Blood Blockade Battlefront

Though I forgot to mention it, one of the shows I've been watching lately is Blood Blockade Battlefront and since I recently finished it, I decided that I should share my thoughts on the show, in some detail. Blood Blockade Battlefront (or Kekkai Sensen in original), is an anime based on a manga by Yasuhiro Nightow, creator of Trigun. I had read positive and negative reviews of the show on-line and thinking that the concept seemed interesting, I decided to check the show out myself. So, what did I think about it? Well, you'll just have to read on in order to find out.

Blood Blockade Battlefront is set in Hellsalem's Lot, which is actually New York City, a few years after dimensional rift opened up and creatures from another dimension decided to set up shop there. To this metropolis comes our main character, Leonardo Watch; a kid blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with a pair of magical eyes, on a quest to find a cure for his sister's blindness, which he feels responsible for. Due to circumstances, Leonard becomes a member of Libra, a secret society that protects Hellsalem's Lot from various dangers. He also end up befriending White, a girl who claims to be a ghost and her twin-brother Black, who was born with strong psychic powers.
That's the basic gist of things, as far as plot goes. Now, on to the actual, you know, review-portion of this review.
Let's start with the positives first, shall we? Blood Blockade Battlefront is an immensely, almost obscenely pretty show. The visuals are pure eye-candy and they do a great job at bringing the setting to life. Speaking of the setting, it deserves mention as well. Hellsalems' Lot makes for a great backdrop to Leo's adventures, while also feeling like a city where a million stories could be told, completely unrelated to anything that goes on in the actual show. In short, Hellsalem's Lot is, in my opinion, as much a character in the show as any of the people walking its streets. The soundtrack is similarly of a high quality and suits the tone of the show perfectly.

So, far, so good. But, what about the stuff that's really important? Namely, the writing. Unfortunately, this is where my gushing over the show stops, because quite frankly, the writing of Blood Blockade Battlefront is nowhere near as good as the above mentioned aspects. The characterization in particular is lacking with several members of the cast failing to leave a lasting impression. Libra as a whole is particularly bad in this regard; aside from Leo (who is after all, the main character) the only members of the organization in possession of distinct personalities are Klaus and Zapp and even than, they aren't exactly the most compelling characters. As for the other members; most of the time, they are just there. The only one whose name I can be bothered to remember is Chain and even she isn't really more memorable than say, the butler (at least I think he was a butler) with bandages covering his face. Honestly, it says a lot about the show that its best episode is the penultimate episode, which doesn't feature Libra at all. Instead this episode focuses on Black and White, their backstory and their connection to the show's big bad, a fellow who goes by the ominous moniker; "The King of Despair". I genuinely liked this episode and it gave me great hope that the show would gain a satisfying conclusion, unfortunately that was not the case: The final episode turned out to be a disappointment, to say the least. Despite the fact that there's an apocalypse of sorts going on, I never felt like the characters were in any danger or that the stakes really mattered.

As for the other episodes; some of them are fine (I quite liked the one in which Leo befriends the mushroom-guy, for example), but none of them really stand out.

I really wanted to like Blood Blockade Battlefront a lot more than I ended up doing. The show does a great job at sucking the viewer in, with its rich visuals, great music and interesting setting. Unfortunately, the show is too flawed in every other regard for me to recommend it. A shame, because it definitely had potential.

What I've Watched 4

Time for another one of these. This time, I don't actually have anything really negative to say about any of the shows that I've been watching lately. Feels good, because I'm much happier when I get to praise something than when I have to pan it (not that tearing something I didn't enjoy apart can't be cathartic, of course, but I digress). Anyway, on with the shows:

Steins; Gate

I wasn't too impressed with Steins; Gate at first, but I have to admit that it improved radically in its second half. The characters have become more fleshed out and the poor attempts at humor have been toned down in favor of genuine suspense, stakes that matter and some truly effective emotional moments. A small part of me wishes that the show could have gotten to this point a bit earlier in the game, but, hey; better late than never. I'm not yet done with Stein;s Gate, but now, I'm definitely interested in seeing how it ends.

Cybersix

I actually watched the first two episodes of this show years ago, but for some reason I put it on-hold and didn't watch the rest, until now. No idea why, since this is actually a pretty good show. Cybersix herself makes for a really cool and engaging heroine and she's backed up by a strong supporting cast. I also find it interesting that her secret identity is that of a man, which I daresay is pretty unique among super-heroines.On another note, I really dig the character-designs and the opening theme is great as well. Cybersix is not a show without its flaws though. For example, the heroine and her brother, Data 7 are the escaped experiments/creations of the big bad, von Richter. This back-story has a lot of potential and I would really have liked the show to explore it in more detail. Unfortunately, most of the time, the show contents itself with being your typical "monster-of-the-week" show, which gets a bit formulaic after awhile. The first and last episode are by far the strongest, with the former doing a great job of introducing us to all the most important players and the latter wrapping things up to a satisfactory conclusion, while also leaving room for more episodes to be made. That said, none of the episodes are bad. If you're in the mood for a well-made, entertaining superhero cartoon, I recommend checking Cybersix out.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Re-watch)

Recently decided to re-watch this one. What can I say about it? How about the fact that Tinker, Tailor... is one of the greatest mini-series ever made and arguably the greatest espionage-themed show made as well? Oh, and the casting is pretty much perfect with Alec Guinness excelling in the role of George Smiley. Seriously, this is British television at its finest, I'll just leave it at that.

Rectify, Season 2

Although I still have a few episodes left, the second season of Rectify is definitely living up to the standards set by its predecessor. The story of Daniel Holden and his attempts to return to a normal life after having spent a huge part of his life on death row, continues to engage. This season has also took its time to flesh out some of its supporting cast. For example, the sheriff who was mostly just an antagonistic asshole in the first season is revealed as a a much more well-rounded character, who takes his job seriously. In fact, the strong characterization of nearly the entire cast is one of this show's many assets.

The Amazing World of Gumball

Let's conclude this What I've Watched with something light-hearted. Gumball's greatest assets lies in its visuals and cast of characters. Visually, the show is very interesting, blending various styles of animation together; its a show that takes full advantage of its medium. As for the characters, they are a lot of fun to watch with their various quirks and eccentricities (I feel that Richard is the weakest of the main cast, but that's mostly because the whole "bumbling idiot dad"-thing has been done to death at this point). If you want something that's just plain fun, The Amazing World of Gumball is well worth a watch. Personally, I'd recommend starting with the second season (there's no over-arching plot, so don't worry about missing anything), which is where the show really hits its stride, in my opinion.

  

The Iliad at the Almeida

Somehow, I managed to miss the Almeida Theatre's live-reading of The Illiad when it was first streamed, but fortunately, the whole thing is still available on their site until 2016. I strongly recommend giving it a listen; the various readers (which include among others Brian Cox and John Simm) does a great job at bringing this great work of literature, with all its passions and intensities, to life.
Here's a link