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#Review info

Reviewing Info: In a nutshell personal thoughts/opinion >> critical/objective value. More on my site.
Review layout: WP non-H
Review type: Anime

#Review (short ver):
*In a nutshell: Grandiose fantasy war filled world with lot of “logistics…”…. and plenty of drama

#PROS
... +Fairly enjoyable condensed tragic grand fantasy political warfare storytelling
+large scale fights with some great smaller scale or duel tier power/magical fights
+Really cool grandiose designs
+Very cool vast ideas compacted in entertaining manner

#CONS
-Some EXTREMELY infuriating dumb plot points
-Not really fond of that extremely war patriotism filled brainwashed world moral compass people have there
-Some unpleasant “freedom” characters
? The “condensed” form of logistics/politics/background lore might be off-putting for people who highly focus on story element. (as certain things feel skipped over or fast forwarded, which I personally loved as didn’t really give a shit about those elements, important parts were presented, at least felt so)

##Review (comments/longer ver):
*Story
Man, I have such mixed feelings when it comes to story itself and storytelling. So, I’ll start what I considered good.

The good part would be probably the whole grandiose element. It had drama, romance, tragedy, warfare, strategy, politics, fantasy and fairly odd twists. The whole story felt like really odd theatrics… from the whole first character encounter journey to the whole brainwashed patriotic war filled world to the weddings and plot twists. It’s type of story that could probably be dragged for hundreds of episodes, but here what I loved about it. I feel like as it was really “condensed” a lot of important bits were presented whereas lot of activities and events that most likely would have happened at the same time in the story were skipped over, fast forwarded and so on, but somehow in a really fitting manner. Whenever there was a moment where I felt as something got “transitioned over” It simply felt as if “okay, in a nutshell, they succeeded/failed in that. That’s good enough for me. I don’t need the details, nor cared about then.” Which is cool, as I mostly cared about main characters and key character events.

Of course, such grandiose stories I cannot ever fully 100% follow as there are way too many names. (characters, countries, factions etc…) but what manners that what was presented was mostly quite enjoyable.

The whole story had fairly weird relation between magic, nobles and common folk. And the whole world and story linking between them already itself would be whole paragraph itself. Let alone specific factions, creatures and plot twists which would arise its topics which I simply can’t be bothered with.

Now…. My main complains. There was a specific plot point which I absolutely got infuriated with. It was so unnecessary. Political marriages already piss me off, let alone that… seriously. I would rather sacrifice a universe…. Than what was done. Such a dumb and pointless self-imposed responsibility.

Also, since the whole world lives in constant warfare…. Their whole moral compass is rather twisted in both patriotic and nobles/commoners manners. Which I also find rather idiotic and never been fond of. Which makes the world in this anime rather twisted. Thus, a lot of story decisions made seem “normal” there made me feel simply “like what?”

Other than that, … I did enjoy the gradual plot twists and the whole constant tactical approach of Anime itself. Although story does drop few nukes on you and the finale itself is quite a thing…

*Character
Main character himself is the oddest main character I’ve seen in a long time. He is a generic good doer which itself I don’t see a problem in. But his combat approach and occasional strong decisions and his charismatic roles are such an odd balance. I don’t consider him bad nor good character…. But rather than being “dull & generic” he felt more of “odd”.

But his partner, our female lead. Had quite a charming personality. In a sense she was the brains of the whole story. And I did enjoy their relationship progression overall as well a lot. Although, my only question is why she never changed her outfit still questions me. Considering once she changed her master, she didn’t need to wear it anymore and she don’t she didn’t like it at first.

As for rest of the characters…. There a lot of them. Some are simply and enjoyable, some are questionable in various manners. (whenever their alignment, decisions, pointless self-imposed rules and dumb “aristocrats” culture things…). Some characters are pretty unlikeable…. Some do weird stuff that I don’t really agree with nor like much… but aren’t really a bad as characters nor people. And a lot of characters exist in “game of thrones” manner, meaning that they simply exist to be hated and where you hope they get killed off due to what they cause.

But in the end… there are plenty of base stereotypes with some of them having more background and depth to them and some less… well it’s grandiose political drama so that is to be expected that characters that you can simply “like” are rare. Cast is large yet fairly good I would say, plenty to love and hate. Plenty of growth and development of various characters and plenty of cannon fodder.

Simply some of the for sake of drama, tragedy. Character decisions were extremely infuriating and unnecessary. Looking at you Marianne… that was one of rare Anime where I got so angry at a character that I literally punched wall and stopped watching this Anime for few weeks and finished 5 different other Anime before finishing Grancrest….

*Art & Sound
First things first. I must say. The magic design, the crests concept and designs are absolutely something I adore in fantasy settings. Whenever it’s Japanese rune type magic in games or Anime or Western crest/symbol style stuff magic related stuff are my jam. And this world, did amazing at it.

Art quality itself isn’t anything too special. But designs were superb and there were some amazingly well Animated moments.

