One of my goals for 2022 was to attempt to bring back focus on Seasonal Reviews being apart of the normal routine. This was always going to be an ambitious task and not something I'm expecting to lift into flight quickly. That being said we will be attempting to have the Review Event for Winter 2022 ^.^.
I feel the simplest way of operating the review submissions for the event is to simply post them in the thread. It bump the threads, everything is in one place. You can also share your non-airing reviews in this thread as well. I don't have a due date for submissions as I'm not sure what would be a proper due date to complete seasonal reviews. That will have to be determined in the future.
As terrible as Platinum End is overall, it did get very interesting much later before the ending and presented a lot of ideas worth discussing. Yet, I cannot deny that I could not stand Mirai at first. He successfully became one of the worst protagonists I'd ever seen out of how annoyingly naïve he is. There felt almost no point of him going to battle at times since he wouldn't do anything anyways. I could feel Mukaidou's pain as he tried desperately to make Mirai do something.
Mirai's belief in pacifism is the problem. How did he expect to beat God candidates like Metropoliman? This belief of non-violence and to try to negotiate with the heart of an opponent who is heartless is useless. This pacifism of his assumes that they can move their opponent and change their mind. Still, in order for that to work, the opponent needs to have a conscious. Metropoliman has none. It doesn't work that way. All Mirai is doing by being a naïve pacifist is to allow his own slaughter. The irony here is that Mirai, by not killing these killers, allows them to continue their own killing. To a certain extent, Mirai is contributing here as part of the problem.
The art of this series, at many times, looks lifeless and ugly. The fan service looks desperate at times. It's noticeably and annoyingly inconsistent.
The fights try to be clever but at many times come off as something out of looney tunes. One of the main examples is the way the cast try to take care of a world ending virus. Sometimes the twists and planning ahead can be nice as the characters try to outsmart each other.
As the first half rolled out, I was cheering for Metropoliman because the main cast made themselves almost unbearably insufferable in how foolish they were. This reminds me of that terrible series Peach Girl were they made the cast so annoying and ignorant I wanted the antagonist to win.
The series eventually gets better with the introduction of that Kenpachi rip off, Yoneda. He questions God about how people can be overdependent on religion. I would agree with him that people should not place their entire wellbeing on religion. People should become strong based on their own feelings of confidence, resolve, and purpose in life. I can appreciate that he saved this series from becoming complete trash.
Towards the end, the cast begins to finally come to some resolve, and then one of the most strangest endings occurred that is absolutely hated in the manga. This was a strange series best forgotten or never bothered with. You could say this did not even come close to the author's previous success with Death Note. You can also add that the directing in Death Note was incredible compared to the sad excuse of directing that occurred here.
Orient belongs in that pile of plain and generic shonen that doesn't offer much of a good story among characters that at best remind me of Saturday morning kids cartoon heroes. There is very little to say about these 12 episodes, even much less that can be positive. At the end it teases the viewers by revealing that it just the beginning of a large story. And yet, I feel very little reason to keep going despite the announcement that this series will continue this coming Summer season. The first 3 episodes are easily the worst. Musashi and Kijorou want to create the best band of Oni slaying Bushi. As a result, they go on fighting some of the least appealingly designed monsters I'd ever seen. It's boring monster of the week episodes at the start.
Finally, though most seemed had dropped it by then, episode 4 airs and introduces a new character that gave some life to the series with the story of her trying to resolve the trauma of her past. Tragically, she has slowly become more and more irrelevant, and stops having any real use to the series besides just the occasional fan service that gets shoved in the viewers faces. She has now been reduced to a background character that constantly gets scared, boringly explains what is happening, and embarrassingly breaks the 4th wall. She is strangely confused with how to make use of her sex appeal and tries her best to make her constant single frame presented sister proud.
Afterwards, the series begins to focus on the development of Musashi. Here is where the series begins to get a little better. The mystery behind his powers and what hides inside them started to make this series at least a little interesting by then. Besides the Oni, new antagonists get introduced such as Shirou and his over the top facial expressions, as well as his socially awkward servant Nanao. There is very little development or story to them which makes them irrelevant to me.
The fights themselves aren't interesting enough to make them unique or good besides sword fights that involve too much talking at times. This ruined moments that were supposed to be exciting. Other times the series decides to unnecessarily use over 2 minute recaps before the opening sequence. The character designs are nice, though it only applies to the main characters who are women. Some of the minor characters are drawn so terrible that they look as if they are dead. This is a shame because of the little I saw of the manga it looked so much better. I did see the constant disappointment of the manga readers and I don't blame them. The music I don't even remember because of how bad and unmemorable it was besides that one decent slow track that gets used to death.
Orient's debut ruined it's chance to introduce viewers to a new possibly long running series. Though it managed to pick itself up slightly towards the end, there isn't much going for it to deserve the viewers continued interest and time.
Honestly, by the end of Ousama Ranking, I felt disappointment. What a wonderful first half, and yet what a downgrade in the second. The drop in the series made me stop caring about a lot of what it built up in the early episodes. The fights sometimes reached Claymore tier levels of animation of characters nonsensically swinging their weapons. Slideshow execution reared it's head eventually after it had been animated so consistently good before. It was tragic to see what this used to be and what it lowered itself to towards the end overall. Ousama Ranking set the bar too high for itself in the first half and just couldn't deliver the same quality near as much after. And it shows depending who worked on each episode.
