07-Ghost - Reviews

07-Ghost, based on the manga by the same name, is one of those series you have to take with a pinch of salt. I did not read the original material and thsu I will not review this series as it should have been but exactly as I saw it.

The story, at base is an effective one with plenty of good plot ideas. Don't get me wrong: the original base of the series is solid, but the character developpement ruined it all.The series is overwhelmed whit negative issues; some of them orchestrated by the lousy and cheap animation but most of the by plot issues that REALLY bugged me off. One major one: the main villain of the series, Ayanami,one high ranked military offiver have a important duty to catch the main character, a 15 years-old boy and STILL he passed 24 DAMN EPISODES sitting in his chair doing nothing. Some would thought that such an evil mastermind would have an idea to how to capture this kid and he still fails. One other issu: the lack of feminity in this series. Sure we have 3 beautiful sisters but they just do nothing interesting instead of walking together all day long...Ok I will stop ranting. My point is 07-Ghost could have been really good if they corrected all this tasteless inconsistencies.

The animation is pretty basic and watchable. It is not top notch or specially remarkable but it does it's job.Not well but quite. Especially one thing: the horrible, cliched, low-budget fight sequences. Gosh they were so horrible I don't want to talk about it.As in characters moving against gravity I mean.

The soundtrack is really nice. It re-uses the same tracks over and over again but they are gorgeous so I don't complain much. The seiyuu cast is large and diverse from great names to unfamiliar ones but they all merge to make a passable voice acting for this series who  sometimes get overhyped. Saiga Mitsuki-sama, my favorite female voice actor, well...she just disapointed me in this series. Usually she is just damn brilliant but Teito voice was just meh...normal. I appreciated more her work as Teito's other self, the Eye of Mickael. She was way more in her element. Namikawa daisuke as Mikage was ok but a bit tasteless to me. He is such an talented seiyuu, such a shame. Same thing for the other cast members. They did what was expected nothing more. None of them striked me in doing an unbelievable prestation.

Opening section: A song that I enjoyed a lot whit feeble visuals that are mismatched with the series.

Ending section: A soothing song, that's all.

07-Ghost doesn't strike as the series with an incredible cast of characters. In fact some of them may be really annoying and some of them are just images in background. I did not believed for one seconf Teito's growth who seemed just shonen-esque. he was a good character with his own problems and issues but half of the series he stays the same boy who can't get past his difficulties. In otherwords he passes hours just turning and turning around. It gets boring very fast. Ayanami was the next possible amazing character and as Teito's he just turn around for 25 episodes. As for Mikage and later on Hakuren....nah I won't talk about it. Same thing applies for the...hum.hum..(g.a.y) trio of priests. I don't dislike gay characters in anime but these three well just suinted gayness.

Overall, as I said, 07-Ghost could have been really good if it was produced by completely an other studio. Studio Deen did not get higher point from me with this one. It just confirmed that I don't like their sense of professionnalism or in other words: just throw whatever you have in mind to the viewers face. No no Deen, bad boy.

Score:3.5/5 for potential but sloppy realization.

Next! Star Driver

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an anime with amazing characters and a solid plot. There are a great deal of story-turns that keep you interested, and it also deals with inner conflict as well as outer. As anime goes, this one lives in a deeper dimension than most, as said by a literary English graduate. My only gripe is the shadowy Eye of Mikhail that was never fully explained. I even did some research online and no one knows for sure what it is. I went through the show not really knowing exactly what it was, or its purpose. I get the impression Taito doesn't understand it all that well either, though. Let's hope if there is a second season we get some more details.

*SPOILER-FREE REVIEW*

Story:

When looking at the story it's important to note that this is based on an ongoing manga, and only covers the first chunk of chapters (1 - 25). Unfortunately, you really feel it, especially toward the end.

On the plus side, the base of the plot itself is solid enough (see the synopsis for more details). The story is intriguing and while sometimes a little too pompous for its own good, the development of the characters alongside the maturing of the plot lends sufficient intrigue and keeps the viewer hooked on for the next piece of the puzzle to be revealed. The 'pompousness' mostly stems from the introduction of what was presumably supposed to be complex intricacies and new mysteries of varying sizes flecked throughout the episodes; which eventually feed off each other relatively effectively. However, these bits often feel as though they come too rapidly to germinate properly within their viewer's mind before the next one. As such, it sometimes becomes a little difficult to differentiate between new characters' place within the plot and what information is crucial and what isn't. While not overly exhausting, it means that this series cannot really be watched passively and may feel as though it's over-reaching itself at times.

