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Apr 1, 2024
When I first heard about the anime adaptation being announced officially, I had no expectations of it becoming a faithful adaptation, especially when it comes to pacing, as I've seen webtoons Crunchyroll has produced back in 2020 fell off with ToG barely being the only decent adaptation. Also there was the “localisation politics” due to the undeniable fact that a certain important arc has negative portrayals related to race that I gave up hoping that the original dubbing will not keep the Korean names. This is coming from me who has read the webtoon’s earliest arcs.
Now, some years later, I went in with very low
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expectations that surprisingly fades away after each episode I've watched. I can now say that I'm in the wrong for all these years of being cynical towards such decision making from the production companies, which includes Korea’s famous publishing companies (Kakao; D&C Media), being the right thing to happen as they kept the Korean names in one of their original dubbing versions. Never in my entire life would I witness Solo Leveling's anime adaptation being an improvement, especially with the writing department where the script “stitches up” some writing elements to make certain plot points make more sense. It's even better that the Series Director (Shunsuke Nakashige) made the decision to cut out certain dialogues & comedic visuals for a more mature presentation of such adaptation. Of course there's the popular Hiroyuki Sawano helming the soundtrack of this series. This might be his best work he has done so far since I admit I've kept replaying a certain BGM tune from this series recently.
Even if I never read the source materials (trivia: SL started off as LN back in 2014), I would still enjoy each episode seeing our male protagonist Sung Jinwoo going from zero to hero in a world where magic and monsters come true. And that's where the scriptwriting elements come into play; it really improved on certain tones and supporting characters while I admit they're still two-dimensional, they're given at least decent basic characterization (in the form of anime original scenes) which was absent in the source materials, making them a bit important in the anime version though I still have to remain little expectations as character development is still based on clichéd stereotypes especially an important female character is written that way where she's part of an important subplot that feels forced/unnatural in both source materials.
Now my disappointment with this adaptation is the implementation of such scenes having many “sudden cut” transitions, especially when the episode features during Jinwoo's training in getting stronger. There would've been more emotional impact, especially for the final episode of this first cour, if such transitions are placed in a linear narrative. My other disappointment is that the character designs are “toned down” from the webtoon version despite my understanding that it's needed to implement very fluid animation, especially the action-packed scenes. Nevertheless, I can forgive the such designs as Tomoko Sudo showcased her great work being a Chief Animation Director in some of my fave episodes; she definitely should make her debut as a Series Director someday.
Alas, talented late bloomer Taito Ban (though I'm sure other dubbing’s VAs gave a great performance) has done a phenomenal job (though he must not be encouraged to go overboard) in voicing Jinwoo whose power growth/personality change can be distinguished within his tonal range changing gradually amongst some episodes. His voice acting really made me believe that there's no other male seiyuu who could voice Jinwoo, not even the more popular ones. This is a rare case where the voice casting was made with a great decision in choosing Ban (him being a semi-veteran due to voicing so many unknown background characters for several years) instead of opting for a popular-named seiyuu.
In short, I can only recommend Solo Leveling if you don't mind the story being “protagonist-centric” (note: this series’ literal title), the plot points not being written with complex topics, and the subgenre being LitRPG though the Level System/Game Mechanics implemented element makes more sense unlike the lame reason of it being “a special magic spell”. By the final episode, you'll understand why Solo Leveling became the blueprint for the many existing LitRPG-themed webtoons in S.Korea, and hopefully diehard fans of such subgenre will gladly enjoy Jinwoo's “leveling up” journey even if the execution of portraying it might become subjective to some of the subgenre’s fans.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Sep 3, 2023
There was so much hype when this anime adaptation of My Dress-Up Darling started airing during its seasonal watch that it became some number one hit in most of the audience's voting polls. And most of you reading this wonder why I rate this with a monotonous rating when I happened to like Shikimori and Couple Cuckoo despite not being an avid fan of romcoms?
MDUD has a so-so storytelling. Despite of every element happening in this series are positive values to learn from, not to mention admire as your inspiration in fashion design within the healthy side of otaku subculture, I feel it's too clichéd
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to be interested in whatever the main characters are doing. Story-wise, it's nothing special. Just the typical outgoing girl knows shy boy's existence, their interactions lead to respecting each other's personal hobbies, and an appropriate amount of slightly heavy female fanservice due to the series being officially labelled as "seinen" demographic & "ecchi" being the main subgenre.
