Bleach - Demothis

Hello! Demothis here again. Due to the casual viewing nature of the other authors here at AHB, I will probably be reviewing almost all of the 50+ episode animes that are on this site.

Roxas tried and failed to watch at least up to the end of the first major arc in Bleach(1-63) within the span of about a month and only managed to get around 43 episodes in. I will now be reviewing it instead of him.

Bleach is one of the anime that are nicknamed, "The Big Three", although this is less true as of late due to the frozen state of the anime and the rather slow nature of the manga. The anime is currently sitting at 366 episodes and the manga is sitting at over 550 chapters.

Plot/Premise -/+
Ichigo Kurosaki is a regular high-school student aside from the fact that he can see spirits. One day his family is attacked and must become a soul reaper in order to save his family. The story follows his progression as a soul reaper trying to gain power in order to protect his friends.

Ichigo Kurosaki

The story when viewed at in chunks appears rather shallow and devoid of any actual plot. However, one must look upon the entire series to be able to understand what Bleach is about.

Characters -
Most of the characters can be seen as entirely throw away. There are maybe two dozen characters in the show that actually carry it. With some of those characters barely having a part.

Action Scenes +                         
The action scenes are simply outstanding. They are mostly predictable because Ichigo has the plot on his side, but they are very entertaining to watch. Even though you sort of know what is going to happen, it is the how that you should be concerned about.

Ichigo Vs. Ginjo

However, after a certain point Ichigo becomes nearly a fodder character until the final fight with the main antagonist, to which he then puts on his plot-armor again and becomes OP(overpowered). This leads to a bit of unbelievability due to how the power scaling works and how Ichigo seems to follow it very well.

Animation/Art +
The more recent episodes contain some of my favorite art, however the beginning has much lower quality art than what is seen today. This can be overlooked due to its age though. In some of the more recent episodes I feel that they do it perfectly. The full effect of the are comes into full view during the fight scenes no matter what part of the show you are at.

Ichigo vs Ginjo

Music +
The music is actually pretty good. I am not just talking about the soundtracks that they play during the show, but the opening and endings of each episode.

Overall +
I personally give this anime an 8.5/10. It is high-tiered in quality overall, but only low high-tiered. Its length, like all of The Big Three, causes some people to not even give it a chance. But I find that whenever I do get someone to watch one of them they are always surprised. It is by no means perfect, but it is also by no means bad either.

Next Time
IF there is a next time I will be reviewing either Naruto or Elfen Lied. In other news, I will be starting to post manga reviews every other Saturday starting with tomorrow. Until then, I look forward to next time!

Woodpecker - Top 10 Attack on Titan AMV's

Hey Everyone! Sorry it has been so long. I thought as a little treat, I would track down a list of my top 10 Attack on Titan AMV's for ya. Enjoy!

1. √Bestamvsofalltime ▪ Louder Than Words

2.  Shingeki no Kyojin AMV- To Lose Your Humanity (Watch in 720p)

3.  [進撃の巨人 Shingeki No Kyogin AMV] -Already Over-

4. [Attack on Titan AMV] Survive

5. AMV Attack on Titan - Protectors of the Earth - Shingeki no Kyojin

6. Shingeki No Kyojin AMV-[Attack on Titan] GLORY[AMV]

7. [ Shingeki No Kyojin ] - Heroes Falling AMV

8. [Attack on Titan AMV] - Path of Humanity (Les Friction)

9. Attack On Titan - AMV Anthem Of The Lonely (Nine Lashes)

10. Attack on Titan: RETRIBUTION Trailer (Shingeki no Kyojin)

Hope you all enjoyed my top 10 list of Attack on Titan AMV's! I'll catch ya next week with my review on Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East. 

This is Woodpecker, signing off.

- Woodpecker

One Piece - Demothis

Hello! Demothis here again. Today I will be doing my One Piece review that has been on standstill for about four weeks now.

Because of the sheer scale of One Piece parts of this review may feel incomplete or vague. It is on purpose. If I were to go anymore in depth than I am it will start getting into the territory of spoilers.

*Note that my review for this is most likely highly biased as this is my favorite anime by far.

Plot/Premise +
By this point One Piece has been going for about 15 years and most people who watch anime probably know what the premise of One Piece is by this point. There is a vast treasure hidden by the late pirate king Gol D. Roger. Moments before his execution he tells the audience that it is theirs if they just manage to find it. 20 years later people are still looking and it is thought to lie somewhere in the Grand Line, a notoriously dangerous strip of sea that is almost entirely unpredictable. The story follows Luffy as he gathers a crew and goes into the Grand Line in search of this legendary treasure.

Pre-Grand Line Crew

Now, despite the premise right off the bat seeming pretty shallow it leaves room for an immense world to be created and thus more underlying plot that is not just a part of the overall theme, but a story in itself. Though most of the story arcs follow certain guidelines, they are all pretty unique. Because of this it gives the story a lot of potential.

