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Minor Spoilers Below.

Number of Episodes: 13 (about 20 minutes an episode)

Plot: A+ *Four high school girls overcome a multitude of challenges and go on an adventure of a lifetime to go to Antarctica. The story is so unique and exciting! The only flaw that prevents me from calling this a perfect anime is that the story focuses a bit too much on the slice-of-life problems of the girls and not as much time as I hoping it would on the expedition and the journey over to Antarctica. But overall, the story is so much fun and even with the distractions that the girls get from ... back home, it doesn't take away from a heartwarming and wholesome story about four kids overcoming the odds and doing something meaningful with their lives.

Visuals: A+ *Love the character designs. The goofy way that the girls smile. The different outfits that they wear. And the scenery is absolutely beautiful too! The attention to detail in the show is impressive too. Each location feels real and lots of care was put into showing off how real Antarctic expeditions work, what life on a ship is like, and they even made a pit stop into Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands and it gave us a small taste of what a life of luxury would be like if you got to spend a night at the resort.

Voice Acting: B+ *Some of the crying is a bit obnoxious in parts of the show, but overall, the main quartet of girls are so lovable and cute that you can forgive them for crying so loud over some trivial things. But besides that, the voices are all great and I was damn near moved to tears by several of the more serious moments.

Film Score/Soundtrack: B *Still need to listen to it, but in the context of the show, the music was excellent and it helped to make give the show a more dramatic and emotional impact without feeling too overly dramatic.

*Favorite Track:

Characters: A+ *I had the pleasure of watching this anime with a group of friends. There were four of us in total. All four of us had a different #bestgirl by the end. That's how great each of the characters are. As for the side characters outside of one expedition member that whined about missing her boyfriend like a maniac and the one that had a crush on the captain Gin Toudou, they were all likable and helped to make the expedition seem real. And Toudou and her friend Yumiko were especially good side characters that added a lot of emotional impact to the show. Especially with their interactions with Shirase.

1)Mari Tamaki nicknamed Kimari gets my vote for best girl. She starts off as the typical upbeat, ditsy, and friendly girl. And for the most part, that is her personality with one huge exception: she is the driving force of the show that keeps the group together kind of like Yui from K-ON! Kimari's reason for going to Antarctica is simple. She always wanted to do something exciting and meaningful with her youth, but always chickened out at the last moment. So when she found out about an opportunity to do something big with the help of some new friends, she jumped on the opportunity and not only wouldn't give up herself, but she wouldn't let any of her friends give up either. But she does so in a way that beams with optimism. The crazy thing is, her only baggage in the show was that her childhood best friend became jealous of her, so how does she resolve it, by forgiving her best friend and encouraging her to go on a trip by herself! What's funny is, when my friends and I were watching this, we all were talking so much shit about her friend Megumi and when Kimari opted to be the better person in the end, I turned to them and said, "that's why Kimari is best girl!"

2)Shirase Kobuchizawa: it's interesting that the show doesn't start out from Shirase's perspective considering that without her, there is no story. Shirase is the daughter of Takako Kobuchizawa who was the author of the book "A Place Further than the Universe" that tells of her experiences in Antarctica during her expeditions there. Three years prior to the events of the show, Takako went missing on her expedition and was presumed dead. Shirase being a determined and stubborn child, worked multiple jobs and saved up money during those three years so she could find a way to go to Antarctica to find her mother. This determination lead to her being a social outcast that was teased and nick-named "Antarctica" by the other kids at school because that was all she would ever talk about. On this journey, seeing her make friends that shared her passion and supported her was really refreshing and getting to see her precious smile when she meets with Kimari for the first time at the end of episode 1 made me realize right then and there that I knew that I was going to love this show.

3)Hinata Miyake: is an example of a person being at the right place at the right time. Of the four girls she has the least overall impact in regards to them making it to Antarctica, has the weakest reason for being in Antarctica, and her home drama wasn't explained very well and felt tacked-in just because the other girls had some drama and she needed some too. I actually had to look up the reason why Hinata quit school after watching the show. Apparently, she was a track star as a first year and in Japan, it's rude to be better than your elders. So the butt hurt older students picked on her and ostracized her for being better than her. This plus Hinata feeling bad for taking away their glory made her quit going to school altogether and to start working as a cashier. Now in America, if idiots pick on you for being better, they are the ones that are ostracized because that's how sports work. But that's what the story went with for Hinata and why she felt the need to escape and to do something. But outside that, Hinata was a really lovable character. Much like Kimari, she was upbeat, spastic, and focuses more on others than herself and she even tries to hide the fact that she's hurting on the inside. She also wears onigiri and sandwich T-shirts and is an absolute goofball of a character. Also, I love the attention to detail on the chase scene in episode 2 where we see how good of a runner Hinata is with her excellent running form. The animation looked so fluid and she was clearly faster than the other girls.