Kage had a great and emotional introduction just to be reduced to a cheerleader that felt as if he was being used by the staff to annoyingly and constantly tell me how to feel. I could not relate in the end to the way Miranjo's character played out considering it all and how sudden it felt in the end. King Bosse is a strange individual with a quest for strength he loved the chase of more than achieving, while having a weird obsession with said Miranjo. At the same time, Miranjo also had a weird obsession with wanting to help him achieve great strength, though her ways for him to achieve this were not as satisfying for him.
Daida, Despa, and Desher became 3 of my 4 favorite characters, and yet most of them were barely there. Daida to me showed the most growth as a character and for that I built a lot of respect for him. Despa is usually a funny character that is amusing to watch. Desher is an underworld king who feels fed up with a lot and yet can entertain with his abilities and often apathetic personality. For me, Hiling was the shining light of the series for her strong dedication towards being a true mother despite her harsh treatment of a younger Bojji. The only issue is the healing, and fake out deaths that can be annoying and take away the stakes, making me unable to take them seriously anymore.
Then there's Bojji. I felt confused when Crunchyroll announced their embarrassing anime of the year awards by including him as so called "best boy." He had done nothing at that point. He appears mostly as a blabbering fool going through a bottom dog story that really only paid off in the end. The blabbering was really unnecessary and the way communication between him and the characters went felt absurd. I don't see much of an appeal to him besides bringing out emotions from viewers that can relate to him who had or have their own issues similar to him. Despite that, I didn't find him appealing as a protagonist out of his simplicity and the constant use of mostly emotions to build his character that felt less and less meaningful as it went.
Ouken isn't a character I was very fond of. Despite that, I enjoyed the way the series used him. His sadistic and horrifying view of killing sets the often executed dark tone of the series. This series can get very bloody and gruesome despite not appearing to look that way at first. Despite his powers, it's horrifying what can still happen to him.
There were times early on where the animation and emotional build ups moved me. I just can't deny that this series went downhill and never really resurfaced besides one of the last episodes: The surreal looking one everyone seemed to praise. All it really had was to use emotional scenes that felt empty to me to try to end strong. Disappointing.
I don't see the post for that one but here is the link. My mistake.
For almost a year I followed 86, looking for something better in this new decadent age of anime. Still, anyone who's followed my content, the tiny amount who are out there, know that I have been on the frontlines as a critic of it. Not for the sake of it, but the reasons that follow:
Season 1 showed me, as painful as it was to see, one of the worst first episodes I ever saw. The legion are an ocean of copy paste, hideous CGI robots that lack any kind of originality in how lazy they are designed. They are hollow with no depth besides being evil in an aimless manner. I still have so many questions. If the robot designs had any creativity behind them, I would not get constantly confused between who is on which side. All this copy paste ruined any chance the CGI had to be decent.
The first half of this first season was so painfully boring. Yes, it did "get better" halfway. Regardless, the terrible start ruined it. It reminds me that every series I ever came to really enjoy had a strong first episode. I can only take so many slide show, flapping mouth infested still frames scenes, and fake out deaths that felt annoying in how often they happened. Not even Sawano's brilliant music can salvage it, not to mention he oftentimes lacks creativity and sounds the same too much of the time. A simple example is the similarity between "Ego" from Gundam Unicorn and "Avid" from this series.
The politics in this so called political series is laughable compared to those that did it right like Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Mobile Suit Gundam. Even the elementary politics of Code Geass is better than this. Milize is so painfully politically naïve and still has not grown much at all. Considering she was rebelling in class and trying to radicalize her peers, why didn't the government try to assassinate her? It only makes sense to weed out her type. No, girls doing cute things isn't enough in an anime to sway me if they lack good writing.
Season 2 failed and did worse were season 1 fell apart. I get it. The 86 are broken individuals used to only war and the misery that maybe one day me and you will come to experience. I didn't need this force fed into me time and time again. Amongst this depressive tone, boring slice of life episodes made their way in. The problem with the 86 is that Shin is the only one that really matters and who has any kind of real development. The rest have been reduced to background characters. They are just there.
One of the biggest problems with season 2 is that Milize, the best character in my opinion, was nearly absent the entire time. The 86 could not hold the anime without her, Shin lost all his development from the last season for a long time, and it continued with boring slide show execution. I thought a series like this would have better production values. I could tell the delay was coming far before it got announced because it was obvious the production was already struggling beforehand.
Yet, if there is some hope that laid anywhere in this second season, it's the last two episodes. No, I did not forget how bad this second season had been after the long absence to know that I wouldn't be deceived by one good episode. The payoff here is deceiving. The last episode also did well. Out of two seasons, at least this series had two strong episodes. Why couldn't this level of quality be had throughout every episode? They were emotional, and yet I felt nothing really meaningful behind it. Just because you cried doesn't make an anime good if there is no real meaning and good writing behind it.
Maybe the cast has grown on me, and yet I feel as if they have grown on me on a hollow and not so meaningful way. They lack any depth and feel as if they are just something I got used to that feels familiar. To make matters worse, an annoying little girl was introduced, who's screeching and obnoxious voice ruined any hope I had left at the time.
As I witnessed the constant decline this series took among the viewers, at least it ended strong. That won't be enough to salvage it, and though I tried to be nice, I cant deny that 90% of these two seasons were trash, to put it as nicely as I can.
The continuation of the 86 franchise can be described by one word:
Beautiful.
