Nisekoi! Want to be Raku?

It is slightly raining where I live, and as I looked outside, I was reminded about the anime...Nisekoi! Today's recommendation will be about the lovey - dovey, harem, Nisekoi! Please, before I continue, again I ask you to remember the no flame rule, and understand this is my opinion only! Since this is a recommendation, there will be no spoilers, and if so, only mild touches of them. So with that, let's start our anime recommendation! 

Nisekoi features Raku Ichijou, the high school son of the yakuza group, Shuei Gumi, who only wishes for a normal life, a planned out education career, and to fulfill finding the girl who he made the promise with ten years ago, over a locket, which he wears around his neck, and a key, which the girl has. After promising the unknown and forgotten girl, Raku Ichijou searches for the girl that might hold the key to his lock, finding new found hope in his high school. The story continues, and when walking to school, Raku is kneed in the face by a blond girl named Chitoge, who attempts to jump over a wall, and after she runs away, Raku is faced with the horror of loosing his lock. 

After he finding out that Chitoge is a transfer student in his class, Raku forces her to search for the lock with him, and during the search, both find out that they do not like each other. Returning home, Raku is told that due to the new alliance and peace treaty with the yakuza gang, Beehive Gangs, Raku, the son of Shuei Gumi, will have to date Chitoge, the daughter of the Beehive Gangs! Conflicts arise, as Raku loves Onodera, a classmate, dearly, and the complications of duplicate keys! Is it true love? Or is it Nisekoi?

I was never in to harems, because of the constant fan service that they portray to the female characters. Big chested, overly shy, or constantly tsundere to the point where it was annoying. Nisekoi didn't fan service as much, as it was produced by Shaft, but I did not watch for the romantic aspect of it, but rather the comedy. Nisekoi is indeed a decent harem, but I found that it wasn't the romantic and drama aspect of it that shined, but the comedy was lighthearted , innocent, and best of all, it shows the true meaning of being a teenager. 

Nisekoi did a great job of flowing the plots together, and developing a decent plot for a harem. The relationships weren't too confusing, and since I am a character development freak ( :D ), it wasn't enough to fit my taste, but I clearly saw Onodera's development from a shy girl to a little more outgoing, and Chitoge from a violent person, to more opening and honest. I wish that Raku also developed in to the deeper character, but since this is a harem, focusing on the aspects of the girls, I know and knew that I couldn't expect from much the main boy character. 

                                         Shaft Head Turn!

Aside from the plot, the art was very clear and fresh. The art wasn't necessarily unique, but it wasn't sketchy, and had good fresh summer colors, and good graphics. The facial expressions were portrayed clearly, and I knew exactly what the character was feeling, and was very relatable. I congratulate on Shaft, choosing a steady staff to work on the art aspect, and I was amazed by the clarity of the relations with the audience and the characters. 

So to the main question, "Does LalakoKyubey recommend it?" If you like lighthearted, comedy harems, yes. If you like serious harems with murder and yanderes or forbidden love...then no. Like I stated before, Nisekoi's main point was the art and the comedy. The plot is decent, but not deep, and the theme sometimes turns "Shaft like". 

Scores! 

Plot: 7/10 

The plot was ok~, the only reason why I gave it a seven was the funny scenes. Sometimes the characters infuriated me, and it was sometime frustrating to watch.

Art: 9/10

It was decent and clean, but sometimes, they overused the color pink on the characters bodies, constantly making them look like they have a permanent sun tan. 

Voice Actors: 8/10 

The voice actors were decent, but I found that Raku's voice especially did not have much depth or feeling to it. Serious scenes, especially when he is fighting, his voice sometimes goes monotone.

Music: 6/10 

Good opening by ClariS, but the music was not a theme or a used as much in this anime. I think if the producers used a tiny bit more orchestral music or soft lyrics, it would have worked well as a background developer.

Overall, the anime was good, but wasn't amazing. Would I watch the second season if it came out? No. But the first season is something to enjoy, and if you want teen romance, then this is the place to go. 

So, I hope you enjoyed this recommendation, and I would love to hear your comments and questions down below in the comment box! So, until later!

