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Favorite Japanese Animes

Sword Art Online - this has amazing animation, character design, action, soundtrack (possibly the best I've heard in an anime), the voice actors are the best I've heard in an anime, the Japanese actors of course. It follows the story of Kirito (Kazuto Kirigaya is his real name) as he 'dives' into the game called Sword Art Online (or shorten to SAO). However, if you die in the game, you die in real life. The story line is so compelling because the idea of being trapped inside a game is very interesting to me and the emotional attraction to the characters makes it one of the best animes I have watched. You get to meet loads of characters throughout season 1, part 1 who are very unique and there a lot of scenes you can laugh at. But during season 1, part 2, you get to see the protectiveness of Kirito and how much he cares for Asuna (his wife in the game) and Yui (his supposed daughter in the game). As the game has different levels, each level has a different theme or 'look' and each one is so unique and visually stunning.

Death Note - this is about a teenage boy, called Light Yagami, who finds a notebook (creatively called a Death Note) with the power to kill anyone whose name you write into the book. With this notebook comes the owner of them - Shinigamis, Gods of Death. But there is this detective named L who tries to find out who 'Kira' is. It's very intriguing to watch as you never know what the characters are going to do or discover about the other characters. This is a very dark anime but the mystery side of it keeps you on the edge of your seat every episode and you always want to watch the next episode. One short-ish season completes the story, with two anime films and a live-action film that are defiantly not needed.

Your Lie In April - this is a very underrated anime and needs to be known more. This is very beautifully animated with an equally beautiful story of this boy, called Kousei Arima, who plays the piano with a dark past that is slowly revealed to the audience, meets this girl, called Kaori Miyazono, who plays the violin and how they encourage each other to play and how their relationship develops. It tackles some very emotional and hard-hitting themes but in a way that is so amazing to watch and see how they help each other through the difficult times. This is the most visually pleasing anime I've seen without it been an action. The colours of this anime are all pastel and faded which gives the anime a unique and beautiful style. The characters are very relatable and loveable. It's certainly one that is an emotional rollercoaster.

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood - this has a harrowing storyline about these two brothers, Edward and Alphonse Elric, that are alchemists (they are able to control elements) but they have a committed a taboo that should never be committed. They go on an adventure and you meet many incredible characters that are comical at times. The animation is amazing to watch because each alchemist has different titles (elements they can control) and the animation really brings these titles to life. The opening and ending titles are some of the best I've heard and they really reflect the part of the season they are played on. Each character has their own individual personalities and they are so fun to watch because even in a tense/serious scene, most of the time, a character will make some sort of funny gesture or comment which makes the anime so enjoyable to watch. 

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou - this revolves around this place called Sakura Hall where the students can't stay in the normal dorms because they're 'weird' and they have to live here. But a new girl, Mashiro Shiina, who has moved back from England, has moved in and this causes some 'drama' in the hall. The characters have very individual personalities and back stories, which are very interesting to find out about. The story focuses on the character of Sorata Kanda who is in Sakura Hall because he wanted to keep cats in the dorm that he found on the streets. You get to see the relationship between Mashiro and Sorata develop as Mashiro can't really do things for herself and because she is passionate about manga, Sorata needs to teach her what is right and what is wrong. The colours of this anime are faed and not bright which allows the anime to look visually pleasing and easy to watch because your eyes aren't distracted by the bright colours. 


Favourite Films

The Lion King - possibly one of the most famous films of all time (and for good reason), at least most people have heard or seen it. For 1994, the animation is incredible, the songs are pretty good, the score is one of my favourites and the emotional attachment for Simba is always overwhelming, especially when he sees his father again. The thing that amazes me the most is that it was created by the B Team because everyone thought Pocahontas was going to do better than The Lion King. The characters are amazing that I'm instantly transported to my childhood because of these characters. Even though I am a teenager, I still love to watch this film and use funny quotes from most of the characters. If anything, I enjoy it more now than I did before I get more of things they say and understand deeper into the themes they cover in the film. 

Forrest Gump - as this one of Tom Hanks' films he's best known, you can expect it to good. This takes an amazing journey through American history between 1944 and 1982. I really love the idea that even though Forrest isn't exactly the brightest person, he still takes part in many things and ends up achieving somethings not any ordinary man can achieve. I understand it's not real but it is rather inspirational. I can't imagine anyone else playing Forrest because Tom Hanks is incredible as he can cover the emotional and comical parts of the film. The visual effect are incredible. For example, the feather at the beginning isn't actually in the shot (they had someone 'dancing around' with a feather ), so they had to create the reflections off the car window and make it match up with the feather lying on Forrest's shoe.

The Breakfast Club - this is about a group of five students from "different walks of life" that have to sit a whole day on a Saturday in detention for whatever it is that they did wrong. The group of actors in this film come from the group called The Brat Pack, who 'ruled' the 80's films. This film is targeted at teenagers and is very comical and can easily cheer someone up. I love to get to know all of the characters backstories about their home lives and why they are in detention. It teaches the audience the idea of not "judging a book by its cover". But it also has a nice quote at the beginning by David Bowie that reads "... and those children that you spit on as they try at change their worlds are immune to your consultations. They're quite aware of what they're doing though" as a teenager,
I find this is kind of true because I read it that we teenagers or young adults don't want to do what adults want us to do as we already have an idea of what we want to do with our lives.

