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A remake of the first song used in the Ojamajo Doremi anime where the main cast have aged as adults is extremely fitting to celebrate the series 25th anniversary, especially given that the series focus is maturity and childish innocence. Here, the cast is seen as adults (or at the least, teenagers), who are now shown still being friends with Hana, among other characters. I believe this was a great idea which could possibly allow for a sequel to take place showing their lives as adults, as this was particularly relevant to the themes of growing up and innocence and maturity in the series. Even ... though the series' concept may seem somewhat plain in comparison to today, I believe that a reboot or sequel could still be successful. The updated animation helped to recapture the show's energy and even if no plans are made to reboot it, I believe this was a great way to help fans remember a series that is beloved in the hearts of many. 8/10.

Please note for this review that I began the series under the assumption that this was technically a magical girl series.

With the above information, I would like to point out that this will not factor into the show's review; I will be judging it primarily as a romance story. To start with, the premise is extremely interesting; inanimate objects, particularly consumable ones, coming to life is a novel concept, although in my opinion the series fails to utilize this properly, as either a comedy or a drama. It tends to cycle back and forth between taking its story seriously and playing it for laughs, which ... contrast heavily; the themes of martyrism play heavily into this, as do themes of capitalism ad ironically, recycling in an antagonistic light. This helps develop the primary Akikan, Melon, granting her some good character development, and Yell similarly gains some nice introspection into her own nature of existence.

Additionally, there is some room for some good comedy to occur here, which is unfortunately squandered on fanservice and failed romantic plots which never have any true payoff. The series additionally seems indecisive as to whether Kakeru will date Melon or Najimi, and every development towards one offsets the other by a wide margin. A similar situation occurs with Najimi and Yell, although it works out a bit better, as they're able to form a more cohesive couple (albeit, one we never see come to fruition in the series).

Unfortunately, these themes cannot co-exist: attempts at comedy downplay the more serious moments, while the series nature is too dark to make any of its comedy have any impact. The Akikan Elect was a seemingly major plot point that was forgotten, while Miku only had two episodes to make any impact. It does feel to a degree that Akikan was hoping the novelty of its concept could carry it to success (there was, after all, an episode dedicated to literally doing nothing), and many characters are very one-note. I believe this type of series could have worked well if there was a consistent theme chosen to stick with, although as it is, it currently is not as enjoyable or memorable as it would like to be. 5/10.

This review with Shugo Chara! Party! will be divided into two segments. The first half will cover the season standalone, and the second will act as an overall review for the entire series. Please note that spoilers may be present. Additionally, the Party! review will treat Puchi Puchi, the anime segments and the live action as a single series.

Shugo Chara! Party was in a difficult position from the start; needing to follow the manga and its pacing was one of its first problems, but the second was the apparent lack of faith to the manga, instead taking the series in a wildly different direction, which ... was met with valid levels of skepticism from some viewers, myself included. The main reason for this is that while the series was never exactly the most mature in its original seasons, it felt like it at least had a handle on the message and themes it was trying to send. It's hard to convey how seriously Party! takes this, because it is such a drastic contrast from even the season prior (a mere 25 episodes prior), due not only to the live-action aspects of the series, but an apparent disinterest in continuing the manga; the last arc of the manga is unadapted and as far as I can tell, is left untouched as though it never existed. This is a true shame, because I found the last arc of the manga very decently written.

At times, it can be difficult to feel like Shugo Chara! Party! isn't openly mocking itself or its audience, or making a parody of what it itself created. While there are references and easter eggs to previous seasons (no pun intended), the structure of the series feels as though it is written as though Party! would be a viewer's series introduction. For instance, nearly every major character is re-introduced every single episodes, which comes across as (and is) excessively redundant at best, and pandering at worst. Segments on the show range from decent to poor, with the live-action segments being arguably some of the worst uses of the medium this show could muster. However, this isn't even what I feel digs the series grave, nor is it even the introduction of Rikka and her new development, which would be interesting enough as a standard 26 episode season in of itself at minimum. No, in my opinion, what really kills the season is the wasted potential; there were many ways this could have worked and been done properly and re-invigorated the franchise without resorting to pandering or re-inventing the wheel. After all, Sailor Moon's live-action series is one of its arguable best versions, as it went in an interesting direction and showcased possibilities using its more realistic setting. However, Party! does not go this route.