While I feel Gojo has some character development in terms of coming out of his introvert shell, his depiction of being traumatised of breaking gender stereotyping roles and portrayal of an introvert feel like a bland stereotype with the former happening for the sake of happening; because if it never happened, he wouldn't have met the main heroine of this story. The good thing is that I like how Gojo is written that defies negative stereotypes of a self-insert male protagonist whom most of them give in to become a toxic hypocrite.
As for Marin, while it's indirectly mentioned that she feels lonely & that her gyaru friends don't understand the joy of her cosplaying hobby, this reveal sounds more like a "whatever I don't care" statement instead of an indication of a more complex personality of the most popular girl in high school. Thus, I see her as a Purity Mary Sue where she's too likeable that I see her as uninteresting that leaves me sitting on the fence, but will let her avid fans enjoy the positive side of her.
As for the major supporting female characters, I feel they're the usual characters who can be relatable to the most of the viewers watching how they interact and/or come to realise their renewed inspiration after meeting Gojo & Marin. There was this bathroom fanservice scene featuring one of them, and it was ridiculously uncomfortable seeing how this "lucky to see a woman naked" trope is written with insensitivity. I'm just glad there weren't any more similar scenarios happening in later episodes.
TL; DR My Dress-Up Darling is an okay story. I can only recommend if you want fanservice that doesn't go overboard and that you want to watch the most simplistic teenage romcom story where the main couple has healthy interactions with each other. Another plus of this series is there's no romanticised toxic behaviour between Gojo and Marin that I was able to appreciate their romantic love for each other being. Just do know that I won't be watching its season renewal, but I do support in letting sincere fans loving the upsides of this healthy fictional couple.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Jun 24, 2023
I guess why I didn't includes Otaku Elf as my seasonal watch initially was because of my monotonous feeling of their anime studio C2C's previous season called Handyman Saito which became my disappointment after having high expectations on it. And which may lead to my unconsciousness in skipping Otaku Elf until I didn't & changed my mind a week ago or so. The animation quality is great, not to mention the scriptwriting doesn't feel repetitive or boring.
Otaku Elf is like any iyashikei series which involves the main characters of this subgenre doing the best they can to make each day worth living for. The exception
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is that there is some solemn moments involving Elda being an immortal elf who can exceed a human's lifespan for a thousand years at least. Fortunately, this kind of subtlety didn't create mood whiplash as we can see her miko partner Koito being uplifting in helping & lecturing Elda about her duties as a deity. I love how this being an obvious tourism advertisement of Tsukishima in Chuo, Tokyo wasn't written like a blatant ad and the Edo era's history educational stuff is a plus for non-Japanese who would like to visit this place that soon.
What's more is the experience of a comfort feeling watching two female protagonists form a deep friendship day by day despite each of them having a different lifespan. I also get to see the supporting characters being able to carry the series with their various personalities from cheeky and quirky to clumsy and lovely. I'm glad these kind of supporting characters were able to make me feel that they're much important as the main characters going about their daily lives.
To sum up, if you want to watch a non-human character acting out human emotions in a cute, heartwarming way along with supporting characters that don't feel like they're written in this story just for the sake of acting as support to the main characters, then Otaku Elf should be your immediate watch that hopefully cleanse your whole self from today's reality without romanticised self-centred escapism (which is unfortunately prominent in male-lead stories) & wholesome moments being genuine to your heart.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Feb 15, 2023
I've no clue about any LN source material so going in blindly like I always did with their anime adaptations is a choice I never regret until this series happened to give me mixed feelings on what it's trying to convey in its storytelling. I admit that I've used the 10-sec forward for scenes that were predictably boring or monotonous in order for me to stay awake fully. In other words, it's a tolerable watch that the only redeeming quality on why I didn't drop it is the action scenes being animated with great quality from a "sometimes rarely heard" anime studio called Nexus.
Somewhat a
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parody that semi-endorses the tagline of "Don't take it too seriously" and that it's maybe a "so bad, it's good" story that embraces the campy side of chunnibyou traits being turned up to eleven, Eminence in the Shadow follows an obvious chunnibyou protagonist who gets reincarnated in a fantasy world of swords and magic and whom begins his quest of fulfilling his bucket list of doing the most chunnibyou stuff he must do without suffering any consequences in completing it.
The dark comedy elements fall flat, if not unfunny since it's trying too hard to make fun of its own story that the tone shift balance feels out of place at most times. The characters' chemistry with each other is absent, if not feel monotonous that I couldn't care less on whatever any main or supporting character are doing or saying; even the ones who has a dark, bleak backstory was unable to make me change my monotone feeling about the story's overall plot.
