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Story & Characters: Banished From The Hero's Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside Season 2 is back, continuing the tale that I thought wasn't able to keep going. With Red and Rit now fully invested in their life in Zoltan, they take on every day life like a quest - "what needs to happen today?" is the every day question. This is the story for most of the first half and I honestly wasn't really into it. The arcs that were presented to us didn't really feel like they were part of something bigger.

My sense ... of it all was to start to try and develop our last hero - Ruti. Now living in Zoltan, with help from Red, Rit and Tisse, Ruti seems to be taking a keen interest in trying to find out how she can live as not-the-hero. With such a shallow personality in the first season, the differences between then and now are like light and day. She's more into what she's doing, she has more of an ability to think on her own, and doesn't jump to violence right away. In a sense, I guess you can say that the first half did accomplish something, but doing so over such a long haul barely feels like enough reason to do it.

Red and Rit are mostly unchanged from the first season. The apothecary, and Zoltan in general, are much less of the focus on this season, so Red and Rit are mostly used to guide us through the story elements. They both take on a bigger role in the story in the back half of the season though, and mostly for the better. It's here that they focus more on Red's smarts, which is at least a little enjoyable, especially consider who he fights in the last episode. The romance bits in the story are not quite as evident than those found in the first season which is where it had some of its better plot points. There is some, and it was decently told.

With Ruti effectively out of the picture as a hero, Van takes up the mantle as the new one. His personalities mirror what Ruti was in the first season, though a little too similarly for my liking. His ideals stubbornly cling to him and figuring out what to do with him does feel like the objective of the back half. He clings to his Divine Blessing like a mother and child and it can get old. He is guided by Ljubo, Esta and Lavender. Ljubo was an addition I didn't mind. I actually like that they gave him more personality because they certainly had issues with this before. His love of wine and cigars made me chuckle on a few occasions. I wish they did more with Esta because she clearly has a strong sense of duty to try and guide an imperfect hero. Lavender has a very strange backstory, one of which I just couldn't attach myself to. Maybe her purpose is to push Van's older ideals, but would much of changed without her? Her interactions with Rit might be a redeeming quality, but that's about it.

The second half of the story, as I alluded to earlier, was much stronger than the first because now at least our Zoltan group have an objective. The pacing is pretty unsteady, as some episodes have far more to them than others, while the encounters between Van's part and Red's fared much better. Tisse and Yarandrala are a little more involved in the story as we carry along, but it sometimes does feel like the roster is a little too overcrowded.

The way in which they decide to leave the story off seems about right for what I expected. Not every adventure story needs to result in violence, and even if the action sequences here were much better than last season. It never got too silly like some of the scenes did last time around. The way forward doesn't seem super clear so I have a hard time seeing this get another season, but I've been surprised before. (Story: 6/10, Characters: 6/10)

Art: Studio Flad returns and they do a much more consistent job than they did the first time around. Quality never really crumbles, and the colouring and lighting remain mostly consistent. (7/10)

Sound: Like with last season, I wasn't terribly impressed by any of the tracks, but they are enough to get you by. Voice work was much stronger this time around, in part because I feel like Tia Ballard (Ruti) settles into her role better than in the first season. As someone who loves her work, I was pretty disappointed with how she acted as Ruti, so that's nice to see. Aaron Campbell (Red) and Jad Saxton (Tisse) still offer strong performances, while Dani Chambers (Rit) is someone you can never go wrong with. Macy Anne Johnson (Lavender) was probably my favourite though - where'd she pull this one from? I'm used to hearing her in more subtle, quiet roles. (8/10)

Overall: Banished From The Hero's Party, I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside Season 2 scores out roughly the same as the last season. It's strength lies in the back half, which is the opposite of last season, as the story around Van was stronger than anything else. I'm glad they built a little bit on top of Ruti after she is no longer the hero, and even if it's not the most interesting thing to listen to, they probably picked the right character to base the first half around. It's hard to judge what kind of audience this would appeal to because it doesn't do anything on an exceptional level. It's just another season, talking about Divine Blessings and Zoltan. (6/10)

Solo Leveling - the most hyped up series that I can recall in the last decade. It's got some good ideas, but it's certainly not perfect. Yet.

Story: Solo Leveling introduces to a world where portals spawn regularly and your goal is to clear each one. If those that enter are unsuccessful in killing the dungeon boss, the monster emerges from that portal and does damage to the real world. Hunters are those that clear those portals, and they wield an array of abilities - think of your garden variety MMO character. You have tanks, healers and DPS. It's all ... very familiar to any gamer. Before you take on the portals, each hunter is given a rank that gives you a rough idea of how strong that hunter is. Jin-Woo Sung is an E-Rank hunter, and is also classified as the weakest hunter of all mankind. Each portal is given a rank as well, which similarly gives a rough idea of how hard it is to clear. This gives the hunters a basic idea of which portals they should clear. Jin-Woo enters a portal with seven other hunters one day, but has no idea what he's gotten himself into.

The premise of the story is something that I'm really into. A lot of Isekai anime follow the basic premise of entering in a world, getting your gear, and killing monsters. Sword Art Online is one of the better ones at this. But Solo Leveling gives a bit of a different take on it. Instead, the portal to the other worlds are in the real world, and you must enter them temporarily, until you clear it. Fail, and creatures from that other world enter yours. This is probably the biggest strength in the story, in that it gives you a real reason to care about these portals. These portal bosses cause very real damage to the world in a quick fashion, even if hunters are ready to face them. Importantly, not every citizen has a rank. Meaning they are literally ordinary civilians. So you want them protected.

