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The anime is not yet finished airing but I figured I'd write my review now since it's not magically gonna get any better.

Summer Time Rendering is being praised as one the best animes this season- "peak." If this what is considered "peak" anime today, I have some major concerns for tomorrow. I won't linger on any useless plot synopsis's. I personally dread reading reviews wasting time mentioning them.
Right off the bat, the writing is bad. So many noticeable story inconsistencies. I am not incapable of suspending my disbelief in fiction, it is necessary to the enjoyment of stories. However, the underlying logic necessary ... TO my enjoyment of the stories must be believable. For example, I really find it hard to believe that not even the protagonist himself didn't notice his fucking eye had changed colors until about 3 days in. Or that Ushio's shadow managed to call Hizuru back to the island from the bottom of the ocean??? (Or the future, pick your poison) Or that these characters would keep making the decisions they do whilst aware of what they're up against; speaking of which, the villains of this series, the shadows, don't have any consistent parameters around what they can and cannot do. Realistically, there should be nothing stopping the shadows from just killing and replacing the mostly unaware residents of the island, but they don't because...plot? At one point the villain literally puts a GPS on the protagonist that can track him across timelines, and she just doesn't keep using it immediately because...plot. There's a point where the main character says he's only able to jump back in time once more before reaching a point of no return...and then he jumps back in time again after that. Once again, because the plot desired it.

So much information- about this universe, powers, weaknesses- is thrown at you randomly throughout the anime.
- The personality of a shadow can print itself onto the human psyche and coexist with the host? The irrelevant pink haired girl was working with the shadows all along? You learn people that have already been copied have immunity to being copied again really late into the story. Shadows can produce both sexually and asexually?? None of it makes sense in the context it was given to you.

Characters also range from being super intelligent at moments to complete idiots...as the story desires. It's written like a manwha you'd get an ad for on the internet.

Every rehashed trope, the characters, the plot itself, just reminded me of a better anime I'd already watched. So many glaring issues, so why is this being gassed up?

I started my search skimming through the trashy animes that usually plague the pages of the MAL ecchi tag. And I ended it quite satisfied but perplexed. You see, it was to my understanding that fast-paced, over-the-top, almost YouTube Poop-esque comedy was something unique to the era of the world wide web. But here in front of me is an anime preceding the 2000s and its outlandish internet culture, that exhibits all of these characteristics. I am not so naïve as to say "Colorful is ahead of its time" but I believe it stands atop its contemporaries as what may have served as the inspiration ... for modern-day "meme-culture." It's a bit jarring seeing a lenny face and hearing memey audio-stutters in an anime from the 90s, to say the least. Despite some of its fast-forward humor, the anime seems to be ground in its era- pertaining to its peeping comedy (not that similarly perverse animes aren't released today). It is understandable as to why a woman may not find panty-gazing humor as funny as I do. Though unlike other ecchi anime, Colorful doesn't seek to justify or ignore its male characters sleazy activity; but to draw attention to it, satirize, and poke fun at the absurd lengths these men are willing to go to satisfy their voyeuristic urges. This is where much of the humor lies. Their panty-gazing exploits often result in them hurting and embarrassing themselves for the enjoyment of the audience. It wouldn't be very funny of the characters were simply to succeed in their sexual harassment. "Colorful's" art, music, and animation are equal parts amazing, its overall aesthetic stunning. The anime opens with a fucking ska song song and ends with an experimental French breakcore track. Spliced between segments of the anime are these MTV, magazine-esque montages. From beginning to end, its stylistic in a way that evokes the spirit of 90s rave and underground culture. It makes sense that an anime this unique and experimental was created by the studio responsible for animes like Boogiepop, Lain, and NieA.

Definitely worth the watch and one of my personal favorites as of now.

Just got done reading this and it's written as well as your average smut...so not good at all, but it still manages to evoke a sense of nostalgia and wow in me. There's a real "Do-It-Yourself" vibe about the linework and shading, reminiscent of the first mangas I'd ever been exposed to. It's not extremely detailed but it's stylized in an appealing way. The character's clothing are stylish and there skin has a soft airbrush accent at moments.
That's about all it has going for it though. Like I had stated previously, it's written poorly but thankfully, it doesn't overstay it's welcome with a length ... of only 2 chapters.

Such an oddly put together anime, I believe I should've read the manga before having this been my introduction to Burn the Witch.

The anime starts you off in what feels like the middle of the series in an extremely vague setting and only gets more comboggled; with vague implications of these character's relationships, their power systems, and their motivations.

At the very least, Kubos character design is more than amazing. There were so many instances where I found myself pausing to admire the design of certain character's outfits ie, Sullivan Squire. And some where I began to question how boring and odd some of the ... choices for these character's designs were ie. Bruno and Balgo. It doesn't help that backgrounds/scenery of the anime, like a lot of modern animes, looks so artificial.

Really scratching my head after this one. A lot of squandered potential here.

Bad OVA that can't blame it's poor quality entirely on it's inability to fully flesh out its story within its duration. It's not even all that interesting in concept; dominatrix by day, exorcist/medium by night, our protagonist lacks any depth beyond her occupation and the occasional gag. Misaki (The protagonist) doesn't seem to have any actual motivation, we are never shown her employer, or even given a rational reason as to why she works as a medium [she doesn't seem to like it]. The sexual humor isn't funny and clashes with the otherwise serious tone of the show, in a very unpleasant way. The animation ... while not bad, standard for OVAs of the time actually, feels especially mediocre here.
One thing I did enjoy about this was OVA was Misaki's character design, it was what drew me to this anime in the first place. That is as far as compliments go because Misaki's character feels like bullshit, the extent of her spiritual power's isn't even explained. This definitely felt like a poorly executed hodge-podge of ideas. 3/10 maybe 4.