There were quite few soundtracks that had their charm. There were few peaceful tracks I noticed and liked a lot and some odd tension tracks I enjoyed a lot. But most of the OST was rather average I would say.

#Enjoyment & Overall
AS WHOLE….. I consider it good Anime. Probably compacted a lot from light novel, but I personally felt that most of the story I could keep track on and important bits were well delivered. Most importantly the fun parts of action and drama had well delivered and impactful meaning. Although even though around the end everything went somewhat every “grand scale bizarre” when it came to bigger powers and plot reveals.

If you want more detailed lore you will have to read light novel. I honestly, didn’t care that much about side factions lore or mumbo jumbo. I simply wanted to watch grandiose fantasy and wanted the story related to main events.
##Total Score 7/10

##Review info
Reviewing Info: Personal opinion/feelings >> objective/critical value. More info on my site.
Review layout: WP non-H
Review type: Anime

##Review (short ver):
*In a nutshell: Ojou-sama get’s somewhat reverse bullied into lesbian submission?

#PROS
+Cute “bully” type yuri romance
... +gradual yuri acceptance
+Otome game world plot rejection (sod off pretty boys)
+I approve that degen FMC

#CONS
-Not really fond of bunch of aristocratic self-righteous pricks stereotypes
-Magic fights/design is really boony (I know it’s not focus at all.. but damn… It was so basic)

#Review (comments/longer ver):
*Story
Pretty fun isekai concept, it became a running trend at some point but nevertheless pretty fun. Otome isekais I mean. This time we get lesbian office woman getting stuck into otome game, but instead of hunting for her prince charming in her favorite game. She hunts for her favorite main villainess. Anime mostly prevails at fun character dynamic between main characters. The degenerate overly attached female lead who gets off by any sort of attention by villainess and the villainess who is not sure how to react to main lead reactions. Thus, creating that cute dynamic where the bullied girl reactions somehow end up bullying the bully. While that is the main focus, the Anime itself has some sort of running background story as well that runs alongside the „otome game“ of the world. Although, some events do happen in the Anime. Creating few rather important events that affect the villainess, but most important events seem will happen later on in the story for what sequel will be required.

Also… probably Important bit… that I personally didn’t care and forgot for most part. Since main lead character is also „protagonist“ of that „otome game world“ … she obviously has to deal with the approaching harem of pretty boys. Meaning… deny their approaches etc… because well. Obviously, she has eyes only for villainess. But as told… it somehow becomes very irrelevant… To a point I ask myself „kinda random flex to make it plot theme? “

But anyhow… the story itself is probably pretty average I would say… but what made this Anime amazing was simply the lovable character interactions which seemed like main focus,

*Character
Main lead character is essentially lesbian degenerate game who is really into game world chicks. So, getting reincarnated into game world where her waifu is dream come true. Although she still has some moral compass to not use game knowledge to tame her love interest and some other self-imposed rules that causes her self-grief and pain. Thus, what else to do that everything to make the love interest happy and hide behind personality of goofy jester.
The love interest is self-righteous aristocrat who pain in the arse personality with harsh and annoying words thinking herself the best. That is the façade she decided to grow up and stay with to show herself being strong willed and from prestigious family…

That’s the characters theme the Anime rolls with. It starts cute and fun, mostly being silly not-serious romcom whilst over time starting to roll over to more serious drama by slowly unveiling true feelings and thoughts of main characters and how they deal with their issues and personalities. In that regard rather than character growth, it’s more of self-realization and acceptance journey, which honestly was cute and fun to watch.

Rest of side characters honestly… I found that they sucked for the most balls. Somewhat low-tier otome game stereotypes. Lot of obnoxious aristocratic types. Overly courteous, overly self-righteous, overly overzealous overly “prince charming” types etc… In lot of Otome type of Anime they are usually done in more smoother manner… and probably I guess more depth? But since this is light-hearted slapstick comedy otome-esque… thus making those stereotypes rather bland… it made those same characters also rather boring and tedious.

But anyhow…. Overall I did enjoy a lot main characters interactions and their progress and growth and changes in relationship over course of series.

#Art & Sound
Visuals are vivid and pleasant to look at. Style and quality are for most part pretty good with few noticeable odd quality drops or oddities. Music/OST for the most part was as well pleasant and fitting, but nothing too special or worthwhile.

*Enjoyment & Overall
As whole what made this Anime a great enjoyment for me was rather adorable character interactions that blossomed into rather cute romance in a sense. Whilst the story was somewhat average and the magic presentation sucked balls and the side characters I didn’t like. The vibrant visual presentation and simply joy to look and listen to main character bickering and simply episodic activities, made it a lot of fun and relaxing enjoyment. Especially with that self-realization drama and unveiling of feelings.

##Total Score 8/10

##Review info
Reviewing Info: In nutshell. Personal feelings/opinion >>> "objective/critical" value. More explained on my site.
Review layout: WP non-H
Review type: Anime

##Review (short ver):
*In a nutshell: Insomniacs get busted, defend their sleep spot and fall in love.

