I want to start off by just saying that this is not the resurrection of Kyoto Animation. You know why? Because Kyoto Animation never died in the first place. In the last 5 years or so we've seen gems such as Nichijou and Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Even some of their less refined works such as Amagi Brilliant Park and Musaigen no Phantom World were actually pretty decent in their own right. In saying that though it has been awhile since we've had a good character driven narrative show from them. The days of Clannad and the rather excellent K-ON! seem all too distant.
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So, can Hibike! Euphonium bring them back on track to their roots and give us that narrative driven show we've been waiting for at last? It's review time!
Hibike! Euphonium is a music school show in which we follow the story of Kitauji high school's band on their mission to get to the nationals! Ah, such a beautifully simple narrative isn't it? We've seen it done hundreds of times before, both very well and shockingly. The whole 'get to the nationals' narrative is one that many people may describe as overdone but in its defence there's a reason it's so popular. It allows for an effective and dramatic narrative whilst still delivering a relatable and realistic experience to the prime demographic of anime (teens and young adults). There's little use in overly critiquing the basis of this plot as it is only there to encourage other elements of the show to flourish. That brings me onto my first big point in regard to this show.
Hibike! Euphonium is not a music show. Well, not really anyway. Yes, yes; they play musical instruments and, yes, the eventual goal is to reach a music related finals. So technically speaking the overriding plot is exclusively musical, but it's not really that simple. The musical setting only acts as a fundamental basis for the character's interactions to shine off of it. The plot's progression is driven by the characters, not the major plot points. For example at one point there is conflict over who should get what role. I'm keeping this vague to avoid spoilers by the way. The overcoming of this conflict is achieved by an individual realising what was best for the band. There is no forced narrative point that carries the plot but rather naturalistic characterisation to do so instead. It's the characters of the show that really allow Hibike! Euphonium to shine.
Sadly though for all the pros in regard to the characters themselves, their presentation is a bit more off-kilter. There were some points in the show where characters react so dramatically and emotionally that I honestly felt it completely broke their character's trends as a whole. I couldn't tell if Reina was meant to be the composed and professional type or the overly-emotional type. One moment she'd be acting all cool, giving a dramatic speech showing why she's a bit of a boss and then the next she'd be having an emotional breakdown because someone disagreed with her. Eh? There's absolutely nothing wrong with having three dimensional characters with flexible personalities but at times their behaviours are bordering on clinical multi-personality disorder. Honestly though, if what you are looking for is a very dramatic presentation of characters then this show does that fine. I might be over-analysing this but hey, that's a reviewer's job after all.
Whenever I get onto a Kyoto Animation show to review, I always know there's one bit I will get to praise. This is no exception. Actually, this is the rule itself. Hibike! Euphonium is a gorgeous show with both art and animation that is near-unparalleled in anime. Just looking up pictures online makes it so apparent how much talent has gone into this. There were some scenes where I genuinely paused the episode to just take in the beautiful lighting, stellar character design and generally angelic aesthetic that Euphonium presents. This is the best looking piece of art that KyoAni have put out to date and it could very easily claim the title as the best looking anime to date too. There's this one scene where Kumiko is running across a bridge screaming her desire to improve. The quality of animation in this scene is just staggering. It's not even as though it has a particularly high frame count either, it's just that everything and every little detail flows so smoothly. I just love how Kyoto Animation put this kind of effort into the small things. Other studios, cough A1 Pictures cough, should look down in shame at this kind of work. Kyoto Animation never fail to disappoint me in regard to the appearance of their shows.... no, their art.
For lovers of openings and soundtracks as a whole, you won't be let down. The opening didn't immediately grab me but I could tell it had potential to grow. I listened and watched it in every episode without a single skip (although to be honest I don't tend to skip openings very often anyway, so that isn't saying too much) and eventually came to the conclusion that it's a very good OP. It matches the show's tone to a peach and gives a lovely presentation of the main cast with 3D spinning images of their instruments in the background. After this we have a lot of slow shots portraying the determination and passion of the character cast, as these are very much reoccurring themes within Euphonium it fits well. The song itself, 'DREAM SOLISTER' by TRUE, is one for the iTunes library in my opinion. It's one of those songs for when you are feeling relaxed and want to hum along to something catchy. The remainder of the soundtrack mostly consists of diegetic music played by the band themselves. Think K-ON! but less pop and more brass. It's an acquired taste of music which probably appeals to those more interested in music as an art form than I am.
