It's just ok. My main issue is that every time they make you think there is actually going to be a touching moment, the writing backs off and goes back to being its usual tepid level of seriousness. I wanted to care about these characters more but the show didn't let me. The little girl acts like a believable child, which I appreciated but others might find her annoying.

(Spoiler free) What if you made a dartboard, assigned a shoujo trope to every section of the board, and threw a dozen darts? Could you write a compelling story that combined them all? That's the question Blue Spring Ride sets out to answer. As it turns out, the answer is "no". In hindsight, the writing might just be so bad that it's good. Wait until you find out the complex reasons the losing girl in the main love triangle has for crushing on the main dude. Or wait until "that" river scene halfway through. Or wait until the main group just somehow inexplicably becomes friends even though it's unclear that they even like each other. Or wait until the final minutes of the anime when you find out that the second love triangle even exists and who is in it. This was gonna be a 3/10 but I actually really liked the art style.

Blue Lock does only one notable thing: it creates a palpable, visceral sense of hype during the matches. That's the only thing it does, but it does it really well.

High school band comedy X shy girl makes friends. It took me maybe 3 or 4 episodes to fully warm up to it, but I think the comedy was really solid, although its edginess won't be to everyone's liking. I was pleasantly surprised by some of the more sincere and serious moments

The last third is good but that can't make up for the first 7-ish episodes. Chainsaw Man is a show that revels in being gross for the sake of being gross. Sure, characters behave in ways that make sense, but that's not sufficient for me to like watching them. The concept for the power system is neat. If the next season is like the end of this one, I'll give it a shot

Pretty boring, except when it stopped being just boring for a bit and became both boring and cringe

(Spoiler-free) This is a really good story up until the final arc. The 4 main characters are willing to go to extreme lengths to get what they want. It was fun and a tad unnerving to watch just to see how far they would go when push comes to shove. The 3 supporting characters Ayume, Tsukikage, and Hayami are interesting because they all want Maya to succeed but they each have different ulterior reasons why. Hayami's a solid villain, internally struggling to hold onto the last shred of goodness within himself. Ayume is a solid rival for Maya, and I enjoyed that their relationship was primarily one of deep mutual respect. The plot always keeps moving (sometimes a bit too fast), and every play or audition has real stakes for Maya. Unfortunately, the final arc in my opinion devalues most of the journey - the main plot gets shoved aside, and the main character behaves irrationally. The final episode has one of the most bizarre scenes I have ever watched. While Maya is not perfect by any means, by the last few episodes, I could no longer root for her. Had the last arc gone how I had anticipated, this would be an 8 or even 9/10. Sadly, I can't recommend this.

K-On season 1 is lighthearted/chill and generally amusing. It took me a while to warm up to the characters. I felt that it improved however once most of the characters had been introduced and the writing could start doing more gags that played the characters off each other. I could have gone without the occasional off-color jokes, but they were infrequent enough to not hurt my enjoyment.

K-On season 2 is basically just more K-On. It has the benefit of us knowing all the characters, so the whole season mostly has gags involving multiple characters at a time, and there is more variety in the "story". I felt the graduation arc at the end went on too long, but oh well. The occasional cringe from season 1 is almost non-existent here so that's nice

More like Mid-Sama. Every guy in the show is decidedly unlikable: they are either a creep, or whiny, or both. Sometimes, occasionally, it could be funny, but disliking most of the cast, including the main character's main love interest, is enough to sentence a rom com to mediocrity at best

It's cool, it's got some decent moments, but it has all the same problems as season 1. Inosuke is annoying, Zenitsu is worse, and Tanjiro has to be a pure cinnamon bun with no flaws that would enable his character to be believable or compelling. I feel like I didn't understand the villains' motives or how their actions fit into their overall plans, so it felt kinda pointless

Shut-your-brain-off romance that tries to maximize the number of cute moments at the expense of many plot conveniences. I thought I was fine with this trade off, but the last episode goes too far for even my liking. I had my fill of what was on offer by episode 9 or 10. Would have been an 8/10 without that last episode. I appreciate that it is very chill and is drama-free, and it generally accomplishes what it sets out to do

Apparently the show adapts only the start of the manga, but still very little happens. I was feeling generous when I gave this a 6. The show isn't funny. Also there is a very cringe subplot involving the main dude's brother, poor guy. The main group of girls was just annoying, except for the main character. The main girl's personal growth is the only reason to watch this. They tease that the main dude might get some personal growth too but that gets brushed to the side early on. Apparently some people really relate to and thus enjoy the main girl, and she's a decent character, but there's nothing special here

I'm not sure why I liked this. I think the main couple was sincere enough for me to generally enjoy the humor, and hey it was like 50% rom 50% com anyways so liking the characters helps a lot

I just can't give this a score. There were some good moments, yeah the mechanics of the letters is ridiculous but that doesn't really matter, and the cast is sincere. I will say that there is a threshold past which a show is too heavy for me to care about any romances, and this show definitely crossed that threshold. I can't determine a score because fortunately, I don't have the life experience to judge whether the heavy subject matter was handled tastefully, so hopefully I never can settle on a score

It doesn't do anything wrong, but it's fairly bland. I appreciate that it is trying to be tame and drama-free, but I think it goes a bit too far. If I had to name a specific complaint, it's that we learn very little about the main girl's strengths/weaknesses/hopes/fears, so it's hard to care about her or the main couple

(Spoiler-free) This movie feels like one of those edgy dystopian novels you read in middle school. It feels like it's trying to say something, but it's never clear what that is. Not a single character, relationship, or idea feels sufficiently developed. The worldbuilding is rather poor, with basic questions about the "metaverse"''s mechanics going unaddressed. Honestly I think the entire "metaverse" portion could be removed and the movie would be better for it. Certain aspects of the characters' backgrounds feel overly dramatic - the story doesn't explore them enough to justify their inclusion, with the net effect that the characters wind up being unrelatable. Perhaps the clearest mistake in the writing is early on when a relatively unimportant character mentioned attending college in Ohio, yet she did not frame this as a traumatic event, which completely ruined my immersion.

Very simple, chill, lighthearted romcom. I really liked the vibe - there is a plot and stuff actually happens but the writing never lets you suspect for a moment that things won't end amicably. The main girl's unrelenting optimism pervades the whole show and keeps any conflict from feeling like real drama. The main group are all good, amicable people trying their best, which I appreciated.

I watched this shortly after the roller-coaster that is Fruits Basket, so it felt especially refreshing to watch something simple, drama-free, and 100% cringe-free.

If you shut your brain off, it's cool and it can be hype. I would have appreciated a deeper story, but that's not what the show was aiming for, and that's ok

Absolutely way too many characters, absolutely way too much going on, absolutely way too little time available for each subplot or character. Why is this character or that one important? Why was the scarce runtime spent on this scene or that one? Who knows, the writing sure doesn't make the importance of anyone or anything clear. At one point I found myself rooting for the ghoul hunters, because they were the only characters that had a rational motive established for their actions.

One of the main characters becomes irredeemable in episode 9. Watching the show act as if that character can change enough to make up for it is frustrating. The main girl is likeable, easy to sympathize with and to root for. Too bad the main dude is an absolute piece of trash, and the high school is hell on earth. I actually enjoyed the beginning of the anime and had hope that it could end up a 7 or 8 out of 10, mostly based on the quality of the main girl.