WeAreLive Reviews (814)

Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo (2004–2005)

A decent adaptation

[8/10 · 18 February 2024]

Trying to escape his uneventful life, Albert, the son of a renowned general from Paris, makes a journey with his friend Franz. During his travels, he meets an immensely wealthy nobleman named The Count of Monte Cristo. Living in luxurious hotels, surrounded by beautiful women and strong bodyguards, the charming but enigmatic count fascinates Albert. Albert invites the count to join the high society of Paris. However, unknown to Albert, his father had once framed the count and took the Count's fiancée as his own.

I thought this adaptation was decent. For an anime version of The Count of Monte Cristo.

My only bad quality was how it ended.

Trinity Blood (2005)

Blood

[9/10 · 30 November 2023]

The background is in the distant future after the destruction brought about by Armageddon. The war between the vampires and the humans continue to persist. In order to protect the humans from the vampires, Vatican has to rely on other allies to counter the situation. The protagonist, a priest called Peter Abel Nightroad, travels through the countries as a representative for the Vaticans. However, he is also part of "Ax", a special operations group controlled by the Cardinal Catherina. His encounter with a young girl called Esther will determine the struggle and survival between the human race and the vampires.

The plot was good

The dub was excellent major props to Troy Baker, Aaron Dismuke and Colleen.

If you like a vampire genre in anime you will enjoy this.

Eden of the East the Movie II: Paradise Lost (2010)

A good ending

[7/10 · 10 November 2023]

As one of the 12 Seleção that needs to save the country in order to win a game, Akira Takizawa decided to become the "King of Japan." With that in mind, after his return from the U. S. A., the remaining Seleção will also need to follow up on their own plans as they strive to outdo each other.

Saki Morimi and the other members of the "Eden of the East" are under suspicion of being terrorists, but they still do everything they can to help Takizawa reach his goal and unravel the secrets of his past, as the last fight between the Seleção begins.

If liked the series you may enjoy this second part of the film.

Eden of the East the Movie I: The King of Eden (2009)

A decent follow up

[7/10 · 10 November 2023]

After preventing Japan's destruction, Akira Takizawa made one final request to become the "King of Japan," before he erased his memories once again and disappeared. Leaving Saki Morimi with his cellphone, the only clue she has in regards to Akira's whereabouts is the message, "I'll be waiting where our journey started."

Six months later, rumors have spread about Akira, and Saki's search leads her to New York City. However, Saki is not the only person who goes to investigate-with several billion yen burning a hole in their pockets and a challenge to "save Japan," the remaining Seleção are not far behind. Some are willing to help Akira achieve his goals, but a few are making dangerous moves in order to eliminate him and achieve their own picture of a better Japan. With rising stakes and new revelations, the game is still on.

If you liked the series. You may like this.

The Matrix Resurrections (I) (2021)

For the love of god please don't make anymore

[3/10 · 9 November 2023]

Suffering from palpable delusions, burnt-out Thomas Anderson, the award-winning creator of The Matrix (1999) video game series, now relies on potent blue pills to keep his inner demons at bay. Then, amid inexplicable, reality-defying visions, Thomas spots Tiffany, a familiar-looking perfect stranger evoking strange emotions, and his already fragile mental state starts to deteriorate. As Mr Anderson yearns for an explanation while teetering on the brink of depression, once more, he confronts a pressing dilemma and the burden of choice. On the one hand, blissful ignorance guarantees the illusion of safety. On the other hand, the unbearable truth of reality can only mean one thing: the elaborate Matrix goes beyond the limits of imagination. But, somehow, Thomas already knows what he has to do. However, does he want to know how deep the rabbit hole goes?

This film completely ruined the franchise, Trinity and Neo. By making one into a Mary Sue and the other into a coward.

I might have not been a huge fan of the sequels at first but over time I have began to appreciate them a lot more.

The recasting of Morbius and Smith was terrible.

The only good this were Keanu Reeves still doing a good job, the music, the title sequence and seeing scenes from the previous films.

If you enjoyed the first three films, plus the Animatrix then please for the love of god avoid this movie.

