Anime Battle (Akatsuki no Yona vs. Arslan Senki)

Konninchiwa Minna-san and welcome to another Anime Battle blog post here on World of Anime Girl. As you can see from the title, the two anime competing today are Akatsuki no Yona aka. Yona of the Dawn and Arslan Senki or The Heroic Legend of Arslan. I picked these two because I have already written about their similarities in a post before: What if: ANIME CROSSOVERS (which you can see on the right)  and because I really love both of them. Yona, which is a studio Pierrot production has MAL rating of 8.23 whereas Arslan Senki is produced by a not so well known studio, SANZIGEN with a rating of 7.88. Both are action, adventure, fantasy anime with a bit comedy in Akatsuki no Yona and some pinch of history in Arslan Senki. With all the main information set, let's get to the details. 

Plot and Story Line  

Let's say, ladies first. Akatsuki no Yona follows young princess Yona. A naive 16-year-old princess that lived a happy and luxurious life in the peaceful kingdom of Kouka. One night, her life turns into a nightmare after her beloved cousin Su-Won murders her father and forces her to flee from the castle with her best friend and bodyguard Son-Hak. Soon, Yona realizes that her Kingdom is not as idyllic as it seemed, being plagued by poverty and corruption. Yona sets off on a dangerous adventure to save her kingdom guided solely by an old and mysterious legend.  

Arslan Senki is set in the Pars Empire ruled by King Andragoras III. The story starts as, young Arslan, the prince of Pars, sets out to prove his valor to his father in the battle between the Parsian Empire and the kingdom of Lusitania. But after the king is betrayed by one of his closest officials, the Parsian army gets defeated and the capital of Pars, Ecbatana seized. With a defeated army and the Lusitanians out for his head, Arslan is forced to run away together with respected army general Daryun. Arslan and Daryun start their journey in search for allies that will help him take back his home.

Now, both stories are extremely intriguing and have amazing settings. When it comes to the backgrounds, Yona's story has more fantasy in it because it is based on an old legend. It is so well done how the legend actually affects Yona's life and her mission. And even though the story looks like a tale from a children's book, it get's quite serious because Yona starts dealing with her own weak and naive self and the kingdom's problems like corruption, prostitution, drug trade etc. The story has a lot emotional but also romantic and humorous moments and some really good fight scenes. 

Arslan Senki on the other hand has a serious setting throughout the whole anime and has more drama woven into the story. Also, Arslan's story has a lot elements of intrigue that caused some major plot-twist in the story. Without that much romance in the beginning, one thing is for sure there, a bromance like no other. I must admit, I found the bromance between Arslan and Daryun quite funny from time to time.

On the whole, Akatsuki no Yona has it all, an intriguing setting, romance, humor, drama...Arslan Senki is more serious and complex but in the end I would say that Yona is the front runner for now!

Characters

Let's firstly analyse the main characters. Yona is a naive, weak princess that undergoes an immense character development already in the first season. Arslan on the other hand is the oh so perfect prince that needs help every here and there. And even after two seasons he goes trough minimal character development. Still he is a very determinate and optimistic one. 

When talking about the right hand of the main characters, Son-Hak and Daryun we have a cute romance on one side and a very committed bromance on the other. I have to admit I didn't like Daryun that much. He kinda has that Saber complex where he has to act in a moral way in every situation. But I do love Son-Hak, charismatic as he is, carrying the title 'Thunder Beast'. And for the side characters, in Akatsuki no Yona, you get to know every one of them  because they all have their own side story. I didn't see that much in Arslan Senki even though the side characters are really unique and interesting.  With all this said, I think we know who won this round-Akatsuki no Yona. 

Animation and Style

I guess we have a tie here. Arslan Senki produced in 2015 and Akatsuki no Yona in 2014, both anime have amazing animation and a beautiful style. The settings are breathtaking and I really can't say which one was better. In addition to that, I have to comment the unique character design of both anime. 