All in all then Hibike! Euphonium is a fine show. Don't be put off by the 'music' tag like I was for so long. Not watching this show is a bad mistake. You'll be missing out on a fine school drama show that showcases Kyoto Animation's abilities at their near-best. It's far from perfect and at times I felt it was trying too hard to be dramatic but what do you expect really? It's a 'drama' after all, I guess they tend to do that. In short ask yourself these three questions? Do you like Kyoto Animation? Do you like music? Do you like drama anime? If you answered yes to any of these three questions, well, then I guess you better get to work.
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Jun 1, 2016
Hibike! Euphonium
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I want to start off by just saying that this is not the resurrection of Kyoto Animation. You know why? Because Kyoto Animation never died in the first place. In the last 5 years or so we've seen gems such as Nichijou and Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Even some of their less refined works such as Amagi Brilliant Park and Musaigen no Phantom World were actually pretty decent in their own right. In saying that though it has been awhile since we've had a good character driven narrative show from them. The days of Clannad and the rather excellent K-ON! seem all too distant.
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Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 17, 2016
Kuroko no Basket 3rd Season
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I just want to start off by explaining my stance on sports anime. For the most part I tend to dislike them. It's not that I don't like sports, in fact I partake in both tennis and golf in real life on a regular basis. My issue with a lot of sports anime is that they tread a strange line between trying to be realistic and give an accurate presentation of that sport whilst stretching the realism of said presentation to the limits. This grey area between fiction and non-fiction often results in a uninvestable environment. My other big problem with sports anime is the
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prodigy factor. Not that they're in the show but rather the way they are presented. Unbeatable, god-like, plot armoured. Keeping this in mind let's look at Kuroko no Basket 3.
That treading thing I spoke of is here, at least to some extent. So immediately it would appear it's failed the first of two challenges and yet it also hasn't. I feel season 1 definitely falls for it and season 2 to a lesser extent, but season 3 is different. By season 3 you get the feeling that the writer no longer is trying to portray a realistic game of basketball. The focus on super-human abilities, the usage of ZONE to amplify yourself beyond human capabilities and just general acts of ridiculousness. With all this happening I stopped getting the sense this was even pretending to be anything like real basketball anymore. By the way, that's a good thing. You want to know something? If I wanted to watch something that was like real basketball, I'd watch real basketball. What I want though is a unique and interesting, fictional take on a real sport, something season 3 of Kuroko most definitely delivers. So, test 1 passed. So, what about the prodigies? They are most certainly there as the term 'Generation of Miracles' is thrown around like a basketball itself. The show sure loves to remind you how great these people are and how even thinking of facing them will be met with hopelessness and demise. It can get tiresome to be honest. Outside of this we have Kagami and Kuroko who are sort of prodigies, it's hard to tell. They constantly go on about how Kagami is the 'Ace of Seiren' and how he has 'opened the door to the Generation of Miracles' and yet I never really got the same feeling I did from the originals. At no point did I actually think he was a prodigy. Sure, a very talented player but not some kind of god figure like I’m seeing in Akashi and Aomine. So it seems Kuroko has done an okay job here. We aren't seeing the story being presented from one of the predictable prodigies and whilst they do feature in the story it's the opponents that possess them. Just a heads up whilst we’re discussing predictability. Kuroko no Basket is extremely predictable. You know what’s going to happen because it literally has to happen for it to have a decent narrative. Seirin have to win their important games or else it’d feel incomplete. So what you are really getting in this series for is to discover their journey on how they win. If you don’t like knowing the end result, avoid this. Okay, I'll admit the over-dramatising is pretty bad. You have these high school guys screaming their face off at a game of what is effectively amateur basketball. I'll willing to give it the benefit of the doubt though as this over-dramatic narrative is usually accompanied by some genuinely interesting developments of skill. Also, they actually show the character's improving over time through real training. How lazy anime has come in this respect annoys me. Not only sports shows but more or less any coming of age or character development focused narrative really. They will just say "The power of friendship is powering him up!" and we're just supposed to accept that? It's fine to have a theme of friendship, or in Kuroko no Basket’s case; teamwork, but that can't explain everything on its own. You need the training and skill development segments too. So I've addressed my big problems with sports anime and it seems Kuroko no Basket has passed all of them well enough. Fantastic. Let's have a look at the other sections too then. The sound elements of Kuroko are it's weakest element sadly. Season 3's OPs are all forgettable as far as I'm concerned and even the EDs drop off here. In season 2 we had "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Kensho Ono which I thought was