Logic in anime

*Includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

 So I've been thinking. Why is it that at first Ichigo needed a cape with the Shihouin emblem to float in the air when Rukia was being executed. But then further on, for example when they are fighting the Arrancar, there is no need for such things! Hah! Who do you think they are?? They are shinigamis! 

Was it because of the difference of the human world and Soul Society? Or did they just conveniently learn that ability in the meanwhile? Or did I just miss something?
And then... when Ichigo went into bankai and battled Byakuya in the first saga, he had no problems Flash Stepping (or shunpo, whichever you prefer) reaaaally fast. But then further on he just kinda.. forgets that ability? Sure, his bankai is a bit weaker in the real world - but still not contained by the seal like the rest of the captain level fighters. So.... whaddup? What's up with charging towards the enemy when you could do a Flash Step here and a Flash Step there... ?

The reason I even thought about this was something a friend of mine said a long time ago. He said that he doesn't watch Naruto because it's too childish. And that he likes Bleach way better.
Now, I can't say I don't like Bleach - I mean it has swords, and awesome robes and shinigamis.... not to mention Kenpachi... What's not to like!
But when I think about it objectively, Bleach is way more straightforward. Let me try to explain: when reading a book or watching a movie, people try to guess what will happen next. If a character has gone evil or is tormented, people try to figure out why. If there is massive scheming going on, people try to see through it.
 
Now if we think about Bleach: you either figure out what's wrong with the situation immediately or there is hidden information and you couldn't have known the outcome whether you wanted to or not. For example - why would Aizen make a bunch of Arrancar -> we couldn't have known there was a king for the Soul Society...
But as far as Naruto is concerned - things are way more complex and from the very beginning everything hints at a wider and deeper world. Jirayia hinted ahead of time towards the existance of Akatsuki, Tenten mentions lady Tsunade as her role model even before the Chuunin exam. Here is a picture from episode 134 of Naruto:

You can see Madara Uchiha's statue from the battle in the Valley of the End in the background so this was just after Naruto and Sasuke battled. And Zetsu, who will play a major part in the Fourth Ninja war in Naruto Shippuuden, is already there. There are many hints at future action - they even tell you it's going to take 3-4 years before Naruto has to clash with Akatsuki and that's how much time he has to save Sasuke from Orochimaru too.
You can also predict some of the moves the characters make - for example if Shikamaru proposes some tactics or Tsunade sends out a team or similar. And if it's complicated, they explain it to slower viewers too.
Is that why that friend of mine said the show was childish? Because everything is explained? Not like they don't explain things several times in Bleach... <.<

He probably meant the humor though. Which is fine since Bleach has none. Ichigo is always the serious and grumpy looking cool guy. He never does anything fun. He's just heroic all the time. The only fun part about the entire series is the Shinigami Illustrated Picture Book.
But Naruto is human - he laughs, makes mistakes, boasts, feels sad. I don't find him very childish at all. Actually, for a 12 year old, he's pretty mature. Perhaps a bit silly at times but with more conviction and guts than most grown ups have.

And I don't know full well about One Piece, but that one seems to be more towards Naruto with a vast world.
Fairy Tail is just... different. But refreshing!

Kihihhii!

Anyway, next time I hear anyone say Naruto is childish, I'm going to tell them what I just told you. Yes sir!

Good luck all and see you next week.  

Chihayafuru 2

*Includes spoilers. Media credits go to their owners.*

Ahhhh, finally, Chihayafuru 2 is here! While it was already out last week, I didn't have the chance to relax and carefully enjoy the first episode soon enough. But now I have. And even though there will be another episode out by the time this bit of the blog will go live, I'll focus on the first episode here.

So whoever doesn't know it yet - Chihayafuru is an anime series about karuta. WTF is karuta? It's the name of the game, yo! Actually it's a game the Japanese nobles used to play and has a 100 cards in it with poems from the Hyakunin isshu - a great anthology of classical Japanese poetry. To set that aside, this anime is about smacking cards! You need to grab a card as soon as you hear the first syllable of any of those 100 poems. And that's what Chihaya (the pretty lady on the picture) and her friends do all series long. Sounds extremely dull?
It's not!
It has some pretty awesome sports tactics and abilities mixed into it, but it's also kind of elegant in the form of the poems and the readers (who read the poems to the competitors) and tradition. Even though competetive karuta has very little in common with the nobles of ancient times. Mostly everyone is sweaty and has to think a lot. Anyway, some pictures I captured from the first episode.