4)Yuzuki Shiraishi: Last but certainly not least we have the adorable Yuzuki who is a child-actress and pop star with an overly-controlling mother that dictates every aspect of her life. Her main reason for going to Antarctica was so she could make video reports on the status of the expedition to give people an inside view and because she was an icon. Yuzuki initially had no interest in going to Antarctica because she was sick of moving and wanted to go to high school. It took some warming up and throughout the show Yuzuki remains the most introverted of the group, but seeing her make friends for the first time and to attempt to make contracts for the other girls because she didn't really know how friendships work was both heartbreaking and also adorable because it meant that this poor girl was finally able to experience friendship for the first time.

Titles

Opening: *An absolute BOP of a song! Great visuals and super catchy! My friends and I watched all 13 episodes together and we vibed out to this song... hard! Never skipping it once. Definitely belongs somewhere on my favorite anime intros list.

Closing: *That moment at the end of episode 1 with Shirase gifting us with that huge precious smile as this song kicks off into full gear was the moment I knew this show would hold a special place in my heart forever. I have watched the ending for episode 1 multiple times because I adore the visuals that take place and how ridiculously catchy that piano melody is and how it builds up to that irresistibly catchy chorus. Easily one of my favorite outros to a show!

Final Verdict: 10/10 *A Place Further Than the Universe is a show that I can recommend to anyone. It has so much heart and is such a unique story that I feel like everyone can get something out of it. Even if you aren't able to necessarily relate to any of four girls, just the idea of going on an adventure to Antarctica and seeing some of those incredible sights and having the pleasure of doing so with a group of people that will eventually become some of your closest friends sounds like a dream come true! I love the overall messages that this show has too. Work hard and make something of your life. Other people may laugh at you for your decisions, but if you have a goal, stick with it and find people that will help you to achieve it. I also love the sense of camaraderie that being in a difficult and as dangerous of an area as Antarctica is. Being in an environment that forces you to work together to get the impossible done gives off such a rewarding feeling when you are able to accomplish things together as a team. While it may sound like a grueling lifestyle to some, I think that is what makes so many of life's adventures worthwhile in the end. And I'm glad to see that I am not the only one that thinks so.

Number of Episodes: 10 (20 minutes each)

Plot: A *Kotarou Satоou is a four-year-old boy who moves into an apartment complex to live alone. The story is about Kotarou and his interactions with the residents of the apartment and the other people he meets in his life. It's a show about friendship and how people working together can break societal norms to do the right thing by keeping a young boy safe as we slowly learn the circumstances as to why Kotarou lives alone. It's a beautiful and gut-wrenching story.

Visuals: B *Unique character designs make Kotarou easy to fall in love with. And I appreciate that ... the females in the show while drawn to look attractive weren't overly sexualized even though Mizuki works at a gentleman's club.

Voice Acting: B+ *Sub and dub are both really good. The main issues once come with the over-the-top anime antics of characters to spazz out over trivial matters. And there are only a few characters that are guilty of this in the show.

Film Score/Soundtrack: A *A solid mix of upbeat and playful songs with a French feel to them and some gut-wrenching piano ballads. Really sets the tone of the serious and makes for a fantastic stand-alone listen. The music from the show is a real strength!

Favorite Track: Main Theme 2 *I'm sure it has an official title, but this melancholic piano ballad is gorgeous! And I love how when the strings come in to play the final verse, even though it's the same chords, the song just feels more optimistic. Lovely song.

Characters: A *Kotarou is adorable and is officially in #mustprotect status. That poor little boy has been through so much and the more you find out about him, the sadder you feel and the more you want to give this little feudal lord a big hug. But the most underappreciated part of the story is the development of his next door neighbor Karino Shin who starts off as an introvert that stays inside all day and doesn't live up to his whole potential but starts to open up and become a better man because he cares for Kotarou and wants to do good for him. Kotarou's positive personality helps to inspire all of the residents in Kotarou's building and seeing how the community works together to help Kotarou to grow was heartwarming. It's the type of show that reminds you about the power that strong communities can have and it is a truly beautiful story.

Cringeworthy Anime Moments: The main complaints go to Tamaru, Kobayashi, and Takei who are complete spazzes. Tamaru has some redeemable moments, but the antics that these characters have in their limited free time is pretty annoying to watch. Especially Kobayashi who got drunk in front of Kotarou and took off her shirt. Too many times shows can get away with stuff like this because "it's anime" and that is a textbook example of an anime moment that had no reason to be in here.

Titles:

Opening: *Upbeat and fun song with a super cute synth that kicks us the song off to the happy sounding verse that explodes into a memorable chorus. The visuals are energetic and match the song's energy. Obligatory characters running forward cliche too.