pretty... well... fantastic. Here in season 3 though I didn't find a single OP or ED that appealed to me. I tried to enjoy them but it wasn't long before the skipping to the main episode took place. As for the OST itself they've managed to get a nice mix of music (from electro, urban all the way to rock and opera-esc). Unfortunately out of the 31 songs featured in season 3's OST, not one of them is worth listening to outside of the show. The music doesn't really detract from the overall series but it also doesn't add much to it either. It serves a basic purpose whilst you watch the show but that's all it does. It never strives to be anything more than just 'okay'. If we want to stick to sports then Kuroko no Basket's soundtrack is the equivalent of a par in golf. It's not too disappointing but you should be aiming for more. Since we're looking at the technical elements I may as well quickly cover the art. In short it's very nice really. It fulfils my need to have a comfortable aesthetic to view but doesn't quite reach the peak of what anime is capable of. The stronger point of Kuroko is its animation. There are occasional still shots but for the major events and the majority of important plays, we get slick and smooth animated shots. The camera doesn't half love taking unique positions too as it sways all over the place. It certainly creates a sense of excitement using a very simple technique in this respect. I really liked how the expression of characters is shown with the clarity of their feelings becoming apparent to the viewer at all times. There's a nice transition between utter dedication and playful banter from scene to scene. These subtle animation shifts do a lot to give small yet important impressions of the characters to the audience. I can always appreciate small touches of detail as it shows effort and thought has been put it. All in all Kuroko no Basket as a whole fixes a lot of the problems I've got with sports anime. The third season though is the stand out one by a considerable distance. I didn't go too much into detail about the story as it's very simple, yet effective but the inclusion of the small Teiko Middle School arc within season 3 puts it ahead of the other two in my opinion. The art is satisfying and refined and the sound is average but competent at the very least. The characters range hugely from people I love (Kuroko himself is great) to those I completely loathe (Akashi's writing annoys me. He's a third psycho, a third loving friend and a third insane. It makes little sense and his development is too rushed). I guess there's a very easy way of judging this show. If I honestly ask myself "Does Kuroko no Basket 3 do everything I want from a sports show?" then the answer is a simple yes. On this basis alone, it's worth your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 8, 2016
Musaigen no Phantom World
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As a huge fan of Kyoto Animation I went into Phantom World with a degree of hesitation to say the least. On one hand they have produced some genuinely outstanding works, even in more recent years. I mean, Nichijou is arguably my favourite anime and even their less impressive works such as Amagi Brilliant Park were still far from bad. So, keeping this in mind, what did I think of Phantom World?
At the best of times Phantom World can't really be described as anything more than just 'good'. It's not incredible, it's not clever and it doesn't particularly offer anything unique. The story certainly doesn't ... stand out, in fact I'd call it the show's biggest weakness. At one moment Phantom World wants to be a character driven show, the next it goes for a kind of 'Monster of the week' format and then toward the end it tries to be some kind of plot driven thriller. The structure is a complete mess. Had this been a genuinely plot heavy show I'd be lumping a 3/4 score on it because the narrative is hopeless. It doesn't know what it wants to be nor does it do anything that it tries particularly well. At least, not from a narrative point of view. It's not that the story itself is necessarily bad but rather how it's presented is a mess. They pick up some kind of remote thing and then it isn't mentioned again till near the end. I honestly forgot it existed and it turned out to be a genuine plot point. I guess the best way to describe this show's narrative is 'Sword Art Online-esc'. There was potential but it certainly didn't fulfil it. Of course those looking at this review may be wondering "If the plots so bad why did you give it a 7 still?". The answer is very simple, this isn't a plot driven show. Looking over the last 3 episodes (which are actually decent attempts at narrative structure, albeit too late), the majority of the show takes on a heavy focus on comedy and characters. We get a surprising amount of back story with over half the series' episodes looking at events relating to the characters themselves. This is good and bad. On one hand it does offer some interesting concepts (the Kurumi episode had some very nice ideas in for example) but it does struggle due to one simple problem. The characters just aren't that good. The protagonist is effectively just a source for the original LN writer to project random trivia onto, Mai bored me most of the time, Reina is literally just a less cute Kirby and Kurumi, whilst very cute, fails to actually serve a real purpose. The characters that stood out for me were Koito, but she got so little screen time it hardly mattered that I liked her, and Albrecht, who's a teddy bear. Seriously though, Albrect is the man, the hero everyone should aspire to be. Not looking too good now is it? Well there are genuine positives to be taken from this show. First of all it looks gorgeous. Of course this is to be expected from any Kyoto Animation production but even so this one stands out for me in terms of their recent productions. Of course the animation is stellar too so nothing to complain about