Instead, it feels as though Party! simply cashes in on the cheap allure of using live-action actresses (or, the "Eggs"), to the point that it feels they're only IN the series to sell merchandise and keep little girls engaged. Aspects of the live actresses such as copying the likes of repetitive and overtly simply dance instructions, figurines of Charas from the show, and interviews with the cast members for exclusive items do not help with the insinuation that the series feels like it was only continued to sell merchandise. In my opinion, this makes the series a sellout in and of itself, and the lack of used potential that could have been here makes this series one of the worst possible attempts. Even a decent "anime" plot with Rikka and Hikaru can only go so far, especially considering both STILL rely on the overt use of stock footage, not to mention cramming an episode's worth of content into 11 minutes. In short, Party! is the series' ultimate lowest point in my opinion, and an absolute "must avoid" unless there is a pressing need to see what amounts to a relatively minor plot development. As a season, Party! scores a 1/10.

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As for the series as a whole, in case it wasn't obvious, Shugo Chara is wholeheartedly a mixed bag. While I've discussed the specific problems with past seasons in their individual reviews, one of the main initial attractions to Shugo Chara in the first place was the concept of dealing with the lost emotions of children who have lost who they want to be, which can also be interpreted as simply their personal identity. Shugo Chara's concept is not at all the problem; the idea is great and has a lot of potential to be built off, especially with characters such as Utau creating strong character arcs. One of the issues with Shugo Chara is that practically every other element with how it was written and executed seems to actively work against its favor. Shugo Chara has mind-numbingly poor pacing, which is terrible in conjunction with forgotten or nearly abandoned plot points being put aside for large scores of episodes at a time.

In my opinion, Shugo Chara may have failed to fully explore the brand of potential that was made possible with Characters, Eggs and X Eggs/Characters. While I am not an expert on issues such as depression and mental health issues, I believe that there are multiple layers and nuances that can be explored in a cohesive manner which could have been able to tackle these issues appropriately and with sensitivity. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Shugo Chara fails to realize the depths to which they can explore, or simply that they wish to keep things light-hearted as it is a children's show. These, as well as a seemingly increasing amount of peculiar inconsistencies with the lore of X Eggs and Charas themselves, create an odd puzzle of the situation that causes it to feel incomplete, or that things are being half-assed as the writers go. A good example of this is in Party!, where a situation gave the initial implication that an X Egg "bursting" would imply the person would want to end their life, only for this assumption to be incorrect.

Despite my initial enjoyment with Shugo Chara, it ultimately comes across as underwhelming, which is extremely difficult to say, as I wanted this series to be a positive experience that I could recommend. Unfortunately, it turned out to be anything but; near the end, finishing the series felt like a chore rather than a fun task, and the light-hearted excitement of watching soon turned to boredom and frustration. This was particularly sad, as if executed better, this could have been a true masterpiece. The score for the entire series is a 1/10, unfortunately; it may be in one's best interest to skip the series altogether, as a half-hearted investment will leave heavy expectations to fill that may not be met.

Shugo Chara's manga fixes a lot of the problems that I found were present in the anime; mainly, that the manga is much more streamlined and cuts out a large presence of filler, though not to the point that it actively distracts from the plot. In my personal opinion, Shugo Chara, beyond its first season, suffered from its anime adaptation (which should be noted, is the version I watched first), and that a lot of elements that were heavily distracting, such as forgotten or abandoned plot points, were drastically toned down. This gives the manga the likely feel that the anime was going for as ... well: that of a cheerful, light-hearted magical girl series. The series is simple enough to become invested rather easily, although some of the plot points could have done with being somewhat more nuanced.