I don't recommend this series to those who are expecting a serious story that is balanced well with appropriate comedic elements or the usual isekai story of a dark-toned protagonist who seems to not have a typical moral compass. Those who are normeeb (a person who is in between a normie and a weeb) like me won't like this anime adaptation that requires so much "Don't take it seriously" attitude for focus on its storytelling. In the end, it all depends on how strong the weeb status resonates within you that may help you overcome your disliking the uninteresting chunnibyou protagonist triumphs over slightly hammy villains and his one-dimensional harem.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Dec 25, 2022
To think this series is this season's Rent-A-Girlfriend (in the form of a school compulsory subject) and/or Osamake (but only this time it's obvious the childhood friend isn't gonna win in this ridiculous love square she's in) has made me believe this is one of the worst rom-coms I've ever watched within this medium type.
Regardless of whether this should be in your Trainwreck/Dumpster Fire watchlist, this anime adaptation has a mixed bag of straightforward cringe, 90% of romance elements being predictable, romanticizing gender stereotypes, outdated tropes of each major character and unnecessary melodramatic clichés in the form of misunderstandings caused by a dystopian concept where
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each Japanese teenager must take the mandatory Couples Practical course.
I sometimes wonder if this series is really meant to be enjoyed as "so bad, it's good" just because the teenage characters are acting over-the-top and being wishy-washy in confessing their feelings. It turns out that this series is a romanticisation of wish fulfillment for single male (allo) readers since it's obvious that Jirou is a self-insert male protagonist who has become my most hated character from this series. In fact, the toxic behaviors of Jirou & Akari manipulating each other unconsciously can be a turnoff given how the sparkly color coordination is an obvious sign that their romantic development is being romanticized to superficial, unhealthy levels. Also the writing development on Minami makes him become a plot device instead of him being an actual character.
More Than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers may not be to your liking if you're unable to stand the features I've mentioned above, and/or if you feel upset that it somehow directly insults that being a virgin, especially written as an otaku stereotype trope, is a childish thing to be; not to mention, the "teasing the virgin" joke gets repetitive and tedious.
The only good thing is that it doesn't feature ace characters which I'm glad this doesn't apply to the male lead's best friend whom you won't like his voice screeching vibes of a persistent busybody, and that he would be a misrepresentation of being an aroace.
I believe this anime series is recommended for those who want to experience "a rom-com made during the Y2K era", or those who want the kind of escapism where the stupidity of falling for the wrong person who happens to be the OTP and misunderstandings keep on happening like it's the most natural thing to do. The only thing that I could think of as its salvation is the animation quality being made with a "good enough" level.
More Than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers can only be enjoyed for an allo audience who desire to watch for the fanservice of the female lead being a sexy, cute waifu and a bumbling otaku male lead who tried his utmost best to figure out why he's falling for the female lead instead of his cute childhood friend. For an aro/ace audience, I recommend this series to them if they want to watch a Trainwreck that is "so bad, it's good".
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Jan 13, 2022
Did I mention that hearing the word "multimedia" means that any anime adaptation, related to that said word, is doomed from the start? Or that
I had mentioned of believing that a video game, especially in Japan, they're mostly called with the term "gacha", is announced as a sequel to an anime series that served as a prequel, is also doomed from the start? If I had known Takt Op Destiny (TOD) was like this, I wouldn't have planned to watch this weekly as a dreadful chore to fulfil.
Because out of all the video game/visual novel adaptations, whether they're compressed of the original source or
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its anime is served as either a prequel, sequel or a spin-off, 99% of it has made me believe that I shouldn't get my hopes up for their anime adaptation to be made of worthy storytelling; not to mention that there are many scenes that's blatantly telling me, or whoever notices like me, that TOD is a blatant gacha ad in order to get anime viewers to purchase and play the gacha one in the near future. And that's how TOD fails to do this for I've seen some comments from gacha lovers that after watching TOD anime, they've lost motivation to be interested in the gacha.
For starters, TOD should've gotten another cour to flesh out the characters, important plot elements/devices and coherent plot progression that would've been able to make me like it like what Princess Connect anime adaptation did for me. Nonetheless, there are some one-cour series that have managed to do what I've just mentioned above.