There's a new girl, who looks like a bitch and obviously likes Taichi. Not cool, missy. GTFO, he needs to be with Chihaya, kk?
Actually, I can't wait for today's episode, so I'm just going to leave this at that. Really want to see moooar!

Fairy Tail episode 163

*Definitely includes spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

Oooo wops! I forgot to post this yesterday :x Sorry, sorry - to everyone who might care and myself as well.

I'd like to talk to you about Fairy Tail episode 163. I don't normally focus on one episode only, but this time, I will.
I understand that people have urges. And I understand that in Japan these urges might differ from the ones in west a bit. But oh dear goodness. Does one really have to dedicate an entire episode to showing people that??

They started out with this...

...and this...

... and then moved on to this...

 
Okay. Now I'm sure lots of people (read: men) might enjoy this - and I personally don't even mind boobies and stuff. I actually love boobies <3 Awesome things. But I really came here to watch them fight in the Grand Magic Games. Dammit. That's not the Grand Magic Games - it's the Boobfest!

And if they thought the part with wedding dresses would appeal to the female watchers then well...

... Maybe it did. A bit. Just a little bit though, okay?? 

Because as soon as I saw this...
 

 ... and this...

 ... I was instantly caught by the thought: "Zomfg, get the f*** away from Lucy's man!" Especially when she started talking about how she used to want to become Natsus wife. Omfg!!!!

Luckily, the day was saved.

Good thinking, Loke! :P

Now in the entire episode, there were two scenes I actually liked. A lot.
First was before even the opening theme had started.

Now this was nice. Good good. Stop with the subtle hints, everyone knows these two should get together. They were practically all over each other on Tenroujima anyway.

The second scene I really liked was this one:

Yes! Gooooood girl, Mira! Stop with the bikini BS and get down to some real action!
Also the end of this episode promised some pretty hardcore action for the following episode!
Good, good! Cannot wait!

So what do you think about showing lots of half-ero/fetish stuff?  

Anime music

*May include spoilers. All media credits go to their owners.*

I love anime music. Most of my playlists these days consist of anime music only. Sure, once in a while I don't mind listening to "normal people music", but in general having to spend time in a group where they listen to dubstep or whatever music is hip these days, is a total nightmare. Of course, if I decide to play my music in that group everyone gets really uncomfortable - "What is this BS?" 
BS?? BS??! It's just regular pop music - merely in Japanese. How can you not like that? Alright... okay... well I guess I wouldn't want to listen to Indian pop music either...
Anyway, whenever I watch an anime, I check out the opening and ending themes during the first episode and if they happen to change half way through, I listen to those too. Mostly I can't be bothered to listen to them all the time though, especially when there are lost of episodes to watch still. Actually, it even irritates me a bit if I am forced to watch the entire opening due to slow loading. But I also have to admit that for some animes, watching the opening and/or ending adds a lot of value.

First of all, if it's a weekly show that I follow, I'm way more likely to listen to the opening. Mainly because I like having a sneak peek at what's still to come and which characters I have already seen. Like Fairy Tail for me. Although this far Fairy Tail has had the best openings for a long anime - all of them were pretty catchy and listening to them kind of gives exciting expectations. My favourite - at least tune wise - is opening number 6, which you can see below. Though I have to admit that number 10 that shows the end of the Tenroujima arc has some pretty epic scenes - like that one scene where Laxus opens his eyes, omg omg!
 

But in some cases I really think listening to the opening and the ending kind of entwines into the topic and helps you dive into the world shown in the anime and emerge afterwards. I've seen people say that about Clannad, for example, but if I'd have to choose one, it would definitely be Ano Hana. It's a pretty serious anime with a deep topic that really hits home. If you let it. And yet it doesn't really come off as depressive. 

But had I not listened to the ending theme all along, the finale of the anime would've been only half as epic. The sadness and joy were entwined and the song playing as the background gave it so much more depth - especially if you thought about the words. It's as if the tunes were amplifying the thought behind the scenes. I'll add it here too.

 

Out of the very few openings I've listened to just because it's awesome, this next one is the latest and so far the catchiest. Also, I really like what they've done with the opening - half way through you can see a review of the previous episodes, which is really good especially considering that the first half of Durarara! shows very different characters each episode. Although for some reason I could not find the original opening video in the Blogger posting options, I still think this one gives a nice idea why one would wish to listen to it at the beginning of each episode.

 

Naturally there are loads of others that I really like and I could even list you my entire playlist here, but that would be kind of out of place, wouldn't it :P

Which openings/endings do you think fit the anime extremely well?

See you next week!