This series also puts in a good basis to support the portals. You can obtain crystals and other things, that sell for real money, and you use those as income, for you, as a hunter. Sure, I'd have liked to see this expanded upon on little, but you know your loot is worth something. Additionally, you can use all your hunter skills and items in the real world, as if you were in an Isekai series. They don't show this off quite as much, but it's there, adding to certain situations in the story.

The part where the series kind of crumbles is that fact that there's no real overarching storyline in this whole series. You're basically following around Jin-Woo, as his power grows and grows. This first season is about him, growing into his role, and unfortunately, that's kind of the story you have to listen to. It's not really deep, even if it has some better points along the way. We know why he has to get stronger, but we aren't sure what the endgame is.

The pacing had similar issues. This has been the downfall of the most recent Demon Slayer series - while story elements are told at an okay pace, fights and important encounters are drawn out for far too long. This points to some director issues in that I almost feel could be amended in future seasons if feedback is listened to. The fights are obviously the biggest draw to this series and they're done well, but the non-fighting parts shouldn't feel better paced than the fights. I do feel like there were some redundancies in the script too - the strict, fairly often, has Jin-Woo, explaining what he sees, but we also see that. With animation this solid, you could leave that for the audience to notice instead of repeating the same lines multiple times.

That being said, I really like where the story was going as we got to the end of the season. It does feel like they've passed on the major hurdles with Jin-Woo, and we can finally appreciate some of the bigger world issues. I haven't read the source material to know if it does get better, but I like where it's going. (6/10)

Characters: The biggest problem here? The lack of characters that we care about and are developed.

Jin-Woo is obviously our main guy, and the goal of this season feels like it's to tell us his tale. His mom has been in a-coma since the beginning of the series and his sister isn't a hunter. With no father to support them, Jin-Woo, an E-Rank hunter, is stuck trying to support not just the medical bills, but also day to day bills, such as rent. I like that they didn't get too messy with his character, so that's positive. As a whole, his story is told well enough, especially as we get to the end of the season, but he's really all there is in this season.

Joo-Hee Lee might be the next most significant character for this season, and she's a C-Rank healer. However, she is extremely sensitive, which is sort of related to some of her personal issues in the story. She's a solid enough character, but I didn't love where they left her story. It was promising, but I would have liked to see more. Jin-Ho Yoo enters the story fairly late, and I generally liked what he brought to the table. He comes from an extremely wealthy family and meets up with Jin-Woo, basically by luck. He purchased extremely high rated gear to get him by, and even though I don't sense any malice in his character, I don't feel like he brought enough to the table. Jin-Ah Sung is Jin-Woo's sister and she's mostly kinda just... there. She's not a hunter, so she feels mostly insignificant. Hae-In Cha has some brief appearances, but I'm not sure where she fits into the story yet.

Solo Leveling features guilds and they function mostly like any other MMO guild. Some of the leaders of their respective guilds include Jong-In Choi and Yoon-Ho Baek. Both display immense power in limited screen time, so I would have liked to see them in action more - though I understand why they haven't yet. Gun-Hee Go is the leader of the Hunters Association, which basically oversee all hunters and their interests. I'm not sure where he fits into the story quite yet, but his underlings, Jin-Chul Woo and Tae-Shik Kang are get small parts of the story, which were at least kind of interesting.

As a whole, there really isn't enough screen time for anyone aside Jin-Woo. We simply don't have reasons to care about a lot of the other characters, and that's pretty disappointing. (5/10)

Art: Here's the thing - at least Solo Leveling looks pretty. Animation in MMO-style anime have had fails in the past, but this probably isn't one of them. Fights are flashy and lighting in the dungeons is used effectively to create a strong atmosphere. I approve! (9/10)

Sound: The sound is where Solo Leveling shines above all else. Hiroyuki Sawano has done work on a lot of big names, and this type of series feels appropriate for him. This includes the OP, LEvel, insert song, Dark Aria v2 and the OST in general. Not to be outdone by the music, the voice direction is top notch, as to be expected of Caitlin Glass, the voice director. Aleks Le (Jin-Woo) really brings it, and he publicly states how much he loves this role. Dani Chambers (Joo-Hee), Justin Briner (Jin-Ho), Kent Williams (Gun-Hee) and Ian Sinclair (Jong-In) are more strong additions to this cast. Seriously, the list of names involved in this production is insane, and even bigger names like Austin Tindle, Matt Shipman and John Swasey are involved here. (10/10)

Overall: Solo Leveling has a lot of going for it, but there are major hurdles that need to be overcome in order for this thing to grow into the series that we were expecting. Pacing needs to be evened out a little, major story elements need to be introduced and expanded upon, and there needs to be more characters that we care about, involved in the story. I think we saw enough in the last few minutes that hint that something bigger could be coming, but we've seen that before and the same pacing issues exist. I'll check out the sequel when it comes out, for sure, but I hope they address the issues that this season had, first. (7/10)

I love A Sign of Affection and everything it stands for. There's a lot to like here. So let's talk about it!