Conclusion

I think that we all know the winner of this battle considering the previous 3 rounds. AKATSUKI NO YONA. In the end, I do have to admit that I couldn't stay that much objective in this battle because Akatsuki no Yona is one of my favorite anime ever. Still I cannot say that I don't love Arslan Senki beacuse it is a truly amazing anime. 

In the end, the only thing that the winner, Akatsuki no Yona lacks is a second season but thankfully, the anime is a manga adaptation which is currently airing. 

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CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT-KONAN (Naruto)

Yo Minna-san, 

I hope you're all doing fine. It's winter break at last and I finally have some free time to write all the post I wanted to during the semester but couldn't. Today's post is the second in a series of posts called "Character Spotlight". In these posts I do some kind of character discussion about characters that are not so quiet popular but definitely deserve the spotlight. Last time it was Leila Malcal  from Code Geass: Boukoku no Akito and for this time I picked my probably favorite Naruto character, Konan of the Hidden Rain. Konan is in my opinion the strongest female character in the Naruto series (well, after Kagura that is) and has one of the best side/background stories in the anime. There are many reasons why I love her but I think the most important one is that she is a strong, independent woman. That's of course the type of character I love in almost every anime, but Konan is much more than just that. That's why today's Character Spotlight is devoted to her, Konan of the Akatsuki! Enjoy! 

HER STORY 📜

Konan was a kunoichi from the Hidden Rain village and the one and only female member of the Akatsuki. She is, alongside Yahiko and Nagato, one of the founding members of the original Akatsuki. Their story dates back to the Second Great Ninja War, during which the three of them became war orphans. Soon they realized that they need to get stronger in order to bring peace to Amegakure. After meeting the three legendary Sannin from the Hidden Leaf Village, Jiraiya decided to stay with them and teach them how too look after themselves. Over time, he also taught them jutsu so that they defend their selves and control their powers. Jiraiya left them after three year and soon the tree orphans formed the organisation known as Akatsuki. Through out their quest for peace, the Akatsuki became well known in Amegakure and their ranks grew day by day. 

After Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, started to feel that they might threaten his rule, he approached them and suggested to work together. But that of course was nothing but a lie. Soon after that his men captured Konan and brought her to a meeting where he ordered Nagato to kill Yahiko in exchange for her life. Even though Konan begged Nagato not to do it, Yahiko killed him self with the kunay in Nagato's hand. 

After accepting Tobi's offer of support, Nagato and Konan start recruiting S-rank ninjas into the Akatsuki and began to offer their services to ninja villages in order to earn money necessary for their long-term plans. Pain later on started the civil war with Amegakure, Konan acted as Pain's messenger, promising the people of Ame that he would bring peace to the village. 

PERSONALITY AND ABILITIES 😏 ✨

When it comes to her abilities as a ninja, their are mainly based on her love and talent for origami which she developed when she was a child. By infusing chakra into her origami she was able to develop a unique and strong fighting style. She could turn her entire body and clothing into thousands of sheets of paper which she could control at will. When it comes to her strength, I can surely say that she was one of the strongest characters in the entire Naruto series. She was even able to fight Obito and give him a really thug time. He even had to use the forbidden jutsu Izanagi and sacrifice one of his eyes to save him self in her final attack. The fight between Obito/Tobi/Madara (whoever) and Konan was one of my favorite and most emotional fights ever. 

Konan, is a very smart, quite and level-headed person. As a child, Konan was bright and relatively cheerful. What stayed even when she grew up was her loyalty and care for her comrades. She always put Yahiko and Nagato's life in fron of her own. When it comes to loyalty, she was always at Pain/Nagato's said and had trust in him and his abilities. After acting as a intermediary between Nagato and the village, she was given the title "God's Angle" because when using her paper wings, she resembled one. 

THE LOOKS 👩👧

Just as Jiraiya described Konan, she became "One Hell of a Woman" and so she is. Konan has short, purple hair and was always wearing a paper flower in her hair. She also has a labret piercing. Her eyes in the anime are amber colored with violet eye shadow. Her nails are also colored amber and she was usually wearing her Akatsuki cloak and ring, that has the kanji 白 "white" written on it. 

