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Jul 21, 2021
There is a conspiracy theory or rather.. 'conspiracy joke' going around that every anime, manga or light novel with "raising of a child" as its main subject has been secretly funded by the Japanese government in order to raise the low birth rate of Japan. Two well-known examples are the adorable Usagi Drop, and the very funny and sweet Kakushigoto.
While this anime is not quite at the same level as the above it belongs to the same subgenre. The setting might be very different, since the genre is fantasy, and the little girl Latina is not even human, but that's largely decorative. The core, the
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heart of the story is, again, the "raising of a child", and the joys and difficulties of being a single parent.
I rated the story with '6' because, while it's cute and nice and all, there is barely any tension, barely any danger or difficulties for Latina and Dale, the man who took her in. Dale is way too OP to ever be in jeopardy himself, while Latina was only placed in real danger *once* during the entire run. To make things worse, unlike Kakushigoto and Usagi Drop, the chemistry and relationship between Dale and Latina is way too easy and smooth.
In Usagi Drop, which was also about adoption, the girl Rin took quite a while to trust and bond with her adopted father (and.. nephew). Latina bonded with Dale already from the first episode, and placed her trust in him even faster.
The art is nothing special but not particularly bad either. Also a '6'. The music is not too memorable, with the OP song being charming but nothing to write home about. However the ED song is lovely. It is excellently performed by Nobuhiko Okamoto who is singing it playfully and energetically. It felt like he had quite a lot of fun recording this song at the studio. I would *never* had guessed that this is the same guy who voices Boku no Hero Academia's Bakugo. I rate the music & songs with '8'.
Generally I found it quite enjoyable. Latina is a very cute girl, perhaps *too* cute. '8' for enjoyment. And 7/10 overall.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 5, 2021
(no spoilers)
"Don't fret over trivial matters". You will hear this phrase many times while watching this show. It is the Shadow House's Prime Directive, its Alpha and Omega. There is a reason for that that I'm not going to spoil, and this reason is gradually disclosed. In a sense, this phrase is the central mantra of the show.
Shadows House is an anime with a very original story, some non pretentious philosophical and existential comments on the individuality (or *non* individuality) of self and on free will, and finally a rather scathing critique of classism, social prejudice and discrimination. I read that the first 10 episodes
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follow the manga and the last 3 largely don't, but I cannot compare the latter to the manga since I have not read it. I gave the story a "9" both because it is a very well and solidly written show and due to how original and "different" (in a good way) I thought it was.
The art & animation was quite good but not exactly dazzling. The animators handled the "dolls" well (though rather conventionally) but I think they did the best work with the "Shadows". They had almost nothing to work with, since their entire body was pitch black. And yet somehow -with the help of their voice actors- they managed to give them personality, mannerisms and character! Sometimes less is more, and this is one of these cases. The background art was Victorian-like, dark & moody but quite detailed, and I don't think any low or mid grade CGI was ever used. I think the art is worth an "8".
The music and songs were a perfect fit for this show. There was't an episode I skipped either the OP (instrumental) song or the song (with lyrics) of the ED because I loved to listen to them every week. The intermediate music of Kenichiro Suehiro was also very good and a nice companion for this show. I think the music is also worth a "8".
All the major characters were well developed. The characters of some adults were not, by design, since some secrets about them are reserved for the (potential) season 2. But the major characters of the children were fleshed out more than adequately. The two main leads Emilico and Kate are the most well developed characters, followed by John & Shaun and the story's antagonist Edward. The characters get a "8" as well.
I rated enjoyment with "7" simply because it is not the most cheerful and enjoyable anime of the season, at least according to my opinion. All that soot and darkness might turn your mood a bit sour if it's already sour-ish. Thankfully there was the bright "sunshine" Emilico in every episode, to blow away the soot and light up the darkness! She is not the brightest bulb in the box but she is literally the heart and "light" of the show.
One last comment about this show's genres : MAL has listed Shadows House as a "Slice of Life, Supernatural, Seinen" show. While not *strictly* episodic (particularly during the first half) it is clearly not a slice of life show. It also turns episodic during the second half. I am not sure if it should be considered a seinen or shounen show - that would depend on the precise definition of the terms; strictly in terms of age it seems to be perfectly OK for children 13+, for instance. What's certain, though, is that it indeed has quite a few supernatural elements but above all the primary genre is *mystery*, which is not even among the listed genres.
Overall I think Shadows House is worth an "8", and I really hope we get a second season.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 30, 2021
Mini Dragon consists of 13 "episodes" which are basically comedic super shorts lasting on average 90 seconds. Their purpose is solely to remind us that the second season of Dragon Maid is to be aired soon; nothing more, nothing less. There is no story at all to be honest, I don't think Mini Dragon can even be considered slice of life; *subslice* of life maybe?