Story & Characters: It's hard to talk about A Sign of Affection without mentioning Yuki Itose. She's now in college and hangs around her notetaker, Rin Fujishiro. Why does she need a notetaker? Because Yuki is deaf. Before you start to worry, no, this is not the same stark story that A Silent Voice tells. This is nothing like that. Yuki often spends her time on campus with Rin, or spend their free time hanging out ... with friends. One day, Yuki bumps into Itsuomi Nagi, who at first, has no idea about Yuki's lack of hearing. However, they go to the same campus for post-secondary school. Rin decides to ask Yuki to a bar one day so that she can meet up with Kyouya, someone she is madly crushing on. Who else happens to work there? Itsuomi. Both him and Yuki start to have feelings for each other and we get to watch as their worlds start to merge.

Yuki is exceptionally timid, almost to the point where you'd have a hard time believing she's a college student. She's so sweet and the world that unfolds with Itsuomi's inclusion becomes so large. It's crazy. I love seeing someone's first experience at love, but Yuki takes it to a whole other level. Itsuomi is constantly on the move, looking for a new place to travel to all over the planet. He takes a very blunt approach with his friends and really doesn't beat around the bush at all, which I enjoy for the character dynamics that he had.

Rin isn't anything particularly special, but is kind of necessary to tie everything together. That being said, her bond that she shares with Yuki is awesome - not something you'd always see with student and notetaker. Kyouya and Itsuomi, similarly, have a fantastic bond. It's witty, straight forward, and amusing, all at once. Oushi Ashioki has known Yuki since a very young age and clearly takes a more aggressive approach to how he communicates with people. This includes how he signs with Yuki. His attitude towards her was very welcome though, as it shows a different type of personality that the show would otherwise be lacking. Friends Shin and Emma have been friends with Itsuomi since high school. I liked them, and the goal of them was probably to add more of a different feel, but sometimes their inclusion fell kind of flat for me.

When you put everything together, this series really does create some magical moments. This is obviously headlined by Yuki, but other characters, as well as their interactions were really fun. With how many challenges Yuki has, it's great to see her approach to every one. You often forget that while she is capable, she needs some guidance to get there. Those challenges are also awesome to watch. It's a fresh take on the challenges of a college student, that while they are portrayed in other series, this adds more to it due to her lack of ability to hear.

Another strength is that it never really feels like an episode is ever wasted. There's a goal with basically every single one and many of them serve to grow our characters - either individually, or as a group. As a result, the pacing does feel very consistent. None of the situations are particularly dark, so if you're looking for a drama series, this probably isn't for you. You're watching this for the sweet moments and the times of character development, because that's where this series shines. (Story: 9/10, Characters: 9/10)

Art: The animation is very consistent throughout the runtime, and the usage of the screen for words - as Yuki has to talk with her texts very often - were about as well done as they could be. It does break up the flow a little bit when she suddenly needs to text, but it's a minor inconvenience at most. My assumption is that all the sign language is realistic, which does require a fair bit of work in the background to get shown right in animation. (9/10)

Sound: Something you really have to keep in mind is that since Yuki's deaf, and our main character, there isn't always a lot going on with your speakers. That's just kind of the nature of this series. And for me, that's just fine. You might have liked a few more tracks to round out the background sound, but again, we're splitting hairs here. Voice cast was strong, with a lot of names I'm really not familiar with. Lara Woodhull (Yuki) was exceptional and portraying Yuki's sheltered self, which I'm happy to hear. Reagan Murdock (Itsuomi) is a more different voice than I'm used to hearing, but I think he does a fine enough job. Rebecca Danae (Rin and Young Oushi) might be my second favourite, next to Woodhull, as she does a good job at showing us Rins ups and downs. (8/10)

Overall: A Sign of Affection is a must-watch for anyone romance series enjoyer, as long as you don't mind the less full audio - for obvious reasons. A different type of romance for its time for sure, this series is great for people who are familiar with the genre, and not. It does a lot of things right by its characters with a strong presentation to go with it. I can't recommend this enough. (9/10)

You did it Attack on Titan. And we're almost at the finish line.

Story: The hilariously named, Attack on Titan: Final Season Part 2, continues on with our heroes (?) having finally caught up to Eren, only for him to be continuing his own plan. With the battles between Eldia and Marley still fresh, Eren decides, basically on his own, what he's going to do. Leaving behind his friends Mikasa and Armin, Eren now has the backing of his half brother, Zeke, and the "Yaegerists" to make sure nothing gets in his way.

This series starts off with a band with titan battles unfolding ... one after the other. It's insane. It's hard to put into words how amazing this looks, but every fight makes sense and it doesn't fall into the trap of being needlessly drawn out, something many action series have struggled with in the past - I'm looking at you Naruto and Demon Slayer. After the relatively calmed down Part 1, I wasn't sure how they would follow this season up, especially with how much historical and political material got shoved into the story. It should be noted that your basic understanding of the political side doesn't have to be pristine. Even if you have a basic understanding of who is at war, and why, you're really set to go. Part 1 brings in a lot of terminology, and even if you can appreciate the little details, you probably shouldn't get lost in it if all you're here for is the action. Part 2 brings it all together again, and everything mostly makes sense there.