Although the story of 86 may be lacking in some areas, its amazing characterizations and visual presentation continue through to the second half of 86 becoming better throughout the show.
The story of discrimination and racism is not one I find to be that interesting. They often feel bland and shallow. Naturally, this hurt the story of 86 in the first installment as it really didn’t do anything to change my grievances with these types of stories. However, this recurring theme was better done in this installment as the Republic did not play as big of a role. Of course, this theme is still present in the Giad Federacy, but it isn’t being constantly shoved down my throat as much. I Still have my problems with it, but overall, it was done better.
As for the characters, I can say I have mostly praise for them. The change in characters is subtle but evident. Shin, although he has quite a blank-slate personality, is not just some overpowered self-insert protagonist. He has real emotions, burdens, and struggles he deals with. While certainly not all of them we can relate to, his struggle of finding a goal in life is something many young people can come to appreciate.
Lena although still being idealistic comes back with more resolve and a clear goal in mind. She is no longer spouting empty speeches: she is actively trying to accomplish something.
The rest of Spearhead Squadron—Theo, Anju, Raiden, and Kurena—do not get as much development as I would’ve liked, but they continue to be characters I enjoy.
There are plenty of new characters most notably Frederica who adds a lot of comic relief to the show. That is not to say she is only there for comedy though. She has plenty of character moments that define who she is. Besides Frederica, there are not too many new characters that stand out to me; granted, that may be subject to change in later installments.
Regarding villains, the Legion continues to play that role as the warmongering faction of mindless machines (although some may see the Republic as villains in some ways). The main antagonist does of a good of job of flushing Shin’s character—an essential component of an antagonist. I wish we got more backstory on him besides just the same montage of clips, but for the most part I was very pleased with his character.
The way the characters and their development are handled may seem simple at first, but 86 manages to grab that simplicity and take it to a level of greatness with great execution.
All these elements are elevated by the outstanding production quality A-Pictures put into the adaptation of 86. The art in 86 is amazing: The visuals of 86 can exemplify the current mood and emotion in many of its scenes—something I can say only a few shows have done so well. This is done by the many motifs, symbolisms, and allusions that complement the themes present. The soundtrack also perfectly captures the mood of both the epic battles as well as the cruelty and sadness found in war. It is clear from the first half of 86 that A-1 Pictures had a lot of passion for creating the show; that passion is clearly seen again in the second half.
Those who enjoy the first installment of 86 will most likely enjoy the second installment as well. I certainly did. The end of 86 Part 2 left me excited for what the show will do with its story and characters in future seasons, and with how impressive this season was, I can only be optimistic.
Here is my first forum post on MAL. Hope it is ok :)
Platinum End :
"nisi dominus frustra"
meaning : without god, all is in vain
- Psalm 127:1 -
Story : The idea of the story is interesting but it was not executed properly for the audience. There are two things that should be taken notes of, the meaning of happiness and the concept of god. We can see that Platinum End tried to implement both things and how they are linked together. For the story, we have 13 people that have been granted abilities and compete for the position of god. The first half of the show is really basic since it is about pursuing their own definition of happiness. There is not much to say about the happiness because everyone has their own way of defining happiness. However, on the second half of the show, things started going downhill because of the way this show is trying define their own definition of god and make the story revolves around it just does not click with many people including me. In reality, we can see that there are multiple concepts of god. For example, some people believed that god existed before the universe while some believed that god existed after mankind. At the same time, some people think of god as a make believe just as a mean of casting away their doubt. From this show, we can see that the author is trying to justify the concept of god with logical thinking which is interesting but was not properly elaborated which made it look like nonsense. Furthermore, the last episode is terrible because of how anticlimactic it is even though they reach their end goal. I personally think that first half is better due to how simple it is.
Character : For the main character, Kakehashi Mirai, his character seems cringy and out of place for the first half due to his mindset and how the show portray him but his character definitely improves to match the show in the second half. For the first antagonist, Metropoliman, he seems interesting due to how he manages to turn the show into a something like a shonen series. For the other god candidates, some of them definitely played their part properly to show the viewers what will happen if you happened to get abilities like them. For example, using that power to benefit others, atoning for past sin or chasing worldly matters. For the rest of the characters, most of them are kind of ruining the show even more.
Art and Sound : The animation is a little inconsistent here and there but it is ok overall and some of the sound effects are great as they manage to make some scenes give more impact.
Conclusion : Interesting idea for a story but poorly executed and the characters not exactly worth the screen time.
Rusted Armors is an enigma. Nobody really cared for or bothered to watch it. I thought Miss Kuroitsu from the Monster Development Department would be the only real series I enjoyed this season, but I was wrong. As the next CGI series carrying the torch after Ex-Arm and Tesla Note, I wanted to see what it had to offer since Tesla Note was hilarious 10/10 so bad it's good content. This series has the same soul as it. It's a series that fought against it's awful CGI with everything else it had and won. It's clear the staff put a lot of love into this series when you really think about it in the end. It's backed by a great soundtrack, a loveable cast of characters that get deeply explored, Good voice acting, great humor and character dynamics, family themed emotional storytelling, and nice segments at the end of each episode where two of the main voice actors get to explore food and settings that inspired the series among other things. I'm sure they had a lot of fun since this is something unique this series tried to do. The character development is strong and not a single main character gets left out. Tragically, it's the clearly bad CGI animation that made it all fall apart so many times. I know this is going be historically hated, and that those that enjoyed it will be laughed it. Still, there's a charm to Rusted Armors, it's story, and it's characters.
