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Ore no Imouto finish

By 樂 樂 on December 21, 2010

…or at least the ‘good end’. Episode 12 of the hands-down best anime of the season and maybe even the year almost had me in tears again after an absolutely beautiful ending. It was a heavy dose of cuteness and sweetness, but it was the right dose. Not too much; just right. Now, we all saw it coming for this good happy ending, but my expectations were met and exceeded furthermore. I just wonder how the ‘bad end’ will be, which I think comes out later :S from what my friends have told me at least. Now that Oreimo is ‘over’, and because I’m also a few days into my end of year school holidays, I can comfortably blog in the quiet of my dark room with k-pop blaring in the background. Here’s my song of the day, which is a bit different from my norm of metal, and probably a song that many of you know all too well:

Anyway, back on track with a short summary review of Oreimo before I sleep! Have work tomorrow! You’ve probably read some of my other articles on this anime, and almost definitely would have heard enough about it from the general anime community. Based on looks alone, this anime isn’t really anything special: what makes it stand out so far in front and away from most mainstream anime out there is the story and what it deals with.

Oreimo as you should know by now is an anime about a brother and sister, and a whole lot of erotic stuff. To clear up misconceptions and weird implications of that previous sentence, it’s about a middle school girl who is secretly addicted to erotic video games whose nature is frowned upon by general society. Personally speaking here (as a blog is supposed to do), in this situation I belong in the ‘general society’ frowning upon what this young girl enjoys doing in her spare time. If you’re like me, as you watch this anime you will find that it does deal with relevant issues. You see, the brother, parents and the friends also frown upon her nasty habit. As a student, I find myself here forcing myself to stop this from becoming an essay on the story. That itself should explain the depth that can be found in this series, beneath the giggles and ridiculous situations, there is more than enough to challenge us to think about regarding the themes. Very similar to Arakawa in this aspect if you’ve seen that. The characters here are mostly strong, obviously emphasis given on the two siblings, but many other parts of the cast are well set within the 12 episode frame. I would have liked some more on certain characters, but that’s unrealistic to ask for in a short series.

Before the series even ended, I found myself very attached to Kyousuke who the story is told from (third person). We understand what he feels in each situation. We laugh when he laughs, we laugh when he’s in crazy awkward situations, our hearts are shattered as he deals with some things that I imagine would destroy such a caring brother. And finally we can’t help but smile by the end.

One of the key messages behind this tsundere is simple; the little sister might be a pervert who is also one massive and inconsiderate bitch at times, but it’s well worth the effort to forgive and accept her for who she is. I know I can’t really say anything because I don’t have pretty, yet perverted bitch of a sister (I’m stuck as the younger sibling myself ) but we can all learn from the admirable Kyousuke. It’s worth fighting for. When she can be damn cute xD


As mentioned awhile earlier, the aesthetics of this anime aren’t anything to get excited over. Animation is acceptable, and designs aren’t anything new. If anything, when I first started this series, Kirino didn’t seem to be such a spectacular female lead.

Speaking on my behalf, by the end of the series I found myself eventually liking Kirino and most of the other cast, despite the underwhelming art. The rest of the anime also grows on you too.

Kuroneko meido! This anime has some of the most memorable moments in any series I have ever seen. I will definitely watch it again, and most likely I will end up in tears. The ending hits the spot, and provides the perfect mix of conclusion, more surprises, intensity, sweetness and room for the series to grow. The ending credits was also one of the better ones I’ve seen, with a montage of short clips that are absolutely hilarious. Yes, the series has room to grow and it most definitely will (at least with the aforementioned ‘bad end’ I do believe)…but I really hope they won’t ruin such a masterpiece with lifeless sequels. However, I have faith. The series was fresh and brought surprises and a perfect blend of comedy, character development and depth for a 12 episode series. I’m sure that whatever is branched out from this series will be another good surprise!

9/10 (that’s being harsh and taking a mark off for the art) Tags: oreimo
Posted in Anime, Reviews | No Comments » REEL Anime film festival (update x2)

By 樂 樂 on September 13, 2010


Just earlier this month, our REEL anime film festival begun in theatres around Australia and New Zealand. I was largely quite impressed with the selection brought down to us deprived otakus here in Australia. After a quick look and talk, several of my friends along with myself decided to watch a few of these…


Read on for my opinions on Evangelion 2.0, Redline, King of Thorn and Summer Wars!

Evangelion 2.0 Without a doubt, everybody has heard of this film remake quadrilogy of the all-time fan favourite series Neon Genesis Evangelion. Personally, I found the film Evangelion 1 quite disappointing. I had not seen the original series, but I’m sure fans of that would have enjoyed the first movie a lot more than myself. I found it rather slow and boring, mainly because I rented the DVD at Blockbuster based on the assumption that it would be a fast paced film full of killing stuff. The second reason I was disappointed was the sheer amount of whinging from the lead character, Shinji. How angsty can you get?

