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Jan 20, 2021
I'm writing this review upon one reading and before I've actually watched the film, and I can already say that this is a story that, as you get older and upon multiple readings/viewings, becomes more and more clear and real to you.
Story: 10
As a twentysomething who, by my own admission, feels lost in life, the story already extremely realistic in terms of the main message of the story. Life isn't a novel where at the end it says "and they lived happily ever after." It's one where people go in and out of your life, occasionally crossing paths with people from your past while meeting
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new people along the way. And along with that, there will be people you will meet and then will leave your life physically, but leave an impression that lasts with you forever.
This story isn't about two kids who fall in love as children and then find each other again and get married. This is a story that many people have experienced. One where you wonder "if this had/hadn't happened, could my life be different right now?" I know I myself have, and I'm not even especially old yet. For me, that made the epilogue (which I know isn't in the movie), especially relevant, as, without giving a spoiler, my own life is currently there and really made the ending hit home for me.
Art: 9
The art style is wonderfully done and is very clearly based off of the movie's animation style from I've seen. There's the occasional moment where the art style feels a little off for the tone of the story as a whole, but I don't think it ever gets too far off that it's an obstruction to the story.
Character: 10
The characters are wonderful. They're human. They feel like people likely have met in your life. They have real wants and needs. They have flaws and questions. They don't need some unique character trait to make them "different" or be trying to do something insane with their life. They are the type of person who exists in the real world. That is commendable, as, being someone who has tried writing short stories, creating realistic characters is not always the easiest thing to achieve.
Enjoyment: 8
Now, I only give this an 8 not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it is admittedly dry at times. That isn't to say it suffers there, but much like novels written in the 19th century like Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, it caters to a specific type of audience. If you're one who enjoys a story that doesn't need major drama or conflict to make its message apparent, you will enjoy this a lot. If you are expecting a conflict even in the range of Your Name (same author), you might come out a little underwhelmed, as this is much more of a realistic look at growing up.
Overall: 9
This is certainly a story that deserves to be read numerous times, as I can say upon even one reading that by the next time I read it, something in it will leap out to me as a thing I couldn't relate to during the reading I'm writing this review with, but do on the subsequent one. It's a book that, in a way, matures with you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 31, 2020
I watched the anime and enjoyed it, but noticed right away that it ended on kind of an odd note. So I thought to myself, "I should read it."
**Note, spoilers in here will be restricted to what is contained in the anime, which covers the first few books**
Oh man, am I glad I did. Never would I thought that I would get sucked into a series called "My Monster Secret" like I did (no pun intended).
With that said, do not think because it has "Monster" in the title it's going to be a monster girl harem series like Monster Musume. It's not even remotely close.
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In fact, the monster aspect (which monsters here are less like lamia or harpies and more like dhampyrs and aliens), while important to the plot, is not the most important aspect in my opinion. It's the "Secret" in the title.
Now, above all the two biggest aspects I loved this story were it's plot and it's characters and their development. Let's start with the former.
So the story is pretty simple when taken at first glance: It's about a guy, Asahi, learning that the girl he likes, Youko, is a dhampyr (half-vampire with a vampire father and human mother). She made an agreement with her father, Genjirou, that if anyone found out she was a vampire, she would immediately leave the school. Asahi doesn't want to have just caused the girl he likes to leave the school so he decides to instead pledge that he'll be her friend and keep her secret, even though he is awful at keeping secrets; comedy ensues. That's basically volume one and what you go in with.
But that's not all of it. What is so important to this plot isn't that he's keeping her secret, but that everyone has a secret their afraid to tell anyone. That is what the story is truly about, while using extreme secrets like being a vampire or alien or "fallen" angel (God bless Karen, she tries so hard) to represent secrets that could make people change their entire opinion of you. And as it goes on, it becomes more and more apparent that this is the actual center point of the story, not the "monster" part, which is really a double entendre for "massive" or "giant" secret.
Next, the art. I give it a 9 because, while I like the art style that is through most of it, it does have a slight design shift early on from the first book that finally reaches the one that carries through it a few books in, which is the style I like a lot more.
If you want good and interesting characters, this is a series for it. Almost no characters in this, outside of late plot point characters like a few of Youko's classmates, are left out to dry. Even the three that the book calls "Asahi's Useless Friends" in Shimada, Okada, and Sakurada are explored, especially Okada and Sakurada. Every character in this series develops and learns something new about themselves or the world around them. Along with that, while this could have fallen into the trap of becoming an "everyone likes Asahi" harem series with it having six male characters of note and eleven female ones if I counted right, it never does that, which I think helps it so much. There may be romantic competition, but avoiding the "we all love him and are fighting over him" is so crucial to its story being so good. It never gets cliche.