As initially mentioned, the fact that the series essentially 'cuts off' at a significant storyline climax really bites. Much of my enjoyment was tempered by this, which is unfortunate considering the plot was still very much in its first 'wave' out of set-up.

(Much of the story lies within the characters - read on for more detail.)

Animation/Sound:

Nothing dazzling, but nothing cringeworthy.

Animation was to a good standard throughout. Action scenes, dream sequences and general backdrops were consistently well presented.

The VAs for the characters were a good fit. Sound quality and effects were quite good.

Characters:

One of the strongest aspects of this anime are the distinctive character designs. The individual appearances, quirks and other attributes carried much of the story forward, especially during the early stages of the plot. Trying to memorise and contextualise each character as they are presented and often retrospectively 'developed' with flashbacks or anecdotes from other characters.

A drawback to this was the unfortunate way that this sometimes made the characters appear almost like little individual universes. Their interactions were generally well handled but it sometimes appeared as though they didn't really belong on the same screen together, despite their common residence and histories. I can see why this might have been deliberately executed, but it added that edge of contrived linkages between some of the central forces.

Overall:

I enjoyed watching this anime overall. It did a lot right, even with the slightly lumpy bits I observed. The biggest kick in the nuts, though, was the abrupt (and unnecessary) sharp end to the animation of the manga. As a result I've bought the first 7 volumes to read, but it's disappointing that this anime hasn't been able to reach its zenith for anime viewers.

07-Ghost

The story follows a young man who was a former slave who attended the “Barsburg Empires Military Academy”. Teito has a past that he doesn’t remember. With no memories of his past and not knowing that he holds a mysterious ability called “Zaiphon”.                                                                                   Teito is hated by many of his peers all except one, His best friend Mikage. The only person he trusts and can truly connect with. But one day he receives a flashback of a man who killed his “Father”. He finds himself on the edge and ends up attacking him. Yet to realize that he was too powerful and found himself running from the Barsburg Military. Now, he finds evil beings know as kor-a being that offers three wishes in return for your soul, is after him. Not only that the Bars burg military is after him and only the Legendary Seven Ghosts Can protect him. Teito finds himself in the middle of danger while he tries to unlock the memories of his past before he ends up as a sacrifice for Verloren, The sealed God Of Death!

Genre; Action/Drama/Supernatural/Magic/Military/Fantasy

The anime was ok! The characters were good as there was a mixture of personalities. The graphics were ok. The only thing I didn’t like about the anime was the storyline and ending. At first you think the anime I going to be great, but I found myself bored in the middle of the story. The same sort of thing was happening all the time and the story always had you on edge and then never really delivered. The end was great but I felt like it could have been a lot more exciting and it had a chance to do that! I was really impressed with the amount of effort went in to creating the magic. In this they used words to create a spell and the spell can be carved in stone even! I really loved how the didn’t use the same sort of magic you see all the time and it had a great affect on me! Although the characters were great I have to point out one thing I disliked! I would of loved more information on the seven ghosts and characters like Castor, Frau and Labrador. Some character development was really handy! Character detail was top notch (not to mention the hot badass!) and the art style was amazing. The voices of each charater suited its role and made a huge impact to the whole anime. I did find myself getting lost a couple of times which really disappointed me but it made it up with its sound effects and great voice acting. The series definitely needs a season 2 and it would really help to explain many things. In the final episode to simply put it I was LOST… yeah… I had no idea what was going on and even now! I would highly recommend this story to anyone who has great imagination and thinks outside the box!

All in all though I believe this was an ok anime and I would suggest it. I have re-watched this series and every time you will pick up something you missed!

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience by which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself. 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'"

~Elanor Roosevelt

Elanor Roosevelt may have just given me a positive way to think about 07-Ghost. I've gained the strength to outlast this 25 episode series of pure garbage, the courage to face down any anime knowing they could never be as horrid as 07-Ghost, and the confidence that I'll never have to go through this experience again. "I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along".

Story: If you enjoy 20 full episodes of a some yaoi emo twat wandering around a church doing nothing in particular, then boy have I got the anime for you...

