Simple Anime Review - Date A Live II

Date A Live II
10 Episodes and 1 OVA

Logged 20/08/2015 12:15p.m. 
Phew! Managed to finish watching this anime, just in time to write a simple review of it! :)

Date A Live II. As expected from viewing the first season (and most harem anime, in general), this anime revolves around Itsuka Shido and his adventures of further expanding his harem of magical Spirit girls.

I enjoyed this season more than the first season. The producers have done a great job expanding the character development as well as the story-line.
Story-line. Compared to the first season, the story-line of the second season is very very well-established. There is ample follow-up from one event to the other. Furthermore, every scene makes more sense and is more organized, as opposed to the first season where certain scenes are random and some are just ridiculous. Thus, the story-line of the second season is vastly improved.

Character development. Adding to that, there is more character development for the existing characters in the second season. I love how the producers expanded the background of characters, like Tohka, Origami, Kotori, etc. The audience get to enjoy a deeper relationship between Tohka and Shido; a deeper yet unlikely acquintance between Origami and Mana; and so forth.
However, character development was not done for all characters. Some characters were just placed into less important roles. For instance, Kotori seems to have taken a less significant position of being (just) a 'commander' character in this season. Also, there is not much character development for Kurumi. But hey, there is less than 20 minutes per episode. Some things just had to be sacrificed, unfortunately speaking.

New characters. To make up for the lack of development, the second season introduced new characters into the mix to expand on Shido's harem. These new characters, like the Yamai twins and Miku, were very well-designed and are generally very interesting yet enjoyable characters.

Setting. Compared to the first season, this season no longer put too much emphasis on the 'dating sim' feel. In the first season, much time was spent on Shido's dating with the Spirit girls. On the contrary, this season focused more on aspects like character development, development of relationships between characters, battle scenes, and a bit more on conversations to build the story-line. For the newer additions to the Spirit girl harems, like the twins and Miku, there is not really a proper 'date' planned out for them, they somehow just fall in love with Shido, based the current events and interactions. Basically, it went from being a 'dating-sim'-ish anime to a true blue anime (things you would expect from an anime). I personally preferred this new feel, than the 'dating-sim' one. But, other viewers may have mixed preferences.

Battle scenes. And oh, did I mentioned the battle scenes? The battle scenes were beautiful to watch. As executed in the previous season, the battle animations, designs and simulations were superb. I personally liked the battle during the Ten-Oh festival and the one at Arubi Island where there were multiple confrontations. I've already covered the reasons why these battle scenes were great in the first simple review and battle review of Date A Live, so I won't repeat myself here.

Fun. And finally, this season was generally more fun and enjoyable (and sexier) to watch. Faithful viewers will get excited watching as each scene builds up for the next, and generally enjoy watching the main male protagonist build up his harem of girls by doing whatever a main male protagonist does.

Haha. Hope you all have a great week! Be sure to check out Date A Live II. Thanks for reading. :)

Battle Review - Date A Live

I'd like to dedicate a blog review to the battle scenes of the anime - Date A Live. 

Much like most viewers, my favorite battle scene is Itsuka Kotori vs. Tokisaki Kurumi in Episode 10. I'd also like to give a thumbs up for the battle scenes - Tohka Yatogami vs. Tobiichi Origami in Episode 1, and Itsuka Kotori vs. Tobiichi Origami in Episode 12.

As discussed in the previous post, the animation, voice acting and character design were very well-planned and wonderfully executed.
The character animations were very well-drawn and character movements were smoothly fluid. If you watched the battle scene between Tohka Yatogami and Tobiichi Origami in the first episode, you will notice both characters' poses and stances throughout the battle. It is like watching Tohka performing a graceful blade dance and Origami dancing in a stream of fireworks. It is very beautiful to watch.

The voice acting was superb. The actors / actresses were well-expressive and were precise to express the right emotions that fit their characters' personality.
If you watched the battle scene between Itsuka Kotori and Tokisaki Kurumi in Episode 10, you will notice how both actresses were able to effectively project the right personalities on their respective characters. Initially, Kurumi outwardly displayed a tender, polite and morally polished personality, but later it is revealed that she had psychotic and murderous tendencies. On the other hand, Kotori was originally shown to have a 'cute little sister' personality, and then she displayed authoritative and leader-like traits as the episodes progress. During the battle, as Kotori loses control of her powers, she expressed a murderous rage, where she had the urge to kill and destroy.
The expressions of the characters were wonderful to watch.

Then, there is the character designs. The designs of the Spirits were thoroughly and creatively thought through. Personally, I liked Kurumi's character design. She wielded two World War II firearms - a rifle and a short pistol. As she summoned her powers, a clock appears behind her and she hoist her weapons as if they were the long hand and short hand of the clock. Also, she had a clock for a left eye. And for some reason, I noticed that her left pony-tail is longer than her right. Also, what a lovely and gorgeous dress.
Of course, there is Itsuka Kotori with her traditional Japanese warrior outfit and Tohka Yatogami with her crusader-like armor and a large sword. I liked them both for their uniqueness. Although, I would personally liked more character development for Tohka.

