Post by Bytor on Dec 4, 2012 17:25:44 GMT -5
-Details-
Genre: Drama
Company: Madhouse Studios
Format: 26 episodes
Dates: 6 Oct 2004 – 30 Mar 2005
-Visuals- 9.2/10
I have read a few reviews of these show in which the reviewer absolutely destroyed the animation while praising the characters. I'm not 100% sure I understand this thought process. Yes, the animation could have been better although it looked nice enough the vast majority of the time. It is a more realistic looking anime so maybe some of the reviewers felt that detracted from it's visual aspect as it features pretty much none of the traditional anime visualizations. And yes, at times it did appear that the artists got bored and either drew still scenes or worse yet drew some extremely sloppy renditions of some of the characters. Having said I didn't care. I felt the characters and story was so good I could have been watching stick figures, although i admit that would have made Maho a LOT less fun to look at
-Characters- 9.8/10
Let's skip the superlatives. Koyuki is the perfect young dreamer with no direction in life. Ryusuke is the artistic genius whose quest of perfection rules him. Maho is the strong girl whose heart is simply waiting to be swept away. Chiba is comic relieve and glad to be a part of something. Taira and Saku are the calming, responsible influences on the rest. What makes this all work so well is the development and personalities. Only 26 episodes and I felt I not only knew each main character but I also felt I had become friends with them all. Simply wonderful, wonderful characters portrayed in a wonderful show.
PS OMG Saito...ya just gotta meet Saito!
-Story- 9.5/10
This starts out as a rather innocuous story and develops into something a bit more serious, but at the same time it remains true to it's roots which is basically a story about growing up, pursuing dreams and dealing with adversity while attempting to do both. The stroy centers on Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka, a young high school student who seems to have little going for him and little ambition to try and find what might be "going for him", that is until he meets Ryusuke "Ray" Minami, an incredible guitar player who's sole ambition is to form the ultimate band. The development and interactions between the two is portrayed awesomely and the struggles they face I found to be a wonderful tale. I know many reviewers find this a cautionary tale about the music industry but I disagree, I found it to be a wonderful slice of life show about the hopes and dreams of struggling musicians (public disclaimer: I knew a band just like this one when I was in High School, so perhaps I empathized more than some might) and their attempts to balance love and real life with their dreams.
-Overall- 9.5/10
I am going to be, for me, relatively short. I went into this with little expectations, and the ones I did have were based on mixed reviews. This show reminds me of one of my favorite sayings, disagreeing with me on my opinion doesn't make you wrong, it just makes you freaking stupid, lol, And seriously, my opinion is that this is an awesome show. Perhaps if you never experienced the garage band phase in school you might not like this as much, but even then I simply cannot imagine anyone not at least enjoying this wonderful anime!
