Boku dake ga Inai Machi - Anime

Imagine you had the ability to relive events that have already occurred, what would you do then? Would you do the same things, or try to be different? Interesting questions I find myself asking after finishing this recent anime that gripped me with its fascinating plot as it explored the rather dark matter of child killings.

Boku dake ga inai machi proved to be more interesting than I initially gave it credit for as it offered up a sci-fi kind of story that made for an interesting viewing that had me thinking of my childhood and various things I would do, if given a chance to relive them. The story revolves around Satoru Fujinuma, a 29 year old man who lives just getting by each day as he struggles to become a manga artist. However, Satoru isn’t your average person as he has an ability that allows him to go back in time right before a life threatening incident and prevent it.

One day when Satoru stumbles across his mother who has been murdered in their home and he has been branded the suspected killer, we see him freak out and go on the run. While doing this his ability activates and he is transported back in time. But instead of the present day where his mother has been murdered we see Satoru transported back to his childhood, much farther than he has ever been.

Suddenly in his 11 year old body he decides to investigate his mother’s death, which he suspects is connected to an incident that happened to one of his classmates who was killed. Determined to change things he goes off to save the ill-fated Kayo Hinazuki and, in the process, maybe save his mother in the future. But being a hero isn’t as easy to do when you’re stuck in your younger self and time seems to want to happen despite your efforts, something Satoru learns and tries to fight against with all he has.

In the end we see Satoru risking his life to change the course of history and save his loved ones, ensuring that the future he has returned from never happens. It is truly an intriguing story to watch as you see this ten year old fighting against the odds along with consequences of his actions in the future. There is also a nice message that comes across as you watch Satoru go through his struggles and see that not everything can be controlled, no matter how much you know in advance.

This anime is very good. I like the serious tone as it approaches the dark situations the protagonist goes through. I especially like the realism, despite the sci-fi aspect, where we see the limitations a young boy would face as opposed to an older individual and all the frustrations that come with it. The animation is also pretty good as it sticks to the dark and gloomy atmosphere that is required to set the overall tone of the whole series.

Definitely some good time spent on this and I must say I look forward to watching how things are adapted into live action, as the movie becomes available to the rest of the world. I just hope it delivers on all the anime promises as well as keeping true to the story line that has gripped one so thoroughly.

Daredevil - TV Show [Netflix]

Hero stories are always fun to watch. That, for me, is a given. I especially like when they have a bit of realism in them. For example, take the recent series that got released to the world in all its dark and delicious glory, Daredevil.

This series was more a ‘how he was made’ kind of story. I know there’s a term for that, but let’s leave it at that for now.

This series takes your average hero story and adds a dark tone to it, which keeps in line with the comic books. A thing I’m sure excited many fans. I must admit it interested me to some extent. We see our fresh-faced lawyer Matt Murdock and his partner, Foggy Nelson, opening up their amateur practice in the belly of hell’s kitchen as they venture to do the right thing in the wrong city.

But our sight impaired lawyer has some exciting extra-curricular activities outside of the law that he participates in at night that really makes for our story’s juicy bits. Except it isn’t the suited up version we know just yet, instead it is a man dressed all in black running around doing all he can to keep his city safe, while he barely considers the consequences to his own safety.

I like that they focused on the person before the hero as they showed, slowly, how he came to be the devil of hell’s kitchen before earning his hero’s title. There is something endearing about watching him fail as he struggles to always come out at the top as he stumbles into a larger game being played by the bigger bosses that run the corruption in hell’s kitchen.

Ah, but the bigger bosses were also something to be curious about. I must admit off the bat though that I was very disappointed by the character that would no doubt become the infamous Kingpin. Initially introduced as the man who no one could say the name of for a time, we have Wilson Fisk, who is supposed to be intimidating on appearance and such.

Though he began to grow on me near the end, I still found his right hand man more of lovable villain than him. James Wesley portrayed the characteristics of a man running a criminal organization far more than his boss and frankly I am very saddened by the way he was dealt with in the show. I personally feel the man deserved much more than that.

As for the other big bosses that stood in Matt Murdock’s way to get to Fisk, I felt like they could have been given more screen time. More episodes could have been squeezed out of these encounters, but I suppose what was given was good story that refused to be compromised by lengthy, unnecessary battles. Plus our poor vigilante could hardly take all the beatings without his gear acquired.

It was also nice to see that the other characters had a chance to get some character development and excitement in their lives as they did some gallivanting on their own and got entangled here and there as the story progressed further. Though I admit Foggy could have been given just a bit more development on screen instead of off screen.

Overall the show was a winner for me and I really hope a season two is in the works, especially with lots more episodes ordered. The tone is nicely set and the suit that our vigilante eventually gets gifted with is amazeballs. The only thing needed now is for the villain, our infamous Kingpin, to actually bring it in terms of acting and character and then we have a golden series.

Tokyo Ghoul - Anime

In the many anime that I have been watching recently I have noted a significant amount of them lacking in one thing that has had me quite irritated and that has been character development. Sure they had some decent story and/or surprise plot, maybe lots of fan service or even a bit of moe factor to keep one distracted for a time. But the juicy bits of the trial and tribulation that make up an individual’s character and make you feel for them, has just been lacking… or at least for me it has.

Until this happened…

Tokyo Ghoul blew me away with its first season of which I finished in a day. The struggle we watch the tragic protagonist, Kaneki, go through is rich with so many developing points that build his character and break it down at the same time that it’s hard not to get drawn into his world and mind as you follow his story.

It starts out almost mundane as you watch a seemingly background character get dragged into a dangerous situation that almost costs his life then it turns out that he happens to be the main guy. It’s an interesting twist.

From mundane to suddenly dragged into the strange, we watch as Kaneki is thrown into panic as he begins to realize he might not have survived his attack unscathed as he notices certain changes.

It’s exciting to see how he deals with everything mentally in a world that hates ghouls and here he is, being something in-between. The conflict is interesting, especially as he gets to know more and more ghouls and they turn out to be totally different to what the news makes them out to be.

Then you have that ending of the first season and the sudden transformation Kaneki is forced to undergo. All I can say is…omg.

Who the hell ends a series off like that!?

Anyway, Season 2 followed and I must say I became a little confused by a few things. I felt like I missed some pieces of information.

Character development slowed down in this season, so it wasn’t as good as the first. It was as if the first season built up to this and this was meant as the execution. Whether that execution worked is up for debate.

Personally, I think it was a good season 2. That being said I expect a season 3 to exist simply because I feel like season 2 didn’t explain too much, or show too much other than some pretty cool fighting and some feel moments.

Season 2 focused less on Kaneki as it spread out to other characters and storylines, but I feel like the overall plot wasn’t highlighted enough and if you didn’t read the manga, like me, you’d be a lost fish swimming in a big fish tank waiting to see some coral at some point only to be fed some flakes every now and then and then fished out of the tank suddenly.

But that ending though, I cried. 

It was a good anime to watch. I’m glad it found its way across my eyeballs and I will definitely hope for a season 3, though something tells me I shouldn’t hold my breath for that.