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Jul 25, 2022
Anyone going into this anime needs to be warned in advance about its second half.
If you liked what this anime was in its first season, I'd suggest you stop once it gets to Kanade's arc. Up till that point, this season was an easy 8/10 for me. But in its second half it goes from romantic comedy to some SAO-level, psychopathic, sexual harassment bullshit that violates everything good this anime had to offer. To be fair, this is mostly the last 2 episodes, but if you want to keep your experience of the anime untarnished, the first half is a good stopping point.
This
...
used to be one of my hidden gems. When I first came across its premise, I was hesitant because I suspected it might end up being some boring edutainment show. So I was quite happy to find it was a genuine rom-com about 2 researchers who have feelings for each other and are trying to understand and quantify it. The quirky chemistry between the characters was endearing, their shenanigans were funny in an amusing, if not laugh-out-loud way, and the trivia was also pretty interesting. I found all the real-life studies researching various aspects about love, attraction, and emotions quite fascinating, and more importantly, I found this an interesting angle for a rom-com to take. And Himuro is just an absolute goddess! She's the nerdy girl you dream of, the kind you'd study your ass off for just to be in the same major as her.
All in all, unless you were absolutely averse to science, this was a nice, wholesome romance that was very enjoyable.
Which is why this sudden shift in tone is so criminal. Mind you, I'm not talking about the more serious themes of 'conformity' and questioning what is 'normal'. I'm talking specifically about those disastrous last 2 episodes. They sit about as well as you'd expect if you put a rape scene in Sesame Street. Not only does it feel like it belongs in some trashier, edgier anime, it's also executed abysmally.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Kanade, who's been struggling to be 'normal' and conform, gets abducted by a psychopathic guy, who spouts some lazy, brain-dead justifications for his actions, and about how she is the ideal 'normal' girlfriend he wants. Enter the hero, Yukimura, just in the nick of time!
Now, you'd expect said hero, being the lauded 'science-type', to pull off some Heisenberg-esque (Breaking Bad reference) badass move.
...He pulls out a projector.
And proceeds to give a presentation on Kanade's uniqueness and the virtues of non-conformity, as proven by her unique DNA. The next slide of his presentation has a video of all her colleagues sharing what they like about Kanade. She's tied and surrounded by hostile men, but sure, lets address her emotional baggage first. It's such a ridiculously juvenile approach to a very, very adult scene.
Naturally, he's punched in the face for his efforts, which is the most logical part about this episode.
Honestly, this ending has dethroned Darling in the Franxx to become the single worst ending I've seen for an otherwise good anime. It's like the heart and soul of the series was sold to milk it for more drama and more episodes. I can only hope its third season doesn't go the same route.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 3, 2022
Watching Keijo is like a fever dream. If you're coming in for the story, stop right now, you're in the wrong place. Keijo cannot and should not be judged as a normal anime, because it is 100% a GUILTY PLEASURE watch. And as a guilty pleasure watch, it does its job very well.
The best way to look at it is as a parody and inside joke about the whole shounen sports genre, and of anime itself. The abundance of fan service, the absolutely ridiculous ways it goes about it, every cliche sports beat dialled to 1000%, the premise itself... Everything about it is a
...
joke, and Keijo knows it and has fun with it anyway. The 8 exclamation marks in the name are no accident. It's an indication of exactly what kind of anime it is.
It kinda gave me Jojo vibes in how over the top it can get. Except all that energy is directed at ass and boob puns, and pulling out finisher moves like 'Gatling Butt Canon' and 'Assteroid Afterglow'. Believe me, these are the tamer ones. It gets far more batshit, excuse me, Butt-shit than that. The entire time I was watching it, I was thinking "What the hell am I watching!?", and laughing at what was on screen (and myself for enjoying it).
And if that's not a good enough reason to watch it, then let me tell you, the characters are impossibly hot!