The mistakes are there. Awful CGI crows, sound effects to nothing, horrifying looking background characters, backgrounds that look like something out of MS Paint, bad and grainy rendering, characters that look like lifeless puppets, overexaggerated sound effects, laughable voice acting from the generic copy and paste enemies, the usual still frame and slideshow disasters that can get almost as bad as those in Requiem of the Rose King, laughably bad 2D animation between the CGI, and silly errors like showing a guy who is sitting on the floor, but they still play the sound of him grunting and sitting down. There were many times early on that the series kept falling apart and sinking further. How could Rusted Armors redeem itself?
The writing in this strong in that every characters is clearly shown their personal issues, their struggle to overcome, and their resolve as they try to stay mentally strong. The bond between the cast feels sincere like that of an actual family that really grew on me. This is mostly the story of two brothers, and the Rusted Armors: weapons that often look like gun swords that were used to cause power struggles in different countries. The main antagonist is comically evil, and even he gets some nice development by the end. I couldn't help but laugh at him hilariously dancing to classical music among the dead bodies around him after a battle.
Magoichi at first felt like a joke of a protagonist. As the series development, it turned out there was a lot more to him than I thought, and his somewhat naïve and foolish optimism became respectable to me. There's a tragedy to the core of Rusted Armor's story: He grew up teaching his brother to become powerful. This is something that would go to his brother's head, as Lucio would go on to use it to kill nations. Magoichi would later suffer from memory loss, and try to undo what he caused while slowly remembering that he wasn't always the typical hero main character he was revealed to be in the beginning. His teacher Oda is voiced by Toshiki Masuda who also voiced Yamato from Megaton-kyuu Musashi. As a result, I already knew to expect a wonderful performance. Magoichi's best friend Deku is a silly character, that as annoying and foolish as he is, is still a loveable brute.
One of the ideas explored is the purpose and meaning of power. One character might see power only as a means to conquer and kill; that those without are to be preyed upon. As satisfying as this view is to Lucio, it's hollow and covering up for his insecurities. Poetically, It is his abuse and obsession with power that becomes his downfall. Another idea explored is finding a purpose. As I mentioned earlier, the viewers will come to understand what exactly each main character is really about, and their purposes that they realize in life.
As the ED played one last time with Magoichi aimlessly flailing his Rusted Armor around in the purple void to Fantastics from Exile Tribe's nice and melancholy ending sequence song, and as the voice acting cast said goodbye in the after segment, this series did bring a tear to my eye. Maybe I am the only that saw something in this that the few others that watched it and hated it didn't, and maybe I am not the best at explaining this, but this series really connected with me and I didn't want it to end.
Since other reviews are encouraged, I did review Space Runaway Ideon today. It's a must see for those who like watching classics, plus it was a huge influence on Neon Genesis Evangelion: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=439504
IrrelevantGuy said: Am I not part of the hub? I'm asking this since I didn't get notified although I remember reacting on the announcement post on discord
Just share as much as you did! More are welcome :)
From possibly one of the most overhyped seasons of the decade, with shows like My Dress-Up Darling and 86 Part 2 coming out, we get something underhyped, and a JOSEI of all demographics, a typical women's television romance turning out to not actually be so typical after a few episodes, and really evolving from its initial form into becoming something truly admirable.
First comment I have to make before getting into the review is that this show has a criminal lack of viewers, which you can blame on the demographic turning most people off. we all have family members who watch anime, and 99% of the time you'll find that your mum isn't one of them, and this is normal throughout even the likes of Japan, rarely has there ever been any demand for older women's anime and therefore not much attention to the shows quality have been placed and have commonly been looked down upon as 'bound to be bad', which is the killing detail bringing down the ratings and viewership in Koroshi Ai, a show which I know damn well isn't getting a second season, so I bid my wallet a farewell and await the manga to arrive on my front doorstep.
Koroshi Ai is one of the few shows which you can find that not only reach out further than its initial premise, but manages to do it in such an innovative and memorable way that as the story progresses, so does your attention progress further into the show as you slowly sink into the character's developments and turns, watching each characters decisions as though they were your own, and coming to know the characters as though they were your own friends. Having me constantly at the edge of my seat every episode wanting to know the outcome of their controversial actions and moves, Koroshi Ai manages to not only appeal to you with its climactic visuals and animation (which is also debatably poor at times), but also with its excellent displays of spite, trauma, and wit, coming together under two characters to bring the story of the world towards them and to not only be invested in the show but in the characters themselves. This about Koroshi Ai I love, as each of the characters decisions take me aback, and take my mind on a thought provoking journey recalling each action leading up to the present result of their actions and past happenings.
Lastly, the character development, from such an unpopular story in manga you'd expect it to not be anything noteworthy or AT LEAST well executed, but what I got was yet again the opposite of this, leaving me astounded at each episode as the character Chateau progressed and became better as a human and coming to recognize who she is and accepting it, and coming to know and accept her past as it is, the same can also be said for Song, who went from very vibrant and easy-going, to recognizing the importance of other people’s lives and their repercussions, as the series progressed, we saw 2 characters go from as opposite as you can get, even in their careers, to slowly but surely becoming a like and recognizing each other for who they are and getting to know one another.
