Jeoffrey

Pom Poko is another production by Studio Ghibli that dazzled me, and in the first few minutes, the opening song put a genuine smile on my face. I managed to keep that smile on my face for most of the movie, and sometimes I even gave a hearty laugh. The animation is simply wonderful, and the narrative rolls along at a relaxing pace and is quite witty, and so are the main protagonists, who I thought were pretty good. Even though they are fighting a brave but not very equal battle with people, you cannot help but root for them.

I guess I am very weird because I enjoyed this anime series very much. Of course, I can understand everyone who says it is complete crap because those people are sort of right, although even insane stuff with a weird sense of humor will suit someone's taste somewhere. I especially liked the two main protagonists (Kazuhito, a friendly high school boy obsessed with reading books who has been reincarnated as a lovable dog, and Kirihime aka the novelist Akiyama Shinobu, who is a tough fighter and sadist. However, I found her to be quite sexy), and even though it had moments that smacked of "inter-species erotica" at times, I still thought their interactions were hilarious. I was not expecting anything from Dog & Scissors, and I went into it to kill time because it was quite fun. I cannot say it is an average show because it was way too entertaining for that. 7/10.

This movie has a beautiful, pleasant narrative with very nice and interesting animation, although yes, it is a bit too drawn out, so the story is not as intense as it would have been if it were thirty minutes shorter. However, it is still a very interesting and well-produced piece of work that deserves four stars, in my view.

In essence, Heavenly Sword is not so bad, although the animation was more on the level of video games that do not suit a feature-length movie. In other words, I would have expected much more. In addition, some of the shortcomings and imperfections (facial expressions, gestures, and sometimes even movement) were noticeable in places, and sometimes it looked a bit clunky. Still, I thought it has quite an interesting narrative, even though it could have easily been more and better elaborated. Despite that, it still had some surprising moments. For example, when the brother finally got his hands on the sword and declared he had been dreaming about that moment all his life, but then, what? The main female protagonist and her sister look very nice, although unfortunately, they are not able to listen so well anymore. Yes, even the narration has its weaknesses. The soundtrack was quite good, although almost any music that can be described as "epic" would be suitable for a movie like this, so the anime's creators did not have a hard time with this aspect, in my opinion. 4.5/10.

I may not have been completely enchanted, although I was certainly pleasantly surprised. I thought the animation style was great and found it very colorful and, in a way, very pretty. I also liked the main protagonists; Aisling especially was charming. Unfortunately, the narrative was not that engaging, and although it was interesting, I did not feel any chills or other deeper sensations. Still, thanks to the great soundtrack, I had fun watching this show, so I guess it was very enjoyable and this is expressed as 7/10.

After the unsuccessful second SpongeBob SquarePants movie, I was quite skeptical about Asterix being a 3D computer-animated movie. In the end, however, I am relieved to say that my fears were unfounded and that I enjoyed Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods quite a lot. From the first joke about the architect who is so good that some of his buildings are still standing, I was in my element. The sense of humor and execution of the new Asterix movie is much more like the old cartoons than the live-action movies, and I think that is just as well. The 3D animation also fits Asterix quite well in the end, and I was happy with the dubbing and soundtrack as well. If the stories about Asterix the brave Gaul continue in this direction, I really am not going to mind. 8/10.