#PROS
+Fairly believable love story
... +Sweet and gradual romance
+Mostly likeable characters
+Lovable interactions and moments
+Somewhat relatable insomnia moments and thoughts

#CONS
-Sadly as per usual with romance genre, ends at early stages
-Very “weak” insomnia approach

##Review (comments/longer ver):
#Story
Considering romance is one of my all-time favorite genre especially pure romance. I found this fairly enjoyable and sweet in storytelling. It didn’t feel as dreamlike and felt more grounded to reality when it came to both character interactions, storytelling, drama and characters background and stuff they personally went though. Concept itself was rather simple, we get 2 characters that have issues sleeping during night and thus the issues that comes with that during daytime, health and overall, in life to some extent. And premise is about those 2 characters meeting and protecting their little comfort zone that somewhat gets out of hand. As the story revolves around their activities of astrology club, then it goes pretty good match with inability to sleep through night. Anyhow, their daily lives activities were presented quite fun, enjoyable with some drama to it whilst the whole time progressing the gradual obvious romance development. In somewhat very natural yet satisfying course without being overly “dramatized”.

Basically… can’t really complain when it came to slice of life romance story telling. It’s pretty “normal” but done in a really good way.

#Character
Well, what to say. Main male lead is a bit grumpy easily depressed fella who in the end gets stuff done who needed as he doesn’t really have much of a life thus easy to focus on school bullshittery. Female lead is overly bubbly and cheerful girl who has bad habit of hiding her problems inside. Yet both of them are kind and caring of people, especially those who are close to them. That would sum up our lead characters.

Other than that their development course and character dynamics are in my personal opinion as always fitting. Like always with romance or character dynamics I find it good match to have pessimistic person to have a partner that brightens their day and drags them around. As by the end those dynamics work in great balance, stability and each other’s support. And in this Anime, it worked quite a charm as well. Both sides got their support when needed and both grew on their own way.

Supporting cast had also quite various personalities whereas I liked most of them. Most of them had fairly unique traits with few of them having traditional stereotypes. Making great mix of side characters.

#Art & Sound
Scenic art and music were great. Character design and overall art quality wasn’t anything too special nor bad. Not much else to add.

#Enjoyment & Overall
I mean, what else to add. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot. It was sweet yet oddly “real but still PURE” romance, somewhat different feel of romance from usual “ideal” romance I’m used to watch from the distance, dreaming of chuckle. But in the end, it was great.
Probably only personal thing I could add was as someone who also has problems sleeping pretty much whole life… but well not really directly only during nights but overall. A lot of sleepless nights, restless nights, staring at ceiling nights, working shifts sleepless, spending most days awake grumpy, tired, attempting to rest eyes at work/school when awake throughout life, sleepless headaches, muscle pains, nausea etc…. I guess it was a bit interesting to see Anime in that related content. But yeah, don’t really have anything dreamy like them. I just power through or chug sleeping pills xD

In this Anime it seemed like they didn’t sleep at night, did night activities having fun. Doing day activty stuff whilst somehow managing doing quick power naps throughout the day… wish I could have such superpower.
#Total Score 8/10

NOTE: S1 & S2 review as whole.

Reviewing Info: In a nutshell. Short personal thoughts on Anime/manga, heavy weight on personal feelings with minor objective valuations. More explained how I rate on my site.
Review layout: WP non-H
Review type: Anime
Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout.

#Review (short ver):
*In a nutshell: Story of lonely Shogi player being mellowed and saved from dark vortex of himself.

... #PROS
+Absolutely superb bittersweet drama
+Superb inner monologues around themes of loneliness and depression
+Great heart warming drama
+Beautiful art presentation
+Touches some fairly great subject for drama
+Shogi made at least dramatized and interesting to watch

#CONS
-Honestly… nerdy Shogi aspect wasn’t really my cup of tea… but at least was made fairly entertaining
-Man….. I somewhat wished for romance
-Just my personal issue.. but somewhat hoped to see more of Season 1 character darker mindset…. before him being mellowed and saved by such heartwarming and fantasy like…. environment…

#Review (comments/longer ver):
*Story
To avoid any particular spoilers. In a nutshell story takes likeable approach with bittersweet drama. It presents you with locked-in character with plenty of issues that drowns itself into game of Shogi, which story revolves around. As story goes on, slowly main character past, family issues, his personal issues and drama starts to unfold giving you this unpleasant drowning feeling. Which already is something really I personally like and can relate to a fair bit.. But the way story is presented, how impactful and such is done quite well. Anyhow, that is the premise and that start of how story unfolds with the bitter part. But over time story will start giving you droplets of sweetness, how the world, environment, people around the main character essentially in unlikely fantasy like manner start helping him out of that drowning shell.

Anyhow…. story essentially juggles between such bad emotions and giving at the same time cozy feeling of warmth. Creating such very longing and fantasy like “wouldn’t that be nice” type of setting.