Divergent (Series) - based on a book series by Veronica Roth, a sci-fi fantasy that has the society split into factions based on their personality. They got split into these factions after a war and they have been trapped inside "the wall" ever since. The plot revolves around Tris, who learns that she can overcome the system in society. As the series progresses, we get to see the relationship she builds with Four, someone she meets in Dauntless, and how her relationship with Caleb, her brother, is broken more than once. Visually, all of the films so far have been stunning. I also really like the little things throughout the series that either foreshadow something or show something to do with a certain relationship. Shailene Woodley is an amazing actress and I really enjoy her work, which is another reason why I love it so much. 

The Maze Runner (Series) - based on a book series by James Dashner, a group of different aged males (until one female comes along) are sent to what is known as the Glade at the centre of a giant labyrinth. It follows the story of Thomas as they try to work out why they are there and how they can get out. During the second film, The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trails, they get to know more about why they are there and truly know who their enemies are. In both films that have been released so far, the action sequences are good to watch and the mystery elements are interesting to see where they will end up next. And I'm very excited for the third instalment of the series.


Favourite Short TV Series

Thirteen - this follows the story of Ivy (played by Jodie Comer), a girl who was kidnapped at the age of thirteen for thirteen years, and we get to see how her relationships have changed with friends from her childhood and how her family is now broken because of her disappearance. But we suspect that Ivy isn't telling the whole truth about the kidnapping, Mark (her kidnapper) and what happened whilst she was with Mark. The mystery of her kidnapping keeps you on edge all the time because you're never too sure what will be uncovered next. However, at the end of the series, I did feel as though it wasn't a 'satisfying' ending and I don want to know more about Ivy's relationships with are friends, specifically Tim, now that Mark is no longer around. But because of the amazing acting by Jodie and Aneurin certainly makes the series.

The Living and the Dead - a mystery horror that is set in Somerset, 1894. It is centred around Nathan Appleby (played by Colin Morgan) who is a psychologist who tries to help people in the village from supernatural happenings. The people in the village believe it's Nathan causes the strange happens. But Nathan has a dark past and it drives him mad. The mystery element keeps you wondering what's going to happen next and horror makes sure you don't take your eyes off the screen. Because I don't like horrors, I found it hard to watch but after a few episodes, I got used to it and started to enjoy it more. And the final episode still makes me wonder whether there will be a second series because they left it on such a big cliff hanger.

Jekyll and Hyde (ITV) - this is the most recent adoption of the classic book called Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Having never seen any version of the story or rad the book, I can't make comparisons to tother versions or if it's accurate to the book.Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it as it's full of action and suspense. And the acting by Tom Bateman (who plays Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde) is incredible, in many scenes he'd have to go from Jekyll to Hyde (and vice versa) and the change in character is amazing, you can certainly tell the difference between the two characters easily, and I think that's one of the main things that sold it. It's a very dark series but it has very unique monsters and a style of film that I've hardly ever seen.

Moonfleet - Based on a book by the same name, it focuses on the story of John Trenchard (played by Aneurin Barnard), a boy who dreams of finding Blackbeard's treasures and admires smuggler Elzevir Block (played by Ray Winstone). However, John gets involved with Grace and that causes some problems as Grace's father is the magistrate. So John and Elzevir go on a journey to find Blackbeard's diamond. It's not the best series with the way it's produced or created but the adventure they embark on is interesting to watch and see the events unfold and I really enjoy the things Aneurin Barnard is in. 


Favourite Songs

Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots - I have only recently discovered this song and I really relate to the lyrics much more than I expected to. I know one of my friends have mentioned them before but I wasn't really into them at that point. I haven't really heard anything quite like it and I really like it.

River Flows In You by Yiruma - this is a very classical, piano only, song. I really enjoy listening to this because it instantly calms me down. But for a piano piece, this one is really beautiful compares to others I've heard.

Diamonds by Elle Skies - this song is very beautiful and is almost perfect a commentary dance piece and the lyrics are pretty good.

The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy - this song is very interesting to listen to and Patrick Stump's voice is very unique.

Startear by Haruna Luna - this is the first ending for Sword Art Online II, Japanese of course. The vocals are amazing, the lyrics are very relatable and the song itself as a whole is amazing.


Favourite YouTubers

Dan Howell (DanIsNotOnFire) - after being on YouTube for 6 years, I found Dan very relatable as he talks about his "existential crisis's", "psycho thoughts" and "near death experiences" with some great lessons. Other than being relatable, I found his sense of humour very funny.

Phil Lester (AmazingPhil) - he has lived with Dan Howell for just over 5 years now and he has been on YouTube for 9 years. I watch him because he has a very loveable and sweet personality with some funny stories.

The Saccone-Joly family (TheSacconeJolys) - just a normal family who film their everyday lives for the last 6 years. It started with Jonathan Joly, then he met Anna Saccone, had 4 puppies born (so they have a total of 6 maltese dogs) married Anna, had their daughter Emilia, then their son Eduardo. But there is more to them than meets the eye. Jonathan had depression as a teenager, Anna had a mis-charge a few months ago and now people are sending Anna hate comments. They are a very inspirational family because of all of the things they have been through.

Zoe Sugg (Zoella) - a very popular female beauty blogger and began a YouTube channel in 2009. She has gained many awards and millions of subscribers since then. I really love her style of videos, her products she has recently released, her fashion style, basically everything about her.

Good Mythical Morning - presented by Rhett McLaughlin (on the left) and Link Neal (on the right). They make videos every weekday showing funny challenges, random things on the Internet, stories that have happened to them in the past week. It's basically an Internet version of a good morning show every morning.