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I tried to write a spoiler-free review but it was just empty. So, possible spoilers ahead.

This show was a simple rendition of the "emperor and empress swap bodies" plot, common in donghua. But the fact that they made all of their characters so likeable really drives the show. There's a lot of intrigue and plot that helps carry the story, but if the characters involved were assholes I doubt I'd care. I found myself quite invested in the outcome of secondary characters, which is good. It also knew when to end, rather than dragging itself out. I would say ... that if you like court-themed Chinese anime, can tolerate both the CG animation they normally use *and* the chibi-style animation they switch to quite frequently, you'll probably like this show. If that kind of stuff bothers you as little as it bothers me, you might just find yourself having a great time with this one.

Strong points: Characters, Relationships, Intrigue
Weak Points: Animation, Sound, Tone-shifts

This one kind of came out of left field. I was expecting a cheesy Korean BL drama which I could half enjoy and half laugh at. What I got was an incredibly dense story line set over one of the best examples of atmosphere building I've ever seen in an anime. The romantic tension felt entirely right when it was supposed to, and too far when it was supposed to be too far for comfort. It is indeed cheesily BL at times (EP12) but I don't mind that so much when there's such a banging soundtrack and atmosphere. It's kind ... of tough to get at what I mean, but there's this really deep 80's synthwave vibe to this show, and the music just constantly slaps. The camera shots are gorgeous and the cinematography is top notch. I recommend this anime to anyone who can stomach BL and likes really good atmosphere building.

I continuously asked myself "What the hell is wrong with this anime?" while watching this anime. The animation is so absolutely ridiculously good that it's confusing. They aren't animating anything that needs that much detail. This show rides and dies on its dialogue and comedy, which is does very well. And this show would have still gotten a very high score without having the quality of animation it had. But right off the top, every little movement of the characters and their environments is so detailed and deeply-imagined that I was constantly replaying scenes to catch all the details. ... Little stuff like the way carrots roll, or the way rain hits an umbrella, they're so insanely well-animated in this series. It feels like the writing and plot would have made the series a nice tasty slice of cake already, but the animation just makes it like galaxy mirror cake. To find out that this came from the same studio that made the absolute abhorrent trash that was Hand Shakers is just amazing to me. I hope they can continue to put out stuff which caters to a more mature audience.

I recommend this anime to anyone who likes saccharine comedies, who likes cats, or who likes ridiculous animation for scenes that do not require it at all.

This is a pretty darn enjoyable anime. The plotline felt fresh and the characters each seemed to have realistic motivations. The world is well-outlayed, and there's a healthy balance between seriousness and lightheartedness. It never felt like the shounen MC was too OP on his own, or that anyone was having too easy of a time. The ending felt a little rushed but it also left the door open for greater explanations. The politics and negotiation are well done, and I like that they don't under-write the character's plans and schemes. Also, the ero-fanservice is pretty minimal, with there ... being one self-sexualized character, and the rest portrayed without sexual overtones. This isn't a masterpiece of an anime or anything, but well worth a watch if you're into fantasy and like when characters actually treat with each other on a serious level.

The best analogy I can make for this anime is that it's like a really good racecar driver is driving a really average racecar. The general concept of a realistic idol show will greatly restrict how much depth is going to be allowed through the medium. While it's possible to make a 10/10 SoL Idol anime, it would be incredibly difficult, especially without delving into surrealism. That said, the writers of this anime were adept at using this medium to convey an engaging and overall very moving story. It really feels like this is almost as good as it possibly could ... have been without trying to do anything grandiose. I'll break down some of the strong points.

The characters all feel real. They're not overly engaging, but that's kind of the point; this anime really blurs the line between work drama and idol show, so having characters like Yamanaka feels on-point. By the end of the show I liked every character, but it wasn't in any way overwhelming, which is good because no one character stole the show. Their development feels correct for adults of their age and their responses to the situations they're put in are understandable. That makes for a very muted show compared to a lot of high school SoL anime, or even anime about younger working folks, because writers use youth as an excuse to inject both levity and louder plot effects. That's removed from this anime, so expect a lot of understandable reactions and human responses to pressures. Personally I liked that, even if it did mean that the emotional stakes would remain relatively low.

The episode length adds to the feel of the show. That it's quarter-hour episodes rather than half-hour episodes allows them to tackle things with a speed and attention to detail that they should. Things that would take almost half of a twelve-episode anime only take a fraction of that amount in this anime. The use of the "Character Backstory -> Character Plotline Advancement" episode structure really works with this and makes the focus on individual characters seem less onerous.

The usage of montages is correct. I find that a lot of Idol anime focus heavily on the same plot points, and this anime straight up bypasses some of the expected idol anime plot points using montages. They instead fill their space with character development and actual plot. The time skips are frequent and well-used in order to progress the storyline at a captivating pace. I have to say some people might find that a little bit jaunting, but for me as someone who is tired of seeing idol anime practicing scenes taking up entire episodes, it felt like a breath of fresh air to see the plot moving more quickly than all that.

