Edge of Tomorrow

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_of_Tomorrow_(film)

Name: Edge of Tomorrow

Release Date (in Singapore): 5 June 2014

Watched on : 24 June 2014

Summary:

An alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world. Major William Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop-forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again...and again. But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Vrataski take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

Summary written by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Summary from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1631867/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt

Personal Ratings: 3.5

Honestly, when I saw this trailer, I didn't think that it would turn out nice. I really didn't see how can dying so many times be interesting. 

If I were to compare this with transformers (since their both action comedy), I wold say that this show is a lot lighter. For people that do not like content heavy movies, this movie would be a lot nicer. It's really light and easy to take in, there isn't much complexity to it. 

Despite having a light and straightforward story line, they really did a good job attracting the viewers into the movie.
At first I didn't get why they didn't told us from the beginning what they were fighting against. So I became quite restless, and wondered if they were ever going to tell us at all. But at the end, I think they made the right choice to keep it secret until the scene where Cage faced the enemy. It really got the viewers to be attracted to the first part of the movie, since it was really dry and a little slow. 
I also thought that killing Rita at the first scene of the war was really good too. It kind of got people to start questioning about the strength of the enemy; since if the strongest warrior was too fall what other tricks did she use to win the first war. 

Liked the paced of the story line. They had a mixture of cut-shorted scenes and long ones. Somehow, even though they were mixed, I really didn't have any problems trying to understand the whole show. It was not confusing at all. 
I think they really made use of the plot to their advantage, besides the action and the humor, I also think that the serious side and the romance side was really well balanced. (though there was hardly any romance, which was good). 

However, I think that because of the lack of complexity and the lightness of this show really made it feel that, at the end of the movie there is somewhat something lacking overall. The ending part of the show was also somehow really disappointing. Thought that there should have been more emotions when their team mates died.  

Recommended for:

Gender: Both

Age: 13 and above

Ratings: PG-13

Vampire Academy

Image from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686821/

Name: Vampire Academy

Release Date (in Singapore): 27 February 2014
Watched on: 15 June 2014


Summary:

Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human-half vampire, a guardian of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discreetly within our world. Her calling is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal Vampires, the Strigoi.

Summary from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1686821/

Personal Ratings: 2.5

Read the book, loved it. Watched the movie, didn't like it. Haha. I think this is true for most popular vampire books out there; like twilight. More and more popular books are getting turned into movies, some of them are really nice, but some of them turns out really horrible. 

Honestly, I really like the actors for Rose. I really think that she was exactly how I pictured her to be. But unfortunately, the rest of the character just didn't really turn out the way I pictured them to be, especially so for: Lisa, Mason (not in a bad way), and Dimitri. 

I think that in the movie, they focus a lot on Rose. In the book, they also place a lot of importance in Lisa; she actually plays a huge role in the whole story line. So when they didn't really concentrate much on her scenes, it really felt like something was really lacking in the whole story. The proportion of the movie also seemed kind of odd. I know that there is a lot of things happening in the book, so to keep the story line as close to the book, they didn't really take out a lot of things. But I still thought that they should have focus on some scenes more and others lesser, and also to throw out more parts that weren't really relevant to the main story line and try to duration of the movie. 

Fast paced and the whole movie seemed really constant; there seem to be no climax or anything like that, they lack the attractiveness of the story line that the book had. 

I guess I'll look forward to the next movie (if there is one). I'm sure that the next movie would be a lot nicer, since there would be more action and intense scenes. 

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 14 and above
Ratings: PG-13

Kannagi

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/3958/Kannagi

Name: Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens  かんなぎ

Status: Completed
Episode: 13 
Release Date (for eng subs): -


Summary:

Based on a shounen manga by Takenashi Eri, serialised in Comic REX.

Our unlucky protagonist, Jin, uses the trunk of a sacred tree to carve a statue for a school project. When he takes it outside, to his surprise it begins absorbing the surrounding earth and transforms into, hold your breath on this one, a girl! So like all similar setups this guardian deity is pretty pissed that her tree was cut down and lives with Jin while she takes out her anger on squashing bugs....er, cleaning the "Impurities".

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/3958/Kannagi

Personal Ratings: 3.5

Really fun anime. Though there wasn't really much of a story line here, I still think that this show is some how really fun to watch. It has this weird thing that makes you attracted to it. 