CONCLUSION ☝

Konan is with great extend my favorite Naruto character. She is strong, caring and smart. She is a determinate young woman that protects those dear to her. She is a beautiful yet strong and powerful female warrior that thinks about her actions before acting and not relying on her strength alone. She is such a bad ass character that unfortunately wasn't given much screen time in the anime. Still what I saw from her was enough to give her the spotlight in this post! 

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Fate/ Grand Order: First Order Anime Discussion

The first anime on my "to watch list" of the new Winter 2017 season happened to air right after New Year's Eve. It was actually one I was really looking forward to, but in the end I can just say that I was really disappointed. A side story of the original Fate series, Fate/ Grand Order aired its first part on January 1st-The First Order. Now let's discuss my disappointment in more detail.

PLOT AND STORY LINE

When I read the synopsis on the internet my first though was, that this could be really interesting. Finally someone realized that the Holy Grail War represents a threat to society and that someone is finally willing to take care of it. I thought this will again be an interesting and intriguing Fate story, with amazing characters and highly entertaining fights, but I was so wrong. As for the story I've never seen more rush in any other anime than in this one. Everything happens for no reason, suddenly and out of nowhere. In addition to that....Plot Holes. Plot holes everywhere. The story was definitely nicely imagined but horribly done. Besides, after the Holy Grail War of 2004 in Fuyuki, new evil servants appear without any master and they're all being controlled by evil Saber. So, if you hoped for an intriguing and deep plot like Fate is supposed to be...look elsewhere because First Order is not worth it.

 CHARACTERS 

This whole time I've been thinking of whom do the main characters remind me of. Their interaction between Ritsuka and Mash, the sudden love interest ...It's like I've seen that before in anime...Later I remembered the "Senpai, we can do it together" kind of relationship from Strike the Blood. They are the same characters. No development, no depth in the personality but a high level of annoyance. And guess what, in the end they both become just overpowered-good-for-nothings. The only character worth mentioning was Caster. He was the only one that actually did something in the anime. Not to mention is cool attitude and power...he was really great. But even tough Caster was pretty good, I liked evil saber the most. With her good-honest-girl-leader attitude finally off she became 50% less annoying but a 100% more bad-ass than before.

ANIMATION

Guess what was the only good thing about Grand Order:First Order. Well, as expected from a Fate movie, the animation was amazing. Amazing colors, smooth movements, amazing fight visualization and choreography...It was just perfect. Also something that has to be mentioned...Saber's armor! It was gorgeous and yet so bad-ass. I loved the new Saber. 

CONCLUSION

As I said, the whole "Save the human race from extinction because of the Holy Grail War" was nicely imagined, but horribly done. A forced story is never a good idea especially not with so many plot holes. As a side effect, the characters didn't have time for any significant development whereas their boring personality made them even less entertaining. So, as a conclusion, if you really, really want to see Grand Order, do it. Casters fights and the animation are enjoyable ut don't expect too much from the story alone.

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CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT-Leila Malcal (Code: Geass-Boukoku no Akito)

Good Evening Minna-san,

Are you ready for something new in the World of Anime Girl? How about some character discussion? I wanted to do this post for some time but never knew where I should start, or better said with whom. But tonight, while browsing trough my anime list, I figured out which character deserves the spotlight in the first "Character Spotlight" post. She is one of my favorite characters ever and has almost the same name as I do. She is a strong and independent female lead character in the side-story of one of the most amazing anime ever. I am Leyla and from Code: Geass-Boukoku no Akito, I present  you: LEILA MALCAL! Enjoy!

