episode(s) [review archive] {incomplete atm}

These reviews [which are more like commentary if I'm being honest] are either in a single post or grouped together with others. I used to really want to review anime by the episode, but I found this to be really hard and haven't really stuck with this kind of format but I still sometimes review this way, so here is an archive of past and current reviews, in ABC order:
(note, anime with * are reviews of the English dub)
(note, some of these are movies >.> )

as of 2/25/2010, I'm letting you know this is currently not the complete list. this is only for the commentary I posted up to the first post in October 2009. I had no idea i posted so many of these tiny reviews >.> and i need to get to sleep because it's 7am and I have work at 2:30pm and I've had zip sleep soooo BED TIME *crashes* I'll finish after work today which is like 2:30-11pm so yay =D

07-Ghost [#21][#22-25]

Asura Cryin' [#1]

Bakemonogatari [1-3]
Basquash! [1&2]
Birdy the Mighty Decode [#1]

chaos;HEAD [1&2]
Clannad ~after story~ [1-3]

Darker than BLACK [1&2][3-6]
Dead Leaves [1]

Eden of the East [#1]
Ef: A Tale of Melodies [#1]

Genshiken [1&2]

Hanasakeru Seishounen [#1]

KNK The Garden of Sinners [#1]
K-ON! [#1]
Kujibiki Unbalanced [1-3]
Kemeko DX [#1]
Kuro Kami * [1-4]
Kurozuka [1-3]

Mushi-uta [#1]

Natsu no Arashi [#1]
Needless [1&2]

Princess Lover [1-4]

Rin ~daughters of darkness~ [#1-6]

Sgt. Frog * [1&2]

Tayutama ~kiss on my deity~ [#1]
Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 [1&2]

Umi Monogatari [1&2]
Umineko no Naku koro ni [#1]

Vexille [1]

Awake [2007]

***

"You have to live, Clay." -Clay's mother

Back in 2007 I was not the movie buff that I am today for one main reason- there were a lot of movies my parents wouldn't let me watch due to that oh so interesting R rating (I was only 15/16 that year). Well, Awake was a movie I really wanted to see back then but alas I was not allowed. Today I got the chance to finally watch this movie that I have wanted to for the past 3 years!
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The movie's main character is played by Hayden Christensen who is of Star Wars and Jumper fame while his love interest is played by Jessica Alba of Fantastic 4 fame. There is also Terrance Howard of Iron Man fame that played the heart surgeon. This movie, in other words, had quite the star cast considering this movie was the first for the screen writer/ director behind it.
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~Synopsis~
The twenty-two year old Clay Beresford is a genius of finance secretly in love of his mother's secretary Sam Lockwood. Clay has a complex, expecting recognition from his mother Lilith Beresford that he is as capable as his father was, and he needs heart transplantation. When Clay finds a donor compatible with his rare blood, he requests his friend Dr. Jack Harper operate him under the protest of his mother that wants the famous Dr. Jonathan Neyer responsible for the procedure. On the eve of his heart surgery, Clay marries Sam and during the surgery, he experiences an "anesthetic awareness" that leaves his conscious but paralyzed. Clay witnesses the dialogs in the room and discovers dark secrets about his surgery.
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~Characters/Casting~
Clay (Christensen): Clay, the main character, was a very interesting one. At first in the movie he seemed way to submissive to his mother (in fact ditching his love interest when his mother is near, and going as far as hiding their engagement), but the reason to this is revealed later on in the movie and this made me realize that Christensen was able to portray the character very well. As far as being an 'awake' patient, I found his portrayal to be very believable- though this is considering my far from extensive knowledge of being awake while under anesthesia.
Sam (Alba): I'm not used to seeing Miss Alba playing such a manipulative character! Oh my gosh, you have to see this movie simply to see the way Alba plays the Sam character. She is able to.... ah snap! I can't really say anything about her character without ruining the movie :(
I feel like this movie was well casted, especially when it came to the mother and surgeon characters. The others were good as well, but the ones casted for Clay, Sam and the Mom were really good choices.
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~Overall Impression~
While this movie is listed as a physiological thriller, it really isn't all that much of a thriller as it is a story about how a character's situation from child hood can really screw him over in the long run.
Not much is revealed about how Clay got his wealth, but it is very apparent from the start as to why he still has the wealth; and it is even more apparent why he was chosen for.... -AH SNAP. Like this is about to be a serious spoiler so do not read it if you're planning on watching this movie because it's a movie where not knowing what's going to happen 'till it does is what makes this a good movie- ... being the patient to kill.
The way this movie was executed was tre perfecto. The story was amazing and the casting was top notch. There's really nothing I can complaine about with this movie. There is really no soundtrack to comment on and I can say the medical practices in this movie were not dead on which is the main reason why this movie gets a 3 stars rather than 5. The medical staff was dangerously short, and I'm pretty sure if the staff was that short an realistic replacement would have been found rather than some last minute one.

Victorian Romance Emma (anime review)

****

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# of Episodes: 24 (12 per season) + recap ep
Rating: early Teen
Genre(s): Romance/Drama/Slice of Life
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My friend Elijah (who is an anime geek to the extreme) is a genius for giving me this anime to watch! I finished both seasons in a matter of days because I just could not stop watching except to eat and let my eyes take a break because I get bad headaches if I don't. Ha ha *sweet drop*
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~Synopsis~
William Jones’s trip to visit his governess Kelly Stowner yields more than just an opportunity to reminisce on old times; he also ends up falling in love with her maid, Emma. However, trouble arises from this relationship because William is a member of the gentry and with his father looking to raise his family’s status by marrying into the nobility, this relationship meets with some major resistance. It also does not help that Eleanor Campbell, the daughter of a viscount has fallen in love with William and seeks to gain his affection. [The Nihon Review]
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~Initial Impressions~
When I first started watching this series, I was a little surprised by how it captivated me. Normally a series that is this slow would make me want to stop watching... ok, that's a lie BUT STILL I did consider dropping this series after a few episodes simply because of the premise but episode one just would not let me do that.
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~The Music/ Dub~
This is the type of series that a Japanese dub just doesn't really work, so when I tried to hunt down an English version to no avail I was pretty sad. The reason why I just can not give this anime a perfect score is because of the lack of a fitting English dub, not to say that the Japanese one wasn't good... it just wasn't fitting!
The music on the other hand was sweet and very Victorian sounding :D
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~The Visuals~
If I lived in the Victorian era, I'm pretty sure it would look like this anime does. The animation was very calming, and really help with setting the happy and sad and dramatic moods in this anime. I adore the color pallet!
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~The Story~
Slow romances usually don't go as well as this one did! Especially the ones where a master falls in love with a maid. AH, usually they are too funny or too fan service filled for me to care but this one.... was really well done! It's not your typical maid series.

Valentine's Day [2010]

You would think a movie with this much "star power" would have WOWED the audience.... well, I was part of an audience viewing this movie on some random Thursday and it was extremely disappointing! First off, having so many starts in one movie was a failure in itself... because of all these stars, the different stories were rushed rather that developed to the point where I could attach myself to the characters. Second, Taylor Swifts' character made me want to barf. She was so annoying and I felt sorry for Taylor Lautner :( Anne Hathaway's character was a hoot- she played an adult phone entertainer.
What really got me about this movie was how almost every couple broke up (except the high school couples who were just too lovey dovey)- all except the one George Lopez was apart of T_T Overall, this movie was just ok. There were no extremely heart wrenching moments and I didn't feel the need to cry at all. BUT the little boy who tried to give flowers to his teacher was an awe worthy moment. You're better off waiting to rent this one.