I didn't really like the fact that they didn't really have a main story line to follow; other than the questionable identity of Nagi. Which, by the way, was terrible. There wasn't really much of a hint throughout the whole show, so it didn't really spark off any curiosity in that aspect; they only showed 2 scenes regarding this in the middle of the anime, which lasted for like 1 second. I also think that the reason behind why Nagi ran away was really ridiculous. Because when she said "sorry I've been lying to you all this time." The thing is that she doesn't even know if she herself is really a deity. All that happened was that Nagi, herself doubted her identity. Which turns out that in the end her doubt wasn't right. So I didn't think that it was very much a valid reason for her to just run away. 

Even though that last few episodes were the more interesting ones out of the whole anime, I still think that because of this flaw it kind of made it a little questionable. Quite a waste, actually.

As for the seiyuus, I think that Nagi's voice actor, is really skilled. But because she is too skilled (especially when it came to talking in different personalities), sometimes I find that Nagi's voice changed too much, she almost sounds like a different person, so I didn't really like that. 

As for Jin, I think that Hiro is really the perfect seiyuu. At first his face and voice didn't really match, which makes his voice stand out a lot, after watching a little while, you would find that there is no other seiyuu more suited to voice act this character. 

For Tsumugi's seiyuu, Miyuki, I have heard her many many times in other animes, and all her characters are really really different, so even though I did hear her 'high pitched' voice acting before, I still don't really like it when she voice act innocent girls. Since her voice doesn't change much, only her pitch goes up and down when she voice acts different characters, it really bothered me throughout the whole anime. 

Overall, I don't think that this anime is really completed. I really want to know why is it that when Jin asks questions about Nagi's 'job' she doesn't reply and her eyes goes blank. I was hopping that there was a 2nd season or something, but it doesn't seem like it's going to happen.

Art Ratings: 4

Nice art. I really like all the character designs. Proportions of the drawings are constant and good throughout the whole show. 


Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 14 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Only My Railgun Cover

To Aru Kagaku no Railgun OP: Only My Railgun - fripSide (Cover).


Review: http://strawberryshortcake-reviews.blogspot.com/2012/12/to-aru-kagaku-no-railgun.htm
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5N6IrPbR9nbjgleF01XmVA

Black Bullet

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/20787/Black_Bullet

Name: Black Bullet ブラック・ブレット　BLACK BULLET　［黒の銃弾】

Status: Completed
Episode: 13
Release Date (for eng subs): Every Wednesday


Summary:

A near future, where humans have been defeated by the viral parasites named Gastrea. They have been exiled into a small territory and live in despair, side-by-side in terror.

In this world trapped in darkness—

Rentaro, a boy living near Tokyo and member of the "Civil Security"—an organization specializing in fighting against the Gastrea—is used to accomplishing dangerous tasks. His partner is Enju, a precocious young girl. They fight thanks to their peculiar powers until one day, when they receive a special assignment from the government. This top secret mission is to prevent the destruction of Tokyo...

Set in a near future, this thrilling heroic-action story... starts now!

Summary Source: Baka-Tsuki

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/20787/Black_Bullet

Personal Ratings: 3

Quite a nice anime. It's better to watch this anime one-shot than weekly. 

Honestly, I don't think that this anime has the proper development when it comes to emotions. Some parts of the anime that were suppose to be really sad; like say when Enju ran away or when the whole group of girls got killed. I really didn't feel anything, though the voice acting was top-notch. I think it has something to do with the background music and animation.

Because this anime is set at the same pace throughout the whole show, it can become quite boring after awhile, especially if you watch this anime weekly. They also lack the impact on certain scenes, which I thought could have been made better just by the change in pace. 

Great Seiyuu. At first I wasn't really sure about them using Yuki for the main character, since most of the characters he usually voice act in are (no offence) pretty much wimps. I just didn't really think he could pull off this characters. But after watching this for a while, I realized how Rentaro actually has this goody side to him, which makes him all the more compatible with the seiyuu Yuki. Enju; super unique voice that matches her complex past and funny personality. 