It even diverts from the traditional expectations of the monsters: vampires burn up in the sun? Nope, they just tan quickly. Garlic kills vampires? Nope, their eyes just really tear up like allergies. Wolfmen transform from human to wolf form? Nope, it's a girl to a guy with some wolf-like qualities transformation and they have two different personalities.
This series was honestly one that blew me away and completely subverted my expectations from the title in the best ways possible. I read the entire series over one year, and I loved every minute of it and was excited for every subsequent book I got. All I can say is these two things:
Actually, I am a huge fan of My Monster Secret.
And a quote that I think describes my feelings of the series:
"You let me enjoy the happiest story ever told...the greatest love story between a human and a vampire."
Twilight eat your heart out, because this series is 100 times better at telling a love story than it could ever manage to do.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Aug 30, 2020
The last season ended in a way that convinced me it was worth watching the second season. Oh boy, was that worth dismantled in a way I wasn't hoping for.
First of all, the story. More than anything that bothered me was the pacing. Almost all of the important plot happened in the last four episodes of this season, with the previous eight episodes feeling like something that could have been covered in maybe two or three episodes. Only the episodes involving Sena's home life seemed to have any major influence to the rest of the plot, and most of those moments could have been put
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into a single episode and even a single day at her house. To have the last two episodes introduce two new characters, use them over a montage that spanned a week, and not tell us near anything about them beyond being on the student council just felt pointless. And the ending...I don't even want to get into that. It's been seven years without a third season, and I honestly don't think it's completely deserving of one after how much of this season seemed to be filler.
The art was good, though I could have definitely foregone the overabundance of fan service shots of Sena, as nearly every fan service piece involved her. We get it, she's got big boobs and a nice booty. Not every shot of her needs to emphasize that. Even the shot of Hinata at the race looked like it came from a hentai, to be honest.
Sound, I don't know what to say. I liked the music in it, though I was a bigger fan of the opening theme from the first season. Outside of that, I'd say it was solid.
Characters, well, this is where most of my gripes are beyond the story and its pacing. First of all, Yozora was wronged. They had such a good setup for a meaningful story between Kodaka and Yozora after the ending of Season One, and it was completely wasted to the point that, when the ending came, it felt like a slap in the face, since that was the first major character development in Yozora the entire season. Sena left me more and more annoyed with each passing episode, and the apex point in her and Kodaka's story felt almost out of left field, as, just like Yozora, there wasn't much character development through this season with her outside of "oh, she's overly obsessed with Kobato and can be a bit of a creep." Kodaka also irritated me because all of the character development literally was in the last episode. They could have easily brought that self-conflict and had it developing the entire season and made the final episode not only more meaningful, but made the pacing so much better. The other characters were the saving grace of this season on almost every aspect. Maria and Kobato's relationship arc was one of the more interesting and enjoyable ones of the season. Yukimura's character development was extremely interesting to me and left as one of my two favorite characters, though I do wish they would have chosen to treat Yukimura in a way that looked at gender dysphoria and accepting people no matter their gender like it looked for a second like they were going to instead of "oh, you're a girl that wants to be a guy? That's weird." I get that it's seven years old now, but the way they treated that just really irked me because it just felt like another wasted story arc that could have had a lot of potential if they had treated it differently. Rika, who left as my favorite character, was also wronged like Yozora, though in a different way. Rika had by far the most character development and really represented what I was hoping to see in the second season, being that they were coming to terms with who they all were and fulfill the idea of building friendships, even if they were all different. Instead, Rika was the only one who accomplished this and the only one who had good pacing in it. She was the saving grace of this season to me.
I think Rika's growing irritation at Kodaka and everyone else for not being honest with themselves and seeing that they are all friends and that you can't keep relationships stagnant, no matter how hard you try, was how I felt with each subsequent episode. By the end of it, while the characters outside of the main three saved this season from being a true cheat of my time, I'm frustrated by how much lost potential for story development and interesting character building there was. I give it a six on the merits of how to develop interesting supporting characters like Yukimura, Rika, Maria, Kobato, and even Kate (another character I do considered wasted), but for the main three, the first season did them justice and then the second season just left them falling on their face. Based on what I know about the rest of the LN, if they ever made a third season, they better not follow them because of how much wasted potential showed up in the second season.