Click on this link to watch the battle scene from Episode 10:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT4GvB1Y7ag

Anyway, thank you guys for reading. And I will see you next time. :)

Simple Anime Review - Date A Live

Date A Live
12 episodes and 1 OVA

In a few words, this anime is basically a dating sim (harem dating sim) brought to life. If you enjoy light novels or games that has the feel of a dating sim, you may want to check this anime out. Also, if you enjoy harem-themed anime, then this anime is worth checking out.

Setting

The setting of the anime can be described as a near-futuristic fantasy, where the infrastructure of the city is pretty mechanized and equipped with advanced robotics technology. Also, some of the characters used "mech-ie" weaponry in their battles.

The anime started with the introduction of 'space-quakes', which were caused by the appearance of mystical female beings called Spirits. A 'space-quake' is described as a destructive phenomenon that ravages its environment. Different from earthquakes which happen by unstable tectonic movements, 'space-quakes' occur above the ground. Just imagine a black-hole spawning in the middle of the city and it gets larger as its magnitude increases.
Spirits are mystical female beings who randomly appeared in the world. At this point, the appearance of Spirits and their origin remain unexplained.

Throughout history, the appearance of Spirits has been causing 'space-quakes' that destroyed civilizations. The only known solution is to eliminate the Spirits who caused the destruction.

The anime starts with Itsuka Shido, the main male protagonist, who was living a normal life with his sister, Itsuka Kotori, until a 'space-quake' occurred in his city and he met a Spirit in the event.
Throughout the anime, Shido's life was changed as he was tasked to interact with the Spirits and getting them to open up and fall in love with him, so their powers can be sealed.
Thus, this becomes an adventure of building a harem of Spirit girls (and human girls) and getting every girl love-struck.

Review

In my opinion, the storyline can go from awkward to absolutely ridiculous. As the episodes start, the storyline holds very little weight. However, the story improves, becoming much relevant and realistic towards the middle of the series.

Although the story-line turns me off, the animation, voice and characters were the aspects that kept me watching.
The animation was superb. Throughout the series, I appreciated the precision of the characters' facial and body animations. The battles were beautiful to watch.
The voice-acting was great! I applaud the producers for hiring highly-talented voice actors for the characters of the series.
Also, the characters were amazing. In my opinion, much thought and effort has been invested into character design. My personal favorites were Tokisaki Kurumi and Itsuka Kotori. I am sure that these two hold the spot for the most favorite in many fans as well. Their personality and character design chimed extraordinarily.

Another aspect of this anime that kept me watching was the fan-service. Fan-service scenes were sexy and playful. Besides, it is very well done and not carried overboard. A very good tease for the male audience, if you ask me.

Hope I did not spoil much of the anime. Feel free to check out Date A Live and I will see you next time.

Special thanks

Images were sourced from tammypain and ninraven of deviantart.com, and mahoutofu from mahoutofu.wordpress.com.

List of anime that I have watched

Here is a list of anime that I have watched. I may blog about my experiences of watching these anime when I have the time. 

- Shakugan no Shana

- Shakugan no Shana II

- To Aru Majutsu no Index

- To Aru Majutsu no Index II

- To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

- To Aru Kagaku no Railgun II

- Nisekoi

- Nisekoi II
- Black Cat
- Highschool of the Dead
- Aria the Scarlet Ammo
- Machine-Doll wa Kizutsukanai
- Ichiban Ushiro no Dai Maō
- Rozen Maiden
- Rozen Maiden : Traumend
- Toradora
- Date A Live
- Date A Live II
- Jormungand
- Trinity Seven
- Shinmai Maou no Testament
- Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai
- Code Gease

There are more that I have watched, I am trying to remember them. (And yes, I watched quite a bit of harem anime. I'm not highly proud of that. But yes, I have watched other anime too.). I have watched other anime too but I did not finish watching those. 

This list may be updated. We'll see how everything goes.
I may blog about anime again (if I feel like it).

Random

Dear User,

I know that the last few years hasn't been the way you wanted it to be. What you thought was reality, was not what it seemed. And you have learned the truth, the hard way. And there are things that you did or did not do that you regret. You were used. You were hurt. You were a slave because you behaved like one.

But now, it is time to grow. The time to rise has come. You mustn't let the things of the past define you any longer. It is time to move forward and advance with strength and courage. No more looking back, but only the steps that lie before you.
Learn. Move. Fail. Grow. And Succeed.

Believe in your ability to succeed and thrive.

Hear from you soon.
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