Closing: *A perfect way to end each episode. Haunting vocals that grow even more powerful with an explosion of instruments helping to make the emotional impact of each episode stick that much more than it already did. Each episode has its own illustrations to accompany its ending which is a nice touch.

Final Verdict: 8/10 *I really hope that this gets a second season. Kotaro Lives Alone is an adorable show that won my heart before the first episode ended and became an easy binge for me. I adored the majority of the characters and became invested in this little community. Great show that has so much more potential if the story gets finished.

Number of Episodes 23 (about 20 minutes each)

Plot: B- *The first 12 episodes this gets an A+. But the show really derails in the second half. The story follows the life of a young boy named Bojji who is next in line for the throne after the death of his father King Bosse. However, the people doubt Bojii's ability to lead the Kingdom due to him being born deaf and mute and having a younger half-brother named Daida who seems more fit for the throne. The story follows Bojii on his journey into taking what is rightfully his and an intriguing mystery that unearths a ... sinister plot that threatens the fate of the entire Kingdom.

Visuals: A *I adore the children's book art style that this show has. The coloring is beautiful and the character designs are unique and it really makes them stand out. Up until the second half of the show, the fight scenes are engaging and a lot of fun before they become more cliche, and like your typical Shonen fight with characters being beaten down over and over again to the brink of death and ultimately never dying.

Voice Acting: A+ *The voice acting in the show is superb! Both the dub and the original Japanese voice actors did a great job. I stuck with the dub because the show had a more European style to it and I felt it was more fitting, but you can't go wrong with either. I especially love how adorable Bojii's grunts are and the voice acting of Hiling and Despa in particular is superb. Christopher Sabat is definitely one of my favorite voice actors Zoro One Piece,

Characters: B+ *What made Ranking of Kings so interesting from the start is how they present the characters. The show does a great job of giving you one POV of a character before showing them in an entirely different light through a backstory that paints them from an entirely different angle. And the best example of this comes from Queen Hiling who starts off seemingly like she is going to be the stereotypical evil stepmother trope but instead is actually an adorable tsundere that loves her boys but doesn't like to be public about it. Just about every main player in the show has something similar done with them which gives them more depth than most shows do. However, the show takes this approach too far and tries to use this sort of approach to justify some of the vile actions that evil characters like Lady Miranjo performed and it just doesn't work.

Cringeworthy Anime Moments: Not much cringe in the show, and I loved the humor overall. The problem mostly comes from the fact that the plot falls apart towards the end and they removed the stakes of the show with the amount of times they make it seem like a character is going to die only for them to get healed at the last moment. It feels cheap and makes the fights far less interesting when characters can get up and fight again after becoming emotionally invested and thinking that they died not just once, but multiple times already. Also, the hate the sin not the sinner trope is the main theme of the anime, and considering the horrible things Miranjo does, it doesn't feel satisfying to end the show the way that they do.

Titles:

Opening 1: *Stupid catchy, uplifting, and fun. Love the artwork, and like any classic anime intro, it involves characters marching or running forward.

Opening 2: *It took a couple listens, but I think I prefer this to the original intro even though it's about where the writing in the show starts to fall apart. The song starts off with a quiet whisper-like voice with an acoustic strumming sound that picks up in its intensity before building up to an epic beat and then an awesome chorus. It reminds me

Ending 1: *In typical anime fashion, we have a melancholic and slower ending song with pianos and gorgeous vocals. And the visuals to accompany it are of Kagi taking care of Bojii as he sleeps. Really cute song!

Ending 2: *Adorable artwork and a piano-rock ballad that immediately makes me think of RADWIMPS and 君の名は。 [Your Name.] before it breaks off into a super catchy chorus.


Final Verdict: 7/10 *What the heck was the author thinking? All the show had to do was have Miranjo stay as the villain and make King Bosse be a puppet that she used to get her way and the ending would have been way better and it would have made way more sense. I have nothing against a sympathetic villain with a backstory that makes you understand their motivations, but having a sad backstory is not enough to make a character forgivable for their actions. And that is the biggest fault of the Ranking of Kings. Bojii might be able to forgive Miranjo for her actions, but that doesn't make it the right choice. And I won't even get into the morally questionable choice that Daida makes. It's such a shame that the show fell apart after such great promise at the start. I binged the show over a weekend because the premise, the artwork, the voice acting, and the music were so good. I was on team Bojii and was pretty much just like his hype-man Kage along the way. I still found the overall experience enjoyable, but I can't help but wonder how special this could have been if they didn't go with the cloudy moral message at the end and instead just wrote an ending that made sense,

I hate how much I enjoyed this show.

It's so damn lewd and raunchy at times, but damn it is surprisingly wholesome and had me grinning and laughing more often than not. I watched the first half dubbed and was surprised with how sexual the vocabulary was and I didn't expect it to be. Phrases like hard-on, sus, and jerking off nearly made me spit out my drink. Anime is not normally that forward so seeing a show like this was a surprise from a comedic standpoint and I think the dub was even more forward than the sub which I appreciated.