Characters +
Due to the long a drawn out nature of the show it gives it plenty time to go into all the important characters and give them enough depth to make you attached to them. It can help give you insight as to why certain characters act a certain way or to simply let you get to know them better.

Present Crew

Action Scenes +                      
Action scenes really depend on the individual. Personally I really like the fight scenes. Because of the unique abilities of the Devil Fruit users along with the power called Haki, the fights can be rather interesting to watch and see how the mixtures of powers comes out.

Punched Back Into The Manga

Unlike a lot of other anime, One Piece does really give the main crew OP(over-powered) status simply because they are the main characters. It is constantly stated withing the show that they are very weak compared to anyone who really matters in the world. Sure they win a lot, but they lose a ton as well.

Animation/Art -
Due to it being rather old when the story starts off with an art style that is very dated. This combined with the authors unique art style turns people away at first. It did the same for me. Many people don't seem to like how things are proportioned on the characters, the color variation, or even that it looks rather childish.

I still think it looks cool

Personally I like the art, but that was only after watching it and getting used to the art. Before I first started I didn't like the look of it. It didn't look refined. It just plain looked silly. I find that this is seems to be true for many people.

Music -
My grade for this is simply for the opening and closing themes. I find that they are a little too upbeat. I am normally a pretty optimistic guy, but even for me they feel too cheery. I like the songs themselves, it is just that most of the time they don't even reflect the mood of the show as a whole. It can bring you out of it when you have a cheery opening and then something super serious is going on in the show.

Sound Tracks +
The soundtracks are essentially perfect. They almost always do the scene that they are trying to augment justice and will almost never damage the scene and make it feel out of place.

Overall
I give it a personal 10/10 because in my eyes it is essentially perfect in everyway. Most of my negative notes were simply my initial reaction, but as I was eased into it over the course of watching it seven times I found that I really liked what I used to hate. Yes, even the music.

Next Time
I don't know, Bleach maybe? I'd be surprised if I even did one next week at this rate and when I finally did get around to it my mood might be favoring something else.

The Secret World of Arrietty [MOVIE] - Roxas

Hey guys, Roxas here. Things have been extremely slow here lately, and we would like to apologize for that. We should be back to posting as usual now.

Premise - Have you ever thought that there might be little people living inside your house? Things disappear and your sure that some tiny humans came in the night and stole them? Well I haven't, but I'm sure someone has. In the Secret World of Arrietty, little people do exist, and they sometimes live under human houses. These people call themselves borrowers, and they call us human beans. No, I am not joking. Arrietty is the focus of this story, a very tiny girl with very large dreams.It also about a boy named Sho, whose life is about to be changed by Arrietty.

Animation Style - I was very fond of this animation, as it gave a sense of awe as these small people walked through a normal human house. It had Studio Ghibli's timeless feel, while at the same time keeping its own unique flavor.

Ghibli does it again!

Plot - 
This is not an original story, and you'd know that if you've seen the movie "The Borrowers." I did not like that movie, so I was not expecting to like this one much better. While it does suffer problems, this retelling is much more enjoyable than the other movie. The story itself is very emotionally stirring, especially towards the end, but the plot can seem to drag at times. Perhaps this was due to the movie relying a little too much on its premise, and less on the story.

Characters - 
 Most of these characters were pretty solid, but while they were all good, none of them stood out as amazing. I will also note that the character Spiller in this movie felt a bit underdeveloped, and kind of rushed. The only thing that really stands out to me in this movie is Sho's relationship with Arrietty. Seeing them interact and talk with each other proved very interesting.

Music - The music was the best part of the movie. It not only set the scenes, it made the scenes. It captivates and excites. Even if you don't watch this movie, get the soundtrack. The song "Arriety's Song" had a beautiful tone that I kept listening to over and over again.

Verdict - The Secret World of Arriety, while not an amazing or groundbreaking movie, was certainly a joy to watch.
Score - 8.5/10

+ Amazing Music
+ Heartfelt Interactions
+ Funny Moments
+ Strong Ending
- Pacing Issues
- Average Characters 
- Spiller

Wolfe: Update

Wolfe reporting.

Sorry for the down-time, potential fan base, but I regret to inform you that a solution is not immediately able to be rendered. This blog is a dream of mine, a vision come to life through the work of my hands and those of my friends, my comrades. We started off weak, blind, and inexperienced, and have progressed a large amount over time. We have had differences and changes, meetings and ideas. Things have come to be while other things have faded away.

Ultimately, overflowed with both schoolwork and work, my amount of free time has dropped almost entirely, and that which has remained is there solely by eating into the hours I would normally use for sleep. Unable to post, I have not pushed my comrades to put effort in either, due to an old ideal of mine.

Is the blog dead? No, I don't think so. But posts will certainly be more challenging to come by unless I find a way to change my present situation.

If you want to keep up with me, I am maintaining the group's Tumblr (with occasional assistance from Baldr) at www.animeheadbrothers.tumblr.com.

With luck, I'll be able to post next Monday with my Code Geass R2 review.

Wolfe out.