This show is easily one of the single most underrated shows I have ever watched and I am proud to say that I can understand the appreciate the amazing writing within the show, portrayed in it's extremely well done developing and concept writing, and there most certainly is nothing worth speech that I can say is bad about the show, maybe I can at a later point, but right now I am happy staying ignorant about the show and to view it as character perfection.
Akebi's Sailor Uniform (Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku)
How could you ever love something as flat as 'cute girls doing cute things'? I don't know at all, if I’m being honest, but now it appears 'cute girls doing cute things' is no longer flat, but a lot more interesting than you may initially think.
Akebi-chan no Sailor-fuku, or Akebi for the sake of convenience, is just as I stated in the introduction of this review, cute girls doing cute things, but it's executed in this show in such a way where you may just forget the show is just that, and actually think more about how Akebi is in her new environment, and the happenings that have gotten her to where she is by the end of the show. Personally, I didn't find much interest in the show, as something with little drama or teachings really interests me, but again that's a personal opinion, I see myself as smart enough to know that this show is very well executed and true to its overall theme.
Considering my personal opinion on this show is a weak one, I have little things to say about it other than before, however another thing I can comment on, writing wise, this show is that, this show has a truck-load lot of personality. Not only does the show differ from other things that have aired as of late, but it also differs in its writing style and becomes something more iconic than other recent shows like World's End Harem, for when you watch it, you can definitely find yourself saying "Ah, classic Akebi", rather than being able to directly compare it to any show you might have watched.
Finally, we get the main bait to watch the show, the absolutely stunning visuals. While this show may not be much with shounen entertainment, this show can definitely leave any demographic awe struck at its breath taking visuals, done clearly by the same people who created the visuals of Wonder Egg Priority, and huge props to the author for creating such literate availability for the show to execute this well with the atmosphere the writing had created.
So, while Akebi may not be for everyone, I feel everyone should at least be able to appreciate how well it executes it's goal, or at bare minimum, appreciate the visuals and character design.
The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation out of Debt (Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu)
How could clickbait have come this far? Going over the Winter 2022 animes in an attempt to find something to tickle my fancy, I pick up a few animes, one with promising visuals, one show that looked to be for babies, and this show, which promised me something which I never got, and that was comedy.
As I had read the synopsis of this show I had come to think of this show as to be the next KonoSuba in comedy, promising in its synopsis and satisfactory in its deliverance, however, with The Genius Princes Guide to Raising a Nation out of Debt (or for the sake of conciseness, Genius Prince), you'll find that the constructed and advertised idea isn't entirely honest with the viewer, upon brief analysis of the shows content you would think that the show portrayed a heavy element of comedy; in all plot summaries I have read I had gotten a heavy vibe of comedy, such examples being "his wit often surpasses even his own expectations—much to the benefit of the oblivious citizens of Natra." and "selling off his home country and escaping from his duties". This is the exact reason I went to watch this show because what I did NOT expect was a heavy dosage of politics, criminally lacking in any form of comedy that a normal person would understand, and becoming what I'd call "Alzheimer's Writing", where it forgets the entire point of the show; which brings me to first point of this review:
The failure of unrelatable comedy. The comedy in this show is so underwhelming and unnoticeable it feels like the writer's point of comedy is that HE himself finds it funny how the average viewer is not able to understand, you cannot make good comedy complex otherwise most of the show's duration is spent overthinking everything thus making the comedy pointless for the entire purpose of comedy, which is to lighten dark tones or bring a sense of playfulness to the genre-blend. In Genius Princes case, this show makes the comedy so vague that if you were at all able to notice it, you’d just forgotten the joke and the scenario because you were too focused on the indistinct punchline that may or may not have occurred. Any simple joke that someone could’ve understood here is your typical freak out and baby tantrum which you’ll find in any unimaginative comedy in the anime medium. To summarize, the comedy feels less like it’s funny for the viewer and funnier for someone like Sheldon Cooper from Big Bang Theory, who sees 5 step 500 IQ jokes to be the only amusing ones.
Final point, branching from my first paragraph we get the use of politics. Politics may have not been an advertised factor within the shows many synopsis', but it's definitely clear and broad within the shows genre-blend, and so why shouldn't I just ignore the comedy aspect and focus on the politics, and instead try to understand the world and how he plans to sell his nation off? I tried, but this show is yet again another example of how to poorly execute politics in a show. Upon trying to understand the show I have found that it is indeed well rounded, enough to make sense and wrap up nicely in a huge bundle of "Oh I see what they're doing now.", however, I feel this show lacks any innovation to make it interesting in any sort of way at all, and manages to turn a comedic show political, and a political show snooze worthy, which I can say from experience as I perfectly recall trying to stay awake during one of the earlier episodes where I tried to learn the worlds politics.
Genius Prince's genres are probably the most pathetic excuses of genre utilization in recent years, failing to execute any of its desired themes, by being plainly unfunny and vague in its comedy, and uninteresting in its politics, making the show be about as bland as cardboard and as interesting as a slugs journey across a footpath.
MY Dress-Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru)
“Does being a girl or a boy matter when you really like something?”, teaches the show My Dress-Up darling, possibly the most contradictory show this season, giving themes that tackles itself in a looping cycle of contradiction inexcusable to anyone with common sense.