Eden of the East (2009)

Of the east

[8/10 · 9 November 2023]

On November 22, 2010 ten missiles strike Japan. However, this unprecedented terrorist act, later to be called as "Careless Monday," does not result in any apparent victims, and is soon forgotten by almost everyone. Then, 3 months later... Saki Morimi is a young woman currently in the United States of America on her graduation trip. But just when she is in front of the White House, Washington DC, she gets into trouble, and only the unexpected intervention of one of her fellow countrymen saves her. However, this man, who introduces himself as Akira Takizawa, is a complete mystery. He appears to have lost his memory. And he is stark naked, except for the gun he holds in one hand, and the mobile phone he's holding with the other hand. A phone that is charged with 8,200,000,000 yen in digital cash.

I really enjoyed this series from start to finish.

I will admit there were some concepts I did find weird but I thought it was good regardless.

The animation was and art style was well done.

The dub was excellent.

Akira and Saki are very likeable characters.

The intro is definitely something i listen to time and again.

Black Cat (2005–2006)

The black cat

[8/10 · 11 October 2023]

Train Heartnet is a famous assassin known as Black Cat. He works for Chronos, an organization that secretly controls the world. However, he begins to question the morality of his actions after he befriends two bounty hunters named Saya and Sven, a thief named Rinslet, and a young girl named Eve.

I thought this was a very cool action packed anime with some really amazing fight scenes.

Train Heartnet is an example of a character who has excellent and an excellent lead of a protagonist. Sven is also a great side kick who does have some good development. Eve aside from being an adorable little girl with blonde hair definitely goes beyond just that.

The ending and into were excellent.

While I have mixed feelings about Train's actor over the years but I still thought the dub was excellent.

If want to see an action packed adventure you may like this series.

Samurai Champloo (2004–2005)

Samurai rap

[10/10 · 17 August 2023]

Fuu, a waitress who works in a teahouse, rescues two master swordsmen, Mugen and Jin, from their execution to help her find the "samurai who smells of sunflowers."

This anime is an excellent example of a master piece from start to finish with characters that you would remember forever each with unique personalities.

The music was entertaining and it fitted the setting very well. The animation and art style was excellent. The dub was fantastic Steve Blum, Kari Wahlgren and Kirk Thornton were excellent as the three leads. The story was also well written without getting boring or uninteresting.

If you are into animes with raps and action you might enjoy this.

Cat Planet Cuties (2010–2011)

Well at least the waifus are hot

[7/10 · 17 August 2023]

Kio Kakazu's life takes a space-aimed turn when Eris, a captain of an alien race, comes to Earth on a mission to establish connections between humans and her people, the Catians. Together with Kio's childhood friend Manami, teleport-capable Aoi and a team of cute capable robots, they face off against fanatical alien worshipers and a mysterious government agency, as well as the Catians' biggest enemy.

If you are into to furries specifically cat girls I guess this anime might be for you.

For what it's worth I thought the story was decent however it relied to much on fan service. The intro was great as well and the dub was excellent.

Takt Op. Destiny (2021)

Op Destiny

[8/10 · 26 July 2023]

One day a black meteorite fell on the world, and the world completely changed. The meteorite produced grotesque monsters called D2, which started running rampant. D2 very quickly banned all music, which was the one thing able to overcome them. But there were some people who resisted the D2. They are young women who hold the power of music, the "Musicart." These young women hold "scores" that are able to defeat the monsters. And there are also people who lead these women, the Conductor.

For what it's worth I thought the series was decent for its plot animation and characters.

If you are into music animes with action you might like this.

Death Parade (2015)

The concept of death

[10/10 · 26 July 2023]

After death, humans are either reincarnated or sent to the void. Before this happens, they arrive at the Quindecim, a bar attended by the mysterious white-haired Decim. In order to fairly judge them, he has them play a Game, wherein they reveal their true nature. Decim himself is the arbiter of who wins and who loses.

I really enjoy watching the creative art behind the series.

Decim was a fantastic character who definitely has a lot of depth from your usual bartender. While Chiyuki was more then just a pretty face.

The music was soothing. The animation was great and the English dub was really good too.

The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (2017)

Creative

[8/10 · 30 May 2023]

As a group of teens go out for a night on the town, a sophomore known only as "The Girl with Black Hair" experiences a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife - all the while unaware of the romantic longings of Senpai, a fellow student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her, in an effort to win her heart.