However, the downside ... of the show stems from the fact that it is hard to recommend it to most people because of how messed up the bullying is and it is hard to forget how bad it was at the start. Can you imagine how poorly this show would be received if you swapped the genders? Women really do have double standards. Or I guess guys who like anime do tend to be like Hachiouji (mainly referred to as senpai), loners that don't really go out of their way to interact with girls so one who bullies them into doing stuff is kind of a closet turn-on for them. Hey, I am not kink-shaming, but there comes a point when you have to man up a bit and stick up for yourself. And it was so rewarding when Senpai FINALLY does towards the end of the season. But the amount of sexual harassment Senpai had to endure from Nagatoro, Yoshi, Sakura, and Gamou before the show started becoming wholesome was absurd.

But once you get past the messed-up bullying, the teasing starts to become cute and it's nice to see Nagatoro start to slowly build Senpai's confidence and to get him to become a better artist. And some of the sexual innuendoes and scenarios that she and her friends place him in are so ridiculous that I couldn't help but facepalm and laugh. This show falls in the "don't watch in public", and in my "guilty pleasures" and the "never tell anyone who isn't a man of culture that I enjoyed this show" categories.

It started off fairly interesting with a reclusive high school boy that is passionate about making Hinata Dolls and has trouble making friends because of his interest in something that is embarrassing to admit to others his age. So he ends up befriending one of the most popular girls in school due to his ability to sew and learns about cosplaying and decides to help her to achieve her dream... which is to cosplay as a sex slave from an eroge game??? Ughhhhh... What?! I guess the anime community is really horny right now or something because this just doesn't make sense to me how ... this show is being deemed a really wholesome one. It's got lots of fanservice (an entire episode devoted to body measurements being taken), and then of course they have to add a middle-school cosplayer that has a full-on naked scene because we obviously need a loli for this show to work.

Meh, this is just waifu bait. Was hoping for a nice rom-com. Not this generic ecchi story filled with so many of the same tropes.
4/10

Despite the moe character design, Lucky Star is very... bland. What K-ON! did for the moe genre was revolutionary and has an incredible story in its own right with a cast of lovable characters. Lucky Star essentially is just a show about a group of high school friends that make fun of anime tropes, high school and really specific Japanese foods, and Japanese things in a snarky way. Some of the jokes land and are pretty funny. Most of them don't and it makes the show seem more like a commentary about the anime industry as a whole as opposed to a show worth watching ... on its own without watching other anime. Also, if you need to have watched other shows to understand a bunch of the jokes, unless you do something like Clerks did when they made reference to Star Wars with the Death Star,, give a quick explanation for people who might not have seen it and then proceed to make a really solid point about government contractors and relate it to real-life, just attempting to parody it, and then making reference to what you are parodying reminds me of those terrible comedy movies like Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Vampires Suck. It's just lazy. Wouldn't recommend this to anyone other than to say that the OP is the type of BOP that you listen to with headphones and never tell another soul about. Super cheesy and embarrassingly catchy. Like a weeb national anthem.

All hail the Lucky Star OP!
I BUY SAUSAGE!!!!!

3/10

I will do my absolute best to include as little spoilers as possible. I feel sorry for anyone that got turned away from Fruits Basket because they thought that it was going to be a reverse harem or if the Yuki fan club members scared them away. They missed out on one of the most beautiful journeys that I have had the pleasure of experiencing over the last three years. A journey that I have already gone on a second time when I introduced my mother and sister to it who both are in love with the Souma family as well. I can't recommend this ... s000eries enough.

There is not enough praise going around about myanimelist's #5 anime of all time at the time of this review. Fruits Basket season 3 was a triumph in every sense of the word. It made me laugh. It made me cry. And it provided one of my favorite stories an incredible ending that I shall never forget. Fruits Basket is one of the rare shows that has a large ensemble of characters where each character adds so much life to the show. The more characters they add, the more energy and love the show has because each character with the exception of the gag characters (I'm looking at you Kimi from the Student Council and you Yuki fan club members) has so much care put into making their characters not just memorable, but giving them quirks that make them seem real. The characters are so interesting with their own sets of flaws and things to love about them that it is so easy for you to have a totally different favorite character and different ship than I do. And speaking of, Fruits Basket is a show about relationships and how people can help each other to grow and to move on from past traumas. Watching how the characters learn to move on with the help of Tooru has been an absolute blessing. But now, it's Tooru's turn to cry for help. She has been so selfless for so long and her world is coming crashing down. And on the flipside, Akito becomes more and more desperate. Everything comes at you all at once and it is hard to stop watching as each and every episode has you at the edge of your seat. Are we even watching the same show anymore? Fruits Basket S1 and S2 had some episodes that emotionally wrecked me, but it was never a show that kept you in the chair and clicking next episode and saying you can catch up on sleep tomorrow as S3 does. But because S3 is a culmination of what S1 and S2 built up to, we are so invested in the characters, that when everything comes crashing down, you can't help but lose your mind as the story dives headfirst to the conclusion leaving you emotionally violated yet at ease because you now know that everything is going to be ok.