Finally, the overall feel is solid as a stone. The message and themes are definitely adult and will likely not resonate with many. I can't get too far into specifics on that without venturing into spoiler territory, but by the end of the anime the writers have definitely chiseled the feelings they were trying to put forth. I can't remember the last time an anime was this outright brave in doing that. Like, they knew what they were trying to do and what they had to do, and absolutely accomplished it. I have an incredible amount of respect for that, and hope more anime will choose to take these kinds of risks.

I'd recommend this to anyone who likes Idol anime, Office/Work anime, Slice of Life anime, or who generally likes anime featuring adults dealing with non-sexual adult themes.

Golden Kamuy is the chef's kiss of historical anime, perfectly balanced with comedy, action, and philosophical depth. The characters as always are always well-portrayed, and the plotlines are whimsical tangents to the main storyline. There are no words to describe the catharsis of being that occurs in the third episode of this OVA trilogy. I would recommend this for anyone who has already watched the first two seasons of Golden Kamuy and enjoyed them a lot. Especially if you liked the episodes featuring Edogai, because the third episode definitely has humor along those kind of extreme lines.

You go, Anehata Shiton. ... You...you just go.

About a year out from watching this I finally have a way to describe it.

Super Cub is like if someone came up to you with a slice of bread and was really insistent you eat it. And you generally like bread so that's cool, but you're wondering why it's so important. They're like "Trust me, just eat it." So you take a bite and it tastes like bread.

Bread so good it makes you cry. Just bread. But bread isn't supposed to be this good. It's not honeyed, no special ingredients. Just basic, regular bread, getting salty because you're ... crying over how good it is.

Some spoilers.

This show had real potential, and was really endearing at first. But a show like this walks a fine line, and this show very much seems to purposely step over that line.

When you have a show where a male character depicted with the body type of adult ends up in a romantic relationship with a character that has the body type of a child, you need to need to need to make sure you do not have any pedophilic elements to your story. A great example of this is Ore Monogatari, where there's no ero fanservice, no inappropriate relationships, and it's generally ... sugary from the top to the bottom. And this series sets itself up in the same light...at first. Then like an arrow to the heart they had this ending illustration depicting the young boy character clearly naked and in a very sexualized pose. Later that young boy character would go on to be pursued by an adult woman in the friend group, to the cheers of everyone around. They took that clear line they were not supposed to cross in order to make sure this stayed something free from pedophilic overtones, and they stepped right over it, knowing it was there.

There are other problems. While they seldom do direct fanservice of Igarashi, every woman is depicted in constant fanservice lights, with shots always focusing on butts and tits. The guy characters are all either entirely consumed by their quest for those tits, are the Senpai, or are the little boy who's there to fulfill the sexually inexperienced shota role. The one character that might have something other to offer is constantly entranced by any tits he sees. Then there's the Russian woman, who's just....there? She's not particularly funny and she just sort of exists and shows up at various times, and I have no idea what she's supposed to be adding if anything.

Don't get me wrong, it was funny. The humor was quite good and there were some really cute parts. This was a tough anime to rate because there were aspects that were very positive but also a lot of negatives balancing them out. For instance I didn't mind Sakurai's character, but the constant fixation on her tits was ridiculous. And I was laughing the whole way throughout, and really identifying with Igarashi. But by the end I felt like I was kinda creeped out by it.

Also what the heck was up with those ending illustrations? Some of them look like they were done by legit hentai artists. That's not the kind of thing you want on the end of your cutesie series, Doga Kobo. Learn from the success of Love Lab and stop trying to sexualize your radishes, just make them cute.

Dropped at EP5.

It was pretty mediocre right from the start. They did a good job of being pretty accurate with regard to roman society and architecture, but then had glaring cases of slaves speaking openly to aristocracy and such. About when I stopped the characters started making choices that made no sense in their context, and just generally being anime for the sake of being anime. The CG was jarring but I could easily look past that if it were better written. Just felt bland and unremarkable. If you really have a thing for fight scenes or really just have ... a desire to see Roman architecture, maybe you'll enjoy this one, but for most folks I'd suggest a pass.

No spoilers. Well, maybe extremely mild ones.

This was a really bad anime. I managed to make it to the end primarily because I wanted to make sure nothing redeemed it, but nothing really did. It's a shame because there are so many aspects of the anime which are phenomenal. Off the top of my head, the fight choreography and strategic realism was dead on. And the animation was crisp and clean the whole way through. You never felt like a character was caught off guard by something obvious, and all the plots and plans of the various characters were ... legit deep and well thought out.

The issue is that the characters just suck. None of them are in any way likable, and many of the women are outright comedic in their inability to perform. The story was meh and there weren't any surprises. It was mainly over-dramatized but simplistic stuff. There was little development, only a bit of revelation. And even then the characters' motivations were entirely unbelievable. The only character with any development was Steve.

And because they do handle the combat aspects so well and so seriously, when they mess stuff up it seems all the more glaring. Like giving someone a scar in such a way which would have crippled them for life, or arrow-guns. And the music choices were atrocious, just nails on chalkboard. It could have been so good too, but it just feels like the people making it just needed to do more character work and humanization before they finished the script. And for pete's sake women in the military aren't wearing heels and skirts to the battlefield.

I recommend skipping this anime.