***SPOILER ALERT***

HER STORY 📜

Code: Geass-Boukoku no Akito is a side story of the original Code:Geass that takes place on the European Battle Front. It is a really good side story that tells us what is going on on the other side of world in time Lelousch fights Britania in Japan. In such a setting we encounter Leila Malcal. She is the daughter of a Britannian noble family that was against the regime in Britannia and so becomes exiled in the E.U. She was born in Europe, but was adopted by the Malcal family after her parents death. Later on, she becomes a Major in the E.U. army and the assistant of Commander Anou in the W-0 Unit. In a rescue mission in witch Leila confronted Anou's last minute decision to use Japanese youngsters for suicide attacks, Anou is finally removed from the Commander position. After the success of the operation, Leila is promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and given direct command of the W-0 Unit. 

Right from the beginning we could see that Leila has her own Geass power. Her geass is blue and works in some way as a geass canceler. Who gave it to her? Well, after a terrorist attack Leila flees together with her mother but they are soon involved in another accident. After their car flipped over and exploded her mother dies, but Leila manages to escape into the forest. Going deeper into the forest, she reaches a frozen lake that she tries to cross, but the ice breaks and Leila falls down into the cold water. Luckily she was saved by a strange woman with green hair. It is later revealed that the woman was C.C.

PERSONALITY 😄😏

The first reason I loved Leila was not her name but her personality. She is a strong, independent and clever young woman that knows what she wants. She knows how to act as a leader and is always ready to take the lead. More importantly, she is a very caring person that would sacrifice everything she has for the people she loves. Leila is a kind person whose only desire is to end the war in the E.U. and to save the Japanese who fight the battles instead of the Europeans. She is a real role-model and definitely someone that deserves the spotlight of anime characters. 

THE LOOKS 👩👧

Leila is a beauty! She has light purple eyes and long blond hair with two bangs at each side. Just like any other character, whether from the original Code Geass or the Boukoku no Akito, Leila's looks are unique. She does resemble Stella from the cartoon Winx if you remember, but never mind that...I loved her looks and especially her uniform. Georgeous! 

CONCLUSION ☝

Leila is a gorgeous young woman that has an amazing personality. She is clever, strong and independent  and that's why I love her so much. Not to mention her beautiful name...The first anime character in CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT...Leila Malcal!

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Answering Questions from MAL Forums pt.3

Oi Minna-San,

I hope you've missed the Anime Girl because today she's back with one more "Answering Questions" post here on World of Anime Girl. I don't know why, but I love this kinds of posts the most because I love expressing my opinion. And there is no better way of expressing your opinion than answering questions. So, once again, I picked a couple of questions from My Anime List and now they're about to be answered by Anime Girl. 

Do you judge Anime by its COVER? 😏

Uhm..Da! I am not particularly sure why I do that but the reason for that is probably that I care much about visuals. I just cannot watch something that doesn't look good. Best example for that is Kill la Kill. I just hate the way the characters, especially the main one looks like. And I saw that from the cover. I do judge, but I usually do it in a positive way. There were many anime that I decided to watch just because of the cover...So in conclusion...Yes, I judge anime sometimes by its cover. 

What is the absolute worst anime you have ever seen? 🙈

Answering this question is easy. The absolutely worst anime that I've ever seen in my life was definitely Tokyo ESP. It's been a while since I watched it, maybe three years or so. But I just remember people suddenly having esper powers because of some golden jellyfish floating in the air. Just total nonsense, and I hate total nonsense. The story was just a huge plot-hole and nothing added up. It was a huge mistake and and even greater waste of time. 

What Anime makes you wanna watch the whole damn thing all over again? 😍

Well...there is actually a list of anime I'd like to re-watch but there is no time beacuse there are so many anime I haven't seen yet...*starts crying*. The only anime I watched two times was Psycho Pass and I could definitely do it one more time. Other anime are as follows: Akatsuki no Yona, Ao Haru Ride, Akame ga Kill, Code Geass, Death Note, Death Parade, Fairy Tail, Fate/ Zero, Fate/ Stay Night: Unlimited Balde Works, Beautiful Bones: Sakurako-san's Investigation, Your Lie in April and Tales of Zestiria the X. Now that's quite a list. 