That was the whole setting, drama part of the storytelling. Let’s not forget the second main aspect of the story. Shogi a.k.a Japanese Chess. I personally don’t really care much about it but, story revolves around Shogi tournaments, characters, growth and such. Here only part that matters that, there is progression. There are fairly interesting characters and Shogi is dramatized and made entertaining, because Anime can do any “sport” genre entertaining.

*Character
Well, since it’s drama story and character section go hand to hand so as mentioned before bittersweetness is this Anime main charm. We have main character who struggles with depression and solitude and has to deal with bunch of other issues whilst drowning himself into Shogi matches.

And the 2nd biggest part of main cast would be the sisters trio he meets. Essentially clumps of happiness and warmth that obviously have their own set of problems. But their encounter with main character is the spark of things to come and how the main character essentially gets “saved”.

There are a lot of other more interesting characters that play part in main characters past, growth and such. But in the end it’s slice of life drama, talking about those things would be too much of a spoiler.

Long story short. Over the course of 2 seasons, I consider the the whole character growth, past, encounters and such were pretty well done. There are plenty of moments where I felt for the main character and there were unreal amount of moments where I felt emotional for his encounters and environment where I simply thought “….man… wouldn’t that be nice” or something along the line.

But overall… felt glad for the main character and those around him. Wish for another season.

*Art & Sound
First things first. Animated SHAFT . So artistic presentation is absolute bliss to look at. Very vivid, well delivered and emotional moments have powerful impact. Scenes are high quality and overall everything was well brought to front that mattered whilst all the backgrounds were pleasant to see as well.

As for music / soundtracks. There were lot of pretty soundtracks that were quite pleasant to listen to. Well delivered in most scenes with proper emotional impact.

So yeah, overall when it comes to Art, Animation and sound part of this Anime. It was superb. Pretty cozy style, great animation, superb delivery. Nothing to complain about. Enjoyed it a lot.

*Enjoyment & Overall
I probably would have rated this Anime much higher if it would have hit those next 3 criteria. 1. Maybe less shogi mumbo jumbo 2. Hoped for some romance… 3. Somewhat hoped to see/hear more of season 1 earlier part MC monologues where he had darker mindset…. as it was somewhat relaxing and more relatable.

But overall.. I found it still amazing Anime, like with “honey & clover” which is made by same author. While honey & clover had that bittersweet feeling related to various romance couple dramas. This Anime had that bittersweetness mostly revolving around to inner issues, family drama and social dramas. But how Author suddenly decided to go with Shogi, is beyond me.

In the end….. if you are someone who can enjoy that bittersweet type of story telling. Someone who doesn’t mind getting edged by depression with sparkles of warmth & happiness then this is amazing Anime. Great characters, great presentation and especially great combination of emotional deliverance. Having constantly told in storybook manner some sad, dark stuff while at the same time being cozied up by warm characters and environment.

#Total Score 8/10

##NOTE: THIS IS WHOLE FRANCHISE REVIEW (can’t be bothered to review them separate)##

#Review info
Reviewing Info: How I rate/review stuff is explained HERE
Review layout: WP non-H
Review type: Anime
Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout.

#Review (short ver):
*In a nutshell: Sometimes, magical girls life ain’t so easy and cute.
... #PROS
+Pretty interesting story concept
+Grandiose magical girl fights
+Epic soundtrack
+Cute girls doing cute stuff is very cute.
+Very likeable characters with solid variation of stereotypes
+Quite satisfying way to close things up for the change of the usual

#CONS
-Story points, where you ask “but why even that was done, if that was conclusion?”
-A bit weird timeline flex with presentation
-Very strong tearjerker factor just for sakes of it
-Yo, where is Yuuki X Tougou yuri end?

#Review (comments/longer ver):
#Story
The story…hmm to put it shortly the good is that the world setting and the concept of story is amazing and cruel. The world is built around civilization being shattered, human panic, stuff being hidden and gods playing role. And per usual, religion being a cu**. Each season/story arc have it’s issues but few things apply to every story for the whole franchise. But in a nutshell. There are invaders, there is a Holy Tree that protects the world, there is religion called Taisha. Taisha has somehow Tree knowledge to empower the Tree to keep protecting world.

The “calm” of the franchise. And the “storm” of the franchise.

Lets talk about the “calm”. Essentially we get amazing slice of life of cute girls doing cute stuff. Mostly playing heroes of daily commute activities. Helping neighborhood. With moeblob era of remind me of K-on times. Very cute interactions and progression. Although what is done well, whilst at times (well, only for the movies at least felt so) feels too much of slow burner was the whole “calm” part being for too long. Plenty of slow presentation of girls living daily life , doing various activities.

Now to the “storm”. Oh boy, and I’m not talking about the action here as of yet. I mean the drama, the “Taisha/religion goup” reveals, twists being unveiled and messed around throughout the franchise is a trainwreck. And I mean not in a sense “it’s absolute garbage” but I mean in sense of “why the hell they have to toss so much hell on those girls”. After the whole moeblob episodes when the damn shit starts to get real, it hits hard. Things get dark fast and powerful.