I adore S1 and S2, but S3 is just great television and I think that even those who didn't like S1 and S2 would be able to appreciate how good the writing is. And the pacing in particular which is just out of this world with one twist after another before they gracefully gave us a beautiful ending to it all. I can't think of Fruits Basket anymore without feeling nostalgic and whenever I listen to the OST, I always have to hold tears back because too many fond memories come flowing back to me all at once. It's amazing how many great characters this series has.

Tooru is the most lovable protagonist that I've had the pleasure of watching. Seeing her grow over time, overcoming new challenges, standing strong in the face of adversity, always putting others above herself and being able to fight through her grief and feelings with the help of her friends was inspiring. She isn't the smartest, nor the most talented, but she has a great heart, and her desire to do good and her actions and her uncanny ability to say what is in her heart to those that need her love and guidance at the most pivotal of moments is so beautiful to see and makes Tooru easy to root for and to fall in love with as we saw with Kyo and poor poor Momiji.

And on the flipside, Akito's transformation is one of the most impressive things that I've seen from any story. Akito already was one of my favorite antagonists. But without the backstory that S3 provides and getting to see what Akito has been through with Ren, the abusive and manipulative mother who despised Akito and Akito's warped relationship with Akira, Akito's father and the previous head of the Souma household who never taught Akito right from wrong and preached that Akito was a child to be loved, and loved Akito unconditionally but died when Akito was really young, you don't understand why Akito behaves in the violent manner that drives all of the Soumas away. Akito's upbringing parallels to Tooru's in the sense that both of them lost their fathers at a young age, but it differs because Tooru was raised with a loving mother that dotes on her, and Akito was raised by an abuser that questioned the sanctity of Akito's bonds with the Zodiac and even used her sexuality to take them away from Akito causing Akito to have an extreme distrust of women that made Akito lash out at the Zodiac women and at Tooru who made Akito feel threatened. Seeing it all come tumbling down and Akito's progress as a character was so rewarding. I'll never forgive Akito for the terrible things that were done to Rin, Kisa, Kureno, and for striking Momiji, but Fruits Basket is proof that with time, and with the right people around you, anyone can take the proper steps to change.

It's a shame that Fruits Basket the Final Season is only 13 episodes because there is so much potential for the show to grow. And yet, it was the perfect length to make every second count and to keep things exciting. But because they spoiled us with such a lovable cast of characters I can't help but want to see each and every one of them getting to have a happy ending and seeing what else is in store for them. For the most part, they do a great job of hinting at how everyone is going to move on, but the one that I think needs more time is my favorite Momiji. He could have used an additional scene with him and Momo at the end to test my tear ducts yet again to see if they are still working. But besides that, there is just enough closure that everyone should be happy with how the show ends for all of the characters despite being sad because they have to say goodbye to them one final time. Well at least until the Fruits Basket: Prelude movie comes out that is.... I am super excited to see how Kyouko and Katsuya meet and getting to get a glimpse at Tooru's happily ever after. I can't wait!

10/10[/b *One of the best seasons of any show that I've seen.

Congratulations Hideaki Anno, you finally ended Evangelion!

The memes about Evangelion never getting an end can finally be put to rest and Anno can work on things that are less stressful and with much less demand considering that we Eva fans tend to be some of the most toxic, consumeristic, (the merchandise for the show is INSANE and I own so many absurd Eva things myself haha) and passionate groups out there. When a medium of entertainment is popular, it brings out the absolute worst in people and there are expectations that people expect to be made. Anno has never been about making anything conventional which ... is a big part of the reason why Eva was such an interesting show for me which ultimately became an obsession. So when the Rebuild films diverged as far as they did from the original series, it makes sense that they too greatly fascinated me and have become a subject of mass debate amongst Eva fans as the films have polarized the fanbase as a whole.

When creators try to subvert expectations, they do it mainly for two reasons:
1)They want to trick the audience to have them on the edge of their seats
2)They are being experimental and want to take the audience down unchartered territory as they discover the story for themselves.

