Samantha Zamora

I was curious and wanted to watch a new anime since it's been a while, as soon as I saw the perverted moments and sex scenes, I was thinking "Oh god, what have I gotten myself into?" All the nudity, sex, and blood was extremely unnecessary. I understand that Akira had a literal demon inside of him but come on, the moments where he had sexual urges and wet dreams were way too much. (WARNING: SPOILERS!) There wasn't much of a friendship between Akira and Ryo, Ryo just used and manipulated him in a way, the thing that puzzled me the most was the end: Akira ends up dying and all of a sudden, Ryo decides to care and cry over his "friend" If you're planning to watch an anime remake, I suggest you watch Birdy The Mighty: Decode, Devilman was OK, but it makes you uncomfortable without good reason.

Watched this recently with my parents so here are my thoughts. POSITIVES: This movie is so beautifully animated and lively with all its colors and movements. The magic is pleasing to look at. Like Coco, the movie managed to capture the latino culture with all its colors, foods, traditions, etc. NEGATIVES: While I understand music and singing is part of Disney's shtick, I think they've overdone it a bit. Luisa's and Bruno's songs didn't sit right with me. I didn't like Luisa's part because of her voice and the intense fast-paced bits. The Bruno song seemed kind of extra because it doesn't convey the right tone; if you are warning someone about something, you keep it at a serious tone, not burst out into a lyrical tune. The part where Mirabel felt like an outcast shouldn't have a song to go with it either, keep it at a melancholy and sorrowful tone. THEME: I loved the theme of the movie; family is important, but it can fall apart easily because of the way the children were brought up. I see favoritism in the family as well, like how Isabela is the 'perfect' girlfriend/wife/daughter-in-law material and Mirabel is just seen as an outcast and hinderance to the family because she doesn't have a gift/talent. SIMILARITIES TO COCO: Both main characters felt different from their families because they don't meet expectations, both characters managed to mend their relationships with their families at the end, both families realized how harsh they were to the main protagonists. Disney kind of used the same formula for Coco for Encanto, but altered some parts here and there. FINAL THOUGHTS/ CONCLUSION: Encanto is a wonderful movie but I just wished that it didn't have so many songs every 10 minutes. Another big flaw for Encanto was that it was way too similar to Coco, I loved the alterations Disney has put but the similarities outnumber the differences. Coco had a bigger impact than Encanto. (EDIT 2/4/22-- Mirabel's family shouldn't have gotten their powers back, the moral being that everyone is special in their own way, but the powers being restored just defeats the theme.)

Paranoia Agent, Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Millennium Actress all share the same theme; blurring the lines between reality and fantasy/fiction. Same meaning, slightly distinct executions. (WARNING: SPOILERS!) This anime had me questioning wether which things were real and which weren't, (it is to be expected since it's Satoshi Kon here). When I realized that all Lil' Slugger victims had weak mindsets during their "attacks", I searched around for what Lil' Slugger could represent. From what I've found, he could serve as an escape for the mentally weak, like a temporary salvation from all their problems. The thing that intrigued me the most was how the sick wife of the detective stated that Maromi and Lil' Slugger are the same, which is true but they have different effects of this salvation: Maromi serves as a comfort character, the little voice in your head saying "it's not your fault" while Lil' Slugger serves as the debilatating side of escapism, the pain we inflict on ourselves, and running from a current situation. My favorite scene from this series was how the sick wife was able to avoid Lil' Slugger's violence, she held her ground and challenged her negative thoughts, thus, driving Lil' Slugger away. The ending put me at ease because Lil' Slugger and Maromi's existences have been erased. (THOUGHTS, NITPICKS) 1) One of the things that bothered me a little bit was how in the English dub, Ichi, Lil' Slugger, and Ushi's voices are a little too deep to be childrens' voices. 2) I feel like episodes 8-10 didn't hold any sense or value, since the two men and little girl were trying to off themselves in so many different ways, their storyline wandered off from the current storyline with Tsukiko and the rest. The four women talking about Lil' Slugger and the exaggerated stories about him didn't hold any weight either. (FINAL CONCLUSION) I enjoyed watching this anime, with all its flaws and imperfections, I love how one of the main themes are how the human mind can be so fragile and can be one's greatest challenge/weakness, like how the mind and body are truly interconnected. If you like deep, psychological stuff like this, I recommend this anime for you. ♥ ♥