The only issues I had would be season specific which I will shortly mention next. But as finishing touch for the whole franchise story aspect I will mention that much. Overall the story had great dark premise that was interesting, tragic, dramatic and powerful. There is no doubt in that. Regardless of it’s flaws in story downsides and questionable choices it was still a rather good storytelling when it comes to “tragic magical girls” type of story.

Season 1, the main squad shenanigans.
To put it simply the main issue I had here without spoiling anything. I think “price” value lost somewhat it’s point with how they decided to go with the story.
Which yes, is nice and all and required later on. But when I watched it my honest reaction was “but….eh…..why?”

Season 2, the prequel
Man….. I watched the movie versions. And my main complaint for this movie was the slower burner part of the first two movies I think? The slice-of-life part felt especially slow in these movies. That’s my only complaint here. Other than that…. ;_;

Season 3, the sequel
Probably was the strongest season for me, didn’t really have much of complaint or than the fact of getting over of season 1 finale self question. Couldn’t accept it still for few episodes. Then I didn’t have the emotional capacity to worry about that anymore.

Season 4, the sequel different point of view and the finale.
Okay…. that was a bloody weird to watch especially since I was binge watching everything In a row. So suddenly I’m re-watching season 3 just from a different characters viewpoint. Obviously new characters, new plot gets revealed new activities. But it was simply such a weird thing to experience. Overall what was revealed were interesting plot points that did explain few extra bits but more than anything it generated few more questions and more hatred towards Taisha and the Tree.

The finale itself, without spoiling. It’s not much. It’s aftermath of everything for a bit. That gives a glimpse into future. I personally think it was fitting enough, but would have liked a bit longer section of that part.

#Character
First of all, great stereotypes. Lot of cute characters with amazing quirks. Character interactions are LOT OF FUN and lovable. Dialogues, them messing with each other is entertaining and funny. Character drama, theatrics is POWERFUL, kept me quite most of the time on the edge, stressed and quite depressed and furious about the damn Tree and Taisha. Felt bad for the girls. The character growth themselves is somewhat debatable, they had their moments of realization, but mostly it was the magical girl emotions route. By that I mean girls thinking something alongside of “gotta get over it, hold that pain inside me, get stronger, not time to worry, not to hurt them” etc…. whilst did their characters actually ever grow in the series? I’d say somewhat, but mostly I’d say rather not, most of the character changes came from plot changes after seasons changes that simply changed their roles on what each character does, whilst personality’wise they remained the same. Only thing changed is their position in “society” I guess. Even in the whole grand finale.

That I think applies for the both main girls and the prequel story girls. As for the 4th season alternate point of view girls. Honestly, they felt too much of a side-characters to either grow into them or care about them. Although as characters they were okay, I personally found that didn’t have as much weight nor charm in their character as main story characters or prequel story characters.

#Art & Sound
Simple moeblob design with amazing magical girl battle sequences. Whilst the animation isn’t the most impressive it was still great enough. The soundtrack I loved, lot of great OST that I even listened separate on youtube.

#Enjoyment & Overall
Well, Madoka styled magical girls Anime, where animation style and visual design is less stylish and unique but honestly. The content was better for me. Also let me get this out. Fuck that Tree and fuck Taisha. Heroes are creatures who are obviously also mentally deranged, self-gratification from “serving the world-every living creature” without bias, entertaining to watch, but this story was prime example where just, just don’t do it. It’s not worth it. Let the world burn. Just enjoy your time with your close friends instead.

Gut wrenching franchise with amazing music and intriguing world and story. But yeah, poor girls. Probably would have something more to write and mention about, rant about. But that should sum it up as spoiler free as I can.

#Total Score 7/10

#Review info
Reviewing Info: In a nutshell personal enjoyment > objective value. More explained on my site.
Review layout: WP non-H
Review type: Anime
Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout.

#Review (short ver):
*In a nutshell: Social deject meets hungry Angel

#PROS
... +Extremely sweet interactions between characters
+Lovable and suiting character dynamics
+Side characters fit the bill of character surroundings and lifestyles
+Very pleasant art style
+Fitting yet not too dominant OST
+Slow subtle yet fitting progression between characters

#CONS
*man…. I loved every second of this show can’t think of any con. Both content wise and artistic presentation wise… and personal attachment wise….

##Review (comments/longer ver):
#Story
What can I say… it’s a romcom with lot of sweet romrom aspect. Main shine of the show was presenting lot of sweet moments between main characters without their love life getting any confirmation officially (inbetween them). Essentially it’s extremely sweet romantic situations about characters at first self-discovering their interest in love, accepting it, gathering courage slowly for it, whilst eventually whole world sees it yet characters themselves are too stubborn too affirm it inbetween. BUT, the way this anime presents it is absolutely sweet and fitting and lovable. We do get development, just in different manner than usual romance form in Anime. In uprising pure manner even though characters do have realistic naughty side to them. So as far as story goes, the concept is rather simple, but the way it’s presented and conveyed to the viewer. Well, to me personally it was what I expect from romance genre. It was sweet, cute, beautiful and simply adoring to watch.