from an artistic point of view. The only reason I've given it a 8 rather than a 9/10 for art is because I'd have liked to have seen a bit more colour used personally. If I really had to stretch my criticism I’d argue that this show isn’t as aesthetically unique as some of Kyoto’s other productions. With something like Lucky Star or Haruhi Suzumiya I can instantly recognise it as that specific art style. Phantom World on the other hand kind of just looks like any old modern anime. It lacks that certain flair. Hope you like your urban music and variants of electronic pop. Fortunately I do and so I could get on with the soundtrack with relative ease. There’s nothing I’ll be downloading for personal use but as I watched the show I got into some of the music enough to justify its placement. The opening seems to be hit or miss with the community but I myself enjoyed it greatly. Not quite up there with K-ON! or Nichijou but certainly outdoing the likes of Free and Clannad on this front. It's quirky, shows off the characters and gives you an idea of the sort of show it is. Can't ask much more from it really. I feel I've come across as somewhat negative in this review but in truth that's me being my usual harsh self. Phantom Word is a simple yet fun show if consumed in such a way where you expect very little. I feel a lot of people went into this show expecting another After Story or another Chunni. It isn't of that standard at all but I'd say it's certainly a competent comedy. I wouldn't place this at the top of my 'Plan to Watch' list but I also wouldn't just dismiss it. If you're the sort of person that can tolerate a somewhat funny show with nice art and a good soundtrack but not much else, you'll probably enjoy Phantom World enough to justify your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 19, 2015
Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica
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This is an extended review of Puella Magi Madoka Magica adapted for suitability to MAL from my own personal blog. Therefore this will be a longer review. If you are looking for something that quickly summarises the scores someone has given then you are better looking elsewhere. This is designed to be a detailed breakdown of the show. Anyway, hope you enjoy the read.
Many 12 episode shows that are extremely plot driven go on to disappointment me greatly due to their annoying habit of just skipping forward and missing out far too much. Many magical girls shows tend to lack anything past cute girls prancing ... around. Many moe shows end up having next to no solid development of plot and concentrate more on making you go "Awwwwwww!". So, Madoka Magica. It's review time! Madoka Magica follows the story of Madoka herself and her everyday fun adventures as a magical girl. Yeah right. Of course if this really was a generic magical girl show there's no way I'd be here reviewing it because there's no way I'd have watched it in the first place. In contrast though I've watched Madoka Magica not one, not two, but three times. It's difficult for me to give a plot overview because quite simply I'd ruin the show doing so. The initial plot of the show quickly becomes redundant as it develops and we start to get a real feel for its true nature. Now there's something worth talking about. Make no mistake. This is a dark narrative show which has some genuinely twisted moments in. To actually label this as a 'magical girl' show is unfair to those who get suckered in watching it under that name. This is the very definition of a psychological thriller. In saying this it's worth noting that whilst this might not actually be a regular magical girl show it sure as hell presents itself as one. Everything from the art style (which I'll speak about in more detail later on), the way it was promoted to the characters themselves, there's very little here that'd tell you that you're about to watch something with even a hint of dark narrative. This is perhaps Madoka Magica's greatest strength. It manages to be so much whilst appearing as so little. It baits you in just so it can punch you in the face. It's a bit backwards in that regard really. It was promoted as a generic magical girl show when it was really a psychological thriller. As a result of this at the time of its release it didn't actually get a huge reception. People simply didn't take in interest in it due to their misunderstanding of the show's reality. Instead Madoka Magica has actually become more renowned in the last couple years where attention from big YouTubers has allowed people to appreciate its real beauty. Oh and if you can't tell already, I really like this show. The main theme here is one of risk against reward and the judgment of humans. "If you had to make one wish that could literally do anything, what would it be?". These are strong words that Madoka Magica gives you early on as you get your first real taste of the values this show really wants to explore. Making a wish when only given one opportunity is a really difficult decision. What would you do? The obvious path is the fortune one but what repercussions does this have? You can never return to your old life again and is it really money you even want? What about helping out someone you care for? Well, the show itself explores that in a lot of detail so I'll let you see exactly what the consequence of that can be for yourself. What this show does is take a seemingly light-hearted theme and give it a dark, realistic twist. There's a real lesson to be learnt from Madoka Magica. Do you really want what you think you want? Messages of life only appear from truly great shows. Moving more towards my traditional format of reviewing let's have a look at the characters. It's no surprise that the entire cast pretty much consists of ultra moe magical girls who seek justice and righteousness. Well... except for the ones who don't. The main usage of characters here is that they are all young, eager