6/10, and that is on the generous side from me.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Aug 18, 2020
I've watched this in English, Japanese, and now read it.
This story still rides on top of almost every single other story I know. It could hit harder because I'm a musician and thus constantly am relating to Kosei and Kaori, but as a musician, the ups and downs they go through, along with Takashi, Emi, Miike, and Nagi are some of the most honest writing of musicians I've read. I was always a little anxious to read it after watching it because, as is obvious, music is an auditory experience. Trying to express the thoughts, emotions, etc. on paper is not an easy thing to
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do. Yet, Naoshi Arakawa does it in a way that translates beautifully.
The art style is wonderful, allowing for the seriousness in tone and style that comes to the matured art form that is a stage performance, and then shifting to the more lighthearted style that comes in middle school. The laughter, the anger, the joy, every little spike in emotion that we all experience as young teens and pre-teens.
The story, as I previously mentioned, tears me to pieces. While there's the ever present question that people have still been trying to figure out for as long as I can remember about what Kaori is dealing with, to me, that doesn't matter in the end. The story wouldn't change if it was a real or made up thing because what matters is the characters and how they change and grow throughout the story. How they deal with love, loss, and facing their futures.
There's very little I would change to this story. Maybe that is because I'm a musician, because I'm a romantic, because I've walked in their shoes in more cases than the average person. But whatever it may be, this story is still a masterpiece to me after watching, rewatching, and now reading.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jul 11, 2020
I have watched Charlotte twice, once dubbed and once subbed. Both led me to the same conclusion.
This anime is underrated, albeit due to a high level of divisiveness.
I've seen some comparisons to other anime, most notably Angel Beats!, since both were made by Jun Maeda. Humor-wise, yes, it's quite similar, which makes sense. Story-wise, they aren't even in the same universe. My only critique is a common one, which is that it takes its time to get running. But once it does, it just goes and is extremely engaging, especially from episode 8 to the end.
The story may have some Deus Ex Machina involved, but
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considering we're dealing with special powers, that is to be expected, much like in comics with super heroes (remember how Superman turned back time by flying counter the Earth's rotation in the first Superman film? Yeah, that's about 6000x more absurd than anything that happens in this series). Unlike Super Man or even most superhero or super power oriented stories, though, is every power has a flaw or adverse effect. I think this is incredibly poignant to the story and makes it have a far greater impact that most stories of this sort, where either the weakness is a MacGuffin or a personality flaw and that's how they have to humanize the characters. No, here it can be as simple as a time limit on the power or the impossibility to control the rate of the power. No power is perfect, and the story consistently reinforces that.
The art style, much like Angel Beats!, is solid. I think it's a little better than Angel Beats! myself, but that's debatable.
Sound, phenomenal. One of my favorite soundtracks. Bravo, Anant-Garde Eyes on another masterful soundtrack.
The characters, while a few being a little flat at times, were quite endearing to me, especially Yu and Nao. I think their development from beginning to end was well done, and even the development of Takehito, Yusa, and Misa are fairly well done.
Overall, I've enjoyed this anime enough that I've watched it in two different languages and came out enjoying it equally. I know it's divisive here, but I myself would recommend watching it, especially if you liked Angel Beats! or anything else Jun Maeda did, though don't expect the same story as Angel Beats!, no matter what other reviews may say; they aren't even close to the same story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Apr 14, 2020
Shimoneta: A boring world where the concept of dirty jokes doesn't exist.
I don't think you can get more accurate with a subtitle than with this one.
If you went in expecting a serious plot, you are going to be greatly disappointed. It has a plot, but it doesn't take itself even remotely serious until the last few episodes. Before that, it's pretty much a story specifically made for as many innuendos, dirty jokes, and lewd art as possible. But, within the last couple episodes, it finally gives it's primary message: sexual humor, profanity, and an appreciation for nudity and sexuality will always exist, no matter how
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uptight and "righteous" the world gets.
The one thing that honestly was unexpectedly good to me was the music. I would not an anime that is basically an overtly humorous social commentary on people's discomfort with pervertedness and nudity to have as enjoyable of music as it did in it. Along with that, the art that Saotome draws is unexpectedly well done, with the rest of the anime still looking pretty good overall.
The characters are a bit flat (no pun intended), though I think the characters that unexpectedly shined to me in terms of character development were Okuma, who actually does develop into a more interesting character than just there to toss in as many sexual comments as possible, Fuwa, and Goriki. Goriki and Fuwa, while being minor characters, were I think two of the most curious characters, and Goriki had probably the best character development of anyone in this.