The 2D art is just as good as the art of the main show, but there are ~15 seconds of rather poor CGI with each intro that forced me to cut 1 point from the art. The music is nice and
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cute, but the characters obviously have no time to show any "flesh". Overall it felt like a super fast (food) version of Dragon Maid, and I don't think that's a show meant to be viewed that way. So it's best to be regarded as a mere appetizer for season 2. Nothing more, nothing less.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jun 29, 2021
(no spoilers)
Odd Taxi is a very smartly written and crafted original anime with one *major* SPOILER disclosed at the very last episode that, now that it's been fully aired, you need to take great care to avoid. No googling about it, no looking it up in Wikia, no nothing. Not before watching all 13 episodes. This particular spoiler changes everything and at the same time changes nothing (as one of Durarara's narrators would say), but it *is* important. Almost Sixth Sense level ending spoiler important.
OK, now that you've been adequately warned let's move on to the review. Odd Taxi is a kind of unconventional
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furry anime. Its art is, er, "particular", its mood and style flirt with (neo-)noir, and its narrative structure brought to mind the outstanding Baccano or, to a lesser extent, Durarara; minus the highly non linear narration. It is the kind of anime where details matter, while seemingly unrelated events and people end up being related or connected in the end by ways you wouldn't have expected.
The art was a bit of a surprise but I soon got used to it. It's by no means poor, it's just a bit weird. There was no 3D or CGI scene as far as I could tell, everything was very "flat" hand-drawn-like 2D, which in some sense was a good thing. Nevertheless, I gave the unconventional art that looked like it time leaped from the '80s but was polished to meet current standards, the lowest score of all, an "8". Still "very good", just not great.
The story and the characters are this anime's biggest strengths, along with its jazzy & hip hop-like soundtrack spiced with some idol J-pop. The story as a whole was worth 8 - 8.5 points, which absent that major spoiler at the end I would have rounded down to 8. However, that single disclosure rendered the plot much smarter and much more solid than I thought it was. I kept thinking, in retrospect, "How did I not think about this or that?" or.. "I *should* have thought about this or that". You will too!
The major characters, particularly the main lead Odokawa (the taxi driver) and the humanoid animals close to him, were fleshed out very well. Apart from Odokawa I think the most interesting characters were Dobu, Shirakawa, Gouriki, a duo of comedians and a trio of J-pop idols. There were also two cops who were twins and Odakawa's childhood friend Kakihara among the kind of major characters, along with a guy called Yano. I gave the Characters a "9".
The songs and music were very good as well and varied in style. I think they fitted this show perfectly, particularly the OP and ED songs. I haven't listened to the entire OST yet but I will surely look it up. I think the music was worth a "9".
I am thankful that I watched this show week by week since I was spared the aforementioned major spoiler. Those of you who prefer to watch anime in batches or after they have fully aired have already been warned to be careful. Until the last episode I thought that this anime was just behind Vivy - Fluorite Eye's Song among the anime of Spring 2021 season, which in turn was behind the excellent Fumetsu no Anata e (To Your Eternity).
I've now reconsidered, and -also due to some plot faults of Vivy- I've placed Odd Taxi just above Vivy in my reviews and rating scores. All in all Odd Taxi is a little gem. A must watch! By the way, Odd Taxi also has a high rewatch value due to -you guessed it- the last episode spoiler. Some day I might rewatch it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jun 22, 2021
(no spoilers)
Vivy: Fluorite Eye's Song is an anime with exceptional production values, art & animation, great music and very fine voice work, particularly from the two main leads Jun Fukuyama (his funniest voice work since voicing Koro-sensei in Assassination Classroom) and Atsumi Tanezaki. Unfortunately it is rather poorly and sloppily written. Its script is by far its weakest, if not *solely* weak, point, and that's despite the fact that it's supposedly its main star feature, since it is an original story co-written by Eiji Umehara and Tappei Nagatsuki of Re:Zero fame.
Quite surprisingly for a time travel story the time travel elements were handled quite
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well, about as well as Steins;Gate. The problems with the script do not lie in "time travel logic" since Vivy is (smartly) not a single timeline story. They lie ... just about everywhere else - except the characters. Nevertheless, since this is largely a character driven story rather than a plot driven story, the plot issues can be partly excused; up to a point -which differs for everyone- disbelief can be suspended. The penultimate episode, above all else, requires quite a heavy dose of of suspension of disbelief. After taking the above into account I gave the story a "6".