minds that, due to their naivety, are corrupted by the desire to have something. Sometimes this came in the form of utter selfishness yet at other times it was complete selflessness. The point though is that regardless of their motives, they all fall to the same trap. This practical use of the characters in order to reflect the overall theme of the show is a real strong point for Madoka Magica. As for the characters themselves I find it difficult to pick out a particular highlight as they're all pretty damn solid in their own right. Their presentation of emotion is done better than a huge majority of anime out there and their designs are cleverly done as they both subvert and conform to the conventions of the magical girls genre. If I really had to pick my favourite characters though I'd have to go with Akemi and Kyouko. I can't go into detail about why I love them (especially Akemi) but basically they have by far the most powerful scenes in the show. Also, Akemi's ability is really cool as not only does it look amazing but it also is very relevant to the over-arching narrative but once again, that's heavy spoiler territory. To summarise though the characters here really are pretty much faultless. There are a couple times where I felt the transitions between them came across as being marginally unnatural feeling but that really is being overly picky. I've had to actively seek out that fault and I heavily doubt any regular viewer would notice it. Puella Magi Madoka Magica (which is a very elegant name indeed) is a truly gorgeous show. The real strength here is that it manages to look beautiful both during the casual chatting scenes between the girls and the brutal moments. The art style adapts itself wonderfully to suit the occasion with the transition between bright pastel colours and dark moody colours being faultless. This is really emphasised in the fighting scenes later on. What's so magical about it is that the base art style doesn't actually change. The characters are still drew the same no matter the occasion and yet they look suitable at all times. It's also worth giving a special thumbs up for the art style during the witches' labyrinths. It comes across as being mental and mad with a real focus being placed on the craziness of the universe they are in. That's what makes it so perfect though. They reflect the very attitudes of the witches incredibly in a distinctly stand out way. Also don't be put off by the show's appearance, this knows how to do a fight scene. Many shows such as Sword Art Online get special notice for their supposed incredible fighting scenes and great visual effects. Here's the thing though, they aren't all they're cracked up to be. I'm not claiming SAO's fights are bad but rather uncoordinated. Most fights in that series include two people mindlessly throwing a sword at each other until one wins. It lacks intelligence is the best way to describe it. In comparison though Madoka Magica has a real sense of sophistication about it's action scenes. You feel like a lot of time was put into not only the choreography but also the meaning of each attack. Characters fight with a serious passion to get what they want and you never feel like the fighting is done for the sake of it looking cool. If characters in Madoka Magica fight, they have a strong reason to. This reason isn't always admirable or heroic but it isn't supposed to be. At times they fight for completely irrational and selfish reasons and yet all that does is emphasise the naivety of the cast even more. I adore this show's art style and the usage of its art so much that I don't think I can even convey just how much I do in this short review. It really is one of the most artistically brilliant shows out there as far as I'm concerned. This opening falls nicely into the 'I have downloaded this onto my iPod' category which basically translates to I love the music in it. As with most of the show's quirks the opening would have you think this is going to be a nice slice of life with some magical girls in. Without repeating myself once again this further reinforces the whole emphasis of the subversion of the genre that Madoka Magica produces. Looking past artistic merit and all that can be just appreciate for a second how great of an opening it is in its own right. Not only is it catchy with some very nice looking art but it also has very light foreshadowing in as well as some strangely placed fan service. Yeah I don't really get that one. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for fan service but that one shot where Madoka is naked with herself and having some kind of self reflection really is weirdly out-placed considering the rest of the show. It says a lot though when you consider that's probably been my biggest criticism of the show up till now. I don't feel the need to tell you that this show is worth watching because by now that should be very apparent. As genre subversions go Madoka Magica is in a league of its own. It takes the magical girls genre, turns it on its head and then blows it up for good measure. I think this shows gets a lot of praise but unlike many mainstream shows I do not for a second believe it is undeserved. It manages to convey a strong message whilst looking wonderful, portraying a well structured narrative and most importantly no skipping forward all the time to ruin the overall experience. Basically if you want to know how to do a 12 episode series right, look no further. Story: 9/10 Art: 10/10 Sound: 8/10 Character: 8/10 Enjoyment: 9/10 OVERALL: 9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 5, 2015 Recommended
This is an extended review of Charlotte adapted for suitability to MAL from my own personal blog. Therefore this will be a longer review. If you are looking for something that quickly summarises the scores someone has given then you are better looking elsewhere. This is designed to be a detailed breakdown of the show. Anyway, hope you enjoy the read.