As always, the actual story and message Shugo Chara wishes to tell is one of growing up and acceptance of change and the concept of idealization of one's self. The series has an extremely interesting nuance in the concept of what it considers to be superficial versus an actual part of someone's core personality, and this is likely the main draw of the story. Shugo Chara has several main characters with different layers of nuance and backstory that are slowly explained and contribute to who they are, standing strong as characters that are given realistic motives for their behavior. While the motives behind the development of Easter and how things got to this point are left somewhat vague for the majority of the story, I believe it was explained well and gives a nice subversion of the standard archetype of a main villain. It also serves perfectly as an antithesis to the series' core message, with Ikuto standing initially very strongly as the personal antithesis to Amu, whose core message relies on being the apparent emblematic representation of misfortune within the series.

While there were a few characters who particularly shone once they received character development, I believe that Utau was the ideal character to show the full range of what this series was capable of; Utau arguably went through the widest range of development, constantly changing in realistic, believable ways that would be relatable to most readers. In my opinion, the execution of the "road of stars" arc was only alright; it left a great deal of confusion as I felt that it was poorly depicted, which made it difficult to follow along with the path that the story intended to take, unless this was intentional.

The ending of the manga states that a Chara will always be within their owner, never disappearing; this one sentiment is a great way to showcase exactly why Shugo Chara's manga is worth a read. This implies that a Shugo Chara is part of the person's core personality, and that while a person may change, they'll never permanently "lose" their true self, even if it's lost or no longer visible. The ending also treated all of the characters excellently, giving them all true happiness that they would deserve. While the manga isn't perfect, as it can veer into the childish aspect and not fully explore the above concepts all of the time, I believe that it was a very enlightening read and would recommend it for those looking for a light entry into the magical girl genre. 7/10.

Shugo Chara! Doki!! is without a doubt, far and away, one of the worst useless sequel seasons to ever exist. Credit where it's due, the Embryo arc was put on hold as is standard by this point and did need a resolution; however, the use of 51 episodes to explain a plot that could have been completed in half that amount was inexcusable. Despite the first season's ability to thrive by building on the concept of the Heart Eggs, there's a reason it only worked once. At a certain point, it feels less like an enjoyable show and more like the writers wanted to cash ... in on Shugo Chara's popularity by keeping the series running as long as possible, at the expense of its quality. And Shugo Chara! Doki!! truly suffered for this.

A lot of character arcs that were expected to have a payoff are either completely abandoned, dragged out for nearly the entire season, or wind up extremely underwhelming. As an example, it was hoped by many that Nagihiko would reveal his true identity as "Nadeshiko" to Amu, a payoff which never arrived, even during the season finale. Other storylines were similarly abandoned, with even the anime-exclusive Lulu having her own redemption arc pushed off for a ludicrous amount of time, to the point she appeared several times remaining fully "evil" long after her redemption began. Despite what the season would incline us to believe, character interactions are, ironically, rather sparse; there are some great moments that have a wonderful setup here, yes. But these are overshadowed by a number of exceedingly blank storylines and episodes. Even Dia, who was promised to appear with a major role after the end of the first season, only had three canon appearances.

One of the biggest flaws is that the season itself feels unnecessary; a lot of the arcs that were covered in the first season could have ended perfectly fine there, and instead, it feels that the season has run out of steam. The finale is also particularly bland which is a true shame, especially given how well the first season did despite its low quality. I'm sorry to say this, but it's a case of a great magical girl series that's worn out its welcome. Not even cute characters and some truly amazing episodes could save this season. 2/10.

Shugo Chara! is quite a handful to talk about. So many elements of the season (nay, the series) can be seen from just these 51 episodes, and to truly break it down in a few sentences isn't really possible. Things are handled so drastically different that in my opinion, Shugo Chara's characters and plot pretty much stand on their own spectrums.