I'll praise them for making realistic decisions on things like the characters rankings. However, I still feel like there isn't really enough information about the ranking system. Seem to me like they didn't place enough importance on the characters throughout the anime. I also felt like there was a lack of explanation and planning, I felt like some components of the anime were out into it while writing, so there is that feeling like there is a lack of planning. More detailed explanation needed for this complex story line. 

Actions scenes were not enough. It was plainly brute strength, I expected there to be more strategic, but seems like their lacking in that competent.  

I think there are still parts of the anime that aren't completed yet. I'm hoping that there would be a 2nd season to this anime.

Overall, a nice anime; good story line, nice characters, only lacking in the way they pull it all together. 

Art Ratings: 2.5
Didn't really like the art, but I like their character designs. I just can't stand the way they draw the hair, looks oddly shaped and too sparse. 


Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

How to Train Your Dragon 2

Image from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2014/04/10/how-to-train-your-dragon-2-trailer-summers-biggest-blockbuster/

Name: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Prequel: How to Train You Dragon

Release Date (in Singapore): 12 June 2014

Watched on: 14 June 2014

Summary:

The thrilling second chapter of the epic "How to Train Your Dragon" trilogy returns to the fantastical world of the heroic Viking Hiccup and his faithful dragon Toothless. The inseparable duo must protect the peace – and save the future of men and dragons from the power-hungry Drago. 

Summary from: http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=65521

Personal Ratings: 3.5

So this was kind of the long awaited 2nd season. I'm not sure if they have planned to have a 2nd season all along, since the day they made the first movie, but this sure is worth the long wait. Usually for movies or series with an awesome 1st season, doesn't usually have a very interesting 2nd season. So I was actually kind of ready for them to throw nonsense at me for this movie, but they didn't (thank god). Though it's kind of lacking that impact from the first season, I still think that it's still good enough to live up to the "how to train your dragon" standards.

Since it's been like ages since I last watched the first movie, I didn't quite remember all the supporting characters. So the first part of the movie really kind of refreshes your memory of the supporting characters in the show, without having the boring cliche narrations. They also didn't waste anytime on filling us up with more information about how things has changed since the first season. In the first season, they started with a battle between the hunters and the dragons, while in season two, they started with a flying competition to see which one is the best dragon flyer. So that all pretty much sums up the changes between season 1 and season 2. 

I also liked how they didn't put hiccup in the race, and sort of isolate him from the beginning of the show. It really gave a clear and more in depth explanation of the changes between him 5 years ago and now; especially since he's different from everyone, since season 1. 

Love the constant use of the sheep and the grandma throughout the show. Really cute and funny. 

The flow of the show was really good, and love the strong connections between the scenes, throughout the whole show. Be it about the how similar hiccup's mum and dad thinks about changing peoples mind, or the small little details and people in the show. 

One thing that I thought it was quite a shame was probably the dragon showdown. I didn't think that it would be that pathetic. Judging from the scale of the whole fight, it should have been a lot more epic and fast paced. 

I also didn't think that they work out the emotional part of the animation quite right. I didn't really feel anything when the dad died. That whole scene was just over powered by other things; about hiccup's relationship with his dragon, and the whole alpha dragon is under control thing was just too overwhelmingly a lot more important that the sad and emotional part of hiccup's dad's death. (or so they animate it to seem that way, I'm not sure if that was their intention). I'm thinking that it has something to do with the lack of development and cruelty of his death, because it's pretty cliche that parents die protecting their child from an incoming danger. (or well in battle anime it is kind of cliche.) It just happened to fast that there wasn't even time for the viewers to 'mourn' over his death, and also, toothless being 'abandoned' and 'mistrust' by hiccup came more to be as a shock than anything else. 

I think that the build up of the main story was kind of incomplete. Because there was two main things to focus on; hiccup's mother, and the opposition of the villain (whose name I forgot, sorry). I think that there wasn't really much focus or time put into developing the plot for the hiccup vs villain story. More time was spend on hiccup's mother, which was (no offence), quite boring. You could hear the kids getting a little restless at this point, before the great battle between the dragons broke out. 

All in all, this show is really good; it's cute, its funny and it's cool. Do look forward to the 3rd season which is said to be coming out in 2016!

