always equals to 56:)

Launch Website Full Review

2016 Make Me Pulse (Announcement, Experimental)

Incredible interactive One Pager by digital agency, Make Me Pulse, wishing you a successful 2016. The effects are mind blowing and an excellent reference to how far we’ve gone since Flash died.

Launch Website Full Review

Plane—Site (Portfolio)

Gorgeous 3D shape animations and unique transitions in this colorful One Pager for Berlin based digital agency, Plane—Site. The Single Page website features lots of info but still feels uncluttered through it’s minimal design approach. Excellent work this by Ben Roth and Owen Hoskins.

Launch Website Full Review

Sonikpass (Application, Landing Page, Launching Soon)

Slick One Pager with gorgeous transitions promoting ‘Sonikpass’ – a new “passwordless” security solution. This landing page actually links out to a TypeForm that gathers info about your business before you begin.

Launch Website Full Review

100 Years of National Parks (Informational)

Centrally-divided layout in this excellent One Pager taking a look back at 100 years of the National Parks Service. Such a lovely touch with the SVG “contour” load animations within the big numbers. Also choosing the Geogrotesque font for an outdoor-themed website is a perfect example of adding x-factor. Great job Dallas and cheers for the build notes.

Launch Website Full Review

Skylark (Experimental, Portfolio)

Stunning One Pager for ‘Skylark’ – a series of concept homes designed for the ‘Blue Ridge Mountains’. There are lovely little touches throughout this Single Page website like the background contour load transition in the Residencies section. Also make sure you check out the Landscape image slider, gorgeous stuff.

Launch Website Full Review

7 Tests for Gaucher Disease Management (Informational)

Gorgeously designed informational One Pager to educate patients and physicians about Gaucher Disease management best practices. Awesome addition providing a PDF checklist for users to download, as well as email sign up functionality for annual reminders. Respect.

Launch Website Full Review

10×16 (Music Related, Experimental)

Exceptional One Page website for 10×16 – a fun collaborative project where you could follow as 19 designers countdown their top 10 albums of 2016, each with reimagined cover art. The transitions are beautiful and the minimalist artwork redesigns are just gorgeous. A lovely touch how the website background color changes to correlate with the current artwork you’re browsing.

Launch Website Full Review

Best Friends Forever (Portfolio)

Gorgeous big imagery in this parallax scrolling One Pager for Melbourne-based design studio, Best Friends Forever. The awesome SVG illustrations and animations (by Sean Morris) bring so much character to the portfolio. Also a great references to a quality team section – especially the additional founder section further down that animates. We forget how important building trust is for when potential clients browse our portfolios.

Launch Website Full Review

The Wedding of Jessica and Brennan (Wedding)

Beautiful long scrolling One Pager announcing the wedding of Jessica and Brennan – both designers of course. The Single Page website features a parallax scrolling rose-overlay that’s perfectly subtle with no parallax on text. There is also good whitespace, lovely typography and last little shoutout to that navigation “roll out” animation, awesome stuff.

Launch Website Full Review

THIS (Portfolio)

Lovely parallax scrolling with big beautiful typography in this One Pager for German digital agency, THIS. The Single Page website intro features an impressive hover-sensitive parallax effect with the array of devices. Other features include a unique fixed right navigation, a very slick client logo (vertical) scroller and ends with a big footer with subtle map background and a looping video of the office space. (We’ve also just added the footer to our Big Footer Web Design references.)

Launch Website Full Review

What a ride! Enjoyed the Round Up? Help share the inspiration:

by Rob Hope via One Page Love http://ift.tt/2kI8sXL