This doesn't need to be a lengthy review, this anime is bad. Was almost average because of how funny it was to begin with, no real plot just fun nonsense. That however, may be its fault. Its running gag (Sakura being killed by the bludgeoning bat and brought back to life) becomes stale very quickly and when characters aren't funny they're just being annoying. Really felt like it was dragging on towards the end, that and the OVA decided to DOUBLE DOWN on a worry I kept in the back of my mind starting this, that being its loli aspect. Every character could've been aged ... up and put in a high-school setting (at the very least). 4/10

Very enjoyable manga. The art is beautiful and simple, mimicking the "controlled blocks of black and expressive linework" that fashion artist like Rene Gauru are known for. The story isn't as preachy as other stories that try to tackle the artificiality of the celebrity lifestyle and address the matter tastefully, which I appreciated; was like a breathe of fresh air. My only criticism of the story is that the characters fell flat. Characters, including our protagonist, who should have had some significant character development by the end of the story, remained static.

Other than that, lovely. Appropriately labeled "Avante-garde", appealed to the fashion student that ... I am.

This reads like the "cliche" horrors and thrillers of the 2000's, and I LOVE IT. In the afterword Kakizaki expresses his passion for the horror genre and the process and conditions of this oneshot's creation. The manga has been critiqued as mediocre and predictable, however I feel these are unfair inclinations. The Hollywood slasher formula works perfectly for the genre of horror and aesthetic portrayed in this, not to mention the art and paneling draws out a sense of genuine unease.

Doubling down on that, I do think that this manga is carried by its amazing artwork. The dark, bold, shading of these panels and ... framing of the characters in their surroundings throughout go above and beyond. The story structure is not its fault, but rather the indecisiveness of the character's morals. It felt like the story was trying to give us morally grey characters, a realistic portrayal of our protagonist, highlighting every character's humanity, but it throws it away every chance it gets. The ending wasn't bad because it was predictable but because it was badly written, a contradiction to what we've been showed about our protagonist's character.

All in all I thought this was a worthwhile read, I am a horror fan and I was satisfied. Definitely style over substance. Masasumi Kakizaki is particularly notable for his incredible artwork, I could only begin to imagine what he could create if he collaborated with better writers. 6.5/10

If there's one thing i hate the most, it's the contextualization of the story through exposition in a visual medium. It's poor storytelling first and foremost, and unnecessary when you have the ability to tell a much more compelling story through pictures and dialogue. Why is the narrator explaining this? And who is he/she explaining it to? I'm also not sure if 'All You Need Is Kill' is a pioneer of this story structure, but i wasn't a fan, felt generic in the purest sense. The paneling makes it hard to follow a lot of what is going on in the story, which is unfortunate ... because all the fights are so well illustrated. Nothing flowed together. Which brings me to my conclusion; though I didn't like the premise to begin with, more chapters would've helped fully flesh out this story. The ending was rushed and you don't get a feel for Rita and Keiji's relationship at all; everything is told to you instead of shown. Bad 4/10

Summary:
It almost feels disrespectful to give this anime a 3/5. The time you can tell was put into the art is commendable and the music is just as good as the art.
The story opens up with lovers, Jeanne and Jean who plan on getting married under a society where economics and your ability work hand-in-hand, and happen to be in debt. As punishment the Village Lord rapes Jeanne and continues to ruin both their lives.

Jeanne reunites with her lover after the assault under the pretense that he is there to comfort her but he begins to strangle her.

Now here is where my ... interpretation of the happenings in the film get a little muddy. I believe she was either left unconscious or killed after the fact and that is when the Devil manifest itself. Jeanne offers her body to the devil in exchange for power and while the village is at war Jeanne and Jean become quite prosperous. However, as many dealings with the devil go, things began to take a turn for the worst.

When the king returns from war his queen informs him of Jeanne's newfound popularity and respect amongst the villagers and she is quickly labeled a witch (which isn't too far off...).

Review:
I feel this point in the synopsis is a perfect place to start my critics of the film, as well as things I enjoyed.

So up until Jeanne is thrown into the "dungeon" the events of the film are easily discernable despite it's animatic medium, however the sequence that takes place at this point is still confusing after a 2nd watch. I assume she was either still in the dungeon, her husband helped her escape, or she was never in the dungeon and she just offers the devil her soul right after the fact. Whichever it may be the plot becomes very muddy and convoluted from here on out.

Jeanne makes herself Satan's bride and a powerful witch and her presence is quickly made aware of to the villagers. Hesitant at first, they begin to adore her and the village slips into a world of hedonism and sexual deviancy.

Skipping across the plot a little because a summary is pointless at this point if not to provide context to my review, Jeanne is captured and brought before a crowd to burn at the stake for being in league with the devil. Jeanne watching her burn and die attacks the Lord and armed guards in a fit of rage, which is confusing. His character isn't very consistent, he's manipulative and has stabbed Jeanne in the back more than once but we are supposed to be convinced that he loves her and its mutual? The villagers assimilating with Jeanne's demonic soul and taking the face of her metaphorically was a bit on the nose and towards the end the film had me thinking a lot of its themes were on the nose but its fine.

All in all it was a worth while watch, I don't think I'll watch it again because the payoff really isn't worth the length of the film (It's not so lengthy as it is boring) but I thoroughly enjoyed the unusual medium it chose to tell its story with. It was one long watercolor trip. 2.5/5.