To start with, Shugo Chara's plot is arguably its weakest element. The plot is barely held together by a monster-of-the-week format. The execution and method chosen to do this, while weak, is incredibly effective in a symbolic way; using eggs as a metaphor for childhood ... innocence and character development gets points for originality if nothing else, and it's a good thing it holds up so well. However, it does have some incredibly unfortunate implications, such as the fact that it and the counter for its metaphor goes hand in hand with predatory behavior towards children. This is made worse by Nikaidou, who pretty much lays the entire metaphor on the table on.

One of the best parts of Shugo Chara, however, is its characters. Shugo Chara's actual characters are broken down into a series of onion-like layers that gives them lots of depth and allows for genuine exploration of characters, since they're based in logic and given real behaviors. This also helps create a nice contrast between someone's "outer character" and their "inner character" (or "true self"), and creates some great comedy, one of Shugo Chara's other elements it excels at. The comedy in Shugo Chara is pretty much the best you could want: lots of constantly changing and exaggerated faces, visual comedy, puns, subtle jokes, straight man schtick, it's pretty much all covered. They experiment with a TON of styles, which I respect their willingness to try at least. Thankfully, at least a few jokes are guaranteed to make you laugh. The Charas behaviors and episodes themselves based on premise alone also lend themselves heavily to comedy, and the writing delivers.

A character's "Guardian Character" (referred to as their "Chara" for ease of writing) adds another layer to the "inner and outer character" symbolism I mentioned before; here, it's not necessarily them, but even if it's not, a Chara is based on who they want to be. So we can argue that at least in a philosophical sense, they represent at least an ideology of the type of person that you could become. Shugo Chara's characters aren't relegated to just jokes; lots of side characters, main characters, and even the Charas themselves all get plenty of time to grow and develop, several reoccurring. One of the most interesting elements present is that while Charas are typically invisible, some characters have the ability to see Charas despite not being children: namely, Ikuto, Utau, Saeki Nobuko, and Nikaidou, oddly enough. I'm unsure if this is meant to be symbolic, but my best guess is that it could be interpreted as they haven't lost their childlike innocence, which would speak volumes to Utau's character arc.

Personally, I found Utau's arc to be done the best. Despite it putting the majority of Dia's character development on the backburner due to the amount of time it was extended away, it works harmoniously with the way she goes through a genuine moral struggle to find herself and ultimately, the courage to make important decisions that impact the rest of her life.

Overall, Shugo Chara may not be the best series ever; on the contrary, it seems pretty low quality, formulaic, repetitive, has a terrible plot, and other elements. However, these aren't its true strengths. Its true strength is engaging with its audience and putting them in the characters' perspectives firsthand, getting us to feel their struggles and joys and emotions with vigor, with plenty of laughs and empathetic moments along the way. Despite its low score, this is an absolutely positive recommendation.

Lyrical Nanoha: Detonation is the last entry in Lyrical Nanoha at the time of this review. This review will encompass both movies, and may contain spoilers for the first movie, Reflection, as well as Detonation itself.

As the part two of two full-length movies serving as the ultimate Lyrical Nanoha experience, Detonation had particularly big shoes to fill. Not only because of the setup the first movie gave it, so that it could stand on its own feet, although this was very much part of it. The other aspect is that the first movie, in my personal experience, did not smooth over so well, and we ... were left with a number of ambiguous elements, which could obviously greatly hinder the message the series is trying to tell. So, did this happen here? Well...the answer is half yes. Without giving away too much, the first movie initially set up Kyrie in an odd role plot-wise, where she somewhat floated aimlessly in the cast, neither defined as antagonist or protagonist, yet too big to fill the role of a secondary character. Iris had similar issues, as she hung in the background to be a major threat, yet she didn't really have that big a role in itself in the first movie. So, Iris lent herself to being more of a side character.