Recommended for:

Gender: Both

Age: 10 and above

Ratings: PG

Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/20785/Mahouka_Koukou_no_Rettousei/pics

Name: The Irregular at Magic High School 魔法科高校の劣等生 Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei

Status: Completed
Episode: 26
Release Date (for eng subs): Every Sunday


Summary:

At the National Magic University First Affiliate High School, A.K.A Magic High School, students are divided into two distinct groups according to their academic performances. The "Bloom," who demonstrate the highest grades and are enrolled in the "First Course," and the "Weed," who have a poor academic record and are enrolled in the "Second Course."

(Summary Source: Aniplex USA)

This story follows the path of a male student being enrolled into the second course, despite having good practical skills. Though being a weed, his skills were admired by many, though the first course students show more hatred towards him. It seems like he is hiding a very large secret about himself.

Personal Ratings: 3

I'm guessing that this was quite an anticipated anime, judging that many actually liked the manga. I'm not sure about the manga, but I think that they actually separated the manga into two, where one is from the brother's point of view and one is from the sister's point of view. I would say that it was a good call that they decided to just put everything together into one anime. I think it flows better this way, and a lot less confusing. 

When I watched the first episode, I just kind of shook my head the whole way. I really didn't like the idea that the younger sister actually liked her brother. And I don't know if this was the subber's mistake, but there is some confusion between the brother's birthday and the sister's birthday. Since she calls him "older brother" he should be older. But it seems like his birthday is after hers. So I'm a little confused. 

I didn't think that the first episode did any justice to the anime. It was kind of like a hot mess, with nothing that is pulling the viewers in. Though that's the case, I still encourage people to try and continue watching this show. From time to time, they do pull you into the anime by adding more interesting scenes; mainly showing off the main character's ability. 
They really made use of the sequence of the anime to bring out the coolness of the action scenes. They would first show you the flaws and the weak side, which will make you wonder how he is going to fight with his weakness. So when you actually watch the actual action scene itself, it has that surprising factor and it gets you really hyped up. I think they also know when to reveal more about the main character's ability. The timings were all really good; like just when I'm about to find the anime  a little to boring, an awesome action scene comes along, making me remember how nice this anime can be. But since their all really short, I don't think I'm getting enough action scenes from the anime. 

For this anime, they don't really have the main story line that flows through the anime from the start to the end. This anime strictly goes by arcs, for the first two arcs I thought that they really lack that proper development. They were wasting half their time on making the character look cool and all the harem on Tatsuya and Miyuki. So without that development in the front part of the arc, it seems like only the last part is important.  
The whole thing about Tatsuya and Miyuki is just not right. Half the time I find myself skipping those scenes with only Miyuki and Tatsuya, because half the time that their talking about privately is just a waste of time, because half the time it's just cause Miyuki is jealous. 

I think that they should give a good explanation on the different basic magic categories. As the story goes on, I still couldn't really grasp what type of magic there is, thus is was actually quite hard to understand when they were explaining about the magic activation process. But since there seems to be so many types of magic, I'm thinking they should just give us a brief idea about the main types of magic there are. This way, I'm thinking that it would probably make it easier for the viewers to understand when they are explaining about magic and also to show the viewers as to how uniquely they can use the magic. But seeing as to how detailed their explanation can get, I can tell that they really thought it out thoroughly. 

They should also give us the fundamental gauge on the different ranks of magic, so that we would understand, to a certain extend just how powerful that magician is just by the rank of the magic they are using. I think To Aru Kagaku no Railgun really makes full use of this.  

One huge flaw that I just can't over look is the whole thing about Tatsuya trying to keep this identity a secret. Throughout the whole anime it just seems like he keeps using his extraordinary knowledge of magic in front of people, and doesn't seem to be actually trying to keep his powers a secret. 
The intervention of Miyuki every time Tatsuya tried to get out of situations where by he has to show his power is just not logical. I belief that she should have already understood the importance of keeping his identity a secret. But instead of helping him, she pushes him into stations whereby he can no longer decline and is practically forced into it. So her actions and intentions are quite questionable. 

Some weird scenes where they seem to over emphasis on the surprise, sad or angry moments (especially when it comes to Tatsuya, I just didn't get the part where he actually killed people because he was angry about what they did to Miyuki even though she didn't even get hurt.) because in the end it really isn't much of a big deal to render such overly expressed emotions.