And I'm not saying that just because I'm horny and have trash taste. I personally love the kind of art style that has thick, bold lines, like the kind in Assassination Classroom or Attack on Titan, and in Keijo it goes a long way to make the characters look really good. There's no question this anime's greatest strength is its visuals, and the production quality doesn't disappoint.
Of course, there are some issues I have with it. Keijo is self-aware and a parody of shounen sports anime, but it's almost a beat-for-beat parody, so it gets predictable and the monologues get tiring. I found myself skipping past these points to enjoy the madness when the battles take place, but I wish it was a little less derivative and spent more time doing something original with its plot and characters. Naturally, the characters themselves are all likeable and have their own charm and appeal, but it'd be more accurate to say that they have quirks rather than full-fledged personalities. I kinda expected this going in, considering what kind of anime this is, so it's not a dealbreaker for me, but if it had characters you could get invested in, I think this anime could have been brilliant.
Overall, I hope this review gives you a clearer idea of what to expect going into this anime. If you're in the mood for some stupid, crazy fun this might be worth the watch. You should be able to tell if this is for you with the first 2 episodes. It's sad that the manga it was adapted from got dropped, so this is probably all we're going to get. If you want more, I read somewhere that it sparked an actual sport in Portugal, so I guess that's where you'll have to go.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 18, 2022
REALIST HERO tries to be a ‘mature’ isekai story, but I found the show laughably childish.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t expect elaborate mind games, 500 IQ politics, or civic jargon thrown around. But given the plot and main character, I did expect problem solving to be a key feature of this story, but even there it only disappoints.
But first we need to talk about the characters.
The only ‘realist’ aspect I found genuine about this anime is that the main character, 19 yr old Souma Kazuya, doesn’t want to immediately become a sword-wielding edgelord the minute he gets transported to a fantasy world.
...
Respect. But outside that, he’s the same old generic nice guy anime protagonist. He’s an aspiring civil servant, and once he gets transported to this fantasy world, he’s toted as a genius… by virtue of everyone else being incredibly dumb. [SPOILERS AHEAD:]
Financial crisis? Sell royal family treasures & tax the aristocrats. Famine? Eat different food. Mistrust of the people? Talk to them via public broadcast. It’s all smooth-brain, low effort solutions which would, in reality, be near impossible to implement. That’s a massive flag for an anime whose whole gimmick is about being a ‘realist’. This kind of lazy problem solving is portrayed as the wisdom of modern civilisation, which I suppose is what you get when you put a 19 yr old intern in charge of governance. And of course, it carries on the trend of isekai authors continuing to claim that being from modern day Earth immediately makes you an expert of civics, politics, economics, military tactics, engineering, forestry, culinary arts… you name it.
Look, I know this show is targeted at kids, but even so, it gets so dumb at times there really is no excuse.
One scene has 2 friends in the military arguing over which side they will take when a rebellion breaks out in the kingdom. The girl is firmly on Souma’s side, while the guy is trying to go over to the rebels, because of something stupid like this is his chance to earn ‘glory’ in battle or something. And Souma has to literally shove it in the guy’s face that if he does, he’ll likely have to kill his friend (and love interest btw) on the battlefield, and has to ask him whether he’s ready to do that. And the guy’s all shocked like he never thought of that… Yeah, take a moment to let that sink in.
In these kind of stories, the supporting characters play a huge role. Think 'That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime'. They add to the ‘power’ of the protagonist by pledging their talents and allegiance to him, and for the audience, they provide a sense of fulfilment, similar to collecting strong characters for your team in a video game. But here, they’re all made useless and pointless just so that the main character can be COMPARATIVELY smarter. At best, they are waifu bait.
The entire show feels babyfied — war and politics for 8 year olds. Everything is safe and palatable, and even though wars are fought, everything is nice and clean and devoid of a drop of blood. The protagonist’s side rarely suffer any losses. Everything is achieved with no consequence, leaving you with no tension and nothing to root for.
