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Review MINOR SPOILERS

As with any slice-of-life anime we judge it a little differently. Namely by how good the characters are, how well they interact with one another and likeable is the series.

Story - There isn't much to it. It is purely about a girl who wants to help a lonely guy by hanging out. The premise is simple, relatable for many people and for this type of anime it doesn't need a more complex story than this. The interactions and situations are fresh (mostly) and that adds an interesting spin to the story. I also like the occasional cat-gag that they've included. Overall for ... a simple, but effective story I'm giving it a 7.

Art - Art is fairly standard. Other than a flesh tooth choice the directors went with, the art is fairly typical. Nothing special about it. I'm giving it a 6.

Sound - The opening is catchy enough and the ending is decent. Uzaki-chan really doesn't aspire to be much when it comes to sound, and there isn't much to say here. I'm giving it a 6.

Character - The two main stars are enjoyable. The guy isn't a gullible idiot who blushes and stammers all the time, is shy and doesn't know what to do or say. He's established as a loner and is often misunderstood because of his eyes (they are seen as scary). Throughout the series he ends up accepting Uzaki's company and they hang out together all the time.

Uzaki is a young upbeat girl who wants to hang out. That's the jist of her character. She often teases the mc (who retaliates), she doesn't beat him to a pulp when he accidentally gropes her and she is a relatable fun girl. They carry the show with their interactions, the situations in which they end up in are grounded and still appear fresh and they make the best of it.

Side characters I think haven't been done all too well. While they have some quirks, some of them sorely lack in terms of development. I'm giving characters a 7.

Enjoyment - I found the show pretty fun all things considered. I don't watch slice of life typically, and certainyl not mushy stuff, but I think the change of pace really did me wonders. At the end of the day this is a fun, charming show with interesting situations and funny character interactions. I'm giving it an 8.

Overall - An interesting fun show. Nothing more should be said about it. It succeeds with what it tried to be. I'm giving it a 7.

Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa is a parody done right. It succeeds where many don't, keeps us continuously engaged with fresh humour and day-to-day lives of TEAI member lives and most importantly Tonegawa. This review will contain minor spoilers. You have been warned.

Story - 8

The story is very simple and works as a prequel to Kaiji (even though it isn't canon, but this reviewer sees it as canon). It's set several months before the battle on the ship of hope, Espoir. Tonegawa is tasked with assembling a diabolical game and he endeavors to do that with his team.
The shenanigans that result from that point on are incredible. ... From Tonegawa trying to discern who is who in his team, to some genuine life lessons (what is flash mob, what is a pyramid scheme, how to manage a team and so) Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa manages it all.
At some times it switches to the life of Foreman Ootsuki and further world builds the underground of the Kaiji universe, but the episodes feel weaker than Tonegawa's.
Nonetheless it is very enjoyable.

Art - 7

Kaiji's art was never the thing I fawned much about. It was neither great nor horrible to me, just enjoyable. It adds uniqueness to the world and it faithfully stays true to the artstyle. The physical metaphors are as always, amazing.

Sound - 8

The opening song is just plain amazing. It is so simple and catching and makes this reviewer dance along. It mashes really well with the general tone of the story and the particular circumstance in which music is used.

Character - 9

To me these were the absolute stars of the show. Tonegaw, Ootsuki, the men in black, even Hyoudo and some other side characters are really nicely developed. They stay in character (I see you men in black with your glasses), their personalities are all pleasant and realistic, but the star of the stars is, and always will be, Tonegawa. He is simply amazing. I came from Kaiji hating his guts and this show made me LOVE the character. The only mishap to me was Seijo (the casino owner) who got on my nerves too much and the woman in black. Her plotline with one of the men on the team and lack of screentime made her feel undeveloped and took away some of my enjoyment.

Enjoyment - 8

Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa is simply put amazing, I love it, I'd watch it any time, the narrator really made me laugh, and the english was also amazing. Would recommend to a friend.

For overall rating Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa gets a well-deserved 8!

THIS REVIEW HAS SPOILERS!!!!!!


"Can I change fate?"
That is the question asked by Kurokami: The Animation. The anime is set in a world ruled by the Doppelinner system. The system governs that when a person is born his Tera (magic energy/life I suppose?) will be split into three unequal parts, among two subs and one root. When a root meets the sub, the subs will inevitably die and the root will absorb their Tera becoming what is known as the Master Root.

Disclaimer: I have not read the manga

Story: The first four to five episodes really hooked me to this show. The gruesome faith of the ... little girl who was ran over by a truck, the hard reality that no matter what they do they can't escape faith and the fact that it is a vicious cycle all sold it for me. Unfortunately Kurokami quickly loses track after that. The dialogue is very poor at times (episode five for example), lots of things end up unexplained (how does Tera work exactly, how come Keita and Kuro can use exceed seven times once and before that only up to three times when Keita never got more tera, how does Kuro's cycling tera make Kuro and Keita stronger), there are many repetitive scenes (synchro ones) and lots of unnecessary fights. The fights themselves get old after a while and extremely boring in some cases. Exceeds are largely bland and uninteresting, most of them being physical in nature. The only one I really liked was Steiner's, which really stood out the most. After episode twelve the anime seems to pick up, but it quickly dips down and retains that cycle of never truly shining. The last episode was largely unnecessary. Its one saving grace was the bittersweet ending (still depressed over that).

