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If you're wondering what "Kiznaiver" is about, it's like "Kokoro Connect" with some sci-fi stuff and more characters. And that's pretty much it.

I'll start with, sadly, the biggest flaw of "Kiznaiver" - its plot. I suppose the storywriters simply hadn't known what they had wanted to focus on so the story is a weird mix of many different elements. The plot starts with a sci-fi-esque, dystopic approach but later on switches to full drama slice of life mode. The main themes are "bonds", "sharing pain" and "connecting by wounds" and these are shown repeatedly during the show. They are, however, shown in a very tangled ... and muddling way making the plot dull. To add insult to injury, it feels like there's more focus on the love triangles, rectangles, or whichever combination than on the actual story, yet each of them is painfully straightforward and uninteresting.

Just because I liked the characters doesn't mean they were written well. In fact, they either lack personality or originality. There's the generic tsundere emo queen, muscle-headed stud or a girl, whose only feature is that she has a crush on the main character. Few of them have some kind of backstory, although it usually doesn't give much insight into their personalities. Even though the show focuses attention on Katsuhira, the viewers don't know much about him and they even don't want to know because of how cursorily he is portrayed. My guess is that they aren't necessarily badly written but there's simply not enough time to develop properly that many characters in only 12 episodes.

On the bright side, both art and music are quite impressive. The show has its own distinctive look and the characters' drawing style is quite funky and it has its own unique manner. Throughout the show there are also some lovely backgrounds. Thus, I'd say that the art is the best part of "Kiznaiver". What's more, the opening theme is really catchy and really fits the atmosphere of the show. Besides the opening song, the music was quite alright I guess, although I have to admit I didn't pay so much attention to it.

I have to say, I had greater expectations of "Kiznaiver", hence I'm a bit disappointed. Yet I wouldn't call it a bad show. It certainly doesn't have the deepest plot ever, but at least it looks great. As far as I'm concerned, "Kiznaiver" is a six out of ten and is a show I don't regret watching. I probably won't watch it again though.

This review contains minor spoilers.

After watching "Haikyuu!!" I became so hyped up about sports series that I decided to try "Prince of Stride: Alternative". I can't say I'm disappointed, but compared to aforementioned "Haikyuu!!", "Prince of Stride: Alternative" looks bland and, on the whole - average.

The story is as generic as it could get. It revolves around the new extreme sport called "Stride" which is similiar to parkour. "Stride", however, is not new, neither it is extreme. Sadly, the runners just run, sometimes they jump over some obstacles and somehow, this attracts large crowds and makes runs a big city event.
As with all school clubs ... in anime there is a girl, and a boy and another boy who have always dreamt of running in "Stride". They join the "Stride" schoolclub which, obviously, is running out of members and our protagonists miraculously save the club. Then, all of them are training and running. Also, in each episode there's someone talking about how "Stride" connects people with a mandatory, super-cringeworthy shot of high-five of the runners in the background. And that's pretty much the story, or what supposed to be the story. Very predictable and unoriginal.

The art is mediocre. It has its ups and downs but there's nothing particular in it. The characters' faces seem really weird as they look like they have different shapes in different shots, but overall the characters are nicely drawn. Run sequences are fairly well animated, although there is too little running and too much thinking-while-running shots.

There's also nothing particular in sound. During the run sequences there's always some music but in my opinion it is there only because it would be awkward to listen to the boys' gasps for a few minutes.

When it comes to characters, there's absolutely nothing original in them. There's the female protagonist, who is there only to be a narrator and has no personality whatsoever, then there's the overly enthusiastic guy, the manly guy, Haru from "Free!" and even Sephiroth from FF7 - pretty much the characters we've all already seen elsewhere. Each character is pretty much one dimensonial and is involved in some backstory which is absolutely forgettable and is meant to add depth to the characters but unfortunately fails to do so. On the other hand, some of them are sometimes funny.

Having completed the whole series, I can say I generally enjoyed it despite its flaws. There definitely are better sports series, but also there are definitely worse sports series. "Prince of Stride: Alternative" is by no means a masterpiece, but it's not a bad show either. This anime just doesn't shine in any way. If you have some free time, give it a go. Don't expect too much, though.

(This is my first review and I'm not native English speaker so there probably are lots of mistakes, so sorry for that.)