The final episode does throw you a little off, but I'm not really sure of a better place they could have put it. It's more story material that adds some details into the mix, but I wasn't the biggest fan of stalling the pacing at the end. They could, however, afford to get away with this due to the final chapters both being an hour long. (9/10)

Characters: We all know who our characters are - except who truly Eren is now. But we kind of have to shove that to the side until later for obvious reasons. Armin continues to be the straight-forward thinker, adding much needed depth to our story on small details that aren't always obvious. For someone who probably wasn't popular in the early days, he sure is a fine character now. Hange is around, but mostly in a supporting role. Her titan obsession feels like the days of the past, but she's still very firm in her beliefs in her team, and still smart.

Reiner has come down to earth since we last saw him, and I love the way in which they use his titan. My only real complaint is that it feels like his titan appears weaker than in days past. Maybe it's just because of the big power struggle and everyone else getting more proficient though. Jean and Connie are still really strong characters in my mind, sticking to characteristics we know and love them by. Falco gets a little more involved in the plot and I really like what they did with him. Time will tell where they take him later, but I like what I'm seeing. Pieck is someone I don't think much of, but not every Titan Shifter needs to have a big personality. Theo Magath fits into his role really nicely as well.

I still can't really buy into Gabi, or what they did with Mikasa. For Gabi, she really only feels like her purpose was to shoot Sasha and since then, her story really only is one that watched Falco. I don't get it. Mikasa used to be a strong, prideful character, but since the timeskip, she's become a shell of what she used to be. Her skills don't stick out anymore, she's an emotionless husk and doesn't say anything that adds to the plot. I loved her pre-timeskip, but I just don't know about her anymore.

A few other characters make significant returns to the scene such as Keith and Pixis, and even though their roles were minor, it's nice to see them back. Some others veer into spoiler territory, but it's always nice to see some stronger characters return to the scene. (8/10)

Art: MAPPA is a big name, and you can really their best work on display. It's perfection. You can't ask for much more. (10/10)

Sound: Like the animation, the sound also fits in perfectly. The Rumbling is about as perfect of an OP song for this season as you can get, with the gentler ED of Akuma no Ko is super popular too. Hiroyuki Sawano is well known for his work by now, but Kohta Yamamoto, who has long worked with Sawano, took more of a lead here. It's still exceptional though. Voice work is equally up to the task with old favourites Bryce Papenbrook (Eren) and Jessie James Grelle (Armin) bringing it in full force. Clifford Chapin (Connie) and Patrick Seitz (Keith) are perfect for their roles too. My surprise pick for the best though? Neil Kaplan (Theo). I was really impressed here, even knowing his long history in strong roles like Bleach. Bravo. (10/10)

Overall: Attack on Titan: Final Season Part 2 is such a step up from Part 1, but part of me thinks that was mostly necessary, due to the complex nature how they wanted to take their story. I plan to finish this story because this certainly feels like the best isn't even here yet. (10/10)

Story & Characters: Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! introduces us to Tsubasa Shiki, who has just moved to Hokkaido, due to his dad's job. Not yet used to the frigid weather that Hokkaido commands in the middle of winter, he meets a random girl, Minami Fuyuki, at a bus stop. It's there that they start up a conversation and before very long, we figure out that they are not only classmates, but live within close proximity to each other. Tsubasa, who is clearly not used to Hokkaido's citizens, is clearly shocked by what he has learned from Minami, and before long, they ... go on various adventures together.

Tsubasa is pretty unremarkable in my mind, as he doesn't really offer much but his over-the-top reactions to just about anything related to Minami's bubbly attitude. Although this technically isn't a harem anime, Tsubasa comes off as such, including his tendency to not be able to read the room very well. It's not all the time, but it can get old when it happens as much as it does. Minami's amazed by Tsubasa's lack of knowledge on just about anything. If she's outgoing, than he's sheltered. This works well because we get to experience the different settings with both of them, even if not all of them are winners. At the same time, there was an episode, which was easily the strongest, where Minami breaks down, and it goes to show that even the most bubbly of characters show signs of being defeated, even when they seem unfazed by anything.

Sayuri joins our cast a few episodes in, and is probably the best character in the series. As a fellow introvert, I love that she doesn't shy away from her interests, even if they're not popular. Yes, she's a gamer, and wishes to talk about it more with others. She's young enough that there's room to grow outside her shell, and you can tell that she took some serious steps in doing as the series progresses. Nothing quite as shocking as per experience on the bus pops up again, but there's no real steps backwards. Rena is present for a few episodes at the end, but I didn't love how she was integrated into the plot. She's the super popular and smart girl and there's not too much to it. There could be - you can tell - but I feel like they didn't explore it enough.

The biggest strength of this series comes off of the short segments that between Tsubasa and the three girls as they grow. Even if Tsubasa doesn't really push the story along and contribute to them growing a whole lot, the others clearly get more confident while being around him. And that's how you do your character development. Again, Sayuri does this the best, and even if Minami is the obvious main attraction to this series, Sayuri should see more screen time.

Some side characters push the plot along with differing results. For example, Tsubasa's grandmother is in a few episodes, and her harsh attitude might have been a bit much for many. However, what that resulted in was Tsubasa being out of the picture in certain moments, and you could tell that this really takes away from how Minami and Sayuri feel when he's not around. This was an excellent way to portray it, even if it makes the grandmother more unlikable. Takayumi, another classmates of Tsuabasa, also has some minor moments in a few episodes too.

