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Jun 26, 2018
I think it’s a good sign that I’d like to see this adaptation cover the full story. Director Tada Shunsuke took on quite the undertaking in adapting something already beloved by many (myself included) that already has a fantastic adaptation - trying to make a product that did not alienate older fans, but modernized the story enough to gain new ones.
Given that Die Neue These only covers a small part of the full story that is Legend of the Galactic Heroes, it’s hard to review. It’s a bit like trying to judge a Lord of the Rings adaptation when the hobbits haven’t even gotten
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to Rivendell yet. LOTGH builds on itself more than most material anime adapts and a lot of the early stuff is just laying the groundwork for what comes later. Even so, this set of 12 episodes are meant to stand on their own as part one, and so I’ll digress.
LOTGH is (probably) the most epic story anime has ever adapted. The world building and attention to realism, history, and detail are on a scale most anime don’t even come close to. It also ignores most anime tropes and is plotted more like a traditional novel than most anime. So when a remake was announced, I was cautiously excited, wondering how much they’d change certain aspects to make the storytelling more in-line with modern anime.
My fears that Die Neue These would favor style over substance in order to satisfy a more “modern” audience - that isn’t credited with having the patience to sit through battle strategy or political discussions - were unfounded. I’m sure there are people out there who will nitpick and point out every little detail DNT left out, but overall it stuck with LOTGH’s strong sense of realism and detail that many other stories ignore for the sake of drama.
While LOTGH’s penchant for realism and discussions is one aspect that sets it apart from other stories and endears its fans, it can comes across as dry and boring to some audiences. I don’t think DNT did anything to “spice up” the drier parts of LOTGH’s storytelling. If anything, the initial episode and last few seem to drag its feet in places in order to cut the story off in certain places. I was always entertained because I love this kind of detail, and I already love the story and characters, but if the original OVA or light novel series bored you, I don’t think DNT did much to change that for better (in my opinion) or worse.
Politics and battle strategy isn’t the only place DNT stayed true to the original material. It stuck to the original light novels almost religiously, including pieces and details the OVA ignored or left out - including Yang Wen-li’s backstory (a much appreciated addition).
All this is great, but it’s hard to invest in a story when you don’t care about what happens to the cast. Thankfully, this isn’t a problem for LOTGH: DNT. To be fair, they had a great cast to work with, all they had to do was not screw it up. While the facial expressions don’t portray the same range of emotion I would’ve liked, the voice acting choices (for the sub at least) were well chosen. While the characterization could’ve been better, the production crew gave us far more than the bare minimum and remembered to include the little details and bigger personality traits (without overdoing it or turning characters into caricatures of their other selves) that help the LOTGH cast sit heads and shoulders above most anime casts in terms of depth.
Not everything worked out well though. The flashier, shiner look and character design might be the standard modern anime aesthetic, but it doesn’t suit the more gritty, realistic story that is LOTGH all that well. It looks great on the spaceships, and the battles and background shots looked fantastic, but overall look and feel (and especially with the characters) look far too shiny and pretty for a world that is everything but (Reinhard aside ;).
The soundtrack could’ve been better. This critique is partly the OVA’s fault - as the original adaptation opted to use nearly exclusively classic works - which added a lot to the epic scale and feel of the story. So it’s not that DNT’s OST is bad, just kind of there. I’m sure there’s a handful of good songs on it, but it didn’t enhance DNT the same way the OST did for the OVA.
Also, as mentioned earlier, DNT seemed to drag in parts because it wanted to cut episodes off at certain points and needed to find ways to fill in the rest of the episode in order to reach that goal.
Overall, I think this a great adaptation and want to see it run through the entire story. But I find myself asking if DNT succeeded in its goal of attracting a new audience and if it really did anything that the OVA didn’t do as good or better. Still, it’s a solid adaptation that stayed true to what makes LOTGH so great with an obvious amount of care and consideration put into every aspect of the story, and I’d really, really like to see more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Mar 24, 2018
Like many others, I highly anticipated Mahoutsukai no Yome. Maybe that was my mistake, and I expected too much. But even anime that fail to live up to expectations usually fail them this hard.
So where did things go wrong? The plot? The characters? The worldbuilding? All of the above?