Here, however, the script is flipped: Iris comes into her own as an antagonist of sorts, and succeeds Kyrie as the secondary antagonist for the film. However, she's in an awkward position of being under the shadow of Phill, aka "The Director". He either didn't appear in the first movie or had a miniscule appearance, so it comes off as a bit of a surprise that he was never mentioned before, nor was any of this foreshadowed. The same can be said of Iris' backstory: as much sense as it makes on paper, it simply doesn't translate well when it wasn't foreshadowed even in the slightest before. This all comes crashing down as it conflicts with Amitie, who becomes a third wheel in storytelling, as well as Granz, who is important for all of two scenes.

The reason this is such a big deal is because Granz, the Florians' father, was Kyrie's entire motivation to save their world. Other than that, Yuri also works well. For a change, her character development was set up quite nicely and her backstory checks out with her history with Iris, another aspect of the movie that came out nice. Her relationship with the king and his (her..?) servants was a little less obvious, but it made sense once it was established. Despite his flaws, Phill works well as an antagonist: cold, cunning, manipulative to all the other seemingly-antagonists, and ruthless. He even has a hilarious death.

Unfortunately, a few great characters aren't enough to save the movie: Yuri and Iris' scenes are a great start and Phill is genuinely creepy, as are the Iris clones. However, in my opinion, it just feels like the movie is too disorganized to create a real impact. It feels like the first half wasn't set up nearly well enough, and the second suffered for it. It's a real shame: I was really looking forward to these. 4/10.

Lyrical Nanoha: Reflection is something of an anomaly. Apparently combining elements from other versions of the series (a fact I only know from a little research) is pretty unique, but the true oddity is that this actually appears to take place during or after A's, which is even more puzzling given that it rose off the winds of the fantastically mixed ViVid Strike. This means the movie is in an odd place canonically, introducing more elements that mix up the standard formula, as well as structurally. This is of course good for a fresh take on the series, but whether or not it actually holds ... up is a different issue altogether. This review will address the latter of those two points.

For all intents and purposes, this movie obviously takes place likely riight after A's, by approximately a year. It should thus be evident that the Wolkenritter, Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Lindy, Chrono, and many more familiar faces play a large part in the movie. Unfortunately, they do not: everyone's appearances in the movie barely makes a few small appearances, which is massively disappointing. Shamal and Zafira barely get to do anything, while Chrono, Amy, Arf, and even Yuuno all take on minor roles at best. Despite being a target for Kyrie, Hayate barely has much interaction with her at all. The movie is also horribly plagued with a case of telling and not showing; we're *told* how much Kyrie has desired to help her parents, but we barely see it aside from in small doses. Amita seems to exist more or less as a foil to her sister, and by this point it's clear there's not even a true protagonist in the movie; Kyrie, Amita, Hayate, and the king all fight for leading roles alongside Iris, and it does not mesh well at all.

Kyrie is decently exciting if viewed as an antagonist, although the storytelling puts her at odds with accomplishing her declared motive, which is doomed to fail on arrival into the story. As a protagonist, it once again forces her into a clashing lead role with the TSAB, and worse yet, forces Amita to play the role of a straight man, as though they were in some twisted comedy. It's a real shame all of this went downhill in the movie, given that they had two hours to shine and truly develop a story. Furthermore, Kyrie is simply unlikeable by design as a protagonist, so she doesn't fit into a story role in any traditional manner. The movie's "twists", furthermore, are incredibly obvious and don't reward any guessing games. All in all, I have to say it's unfortunately best to give this movie a pass, unless you're a diehard Nanoha fan. 4/10.

Vivid Strke Specials are an unusual case. Rather than simply being "specials" as the name would suggest, these episodes actually provide several revelations to some characters, which may not be so obvious at first glance, and even less so when you realize that: first, there are only three; and second, that only one of them is a full-length episode. These episodes aren't anything groundbreaking, but they help to explain certain plot elements that wouldn't be obvious at first glance, necessarily.