One of the series' biggest weaknesses is its failure to really fit into the genre that it feels like it fits into. For a romantic comedy, I don't really feel like it filled either of these genres very well. There were signs of possible romance and the series wasn't all that funny for any amount of time. While this in itself isn't too bad, this makes the series feel like it can get way too comfortable doing the usual "I'm on an adventure" a little too often. This, coupled with a relatively weak main character in Tsubasa, doesn't make a great match. Additionally, I didn't love the ending. This was probably one of a few shock-worthy moments that turned into nothing and a weird way to leave a series that may or may not continue. (Story: 7/10, Characters: 6/10)

Art: Animation gets a pretty comfortable pass, with the series not really requiring much in the way of pretty graphics due to the lack of big moments. There were still a few, and they were done well. The series kind of implies some serious fan service, but keeps them to a minimum, despite our main lady being a little more comfortable than she probably should be at times. (7/10)

Sound: No real complaints about the sounds of the series. OP kind of brings the energy that Minami matches, with the ED not far behind. Voice work was solid all around. Matt Shipman's (Tsubasa) biggest strength is probably his goofy characters and he brings that on strong here. Accents are generally hit or miss in VO work but the ones found here are decent enough. I'll never get used to it because of consistency issues, but it was fine. I'm not sure where Mikaela Krantz (Minami) has been in the last few years of dubbing, but she was strong here, with a Canadian (or some people were pointing out, Minnesotan) accent that seemed strong. I haven't heard her work since Wonder Egg Priority and this is obviously no where near that. Brittany Lauda (Sayuri) and Jill Harris (Rena) round our strong main cast. (8/10)

Overall: Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! does some things well, while others things certainly are found lacking. With the flood of rom-com series these days, I always look for certain things that stick out to me, and there certainly are some to be found here. But did it do enough to garner a wide audience viewership? Maybe not, but it was still a fine watch. This would certainly be a solid pick for anyone looking for school-aged characters in mostly non-school settings, going about their daily lives. There's an audience for that, and even if it didn't pass with flying colours for me, I'm happy to have seen it. (7/10)

Oh boy. I'm not even sure I can write a sensible review about what I have witnessed on this one. I've seen some heavy fanservice anime before but THIS... this is something else.

Story: Gushing over Magical Girls doesn't really have much of a story to speak of because you're not "really" watching it for that anyway. The basic gist of it is that Utena, who is obsessed with her town's three magical girls, gets recruited by Venalita to be an evil magic girl. Utena transforms, and Venalita basically blackmails her with her embarrassing transformation sequence and that's the basis of Utena ... joining the evil side. From there, Utena is tasked with ridding her town of their magical girls, known as the Tres Magia, but Utena's obsession leads to her sadistic side coming out in every interaction with those magical girls.

This series is basically as far as Ecchi can go without really being considering Hentai. Bare breasts, BDSM, sadism... yeah this series is not intended for a young audience at all. Because of Utena's obsession, she basically does whatever she can to embarrass the Tres Magia, often resulting in her stripping them and playing with them that way. No real physical harm tends to be involved, except near the end, when there's a few half-serious fights.

The sense of humour that this series takes on is kind of linked to how much you enjoy watching Utena and company beat up on their opponents in their own magical way. Some of it is actually pretty funny, and while others weren't terribly impressive, I could at least see the appeal.

To say this series matches a bit of a niche audience would be an overstatement, but hey, judging from the MAL score, it probably does that pretty well. I'm not going to sit here and say that it was an awful series - it's not. Was it what I expected? Nope. And maybe that was enough for me to want to watch it all the way through. Maybe. Some of the story elements were less over-the-top though and led to some great character moments. (5/10)

Characters: Surprisingly, I didn't mind a lot of the characters that were presented here. I've touched on Utena already, but I should mention that her character from the start to the end of the series takes a pretty drastic turn. She starts out as being pretty timid, and she lets herself "out of her shell", she clearly gets more comfortable with being able to interact with others. It gets out of hand at times, but she at least had character growth. Kiwi is another villain that joins Utena's crew fairly early on and she's a bit of the overprotective type. Strangely, I liked her. She admires Utena as much as Utena admires the Tres Magic, maybe even more, but she's not afraid to jump into the action to protect Utena. Korisu isn't much of a character - she's a little kid through and through. She's mostly just kind of there. That being said, due to her age, I thought she'd be a bit of a pain in the neck as a character and she wasn't.

Haruka, Sayo and Kaoruko make up the Tres Magic trio, and there were solid personalities here. Haruka is easily the least remarkable of them though, as I really didn't feel she brought much to the table, outside of being part of the main group. Her personality and tendencies never really shine, outside of being "always" nice, and that gets boring, quick. Sayo easily has the most story elements put upon her, and by the end, you can kind of see why. Like Utena, she goes through a lot of growth in the story, though where they leave off with her is highly questionable... in a weird way. Kaoruko is the most aggressive of the three, which is hilarious for someone who uses shield magic. She has quite the temper, and it's a nice mix for the group.