Didn't think that they actually place much importance on the supporting characters. Felt that they didn't really use the perspective from the supporting character's view even though it would probably get us a better perspective of things. 
Even though that actually tried to make certain scene look more cool and also bring out more emotions into the anime by using the supporting characters, they just all somehow end up being too exaggerated. Not efficiently used. 

I'm thinking; longer action scenes and shorter long winded talks. I'm not sure if it bothers you, but it bothers me a lot when the character talks a lot in excess, especially when it's not needed. In this case, I think that because of the stiffness of the main character, they try to make him speak as formally and as neutral as possible, but that all somehow ends up making his conversations really wordy. I wouldn't mind if it was because he was explaining something about magic (which he always does), but it really bothers me when it comes to normal conversations. 

If you what this anime as a whole, I'm not sure if you will feel it but, I keep feeling like the episodes don't really flow smoothly. So it kind of bothers me a little.

Yokohama arc was good; I could see the improvement of the whole story line, as compared to the first 2 arcs (maybe it has something to do with it being not very long). Though I thought that there could have been some more improvements in terms of fragmentation and emotions. Overlapping certain scenes to make the whole thing stick together and also bring out more emotions at the same times would have been better. 

All in all, I'm hoping that there would be a 2nd season because I felt that this anime was a little incomplete because they still have yet to tell us what actually happened within Tatsuya's family in the past

Art Ratings: 2.5

Stiff characters with very angled lines. The school uniform makes the males look really stiff. And the whole time in which they were talking or not moving, I just cannot help but notice just how stiff they look.  I don't really like the way they draw the guys. It seems like their drawn exceptional bigger than the girls. 

The girls are drawn a little better, but I don't really like the uniform design for the girls. Like that canopy like thingy that is attached to their jacket, I wonder if there is any meaning behind it...

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Maleficent

Image from: http://www.latino-review.com/news/2014/03/new-maleficent-posters

Name: Maleficent

Release Date (in Singapore):
Watched on: 13 June 2014


Summary:
A vengeful fairy is driven to curse an infant princess, only to discover that the child may be the one person who can restore peace to their troubled land.

Summary from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587310/


Personal Ratings: 3

I'm not sure why people always believe that most shows produced by Disney are for kids, but I can tell you that, this movie isn't really targeted at younger age groups. I'm starting to see the Disney is really making a lot of normal princes stories into life action, with a twist. And judging from the poster I saw at the movies (a glass slipper), next up would be Cinderella. 

I'm not sure how the kids felt about this show, since I don't think most of them understood what was being said in the show (since they were talking in, I would like to call it the more 'traditional' way of English). But I actually liked the twist. Only I just felt kind of disappointed when the ending came about. 

I thought that this movie would be a lot more dark, more cruel, but in fact it wasn't. So there was this slight disappointment that Maleficent wasn't all that bad. 

I really liked the middle part, where Maleficent and Aurora interacted when Aurora was young. It was so cute, entertaining and fun. The Maleficent then kind of reminded me of a tsundere (kind of means that she's too embarrassed to admit things, so she says the opposite of how she really feels.)   

The epic thing with the prince was also really funny. It was so ironic how in the normal 'traditional' princesses stories, the prince was everything to the princes, but for this, it seems like the prince does nothing to help save the princess (Aurora). He was just pretty much useless, and got thrown aside as soon as he came into the show, when his kiss wouldn't wake Aurora up. (I thought that they could use this and make some twist in the show at the end).

Love the costume and make up. Totally loved how they played with Angelina Jolie's natural features and amp it up to make her look more intimidating. Especially loved the contacts! Really makes her eyes convey more emotions; especially for when she was angry and when she was sad. 

What I really didn't like was probably the first part, where they showed the young Maleficent. I didn't think that it was necessary for that part to be that long. It just kind of wasn't really that captivating. So it didn't really catch my attention for the first part. 

Recommended for: 
Gender: Both
Age: 12 and above
Ratings: PG

Isshuukan Friends

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=21327

Name: One Week Friends 一週間フレン Isshuukan Friends 

Episode: 12
Status: Completed
Release date (for eng subs): Every Monday


Summary:

Kaori Fujimiya is always alone because all of her happy memories, including time spent with her friends, disappear every Monday. Deciding that he wants to be friends with her anyway, Yuuki Hase tries to get close to Kaori each week, wishing that she would one day call him "a friend."