I thought this film was very creative. I will admit I don't really drink alcohol but I thought this was a very entertaining piece of art.

The animation and art style was very unique and it blended very nicely with its designs and backgrounds.

While not many of the characters had names but i thought they were very interesting,

The voice acting was good too.

If you liked The Tatami Galaxy you might enjoy this.

The Empire of Corpses (2015)

Sherlock + Frankenstein's monster

[6/10 · 30 May 2023]

After breaking the law of reanimating human corpses, young Watson has to either work for the government or face punishment. He has to go on a secret mission, to find the notes of Viktor Frankenstein, who reanimated the first human corpse.

Long story short this is what happens when you combine a story about Sherlock Homes and Frankenstein's monster and have anime in the mix only for it to have a very mediocre result.

Not going to beat around the bush but yeah, I will admit I did like the old British setting of the film but overall the plot of the film was very mediocre.

I found John Watson to be a massive coward through the film to the point where I was even rooting for the side characters. His partner Friday for majority of the film was just some mindless zombie and had the most obnoxious scream to the point where there were times in the film where i felt like saying "would you just shut up! Already"

However the art style was good and I thought the dub was decent minus some of the bad accents.

Robot Carnival (1987 Video)

Robo anthology

[10/10 · 29 May 2023]

This is a Fantasia-like anthology of robots. The most noble are Presence, Deprive, and Nightmare. Nightmare is the story of an evil, cybernetic overlord that rises one night and unleashes its robotic servants. Deprive is a science fiction tale of a young girl who has been abducted by an invading army of robots, and only a mysterious cyborg can help her. Presence is about a young toy-maker who makes a beautiful, female cyborg. When she becomes "a bit too real", he destroys her, only to be haunted by her spirit for the rest of his life.

I really enjoyed this film and the many short stories it had to offer. (Makes me wish we had more animes like this.)

If I had to pick which one was my favourite segment it would probably be Presence, the one with the mad scientist, the one at the theme park, Nightmare and Deprive.

What makes this unique is how majority of the segments are music only which does give the audience freedom of what the characters are thinking, feeling and saying. There are two which have talking in.

The art style and animation has definitely aged well and looks even more beautiful on blu-Ray quality.

The music was outstanding

The dub was excellent too.

If you are into anthology anime films I think you might enjoy this.

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999)

World war

[9/10 · 29 May 2023]

Ten years after the end of World War II; anti-terror policeman Fuse gets suspended from service after the suicide by self-detonation of a young terrorist girl during an operation, as he failed to shoot her in time. When he tries to gather some information about her, he meets her sister and befriends with her. Both get dragged into the rivalries between the administration of the police and the counter terrorism commando unit 'Jin Roh' (human wolves).

This was a very good film that represented life struggles of the war.

I thought the characters were well written.

The ost was excellent

The dub was great too.

Galerians: Rion (2002– )

PS2 cutscene the movie

[6/10 · 29 May 2023]

A boy awakes, imprisoned in a hospital without a name or memory. He is immediately attacked and discovers to his surprise that he has incredible telekinetic powers. A girl, her psychic voice calling for help inside his head, sends him on a adventure to save her: And by saving her, he will save all humanity.

While I have never played the games I actually thought this was a good film to watch for most parts anyways.

The CGI was really good and it definitely looked like it took a lot of time to make. Does make some of Netflix's CGI shows look very low in comparison.

The voice acting was very good too.

Onigamiden - Legend of the Millennium Dragon (2011)

Fine I guess

[6/10 · 29 May 2023]

A 15-year-old boy goes 1200 years back in time to find his unlikely destiny as the savior to end the war between humans and demons.

The movie's plot was fairly decent for what it's worth. The art style and ost was good as well. The voice acting was decent especially since it has names like Bryce Papenbrook, Lex Lang, Stephanie Sheh, Liam O'Brien, etc.

Jun was an alright protagonist though I have seen way better ones from other films etc. Though at least Mizuha was decent looking. Raiko the only interesting character in the film I found very mistreated however.

Also the pacing of the film can make it seem like it is longer then what it actually is.

Brave Story (2006)

It was mediocre

[5/10 · 29 May 2023]

When eleven-year-old Wataru is told he can change his destiny by entering a magic gateway into another world, he jumps at the chance. But on his quest to find the Tower of Fortune and be granted any wish, he must conjure up all his bravery to battle a world of demons, his own friends and ultimately himself.