As we meet the "other" villains - I use quotation marks because they act independently of both Haruka and Utena's groups - you kind of realize why Utena's gang opposes them, but the story elements that two of them brought were very welcome. I'm talking about Matama and Nemo. They have a sweet backstory, even if it gets a little intense at times. I found myself liking them, especially their interactions with each other. They bicker like an old married couple, and it was great. The rest are kind of forgettable, outside of the key fights near the end. (8/10)

Art: Animation is... there. As I've already pointed out, the fan service is way past excessive for an Ecchi series. That being said, the rest of the animation is actually pretty solid. Look, it doesn't have to be the most 3D looking anime from studios like ufotable, but Asahi Productions put out a good looking series. I was impressed! This is now their top MAL scored anime. Good for them. (8/10)

Sound: The OST was pretty much what I expected with sounds that make you cringe, and an OST that I'd expect to hear from a cartoon. It was fine. VA work was fine, though I'm sure some of them thought "what am I getting myself into?" a few times. (7/10)

Overall: Okay, look, if a magical girl Ecchi is your thing, then Gushing over Magical Girls will probably be a big hit with you. It's definitely not my top magical girl anime, but there's enough appeal outside of the fan service that I could see people enjoying it immensely. I'm halfway to saying I don't know how to review this series, just because it was "that" wacky. Watch this if that interests you! (6/10)

"Let the performance, begin!"

Story & Characters: Takt Op. Destiny takes place in the US, where Takt Asahina is attacked by a D2 - a monster that originates from outer space. During the attack, Cosette Schneider covers him, and seemingly loses her life in the process. However, instead of going away, her body is taken over by Destiny. She is a Musicart - special beings who have the power to fight back against the D2s. As they attack in sync with their conductor, their master, they are able to effectively kill these things off so that mankind can be preserved. ... Together, with the help of Cosette's sister Anna, as well as Lenny, another conductor, and his Musicart Titan, they hope to travel to New York City, where the Symphonica Headquarters are located. It is there that they hope to find answers to what actually happened to Cosette and why she is now Destiny.

Takt is deeply connected to his music, almost at an obsessive level. So much so that prior to the current story, his health would begin to degrade because he wouldn't take care of himself. He cares nothing about anything but music, but the D2s attack all sources of music, thus bringing their lives to a conflict with Takt. He doesn't really bring much to the table as a conductor, and it feels like ideals that he already should have, are forced on him because he won't accept reality. It's really not until the end where he develops a little. Destiny is a pretty empty shell of a person, born only at the beginning of this series. She knows it's her sole mission to eradicate D2s, but she doesn't really have any personality traits until the end. Anna's the levelheaded person of the group, and not someone who should probably shine as much as she does. Look, in a show about giant monsters attacking people who have these giant weapons at their disposal, someone who is just an ordinary human probably shouldn't be one of your best characters. She thinks on her feet, does all the heavy lifting and knows what state the world is in. That alone should present you with a decent character, but she has to keep the group together so often that she shines.

Lenny is probably my favourite of the group. He has strong ideals and watches out for Takt when he can. He's a pillar of positivity, and his partner, Titan, displays just about the same amount of fun-loving affection has him. Titan's powers aren't really as flashy as Destiny's, but they get the job done. Sagan and Schindler belong to the association in New York and serve as the main antagonists in this story. The problem? They don't display any reason for doing what they do. It's horrible, and brings what was a seemingly okay conclusion to a fall. There's always this grand talk with our main hero and villain at the end, but the one at the end of this tale? It doesn't mean anything.

One of the main issues with the story is it's inconsistency. It goes through ups and downs far too often in terms of good storytelling and I did not appreciate how little certain parts meant to the overall plot. One such plot point has our main cast going from their home, to New York, and everything in between that did not contain Lenny was such a let down. It doesn't really present new topics to our story and Takt and Destiny's underdeveloped characters don't help things at all. While fights were plentiful, just bashing in ordinary D2s gets old after so long. As our party nears its destination, fights got a little more exciting, even if it comes at a cost down the line.

Some of the better episodes were near the end, outside of the final episode, and it's here that the script is a little stronger, with fights that mean a little more. While the weaker cast of characters don't help things, it was at least a little bump up from where we started. However, it does feel wasted once you can tell that the story takes a lot of inspiration from Guilty Crown, a series that had serious story flaws in itself. So while the best moments mirror Guilty Crown, it's a little disappointing that it's so similar, including where it ends our story. (Story: 5/10, Characters: 6/10)

Art: Madhouse and MAPPA are two big names and they lend their talents to their series well. Fights are very flashy, especially with Destiny's weapon design. Most fights take place at night or in darker scenarios and it really makes the colours pop. While there is some loss of quality very late, the series, overall, was done well. (8/10)

Sound: Music is equally up to the task, with some strong pieces, even if you're not a huge fan of the classical tone that this series takes its theme from. The OP and ED are strong as well. And of course, I'm not at all surprised that Caitlin Glass voice directed this because the voice talent here was exceptional. Emi Lo (Cosette and Destiny) isn't someone I'm too familiar with, but she was strong here. Alexis Tipton (Anna) and Jason Liebrecht (Takt) are two voice talents that are basically always strong, and they fit their characters very well. Reagan Murdock (Lenny) lifts Lenny's character so much, and this, hilariously, is my second exposure to him after A Sign of Affection, which is literally airing right now. (9/10)

Overall: Takt Op. Destiny brings a mixed bag to the table because while it had some strong characters and plot points, there weren't nearly enough of them to offset the strong art and sound. I was very hyped for this series when it came out to Crunchyroll and couldn't get around to it at the time. It's fine, but nothing to make think that I missed out on it a couple of years ago. (6/10)

Story & Characters: Chained Soldier introduces us to a world where, in Japan, random gateways to another dimension open up, which are known as Mato. These dimensions contain an entirely different world where monsters known as Shuuki brainlessly kill everything in sight. They're actually quite aggressive. Yuuki Wakura, an every day high school, gets warped to one of these and are saved by the 7th Division Anti-Demon Corps. They are headed up by Kyouka Uzen, who has the power to enslave a Shuuki to do her bidding - which usually results in them fighting for her. Out of desperation, she ... uses it on Yuuki and it changes him into a Shuuki-like being, but he has full control over the immense strength that this newfound power gives him. With dreams of becoming a hero, he decides to join the Anti-Demon Corps, which is where our story takes us.