Thankfully, Evangelion 2.0 exceeded any expectations I could have developed based on the first film and actually becomes one of my favourite anime. Heck, I can even say…… Tags: anime, fanboy, film, movies, reelanime, review

Quick Review: Sky Crawlers

By 樂 樂 on September 11, 2010 Okay, I had high expectations of this, mainly because it looked pretty and it is directed by Mamoru Oshii (of GitS fame). I also knew that it was supposed to be slow…but I did not expect it to be that slow…
Don’t get me wrong, its quite a thought-provoking and emotional story with decent characters, but quite frankly, it was way too slowly paced to keep me awake. The occasional dogfight brought some adrenaline-pumping excitement, but sadly it was not enough for me. On the other hand, The Sky Crawlers is very well produced. Breathtaking 3D animation and scenery blended with stylistic 2D characters simply amazed me with its beauty. The music (especially the opening) was also charming and ‘pretty’. I also must congratulate the sound effects, as that stood out to me.
Looking for some fast paced anime? Look somewhere else. However, if my comments on this appeal to you, check it out; you will not be disappointed with the beauty.

5/10 (Not my preferred genre) Tags: anime, disappointment, review

Quick Review: Casino


I loved ‘The Departed’, Scorsese’s adaptation of Hong Kong film ‘Infernal Affairs’ (like gangster movies? go watch it now.), and knowing that he is one of the pioneers of the gangster film genre, I decided to pick up this renowned flick as my Saturday evening film (little did I know that it was almost 3 hours long and became more than my simple ‘evening’ film to be taken with tea and biscuits) Yes, this film is bloody long…but what does that mean? Boring? No way…as you can see, I gave this film 5 stars (I’d prefer a decimal or percentage system here)…and in my opinion, ‘Casino’ manages to keep the audience enthralled for the whole time. My usual test for this is whether or not my eyelids begin to droop to the level which hinders my 100% awareness and perception; and I was not sleepy for 1 second of this film. *thumbs up* The script is of that familiar gangster feel, with f-bombs dropped throughout (not as much as ‘The Departed’ though haha), and just that I-don’t-know-how-to-describe-it-gangster lingo. I won’t spoil anything, but it follows the typical ‘rise and fall’ stream of gangster flicks (akin to ‘Scarface’ another brilliant film). Acting is top-notch, convincing and emotional. Production seems quite brilliant too; sets are lovely and detailed, from the glamorous casino and fancy houses to the downtown bars. However, one complaint I have is the gunshots, more specifically, the lack of blood splatter. Some ‘The Departed’ style splatter would have been very suitable in this.

Being rated R, I expected the usual: sex, violence and coarse language. Sex in ‘Casino’ is less than most MA films these days; a brief nude scene and a M rated sex scene. The violence was quite brutal when it did occur, which wasn’t toooooo often, given the film’s 3 hour span. Coarse language, is yeah…average amount.

Also, the premise of this gangster flick is rather good; a Casino! This makes for a slightly different approach and originality to this film which is still at heart a gangster movie. Posted in Reviews | No Comments »

Quick Review: The Boat That Rocked

By 樂 樂 on August 15, 2010

I was very eager and had high expectations when I picked up this film from Blockbuster Lisarow, for two obvious reasons: it was from the guy that brought us ‘Love Actually’ (a charmingly brilliant film in just about every sense), and its all star cast.  I’ll give this a 6.5/10…maybe you won’t bother reading on about a film that I decide is just ‘decent’ or ‘good entertainment’. Well, I shall justify my rating. First is my ramble, skip this if you are bored already and just want to get to the flesh of this review…well, I have seen plenty of movies in my day and I think it’s fair to say that this movie seems to push the boundaries of how much sexual content is allowed in a M rated movie these days. I mean, basically, half the movie is about sex and the related kinky adventures of these ‘pirates’. Given the context, this is rather understandable, but still, MA15+ would’ve been more suitable. Hmmm…there also should’ve been more plot points based on music…but I guess the script was based around sex and its accompanying humour.

Besides that, this movie is fairly humourous, managing to keep me awake whilst in a extremely comfortable lying position on the couch. Two thirds of the jokes are of a sexual nature, but about 60% of the total jokes are worth a decent ‘lol’. The plot is rather simple, at times predictable, at times shockingly not…given the context, the plot is simple and sweet, and a little twisted. *thumbs up* Acting is obviously of a high standard, given the outrageous number of A list actors…but still, some scenes and emotions seemed a bit forced and weren’t convincing enough for me. This could also be partially blamed on the characters: there was a plethora of them, all with the complimenting personalities expected in this genre, and some were clearly shallower than they should have been. The music is perfectly chosen to suit the context. Directing was typical Hollywood- camerawork, editing, pacing, etc were all as expected.

Don’t get me wrong, this film is good entertainment, but ultimately not quite a masterpiece/work of art, especially when placed side by side with the genius of ‘Love Actually’. Tags: movies
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