The animation was good as well as the art style.

The voice acting was also good, though I would've given Wataru and Mitsuri two separate actress in the dub.

The character of Wataru was as interesting as a board of cardboard and a complete knock off of ash and the protagonist of ni kun.

It's alright for an occasion if you are bored otherwise best to find something else.

Kenji Miyazawa's Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)

Night on the railroad

[8/10 · 29 May 2023]

Giovanni, a young village boy, is recently going through hard times: his father left on a hunting trip and has not yet returned, his mother has recently fallen ill, he must balance both school and a job at a printing press, and he is often picked on by his classmates; and he's too busy to spend time with his only friend Campanella. Exhausted from all his hardships, he decides to lie down and take a nap in the woods. And a train appears to him from out of the sky. Fascinated, he climbs aboard, and is delighted to see Campanella already inside. The train takes off, and the two friends start on a sojourn through the stars, encountering fabulous worlds filled with fantastic characters. But it's only a matter of time before Giovanni understands the true purpose of the train.

Long story short this is an excellent film for people of all ages.

Mermaid Forest (2003– )

I am glad this at least adapted more of the story

[8/10 · 14 May 2023]

A young man unknowingly eats a piece of mermaid's flesh and becomes immortal. For a long time he searches for other mermaids hoping they'll grant him mortality. Finally, he finds them, but they're about to eat a girl and he can't let that happen.

The series on the hand gave the two characters thankfully more detail, and I do think the animation give how it was produced around the same time as Inuyasha was a massive step up (the previous two were good as well) not mentioning it did adapt more story then those OVA's including them.

Also the ost was excellent.

My only bad qualities was that there was still some animal cruelty (thankfully only one scene), child abuse and on top of that a SA scene. Also Masato was a lot more unlikeable here.

The dubbed version was by New Generation Pictures/Post Office Inc. While I am not trying to be LA biased in anyway or always going with the more recent, however for most parts i did find that better the latter two. The only, I didn't really like how Yuta's voice changed after 3 episodes in. I do find a massive after this Justin seem to have disappeared from anime dubbing. Overall though I do think in the end Liam ended up having more work as so yeah he is probably my favourite voice between the 4 actors for Yuta.

That being said though for Mana I am not too sure as at first I did find Megan Hollingshead's take a bit too Rangiku sounding for my liking. But she did thankfully improve.

While I will give Erika Lenhart/Weinstein some credit that it does sound unique coming from her since majority of her roles that I have heard are either teenagers or mature women, But I just think Masato being voiced by an actual kid like with the Scars OVA would've made me take them seriously.

Rumic World: Mermaid's Scar (1993 Video)

Similar issues but still better then the ova that came after it

[6/10 · 14 May 2023]

Legend states that eating the flesh of a mermaid will bestow immortality. Yuta and Mana do not remain dead for this reason. A chance meeting with a child named Masato leads the two of them into a mystery that spans generations and will threaten their immortal lives.

For the one that came out in 1993 it was a bit of an improvement and it did adapt the scars arc. However, much like with the previous one we barely anything about the two main characters, there was a child abuse scene (even though I despise Masato with burn passion) and some of the monsters had awful designs.

6/10

The dub is by Ocean, the dub was a lot better then the UK one thankfully and had much better translations. I particularly dig Jason Gray Stanford as Yuta and I do like how they used an actual boy (Christopher Turner) for Masato. However, like with a lot of earlier Ocean dubs it hasn't really aged well.

Rumik World: Mermaid Forest (1991 Video)

Not enough depth

[5/10 · 14 May 2023]

There is a legend in Japan that if one eats the flesh of a mermaid, one will become immortal. This anime recounts the story of Yuhta and Mana, an immortal boy and girl, and their experiences with a family struggling to achieve immortality at any cost.

On the actual OVA's themselves the one that came out in 1996 for most parts it was okay however, there were problems I had with it like we barely knew much about the two main characters aside from them being immortal and the fact that there was animal cruelty involved which I am not going to go into details on.

5.5/10.

It was dubbed by Manga UK, while the dub does have similar problems like their other dubs I.e poor translations, cheesy voice acting. However, this probably one of their better dubs.