Yuuki isn't a great main character. He's your typical harem main character who is pretty unremarkable on his own. Unfortunately, it gets worse when we learn that Kyouka's ability to change Yuuki into a Shuuki has a fan-service related drawback, and it's about as silly as you can probably imagine. Kyouka's an okay character - she has an ambition to run the entire Anti-Demon Corps. because of her past and trained immensely hard to become a master with her sword. She doesn't develop all that much as the series goes on, though her interactions with Yuuki take some needed steps forward. Himari, Shushu and Nei make up the rest of the 7th Divison, and have some better moments, though most of those are reserved for about halfway through when they introduce the 6th Division unit into the story. Once we had that trio, the interactions are much better. The comradery within the squads are very evident, and even past having the same goal, they work really well together once it's time to suit up.

Shikoku is the big baddy here and we don't really learn much about her, outside of the fact that she's calling the shots. Many of her underlings pale in comparison to her strength, but her important screen time likely comes after the conclusion of the current storyline. Some of the other villains they use here have some pretty tragic backstories, which I appreciated. You can tell there is at least some attempt to tell a decent story, even if there are parts that are rather silly. The underlings directly under Shikoku are pretty mediocre though. They're just stronger Shuuki with different powers.

There are far too many points in this series that gets far too silly. Yuuki is essentially recruited to be a cleaner to the house that the 7th Division lives in whenever they are not fighting Shuuki. It's a weird way to keep hin within the Mato world. What's less than ideal is that after the first episode or two, the story stays within that world for the rest of the series. This leads to certain storylines starting to get dry, even if the specific storylines along the way are different. Attempt to kill Shuuki, withdraw, relax, repeat. It unfortunately gets rather old.

The story ends on an okay note, but it's really hard to tell how much more story there is here. My biggest worry with the, now announced, sequel is how you'd expand on the story, outside of just... killing the ones who got away. They hint at there being some corruption inside the Anti-Demon Corps. near the end, so that would pique my interest a bit. (Story: 6/10, Characters: 7/10)

Art: We have some words with regards to the animation. First of all, be warned that the fan service in this series gets very heavy - there are multiple instances of full nudity on our female cast, many times of which are the result of Yuuki's apparently gross mind. This level of fan service is never 'really' warranted in anime series, much less one about killing demons in another dimension. Some of the other animation was decent otherwise. Fighting scenes are packed pretty heavily with CG, but I strangely didn't completely hate it. It works sometimes, others it doesn't. It's most reserved for the Shuuki animations and it certainly made them pop out. Whether that's a good thing or not may vary by audience. (7/10)

Sound: The music here was headed up by Kohto Yamamoto, who is mostly known for his work with Hiroyuki Sawano on series like Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress and Attack on Titan's later seasons. He's got some decent tracks here, but nothing quite as high end as what Sawano usually produces. OP and ED were, but I skipped them most of the time. (7/10)

Overall: Chained Soldier is very okay all throughout, even with the over-the-top fan service. The best character moments were on display when both units were working together, but there characters feel almost forgettable if you only get a few episodes in. Some of the backstories were decently told so I'm at least a little interested in where they take them in the sequel. I don't foresee the fan service coming down any time soon, but there's plenty of room to make an entertaining product. (7/10)

After a Season 2 which impressed pretty much nobody, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 returns with a much more interesting story than "destroy the Spirit Tortoise". I'll assume you've seen the prequels for the purposes of this review.

Story & Characters: With the Spirit Tortoise behind Naofumi and company, The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 has us on a newer plotline - find the missing heroes. Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki have gone missing and, in order to prepare for the next Guardian Beast attack, that of the Phoenix, they must be found. Naofumi and company must find these ... companions in order to make sure the kingdom is well protected for, what could be, a large scale battle.

Let me get this out of the way first: The storylines presented here are much more compelling than that of what we got in Season 2. Sure, it rebounded near the end with some minor plot points, but generally, it just wasn't that great. So returning to some decent storylines feels like a must here and they certainly do that here. Before setting out to find the others, Naofumi is set on freeing some slaves that are in the hands of our favourite slave trader. This is probably the weakest storyline, as I wouldn't say it does much more than build up Naofumi's new village. Sure, we get more characters, but aside from making his party larger at certain points during the season, I'm not sure they were necessary here.

After we clean that storyline up, the rest of the story more-or-less centres around finding the other three heroes. These were very interesting, as not only do we get to learn more about their parties and what they were doing while seperated from Naofumi, but we got to see brief glimpses of their lives before they became legendary heroes. Ren's was easily my favourite, but the other two were still fun.