All in all, Kurokami's storyline was great at the start, but it failed to deliver, getting atrocious at some parts. The beginning and the last two minutes of the story are its saving grace and thus it gets a rating of 6/10

Art: The art is nothing to write home about, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it. It is one of those animes that you won't remember visually, but if you see it you'll still say that its art was good. The palette gets dark and moody at times, but otherwise maintains a decent look. The one thing that stands out are the very shiny and flashy exceeds and it does seem to work.
Thus Kurokami's art gets a rating of 7/10

Sound: Rock is my favourite genre of music so in this regard I am very biased, however I do think that they could have included more music along the way. The first opening is ok and the second one is decent, but what I really liked was the first ending. The singer is amazing, her voice is beautiful and I watched it every single time. All in all the sound is good too, same as the art. Thus it gets a rating of 7/10

Characters: Oh boy. The weakest part of Kurokami is its characters, which at most are forgettable and at their worst downright horrendously made.

Main characters: Keita - At the start I liked him. I think he had a fairly realistic approach to the issue and a believable negative outlook on the world and people around him, seeing as his mother was killed in front of his eyes, and later on his friend and the girl next door were killed the same way (a motif perhaps, heh?)
However, Keita takes too long to develop afterwards, becoming a whining emo with contradicting actions and beliefs and he is quickly knocked down. He suddenly gets A LOT of character development in the span of a few episodes, spiraling down into the blandness and ending up as a battery for Kuro and repeating "We will defeat destiny!"
Keita's rating is 5/10

Kuro - Kuro is by far, the best character of the series. Naive, happy-go-lucky Kuro hides a lot of trauma and sadness that is eventually shown in a realistic way. She has strong motives, a strong desire and a genuine wish to help all those around her. The thing with the Massamu (I already forgot their name tbh) was weird to me, but what really sold her as a great character was the ending. The sheer willpower to forever seal herself and never see her beloved contractor just so the world could be freed of its curse was bittersweet and her crying scene made me tear up.
P.S. Why she and Keita are not shipped at all is beyond me.
Kuro's rating is 8/10!

Akane - The most worthless mc I've seen in a while. She only serves to be a housewife and to be a plot device later down the line. First to an unbelievably (and unrealistically for such a short timeframe!) contract with Reishin, and then to have this huge amount of Tera so that Kuro can win against the main villains. She ends up marrying Keita which was beyond ridiculous to me, as I never saw a reason to ship them. Their romance was beyond weird to me.
Akane's rating is 2/10

Overall rating for the main characters is 5/10

Villains: Reinshin - This one is really weird to me. Until the very end Reishin felt as a punching rag for the producers. He seemed tasteless and bland with shallow motivations ("I want to destroy the world") and shallow past, and only in the end he ended up as a more rounded-up villain. Still I feel as though he ended up as butchered potential so I am giving him a rating of 5/10

Kuraki - I liked him better. Kuraki was a cunning strategist, with a good, albeit idealistic idea. He outsmarted Reishin, Yuki and other characters, but ultimately ended up defeated by the power of "cycling synchro", which I still don't understand. In the end I think Kuraki was better suited to be the antagonist compared to the final boss.
Kuraki's rating is 6/10

Massamu/Massami/Massaki? - Whatever these beasts are called, they couldn't have been blander. They're so called gods, who want to destroy the world and... there's that. Their design is bland, their motifs are bland, their past is bland. Essentially, they're bland.
Their rating is 1/10

Overall rating for the villains is 4/10

Side characters - Extremely shallow. They're uninteresting fodder, used for plot purposes and quickly discarded afterwards. We're given the idea that we should care about them, but we can't be bothered to. The only good side characters are Excel, Steiner and Yuki.

Yuki is a good example of what happens when one average person attempts to go against fate and fails, and as someone who has been oppressed by her surroundings for being different. In this regard Yuki is relatable.

Steiner and Excel are an interesting duo, with good design, an amazing voice (Steiner) and with interesting powers. You actually do get invested in them and for that reason we can't help but not like them.

Despite these three amazing characters the rest is so bland that I couldn't help but give the side characters a 4/10

Overall rating for the characters is 4/10

Enjoyment: I found myself enjoying this show greatly at the start, but as it dragged on I was begging it to end. They really screwed it up, and I am sad that it ended up being extremely crappy at certain parts. I am hoping manga is a lot better. Even with all this, there are certain times when I was really happy to be watching Kurokami and for that reason alone I am giving it a very wobbly 6/10

Overall: The show is a hit and miss. It has an excellent premise, a great main character (Kuro) and decent animation and sound. It tries to tackle deeply philosophical and ethical questions. However, it lacks in good characters and storyline and this messes it up completely. Regardless, Kurokami had its ups and downs and even with some extremely bad moments I did end up getting some enjoyment out of it. In the end Kurokami gets an overall rating of 6/10!