I’ll start with what I liked about Mahoutsukai no Yome. It’s beautiful. There were scenes that were, for a lack of a better word, magical. The soundtrack is also worth listening too.
But despite having high production quality and a magical world to explore, Magus Bride falls flat thanks to its dull cast and lack
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of subtlety.
The side cast is composed of characters with similar “blandly nice” personalities with few exceptions. If you described these characters by personality alone, you wouldn’t be able to tell most of the cast apart.
Our heroine, Chise, isn’t much better, which is really a shame. The story about a young woman overcoming depression through love and exploring a magical realm has great potential, but this supposedly traumatized girl ends up swapping overly dramatic and intimate backstories with every person she meets. It happens too often, which, in addition to losing its effectiveness, also makes it hard to believe Chise struggled to connect with people prior to the story.
She also makes a poor first impression. In the first handful of episodes, the only action she takes is selling herself into slavery. She barely even walks on her own. I get that she’s depressed, but a character is supposed to entertain, not act like a living blob.
Once she finally shows interest into something other than the 400+-year-old man-child who bought her, she grows more interesting, but falls into the same “blandly nice” personality as the rest of the cast.
Elias, our hero, has a personality at least, but it’s not one I’m a fan of. He’s a man-child who throws a magical hissy fit the second Chise talks to someone he didn’t tell her to. While the show does call him out for some of his more possessive behavior, it often gets played off as humorous instead of dangerous.
The show’s premise doesn’t do Elias any favors. He starts the story buying an underage girl and calling her his bride. I get that Elias doesn’t quite understand the connotations of the word “bride,” but the mangaka does. That is the connection the writers wanted the audience to make.
While I think people often overreact to this, since the story seems aware of the problematic aspects of Chise’s and Elias’ relationship, it takes all the mystery out of their relationship. It frames everything they do automatically in a romantic light, rather than leaving room for mystery, magic, and interpretation.
This might not have bothered me except that the entire show does this. Everything is so blandly obvious it feels like the producers are holding up cue cards to the audience saying “cry now” or “find this magical” rather than subtly guiding the audience or letting them make up their own minds.
Every single episode has some grand moment where the music gets big and characters exchange tragic backstory and Chise has some “magical” moment of character progression and on and on. This is fine if done once or twice, but it’s done so often it feels hamfisted rather than genuine.
The show also seems addicted to cliff-hangers. Characters how up and threaten Chise, only to reveal themselves as good guys within a minute of the next episode. It gets old quick and makes you wonder why these supposedly nice people wanted to come across as creepy kidnappers during their first impression.
I really wanted to like this show, but it lacks the magic similar shows like Natsume Yuujinchou and Mushishi mastered. In the end, when you look beyond the exceptional backdrops, stunning soundtrack, and excellent production, there’s just not much there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Dec 23, 2017
I’m a sucker for historical-based fantasy, so Altair should’ve been the highlight of the year - but it ended up falling flat. While it did some interesting things, it ran into speed bumps that shows why anime rarely attempts epic scale fantasy stories.
The political in Altair interplay is on a level most anime don’t come near touching. The countries all feel unique and like a good deal of thought went behind their creation. The leaders and military commanders have refreshingly realistic stances that usually make sense and don’t feel like they were contrived to create drama or follow an oversimplified black/white, good/evil paradigm. However,
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a lot of the details get lost in the mix.
Altair moves at a breakneck pace. Sometimes, it feels like you’re meeting a full new cast of characters every episode. The nuanced political play ends up getting lost in a sea of strange names and terms that frustrates the viewer.
Because the details are there.
This show isn’t about flash and bombastic moments, filled with borderline illogical plots in order to satisfy the “rule of cool.” There’s real thought behind everything that happens, but it moves way too fast to pick up on everything. Often, you end up feeling lost and only seeing the surface-level of the story.
The pace ends up hurting the characters too. Supporting characters start blending together because there’s just too many of them and not enough time to differentiate them. Even the characters that show up in the majority of the episodes don’t get the chance to develop because they’re too busy jumping from one country to the next.
Altair could greatly benefit from a few scenes where characters just sit around drinking and having fun rather than always being in the middle of a political discussion or battlefield. Because I want to care about them, but it’s hard too when the anime never attempts to make an emotional connection with the viewer.