The two main characters Vivy and Matsumoto were developed and "fleshed out" (in " " due to their lack of flesh) quite well, especially Vivy. This barely applies to the other characters due to lack of screentime, perhaps with the exception of Mr Kakitani and Elizabeth, two recurring characters. I think the writers poured most of their time and energy into developing solid characters and that's why they neglected the peripheral plot. The time travel bits were handled well though, perhaps with some ideas borrowed from Steins;Gate or similar stories with multiple timelines / "world lines".
The true heart of the story is, naturally, Vivy herself. Her personal journey and development during the 100-odd years that we get to see her. Both her outward and inward journey, in particular the latter, which was driven by a very simple "command". There are some philosophical or existential comments from the writers on that "inward journey" that I cannot mention here since that would spoil the heart of the story. Rest assured though, there is not a tiny bit of pretentiousness about them. Everything about Vivy's journey is handled with honesty and simplicity, as if looked though the eyes of an 8-year old child. Hence the "9" I rated the Characters ("10" for Vivy alone).
As for the art this is one of the rare cases when I could not tell which part of the anime was CGI and which was "hand" (id est "Cacani assisted") drawn. It does not matter anyway, since the transition between the two animation sections (assuming there *were* two; perhaps everything was top-notch CGI, from the first to the last frame) was seamless. That "10" for the animation is no exaggeration, since it is truly outstanding.
Last but not least, the music and songs. In general the music and songs are worth an "8" but that breathtaking, tear-inducing "Fluorite Eye's Song" (the song of the title) that was sung at the end of the last episode raised the sound bar another point. Thankfully the song had full subs of the lyrics which ... were quite something. I can comment on that song no more since the song itself is a spoiler; all I can say is that it was worth both the wait and the teasing bits from it in the last 3 episodes. The main theme OP song "Sing My Pleasure" is fine, sure, but the title song blew it out of the water.
If plenty of non character & non time travel parts of the script were not so poor and sloppy I would have rated this anime with "9" overall. However, there is a limit to what I can overlook and how much I can suspend my disbelief, thus my overall rating is "8". The same as my Enjoyment rating. All in all I think this is the second best anime of the Spring 2021 season, placed just behind the outstanding Fumetsu no Anata E (To Your Eternity).
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Apr 27, 2021
(SPOILER-FREE Review)
Nanbaka is an anime that is, from start to end, in search of identity and purpose. Since it lacks a single identity, purpose and any focus at all, it adopts multiple ones arbitrarily. I am all for multi-genre anime as long as the mix of genres is done gracefully, it serves a purpose and the plot is largely coherent. Neither applies in the case of Nanbaka; the sudden change of pace and genre is even lampshaded by some characters a few times, presumably because even the writers thought it was excessive and wanted to alleviate the problems by pointing them out. Lampshading often helps
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but in this case it didn't. From the 4th episode onward, starting with that ridiculous prison tournament, the anime abruptly changed from a gag comedy anime to a mix of shounen, drama, character driven story, action, you name it, as was also pointed out by the main lead Juugo. The first 1/4 of the anime is *radically* different from the rest of the episodes and this abrupt change serves no purpose.
The (sporadic) comedy is OK, but unfortunately it often relies on milking fun out of preposterous situations rather than genuinely funny ones. Comedic anime, even gag comedies, do not need to abandon every semblance of common sense and reality to be funny; good comedies (such as Konosuba, Eizouken, Hinamatsuri, Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon etc) can still make sense. Mediocre ones like Nanbaka do not, since they sadly equate "ridiculous" with "funny", which are not the same thing. The entire prison system of Nanba is basically set up like a huge farce, apparently by design; Looney Toones make much more sense than this, and its characters have a smaller hammerspace. Nanbaka's characters are worse than average, not relatable and very forgettable. Its music is fine but not very memorable.
Basically the entire anime runs not on its story or characters but on its *fabulous* art. The art is truly something to behold. Everything sparkles, glitters and twinkles, literally. The characters, both guards and prisoners, are all dressed for the gay parade rather than a prison, which also sparkles. The prison, due to its design and structure, would be perfectly suited to host a massive gay parade event as well. Their hair jobs alone have more colors than an entire dully colored anime. If this anime had poor art it would have found itself at the bottom of the bargain bin, with zero hopes of a second cour. Its rating here would not have been a (very generous) 7.34 but something like 4.5, at best. If you love anime with just very good art, with a "plot" that is all over the place, starting from nowhere and ending nowhere (even the ending was abrupt, and I don't mean "cliffhanger abrupt", just abrupt..), you will probably love this anime. The rest of you are not going to.
I never thought that a "rule of cool" anime with an even finer (and gayer) art and even more ridiculous "plot" than the JoJo series existed. Then I watched Nanbaka. At least JoJo is self-consistent in its preposterousness. I also never thought that my first review here would be for an anime like Nanbaka. My overall rating of this anime would have been "3" if I ignored the art. The truly gorgeous art added another 2 whole points.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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