I'm not trying to argue that Anno doesn't plan things out ahead of time and that he wrote these stories on a whim because I have no idea how his thought process for planning out the storyboard went. (Although it is worth mentioning that the original Eva show frequently had episodes being finished right before their deadlines when he worked with Gainax because they were so poorly mismanaged as a company.) What I am trying to say is that Anno doesn't strike me as the sort of writer that wants to trick his audience. He is just a creative soul that writes what is in his mind at the moment and Evangelion was always a very personal story for him. The internal conflict within him which was always the basis of the Eva series changed over the years and with each part of Eva saga being written at different points of his life leads to each ending having an entirely different connotation. The first ending from the original series was a rushed but unexplained mess limited by both budgetary and time restraints. While it is a convoluted mess, it serves as a final therapy session for Shinji, Asuka, and Rei that ends with a literal congratulatory tone. Anno did the best he could but ultimately the ending was a disappointment. His masterful story had an ending but it upset many fans and sadly brought out the ugly in people leading to a bunch of hate mail.

So, Anno was given another chance with a larger budget and the benefit of time to give Eva the ending that he wanted to. And the final result was the End of Evangelion movie which ends the series with a vengeful and angry tone. Call it a happy ending if you want to, but the way that the story is portrayed I can’t help but think of the film as Anno’s way of lashing out at the fans and at himself for things ending the way that they did. Seeing Shinji at his absolute lowest at the very start of the film, watching all of the characters being relentlessly killed off while the two main heroines fight heroically before literally being torn apart and then following that up with Shinji starting and ending the Third Impact by choking Asuka, I don’t know you could watch this and not feel the anger that went into making this film. Who makes a movie featuring characters that you’ve grown attached to over the course of 26 episodes and brutally kills them all leaving you an ambiguous ending that people can only theorize about out of love? Maybe George R. R. Martin, but not Hideaki Anno. If he had, the film would have been made in a much more conventional way and the End of Evangelion likely isn’t my favorite movie like it still is today.

Fast forward to 2021. It’s been nearly 10 years since ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:Q [Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo] and Anno had essentially already given up on Eva due to the dark place he was in at the time of his life. Anno had already given Eva the angry ending. But he wanted to give Eva the happy ending that every great story deserves. Unfortunately, life got in the way. The fall of Gainax and Anno having life-long friends who ended up being corrupt that took advantage of him and were profiting off of his successes led to Anno getting into a rut. As someone who has gotten into many ruts in my own life, I know how hard it is to get back out of them. Sometimes you need that little push to get you out of it. And that push can from friends, family, or sometimes, from movies. Neon Genesis Evangelion as a series helped me to get out of one of the biggest ruts in my life and the End of Evangelion film helped to spark my passion for cinema and cemented me as the otaku that I am for anime culture. However, despite being out of the rut that once encapsulated me, I went down a very different path than I intended to prior to being within the rut. Will I go forth on the path that I was previously on or will I walk a different one? That is something even I don’t know the answer to, but I know that I have a path that I am eagerly walking towards now and I have no intentions of stopping and looking back in the fears that my past might drag me back down into that crippling abyss yet again. And I think that’s why Anno waited so long to give Eva the ending that he wanted to. And I can respect that.

But as the years went by, Anno knew that he couldn’t leave the Evangelion franchise as he did. The show needed an ending. Anno needed an ending. And this time, he was determined to give it the happy ending that it deserved. The problem was, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo left the franchise in such unchartered territory and left a sour taste in so many fan’s mouths that it would take a film with an extremely long runtime to give Shinji a proper arc to his character while explaining what the hell transpired. Well, it pays to be the boss sometimes because now, with as much time as Anno needed, and with an adequate budget, he was able to give Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time the 2 hour and 35-minute runtime it needed to give the Evangelion franchise it’s third and final ending. While my biggest complaint with the Rebuilds as a whole remains unanswered since Mari still lacks characterization with no backstory and how she fits into the overall plot remains vague and largely ignored, Thrice Upon a Time checked about every other box that I was hoping it would and then some. It also requires you to suspend your disbelief a lot in regards to how these ginormous flying Evas ships were constructed and how Gendo was able to create all of the crazy-ass machinery on his own with just Fuyutsuki by his side, but if you could already believe that humans could build these synthetic Evangelion mecha machines before, then them making the leap from living robots that can run to ones that can fly I guess isn’t the biggest stretch. But taking all of that into account considering that is what Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo left us with, what Thrice Upon a Time was able to do to give the Rebuild series and the Evangelion series as a whole the much-needed closure is nothing short of remarkable.