So if you expect romance Anime where you get to see in 1 season progressive relationship stages, don’t. It’s not “slow paced” it simply has different approach and it does it well. At least so it felt when compared to the usual romcoms that are actually “slow paced” or don’t go anywhere. But ey… even those I consider are much better than some “modern take romance anime” that take the western approach. (the day 2 bedding, then switch like socks)

But long story short. Story excels at presenting sweet sequences between main lead characters with great world around them that feeds their situations for even better moments, whilst slowly developing relationship between the leads.

#Character
A lot I mentioned in story aspect, story and character go hand to hand in romance genre. But what I can add separate here are main characters themselves for starters.

Male lead is “edgy” social reject in a sense with piece of degeneracy. Well, mostly self-implemented though. Very socially awkward, mostly in own bubble, with odd interests and some issues. Although, funnily enough not bullied. Relatable character, but that I will rant a bit later on about as it’s off topic.

Female lead lives in opposite world of social life. Extroverted beautiful model with outgoing lifestyle and bunch of girlfriends, with some cute quirks. Yet, morally strong when it comes to love & relationships.

And that is second Anime with SIMILAR character dynamics that I enjoyed quite a alot. (dress up darling was similar in a sense). What makes that dynamic great in my personal opinion is that for a person who is mostly alone with no social life with “closed heart” with it’s own closed bubble hobbies and small world. Having that “true love” love interest of opposite spectrum in such manner is essentially “Life turning” as that character brings that sunshine into characters world. Drags around to places where usually otherwise that character wouldn’t go and so on. And with such dynamic as long the couple is together, basically any activity together is joyful and longing to watch. And this Anime did splendid job at that. Felt that almost every interaction did what it suppose to do.

Also side characters were also fitting entertainment. From male lead side we essentially had some degenerate filler characters who had purpose of triggering main character because of their sexual remarks of female lead and guilty tripping main character. Pseudo bullying, making use of being socially corner due to having noone to back you up and so on. From female lead we had the “gal” types with bunch of girl talks to pressurize main lead occasionally or create situations between both of them. And various other side characters that had great roles for creation of various situations for main character dynamics.

Now…. whilst we didn’t have the traditional romance development of reached in 12 episodes more intimate relationship stages, we did get obvious progression between main characters and somehow what I found also so light hearted about this Anime is how understand the rest were around them. So how the story will bloom 2nd season and from there on onward, is something that I’m waiting.

#Art & Sound
Animation is pretty, art is nice enough. Emotions were amazingly conveyed in animation. OST felt fitting, not too dominant nor too transient. Great opening by Yorushika, nothing else to add. Very pleasant overall.

#Enjoyment & Overall
Pretty much most of stuff I conveyed in my story and character paragraph. It’s very lighthearted and sweet romance Anime that is filled of cute moments, discovering feeling of love and slow and progressive blossoming towards their eventual but most definite future. Especially good if you can relate a bit being a bit dark person with socially awkward or isolated life.

You can STOP READING here, here comes a bit of my extra ranting why I had so much extra personal enjoyment value in this Anime. Well, probably like I already mentioned about character dynamics. On paper and ideally I think the idea is beautiful that if personally you are dark mindset person, with minimal social life, odd hobbies and a bit of degen who doesn’t go anywhere and can’t nor knows how properly socialize ends up meeting and falling in love with someone of opposite spectrum and if you are truly lucky enough and that other person also sees something in you and falls for you. Then pretty much 100% earlier stages that person will be the one will be assertive, talk to you, get close to you, drag you around, melt you with sweetness, bring that “sunlight” in your life, “open you” and that way you over time more freely and awkwardly start expressing yourself towards her. That’s why I find this type character dynamic really REALLY damn sweet and adoring. It’s simply cute and something to long for. It’s amazing fiction and fantasy that simply never would happen. But eh…. one of the reasons why romance genre is one of my favorite genre in Anime since childhood.

#Total Score 10/10 +Favorited

#Review info

Reviewing Info: In a nutshell. Personal ENJOYMENT plays much bigger value than "objective" view. But more explained on my page through my profile.

Review layout: Unformatted hopefully friendly MAL format

Review type: Anime

Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout.

... #Review (short ver):

In a nutshell: Normie kind dense harem protag surrounded by degen loving girls, hunt for Cinderella that lost her panties.