The animation itself leaves something to be desired. While the cities and clothing are varied by country, the animation can’t keep up and often skimps on details. Likewise, fight scenes usually fall flat for the same reason.
You still have to appreciate what Altair attempted. If doubled the number of episodes, or halved the content covered, Altair would’ve been a masterpiece. Every single country visited is rich in detail with the occasional Easter egg is thrown in to the delight of history fans like myself. Leadership and countries getting portrayed in mostly grey-and-grey morality is a refreshing and change from the notion of simple “good” and “bad.” And when the anime does slow down or spends more than two episodes on a conflict, the end result is highly engaging despite the lackluster emotional connection to the cast.
I haven’t read the manga, so I can’t confirm this, but I highly suspect this is a case of a poor adaptation of great content and that Altair will go down like Kingdom - skip the anime and read the far superior manga instead.
If you’re looking for anime that rely on detailed storytelling rather than flash and fanservice, then you might enjoy Altair. Sadly, the details fall through the cracks thanks to pacing issues that also end up hurting the characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Dec 16, 2017
Ballroom e Youkoso’s hype sank faster than 2-ton anchor. And it’s easy to see why. The show is plagued by lackluster animation and unlikeable characters.
Ballroom’s biggest disappointment is the extreme lack of any actual dancing (or ballroom-styled music). Shows can survive dull characters and repetitive melodrama if they deliver something else worth sticking around for, but Ballroom failed on its biggest promise - to see some dancing.
Instead of dancing, we get drawn stills and repetitive commentary from the audience about how great someone is or how much they improved or the differences between one dancing style and another, but never see any of
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it. And any dancing we do see looks more like chickens flapping around than anything graceful.
The lack of any actual dancing also removes a good deal of tension from the show, a staple of sports anime. Instead of seeing action, we hear commentary on the action, breaking any chance of creating tension whatsoever.
Bad animation isn’t the only reason behind the show’s lack of tension. While we’re watching our dancing stills and hearing people talk about them, we have very little clue about the sport itself. The points system, what judges are looking for, and any rules are only touched upon.
The characters are as disappointing as the animation. When Tatara’s not complaining, he acts a sponge that exists to soak up other characters’ drama. In the first half of the season, he’s at least a boring-but-nice guy, but in the second cour, he spends most of this time failing to take action and complaining a lot.
Oddly, Tatara is also the local psychologist - I guess. Not only is it weird that these characters (specifically, Shizuku and Mako) start blabbing their issues to someone they barely know, but they never actually talk to the person they’re having an issue with. The drama between these two girls and their dancing partners magically disappear without direct confrontation, which is not only confusing, but also misses on potential drama and character growth.
The trend continues in the second half. Akira and Chinatsu get two episodes dedicated to their past history - but hardly interact with each other in the present. Instead, we get a clunky two-episode flashback from Akira’s point of view and jump back into the present without furthering Chinatsu’s and Akira’s relationship in any way whatsoever.
Chinatsu is flat-out mean at times, and Tatara is flat-out pathetic. Their nonsense gets old after the first 10 episodes of the same thing over and over. On top of that, our supposed antagonist-rivals, Kugimiya and Akira, were made so sympathetic, that I don’t think I’ve ever wanted the leads to lose so badly before.
I’d say the odd, creepy fanservice moments earlier on where we’re supposed to be entertained by a highschool girl getting peeped on and embarrassed by an older man is unnecessary. But this anime never had much going for it.
Ballroom had so much promise. An anime about a visual sport? I was hoping for Yuri on Ice 2.0. By the end, I was hoping for anything remotely interesting to happen - including seeing a full dancing routine (crazy, right?). Instead, Ballroom provides little dancing, little tension, and lots of repetition and unlikeable characters.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 24, 2017
I have issues with Katsugeki/Touken Ranbu. I honestly have no idea how UFO Table managed to take such a fantastic premise partnered with stunning animation and make it so incredibly dry.
This is my first (and probably last) experience with the Touken Ranbu franchise. I have never played the game, nor seen the other anime adaption.
It didn’t take long to get the gist of it. The two dudes with unique designs were fighting baddies to prevent history from changing. Later on, you learn what time period they’re in and that they aren’t human, but famous weapons. And . . . that’s it.