The world building is non-existent. Same old generic isekai medieval fantasy world. It throws around all the tired tropes - corrupt nobles, monsters, swords and magic, elves, beastfolk, demon lord… It hasn’t even reached the level of thought where it considers how magic affects the daily lives of the common folk. There’s no significant difference between their lives and the lives of non-fictional medieval folk.
The OST is instantly forgettable. I can’t recall it a minute after it stops playing.
And the voice acting for the old king is really irritating. It over-exaggerates his wimpy-ness so much it’s not just cartoonish, it sounds downright amateur.
There is some trivia to learn from the show smattered here and there, but overall, my experience with the show was that it was yet another forgettable isekai, at least in season 1. Maybe when it expands on the lore and gets to the main storyline in season 2 (hopefully) it’ll get better.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jan 2, 2022
CUTE ANIME GIRLS SING AND DANCE.
If that’s enough for you then this show is 10/10. Anything more and this story falls far short of capturing the magic idols bring to their audience. But let me preface this review with a disclaimer: I’m not into idols. My interest stops at mere curiosity at idol culture. That said, while I’m not an authority on idols, I do know at least the bare minimum to talk stories and anime. So here are my thoughts.
For a show about an idol group, its characters have absolutely nothing to endear them to. They also have absolutely no chemistry between them.
...
That’s not a consequence of the group just being formed, it’s because the characters and their dynamics are written so poorly. I’d say the show is more like a fluff piece written by a fan and this is what he THINKS an idol, and becoming an idol, is all about. In fact, rather than being an idol anime, it’s more accurate to look at this as a generic cute-girls-being-friends anime and the idol aspect is just the setting. Hibike! Euphonium was another anime in this genre that I quite enjoyed, except it did its setting justice.
The characters are the same-old-same-old you see in every generic anime, so without further ado —
Presenting your next top idols:
s-s-su-super sh-sh-sh-shy girl,
…soft spoken girl,
!! HAPPY BUBBLY GIRL NYA !!,
Oh Ho Ho, I’m the rich ojou-san girl, oh ho ho,
Ara ara senpai girl,
Serious girl.
<3 <3 <3 I-came-here-because-my-heart-led-me-here girl <3 <3 <3
… there are more but you get the picture. That’s also the only line in their character development for the majority of the show.
For a show about idols who, through their performances, are supposed to touch the hearts of others, this anime is stunningly devoid of emotion. The characters are reduced to idol-fetishes — a simp’s wet dream of a lineup of kawaii girls. They constantly throw in cliche lines like “shine brightly” and “followed my heart” and “let’s do our best”. There’s also lots of hands clasped over chests, arms reaching for the stars, eyes closed in prayer, and peppy "Ganbare!" tossed around. Not only have I seen these in hundreds of shows, I lost count of the number of times I saw them in this show alone. There’s nothing to make these characters even human, let alone have them touch another human’s heart. In the entire show, I found only one moment with genuine emotion in the 2nd half, but can’t go into detail because it’ll spoil a major plot point.
Even more worrying than the characters however was the song and dance. I thought both were mid at best. More of it might have made this at least enjoyable, but the majority of the show focuses on the one-note characters and their superficial interactions. Worse, the 2nd half dropped the hand-drawn animations for the dance sequences altogether and adopted 3D models instead. The camera had more movement than the characters at times, and I quickly lost my only reason to keep watching the show. The pacing also got so slow that the show was only watchable at 1.5x the speed.
I won’t disparage those who did enjoy the show. I’m obviously not the target audience, but I was hoping this could still be an entertaining story and it wasn’t. The idol management side of it also didn’t give any real insight into the industry. Again, it was superficial at best. The best analogy for this anime is if you take a bunch of ready-made, staple ingredients, toss them between two slices of bread, and you call that sandwich cooking. Just a bunch of cliches, stereotypes, fan service, and no flavour.