+PROS

+Fun comedy aspect, MC has tough role of being the normie straight laced guy.
+Harem females have all some sort of kink yet are loyal girls
+Fanservice had great balance of service and being rather tame with that artstyle
+Pleasant OST & animation style
+Nevertheless lovable characters
+ Easy to digest, straightforward romcom with simple story & fun character stereotypes with fun twists

-CONS

-Weren't too happy how things were concluded, but that is usual with 1 season romcoms
-Wish for more romance progression

Review (comments/longer ver):

#Story

Honestly, somewhat unique take to romcoms from usual format. It's essentially romcom but the main twist is that rather the usual school life main guy being the all liked, kind, helping character surrounded by various stereotype girls who fall in love with main guy and surrounded drama and blossoming romance of that. Instead we get the only somewhat "Normal/normie" guy in the cast who is the main character, who still has the usual romcom MC traits, but instead the twist comes with the gathering love interests. All the girls in the story have some sort of perverted twist to them, in this case all of them have some sort of fetish or another. Which honestly, I found to be a really great twist. Because in the end, everyone has some sort of kink in them, as long sexual interest exists in our brain chemistry, so does the deviancy exist. ANYHOW.

The premise is great, presentation is for the most part quite enjoyable. It's still tame, straight-laced easy to digest romcom. You get daily occurrences with rather simple to follow story, with few twists there and then with spice of drama, romance and such. And for me I enjoyed the comedy aspect, loved the main character struggles being the normie in the group, was lots of fun.

Probably main issue with storytelling itself, well the usual with one season romcoms sadly. I weren't particularly fan of how romance element got wrapped up, it's the usual "read the LN, VN or Manga to know if anyone actually progresses into romantic relationship etc...". Thankfully some things got wrapped up, but with romance genre main joy is always seeing couple form and seeing their cute and loving relationship daily occurrences etc...

#Character

Well, partially I mentioned the character element in the "story" paragraph. But as I mentioned I loved the idea in ecchi romcom that all the characters had some sort of fetish, without the show being actual hentai. In romance it can be blossoming, funny and cute, silly which it was. And since with romance genre you know they choose one character they are loyal & loving to.

Won't go into characters too much to avoid spoilers. But in a nutshell we got various stereotypes of spectrum consisting of older sister types, cute small loud ones, tomboys, cute small quiet ones, cute sister, the get along best friend and all of them with their own twist. So a bit of everything.

And main fun of such cast is having the "normal/normie main character" who has to juggle inbetween of all those other characters whose "fetishes" he ends up discovering. And man.... him reacting and dealing with those characters was so much entertainment.

Other than that, there are few moments of character "self-realizations" that mainly affect their cute factor, not sure how much their actual character growth. Only few actual character "plot points" that affect character acting or direction of story/growth. (well... I think in this short romcom probably only one plot point that actually will affect the story)

#Art & Sound

Colorful and simple animation style, yet very pretty and pleasant. There isn't much else to add. I liked it. And as for music/OST, I noticed it for the most part and was pleasant enough which means It was okay. Wasn't particularly amazing nor bad.

#Enjoyment & Overall

Anyhow.... I personally enjoyed this romcom a lot. If there would been more romance to it and a bit better conclusion and progress into relationships I would have rated it even higher. But overall I found it funny, straightforward and it's twist made it a bit more interesting to watch.

But yes, don't expect too much depth or complexity out of this Anime. It's meant to be simple, straightforward romcom with ecchi element to it. If that's not your thing, you will not enjoy it.

#Total Score 8/10

Review (short ver):
In a nutshell: Socially awkward lesbo idiot stalks wizard to magical world
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PROS
+Cute magical girls
+Storybooks magic designs
+Strong side still being cute girls doing cute stuff
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CONS
-Story feels fairly weak
... -Rest of the most part feels meh
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Review (comments/longer ver):
-Story
The “serious” part of the story felt the most moronic part somehow. Half of the time the “round table” hags purpose and what they were doing felt just pointless and questionable, the “big villain” purpose and existence was the same. Most plot elements felt like “premises/themes” for general gist/idea but without actual story. So as far as serious plot points went, they were pretty bad.

But the cute girls doing cute stuff, their school life drama and character interactions story telling and such was pretty pleasant and enjoyable.

What I did like a lot was how they decided to go with magic designs. Magic powers are essentially designed, idea/concept wise after various story books. “Cinderella, little red riding hood, match girl” etc…. Various culture story books essentially. Which as concept was pretty neat.

-Character
I mean we have plenty of cute stereotypes, but I were not particularly big fan of the main character. Didn’t mind her social awkwardness and closeted yuri aspect. But damn, she was such a damn idiot. We had a side kicks idiots as well, which seems to be running theme. But overall there are plenty of cute characters but sadly not all of them get enough screen time. While the “Japan” school characters get the main focus and for the most part enough time to grow into them, other characters are pretty much dice roll.

Overall… once okay as whole the “character” side was okay. Nothing too amazing nor would say particularly bad.
-Art & Sound
Ending video nice I guess. But yeah, Animation, music, OST etc… was okay I guess. For the genre and content we got it was fitting enough. Nothing too impressive.

