I know I'm kind of cheating here because it's an anime show, not a movie! But I feel I have to spread this anime because it's really good!
So you could guess I liked this one, huh XD? I don't have that much bad critic to say about it. It had something to say in the end so it wasn't made just because it's fun to scare people with bloody pictures, which it felt like some times.
The story is like.. Battle Royal gone wrong... If it hadn't already XD But instead of an Island they're in a city. And it doesn't say in the ruled that the oponent must die. He must be defeated in battle and the oponent must lie on his back for the winner to take his tags. The tags have pictures of cards on them and if you have a Royal Flush you get to fight for your freedom and money. And that's all you need to know about the story. There isn't much to it, but you could guess that there are a lot of things that is going wrong but I'm not gonna tell you them here ;P That's for you to discover when you watch the anime ^^ ... Or read the manga, your choice.
The animation is great! I loved it and it really fitted to the story (how it's animated usually takes a big part of what the person want to say with the movie or show, like the setting in the movies) But there was one thing that bothered me with the animation... They tilted the shots all the time! ... OK not all the time! But there where many shots that where slanted and I say like the Nostalgia Critic said about Battlefield Earth "Have the cameraman fallen asleep?!" It got very irritating in the beginning like some shots where rotated 90%! But it got better towards the end so that's good.
The music... I liked the music. It isn't the kind of music I would look for in the store like I have with other soundtracks, but still it fitted to the story and they were really trying to get it right! Unless another anime I watched recently where the music was all over the place! So it was nice to come back to a anime where they actually thought about the background sound XD
Ok... SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER! You haven't seen this anime yet can go and see it before you read the rest of the post XD
Atart off with one of the characters. This anime had some great characters! I felt like no one was kept in the dark and all of them where really interesting! And nicely looking too, if I may say so... Except for one..
Keisuke... I hated this character! He was so annoying! He was really a burdon to Akira! (And after watching the serie I really hate that name because Keisuke said it over and over and over and over and OVER again! It got really irritated) He doesn't do anything that Akira says! Akira wants to protect him so he tells him not to go to Toshima (He really explains that he have to fight to clear his name and it's really dangerous.) What does Keisuke do? He goes to Toshima to protect Akira -.- What was he thinking with? He watched Akira fight, he knew he could take care of himself, yet he, who has never fought before (on screen anyway) thinks that he can protect him from his everyday life? ... Yeah.. Also, Akira told him not to take Line and yet he does it! What the hell is that man thinking with? I'm sorry, but I was happy when Keisuke died, I'm sorry! All I could think about was "Great! Now he won't get in the way for Akira anymore!" And yet the anime tried so hard for me to shed a tear for him XD The music was right! The mood was right, they even made it rain! They tried so hard for me to cry for the person and it was a good atempt! But it didn't work.
The last episode... It feels like I must've got a bad copy because the edeting in it was... Through the whole show they showed battles and blood shed and everything, but in the last episode after they took their swords they cut to pictures of the city and just played the sound o.O What the hell?! Did they think that we got tired of watching blood shed after watching 11 episodes that they thought "Nah! It's too bloody now! Show the pictures of buildings instead!" ... Hello! I mean it's the battle we've been waiting for! Akira vs. Shiki, the swords are up, Akira is mad and he's running towards Shiki. Oh! Look! A building! Wait! Concentrate on the fight! Now Rin has stopped Shiki and is pushed to the ground and... BUILDINGS! That was really, really irritating! But other than that the show was great! Don't know what to say about the ending but.. I guess I liked it. It wasn't a "they lived happily ever after" ending and that was great! Akira moves on to live like a dubble life and he says that no matter how hard you want to you can't forget your past. And that was fitting to the story. I don't think Akira could live a happy life after going through all that he has been going through! No way! So it was great to see that they hadn't planned that for him in the end. Great job!