The trouble with TOD is that the writing department staff thought that they should put all of the potential elements crammed into 12 episodes because these elements are made up of good quality writing stuff, right? No and no; because too many good ingredients can make the dish taste bad when the ingredients aren't managed properly.
TOD's disorganised ingredients includes the male protagonist who just go with the flow of whatever the plot wants him to do and whose conveyed feelings feels monotonous in my ears especially, a major supporting female character who just kissed the male protagonist out of nowhere without any scenes indicating her body language (particularly her eyes) that she's in love with him from the start, the female protagonist's character development was unmemorable, not to mention she's only developed when her body language doesn't keep up with so-called character development, and the villains of this anime are one of the lamest & uninteresting ones I've ever seen in this medium. Did I mention the main villain's death is too ridiculous to take it seriously and that his Musicarts make me unable to care whatever they're doing to make the protagonists from completing their destiny? Lame pun intended.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention that a beautifully drawn Musicart, whose voice actress is listed as part of the major supporting cast, is unceremoniously used as an obvious plot device. And that which lead her to become a "throwaway waifu" character for she only appears in 2 EPISODES. The obvious sign is that she was behaving inconsistent in these two episodes.
TL; DR Takt Op Destiny is definitely a trainwreck that I would only rewatch until I turn into an old grandma in fifty years time. But if you are in need of a great fighting stuff and couldn't care less about the storytelling getting derailed after each passing episode and could tolerate some animation inconsistent quality as long as the classical music soundtrack sounds magnificent for your earworm, then Takt Op Destiny has fulfilled the qualifications I've just mentioned.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Dec 26, 2021
To be honest, I only watch this series just to enter lucky draws for a contest back in my region so you'll know the reason why I didn't want to take this series as my seasonal watch back then.
I've yet to see Re:Life; hence, I've no clue what Remake Our Life is gonna turn out. Now, slice-of-life genre can be great storytelling especially when the premise of youngsters wanting to create stuff can be related to the target audience. But unfortunately, ROL has its execution become poorly-made that it becomes unmemorable for me to remember though the main protagonist is one of the most despicable
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characters I've ever seen so far.
For starters, I'm well aware that many of the existing light novels are made up of self-insert protagonists writing style and that LNs are one of the mediums where escapism is prioritised. Nevertheless, it's always risky to write that kind of protagonist because the character itself will become an unlikeable one to several readers who views the protagonist as a ridiculous being despite the realistic stuff happening around the said protagonist.
Kyoya, being an obvious self-insert protagonist, has become one of the most condescending characters I've ever watched. Regardless of the contriving message on him evading a quarter-life crisis that's just been easily resolved with a time travel ability from one of the characters he meets later on, I see Kyoya being an actual villain at the end of the series. I know I sound ridiculous, but all I see from this adaptation are his words not matching up with his actions. Whatever Kyoya does in his "Reset Past" is somewhat patronising that makes him a hypocrite. The final episode has take the cake for he says he regrets doing this, but he still does the most despicable thing he has ever done: erasing someone's life from existence even though she didn't do anything wrong.
Also, the fanservice in the first half seems out of place that it somewhat makes it more obvious that there's a reason why self-insert protagonists, especially the male ones, are frowned upon in the writing department. Though I'm satisfied with the second half not having random fanservice scenes, the execution of a serious story that revolves around making/creating all kinds of mediums of the entertainment industry has been watered down, leaving me feel dull on how it's presented.
Its presentation of how each "creation of entertainment stuff" is explained with 90% of all the runtime made up of heavy exposition dump via the protagonist's narration. I don't understand how this kind of presentation can be making a valuable message be memorable in many viewers' minds feel fresh as long as it can be. Now I know why Japanese viewers' thoughts on this anime adaptation is poorly received because the storytelling elements are weak to deliver any emotional impact due to knowing Kyoya is a selfish protagonist with a savior complex despite in the final few episodes, he was saying out loud that he won't be that anymore. Nevertheless, I'm planning to read the LN someday just to know whether this adaptation is a very compressed one.
Still, having a one cour doesn't excuse poor execution of the intended storytelling for I've seen some one-cour series that has managed to get a high score from myself. In the end, I feel like ROL reminds me of that okay K-drama called "Start-up", but the former score being half of the latter one.
I can only recommend this if you don't care about the heavy exposition dumps that has led to 10% "action louder than words" frames feel unfulfilling, if you just like the female characters being cute waifus and/or if you just want an anime adaptation where the storytelling elements are very easy on your mind. I believe the only reason why I stick throughout the series is because of Kawasegawa whom I find likeable even though she's discarded without proper character development and that she's obviously a plot device, along with every supporting character, for a dull protagonist to develop into a hypocrite.