On the surface, My Dress-Up Darling is the common romance of the year where annually the entire anime community gets together to and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, about the main girl character and about how well they're portrayed, or whatever nonsense theming they can somehow pull from 23 minutes a week. In this shows case, the theming being that it does not matter your gender, and that you can do whatever you have a passion or love for. While I personally agree with this a lot, I believe that this show does a below average job at correctly showing this to us in a way uncorrupted by poor writing or even just bias. This show not only manages to try and fail at sending this theme raw and untethered, but also manages to do what feminists have done for many years, and that's to leave absolutely zero room for evolving in their goal.
To put this simply, the characters Marin and Goujo are portrayed as stereotypes of Japanese genders, but instead, here's the real kicker, the roles are swapped! Goujo, the male, being into doll making (more specifically, Hina dolls), and not being into anime, and Marin being the polar opposite, into anime and erotica. The overarching issue here I pointed out earlier is that this show does this, and yet does NOT try to change things up, or even make these characters anything other than their opposites. Marin is an otaku who is into erotica, yep, that is her depth in character, oh yeah, she also cried once for over-working Goujo don't forget that (she doesn't learn her lesson at all she keeps doing it). Goujo is a doll maker but was recently peer pressured into making dresses instead, and he does not want to upset her, yep, that is his depth in character. Please at least tell me these guys become something else rather than cold hard stereotypes with a criminal lack of innovation! Nope, not at all, but hey they have a crush on each other now that's cool I guess.
Normally you could give an excuse that this was just a romance and that I shouldn't have that deep of a thought process to enjoy it, the main problem with this is, if I were to only look at it for the romance you might as well put me to sleep in an ice slab and float me towards Antarctica because without my proactive mind I am not waking up any time soon. The romance in this show is so painfully 1 dimensional and generic it's hard to really get into and/or take seriously, it reminds me of those XOXO Gossip Girl shows like Gilmore Girls where the entire plot is some sappy break-up story (as an example), and doesn't reach further than that or give any sort of new idea to try to be somewhat unique. So, either you can expect me to watch it and snooze along or watch it and expect something more than the author was ever going to plan.
Finally the subject that makes me give this the rating it deserves. "Why have I been all doom and gloom throughout this whole review and still give it a somewhat high rating?" you might be asking; hey, the concept is pretty neat. While there are an innumerable amount of shows pretending to be different with the gender swapping theme, what we can truly appreciate about My Dress-Up Darling is that it's main story is not only the romance but the growth in Goujo's skills in dress making, while I would've preferred seeing him continue his initial road and pursue his dream, I can myself say that this show managed to make cosplaying interesting, and enough so to keep me watching 1 episode a week, eager enough to see what Goujo has been doing while I slept comfortably knowing that Bungee Gum has the properties of both rubber and gum. In short enjoyable but forgettable once an episode is over.
So while My Dress-Up Darling appears to have lined itself right up for anime of the year when the time comes around, I feel that for all the themes and genres it takes on it does an extremely underwhelming job at most of them and makes the show overall extremely forgettable, being held afloat by Goujo's sewing skills and Marin being so painfully vibrant I go blind for 23 minutes each episode.
Deceit in multiple forms, deceit in its appearance, deceit in its theming, deceit in its outcome, and deceit in this review as I start off positively but slowly devolve to reviewing a battle shounen.
Upon viewing Ranking of Kings for the first time a little into its airing duration in November of last year, I had watched the show expecting to see something overrated and actually for kids, rated only by parents who want to distract their 5-year-old from poking a fork into an outlet, a series of short 5 minute arcs simply about a king baby. Despite prior made assumption by my very own ignorance, what I got was nothing short of a masterpiece, with beautiful writing, character arcs, theming, and above-all, reason. All the more reason to continue to watch the series and drop everything I am doing every Friday to watch each episode fold out in a chaotic, frightening, and surprisingly wholesome jam of intellectual writing, easy to follow for idiots and enjoyable by typical Rick and Morty fans who consider Platinum End to be the magnum opus of 2021 amines. The show Ranking of Kings for the rest of the first-cour was able to consistently shock me to my core and pull the tears from my tear ducts at every twist and turn of each episode, while giving reason and rhyme to each of the shows decisions and movements, making a show so simply intricate and well pieced together, managing to do what shows typically cannot do, and that's to really send a proper slap across the mind without the element of randomness involved, which more often than not results in baleful thoughts and rolling eyes.
This show in particular has been able to break some people in a matter of episodes as I quote from YouTubers like RuffSenpai and the Prout Bothers, and for good reason; unlike most shows this show gives you some of the simplest concepts but in the most damaging and enlightening view making you rethink your perspective on shows you've overlooked due to concepts written by kindergarteners. A perfect example of how concept doesn't necessarily carry a show or give any sort of indication on its quality or potential, this show is about a little boy who wants to become king, it's as simple as that.
During its second-cour, things take a rather curious turn, some could give the excuse that this is the product of Bojji's decision making, and other people could say that this was Sosuke Toka's way of bringing a new basic concept into the picture to make its purpose serve greater than before, but how I see it, and how I believe it is in reality, is the result of arrogance in writing. Familiar examples of what happened in the second-cour can be seen in the likes of Beastars, as a worst case scenario, where you rely on your beginning arc to carry the rest of the show for you and put no effort into creating anything memorable afterwards, which can be seen in the second-cour of Ranking of Kings but in a less extreme example, while there were definitely very amazing character arcs, stories being told within the second-cour, and terrifying displays of consequence, its arrogance that expected to keep the show at the top of its game had lead it down the path of a battle shounen, becoming nothing much more than fighting the overarching villain of the season. While I respect and adore an amazing build-up, the product of the build-up should reflect the elements given in the storytelling, in order to compliment the reasoning behind each action of the characters and turn the story makes, to create a good conclusion.