For the celebration of my hundredth review, I could not have chosen anything less than my favorite anime series. Gintama is the funniest and most perfect parody of almost everything an anime fan can think of. It features nearly all the clichés and tropes, plus the twists are so perfectly unique that it leaves you in stitches. The jokes develop into other jokes, and then at the right moment, they go back to the original joke, albeit in a different way, and you have to roll around on the floor laughing and at the same time marveling at the anime's creators and what they achieved. Hideaki Sorachi is the manga artist behind this, and he is the troll of all trolls; nothing is sacred to him. He steals ideas from practically everywhere and is not afraid to make fun of the audience (how often has Gintama ended?) and himself, a monkey. Plus, the quality of this anime series and its sense of humor seem more amazing than the number of other anime series I have seen. When I saw Gintama six years ago for the first time, I had a great time, even though at times I did not get it. I only recognized references to the most famous anime series like One Piece, Bleach, etc. However, when I watched it again a year later and had already watched over a hundred anime series, suddenly my viewing experience was completely different. When I watched it last year (some four hundred anime series watched later), it was even better than the first time because I had more to compare it to. It seemed the perfect show. There are references to various other anime series but also movies (like Star Wars), games (like Super Mario Bros), or even actors (like Jackie Chan), and the perfect situational and conversational sense of humor makes this a real treasure. However, there are also the characters who also make it such a good show. There is an entire collection of quirky personalities and perverts that you will not find anywhere else, and Gintoki himself is the absolute king among them. He is a lazy, cheeky, drunk, playful main male protagonist, plus he is a total loser. He is a laughing stock for everyone. However, no one wants to touch his friends, or they will see him change into a demon, an epic-level action hero that would make Chuck Norris piss his pants. So, a funny show becomes a top-notch action-packed shounen. There is also the lazy and brash alien Kagura, who has incredible strength. Then there is the chatty prude and quite dumb Shinpachi, his sister, who is sweet and pleasant until you piss her off. Her stalker is the head of the Shinsengumi special police force. There are other members of the Shinsengumi like the sadistic Okita and mayonnaise-loving Hijikata, the crazy terrorist Zura (ZURA JANAI, KATSURA DA!!!). I could write about this show forever because even every supporting character is unique, and you can easily remember them. You can even enjoy the biggest jerk (I am thinking of Prince Hata, aka Baka-ouji) and the bad guy. Aside from the characters, there are also unique items. So even things like Justaway or the Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon (especially the way it looks) get under your skin fast. Well, what would be the perfect show with perfect humor and incredibly perfect characters without a good story? Gintama manages to combine episodes that will keep you entertained even when nothing happens. Even an episode where the whole time the shot is at Gintoki's mansion and the main three protagonists are just talking and telling one joke after another will keep you entertained. Then there are the story sequences that can engage even the more discerning viewer with their sophistication. The soundtrack is great, and most of the openings and endings are great, I love listening to them, and the animation is also superb. In other words, this anime series has everything I want from an anime, and so it is rightfully at the top of my Top Ten, and this is unlikely to change.

School Days is an anime series that got me as only a few things have, I guess. It starts with a story about an interesting and believable relationship that is easy to watch and has a pleasant pace that takes you nicely to the fifth episode. It starts off very interesting: a shy boy called Makoto falls in love with a girl and has trouble getting close to her; luckily, he has a good friend, and she is happy and willing to help him with his problems because she likes him. Even the denouement, when Makoto realizes that his feelings are much more complicated and he makes his decision is perfectly fine in my opinion (SPOILER ALERT I was rooting for Sekai). If it had ended with episode five, I would say I would award this show a casual three stars without hesitation. However, what follows episode five is incredible, and you start hating the main protagonist Makato with a passion. You cannot help but swear at the guy and curse the damn jerk (and I am restraining myself). I even cursed at all the other characters at times, and the sad thing is that it still feels quite believable. I also knew guys like Makoto and saw the havoc they wreaked, and even though I was always so pissed off at them, another little voice whispered to me anyway, damn, he is very cool. I have seen plenty of naive, stupid girls and monsters going about their business too, and even those other types have been around at some point. It is just as if the cast suddenly went crazy, let their instincts take over, and all the blood from their brains piled into their genitals, or rather a probe of what the world would be like if people could not fully control themselves. There came a moment when I wished it would end exactly the way it does, and even though the conclusion is far-fetched, it gave me such a nice feeling of catharsis. I have to award this show five stars because it managed to stir up such strong emotions in me.

I am going to award this movie two stars because the story is not entirely bad. Also, it is quite interesting in places, although I was not too fond of the rest of it. The last time I saw a bunch of such horrible women was probably in Sex and the City, and their "rampage" and interactions were quite distasteful to me. Plus, I have nothing against poo jokes. However, seeing Melissa McCarthy pooping in the sink next to another idiot throwing up on another girl's head was not funny. It was, in fact, rather scary and slightly embarrassing, which from a person who had a good time watching Kevin & Perry Go Large probably sounds pretty weird, but what can you do?

I have not seen a worse lesbian pornographic movie, although this is not really pornographic, because the "action" is so insanely stupid that it is impossible to watch it as pornography. It is more like a glimpse into a sick brain dreaming of lesbian vampire sex, who has never seen a lesbian or sex in his life, and who is trying to be so sexy that it is embarrassing and cheesy. If I go to "xHamster", or similar sites, and find any video with a similar theme, I would see much better pornography, "acting" and "actresses" than in this movie.