And the end is the most predictable cop-out everyone was expecting (even though it literally has the line, “Nobody was expecting this”). It tries to force-fit the protagonist, who has had next to no contribution to the story so far, for a cheap tug at your heartstrings, and fails.
Not an enjoyable watch if you are looking for anything more than a very generic, sugary take on what being an idol is all about.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 22, 2021
Fruit of Evolution is so dumb it regresses to the intelligence of a primitive ape.
The first two episodes are brain damaging. God hijacks the school speaker system, an entire student body waits casually to be isekaid, the fat kid gets dumped in the middle of nowhere, a pink gorilla wants to marry him, the gorilla dies and becomes a waifu. That last can't even qualify as a spoiler because the very first shot of the show resorts to blatant tit-baiting tactics, showing a busty naked girl throwing herself at the protagonist before going back to show the events leading up to it. If that doesn't
...
scream artless eyeball grabbing, I don't know what does.
It tries to pitch itself as an easy-watch, out-there slapstick comedy, but ends up an over-the-top, overacted, unfunny mess. Screaming "Nani!!" in an exaggerated voice and shocked expression was funny when I was 6. But you wouldn't bait 6 year olds with boobs so who is this for? The voice acting is not just bad, it grates on the ears. Everything sounds like it's been passed through a cartoonizer filter dialled to 100. It's impossible to take seriously, even in the supposed 'touching' moments. How can I feel any emotion when the dying gorilla's (female, mind you) monologue sounds like an old man crossed with a baying donkey? Then there's some midget bunny who TWies tO SpWeaK wiKE tHiS in an over-exaggerated, high-pitched, cutesy voice that begs to be strangled.
The production quality is abysmal. Shots are blatantly repeated, characters move across the screen like cardboard cutouts, the animation is as smooth as a powerpoint presentation. Sound effects appear from time to time only to match what's on screen. At other times it is entirely absent, so there's no sense of atmosphere. The background music is left to fill these gaps and it sounds like it belongs on one of those handheld tetris games.
When nothing works, the show resorts to throwing as much eye-candy as it can to beg you to watch. Literally, the only thing redeeming about this show is the character designs for the girls, who are genuinely cute. But what a waste to put them in a thing like this. No amount of waifus can salvage such garbage. And they're too one-dimensional to be memorable anyway. 5 episodes in, the show has given me nothing to care about.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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Jun 30, 2021
The only way to make sense of this 'special', I think, is to consider 2 possibilities going forward.
1] There is a 2nd season that just hasn't been announced, and the whole matter of this being the 'conclusion' should be interpreted as 'it's the conclusion for the 1st season'.
(Basically, everyone in the audience has misunderstood what 'conclusion' here refers to.)
2] This is, in fact, the conclusion for the story as a whole.
If we're talking option 1, then my personal opinion is the special is a 7/10. The plot progresses a step, new revelations are added, so the stakes are now higher... Perfect for kickstarting
...
a season 2. We finally understand what happens with the 'resurrected' suicide victims, and what it means for the girls.
However, an abundance of loose threads, half the episode spent in recap, a conspicuously unclear idea of what to expect from season 2, coupled with the vague communications from the creators regarding whether there will even be one... all together, the best I can give this special is 7/10.
Now, if we're talking option 2...
Incomplete character arcs, new plot developments without any conclusion, the antagonist being entirely sidelined in this special which markets itself as a 'conclusion'... Honestly, the rational part of me is screaming that this isn't the conclusion of the story, it must definitely be the conclusion for season 1 alone.
I've seen discussions where it's suggested that the ending is left open-ended, and time and budgetary constraints forced the creators to prematurely end the series, but really, this can't even qualify as an end, open or otherwise. My argument in favour of this is the incomplete character arcs for every girl except Ai, and the lack of any development regarding the antagonists.
But if it is, in fact, the end of the story, then, well... It's even more awkward than the ending of Darling in the Franxx. Even generously giving it a 3/10 (for the art and sound) is difficult with how meh I feel about it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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