Why are the
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baddies trying to change history? I don’t know. Why is Hijikata’s sword now a pretty man. I don’t know. What are those fox things? Still don’t know. What on earth do the baddies have to do to change history, since killing people, saving people, and burning cites to the ground apparently doesn’t change anything. Will anyone ever get a personality? Answer: not really. Will this plot ever get a direction? Answer: no.
I would’ve given this anime a stupid high score if it just got rid of it’s thin excuse for a plot and bland characters and just left the stunning back drops of historical Japan and beautiful nature scenes. UFO Table has never written a character I’ve cared for, but I always keep coming back for more blandness because of flashy fight scenes and beautiful backdrops (of which Katsugeki has plenty of).
The problem isn’t the animation (though, I still think UFO Table’s characters tend to look a bit plastic and lack facial emotions), it’s (almost) everything else.
Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki was easily the standout character of the main group. His genki personality helped lighten up an anime that otherwise took itself too seriously. His connection to Sakamoto Ryoma (of which I am a major fan), also helped. The episode where he helped Sakamoto survive the assassination attempt at the Teradaya Inn was easily the highlight of the series (but it only really hits you in the gut if you know Sakamoto was assassinated about a year later). The other characters were too briefly introduced (all of Unit 1), too angsty and inconsistent (Izuminokami Kanesada), or too bland (everyone else).
Izuminokami Kanesada was an especially frustrating character. Initially, he insisted that everyone “preserve history,” even if it meant letting someone die. Such a hardline approach would’ve made an interesting character. But he breaks his own rule in episode one, saving someone, and then proceeds to continue to take action that would change history (saving other people, talking to people, etc . . .) all of the while maintaining the angst level of a character that did stick to his rule. He also doesn’t seem to know the rules, telling the viewer that people are sent out in groups of two to stay under the radar, but that’s clearly untrue as far more than two people act as a group for other than the first few minutes of the series.
If the plot or world-building or even art or tone are interesting enough, it’s easy to overlook bland characters. But Katsugeki doesn’t offer up much.
The plot has no direction. The characters are given vague orders to “preserve history,” and they follow it. No one even takes any interesting action until the last few episodes and any drama about how to go about preserving history falls flat because people live and die without having any effect on the timeline whatsoever.
There’s also never an end goal, just beat up on random baddies until (for some unexplained reason) they give up on one time period and jump to another. Why they also just keep attacking Japan instead of a country that might mess history up even more like Rome or China, is also never explained.
There is also no explanation about the historical significance of the events the main characters are trying to protect. Thankfully, I knew who Katsu Kaishu, Saigo Takamori, and the others were, but if I hadn’t, I would’ve been even more lost about why the characters are protecting these people in the first place. Also, the episode featuring Sakamoto Ryoma packs a far more serious punch knowing he died about a year after the events in the episode took place - something the show hardly alludes too and not until the end.
The lack of character depth, world building, plot, and explanation about anything makes it rather clear that Katsugeki isn’t interested in telling a good story. All anime try to make money, but I’d appreciate it if they tried to do so by telling a solid story instead of promoting a video game and pretty-boy sword figures.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 24, 2017
Vatican Kiseki Chousakan is a guilty pleasure watch. It’s wildly fun and falls somewhere between “so bad it’s good” and “better than it deserves to be.”
Before I start picking Vatican apart, I want to say up front that, despite all the faults, it’s a lot of fun to watch. The eerie atmosphere and easy-to-like lead characters help make this anime more enjoyable, but what really makes it stand out (for better or worse) is the crazy plots and break-neck pace.
Anime often flirts with Christianity, usually through very liberal use of well-known imagery or characters (like the devil), but hardly ever in a semi-realistic
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light. So I was curious to see what Vatican would do with it.
Thankfully, instead of just having exorcists stand in gothic cathedrals hunting down famous demons, Vatican incorporated other, creepier, and less well-known Christian mysteries including things like stigmata and incorruptible corpses. As someone who’s fascinated with that sort of mystery, it was a lot of fun seeing an anime deal with it.
Likewise, our two priest characters were a refreshing change from the “hard boiled” priests about to give up on their faith or the “I’m just in it for the power” type priest characters Western media can’t seem to get enough of. Instead, Father Nicholas and Hiraga seem to actually believe in the religion they’re part of - which is nice. The anime actually strikes a good balance between letting their faith play a role in their motivations, but never getting preachy.