Ranking of Kings may be one of the greatest displays of writing in later years; but is also one of the greatest displays of the arrogance of proficient writing. Do not let a show fall when you have reached heights you never expected, or you will never get that success ever again.
The genre of Slice-of-Life in anime is often utilized to create normal, mundane, every-day activities, have appeal, in order to create a sense of relatability within the film or show it is used in. There are many good examples of Slice of Life in anime being used to it's fullest to create something simple yet engaging and relatable, yet In The Land of Leadale, despite production value, fails to do any of this.
The main genres listed for the show 'In The Land of Leadale' are adventure and fantasy, while these genres are apparent when watching, it's commonly debated that the show executes a strong sense of Slice-of-Life as well, which I agree is the case. However this doesn't mean Leadale did this properly. The writer of Leadale, Ceez, has a very apparent history of writing just by watching this show, as his only published novel on any site I can find is Leadale. Probably the one of the worst case of beginners luck, having their first work praised and even adapted to an anime, to support this kind of writing, which lacks progression, and proper execution of genre; While I definitely agree action is NOT needed to create an engaging work, or even a Shounen, it doesn't mean you can't do a bad job at executing something that doesn't have action. This form of Slice-of-Life is painfully lacklustre and pointless, with no engaging or new elements, in-fact, this show removes one of the only good factors of Slice-of-Life, which is relatability, as the main character is a piece of shit character who cares about no one despite how clear it is people care about them, and the writing goes off and makes the main character the good guy in all aspect.
The lack of engagement in this show, in both forms of interesting action, and relatable Slice-of-Life, feeds to the show being one of the most boring shows I think I have ever sat through, each episode feeling like a chore, just to continuously give it a chance to improve, and it just doesn't. In addition, the amount of generic, disposable, isekai tropes used in this show are innumerable, only emphasizing the blandness of the show, things such as the main character spawning in with no prior development, with overpowered abilities, being extremely old but looking like a teenager, medieval RPG setting, magic magic, MP, more magic, monsters, players, game tropes, and more magic. I think the only good comment I can make out of this is that even if the writer tried to do something new with it, it wouldn't go well or combine well no matter what they did, as they already has a terrible story plot to begin with, no amount of world building or art can make up for a boring story.
In conclusion, while I think Slice-of-Life as a genre has a lot of potential, and can definitely be engaging when executed correctly, like March Comes in like a Lion, or even mixed with action, Violet Evergarden, it is used to it's minimum in this show, and turns the Slice-of-Life genre into everything that the Slice-of-Life haters have come to know.
You've heard the term 'Down-bad', the definition of which being: "When someone is depressingly horny", now get ready for 'Down-good', when something good comes out of being depressingly horny.
World's End Harem, or Shuumatsu no Harem as referred to in Japan, is a good example of how to utilize harem in a story fashion, and to develop on characters. Through the series we watch a world in aftermath from a catastrophe, wiping out all but 5 men on earth leaving 4 billion women behind. Of course, like any normal story utilizing this concept, you would have a lot of foolery and fornication, but what you do not normally get is a writer utilizing this concept to expand its story further, towards the characters and even towards politics, introducing alien concepts to the genre of Harem, such as terrorism, corruption, and even a lead to a full conclusion resulting in not only the peace of the main character but to every character. Great examples of this at work is during the latter half of the series with Doi Shouta, who starts off the typical virgin in a school, getting nowhere in relationships and everywhere in school, y'know, the archetype for bullied kid, but is later on in the series given development showing his change and adjustment to the mold this world has given him to fit into, making Doi Shouta into the kind of person whom he previously so hated, and feeds his newly found desires.
Something else in World's End Harem you have to applaud is its character dynamic. When given a generic concept you can expect a generic character dynamic, protagonist to antagonist, side character to protagonist, side villain to antagonist, et cetera. But what Shuumatsu gives you is the kind of twists in the plot needed to give it a proper mix and combination to really 'wow' you and give you that familiar sense of shock and realization, reflecting upon the details up to that moment and realizing how everything changed so suddenly and so smooth.
However, these overwhelming positive facts are yet unable to cover up what has failed to change, zero personality. While Shuumatsu attempts to deliver a healthy dose of difference and change during its short span of 11 episodes, it is unable to make up for the lack of originality in the overall concept and TRULY spice things up, I could watch the show over and over and never get a shred of content that makes me think: "Yep, that's Shuumatsu no Harem for you.", and more "This is a less brutal Redo of Healer", because as it stands, Shuumatsu no Harem is forgettable and just as it proclaims itself to be, a Harem about the end of the world.
Imagine you are watching Death Note, and you are experiencing the authenticity and flawless craft of each detail, with foreshadow and symbolism exploited to it's peak. What else do you think when you think 'Death Note'? Whatever it is and whatever I just said, is the opposite of Platinum End. From the creators of Death Note and Bakuman you are presented with a series of manga and a newly created series of anime based off the to-be-short-lived life of Kakehashi, a series with so much potential and creativity, ruined even more by the high expectations. The prior works of the writer setting expectations that are just too much for this series, as the only thing you can learn from Platinum End is that a good writer doesn't always make good stuff.