The more obvious of the two is the correlation between the first and second episodes. Standalone, they don't do much. Together, they provide an interesting contrast: ... the first shows Fuka's relationship with Nakajima Gym, and the second Rinne's relationship with her Frontier Gym. It's pretty telling of their contrast to show the different ways they practice, gain experience, and bond with others. The final episode is a complement more than anything; it wraps up Fuka and Rinne's arc and gives a worry-free relaxation ep, gathering up all the main characters thus far since ViVid (which is still a lot) for a fun beach adventure. Overall, this was an enjoyable side adventure and good as an extra. However, you may be disappointed by the filler-ish nature. 7/10.

ViVid Strike! is really in a truly unique place when it comes to calling it good or bad. Not just because it's separated itself from the long departed concept of Lyrical Nanoha (in themes and name, including abandoning the magical girl aspect itself), but because it throws so many concepts of even ViVid out the window, which is surprising given it directly follows ViVid. What I mean by this is: if you're looking for a Lyrical Nanoha series, you'll be sorely disappointed. However, if you're just watching it to stand on its own, it's actually an extremely impressive tale. Therefore, this review is by fault ... up to interpretation and intent of the viewer whilst watching. Since ViVid Strike made such a direct attempt to step forward, this review will largely treat it as an extension of ViVid, but not as though it was a part of the Nanoha franchise.

The first thing to note is the somewhat odd dynamic of the main characters. Without getting into many spoilers, the dynamic initially resembles the standard "tough girl" and "sweet girl" pair, a la Nagisa and Honoka of Futari Wa Pretty Cure; however, this dynamic quickly falls apart and becomes subverted once it becomes clear things are far more complex than this. Expanding on this, the girls have a genuine rivalry with each other due to their differing viewpoints. Both of them bring their own philosophies influenced by their ways of life thus far, and both begin to question their own paths once it becomes clear the other is in an immovable viewpoint. This creates a refreshing yet horrifying contrast on the typical friendship dynamic: yes, they're friends on the surface, although they're two of the most different people alive and certain to butt heads repeatedly, which they do with vigor in a martial arts series.

One of the other strong points of ViVid Strike is its insistence on focusing on bullying, abuse, and mental health. Without spoiling, I can confidently say I was heavily impressed with the way character development was handled. It wasn't shrunk into a childish or immature view, pushed off, or even excused; it was seen for the horror it is and its mental impact on those affected is not to be underestimated. Not only this, the series was able to use it to propel character development for the affected and make use of it in unexpected ways. On the other hand, this ties back into the martial arts aspect: needing to find physical strength to justify mental weakness is (as expected) almost assured to be a very touchy subject for some, and especially for those who have or are suffering from it. Making a character a stand-in to represent exactly how or not to deal with it is an even more bold challenge, though ViVid Strike manages to keep its preachiness delicate, to the point, and not in the viewer's face. It's even ultimately left to interpretation and moreso "guides" the viewer than it does force them how to feel. Overall, there is an amazing level of representation for bullying and mental health awareness.

Admittedly, the fights aren't as great. I understand it was based on a martial arts series and that of course the aforementioned elements take priority, but the fights were significantly watered-down compared to ViVid. Tournament battles lasted all of ten seconds with not much impressive occurring, as the action was drowned out by an ever-present announcer, forcing the series to stop and explain what happened every ten seconds followed by a few more minutes of explanation. As a martial arts series, it thus fails to leave a lasting impression.

Overall, ViVid Strike is a heavily recommended series that, even standalone, is sure to leave a lasting impact and will help anyone suffering from mental illness, with a gripping story nonetheless. Ironically, Nanoha fans will probably enjoy this least, given how much it stems off the traditional format, but it is wonderful nonetheless. 8/10.