Mixed into those storylines, we did get to learn a little about some new characters too. Sadina is one of those characters and probably the best of the bunch. She has a strong sense of duty and probably doesn't fall too short on the legendary heroes' usefulness on the battlefield to boot. She a connection to an old character, which I welcomed. It wasn't told in the best way, but it was an interesting tidbit. S'yne was probably my least favourite, as she didn't really come with much of a story. She just feels like an extra character to add to our roster. Wyndia was a fun character and her story is, while a little unusual, really well told. I enjoyed learning about her and I hope she's back at some point, should the series continue.

Naofumi is still our main man, and he's basically the same before. I wouldn't say he's changed much since the first season, and certainly, he didn't really show how good a strategist he is here, versus season 1. Raphtalia and Filo are, disappointingly, not involved in the plot a whole lot. The former has some story tidbits, but it feels like warm-up for a new season. Melty is some involvement, but is largely absent. Malty is still kicking around this season and she's starting to get annoying to keep track of. Unless she's part of something bigger, I really don't understand why they didn't leave her back in Season 1. Rishia gets some decent character development this season, which is great, because she basically didn't do anything of consequence last season.

This season provides much improved storylines and some decent characters, even if it does come at the cost of recent storylines for Raphtalia and Filo. While we are given several hints about what is to come next season, the ending to this season feels like it's only readying what could come next. (Story: 8/10, Characters: 7/10)

Art: The Rising of the Shield Hero has never had top of the line animation, and, like last season, still had it's hiccups here and there. Most of the action sequences are still fine, but nothing bigger name series haven't done already. (7/10)

Sound: I believe most of the OST remained the same, though both the OP and ED were meh here. Voice cast all return, with Stephen Fu (Naofumi) still doing commendable work since Kametz's passing almost two years ago. Newcomers Alice Himora (Sadina and Wyndia), Kieran Regan (Fohl) and Lisa Reimold (S'yne) were all strong here. (8/10)

Overall: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 3 probably isn't returning to where it was when it first aired in terms of strong seasons, but it's still got some decent stories to tell. I'm rather worried that the Phoenix arc that they implied is coming could be as boring as the Spirit Tortoise arc, but only time will tell, especially because another season hasn't been confirmed yet. (8/10)

Sound! Euphonium is one of my very favourite series, so when I heard it was getting an OVA ahead of it’s third and final season, I was ecstatic! I will assume you’ve seen the prequels for the purpose of this review. Liz and the Blue Bird is not a required watching for this though.

Story & Characters: Sound! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest Arc takes place after the conclusion of Sound! Euphonium: Our Promise: A Brand New Day, where, even though the band didn’t get invited to Nationals, the club activities still persists. Instead, they decide to take place in the Ensemble Competition for high ... school students, which basically has the same rules as Nationals, but instead, are for groups of two to eight students. Since only one group per school is allowed to participate in the qualifiers, it’s up to the students to select the best group amongst themselves to represent Kitaugi High School.

For the most part, storylines remain tame, ranging from how students will go about forming groups, to actually figuring out who gets selected amongst our favourite first and second year students. There still is some conflict without our groups, but none of the scale of either seasons or the movie. The group selections themselves are interesting enough, where students that we don’t know get to play together, and we focus more-so on Kumiko’s group. The group itself aren’t all familiar members either so watching as they rehearse was probably the high point of the story. What causes group members to struggle, what’s not working, and how do we fix them? These are strong ideas, and they don’t go quite as fast paced as the movie, which was welcomed here.

The third year students are basically out of the picture for this OVA, as they prepare for getting into post-secondary school, so end up focusing more on everyone in Kanade’s year and now-president Kumiko’s year. Mizore, Natsuki and Yuuko get some interesting scenes as we catch up with them though. Kumiko is obviously our focus, as she tries to ease into her new role as club president – which she basically picked up before starting her official third high school year, due to the club not participating in Nationals. We get to see some minor flaws she has, but her interactions with Reina, as brief as they were, are still really nice to see. Hazuki and Sapphire, who weren’t really involved in Season 2, get more screen time this time around and they were interesting this time around. I didn’t love them in the first season, but they were strong here. Kanade follows Kumiko around the school a gets some minor screen time, but nothing nearly as stark as how she acted in the movie. Taki is mostly uninvolved in this season.

As you get to the end of the season, you likely wish the season ended on more of a high note, pun intended, as it doesn’t feel like the story completely wraps up. They also don’t really show much in the final performances – which was equally disappointing. Still, this OVA likely only serves a warm-up of what’s to come in the third season. (Story: 7/10, Characters: 8/10)

Art: Kyoto Animation is still puts out a strong product, but due to the story, they don’t really have much of a chance to shine like they did in previous seasons. Scenes with characters further away also looked noticeably dull, though it mostly didn’t matter anyway. (8/10)

Sound: I’m still not sold at that finale should have been structured the way it did, so like the animation, the sound didn’t get much of a chance to show itself off. Still, instruments still sounded really nice in the context of the anime and the ending song and VA work were solid. (8/10)

Overall: Sound! Euphonium: Ensemble Contest Arc is a fine distraction for Sound! Euphonium watchers before Season 3 airs in a few months. Whether it's bringing characters together or playing music together, both both, we get to see that here and I love those little moments of when something cool happens. It’s still Sound! Euphonium and it still remains strong for what it aims to do – get characters together to play music. And it does that. (8/10)