Think the main character as Light, but then reverse the colours, mentally, Kakehashi is the most 1 dimensional character I have ever seen, held back by only his will to not kill anyone but himself, which is continued throughout the series with pretty much no excusable development, any development you can pick from this is an ass-pull or an unencouraged motivation from yet another horribly written character, Saki. Saki is probably the biggest mistake this series has to show off, along with Kakehashi's painful simplicity, Saki stop's the train from running any further than it already could have by being just another excuse for genre or plot development. An amazing example of this is how there are 13 candidates to become god and ALL just so happen to be in Japan, with a terrible excuse such as most suicides happen in Japan (seeing as all the God candidates were chosen amongst those who commited suicide), and not only this, Saki was one, and so was Kakehashi, who just so happened to SOMEHOW be close to Saki and HAVE a crush on her.
IN WHAT WORLD is this an acceptable coincidence?! This cannot be properly recognized as anything more than an asspull. The final reason worth noting and speech, that Saki is the worst character in the series, is for one simple and GLEAMING reason. Horrible romance. These mother fuckers move in with Saki being a depressed ass 14 year old white girl with a pink bedroom, and they act like it's normal and make absolutely no deal out of it, there is zero proper romance development between the two and yet they sleep in the same bed, same room, same house, move in out of no where. Can someone also explain to me the fuck the parents at? I ain't seen no parents in this entire gosh damn series I swear to you.
The series on it's own wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for it's OVERWHELMING disappointment factor, from the writer of Death Note and Bakuman! Even that wouldn't be so bad for disappointment, we already have examples of disappointing writing from other writers, even if I seriously genuinely expected something good out of it from their works. But you know what episode 1 did that, episode 1 had everything, strong concept, shock factor, back story, and a hook. But the very moment the opening in episode 2 had ended, it went right down the storm drain and far into the deep cracks off the earth only to be enjoyed by crack monsters and dung bugs.
Finally the plot, while having an interesting concept, half rips off The Future Diary, and executes it in the most stupid, cliche, and boring way ever, with sad excuses for development and absolutely no outside of the box thought into the writing. The only thing I recall ever liking about the series, not including the opening, is the one scene with Mukaido making a wedding dress, and even that was an asspull and just a cheap excuse for emotion, even made me hate all the character's writing even more.
In conclusion, Platinum End is the worst anime I have ever watched that takes itself seriously, anyone who enjoys this show needs to get their game out of the cliches and Vampire Diary type content and find something with background thought and process that makes sense, rather than thinking one-dimensionally and crying over a shitty character who died because they died.
Now I'm going to find it quite difficult writing a review for 86, as my thoughts and opinions differ from not only the majority but also fact itself, and it's hard to put my thoughts and opinions into review format without requiring the reader to have my exact opinions and experiences, which isn't something I can guarantee for most people. So instead, I will be writing what I know is objectively done well or correctly in the series, and reflect on why it didn't work for me, because it's one of those situations where you know damn well it's a good show, but you just could not care any less about it.
The writing in 86, to put simply, is just good, foreshadow, reason, rhyme, logic, all included when other shows don't, which is especially good for this show considering this was by the same studio that animated Darling in the FranXX and The Promised Neverland, and we all know how that studio changed shit up, so to see a show up to this quality being released on by A-1 Pictures, seems more like a redemption arc for the studio than a redemption arc for the main character in my own opinion, seeming more like an apology for creating Darling in the FranXX the way they did than it's own separate entity, also keeping into consideration the many similarities between the two shows. So good on you A-1 for not changing anything like you've so notoriously done before.
Coming from someone who hated Darling in the FranXX's change and The Promised Neverland Season 2, you get someone who understands that 86 isn't bad and can notice and respect the quality and detail put into the show despite lack of following it or understanding, which I feel is more like a me problem than an actual problem considering my point for this paragraph, I couldn't follow it. Something about this show felt so unengaging for me which I know for a fact is a me problem considering the amount of praise and analytical videos on the series, and how much people seem to understand the show, so when I say it was uninteresting and hard to follow, I mean that for me it was, which justifies and summarizes my lower score for the series than what I feel deserves maybe a 9 or even a 10 for people who could connect with it.
For a brief summary, 86 is a good show and definitely shows the recovery of A-1 Pictures from their atrocities, and doesn't neglect the detail and feels, but lacks the connection to viewers such as myself who fail to care about shows which are really just better written successors to older shows like Darling in the FranXX.
Quickfire reviews for Shaman King 2021, Paripi Koumei, Aharen-san, The Executioner and her way of life, I'm Quitting Heroing, Deaimon, Komi S2, Skeleton Knight, Unlikely Heroine, Kaguya-sama S3, Date A Live IV, Spy x Family, Rose King and Shield Hero S2- https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=885574
(I will update it with the links to the reviews once the final episodes for each have been aired)
RWBY: Hyousetsu Teikoku, Kinsou no Vermeil: Gakeppuchi Majutsushi wa Saikyou no Yakusai to Mahou Sekai wo Tsukisusumu, Isekai Meikyuu de Harem wo, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari, Shadows House 2nd Season, Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru, Ao Ashi, Engage Kiss, Isekai Yakkyoku, Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou, Summertime Render, Hataraku Maou-sama!!, Kakkou no Iinazuke, Fuuto Tantei-https://myanimelist.net/blog.php?eid=887591
