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Sep 27, 2019
Millions of years of evolution have lead us to this point. We as a species have learnt to read, write, love, hate, laugh and cry for this very moment. Years upon years of boring, trite Isekai shows have not been for naught. This is the single most monolithic event of our minuscule existence on this orbiting rock.
People often like to point fingers at Sword Art Online as the sole reason that the Isekai genre has become an absolute cesspool. While SAO has contributed greatly, the major reason it's become as bad as it has is largely in result of the massive amount of money and
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attention it was able to pull. Money is more often than not the death of creativity, look at the Star Wars franchise.
Tsuujou Kougeki ga Zentai Kougeki de Ni-kai Kougeki no Okaasan wa Suki Desu ka? Is an absolute mouthful to read but more than that, it's stupid, and it's acutely aware that it is. Which is more than I can say about the other Isekai shows that ran this season. There's also an actual goal, although vague it's a goal nonetheless, bond with your mother in a video game.
I feel I must discuss the points that did enjoy. The animation and art actually impressed me, the style lends itself well to the video game theme.. alright I could only manage one positive.
Look, i'm aware that this show might not be for me and hell, i'm not even the target demographic. Different strokes for different folks. And a stroke is exactly what this show feels like to sit through.
Let there be no illusions, this show is a fetishist's wet dream masquerading as an anime. Going into the show I was fully expecting it to be bad, hilariously bad. I was not fully prepared for how awful this show turned out to be.
Let's say that everything after the first episode was incognito mode.
Most Isekai shows rely on the viewer to self insert. Self inserting into a show where the premise is to adventure with your mother is extremely strange. The protagonist is always deflated by the immense amount of fan service his mil-.. mother is put through and that same unenthusiam bleeds into the viewer. It's disturbing at best. Even more disturbing than that is the clear attempt to garner the interest of those who find incest enticing by having beams from the sun censor what little enjoyment they can attain from this show. It's clear that the creators just want you to buy the bluray boxed sets with the censorship removed so they can feast their eyes upon the uninteresting nudity.
It always loops back to money.
The sexualization of the mother is a bit strange but moving on the groping and suggestive dialogue got really increasingly more and more uncomfortable.
Judging just off the artwork and genres on MAL, I was just expecting a lighthearted romp into a mediocre parody show. A wink and a nudge here and there, nothing to get too worked up over. Like most things, I was wrong. The shameless and almost comedic lengths the show would take just to have an uninspired attempt at titillation was enough to give me a headache. It set off red flags immediately, but like an abusive partner I kept coming back.
Speaking of abuse, oh boy! In addition to the off-putting incest the show displays, it also includes verbal, sexual and emotional abuse! Exactly what i'd want to see in my show about being sucked into a video game world. Medhi who is a character introduced in the later half of the show is constantly berated and mocked by her mother. At a point she's even stripped naked and choked against a tree. It's a superficial attempt to stir drama and it was completely unnecessary, leaving a rancid taste in the mouth of the viewer.
I say superficial because the show does nothing to justify these story elements or provide a solution in a meaningful or satisfying way. Problems are solved by the typical "I was in a dark place" rhetoric a Youtuber would use in an apology video. It's sickening.
Speaking from my own experience the show made me question the very meaning of life. Where am I? Who am I? Why am I watching this tripe? Why do I even exist at all.
I had an existential crisis over why I even decided to torture myself with 12 episodes of this filth. It was so I could warn readers like yourself to stay very far away. I've successfully found my life's purpose.
To close, i'd like to end with a philosophical quote: "Ma-kun, your mommy is soaking wet!" - Mamako Oosuki
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Sep 20, 2019
Adolescence is no uncommon stomping ground in the anime world.
The pairing of high school and romance isn't exactly particularly new and exciting either but fear not, Mari Okada has arrived to crank the drama into levels never before seen.
On a more serious note however, the themes presented in the earlier episodes of the show actually were engaging and interesting. Sex is a touchy subject, especially in the heat of your youth. Having a positive outlook toward sex encourages a more thorough understanding of it. Araburu handled this quite appropriately when the girls were beginning to express they had thought about physical contact and intimacy. At
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this point of the show, I was honestly impressed it didn't fall into the pitfalls that most drama pieces usually do.
But what's that over the horizon? It's needless and unwarranted drama.
As is the case with most things Okada writes, she tends to take a subject and then take another five or six and roll them up, hoping they stick together. More often than not it doesn't work and you end up with unsatisfying teen melodrama and baffling character logic as is the case sadly with Araburu. The slow and steady pace that the series had begun with started to mutate into lightning fast nonsense. Characters had begun to fall out with each other, a detestable teacher-student relationship to pander to fetishes and of course, a dull love triangle in the final stretch to name a few of the "interesting" events that begin happening.
The show completely loses it's focus and swerves into the lane of cliché. You find yourself rolling your eyes at every new development Okada attempts to stir the pot with. The characters you were rooting for begin to change into completely predictable shadows of what made them interesting in the first place and the illusion crumbles as you come to realise the show has set itself up to constantly dramatize each and every line of dialogue it has left. Each shallow attempt to cause controversy becomes as aggravating as the last.