One of the very first anime I ever watched was the wonderful Angel Beats and it to this day it has had a lasting impact on how I view the industry as a whole. It was a fantastic piece of writing and, whilst not perfect, ... it was an outstanding attempt at creating a funny, yet emotional drama. When I heard that Jun Maeda and P.A Works were getting together again to make yet another show I knew I just had to check it out. Since then I've heard many people hype this up as the best show of the season. Looks like it's my duty to see if Charlotte really lives up to the praise it's been getting. It's review time! Charlotte follows the story of Yuu Otosaka and is set in an alternate reality. Within this reality the rules of puberty have been somewhat amplified. There is a comet which shares a mutual name with the show which causes a small amount of teenagers and young-adults to develop super powers of sorts. Our little anti-hero has the ability to take over other people for 5 seconds although this comes at a cost. Whilst he is taking over someone else his own body becomes unconscious and collapses. Early on it appears as though he is abusing this power for his own gain although he is unaware of the presence of a girl called Nao Tomori who figures out that he has a power. She recruits him on their quest to protect others from falling trap to the same fate her brother did. That's effectively the base plot of the show although it's one of those that goes far deeper once you progress through it. As I always avoid spoilers I wont go into too much detail about it but at the very least I'll say there's a lot of similarities with the other works Jun Maeda has created (Angel Beats, Clannad, Little Busters etc.). Before I even begin to critique I can tell you if you liked Angel Beats, you will like Charlotte. The traits they share in the tone of the story presentation and the design of characters is notable. They reflect one another very well and it is very easy to see that both of these shows came out of the same mind. As for the plot itself it does offer some potential for growth and it was interesting enough to keep me attached all the way through (although admittedly since I was planning to review it I would have watched it even if it was complete garbage). The show isn't faultless and, as you will see later in the review, it does have some major flaws but the actual writing itself is pretty solid. There wasn't a point where I felt flat out bored with the show which frankly has been the case with some of the other productions Maeda has been behind previously. The characters of Charlotte really are hit and miss in every sense of the phrase. There's some real highlights, some okay and some just miserable. For starters it seems to qualify nicely as one of the many shows that have a forgetable protagonist. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this but frankly I found Yuu boring. Whenever he was on screen it just felt like he was sitting in the shadow of Nao (who is amazing by the way). Then you've got Yusarin, a singer who may as well have the word 'moe' taped to her head. The whole personality swap thing offers a unique prospect but in the end she really does end up just being a pretty generic idea. In saying this I don't want to sound too harsh because in her defence I did at least like her. Jōjirō (and yes I had to copy and paste that off of Wikipedia) seems to fit into a similar sort of position to Yusarin. I neither liked nor disliked him but felt that he failed to add anything vital to the story. Mind you, he did create some of the shows funniest moments. A slight digress but can I also just say how I felt this show felt short of Angel Beats in the comedy respect too. It's still funny but in comparison to Angel Beats it doesn't even score near as high within this regard. Getting back on topic my favourite character of all though is Yuu's little sister, Ayumi. She adds a much needed uplift to the story and her personality is one that you just can't help but adore. She might just be the cute, younger sister type who is innocent and offers nothing but moral support for her big brother but you don't necessarily have to be a unique character to be a good one. Whenever she was on screen I felt far more compelled to care and if it wasn't for her I may not have been prepared to score the anime as high as I plan to at the end of this review. Overall then the characters are okay but aren't exactly going to blow you away. There's no shockers in there but there is a few too many that I just didn't care enough about. Visually it should come as no surprise that this show is truly gorgeous. It's not only a brand new show but it's one that you can tell had a lot of care and passion put into it. This is most apparent when you get to the scenes involving shots of outer space which are just eye candy for you to indulge in. As a sucker for beautiful design I found myself truly appreciating just how good it looked. The animation doesn't disappoint either as it manages to stay at a high quality consistently throughout the show. Recently I've had the fortune to come across many shows that score high artistically and this is no exception. This opening is really, really good. I can admit myself