The film starts off with a huge CGI battle in France that will likely be remembered not for how awesome the CGI is, but because of Shiro Sagisu’s incredible song “Paris” and for Mari literally picking up the Eiffel tower and using it to destroy her enemies. Then the film reminds us how the last one ended with Shinji once again in a rut very similarly to the one that he was in the End of Evangelion. Despite a beautiful montage with a ridiculously catchy song in “Hands of Fate”, a feisty Asuka that tries to beat Shinji out of his rut, friendly adult Toji, Kensuke and Hikari who offer Shinji their home and give him space, and then an adorable Rei Q (aka Farmer Rei) who offers him her unconditional love, none of this is able to get Shinji the spark that he needs to be himself again. Real ruts are not things that stop right away with the snap of a finger. They take time to get through. However, a finger does need to snap to get you out of it. And unfortunately, the SNAP in this movie was more of a jarring bang that signified a change of tone in the story as a whole. The time of recovering was over. It was a sharp reminder of the evil that Gendo was committing and that he needed to be stopped. And Shinji now has the will to do it. The End of Evangelion Movie Shinji never was given the chance to recover like he was here. In that film, Misato literally drug his lifeless body to the Eva and her death sparked Shinji just enough so he would pilot the Eva one last time.

In Thrice Upon a Time, Shinji didn’t need that motivation. Fully recovered and recognizing his own self-worth again, he finally has the courage to do the thing that only he can do: Stand up to his father and save the world. This leads to an epic final “boss fight” of father vs. son that not only is unconventional with the style as there is some goofy “gummy” CGI physics when the scale is grand but when the world becomes small and they end up fighting in locations from Shinji’s memory, the fight becomes more detailed and more confined and personal. Naturally, a final boss fight in Eva would end in an unconventional way as well. Shinji has the balls to stand up to his father. He fights him and holds his own. So how does he defeat him? By offering his hand and listening. They do the one thing that they should have done from the beginning: they talked. And after Gendo finally opens up to Shinji, he provides closure for his father. He provides closure for Kaworu. He provides closure for Kaji. He provides closure for Rei Q. He provides closure for Asuka. He provides closure for Misato. And finally, he receives closure and happiness for himself. A new world is created and Shinji provides happiness for all. In End of Evangelion, Shinji gives everyone the freedom to choose individuality or to choose Human Instrumentality. In Thrice Upon a Time, Shinji chooses a world without Evas and without Angels. He chooses a world where everyone was given a fair shot and they can make the most of their own lives. A world where Shinji is no longer expected to be the hero. A world where he can live a normal life. Goodbye Evangelion. Thank you for the memories and for making me the man that I am today. Hello to a new life and the happiness that it will bring.

I like to think that is what Anno’s thoughts were when he had Shinji say Sayonara Evangelion. He is ready to move on and with no regrets. The road to the end was filled with lots of struggle, pain, and sadness. But an end was reached, and it was one that Anno could look at with fondness. I am happy for him. And I am happy for all of us Eva fans who now have an ending we can all be proud of. Damn, now I have to figure out if I prefer Komm Susser Todd over Voyager. What an incredible sequence and a brilliant end to my favorite story.

This film is damn near perfect, even though the ending is more melodramatic than it has any right to be.

If I wasn't such a lunatic fanatic of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Stein;s Gate, and Fruits Basket, Violet Evergarden would be my favorite anime of all time because of how consistently great it is. All three of my favorite series listed above have something you can nitpick about them. In Evangelion, it's the excessive fanservice. In Steins; Gate it's the over-the-top Chunibyoisms and Otaku humor. And in Fruits Basket, it's the cringe Yuki fanclub and the spastic reactions of some of the Somas that lead to unnecessary ... fighting. But Violet Evergarden is different.

Violet Evergarden is a show that does a great job in consistently providing the viewer with heartwarming and tear-jerking content while getting us invested in a new set of characters in each episode that we have the privilege of seeing through Violet's eyes which takes the forefront of each episode. Meanwhile in the background, her relationship with her fellow CH Postal Service employees grows and there are tell-tale signs of the war coming to a close before Violet herself is forced to fight for the first time since she lost her arms in battle helping to ensure that the peace treaty was kept. Everything in the Violet Evergarden saga was left answered and tied into a neat little bow with one exception: the fate of Violet's Major Gilbert. And if he was dead, how would Violet learn to cope with it?

Truth be told, I would have been fine with Gilbert being dead. And I expected it based on what we were shown in the series from the battle and with him being MIA for several years now. But after seeing the trailer and having it revealed that he was alive prior to watching the movie, the biggest question becomes why did Gilbert choose to let everyone believe that "Gilbert" died? Why didn't he come back home?

How they handled it was pretty interesting and it lead to Violet being heartbroken and Claudia Hodgins having a big character moment to try to get Gilbert to come back to his senses. But the truly special moment that comes from this was the redemption arc of Gilbert's brother Dietfried who started off as such a pompous ass to Violet and who ended up coming through in the clutch. I really liked how his character slowly started to change throughout the series. He may never be friendly to Violet, but he has proven that he has her back and that he respects her and he now considers her to be human. Which is a big step up from when he refered to her as a tool of war that could only follow orders lol!