Even outside of comparisons to their Western counterparts, Hiraga and Nicholas are both intelligent, decent people. At first, they start a little too plain (especially Nicholas), but later both continue to develop as the story progresses. They’re also heavily ship-teased, which is always a plus for me.
Father Hiraga and Nicholas could’ve been even better characters if the anime ever gave them a chance to breathe. The anime moves at a breakneck pace most of the time, quickly jumping from one conversation to the other. Unfortunately, instead of actually seeing anyone solve any mysteries, we mostly get bombarded with characters summarizing their findings and given brief flashbacks showing them investigating while they’re talking. Information is often coming at you constantly, never really giving the viewer enough time to really immerse in any one scene.
The solutions to the mysteries are either the best or worst part of the show pending your personal opinion. Why? Because they’re usually just barely within the realm of plausibility. This applies to the overall mysteries and the smaller ones. I have a healthy imagination, but at times, even I was left wondering “uh, what?”
However, I don’t think this detracts from the story. I found the crazy theories and solutions and the almost unbelievably fast solutions our MCs came to a thrill to discover alongside them, because you never knew what would happen next.
This aspect is where the “so bad it’s good” comes into play. Not everyone will enjoy it and might get frustrated by how out-there things can get, but, for me, it took the story from what would’ve been a generic mystery show to something that stands out. It’s up to the viewer to decide if it stands out in a good way or a bad one.
The setting is cool and somewhat unique for anime, and the characters are solid enough to invest in. Sadly, the anime is weighed down heavily by it’s major pacing issues that keep it from being the fully immersive experience it should’ve been, but makes up for some of that with it’s crazy solutions that save it from being generic - for better or worse - you decide.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 24, 2017
Hitorijime My Hero is a decent BL story with likeable characters and fairly healthy relationships compared to the majority of the genre. It’s pacing, though, could use some work. And by some work, I mean A LOT of work.
Lucky for Hitorijime My Hero, all four main characters are engaging and play off each other well. It’s also nice to see our two couples not only interact with their love interest, but with other people - which is rarer in BL than I’d wish.
There’s also more at stake than just “will they get together,” especially with Masahiro Setagawa. It’s easy to get sucked into
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his story, because not only are you wondering if he and Kousuke Ooshiba will figure things out, but you’re also wondering if his bad home life will set him on a potentially dangerous path, raising the stakes of not only the story, but the success of his romantic relationship.
Despite spending time on Masahiro’s subplot and letting the characters interact with people other than their love interest, the anime spends the majority of its time focusing on the budding romantic relationships between two core couples - as any romance should.
The biggest success of Hitorijime is that it’s really easy to root for the couples. Not only are all the characters likeable, but the relationships are fairly balanced, healthy, and end up benefiting everyone involved. Unhealthy relationships can make for a good and drama-heavy story, but it wouldn’t fit the lighthearted tone of the show, so thankfully, there’s no overly forceful semes to ruin the fun, mostly relaxed atmosphere.
The animation, soundtrack, and voice acting aren’t anything to write home about, but they’re all solid and well-done.
The anime’s biggest issue, by far, is pacing. I believe this stems from the fact Hitorijime not only adapts the manga it’s named after, but a prequel too.
The first episode introduces us to the main couple. The next two episodes sidelines the main couple so heavily, that I thought they were the side couple. It was jarring, to get an intro, outro, and initial episode that seemed to set up one couple, only to switch to another pairing.
While the side couple is cute, their story isn’t nearly as engaging as our main pairing, leaving the first few crucial episodes as some of the story’s weakest. Once the story switches back to the main pairing, things smooth out until you realize that all of the plots and subplots are already wrapped up, and there’s still a handful of episodes left. There are other issues the characters have to work out, but the anime does a poor job giving the viewer cues what those problems will be until the characters are already dealing with them head-on.
If you like BL, Hitorijime My Hero is a must-watch. If you’re looking for a lighthearted, heartwarming romance, you might want to consider watching it. It’s an enjoyable, easy-to-watch story, but lacks anything that would take it from “decent & enjoyable” to “instant classic.”
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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