Despite my dissatisfaction of the execution of its storytelling, I've to give credit that the anime studio has made acceptable animation quality though the character designs are generic-looking and background art is just okay to look at. Still, I should appreciate that the animators (especially from the Key Animation & Animation Director teams) making a feel-good, escapism series that might cheer up/inspire for those who want to watch in a world where everything is filled up with uncertainty.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Nov 16, 2021
I gonna be honest here. I just watch this mini(?) movie to kill time and also to feel like I use my Free Premium Access in the most efficient way.
So basically a battle royale featuring the Best Girl from a very popular LN series taking down every girl she meets at that isolated school setup? Yeah, the premise doesn't intrigue me, not even once. Also heard that this first part derived away greatly from the spin-off LN material and I can see why.
The animation fight scenes neither great nor bad. Just average though the protagonist's abilities' designs and transformation (?) sequence are made beyond expectations.
Nevertheless,
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not even the protagonist's Best Girl status can save this first part from being a dull & uninteresting to watch on your free time. The exposition dumps, especially when the new characters are being introduced through that, are also part of the reasons why this spinoff feels monotonous.
I'm about to watch Second Part so to sum up, I suggest you only watch this spinoff series if you're a dedicated fan of the protagonist whose role in the main series has somewhat make her earn "Best Scene Stealer" title.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Nov 16, 2021
I'm just gonna make this short and simple to read.
I don't think you should trust the next Netflix-originally produced series because chances of any one of them becoming a worthy adaptation is 10%. The rest 90% is the chances of being a bombed adaptation where most of the animation quality is PowerPoint (a.k.a. slideshow) style or the scriptwriting is terrible or both.
Gokushufudou's First Part was tolerable to watch and it's mainly thanks to The Kenjiro Tsuda voicing a yakuza-turned-househusband protagonist. For this Second Part, there's nothing much changed as the animation style is 100% PowerPoint and the sound quality of the voice acting is achieved
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the same level as FP. Unfortunately, the visuals overpowered my ignoring abilities so much that I suggest you don't watch this part at all.
So, save yourself by reading the manga digitally at Pocket Comics or purchase the hardcopies at Viz Media while you listen to the voice acting and sound effects from the unfortunate Netflix series. Yes, cover the screen with a huge sheet so that you only listen to the audio while you read the manga series. Thank you for reading this PSA.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Oct 22, 2021
I love parodies that make fun of stuff in a sensible way, especially when it comes to serious series or a trending genre that many people dread that they wish someone make fun of said genre.
Full Dive RPG is obviously making fun of Sword Art Online. In the likes of Konosuba which is the prominent starting point of making fun of isekai tropes & anything related to clichés appearing in this (sub)genre, I thought I was gonna enjoy a relaxing time of seeing VRMMORPG tropes & clichés being made fun of in the most sarcastic way. Unfortunately, I was dreading after each passing episode that
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I left the final episode for the past 6 months so that should give you a clue on which other future series I'm disappointed with.
There's nothing much to say about what makes Full Dive RPG an enjoyable series unless you're a dedicated M especially when you love a trainwrecked series. This is one of them though I don't think I'll rewatch this series ever; even if it gets a season renewal, I'll pass.
The reason why I've picked up this series is because it's the same LN author of Overly Cautious Hero. Likewise if I'm satisfied with an author's first work, I thought that their next work will be as great as the first. Sadly, this is a misconception for I was disappointed watching Full Dive RPG. I guess moral of the story is don't make prejudgements that any author can be versatile or else you'll end up feeling the worst when your expectations of their next work are shattered to smithereens like what I've experienced with a Blundered work aired early last year. 🙁
Of course as much as I try not to believe my prejudgements, but unfortunately, things go expected the way you thought of badly. Nevertheless, Studio ENGI is only a hit and miss unlike GEEKTOYS, but do keep in mind that the animation quality from the former is "questionable" especially when it comes to adapting a series with lots of action scenes.
TL; DR If you're in need of a trainwrecked series to watch or if you're wanting to just listen to your favourite seiyuu indirectly making fun of their characters, Full Dive RPG should be fulfilling those conditions. If not, give this series a pass for the humor is so-so; not to mention it peaked at its worst outcome when they attempt at crude humor & the protagonist being too stupid to survive in a game.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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