What anime have you seen that were good but boring? 😑

The first anime that came to my mind after reading this question was Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Daikatsu. That was with great extend THE most hyped anime of the year and at this point I am too afraid to ask why? Yes, the idea was good and the animation was great, maybe the best I have ever seen but it was so damn boring. It was just tiring and stupid. I don't know how I managed to finish watching it but I guess I did it just because of the hype. And I wanted to know what the deal was with the whole "I love Emilia" memes. 

What are some anime that you wanted to watch but never did? 😩

Good question...Really good. Well, there are a couple of anime that I always wanted to watch but never did, like: Inuyasha, Claymore, Deadman Wonderland, Pandora Hearts...I can't come up with any other but there are definitely many more. I am currently reading the Inuyasha manga and it is really good. I guess the others will just have to wait.

There were no good anime shows in 2016, why? 😕

Year in rewind, yeee...It was indeed a not so great year. The beginning of the year was not that bad. The winter season had some good anime but the highlight was definitely Erased. When it comes to spring, I personally didn't like it but the community did. Anime like Boku no Hero Academia, Re: Zero kara..., Koutetsujou no Kabaneri and Bungou Stray Dogs were quite poplular. Summer season was amazing. ReLife, Berserek (2016), Mob Psycho 100, Tales of Zestiria the X were all amazing anime and there were many more. And last but not least, Fall 2016. I think it's really bad. Seriously, I don't think I'll watch anything from the Fall season. So, on the whole, it wasn't a bad year, but the previous couple of years were definitely better. 

I'll be doing a "What to expect in 2017" post soon and cover the anime that are announced for the following year. Be sure to check it out and see what will the anime world offer in 2017.

This would be it for today's post. I hope you liked it and be sure to give your own answers in the comments bellow! See ya guys!   

Your AnimeGirl <3 

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Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: ANIME REVIEW

Welcome, welcome my dear otaku comunity!

Before I start with today's post I'd like to remind you of a certain date that is coming up. Next Thursday on December 15, Otakus all over the world are celebrating the World Otaku Day and so should you! I want to do something special on my blog on that day so I'd like you to give me some ideas in the comments bellow. 

As for today's post it will be a something I haven't written in a long time. It's review time here on World of Anime Girl and I'll be reviewing an anime I just watched yesterday. I actually never wanted to watch it because i thought it would be stupid, but it wasn't. It was actually pretty good. 

To all the guys out there, it can be really annoying if you flirt with a girl while playing MMOs, especially in a dungeon. Never ever try to pick up a girl in a dungeon and here is why: Enjoy reading my review on the anime Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?/ Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka? (This is even longer than "Beautiful Bones" 😑😑).

Plot & Story Line 💭📜

Now where should I start when it comes to this anime? It is an action, adventure, fantasy, romance anime produced by Genco in 2015. It has a rating of 7.88 and is quite popular in the anime world. I always tried to avoid watching it because I thought it was just another mainstream, fantasy anime with a MMO-like setting without any actual story. But I was so wrong! 

Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon is a story about Bell Cranel, a very enthusiastic young  adventurer who makes his living by selling crystals he gets from killing monsters in the dungeon. He is the one and only member of the Hestia family formed by the goddess Hestia. In a world full of other large families and strong adventurers, Bell is trying to get stronger and become a great adventurer just as his late grandfather was. Soon, a very exciting, funny and moving story begins that becomes better episode for episode. 

As said in the beginning, the setting of the story seemed too mainstream and is in fact something you've probably seen before, but the makers still made it unique. It is the story that carries a lot of excitement. It starts off as a simple story but becomes more complex episode by episode. As more characters are introduced the story becomes heavier and definitely more interesting. The thing about this anime is that the story is actually carried more by the side characters. They are always the trigger for the happenings and events that our main character, Bell goes trough. His story, on the other hand, is still in the center but with a lot of question marks. Thing is, those are not plot holes but something we'll have to wait for in the second season. Watching the anime you slowly get to see the larger picture that is Bell's life and his past. I must say this, in the beginning I didn't think that I'd love it so much, but it was the end that made me fall in love with this anime. An exciting story gets an amazing and logical (not a typical non-sense) plot-twist that gives you answers to most of your previous questions but creates a lot more. 