that I have a bad tendency to rate an opening more on the sound selected than the visuals but here that is of no concern. Sure, "Bravely You" by Lia is a nice tune which reflects the show's tone well but it's the imagery which scores it so high in this category. This is definitely my favourite opening from this season's anime as it captures what the show's about, shows off the character cast well and manages to be somewhat unorthodox with its mixed pacing all in one. If I don't skip the opening once in 13 episodes it's usually a good sign. If I download it onto my iPod after finishing the anime in question it's usually a really good sign. If I keep repeating it over and over whilst writing about it on my review it's a phenomenal sign. I'm sure you can fill in the blanks. Sadly it's now time for me to tell you the part of the show that isn't worth recalling over and over. This show misses out on its potential so much. The ending is nothing short of lazy. I am not going to ruin it but let's just summarise. Basically it pulls the cliche crap that we've seen so much before and then fails to actually apply a resolution. Sure he kind of fixes the main conflict of the show but it left me unsatisfied since many parts weren't explained. Charlotte has a horrible habit of raising ideas, developing them and then just, well, not bothering to finish them. It left way too much unanswered and it's not even as though I can just check out the visual novel to find out because there's not one. I get very frustrated at shows that don't answer my questions and I get even more frustrated at those who raise interesting points and then push them aside. What's the point of spending all of that time getting me interested in an idea and then just ditching it? Considering how rushed the ending was you may as well have used those episodes to make an actual complete narrative. Also, where is my 26 episodes? I'm not saying this as a blind fanboy either. This show suffered heavily from only having 13 episodes because it simply couldn't start, develop and finish off an effective plot in that time. In this regard it actually fell prey to the exact same fate Angel Beats did. Making a mistake once is human. Making it twice is just poor. This is by far the biggest problem I have with Charlotte. So is it worth your time? Short answer, yes. Despite my qualms and disappointment with the show's ending it is still probably the best show from the Summer 2015 anime season and even at the worst of times you're still watching something great. I critique it so thoroughly because that's what I go out to do but to call this a bad show would be a total lie. It's a fun watch which manages to entertain for its duration effectively enough to be classed as a fantastic show. The pacing is sometimes a bit messy and the structure is far from perfect but the unpredictability and emotional nature of the show is enough to carry it alone. Whilst I don't believe this is quite as good as Angel Beats is finishes very close behind. If you're looking for a fun drama to get into then I have no regrets in suggesting Charlotte to all of you. Story: 8/10 Art: 10/10 Sound: 8/10 Character: 6/10 Enjoyment: 9/10 OVERALL: 9/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 26, 2015
Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou
(Anime)
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This is an extended review of Monster Musume adapted for suitability to MAL from my own personal blog. Therefore this will be a longer review. If you are looking for something that quickly summarises the scores someone has given then you are better looking elsewhere. This is designed to be a detailed breakdown of the show.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a flying pair of boobs in your face because for today's review we're heading into the world of ecchi anime. Monster Musume tells the story of some guy who jerks off a snake girl so that she orgasms in order ... for him to be released from her tight grip. Yeah, this is the sort of stuff ecchi was born for. I'm not joking when I say that description I've just given is genuinely the first scene you see within this show and my reaction was the same as everyone else's, "What did I just see?" So, what's the show about? Well, basically, it's a massive harem of monster girls coming to live with a human dude. You see the events that occur for them to end up in his ever-growing household and then the every day life events that occur after they're there. It's far from a classy show but that's not necessarily a bad thing. After all, for every plot driven phenomenon like Death Note it's good to have a more trashy show that tries to achieve appeal in the most basic form, breasts and comedy. There's not really much more to say about the plot because there just isn't one. This is your regular comedy ecchi show with some monster girls in. Nothing more, nothing less. Viewing exactly how it goes about being what I've just said I have to say it does a very good job. At first I was a bit off put on the show as I just didn't get what it was trying to be but then it hit me, it didn't know either. It didn't care to know because this show is pretty much the anime definition of brainless fun to its very