-Enjoyment & Overall
In the end I did enjoy it for the most part. Although the serious part of the story was quite iffy and lacking and everything else felt fairly average, but as whole it had it’s own charm which made it enjoyable cute magical girls doing cute stuff with cool magic type of Anime. And I have a habit rating Anime a bit higher usually people do. Would I recommend it? Eh… I’m neutral on it, like that type of genres and content, watch it, otherwise, find something better.
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Total Score 6/10
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Review info

Reviewing Info: How I rate/review stuff is explained on my site. In a nutshell, my personal opinion outweighs "objective" value
Review layout: Unformatted hopefully MAL friendly non-H
Review type: Anime
Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout.

Review (short ver):
In a nutshell: I Am NoVIcE ALcheMIST
PROS
+Very relaxing and cute
+Cute girls doing cute stuff and Alchemy combination done right
+surprisingly good alchemy genre, if it remembers that part
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CONS
-wish they wouldn’t forget being alchemy genre at times
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... Review (comments/longer ver):
Story

I mean, there isn’t much to really talk about story. We have a premise, where young girl had a situation in a life, had a lucky encounter, had strong innate ability and then everything got served on a silver plate. We pretty much got a cute girl managing a alchemy store on a country side with cute girls, creating cool stuff with sometimes cool logic and we have the whole alchemy fiasco. Material gathering, magic infusion, making stuff and so on. Whilst just chilling around, talking, doing nothing and occasionally having few challenges. I mean it’s nothing serious, it’s just relaxing, fun and enjoyable to watch.
Only gripe I have is that although the alchemy aspect itself is pretty fun when they actually focus on that, at some points it feels they kinda forget about the alchemy aspect and get lazy about it. But when they actually show early on and at some later episodes the alchemy element, it’s actually pretty fun. Gets me into mood to play one of atelier games.

Character

We have cute and cheery cast, with few more mature side character stereotypes. But for the most part it’s a bright group of friends enjoying their daily lives at alchemy store. Growth is pretty much them getting closer and we learning a bit about their past and them growing a bit better managing their store and giving ideas to thrive better. What else do you need from this genre?

Art & Sound

As far as animation and art itself goes, nothing too special. Not bad nor amazingly good, it is just good enough for the genre and the contents of the show. Didn’t feel like it needed particularly “better” anything. But I did quite like the sound design. The choices for soundtrack, ambiance and music overall felt fitting and pleasant. The voice acting was also quite nice.

Enjoyment & Overall

All things considered, I pretty much binged it few evenings, felt relaxing and soothing to watch. So yeah, I enjoyed it a lot. If you like cute girls doing cute stuff, and them just messing around in a store, gathering ingredients, tossing stuff pot and creating occasionally some weird goods that helps village life and such and occasional potions and then simply mess around, then why not.

Total Score 8/10
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Review info
Reviewing Info: How I rate/review stuff is explained on my site. In a nutshell: My personal opinion has much heavier weight over "objectivity."
Review layout: Ugly non-formatted hopefully MAL friendly layout
Review type: Anime
Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout.

Review (short ver):
In a nutshell: Sussy idol stalking MC and more idols
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PROS
+A bit unique take on Idol genre with fun twist
+Music sequences aren't too dragged out
+Characters and their growth is fairly nicely paced and enjoyable
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CONS
-Music itself was pretty average
... -Usual issue with CGi dancing, stiffing issues.
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Review (comments/longer ver):
Story

It's been a while since I've watched any idol genre Anime. But long story short, I found this one rather enjoyable. While we had the usual idol activities in more condensed from, this Anime presented more drama focus regarding the main character and anime plot twist drama unfolding and problem solving pretty much. For the most part I found the dynamic growth and progress throughout the episodes pretty enjoyable. Not much else to say.

Character

As mentioned, anime revolves mostly around drama about main characters, but also we do have plenty of drama about the whole idol group squad. Nothing to serious, so no bloody cat fighting. Mostly their inner peace dramas, goals and ambitions and a bit of back story drama. Growth is straightforward and simple. We do also have fairly large variety of girls and stereotypes, so waifus for everyone. For the most part I did like most of the girls. So nothing really bad to say about them.

Art & Sound

Aside the average CGi implementation, I did like the clean designs and Animation quality. Voice acting was top notch, they did bring in some big names to the cast as well seems. As far as music goes for the idol genre, honestly, was pretty average in my opinion. Not really my cup of tea.

Enjoyment & Overall

Overall I did quite enjoy it. Loved the "twist" of the story and the whole dynamic of the characters was quite enjoyable experience about this whole idol fiasco. Did enjoy the whole drama aspect of the series and were mostly satisfies how they wrapped it up. An idol Anime that was carried by it's story twist, drama and growth. Funnily enough, an Idol anime where music was the weakest point for me. But eh... I haven't watched much if idol genre anyways.
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Total Score 7/10
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Review info
Reviewing Info: How I rate/review stuff is explained on my site (can be found on profile).
In a nutshell - my personal opinion has much heavier weight than novel length objectivity.
Review layout: UGLY DEFORMATTED FOR MAL, non-h
Review type: Anime
Note: Still testing review layouts. This line will be removed when I’m satisfied with the layout