The genre adventure is just right for this anime but action is also an indispensable part of the description. The fights, powers and skills were just the right thing for a fantasy/action fan like me. The fights are thrilling and unforeseen, whereas the powers are just magical. They really contribute to a better story and entertainment of the anime. You enjoy every second of the anime always wanting more and more.

Now, despite a little bit of harem and fan-service going around in the anime I pretty much enjoyed it. The story also carries a lot of humor with it and some really funny moments that make my laugh really hard. As for the romance, there are some romantic but mostly funny scenes that are all part of the little harem around Bell-kun. Still it is enjoyable and doesn't actually ruin the story in any way. Moreover, I though about the perfect match for Bell the whole time and I just hope it won't become another "I love Emilia" thing in the end. 

In the end I'd like to mention the very moral of the story. No, it is not the answer to the question Is it wrong to try to pick up girls in a dungeon, that is just a nice metaphor for the excitement and fun the dungeon offers. The moral is to always believe in ourselves and never compare ourselves to others. We are all unique and the heroes of our own stories, so why the steady wish to become a sidekick of someone else's?  

In short, if you want a funny, exciting adventure that will boost your self-confidence in just thirteen episodes this anime is a thing for you. Also if you're a fan of a lot of magic, action and fantasy be sure to give "Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon" a try. 

Characters 👩👦

As said, all the characters in Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon contributed to the story. The makers really put a lot of effort in the development of personalities of each character. The three characters that I liked the most and I wanted to see more about were definitelly Bell, Hestia and Lion. 

Now, Bell is reminds me of myself in some points and that is probably why I liked him as a character. Always seeing the good in people, always looking from the more beautiful side, Bell is a dreamer who is working hard to achieve his goals. And one more thing about Bell, he is the first over-powered MC I didn't hate instantly. Hestia is an adorable and impulsive little goddess. She hasn't that much of a special personality but is sweet and caring. I hope we'll find out more about her and her past in the upcoming season. 

The character I liked the most is a side-character that is probably always forgotten, Lion Ryu. The reason I liked her so much is her past. She has a really dramatic past but deals with it in her own way. She is a strong, independent young woman that is always on the side of justice and the weak. I loved her personality and especially her wind-powers. She was just amazing. 

Animation & Style 🎨📺

The animation of  Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon is amazing. Bright colors, amazing backgrounds and beautiful settings. I especially loved the character design. All characters have something special and have a really unique design. The style is typical fantasy like and I loved it. 

Conclusion 📌✅

To conclude everything, I'd say that  Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon is an anime for almost everyone. Despite its mainstream setting it has a really intriguing plot and a moving and exciting story. The characters are not the best one's I've ever seen but at least they don't ruin the story. The animation and style are on point. So, if you want an anime with a good story to make you laugh and just relax for about 6h  Is it Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon is an anime for you! 

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Hibike! Euphonium S2 - Episode 9

There was a part of the episode where Asuka opened up about her mother and described her as crazy, possessive and hysterical. These are words with strong negative connotations and yet Asuka uttered them in a nonchalant and cold manner. She even rationalized that she didn’t hate her, as if putting on a façade. Fittingly her dialogue was shot as a direct overhead shot. This type of shot tends to be flat and minimizes perspective lines. This visual, depending on context, can feel cold, sterile and unengaging. The coldness and sterility of this visual captured her tone and demeanor. The unengaging flatness accentuated the sense of disconnect presented by her façade.

Overhead shot

Kumiko saw through this façade and didn’t mince words. She immediately insinuated that Asuka actually hates her mother despite her calm and carefree demeanor. The façade was broken as reflected by the drastic transition from the unengaging overhead shot to the more emotionally engaging close-up and extreme close-ups.

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