Seriously, though. The story actually starts off decently enough with the introduction of a militaristic state that trains its youth to fight as soldiers despite having already defeated what appears to be the only other nation on the planet. We learn that Teito, the protagonist, is important to the military so they imprison him only to have him freed by his best friend who covers his escape.

As he escapes he falls into the arms of a bishop from the a semi-autonomous church in the country. He then stays there and...walks around...for 20 episodes. I mean he even keeps the shackles and chains from his imprisonment on for the first 10 of those episodes apparently unaware that it might be better to get them off before they rub away his skin and start grinding against his bones.

So it continues for seemingly forever before a final few hectic rushed episodes of spastic action and a series finale that essentially was just a rasberry to the fans, if any actually exist, where the writers said "if you want to find out what any of this randomness means, watch the next season". I, for one, couldn't care less anymore and I hope the writers are forced to watch 07-Ghost on continuous replay for the remainder of their despicable lives, preferably wearing those fashion accesory shackles that Teito seemed so fond of.

Add a bunch of random amnesia-flashbacks and a complete reversal of the entire plot (as soon as Teito loses the stone, we find out that the stone is powerless and it's actually the one who wields the stone who has the power which is somehow still Teito despite the fact that he doesn't wield the stone anymore and...bleh just forget it) and you're left with a deplorable story that will alternately bore you to sleep and annoy you to the point where unconciousness caused by slamming one's head against a wall will look tempting.

Animation: The animation looked pretty good, but you'd expect that considering it's a 2009 production. That debacle that was the "action" episodes actually has some pretty impressive explosions too. However the yaoi "undertones" are so prevalent in character design that to call them undertones is essentially a lie. The OP closes with Teito sitting on the church steeple with the wind blowing through his hair and, I kid you not, for the first 15 episodes, I kept wondering "when are they going to introduce this female character"? Not only could I not recognize that it was Teito, I would have bet my life that the OP character was female. Speaking of that, there is also a male character who looked about as masculine as Hagrid looks metrosexual. This "guy" is childlike in stature with with a high pitched, clearly feminine voice and a pink pony-tail who spent "his" time sleeping in some other guys arms constantly.

Also, maybe this was just me but for the longest time I had a problem identifying characters because the designs were all so similar. Outside Frau almost everyone has the same hairdo and everyone has the same facial features. It really started to bug me after a while.

Sound: I hate everything about Teito, including his voice. The plaintive, nasally way he whined about every single frikin thing will get on your nerves like nothing else, I guarantee it. I'd rather listen to Billy Mays shout at me for an hour than listen to one episode of Teito. I can't remember the OP/ED songs, so I'll just say they were average (which is probably true) and forgettable (which is obviously true :P).

Characters: The only character with any redeeming qualities is Hyuuga, Ayanami's subordinate. He's slick, obediant to Ayanami's will, and utterly remorseless. Ayanami, the main antagonist, has obscure motives that are never fully explained. The Bishops are boring and painfully yaoi. The nuns (the only 3 human female characters in the entire series) are useless. I'm sure there are a few characters that I'm forgetting to mention, but consider that a blessing (you've escaped my wrath for now Hakuren).

Ah yes, and Teito. Worst protagonist ever? Well I don't know about that but he's certainly the worst I've ever seen. He kept pissing on the friendship offers from everyone he met and, despite that, these people kept trying to be his bum buddy. Why that is I can't imagine; it would be difficult to create a character with fewer redeeming qualities if you tried. I've never wanted the bad guy to win so much before in my entire anime experience because Ayanami winning would hopefully mean Teito dying and going to have yaoi love kisses with his dearly departed friend who he NEVER lets us forget about, no matter how much we want to.

Overall: Just to be clear, I don't neccesarily hate yaoi, but if you're going to make a yaoi anime, admit it. If someone comes up to you and says "I don't eat candy" as they chomp down some sugary treats, how are you supposed to take them seriously? 07-Ghost screams yaoi, but if refuses to admit that if fits in that genre which quite simply baffles me.

Honestly if you decide to watch this anime despite what you've read in this and other user reviews, you deserve your fate. The sole reason this anime got a rating as high as 2/10 is because of the animation. The only reasons why I kept watching this abomination were that I wanted to keep my "drop-free" record going and my friend translates for a fansubbing group that covered 07-Ghost so I wanted to support him. But honestly if my friend decides to sub the next season he can go rot for all I care. Friendship has its limits and 07-Ghost breaks that limit.