Fuwa went from being a scientifically curious almost-pervert to showing herself as undoubtedly the smartest and probably most normal character in the series, in terms of being a high schooler interested in how the human body works, while not being as flagrant about her sexuality as the other characters. Goriki, a character who originally comes off as being a gorilla joke (which continues through most of the first few episodes he's in), winded up being a standout character in terms of representation and breaking character molds.
In the end, this sexual dystopia, while initially feeling like the entire series is just there for sex jokes, actually has some heart and decent messages within it about the issues of sexual repression and why it's okay to let your freak flag fly.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 16, 2019
"I guess that's what they call adolescence."
The first thing I was told about going into this was "understand that it's all a metaphor, and listen more than watch." I'm glad I was told that, because it made me go in with a different mindset. This isn't the same story as last time, but more like a continuation through a different narrative. Last time, we were dealing with Naota and puberty/maturity. Now, we are dealing with Hibajiri and adolescent romance/fitting in, another topic everyone has experienced.
While the characters aren't as strong as in the first season, Progressive is taking a character two years older than Naota,
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and dealing with a different issue, and, arguably, doesn't need to be explaining how everyone is connected, because they are all the same age in the same class (excluding Haruko) unlike last season. Instead, we are stepping into a moment in time dealing with specifically junior high students and the adolescent experience of that age, and not an immature teenager and a pseudo-mature preteen, as presented in the first season.
The art is somewhat different, which does make it feel a little more streamline to other anime, and while it's more polished, it does lose a piece of what made FLCL's art style so unique. It also doesn't have as much of the defining scenes in FLCL (the manga style is all but gone, with only occasional scenes mimicking it), although it does bring in some new art styles along the way (ep. 5 is the most obvious).
The Pillows are back on the soundtrack and as good as always. I don't need to say much more for the music than that. The voice-over in the dub is quality, just like last time, and frequently easier to understand and extract what the actual message being presented in its snide, nihilistic way.
It's not as insane of an adventure, albeit still quite quirky and nonsensical at times, but if you go into with an open mind that this is 18 years after the original and most of the people who watched the original season in their adolescence are far extracted from it, it does hold up, even if it's a little more direct storytelling and less of the chaotic metaphor that made the original so unique, recognizable, and long-lasting.
To conclude, this isn't so much a continuation of FLCL, but a continuation of the message FLCL presented last time on maturing. It's inevitable, you will change, and fighting that change isn't the best way to be. I recommend giving it a chance, go in with an open mind, listen carefully, and don't go in expecting the same thing as last time, because, just like growing up, nothing stays the same as you thought it would be.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 17, 2018
I'm actually very curious as per some people's perception of the show. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but especially the last few episodes, I thoroughly enjoyed and had to watch in a row (even though I rarely can get myself to do that, even in the best of shows). The fan service was surprisingly minimal, being only used notably in two episodes, one being, of course, the token "hot springs" episode. It is a little tropey at times, mainly in character types, but plot wise, it was an interesting adventure in Jungian ideas. It very consistently avoids romantic aspects, which I love, since it could
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have easily devolved into a harem-type anime, but instead chose to keep everything tame and platonic between the characters. Even Mai, who could be used as a fan service weapon, rarely does, and the characters, even though being described as a poor team in the first episode, actually are pretty competent through the whole series.
Overall, don't let the first episode deceive you. This anime is actually a decent one, and while I probably liked it a bit better than most because of the Jungian ideas, it definitely is a good anime.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Aug 28, 2017
I love short form serial anime, and Angel Beats! is a great example why. While I did have one timeline question at the end, because of how touching of a story it was, I don't really care that much. It had a satisfying ending, it was able to bring both laughter and emotional turbulence within the same episode in most episodes. It's music was gorgeous and definitely has one of my top ten anime themes to any show, and was part of the allure that made me keep watching. It's character development was great, especially on the part of the four primary characters. Naoi was
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sometimes a bit of a confusing character, since he had some inconsistencies that I understand in the character, but they made him a bit harder to follow, compared to the rest of the characters. Overall, definitely a recommended anime if you like short-form and a story that brings both real life and fantasy, per se, though I wouldn't know how to define post-mortem purgatory -- is it fantasy or slice of life/death? Not sure. But whatever it can be called, this is a dramedy that truly feels good to finish.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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