While I love how they were able to close off the main plot and to give us the closure that we needed, what I never expected from the Violet Evergarden movie was that the side story would be what makes it go from being a fine conclusion to a great series to a special film that gives the critically acclaimed incredible Episode 10 "Loved Ones Will Always Watch Over You", the episode with the little girl whose mother was dying, a run for its money for the most heart-wrenching sets of letters that Violet had to write. Which speaking of, the movie's opening sequence making reference to that episode and having the film being told to the little girl's grandaughter in the future was absolutely brilliant because we get to see how much of an impact Violet had on the family and sadly how a lot of history gets lost to time.

Anyway, back to the side story. Violet's encounter with the young boy Yurith starts off bizarre and hostile. You see him shun his family and treat them all terribly. But once you find out why he wanted to hire Violet, his actions all make sense and it is extremely heartbreaking and must be hard to put into words how you feel to the ones closest to you are so young, uneducated, and feel that no one understands what you are going through. Watching how he described his relationship with his family to Violet and how she helped him to write the letters was beautiful. But it was how the letters were presented at the end of the film that absolutely destroyed me. My mom and I watched this together over the phone on Netflix and I'm sure she could hear me sniffling and trying my best to hold myself from crying. I was a wreck. And we hadn't even gotten to the melodramatic Gilbert finale yet!

For a show with as unique of a premise as Violet Evergarden has, it needed a movie to give its fanbase a proper send-off that can make them say, "I am satisfied with how it ended". The film's main story did a good enough job to satisfy the high standards of its heavily spoiled fanbase. But without the side story, I don't believe it would have been grand enough for a theatrical release. Coupling the emotional impact of Yurith's medical condition together with Violet's world falling apart gave the film those much-needed stakes so the film could have a successful cinematic release. I wish I had the chance to have seen it in theaters. But I was happy to have been able to watch it with my mom and I'm happy that the film touched the hearts of most of those who have seen it. And from a technical standpoint, once again Kyoto Animation delivered as this is a beautifully animated film with visuals that somehow exceeds the gorgeous artwork from the series with new tracks added to what was already an amazing film score. My only complaint with the film really is that Violet and Gilbert's ending didn't have to be so cliche and over-the-top. But I was too busy wiping my tears away from the Yurith sequence to care.

What an amazing movie!

Echidna steals the show in every scene she is in and if there was more of her, I would have enjoyed this arc so much more than the first part. Although, I do think the tea party scenes would have been better and felt less gimmicky if the other witches weren't cutesy anime tropes.

But much like part 1, my issues with the show come from Subaru himself who for some reason doesn't seem to understand the value of his own life even though other characters keep force-feeding to him over and over again that they love him or that he is their friend. We even ... have a super heartfelt episode with his parents that telling him that it's ok for him to not be perfect and it's ok for him to struggle and for Subaru to be Subaru. You can't always live up to the glory of your parents. So how does he break out of that rut, he realizes that he has a girl that cares for him, which is probably not the best message to be delivering to the lot of lonely Otakus that is watching this show that may or may not have a girlfriend or boyfriend of their own to help comfort them. And more importantly, you shouldn't have to depend on others to validate yourself. However, having friends to help you and having others that care about your well-being is a great feeling that everyone should strive to have.

But then a couple of episodes later he gets back into a rut and thinks that his life has no value until Otto calls him a friend and he laughs at Otto for doing so. And then he once again doesn't see the value in his life until the Witches at the tea party through their own twisted reasoning and fascination with him have to once again prove to him that his life as value only for him to be surprised when Otto saves him again. Like bro, how many times do you have to be taught this lesson? Get your shit together and let's save Emilia already. Beautrix made her own choice 400 years ago, at this point, Emilia is the one that needs your help.

This arc was so frustrating to watch and it's a shame because I love what they are building up to. Roswaal is such a fascinating character and each interrogation he and Subaru has revealed a tad bit more of his schemes and is so interesting to watch. I am an Emilia-stan, but Echinda is making a hard case for being the best girl of the serious with how interesting her tea party conversations with Subaru were. I had literal chills when she was explaining why she wanted to make a pact with Subaru and will wonder what could have been if Subaru would stop having so much pride and allowed himself to get help from others. And maybe instead of simping on Emilia, if he actually tried to find out what was causing her to fail the trial, he could actually help her to pass it? No reason why Emilia should have become this useless damsel in distress for these 13 episodes after essentially having the same thing happen in part 1 all because Subaru won't talk to her. Ughhh will he ever learn?!

To summarize, this arc I feel could have been much shorter than 13 episodes. It dragged on and Subaru needs to take his head out of his ass and start making some smarter decisions to get results. If he wants to get the best result, sometimes, compromises need to be made. We'll see if he is able to achieve that in the next arc. Which I'm sure is going to be way better than this one.

Also, props to Otto for being an awesome friend and screw Subaru for how awfully he treats him. Otto is the real chad of this series and Subaru gives him the shaft way too much.