core. I can't say at all that it's a clever show but at the end of the day it did make me laugh a lot and I mean a lot indeed. It's hilarious and honestly the weakest parts of the show came when it tried to be something more than just a harem, ecchi comedy show. There were parts where it tried to be touching (not in that way, well... actually) or emotional but it didn't come off right at all. It was occasionally trying to be something it never was going to be. Stick to the ecchi jokes from now on guys and you have the thumbs up from me. Being a harem show it's crucially important that the characters were on point for this show and I'm happy to say the were mostly. There are a couple of characters I personally didn't care for such as the entire Monster Ops: Neutralization squad which couldn't have been less interesting had they tried. I can't believe they got an entire episode to themselves and the ending features them. Truthfully though that's a rather subjective view. They aren't horrifically written, just not my thing. As for the main girls though they all score very well as they are all genuinely very different. To quickly skim through them we've got the yandere snake girl (Miia), the bondage spider girl (Rachnera), the fairy tale addict mermaid (Meroune), the lolicon bird (Papi), the miss proportioned centaur (Cerea), the "Ha, I'm inside you" joke catalyst slime girl (Suu) and the one no one really remembers (Lala... I think). We've also got the protagonist who actually has slightly more of a personality then you might think for a harem although that's a bit like saying the headache you've got is a slightly less annoying then you'd expect. The point stands still though, it's annoying. Similarly he really still doesn't have much going for him and so I'm not going to waste my time talking about Mr. Kimihito. Going back to the girls it's a bit difficult to go through all of them individually so instead I'll just briefly highlight the notable characters to you. Miia is best girl and if you disagree you're wrong. Who doesn't love a lamia-like snake girl who goes bat shit crazy every time some even tries to get near her "DAARRRLLINNG!" She says that a lot by the way. I also really like Mero as her two faced attitude can make for some really funny moments. The way she manipulates Miia into thinking she's helping her get close to Kurusu but in reality she's getting herself closer is funny too. It's even funnier when Miia realises what's going on. Outside of these two though no one really appealed to me. To its credit though I liked all the girls at least enough to support them which is very rare in a harem. Kudos for that I guess. One thing I have to give this show huge credit for is its artistic merit. A lot of harems that I've seen are very lazy and ecchis even more so but there's no evidence of this here. It's a very good looking show which will keep you engaged visually for the entirety of its season. There are a lot of vivid colours to take in and overall it's just a very appealing aesthetic they've chosen. Much can be said for the animation too. Whilst I've seen better animated shows in my time that certainly doesn't mean you'll be missing out if you choose to dive into this show. All the scenes flow smoothly, there's very little lazy animating (which is sadly becoming more and more common today) and overall it runs just how you would want it to. Very little to complain about on this front. The opening of this show has very quickly attached itself to iPod music library and it's very obvious as of to why this is. The song is very catchy and fast paced, extremely suitable for the kind of show Monster Musume is. The visuals come and go at an equally quick pace but there's lots to look at and the opening is sure to get you into every episode as one should. It's also a really nice touch to have the voice actresses sing the opening. I know it's not the first show to do so (K-ON! also did this for example) but regardless it's a nice touch which raises the overall quality in my opinion at least. The ending is somewhat of an acquired taste as far as I'm concerned. I really didn't enjoy it too much and after 3/4 episodes I found myself just skipping it but I've seen a lot of other people really enjoy it so give a try at the least. So then is Monster Musume worth your time? Well it's somewhat niche and I can't see this being one of those shows that everybody loves but it definitely has its place in the world of anime. I would think anyone into ecchi shows is bound to enjoy it but even the wider fan base of just comedies might get something out of this too. It's very funny and it achieves its primary purpose (to entertain) with flying colours. Truthfully the show does lack any description of a plot but I don't really think it would even benefit from one. The shows appeal is its characters and its humour which I feel is the right way to go for the kind of show it is. Monster Musume does the job it sets out to do well and for that reason I can recommend this anime even if it is with a hint of precaution. Story: 6/10 Art: 9/10 Sound: 8/10 Character: 7/10 Enjoyment: 8/10 OVERALL: 8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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