-LalakoKyubey 

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MekakuCity Actors! Join the Mekakushi Dan! :D

How are you all doing! LalakoKyubey reporting for today's recommendation and review post! Today, OAR will cover the anime... MekakuCity Actors, also known as Kagerou Project~! This summer anime, ended in June 28, 2014, and although it's been a while since its last episode release, I think that this anime does deserve a review and a recommendation on this blog. Again, I please ask of you remember the no flame rule, and please forgive the minor spoilers, if there is any! With that, let's start our OAR's recommendation and review post~! 

MekakuCity Actors, a 2014 summer anime produced by our famous company Shaft, started as a story song series named Kagerou Project produced by Jin. This story revolves a teenage clique/group named the Mekakushi Dan ("The Blindfold Gang"), which consists of 9 members, where each of the character have a special eye power. Each episode talks about the background of each character, which relates to all the other 8 members in the group.

For this, it is better to go straight to the point. Do I recommend it? It is better to ask, who do I recommend it to? For those of you who thought that the summary was slightly bland and confusing, I suggest not to try the anime, but stick with the cool and interesting songs that Jin thought up of, consisting each of these characters. Those of you who know Kagerou Project, I suggest this anime. And those of you who really like Shaft in general, please watch the song series first before diving in to the anime. 

Most of you would be asking, "Why? Why is it important to follow these steps, LalakoKyubey? Can't you just watch it like a normal anime?" My answer to that is a eyebrow raise. All I can say to that is, "Maybe? If you don't want to understand it?" One of the weak points of MekakuCity Actors was the plot, and the impossible to understand story line without background knowledge. 

Now all of you MekakuCity fans will probably go, "Oh my gosh. I will murder you!" But my reply is, "Did you fall in love with the song series, or the anime?" The plot was difficult to understand because there was no development, and only back stories. If you watched Kagerou Project series, you would have known the main point and the main conflict that each character had to face. But since each episode was focused on background story and actually no development in the actual world, they had to cram the climax in to the last three episodes. 

Aside from the hard core plot, sometimes the art really shocked me. It was kind of a turn off when there is a beautiful drawing of the main character in a psychological setting, then all of a sudden, their theme song pops out with the music video. I was especially turned off by the way Shaft interpreted Ayano's Theory of Happiness. I mean, come on! Please, don't try the 3D effect randomly. You'll see if you watch the series. But aside from this complaint, I love Shaft's classic head turns, and psychological settings. They did a good job with shadow usage, and did an amazing job especially in this anime with prospective usage.  

                                                Head Turn!

                                           Prospective Usage! 

Did I like it? I guess so. I think I had too high of an expectation after watching Jin's amazing story line and music series, and after watching the anime, it wasn't as good as I expected. I wish that there could have been more, a more final statement from each character, but I do admit to having enjoyed the dark final episodes, and how the characters slowly realize their past and work together to mend the future. This anime is deep and thought provoking, and questions the thought of future and dreams. 

The story seemed to revolve around the question, "What is your priority and goal in life?" Shaft and Jin tried hard to work this in to an anime, and I did enjoy this anime a lot. Although I had some sharp comments, I did fall in love with the awesome covers and songs that Jin made, and MekakuCity was a pretty good anime in general. Now on to the scores!


Plot: 7/10 
Plot holes were the main deduction for this anime, and the unexplained rush climax development in the last 3 episodes. Besides from that, character development was very steady, and the back stories were quite interesting.

Art: 8/10 
I liked the art, except for the music videos they screened at the end. I think they should have gone with Jin's music videos and art, instead of choosing other artists.

Voice Cast: 8/10 
I agreed with everyone's voice except for Hibiya's voice, and especially Shuuya Kano's voice. I think that for Hibiya's voice, it should have been a little more childish seeing his age, and also more squeaky. It was way too deep for a twelve year old boy. I also think that for Kano's voice, they should have stuck with Hiroshi Kamiya's voice. I think that he has more talent and experience with manipulative characters, and would have been a better choice for Kano's character. 

Music: 8/10 
It was a good supporting music, but I felt like there wasn't enough. It wasn't as engraved in as other Shaft products that I have seen. 

Although I was picky about this anime, I do recommend it to those who like Shaft, and to those who are willing to spend extra moments to see Kagerou Project first rather then jump straight in to the anime. Overall, good job to the producers, and congratulations to Jin! 

I hope you liked this review, and I would be glad to hear your opinions in the comment box below! I am willing to talk about it, join me on my next review coming up in a few minutes! 

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-LalakoKyubey