Banished from the Hero's Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (2021–2024)

A decent slice of life, romance, Isekai

[8/10 · 13 May 2023]

Red was once a member of the Hero's party, a powerful group destined to save the world from the evil forces of Taraxon, the Raging Demon Lord. That is, until one of his comrades kicked him out. Hoping to live the easy life on the frontier, Red's new goal is to open an apothecary. However, keeping the secret of his former life may not be as simple as he thinks. Especially when the beautiful Rit, an adventurer from his past, shows up and asks to move in with him.

While I don't really watch a lot of Isekai nowadays but I did particularly like this series.

I thought Red and Rit are good characters with excellent chemistry with each other and are best parts of the whole series.

On to season 2.

Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls (2005)

Basilisk

[8/10 · 12 May 2023]

The year is 1614 AD. Two warring ninja clans, each supporting a son of Hidetada Tokugawa as the next shogun, send ten representatives each to fight to the death for the possession Tokugawa government for the winning clan for the next thousand years.

The art style and animation for the series was good.

I thought the plot minus the sexual assault scenes were good. The fight scenes were excellent as well.

Laura Bailey and Troy Baker were excellent as Oboro and Kouga. As were the other voice actors in these roles.

The intro and ending of the series was also good as well.

If you are into a like an old Japan setting anime with ninja's and sword fights you might like this.

Madlax (2004– )

Madlax

[10/10 · 7 May 2023]

In the country of Gazth-Sonika, civil war rages. There, a mercenary called Madlax plies her trade, with almost supernatural skill. In the seemingly peaceful country of Nafrece, Margaret Burton lives a tranquil life. As separate as their lives may seem, the two are connected by ties of mystery, and by a holy book that is also sought by the shadowy organization, Anfan. As Margaret and Madlax follow the path of their destiny, they come ever closer to uncovering the truth - with no guarantee that it is a truth they can bear to learn.

I really adore this series from start to finish. Even though I did have some issues towards the end with it.

I really enjoyed Madlax as protagonist as a badass assassin and i thought Margaret was an excellent clueless but adorable detagonist and she definitely grew in development. I did like a lot of the other characters too. Eleanor there was a bit of a nitpick I had with the her character which I will get.

The voice actor was excellent, the dub was fantastic, I say this a lot but if there are any in the reviews don't listen to the dub hater trolls. The voice cast including Luci Christian, Nancy Novotny, Kelly Manison, Kira Vincent Davis, the late Mike Kleinhenz Christine Auten Vic Mignogna and many others did an excellent job with their roles. I think the only thing I probably would've changed is if they gave Laetitia as well as the younger forms for Margaret and Elenore (although to be fair her younger version only appears in one scene) child voices like they did with Poupee and Carrossea as a boy.

The ost is definitely probably one the best I have hard for a action anime.

There will be heavy spoilers at this point so if you haven't seen the series please do watch. Cause I highly recommend it.

The story for most part was well written for most parts the pacing can be a bit slow from times but it is still good enough to get the story across. Some of the arcs like the one which involved getting the book does sometimes make the series lose its focus. Friday Monday I will admit was an excellent antagonist and probably one who I never thought would be filled with surprises. Carrossea's intentions I found very even though he later claimed that he was working for Antfant just to undercover their secret however, what makes zero sense is why did he attempt to murder Margaret before Elenore? Also how exactly is that boy even him from the plane crash that was with Margaret when in the present day Doon looks like he was in his late 20's to early 30's while Burton looks like she was either 15-19 years old?

The ending I have a massive issue with like how both of Margaret's closed people who she could even call a family were killed. Heck even the one who raised her aka Elenore the one who always agreed to look after her after both of her parents died. On to her character I find it weird how when some creeper tried assault Margaret earlier in the series she could take of him no problem but she couldn't hold her own while running from armed soldiers. Now that i think about towards the end of the series Eleanor served zero purpose I get that she is her maid but honestly nothing would've changed about the series if she would've stayed behind and didn't come to garsonica or at least stayed in the hut/temple. It's even more frustrating how Vanessa's sacrifice for her was all for nothing.

For what's worth the fight scene and choreography was still well preformed in the scenes however.

All and all though despite this flaw I still enjoyed this series.