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime.php?id=21327

Personal Ratings: 3.5

Simple, yet very solid anime. I really like how the main story line of this anime is really simple; just the fact that her memories gets reset every week. Yet when I first watched it, even though I thought that it was a really good anime, I didn't think that they could make this interesting. I didn't really see how they could develop the anime more. I thought that it would be a very straight forward anime, but than came a little complexity about Fujimiya's past, that made the whole anime a lot more interesting. 

I liked how they added a new characters and a new love line in the middle of the show and nearing the end of the anime. I'm not sure, but I think that Kujou should have been added a little earlier into the anime, because the whole thing about Fujimiya's past seemed kind of rushed and incomplete.
I also thought that they way they tried to add Yamagishi into the show was a little misleading. They kind of made it seemed like Yamagishi once knew Fujimiya in the past, even though it wasn't the case.  

I guess the different thing about this anime, compared to normal Shoujo romance anime, is that this anime is really straight forward, kept as simple as possible, and somehow really pure. Unlike most romance anime which, I think, they try to add too much complexity into the anime which makes the whole anime shaky and some times quite unpleasant to watch. This anime is really easy to take in, and fun to watch. 

Like how the main character takes small steps to solve her problem, and at the side lines the supporting character adds a little spice to the anime at some points. 

More than anything, I think I'm seeing a lot more boys watching this anime compared to girls, which was quite surprising. 

Overall, I'm not very satisfied with how things ended. I really hoped that they would some how made her overcome her childhood fear, and more about the other couple (Kiryuu with Yamagishi).

Art Ratings: 3

Simple art that really complements the story line, however I do think that at some point, the hair proportion and the face was a little off. 

I actually liked the animation. At first I thought that they may look a little stiff, but I was glad it wasn't as bad as Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 12 and above
My Ratings: PG

Hamatora

Image from: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamatora

Name: Hamatora ハマトラ
Sequel: Re: Hamatora

Status: Completed
Episode: 12
Release Date (for eng subs): - 


Summary:

This anime revolves around humans with abilities, known as 'minimum' in this show. People with this ability goes to this special academy that specializes in enhancing this minimum within people. This story follows the main character, Nice. He was the top scorer of the academy, but this was remained a secret. However, because of this, he was targeted by one of the professors from the school, whose ideal of 'fairness' was messed up which ended up killing and hurting a lot of people. The anime shows how Nice stops this professor.   

Summary by: AngelaAgness

Personal Ratings: 3

This anime actually stood out among the other animes in the same season. So I actually had high expectation for this show, but after the 3rd episode, I just thought it was really boring so I stopped until this series was completed before I re-watched it again. 

I felt that this series has the lack of variety, all the 'cases' in this anime was just too repetitive. I felt that they should have properly build up on the intensity and the seriousness of the incident on the professor, and art. But I felt like since the mention of it was so small, it kind of got overtaken by the main story in each of the cases. I also didn't like how they added in those kind of comedy episodes. (But than that's just cause I don't really like comedy). 

I felt like they could show more of Hajime-chan; about her powers and how she meet Nice. I'm hopping there would be something about it in the next season. 

Even though there were many groups of characters (3-4 main groups of people, all in pairs), I felt like there was a lack of connection between all the groups. There was totally no group work with all of the members of Hamatora. Though I'm hoping that the next season, all the characters would have a stronger connection. (especially within the Hamatora group.)

I actually sort of like how they make their character names all odd English words. It kind of makes their name a lot more easier to remember, especially when somehow their name and the character really goes well together. However, since their name are so odd, I'm sure there must be some meaning to it. 

I like their side stories (of the side characters). Though I felt like they should have been building that up bit by bit since the first episode, instead of just adding one random episode about them. 

Interesting ending. I really want to watch the 2nd season. Lots of questions, and anticipation. 

Art Ratings: 3
The drawing is quite nice. Especially love the way they drew Nice and Art (OMG I'm totally biased to art since he is voice acted by my favorite seiyuu). 

I just didn't really like the colours. I felt that this anime holds a little darkness to it, so the colours were a little too bright on the whole. 


Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 15 and above
My Ratings: PG-13

Higashi no Eden

Image from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/5630/Higashi_no_Eden

Name: Eden of the East 東のエデン Higashi no Eden

Sequel: Higashi no Eden Movie I: The King of Eden

Status: Completed

Episode: 11

Release Date (for eng subs): -

Summary:

On November 22, 2010 ten missiles strike Japan. However, this unprecedented terrorist act, later to be known as "Careless Monday," does not result in any apparent victims, and is soon forgotten by almost everyone. Then, 3 months later... Saki Morimi is a young woman currently in the United States of America on her graduation trip. But just when she is in front of the White House, Washington DC, she gets into trouble, and only the unexpected intervention of one of her fellow countrymen saves her. However, this man, who introduces himself as Akira Takizawa, is a complete mystery. He appears to have lost his memory, is stark naked, except for the gun he holds in one hand, and the mobile phone he's holding in the other. A phone that is charged with 8,200,000,000 yen in digital cash.

Summary Source: Production I.G website

Summary from: http://myanimelist.net/anime/5630/Higashi_no_Eden

Personal Ratings: 3.5

When I first saw the pictures of this anime, I thought that this would be a very cliche romance story; especially since it's always one of the top few when I search under the romance genre. That kind of got me to stay away from this anime for quite a while, before I got sick of always seeing this anime as one of the top few. Than it suddenly hit me that I had to check this anime out. 

The first episode already got me to like this show, partly because it was not like those typical romance anime out there. But honestly I wouldn't really think that this is a romance anime, it's more like an action anime. I think that the interesting rate for this anime fluctuates a lot. I feel that only the first few and last few episodes were really interesting, while the middle part was a little dry and some what confusing. 
I felt that the linkage between the 'careless Monday' and the missing 20,000 NEETs were really interesting and what really kept the whole anime going. I was also quite shocked to see how many elements in the show was related to one another. (Almost everything was related to one another, even though they may not seem like it).

I don't think that the name "Higashi no Eden" is really appropriate for this anime, because I don't see how "Higashi no Eden" really played a role in this anime. I also don't really understand when they connect to the "johnny" show. I really didn't understand it when they mention it in some situation. I'm guessing you would have to watch that movie before you can understand the relation they are making?

Unlike it's sunny and bright side, I think that this show is unexpectedly brute and dark. Also a must to watch the two movies that comes after this because it completes the anime. 

Art Ratings: 3

I don't think that this art is really appropriate for this anime. I think that the art is too innocent looking for this anime. It would be a little more mature. 

Other than that, I think that the character design really matches the character's personality. 

Recommended for:

Gender: Both

Age: 16 and above

My Ratings: PG-13

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Image from: http://screenrant.com/tag/x-men-days-of-future-past/

Name: X-Men: Days of Future Past

Release Date (in Singapore): 23 May 2014
Watched on: 1 June 2014


Summary:

The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from X-Men: First Class in an epic battle that must change the past – to save our future.

Summary from: http://screenrant.com/tag/x-men-days-of-future-past/

Personal Ratings: 3.5

Finally know more about the past between Charles and Eric. Awesome to see the younger versions of them, who are much more cooler and less stiff. It's also really fun to see more of Mystic, since she is my favorite character since the beginning. But since it's been such a long time since I first watched the first X-Men movie, I wasn't really quite sure who was who.

I think this movie is a lot more fun compared to the other X-Men movies, partly because of the additions of young Charles and young Eric, and of course the speedy dude (whose name I forgot so forgive me.) Honestly, I don't think Wolverine actually played a huge role in the movie, other than traveling back 50 years into the past.

I really didn't think that Charles would be that different 50 years ago and now. Though Eric was still kind of like the same. 

I think that this X-Men concentrated on a few number of characters as compared to last time, where they really had a lot of characters to concentrate on (which makes things kind of hard to catch on).

What I didn't really like was probably the lesser action scenes when it comes to Wolverine. I think that there were more action scenes when it came to Mystic and Eric, unlike last time where Wolverine gets most of the action scenes. This time he was kind of useless (and that non-metal claws was really epic).

Recommended for:
Gender: Both
Age: 13 and above
Ratings: PG-13