Araburu is basically a 1 to 1 adaptation of the manga which is a huge let-down seeing as the show had the potential it did to be something great towards the start. Creative liberty could have done wonders in this case, but as Okada is penning both the manga and the anime that was never going to be the case. She didn't choose to challenge herself by improving material or subverting the expectations of already invested manga readers, she chose to sing the same tune she's always sung.
A true shame, this could've have been something special.
If there's any take away from this review, it's to watch White Album 2, it's a superior drama story with a love triangle that's handled exceptionally.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 17, 2019
“The further you go, the steeper it becomes, and there won’t be anyone around you.” – Rei Kiriyama
I feel I lack the vocabulary and eloquence to adequately express how special Sangatsu no Lion truly is, but i'll attempt to do my best nonetheless.
Depression is a silent battle. Constantly waging war against yourself. What happiness you can grasp is constantly sinking into an ocean of nothingness. You are nothing, you have nothing.
Sangatsu no Lion does not shy away from showing it's viewers the reality of the soul crushing torment that depression is. The protagonist of the story isn't a faultless man embarking on
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the hero's journey, he's apprehensive, unsure of himself and engulfed in loneliness. Although this may be the case, Rei is a hero. A champion for the broken, a beacon in the night. He is you and I.
Rei's battle with depression is captivating to say the least. Losing his family and being adopted into another, he uses shogi to appeal to his foster father and gain his approval. Through his immense talent and hard work he becomes a professional in the shogi world, but as a side effect he alienates his adoptive father's biological children. He then decides to live alone and chase after shogi, isolating himself. It's at this point that the story begins.
The vicious cycle of win or become nothing becomes Rei's life. He isn't satisfied with how things have turned out but he continues to press forward because that's what is expected of him. His life has essentially become a vice as he suffers quietly in solitude.
The show is by definition a sports anime and doesn't shy away from that fact. Even if you were to peel away the dramatic story elements, the direction in the each shogi match is stellar. Every move is tense and efficient, as the players place their shogi pieces down with a satisfying clack, demanding the other player acknowledge their move. It's all extremely atmospheric, and you feel as if you were sitting right next to the board. Chika Umino has a deep understanding and respect for shogi and it definitely shines through.
Now, to pivot back to story elements.
The world of professionals is cutthroat and Rei soon comes to realise that the only way for him to remain one is to douse the hopes and dreams of each opponent he defeats. But why should he? Why should he be the one to attain victory? Why him?
Through all the uncertainty, self-doubt, self-loathing and pain, a figure appears and lends a hand to Rei as if to pull him from the depths of his mind to start anew. Akari, Hinata and Momo Kawamoto are thrust upon him.
Like Rei, the Kawamoto's have also experienced loss, the tragic death of their mother has left them incomplete. Broken but united, the Kawamoto family embraces Rei as one of their own. Through all of the pain, Rei begins to learn of the struggle of others. The Kawamoto sisters are as human as he is, they also all share the pain of losing a loved one and this commonality bonds them to each other. Scenes of Rei surrounded by the girls and simply having a conversation were enough to bring me to tears. The only way I think I could describe Rei's relatonship with the Kawamoto household in words would be 'sweetness'. It's this same sweetness that Rei must separate himself from as he feels he isn't deserving of it.
Depression is an irrational beast by nature and overcoming it is a arduous process. Through all the success he's achieved and friends he's made, he still feels lonely. This is the painful truth of mental illness. However, Rei decides to leap forward into the abyss and towards finding his own undeniable happiness. To say Rei's journey is inspiring would be an understatement. As someone who has battled with chronic depression for a majority of their life, Sangatsu no Lion portrays how isolating and painful it can be perfectly.
I've seen Sangatsu no Lion criticised for it's slow pacing while I on the contrary believe the slow, methodical building to be a necessity. Each character has a role, every dialogue exchange and scene has a purpose, to have such a unique and dynamic cast of characters would be impossible if it weren't for that fact that they all have backstories and lives that are completely fleshed out and interesting. You can't rush greatness.
As this is an adaptation, an animation studio must adapt it. Shaft's unorthodox approach to storytelling has often been hit or miss with me, ventures like the Monogatari Series often take a wildly esoteric approach to storytelling. The director of said series, Akiyuki Shibou, steers the ship that is Sangatsu no Lion. At a first glance I was definitely worried that he would employ the same over the top, no holds barred direction style that he's come to be known for but to my surprise he shows a more restrained, thoughtful direction style. Characters in close-up slowly turning to one another, quick cuts of a noisy shogi player fidgeting, it all lent itself to the atmosphere quite well, suffice to say I was surprised, even beyond that I was thoroughly and consistently blown away by his direction. Paired with Chika Umino's visionary level of storytelling, Sangatsu no Lion became a living, breathing creation. The art and music perfectly compliment each other as you feel chills run down your spine in tense scenes and your heart filled to the brim in the Kawamoto house. It's all masterful.
Through all of the suffering and anguish, the clouds will eventually part and you'll be exactly where you need to be, this is the powerful sentiment the show carries. Misery is combatable, you just need to be brave enough to face it. There is beauty in life, you just need to be able to see it.
Sangatsu no Lion might be the most powerful piece of media I've encountered to this date and for that i'm eternally grateful.
Please watch this show.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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